Amir Timur biography and victories. Tamerlane: biography. New conquests and new blood
Timur Tamerlan photography
Timur was born in the city of Kesh (in the Bukhara Khanate) or its environs; came from the Turkified Mongol tribe Barulas. During Timur's childhood, the Jagatai state in Central Asia collapsed. In Maverannehr, since 1346, power belonged to the Turkic emirs, and the khans enthroned by the emperor ruled only nominally. In 1348, the Mongol emirs elevated Tukluk-Timur to the throne, who began to rule in Eastern Turkestan, the Kulja region and Semirechye. The first head of the Turkic emirs was Kazagan (1346 - 58).
Timur was originally the head of a gang of robbers that formed in troubled times. With her, he entered the service of the ruler of Kesha Haji, the head of the Barulas tribe. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tukluk-Timur; Haji fled to Khorasan, where he was killed; Timur was confirmed as the ruler of Kesh and one of the assistants of the Mongol prince Ilyas Khoja (son of the khan), appointed ruler of Transoxiana. Timur soon separated from the Mongols and went over to the side of their enemy Hussein (grandson of Kazagan); For some time they, with a small detachment, led the life of adventurers; During one skirmish in Seistan, Timur lost two fingers on his right hand and was seriously wounded in his right leg, which caused him to become lame (the nickname “lame Timur” is Aksak-Timur in Turkic, Timur-long in Persian, hence Tamerlane).
In 1364 the Mongols were forced to cleanse the country; Huseyn became the ruler of Transoxiana; Timur returned to Kesh. In 1366, Timur rebelled against Hussein, in 1368 he made peace with him and again received Kesh; in 1369, he again rebelled. In March 1370, Huseyn was captured and killed in the presence of Timur, although without his direct order. On April 10, 1370, Timur took the oath of all the military leaders of Transoxiana. Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan and was content with the title of “great emir”; The khans under him were considered to be the descendant of Genghis Khan Suyurgatmysh (1370 - 88) and his son Mahmud (1388 - 1402).
Timur chose Samarkand as his residence and decorated it with magnificent construction projects. Timur devoted the first years of his autocracy to establishing order in the country and security on its borders (the fight against rebel emirs, campaigns against Semirechye and East Turkestan). In 1379, Khorezm (now the Khanate of Khiva) was conquered; from 1380, campaigns against Persia began, apparently caused only by aggressive aspirations (Timur’s saying: “the entire space of the populated part of the world is not worth having two kings”); Subsequently, Timur also acted as a representative of the idea of state order, necessary for the benefit of the population and impossible with the existence of a number of small rulers hostile to each other. In 1381 Herat was taken; in 1382, Timur's son, Miranshah, was appointed ruler of Khorasan; in 1383 Timur devastated Seistan.
Timur made three large campaigns in the western part of Persia and the adjacent regions - the so-called “three-year” (from 1386), “five-year” (from 1392) and “seven-year” (from 1399). For the first time, Timur had to return back as a result of the invasion of Transoxiana by the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in alliance with the Semirechensk Mongols (1387). Timur in 1388 drove out the enemies and punished the Khorezmians for their alliance with Tokhtamysh, in 1389 he made a devastating campaign deep into the Mongolian possessions as far as the Irtysh to the north and to the Greater Yulduz to the east, in 1391 - a campaign against the Golden Horde possessions to the Volga. These campaigns achieved their goal, since after them we no longer see the invasions of the steppe people on Maverannehr. During the “five-year” campaign, Timur conquered the Caspian regions in 1392, and western Persia and Baghdad in 1393; Timur's son, Omar Sheikh, was appointed ruler of Fars, Miran Shah - ruler of Aderbeijan and Transcaucasia.
