However, Shah Rukh ruled only over the eastern portion of the empire established by his father, comprising most of Persia and Transoxiana, the western territories having been lost to invaders in the aftermath of Timur's death.

In spite of this, Shah Rukh's empire remained a cohesive dominion of considerable extent throughout his reign, as well as a dominant power in Asia.

Shah Rukh controlled the main trade routes between Asia and Europe, including the legendary Silk Road, and became immensely wealthy as a result.

This was to become the political centre of the Timurid empire and residence of his principal successors, though both cities benefited from the wealth and privilege of Shah Rukh's court.

In the view of historians Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, "unlike his father, Shahrukh ruled the Timurid empire, not as a Turco-Mongol warlord-conqueror, but as an Islamic sultan.

In dynastic chronicles he is exalted as a man of great piety, diplomacy, and modesty—a model Islamic ruler who repaired much of the physical and psychological damage caused by his father.

شاهکار shahkar, masterpiece" or "a bridegroom" (synonymous with داماد dâmâd);[5] رخ rokh means "the face or figure; also, the cheek; the countenance", "the castle or rook" in chess; and the roc,"a fabulous bird; perhaps the condor".

[12] Historical sources give no explanation for their relationship, though there is some evidence which suggests that it was Shah Rukh's ancestry which had affected Timur's lack of favour, being the son of a concubine as opposed to a freeborn wife.

[13] It might also have been this Islamic adherence and subsequent rejection of the laws of Genghis Khan, which had always been so strongly revered by Timur, that had resulted in the alienation of Shah Rukh from his father.

[14] Shah Rukh, alongside most of the royal family, accompanied Timur west in his campaign against the Ottoman Empire, which culminated in the Battle of Ankara in 1402.

[17] Khalil Sultan proclaimed himself emperor at Tashkent soon after his grandfather's death and seized the royal treasury, as well as Timur's imperial capital Samarqand.

This was likely due to Miran Shah, Khalil Sultan's father, who posed a serious threat as he, along with his other son Abu Bakr, had led an army out of Azerbaijan in support of the younger prince.

They were both forced to withdraw prior to joining with Khalil Sultan however, due to invasions to their rear by the Jalayirids and the Qara Qoyunlu, who took advantage of the death of the old emperor to seize territory.

[18] Following a famine which further spread discontent among the populace, Khalil Sultan was eventually taken captive by the powerful emir Khudaidad Hussain, leader of the Dughlat tribe and a former mentor of the prince.

The area under Shah Rukh's rule continued to be extended and consolidated over the following years, either through voluntary subjugation by minor rulers or through alliances.

Shah Rukh made many attempts to pacify his western border, both through political and military means (having launched three campaigns against Azerbaijan), none of which proved entirely successful.

These accusations even went beyond Shah Rukh's court in Herat, with Ma'ruf-i Khattat, a prominent calligrapher under the patronage of Prince Baysunghur, also being arrested and interrogated.

[37] In the early part of his reign, in what was likely an attempt to stave off rebellion amongst his relations, Shah Rukh regularly made transfers between the governorships they held.

Like his father, Shah Rukh was married to a Mongol princess; Malikat Agha, daughter of Khizr Khoja and widow of his brother Umar Shaikh Mirza I.

[40] Shah Rukh's religious advisor Jalal-Din al-Qayini, described the abolishment of the Mongol tribunals in 1411: "His Majesty’s correct thinking on the subject of giving currency to the Sharia and reviving the customs of the Sunna has progressed so far at this time that, in Dhul-Qada 813 (i.e., February–March 1411), he abolished the yarghu court of investigation and the customs of the törä which had been observed by Turko-Mongolian rulers since ancient times.

"[41] The Timurid author Sain ad-Din Ali Turka Isfahani praised Shah Rukh for ruling by Islamic Law in the following words: “Absolutely everyone with a legal case has it heard in accordance with the Sharia, and thanks to the felicity of the favour of this Faith-promoting padshah (i.e. Shahrukh), not a trace has remained anywhere of the Yarghu Tribunal which (God preserve us!)

had for a long time exercised its tyranny over the minds of rulers and polluted the lands of Islam, and no creature has the power [to conduct] this type of interrogation except in secret.

[54] Soon after suppressing Sultan Muhammad's revolt, Shah Rukh, by this point weakened by ill-health, died in his winter quarters in Rayy in March 1447.

It was only on the third day following his death that the body, accompanied by the now-dowager empress Gawhar Shad and Shah Rukh's grandson Abdal-Latif, began its journey east.

However, within a few days Abdal-Latif took both his grandmother and the corpse hostage, possibly in the hopes of launching his own bid for the vacant throne, or to support that of his father, Shah Rukh's last surviving son Ulugh Beg.

When Ulugh Beg captured the city the following year, he ordered his father's body to be exhumed before reburying it with Timur's in the Gur-e-Amir in Samarqand.

[56][note 3] The succession struggle among Shah Rukh's family continued for several years, initially between Ulugh Beg and Ala al-Dawla, in which the former emerged victorious.

However, he was murdered by his son Abdal-Latif in 1449, and in the subsequent civil wars, control of the Timurid Empire passed from Shah Rukh's descendants.