Tamerlane's Captive Goat Breeders: The Samarkand Pashmina Trade

In this episode of Tamerlane: The Conqueror Who Tried to Rebuild the Mongol Legacy, hosts Lucas and Luna explore a little-known facet of Timur's empire: the captive goat herders and weavers who made Samarkand a hub for luxury pashmina wool. When Tamerlane sacked Delhi in 1398, he didn't just take elephants and gold—he also deported entire families of artisans from Kashmir who raised the Changthangi goat, whose fleece produced the finest cashmere. These herders were settled in the Zarafshan valley, where they crossbred local goats with their own stock, creating a hybrid wool that rivaled anything from Tibet. Lucas explains how the kar-khana system organized the entire supply chain, from pasture to loom, and how Ibn Arabshah recorded the astonishing prices these shawls fetched in Tabriz and Cairo. But the venture was fragile: after Timur's death, the herders gradually assimilated, and by the 15th century the Samarkand pashmina industry had vanished, leaving only traces in trade records. A story of luxury, deportation, and the fleeting fusion of cultures under one conqueror's ambition. #Tamerlane #Samarkand #Pashmina #Cashmere #Kashmir #TimuridEmpire #CentralAsia #SilkRoad #IbnArabshah #Zarafshan #KarKhana #GoatHerding #TextileHistory #DelhiSultanate #CaptiveArtisans #MedievalTrade #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo