Ulugh Beg , Oulough Beg or Oulougbek (1394, Sultaniya, Iran - 1449, close to Samarkand) was the oldest son of Shah Rukh and Goharshad and a grandson of Tamerlan. His/her father having reached the throne of the Timourides in 1409 and fixed his capital at Hérat where it resided before as a governor of the Khorassan, appointed it governor of Samarkand. Remarkable scientist but poor policy, it profited from the administrative and strategic talents of Shah Rukh to devote itself to science.

Died of Shah Rukh in 1447, it reached the throne of the Timourides, but entered in conflict with his/her oldest son, Abd ul-Lative case, which made it assassinate in 1449 and went up on the throne before being itself killed in 1450.

The name Ulugh Beg , which was given to him very young person, is in fact a title, the Turkish equivalent of " large émir". Its true first name was Muhammad Taragay, like its great-grandfather, the father of Tamerlan. (Taragay is a word which means " alouette").

Médersa and observatory

It made build a Médersa (institute) with Bukhara, open in 1417, and with Samarkand, open in 1420, where it is probable that it taught, and a observatory, inaugurated towards 1429, where he worked with some 70 mathematicians and astronomers, of which Qadi-zadeh Roumi, Al-Kachi and Ali Quchtchi, leading to the publication of Tables sultaniennes ( zij-e solTâni , into Persan) whose precision remained unequalled during 2 centuries. After the death of Ulugh Beg, Ali Quchtchi left with a copy the Tables sultaniennes to Tabriz, then with Istanbul from where they reached Europe.

The Médersa of Ulugh Beg continued to function until the 17th century, but the cultural life of the Timourides concentrated with Hérat in second half of the 15th century.

Sources

• 1839. L. EP A. Sédillot (1808-1875). Astronomical tables of Oloug Beg, commentees and publiees with the text in glance, TomeI, 1 booklet, Paris. With very rare work, goal referenced in the general Bibliography of astronomy until 1880, by J.
• 1847. L. EP A. Sédillot (1808-1875). Prolegomenes of Tablesastronomiques d' Oloug Beg, publiees with Notes and Alternatives, and precede by an Introduction. Paris: F. Didot.
• 1853. L. EP A. Sédillot (1808-1875). Prolegomenes of Tablesastronomiques d' Oloug Beg, translation and comment. Paris.
• Prince Savant annexes the stars , Frederique Beaupertuis-Bressand, in Samarkand 1400-1500, the city-oasis of Tamerlan: heart of an Empire and a Rebirth , work directed by Vincent Fourniau, editions Differently, 1995, ISBN 2-86260-518-2, ISSN 1157-4488.
• the golden age of Othoman astronomy , Antoine Gautier, in Astronomy , (Re-examined monthly founded by Camille Flammarion in 1882), December 2005, volume 119.
• the collection of calendars of the prince timouride Ulug Beg (1394-1449) , Antoine Gautier, in the Bulletin , n° special calendars, National institute of the Languages and Eastern Civilizations, June 2007, pp. 117-123.

External bonds

• Généalogie http://perso.wanadoo.fr/steppeasia/genealogie_tamerlan.htm
• The observatory and memorial museum off Ulugbek
• Bukhara Ulugbek Madrasah
• Registan the heart off ancient Samarkand.
• Biography by School off Mathematics and Statistics University off St Andrews, Scotland
• Legacy off Ulug Beg