Tokhtamysh's invasion of Transcaucasia caused Timur's campaign against southern Russia (1395); Timur defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek, pursued him to the Russian borders (where he destroyed Yelets), plundered the trading cities of Azov and Kafa, burned Sarai and Astrakhan; but a lasting conquest of the country was not in mind, and the Caucasus ridge remained the northern border of Timur’s possessions. In 1396 he returned to Samarkand and in 1397 appointed his youngest son Shahrukh as ruler of Khorasan, Seistan and Mazanderan.
In 1398, a campaign was launched against India; in December, Timur defeated the army of the Indian Sultan (Toglukid dynasty) under the walls of Delhi and occupied the city without resistance, which a few days later was plundered by the army, and Timur pretended that this happened without his consent. In 1399, Timur reached the banks of the Ganges, on the way back he took several more cities and fortresses and returned to Samarkand with huge booty, but without expanding his possessions.
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The "seven-year" campaign was initially caused by the madness of Miranshah and the unrest in the region entrusted to him. Timur deposed his son and defeated the enemies who invaded his domain. In 1400, a war began with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazet, who captured the city of Arzinjan, where Timur's vassal ruled, and with the Egyptian Sultan Faraj, whose predecessor, Barkuk, ordered the death of Timur's ambassador back in 1393. In 1400, Timur took Sivas in Asia Minor and Aleppo (Aleppo) in Syria (which belonged to the Egyptian Sultan), and in 1401 Damascus. Bayazet was defeated and captured in the famous Battle of Angora (1402). Timur plundered all the cities of Asia Minor, even Smyrna (which belonged to the Johannite knights). The western part of Asia Minor in 1403 was returned to the sons of Bayazet, in the eastern part the small dynasties deposed by Bayazet were restored; in Baghdad (where Timur restored his power in 1401, and up to 90,000 inhabitants died), the son of Miranshah, Abu Bakr, was appointed ruler, in Aderbeijan (from 1404) - his other son, Omar.
In 1404, Timur returned to Samarkand and then launched a campaign against China, for which he began preparing back in 1398; that year he built a fortress (on the border of the current Syr-Darya region and Semirechye); Now another fortification was built, 10 days' journey further to the east, probably near Issyk-Kul. Timur gathered an army and in January 1405 arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins are not far from the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (according to historians - on February 18, according to Timur's tombstone - on the 15th).
Timur's career is in many ways reminiscent of the career of Genghis Khan: both conquerors began their activities as leaders of detachments of followers they personally recruited, who then remained the main support of their power. Like Genghis Khan, Timur personally entered into all the details of the organization of military forces, had detailed information about the forces of his enemies and the state of their lands, enjoyed unconditional authority among his army and could fully rely on his associates. Less successful was the choice of persons placed at the head of the civil administration (numerous cases of punishment for extortion of high dignitaries in Samarkand, Herat, Shiraz, Tabriz). The difference between Genghis Khan and Timur is determined by the latter's greater education. Timur did not receive a school education and was illiterate, but in addition to his native (Turkic) language, he spoke Persian and loved to talk with scientists, especially listening to the reading of historical works; with his knowledge of history he amazed the greatest of Muslim historians, Ibn Khaldun; Timur used stories about the valor of historical and legendary heroes to inspire his soldiers. Timur's buildings, in the creation of which he took an active part, reveal a rare artistic taste in him. Timur cared primarily about the prosperity of his native Maverannehr and about enhancing the splendor of his capital - Samarkand, where representatives of all branches of art and science were gathered from different countries; only in recent years did he take measures to improve the well-being of other regions of the state, mainly border ones (in 1398 a new irrigation canal was built in Afghanistan, in 1401 in Transcaucasia, etc.).
In Timur's attitude to religion, only political calculations are visible. Timur showed outward honor to theologians and hermits, did not interfere in the management of the property of the clergy, did not allow the spread of heresies (the prohibition of engaging in philosophy and logic), and took care of his subjects’ compliance with the rules of religion (closing entertainment establishments in large trading cities, despite the large income they generated treasury), but he personally did not deny himself the pleasures forbidden by religion, and only during his dying illness did he order the utensils of his feasts to be broken. To justify his cruelty on religious grounds, Timur in Shiite Khorasan and the Caspian regions acted as a champion of orthodoxy and a destroyer of heretics, and in Syria as an avenger for insults inflicted on the family of the prophet. The structure of military and civil administration was determined almost exclusively by the laws of Genghis Khan; Subsequently, theological authorities refused to recognize Timur as a devout Muslim, since he placed the laws of Genghis Khan above the dictates of religion. In Timur’s cruelties, in addition to cold calculation (like Genghis Khan), a painful, refined brutality is manifested, which, perhaps, should be explained by the physical suffering that he endured all his life (after the wound received in Seistan). The sons (except Shahrukh) and grandsons of Timur suffered from the same mental abnormality, as a result of which Timur, in contrast to Genghis Khan, did not find in his descendants either reliable assistants or continuers of his work. It turned out, therefore, to be even less durable than the result of the efforts of the Mongol conqueror.
TamerlaneBiography of the commander
Tamerlane (Timur; April 9, 1336, village of Khoja-Ilgar, modern Uzbekistan - February 18, 1405, Otrar, modern Kazakhstan; Chagatai (Temur, Temor) - “iron”) - Central Asian conqueror who played a significant role in the history of Central Asia, South and Western Asia, as well as the Caucasus, Volga region and Rus'. Outstanding commander, emir (since 1370). Founder of the Timurid empire and dynasty, with its capital in Samarkand. Ancestor of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India.
Thanks to the efforts of this particular person, as a result of the almost complete extermination of the troops of the Golden Horde under the leadership of Khan Tokhtamysh on the Dnieper and the destruction by Tamerlane of the capital of the Golden Horde, liberation from the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' became possible.
Tamerlane's name
monument to Tamerlane in Samarkand
Timur's full name was Timur ibn Taragay Barlas (Timur bin Taragay Barlas - Timur son of Taragay from Barlas) in accordance with the Arabic tradition (alam-nasab-nisba). In the Chagatai and Mongolian languages (both Altaic) Temur or Temir means “iron”. The word (Temur) probably goes back to the Sanskrit *cimara (“iron”).
After Timur became related to the clan of Genghis Khan, he took the name Timur Gurkani (Gurkan - an Iranianized version of the Mongolian krgen or hrgen, “son-in-law.”
In various Persian sources, the Iranianized nickname Timur-e Lang, “Timur the Lame,” is often found; this name was probably considered at that time as a contemptuous and derogatory name. It passed into Western languages (Tamerlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine, Timur Lenk) and into Russian, where it does not have any negative connotation and is used along with the original “Timur”.
Personality of Tamerlane
monument to Tamerlane in Tashkent
The biography of Timur is in many ways reminiscent of the biography of Genghis Khan: both conquerors began their activities as leaders of detachments of followers they personally recruited, who then remained the main support of their power. Like Genghis Khan, Timur personally entered into all the details of the organization of military forces, had detailed information about the forces of his enemies and the state of their lands, enjoyed unconditional authority among his army and could fully rely on his associates. Less successful was the choice of persons placed at the head of the civil administration (numerous cases of punishment for extortion of high dignitaries in Samarkand, Herat, Shiraz, Tabriz).
The difference between Genghis Khan and Timur is determined by the latter's greater education. Genghis Khan was deprived of any education. Timur, in addition to his native (Turkic) language, spoke Persian and loved to talk with scientists, especially listen to the reading of historical works; with his knowledge of history he amazed the greatest of Muslim historians, Ibn Khaldun; Timur used stories about the valor of historical and legendary heroes to inspire his soldiers.
Timur's buildings, in the creation of which he took an active part, reveal a rare artistic taste in him.
