Timur Tamerlane
Timur was born in Kesh
(Shahr-i-Sabz) in 1336.
Timur was a kinsman to Genghis
Khan (Cinggis Qan) and hereditary member of
the clan Barulas. He was both Mongol as a Barulas
and also a Chagatai Turk as a member of the
Chagatai Horde.
The birth of Timur in Kesh
(Shahr-i-Sabz) n1336.
1346-63 Tughlug Timur becomes the
last independent Chagatai Khan in Transoxiana
1363 Timur expels Khan Tughlug
Timur and sets up a puppet Cingissid Khan. - (W.
3)
1398/99 From 1398 to 1399 Timur
invaded the Delhi Sultanate and sacked Delhi.
A great conqueror who ravaged the
Islamic world.
Circa 1500 the Shaybanid
Uzbeks capture Samarkand under Muhammad
Shaybani Khan (1451-1510), thus taking over
Turan (Transoxiana) from the Timurids.
TI'MUR, SULTAN, KIAMRAM KOTB-ED-DI'N
GURGAN SA'HEB-KIRA'N JIHA'NGIR, that is, Sultan Timur, the
fortunate, the axis of the faith, the great wolf, the
master of time, the conqueror of the world." Timur, a
name which frequently occurs among the princes of the
Eastern Turks, signifies
' iron' in the Jagatai dialect, and corresponds to
the Osmanli' demur." Timur was born on the 5th or
25th of Sha'ban, 736 A.h. (a.d. 1335), at Sebz, a suburb &
Kesh, a town south-east of Samarkand. He was the son
of Taraghai-Nowian, who was chief of the Turkish tribe of
the Barlas, which inhabited the district of Kesh. Timur was
descended from a younger son of Bardam-Khan Behadir, or
Baghatur, whose eldest son, Yessugai, was the father of Genghis
Khan, and he was a direct descendant of Genghis
Khan on the female side. He was consequently of
Mongol origin, and, being of royal blood, he held a high
rank among that Mongol nobility which was founded by Genghis
Khanamong the Eastern Turks. [tartars.] This rank is
expressed by the title Nowian, which was added to the
name of his father. Yet the power of his family was not
great. Timur was a soldier at the age of twelve years,
and he spent his youth in the continual feuds between the
nobles of those different kingdoms and principalities
into which the empire of Genghis
Khan was divided by his successors. After the death
of his father, his uncle Seif-ed-din became chief of the
Barlas, being the eldest of the family; but * war having
broken out between Hussein, khan of Northern Khorasan,
and Mawerainnehr (Mawar-el-nahr), or Jagatai, and Timur-Togluk,
khan of the Getes (Getae), in Northern Turkistan, young Timur
actively supported Hussein, and was appointed
chief of the tribe of the Barlas in A.h. 763 (aj>. 1361).
In this war Timur received a wound in his thigh, in consequence
of which he became lame. From this he was called Timur-lenk,
or the lame Timur, which hat been corrupted by Europeans
into Tamerlane, by which name Timur is as well known in Europe
as by his real name. Hussein rewarded him also with the
hand of his sister Turkan, A.h. 765 (a.d. 1363).
Notwithstanding these favors, Timur intrigued against his
protector; and after the death of his wife he openly
rebelled against him. A.H. 767 (a.d. 1365). With a body
of only 250 horsemen he surprised and took Nakhshab, a
town which was defended by a garrison of 12,000 men,
among whom there were most probably a great number of
traitors. In A.H. 768 (A.D. 1366) he defeated Hussein
near his capital, Balkh, and this prince was murdered by
some emirs, who, seeing their former master forsaken by
fortune, endeavored to obtain the favor of Timur by
putting his rival to death. Balkh, which was defended by
the adherents of Hussein, was taken by storm and
destroyed by fire after a siege of three years, A.h. 771 (a.d.
1369), and Timur was
proclaimed khan of Jagatai in the same year by the
Kurultai, or the general assembly of the people. He
chose Samarkand for his capital. Hussein-Sofi, khan of
Khowaresm (Khiva), having imprisoned Timur's ambassadors,
was attacked by Timur, who, after five campaigns, at last
succeeded in taking the town of Khowaresm, in A.h. 781 (a.d.
