The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (Persian: گورکانیان, romanized: Gūrkāniyān), was a Sunni Muslim[1] dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol origin[2][3][4][5] descended from the warlord Timur (also known as Tamerlane).

[6] This was an honorific title used by the dynasty as the Timurids were in-laws of the line of Genghis Khan,[7] founder of the Mongol Empire, as Timur had married Saray Mulk Khanum, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan.

After the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, the Barlas settled in what is today southern Kazakhstan, from Shymkent to Taraz and Almaty, which then came to be known for a time as Moghulistan – "Land of Mongols" in Persian – and intermingled to a considerable degree with the local Turkic and Turkic-speaking population, so that at the time of Timur's reign the Barlas had become thoroughly Turkicized in terms of language and habits.

Additionally, by adopting Islam, the Central Asian Turks and Mongols adopted the Persian literary and high culture[11] which had dominated Central Asia since the early days of Islamic influence.

Persian literature was instrumental in the assimilation of the Timurid elite into the Perso-Islamic courtly culture.