Kartids

State · 1344–1384 CE · at its largest around 1375 CE

A Tajik dynasty that ruled Herat and its surroundings in modern Afghanistan, first as vassals of the Ilkhanate and then independently, until Timur conquered the city in 1381.

On its lands while it lasted

Silk Road (c. 130 BCE – c. 1450 CE): A network of overland caravan routes linking China with Central Asia, Persia and the Mediterranean, along which silk, spices, horses, religions, technologies and diseases travelled for more than 1,500 years.
Timur (1336 CE – 1405 CE): Turco-Mongol conqueror born near Kesh (Shahrisabz) who built an empire from Anatolia to India, sacked Delhi in 1398 and made Samarkand his capital.
Herat (c. 1344 CE): Capital of Kartids (1344–1381), Timurid Empire (1405–1507).
Campaigns of Timur (1370–1405 CE): From Samarkand, Timur (Tamerlane) campaigned across Persia, the Golden Horde, India (sacking Delhi in 1398), Syria and Anatolia, where he captured the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I at Ankara in 1402. He died at Otrar in 1405 while marching on China.
Timurid Empire (1370–1507 CE): Empire founded by Timur in 1370; under his successors Samarkand and Herat became centres of a Persianate cultural flowering.