1379). The town was destroyed, and the principal
inhabitants, especially artists and scholars, were
transplanted to Kesh, which became the second capital
of Timur's empire. Previously to this the khan of the
Getes, who was master of the country between the Sihun,
or Jaxartes, and the Irtish, had likewise been compelled
to pay homage to Timur, who thus became master of a part
of Siberia and of the whole country which we now call
Turkistan, and which was formerly known by the name of
Great Tartary. After these conquests Timur thought
himself strong enough to carry into effect the plan of
making himself master of all those countries which had
once obeyed his ancestor Genghis
Khan. He
first attacked Khorasan, or the north-eastern part of
Persia, which was then divided between Gaiyath-ed-din-
Pir-'Ali, who resided at Herat, and
Khojah-'Ali-Murjid, whose capital was Sabzawar. Khojah-'Ali-Murjid,
whose dominions were on the boundaries of Jagatai',
paid homage to Timur as soon as he was summoned ; but the master of
Herat prepared a vigorous resistance. Timur took Herat
by storm, but did not destroy it. He carried off as his
only trophy the iron gates of this town, which were noted
for their beautiful workmanship, and which he ordered to
be transported to his birthplace, Kesh. The larger towns
of Khorasan surrendered without resistance, and Timur was
only checked by several strong fortresses, such as
Shaburkan, Kabushin, and especially Kahkaha, between Balkh
and Kelat, in the mountains of the Hindu-Rush. When these
fortresses fell, all Khorasan was under his yoke. The
inhabitants of Sabzawar having revolted, Timur look the
town by storm: two thousand of the inhabitants were
placed alive one upon the other, till they formed a mass
like a tower, and each layer of human beings was fastened
to the rest by mortar, as if they were so many bricks.
Beginning his
career at an age when other conquerors are satisfied with
their laurels, Timur had employed twenty years in
reflecting on the principles of warfare. He led his
armies with the prudent boldness of an experienced
genera), but not with the superiority of genius. The
differences between the numerous successors of Genghis
Khan enabled Timur to attack them one after another,
and each was pleased with the fall of his rivals. He
employed the same policy in his war against Persia. This
country was governed by several princes. Shah-Shuja, of
the dynasty of Muzaffer, who reigned in Pars and southern
Irak, or in that part of Persiawhich was most exposed to
any army from the east, submitted to Timur without
resistance. Thus Sultan Ahmed, of the house of the
Ilkhan, the master of Northern Irak and Azerbaijan, or Western
Persia, had alone to sustain the attacks of the Tartars, A.h.
788 (a.d. 1386). Timur entered the dominions of Ahmed by
following the coast of the Caspian Sea. In one campaign
he conquered the provinces of Mazanderan, Rey, and
Rustemdar, and took the towns of Sultania, Tabriz, and
Nakhichevan. He crossed the Araxesat Julfa on a
magnificent bridge, which was strongly fortified on both
sides, but which is now destroyed. Kars, now the key of
Eastern Turkey, fell into his hands; Tiflis
surrendered, and the prince of Georgiapurchased his
protection by adopting the Mohammedan faith. The prince
of Shirwan sent tribute to the camp of Timur, nine pieces
of each thing sent (nine was a holy number among the
Mongol princes), but only eight slaves; the ninth was
himself. On these terms he was allowed to remain in
possession of his dominions. Taherten, king of Armenia,
submitted to Timur without any resistance; but
Kara-Yusuf, prince of Diyarbakir, and master of the
country round Lake Wan, prepared to defend himself. A
body of Timur's array marched against him, and took the
fortresses of Akhlat and Adiljuwaz by storm ; and Timur himself
conducted the siege of Wan. This famous fortress fell
after a siege of twenty days, the garrison was cast from
the steep rock on which this town is situated, and the
fortifications were razed by ten thousand miners and
pioneers. Ready to cross the Carduchian Mountains and to
descend into the valley of the Upper Tigris, Timur was
obliged, by a revolt of the inhabitants of Isfahan, to
march suddenly to southern Persia. He took Isfahanby a
general assault: he spared the lives and the houses of
artists and scholars, but the remainder of the city was
destroyed, and the inhabitants were massacred. More than
70,000 heads were laid at the feet of the conqueror, who
ordered his soldiers to pile them up on the public places
of the town, A.h. 789 (a.d. 1387).
