After Timur's death his empire was disputed among his sons. Ulugh Beg's father Shah Rukh was the fourth son of Timur and, by 1407, he had gained overall control of most of the empire, including Iran and Turkistan regaining control of Samarkand. Samarkand had been the capital of Timur's empire but, although his grandson Ulugh Beg had been brought up at Timur's court, he was seldom in that city.
Timur pagkatapos ng kamatayan ng kanyang imperyo ay ang mga pinagtatalunang sa kanyang mga anak. Ulugh humingi ng ama Shah Rukh ay ang ikaapat na anak ng Timur at, sa pamamagitan ng 1407, siya ay nagkamit kabuuang control ng karamihan ng ang imperyo, kasama na ang Iran at Turkistan regaining control ng Samarkand. Samarkand had been ang kabisera ng Timur's imperyo ngunit, bagama't ang kanyang apong lalaki Ulugh Patawarin had been nagdala up sa Timur ng hukuman, siya ay bihira na sa lungsod.