Badi' al-Zaman Mirza

Who was Badi' al-Zaman Mirza?

Badi' al-Zaman Mirza was a Timurid ruler of Herat from 1506 to 1507. He was the son of Husayn Bayqarah, who was a great-great-grandson of Timur Beg.

During the 1490s a conflict broke out between Badi' and his father. Husayn had transferred Badi' from his governorship in Astarabad, present day Gorgan, to Balkh, and then passed over Badi's son Muhammad Mu'min to replace him in Astarabad. Angry over this, Badi' launched a rebellion. He was defeated, and around the same time his son, who had been imprisoned in Herat, was executed. Husayn made peace with his son, but tension remained between the two, and in 1499 Badi' besieged Herat.

In 1506 Husayn died, and Badi' took the throne. However, he quickly became embroiled in a conflict with his brother Muzaffar Husain. In the midst of this, the Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani were threatening the realm. Babur, who had marched from Kabul in an effort to assist Husayn, arrived in Herat and stayed there for a while, but noted the weakness of the brothers and left without making battle with the Uzbeks. The next year, the Uzbeks captured Herat, bringing an end to Timurid rule there, and the brothers fled. Muzaffar died shortly after. Badi' went to Kandahar to muster forces and marched against the Uzbeks, but was defeated. He then came to the court of Ismail I of Persia, where he was given lands surrounding Tabriz and 3650 gold shorafins a year. He helped influence Ismail's decision to undertake an expedition against the Uzbeks in 1510. Badi' stayed seven years at Tabriz until it was conquered by Ottoman Sultan Selim I, at which point he travelled to Istanbul, where he died during the plague in 1517.