Satisfied with
having conquered the greater part of Persia, Timur turned
his arms towards the north, and overran the kingdom of Kipchak,
which was then governed by Toktamish-Khan. This war
lasted from A.h. 789 to 799 (a.d. 1387 to 1396). [tartars,
Kipchak.} We shall here only mention the march of Timur
in the campaign of A.h. 793 (a.d. 1391). According to
Sheref-ed-din, Timur started from Tashkent, on the
Jaxartes, on the 13th of Safer, A.h. 793 (19th of
January, 1391). He marched in a northern direction, and
passed by Kara-suma, Yazi, Karachuk and Sabrin, until he
reached Sarik-Uzen, on the river Arch: thence he
proceeded as far as Mount Kochuk-dagh, and subsequently
crossed Mount Ulu-dagh, or the range of the Altai. He
then took a north-western direction unti1he reached the
upper part of the river Tobol in Siberia, and thence
proceeded westward. crossing the Ural Mountains, and the
upper part of the river Ural, or Yaik, where he drew up
his army on the banks of the Bielaya, a southern
tributary of the Kama, which flows into the Volga.
Toktamish, who awaited Timur in the environs of Orenburg,
was not a little astonished to find him so far advanced
towards the north; but being informed of his having taken
that direction, he hastened to the country of the Bielaya
(Bashkiria), and fought that dreadful battle which took
place on the 15th of Rejeb, A.h. 793 (18th of June,
1391), in which his whole army was slaughtered.
In the
following year (a.h. 794; A.d. 1392) Timur returned to
his residence at Samarkand, and he left the war with
Kipchak to his lieutenants; he only appeared in the field
in A.h. 797 (a.d. 1315) in order to stop the progress of
Toktamish in the Caucasian countries. Meanwhile troubles
broke out in northern Persia, which were put down by
Timur's generals, who committed unheard-of cruelties,
especially in the town of Amul, where the whole tribe of
the Fedayis was massacred. Timur himself attacked
southern Persia after his first return from Kipchak. The country of Karswas
governed by several princes of the dynasty of Muzaffer,
vassals of Timur, who aimed at independence. After
having occupied Loristan, Timur entered Kars by
the mountain-passes east of Shiraz, which were
defended by the stronghold of Kalai'-zefid; but this
fortress and the capital Shiraz were taken, the princes
were put to death or fell in battle, and Timur's son
Miran- Shah was invested with the government of Fars and
Khuzestan. From Shiraz Timur marched westwards to attack
the king of Bagdad, Ahmed Jelair, of the house of Ilkhan
Bagdad surrendered without resistance, and Sultan Ahmed
and his family fled towards the Euphrates, accompanied by
a small body of cavalry. Timur and forty-five emirs
mounted on the swiftest Arabian horses pursued the
sultan, and came up with him before he had reached the Euphrates.
In the engagement which ensued Ahmed was again defeated
and compelled to fly, leaving his harem and one of his
sons in the hands of the victor. The scholars and artists
of Bagdad were transplanted to Samarkand; Timur remained
at Bagdad for two months, allowing so little license to
his soldiers that he ordered all the wine which was found
in the town to be thrown into the Tigris.
During this
time Kara-Yusuf, prince of Diyarbakir, had recovered part
of those districts round Lake Wan which Timur had taken
from him in a former campaign; and several princes in Armenia
and Georgia were still independent. Timur resolved to
bring them to submission, and after having succeeded in
this, to attack the kingdom of Kipchak on its boundaries
in the Caucasus. Starting from Bagdad in A.h. 797 (a.d. 1394),
he marched to the Upper Tigris by Tekrit, Roha or Edessa,
Ho-su, and Keif, all situated in Mesopotamia. He laid
siege to Mardin, a strong place in the mountain-passes
south-east of Diyarbakir, but ilot being able to take it,
he contented himself with the promise of an annual
tribute which Sultan Iza, the master Of Mardin, engaged
to pay, and he marched to Diyarbakir. This town was taken
and plundered. From Diyarbakir Timur marched to Akhlat,
north of Lake Wan, crossing the mountains, as it seems,
by the passes of the Bedlis, or Centrites. [tigranocerta.]
