ABSTRACT
Central Asia and Iran formed the core region of Timur’s empire. Long-distance trade routes linked them together as far back as history can record. They also shared elements of the Persian cultural tradition from at least as early as the Achaemenid Empire of the sixth century B.C.E. Within three centuries of the introduction of Islam, Central Asia and Iran became the most creative and productive region in the Muslim world for philosophy, mathematics, theology, Qur’anic exegesis, Sufi theory, linguistic studies, and art. As neighbors, they suffered equally during the numerous invasions and wars of the period that extended from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries.
