Samarkand

Qutham ibn Abbas was a son of the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas and served as governor of Mecca under Ali ibn Abi Talib. Little else about him is firmly established. The Shah-i-Zinda shrine at Samarkand grew around a tomb attributed to him, on the basis of a tradition scholarship treats as legendary.

The Samanid Dynasty (819-999 CE) ruled a vast empire in Central Asia and Khorasan, presiding over a remarkable cultural renaissance. This Persian dynasty preserved Persian language and culture, patronized scholars and poets, and established foundations for the Islamic Golden Age.

Samarkand, one of Central Asia's oldest cities, was a major Silk Road hub, a center of early Islamic learning, and the capital of Timur's empire. Under the Timurid ruler Ulugh Beg it became a scientific capital, home to an observatory that produced the era's finest star catalog.

Timur (1336-1405 CE), known in the West as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire, creating one of the largest empires in history through his military campaigns across Central Asia, Persia, and India.

The Timurid Empire (1370-1507 CE) was a vast Central Asian empire founded by Timur that became a major center of Islamic culture, art, and learning, bridging the medieval and early modern periods of Islamic civilization.