"Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarezm. Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai, and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate. In 1369, Timur, of the Barlas tribe, became the effective ruler while continuing the ceremonial authority of Chagatai Khan's dynasty, and made Samarkand the capital of his future empire."
There's really no reason to make the division currently present on that page:
It's obviously an error that somebody managed to plant on that Wikipedia page. Another page is better, where medieval period at least naturally includes the last Mongolian dynasty and the early modern era starts with Safavids (1501), as "Encyclopaedia Iranica" also claims:
"The period of the Safavids, the dynasty that took control of Persia in the early 16th century, is often considered the beginning of modern Persian history"
However note also that other authors see Islamic Middle Ages lasting "down until the seventeenth century" and "it may be argued that certain
continuities existed in Islamic civilization down until the advent of modern secular and national ideologies in the
nineteenth century CE." (Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia: http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Islamic-Civilization-Encyclop...)
However the Timur certainly didn't start new ages, his dynasty is just the last Mongolian one, and all Mongolian rulers are medieval:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transoxiana
"Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarezm. Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai, and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate. In 1369, Timur, of the Barlas tribe, became the effective ruler while continuing the ceremonial authority of Chagatai Khan's dynasty, and made Samarkand the capital of his future empire."
There's really no reason to make the division currently present on that page:
1 Prehistory
2 Classical Antiquity
3 Medieval Iran
4 Timurid dynasty (1370–1507) <=== ? ? ? Why, How ? ?
5 Early modern era (1502–1925)
It's obviously an error that somebody managed to plant on that Wikipedia page. Another page is better, where medieval period at least naturally includes the last Mongolian dynasty and the early modern era starts with Safavids (1501), as "Encyclopaedia Iranica" also claims:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids
"The period of the Safavids, the dynasty that took control of Persia in the early 16th century, is often considered the beginning of modern Persian history"
However note also that other authors see Islamic Middle Ages lasting "down until the seventeenth century" and "it may be argued that certain continuities existed in Islamic civilization down until the advent of modern secular and national ideologies in the nineteenth century CE." (Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia: http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Islamic-Civilization-Encyclop...)