Rukn-ud-din Ala al-Dawla Mirza, also spelt Ala ud-Dawla and Ala ud-Daula, (1417 – 1460) was a Timurid prince and a grandson of the Central Asian ruler Shah Rukh. Following his grandfather's death, Ala al-Dawla became embroiled in the ensuing succession struggle. Though he initially possessed a strategic advantage, he was eventually overtaken by his more successful rivals. Ala al-Dawla died in exile after numerous failed attempts to gain the throne. Early life and career Ala al-Dawla was born in Herat in June/July 1417, the eldest son of Baysunghur Mirza, as well as the only one born of a free wife. His father was himself a son of the Timurid Sultan Shah Rukh. His mother, Jan Malik Agha, a daughter of the Timurid officer Amir Chulpan Qauchin, had been previously married to Baysunghur's cousin Iskandar Mirza. Unlike his younger brothers, Ala al-Dawla was raised at the royal court alongside his cousin Abdal-Latif Mirza by their grandmother, the empress Gawhar Shad. It is likely that she and Shah Rukh were grooming the boys, the firstborns of their two eldest sons, as potential successors to the throne. However, Ala al-Dawla quickly emerged as his grandmother's favourite. Upon Baysunghur's premature death in 1433, Ala al-Dawla, then sixteen years old, inherited his father's position as amir-e diwan, as well as his post as governor of Mazandaran, a strategic position and important in the empires defence against Uzbek tribes. However, the prince's focus appears to have been more on the affairs of the royal court rather than his official posting. The following year, he participated in his grandfather's third campaign in Azerbaijan against the Qara Qoyunlu. When Shah Rukh fell ill in 1444, Gawhar Shad, anticipating his death, pushed the powerful Amir Firuzshah to support Ala al-Dawla's succession to the throne, angering the other princes. When Shah Rukh recovered from his illness and learned of this, he rebuked Firuzshah, who was unable to bear the disgrace and subsequently died of illness. War of succession Shah Rukh died of illness in his winter quarters in Rayy soon after putting down the revolt of another grandson, Sultan Muhammad, in March 1447. Gawhar Shad, who had been with him, quickly dispatched a message to Ala al-Dawla, who had been left as Shah Rukh's deputy in Herat, informing him of the sultan's death. However, whilst she and Abdal-Latif were escorting the body back to Herat for burial, the latter turned