Timur cared primarily about the prosperity of his native Maverannahr and about enhancing the splendor of his capital, Samarkand. Timur brought craftsmen, architects, jewelers, builders, and architects from all the conquered lands in order to equip Samarkand. He managed to express all his care that he put into this city through his words about it: “There will always be a blue sky and golden stars above Samarkand.” Only in recent years did he take measures to improve the well-being of other regions of the state, mainly border ones (in 1398 a new irrigation canal was built in Afghanistan, in 1401 - in Transcaucasia, etc.)
Biography
Childhood and youth
Chagatai Khanate
Timur was born on April 8 (9), 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar near the city of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan) in Central Asia.
As the opening of the tomb by M. M. Gerasimov and the subsequent study of Tamerlane’s skeleton from his burial showed, his height was 172 cm. Timur was strong and physically developed, his contemporaries wrote about him: “If most warriors could pull the bow string to the level of the collarbone, then Timur pulled it up to his ear.” The hair was lighter than most of his fellow tribesmen.
His father's name was Taragai, he was a military man, a petty feudal lord. He came from the Mongolian Barlas tribe, which by that time already spoke the Turkic Chagatai language. He had no school education and was illiterate, but he knew the Koran by heart. He had 18 wives, of which his favorite wife was Emir Hussein’s sister, Uljay Turkan Agha. People called him “the not very noble bey.”
During Timur's childhood, the Chagatai state collapsed in Central Asia (Chagatai ulus). In Transoxiana, since 1346, power belonged to the Turkic emirs, and the khans enthroned by the emperor ruled only nominally. In 1348, the Mogul emirs enthroned Tugluk-Timur, who began to rule in East Turkestan, the Kuldzha region and Semirechye.
Rise of Timur
Fight against Mogolistan
Mongol possessions throughout the continent in the 13th - 14th centuriesand territories conquered from the Horde by Tamerlane
The first head of the Turkic emirs was Kazagan (1346-1358). Timur entered the service of the ruler of Kesh - Hadji Barlas (his uncle), the head of the Barlas tribe. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tughluk-Timur. Haji Barlas fled to Khorasan, and Timur entered into negotiations with the khan and was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region, but was forced to leave after the departure of the Mongols and the return of Haji Barlas.
In 1361, Khan Tughluk-Timur again occupied the country, and Haji Barlas again fled to Khorasan, where he was subsequently killed. In 1362, Tughluk-Timur hastily left Transoxiana as a result of the rebellion of a group of emirs in Mogolistan, transferring power to his son Ilyas-Khoja. Timur was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region and one of the assistants of the Mogul prince. Before the khan had time to cross the Syr Darya River, Ilyashodja-oglan, together with Emir Bekchik and other close emirs, conspired to remove Timurbek from state affairs, and, if possible, to destroy him physically. The intrigues intensified and became dangerous. Timur had to separate from the Moguls and go over to the side of their enemy - Emir Hussein (grandson of Kazagan). For some time, with a small detachment, they led the life of adventurers and went towards Khorezm, where in the battle of Khiva they were defeated by the ruler of those lands, Tavakkala-Kongurot, and with the remnants of their warriors and servants were forced to retreat deep into the desert. Subsequently, going to the village of Mahmudi in the region subject to Mahan, they were captured by the people of Alibek Dzhanikurban, in whose dungeons they spent 62 days in captivity. According to historian Sharafiddin Ali Yazdi, Alibek intended to sell Timur and Hussein to Iranian merchants, but in those days not a single caravan passed through Mahan. The prisoners were rescued by Alibek's elder brother, Emir Muhammad Beg.
In 1361-1364, Timurbek and Emir Hussein lived on the southern bank of the Amu Darya in the regions of Kakhmard, Daragez, Arsif and Balkh and waged a guerrilla war against the Mongols. During a skirmish in Seistan, which took place in the fall of 1362 against the enemies of the ruler Malik Qutbiddin, Timur lost two fingers on his right hand and was seriously wounded in his right leg, causing him to become lame (the nickname “lame Timur” is Aksak-Temir in Turkic, Timur- e lang in Persian, hence Tamerlane).