After having subdued all Armenia and Georgia, Timur reached
the river Terek in the Caucasus, and there fought another
bloody battle with the khan of Kipchak. In A.d. 1395 and
1396 Timur conquered all Kipchak, and penetrated as far
as Moscow, whereupon he left the command of these
countries to his lieutenants, and returned to Samarkand,
in order to prepare for a campaign against India.
After the death
of Firus-Shah, the master of India between the Indus and
the Ganges, several pretenders made claims to the vacant
throne. At last Mahmud succeeded in making himself master
of Delhi, and in establishing his authority all over the
empire of Firus-Shah. Under the pretext of supporting the
rivals of Mahmud, Timur declared war against India; and
such was the renown of his name, that ambassadors from
all the countries of the East arrived at Samarkand and
congratulated him on his new conquests before he had
obtained any triumph. Timur left his capital in A.h. 801 (a.d.
1398). He took his way through the passes in the Ghur
Mountains, or the western part of the Hindu-Kush ; and on
the 8th of Moharrem, A.h. 801 (19th of September, 1398),
he crossed the Indus at Attock, where Alexander had
entered India [Alexander The Great], and where Genghis
Khan had been compelled to give up his plan of
advancing farther. Timur traversed the Punjab in a
direction from north-west to south-east, crossing the
rivers Behut, Chunab, Ravee, the Beeah, the Hyphasis of
the ancients, where Alexander terminated his conquests,
and the Sutlej, the easternmost of the five great rivers
of the Punjab. Although no great battle had been fought,
the Tartars had already made more than 100,000 prisoners;
and as their number daily increased, Timur ordered them
all to be massacred, to prevent any mutiny, which might
have become fatal to mm in case of a defeat. At last the
Indian army was defeated in a battle near Delhi, and this
town, with all its immense treasures, fell into the hands
of the conqueror. Delhi was plundered, and a part of it
was destroyed, the inhabitants having set fire to their
houses, and thrown themselves with their wives and
children into the flames. Several thousands of artists
and skilful workmen were transplanted to Samarkand. Timur
pursued the army of Mahmud as far as the sources of the
Ganges, and after having established his authority in the
conquered countries, returned to Samarkand in the same
year in which he had set out for the conquest of India.
Meanwhile
troubles had broken out between the vassal princes in Persia
and the countries west of it; and Timur's own sons, who
were governors of this part of his empire, had attacked
each other, and one of them was accused of having made an
attempt to poison his brother. These events became as
many occasions of new conquests for Timur, who overran
the whole country between Persia and Syria. Sivas(Sebaste), one of
the strongest towns of Asia Minor, which belonged to the
Osmanlis, was taken after a siege of eighteen days. The
Mohammedan inhabitants were spared; the Christians, among
whom were more than 4000 Armenian horsemen, were interred
alive. (a.h. 803; A.d. 1400.) Among the prisoners was
Ertoghrul, the son of Bayazid, sultan of the Osmanlis,
who defended the town for his father, and who was put to
death after a short captivity. The fall of Sivas and the
murder of Ertoghrul were the signals for war between Timur
and Bayazid, who had filled Europe with the terror of his
name, and who was then besieging Constantinople. The
rapidity of his marches and the impetuosity of his
charges pad procured him the surname of ' Ilderim,' or
the ' Lightning;' and accustomed to victories over the
knights of Hungary, Poland, France, and Germany, he did
not dread the Tatars of Timur. Previously to the siege of
Sivas, he had negotiated with Timur about some Turkish
emirs in Asia Minor, and especially about Taherten king
of Armenia, a vassal of Timur, who had been deprived by
Bayazid of several of their best towns, and whom Timur protected.
To humble his pride, Bayazid imprisoned the Tatar ambassadors,
and Timur in revenge carried devastation into the
dominions of the Osmanlis.
Before Bayazid had
crossed the Bosporus, Timur, offended by Ferruj,
Sultan of Egypt, overran Syria, then a dependence of Egypt.
The army of Ferruj was routed with dreadful slaughter at
Haleb, and this populous town was taken by the Tatars,
who entered it with the flying Egyptians. Plunder,
bloodshed, and cruelties signalized this new conquest
(11th to 14th of Rebuil-ewwal, A.h. 803; 30th of October
to 2nd of November, 1400 A.d.), which was followed by the
fall of Damascus (9th of Sha'ban, A.h. 803; 25th of
March, 1401). Artists and workmen were as usual carried
off to Samarkand and other towns of Turkistan. Ferruj
became a vassal of the Tatars. Bagdad having revolted, Timur
took it by storm on the 27th of Zilkide, 803 A.h. (9th of
July, 1401 A.d.), and 90,000 human heads were piled up on
the public places of the town.
Hitherto
negotiations had still been carried on between Timur and Bayazid, who had
advanced into Asia Minor with a well-disciplined although
not very numerous army. But Bayazid having discovered
that Timur had bribed several regiments of Turkmen that
were in the army of the Osmanlis, the negotiations were
broken off, and the two greatest conquerors of their time
advanced to meet each other in the field.
After the fate
of Haleb, Damascus, and Bagdad, Timur had assembled his
army near Haleb, and, crossing the range of the Taurus,
he had proceeded north-westwards to the northern part of Anatolia.
At Angorahe met with Bayazid. The battle, one of the most
eventful which have ever been fought, took place on the
191 h of Zilkide, 804 A.h. (20th of July, 1402 A.D.).
After an obstinate resistance the Osmanlis, who were much
less numerous than the Tatars, were routed. Old Bayazid, to whom
flight was unknown, despised every opportunity of saving
himself, and so strong was the habit of victory in him.
That he could not conceive his defeat even when he saw
the general rout of his warriors. At the head of his
janissaries, Bayazid
maintained himself on the top of a hill; his soldiers
died of thirst or fell by the sword and the arrows of the
Tatars; at last he was almost alone. When the night came
he tried to escape; his horse fell, and Bayazid was made a
prisoner by the hand of Mahmud Khan, a descendant of
Genghis Khan, and who was under-khan of Jagatai. One
of his sons, Muza, was likewise made prisoner; another,
Mustafa, fell most probably in the battle, for he was
never more heard of; three others, Soliman, Mohammed, and
Iza, escaped with part of their troops. Timur received
his royal prisoner with kindness and generosity.
Afterwards, when some faithful Osmanlis tried to save
their master, he was put into chains, but only at night.
Accompanying Timur on his march, he sat in a 'kafes,'
that is, in a sedan hanging between two horses, and this
was the origin of the fable that Timur had put Bayazid in
an iron cage' like a wild beast, a fable which has
chiefly been propagated by Arabshah and the Byzantine
Phranzes (i., c. 26). Bayazid died in his captivity at
Akshehr, about a year after the battle of Angora (14th of
Sha'ban, 805 A.h. ; 8th of March, 1403 A.d.), and Timur allowed
Prince Muza to carry the body of his father to Brusa.
The sons of Timur
pursued the sons of Bayazid as far as the Bosporus, but
having no fleet, they did not cross this channel. They
ravaged the country, and afterwards joined their father Timur,
who with the main body of his army took Ephesus and laid
siege to Smyrna. This town, which belonged to the Knights
of St. John at Rhodes, fell after gallant resistance, in
the month of December, 1402. However, the conquest of Asia
Minor from the Osmanlis was only a temporary triumph, for
a short time afterwards it was recovered by Mohammed I.,
the son and successor of the unfortunate Bayazid. After
having thus carried his arms as far as the shore of the
Ionian Sea, Timur withdrew to Persia to quell an
insurrection, and then retired to Samarkand. He was
preparing for the conquest of China, but he died on his
march to that country, at Otrar on the Jaxartes, on the
17th of Sha'ban, 807 A.h. (19th of February, 1405), in
his seventy-first year, after a reign of thirty-six
years, leaving thirty-six sons and grandsons, and
seventeen granddaughters. A considerable part of Timur's
western and northern conquests, Asia Minor, Bagdad,
Syria, Georgia, Armenia, and the whole kingdom of
Kipchak. were lost by his successors almost immediately
after his death, In
Persia and Jagatai his descendants reigned for a century;
and for three centuries they ruled over Northern India
under the name of the Great Moguls.
Timur has been
compared with Alexander, but he is far below him. It is
true, that except in India, Alexander found only
effeminate nations on his way, while Timur fought with
the most warlike nations of the world; but the enemies of
Alexander formed great political bodies which were
governed by one absolute master, while the warlike
nations which were subdued by Timur were divided into a
multitude of tribes and governed by numerous princes,
each of whom was jealous of his neighbor. Timur overran
the territory of two mighty nations, the Turks-Osmanlis,
and the Tatars of Kipchak, but he was not able to subdue
them. Both Alexander and Timur protected the arts and
sciences, but Timur could only transplant them by force
from one place to another, while poets and scholars
flocked to Alexander because he could appreciate their
talents. Timur's cruelty was the consequence of his
savage and barbarous temper ; Alexander only forgot the
laws of humanity when he was overpowered by wine or by
passion. Timur was a man of extraordinary talents, who
accomplished great things after long experience and
severe struggles: Alexander, a true genius, came, saw,
and vanquished. The greatness of Timur inspires awe, and
we shrink from it with terror; the greatness of Alexander
attracts us because it is adorned with the amiable
qualities of his character.
The life of Timur
is the subject of many valuable works. Sheref-ed-din-'Ali
wrote the history of Timur in Persian, which has been
translated into French by Petis de la Croix, under the
title ' Histoire de Timur-Bec, connu sous le noin du
Grand Tamerlan,' &c., Paris, 1722. This is the best
work concerning Timur, although the author often
flatters. Arabshah, a Syrian, on the contrary,
depreciates the character of Timur; his history, or
rather his epic, has been translated under the title '
Ahmedis Arabsiadae Vitae et Kerum Gestarum Timuri qui
vulgo Tamierlanes dicitur, Historia,' Lugduni-Batavorum,
1630. Longdit, Argote de Molina, Petrus Perundinus
Pratensis, Boekler, Kicherius, &c., have also written
the life of Timur. Among the Byzantines, Ducas,
Chalcondylas, and Phran- zes contain many valuable
accounts, though Phranzes is Jess critical than the
others. A very interesting book is ' Schildtberger, eine
Wunderbarliche und Kurzweilige Historic,' &c., 4to.
The same book was translated into modern German by
Penzel, Munchen, 1813. Schildtberger, a German soldier,
was made prisoner by the Turks in the battle of Nicopolis
(1396), when he was only sixteen years old. In the battle
of Angora he was taken by the Tatars, and became a kind
of secretary to Shahrokh and Miran-Shah, the sons of Timur.
He finally returned to Germany in 1427, after a captivity
of thirty years, and then wrote the history of his
adventures.
Gibbon gives a
splendid view of Timur's conquests in the Decline and
Fall,' chap. Ixv. Another most valuable work is Clavijo,
' Historia del gran Tamerlan, e Itinerario,' &c.
Clavijo, ambassador of king Henry III. of Castile at the
court of Timur, was present at the battle of Angora.
(Desguignies, Histoire dee Huns, vol. ii.) Timur may
be considered as the author of the ' Tufukat, or the Code
of Laws.' This work was originally written in the East-
Turkish language, and was translated into Persian. The
Persian version, with an English translation and a most
valuable index, was published by Major Davy and Professor
White, Oxford, 1783, 4to.; and Langles has translated the
Persian version into French, under the title, 'Institute
Politiques et Militaires de Tamerlan,' Paris, 1787. This
work is of great importance for the history of Timur; we
see that this Tatar conqueror was provided with
maps and works concerning geography, which were composed
by his order.
THE PENNY
CYCLOPAEDIA THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL
KNOWLEDGE. VOLUME XXIV. TAI-WAN TITLARKS. LONDON:
CHARLES KNIGHT AND Co., 22, LUDGATE STREET. MDCCCXLII.
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