TEHRAN – A haul of ancient relics, which is estimated to date back to the Timurid-era (1370–1507), has recently been confiscated from a smuggler in Zanjan, west-central Iran.

The police recovered a sword, a handwritten manuscript, and a total of 400 coins form hideout of an antique dealer, who was illegally keeping the relics, police commander Rahim Jahanbakhsh said on Saturday, IRNA reported.   

According to cultural heritage experts, the relics worth some 30 billion rials (about $715,000), Jahanbakhsh added.

The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani, was a Sunni Muslim dynasty or clan of Turco-Mongol origin descended from the warlord Timur (also known as Tamerlane).

In the realm of architecture, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Timurids drew on and developed many Seljuq traditions. Turquoise and blue tiles forming intricate linear and geometric patterns decorated the facades of buildings. Sometimes the interior was decorated similarly, with painting and stucco relief further enriching the effect.

The schools of miniature painting in Shiraz, Tabriz and Harat flourished under the Timurids. Among the artists gathered at Herat was Behzad (died c. 1525), whose dramatic, intense style was unequaled in Persian manuscript illustration.

AFM/MG