In 1364 the Moguls were forced to leave the country. Returning back to Transoxiana, Timur and Hussein placed Kabul Shah from the Chagatand clan on the throne of the ulus.
The next year, at dawn on May 22, 1365, a bloody battle took place near Chinaz between the army of Timur and Hussein with the army of Mogolistan led by Khan Ilyas-Khoja, which went down in history as the “battle in the mud.” Timur and Hussein had little chance to defend their native land, since the army of Ilyas-Khoja had superior forces. During the battle, there was a torrential downpour, during which it was difficult for the soldiers to even look forward, and the horses got stuck in the mud, so the opponents had to retreat - the warriors of Timur and Hussein retreat to the other side of the Syr Darya River.
Meanwhile, the army of Ilyas-Khoja was expelled from Samarkand by a popular uprising of the Serbedars, which was led by his madrasah teacher Mavlanazada, the artisan Abubakr Ka-lavi and the sharp shooter Khurdaki Bukhari. Popular government was established in the city. Having learned about this, Timur and Hussein agreed to forgive the Serbedars - they lured them with kind speeches to negotiations, where in the spring of 1366 the troops of Hussein and Timur suppressed the uprising, executing the Serbedar leaders, but by order of Tamerlane they left alive the leader of the Serbedars - Mualan-zade, who the people's predilections were converted.
Election as "Great Emir"
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siege of the Balkh fortress in 1370
Hussein wanted to rule on the throne of the Chagatai ulus among the Turkic-Mongol people, like his uncle Kazagan, but according to established tradition, power from time immemorial belonged to the descendants of Genghis Khan. Hussein did not belong to the Genghisids, then Timur opposed the change in customs, and the title of the supreme emir (emir ul-umaro), from the time of Genghis Khan, passed from generation to generation to the leaders of the Barlas tribe, who were the ancestors of Timurbek. This is confirmed by a written agreement between Genghis Khan’s great-grandfather Tuminakhan and Kachuvli-bahadur, Timur’s first great-grandfather. During the reign of Kazankhan, the position of supreme emir was forcibly appropriated by Emir Husayn's grandfather, Emir Kazagan, which served as a reason for breaking the already not very good relations between beks Timur and Husayn. Each of them began to prepare for the decisive battle.
Having moved from Sali-sarai to Balkh, Hussein began to strengthen the fortress and prepare for the decisive battle. Hussein decided to act with deception and cunning. He sent Timur an invitation to a meeting in the Chakchak gorge to sign a peace treaty, and as proof of his friendly intentions he promised to swear on the Koran. Having gone to the meeting, Timur took two hundred horsemen with him just in case, but Hussein brought a thousand of his soldiers and for this reason the meeting did not take place. Timur recalls this incident: “I sent Emir Hussein a letter with a Turkic beit with the following content:
Whoever intends to deceive me will lie in the ground himself, I am sure. Having shown his deceit, He himself will die from it.
When my letter reached Emir Hussein, he was extremely embarrassed and asked for forgiveness, but the second time I did not believe him.”
Gathering all his strength, Timur began to redirect to the other side of the Amu Darya River. The advanced units of his troops were commanded by Suyurgatmish-oglan, Ali Muayyad and Husapn Barlas. On the approach to the village of Biya, Barak, the leader of the Andhud Sayinds, advanced to meet the army and presented him with kettledrums and the banner of supreme power. On the way to Balkh, Timur was joined by Jaku Barlas, who arrived from Karkara with his army, and Emir Kaykhusrav from Khuttalan, and on the other side of the river, Emir Zinda Chashm from Shiberghan, Khazarians from Khulm and Badakhshan Muhammadshah also joined. Having learned about this, many of Emir Hussein’s soldiers left him.
Before the battle, Timur gathers a kurultai, at which a man from the Genghisid family, Suyurgatmysh, is elected khan.
Shortly before Timur was confirmed as the “great emir,” a certain good messenger, a certain sheikh from Mecca, came to him and said that he had a vision that he, