Death
Ulugh's scientific expertise was not matched by his skills in governance. When he heard of the death of his father Shah Rukh, Ulugh Beg went to Balkh, where he heard that his Mirza Ala-ud-Daulah, son of Ulugh's brother Baysonqor, had claimed the emirship of the Timurid Empire in Herat. Consequently Ulugh Beg marched against Ala-ud-Daulah and met him in battle at Morgab. Having won this battle, Ulugh Beg advanced toward Herat and massacred its people in 1448, but Ala-ud-Daulah's brother Mirza Abul-Qasim Babur bin Baysonqor came to his aid, defeating Ulugh Beg. Ulugh Beg retreated to Balkh, where he found that its governor, his oldest son 'Abd al-Latif, had rebelled against him. Another civil war ensued. Within two years, he was beheaded by the order of his own eldest son while on his way to Mecca. Eventually, his reputation was rehabilitated by his relative, 'Abdullah (1450–1451), who placed Ulugh Beg's remains in the tomb of Timur in Samarkand, where they were found by archeologists in 1941.
The crater, Ulugh Beigh, on the Moon, was named after him by the German astronomer Johann Heinrich von Mädler on his 1830 map of the Moon.
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Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Oh Death he is a little man,
And he goes from do’ to do’ ...”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“My glass shall not persuade me I am old
So long as youth and thou are of one date,
But when in thee time’s furrows I behold,
Then look I death my days should expiate.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Families suffered badly under industrialization, but they survived, and the lives of men, women, and children improved. Children, once marginal and exploited figures, have moved to a position of greater protection and respect,... The historic decline in the overall death rates for children is an astonishing social fact, notwithstanding the disgraceful infant mortality figures for the poor and minorities. Like the decline in death from childbirth for women, this is a stunning achievement.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)