Source: TW
Timur, the founder of the so-called Mogol dynasty of India, was originally not from Mogholistan. He was a descendent of Qarachar Barlas a bek in the army of Chingiz Khan.
The core Mogholistan was the Eastern Chagadai ulus. After one of their Khans Temur converted to marUnmAda, he launched into fury of jihads & in the end they probably controlled the whole of Uighuristan converting the Uighurs in toto. The prominent clan of Mongol beks of Mogholistan, Dughlats also conquered the southern regions shown as their possessions which at some point encompassed the “oases” cities of Khotan, Yarkhand and Kashgar.
Ghazi Timur was born in Shahrisabz, the red dot in the map provided above. While his bloody jihads carried him over vast swaths of Asia he finally died at the edge of core Mogholistan in what’s today Kazakhstan not far from he was born.
He first invaded Mogholistan in 1388-89. In Mogholistan, the old Mongol pattern of military organization was retained. There was a left-wing formed by the clans of the Dukhtuy, Barlas (cousins of Timur who were islamized later), Ordubeki & Barki. The right wing was formed by Itarchi, Konchi, Bekchik and Churas clans. The center was formed by the Khan & the Dughlat tribe. Only next to the Khan, Dughlats had considerable prestige. Timur countered this force with 120000 troops intending to “invade all parts of Mogholistan & destroy the Ulus”.
However, Timur unllike some others, e.g., Oirats or the Dughlat rebel Qamar-ad-din did not try to claim Khan-hood – something only Chingizids could possess. Instead, he merely called himself an exalted sultan while accepting Chingizid prestige even after subjugating Mogholistan. He strategically married two Chingizid princesses Saray Mulk Khanum & Tukal Khanum, the latter being the princess of the Mogholistan; thus associating the Timurid name with Mogholistan. Notably, his primary son Shahrukh was not born of Mongol wife, but a woman from the para-Mongolic Khitan lineage. The ancestor of the Mogol tyrants of India, Miran Shah, was born via a Mongol concubine. Thus, even though the Timur acquired the prestigious title of guregen – (Mon.) son-in-law twice, the founder of the Mogols of India was not born through such a mother.
Then how did the Mogol tyrants of India get their guregen title & claim for chingizid ancestry. They reobtained it via Baboor’s mother Qutlugh Khanum, a Mogholistani princess descending from the Mongol Khan Dua who allied with Qaidu fight their Toluid cousins. It is interesting that the Mogol name stuck to the historical v.well studied Timurids while the actual Moghols, i.e., East Chagadaid Mongols of Mogholistan remain poorly understood until the efforts of certain Russian, Japanese & Korean historians.
Anecdote
I once met an academic originally from Rus who claimed descent from the Dughlat clan. His family had lapsed from marUnmAda during the Soviet days & he had begun looking back to his older heritage. He said: “we find amusing that a whole dynasty in India is called Mogol (Moghol etc)”.
He believes that his branch of the family remained true to the old religion of the Tengri-s till the time of ghazi Timur & were allied to khan Gunashiri (guNashrI) who also had some bauddha affinities. They were demolished by Timur & had to accept marUnmAda.
They went to Rus to escape the chIna-s who seized his ancestral land. In Rus his family became interested in science and engaged in academic pursuits for multiple generations.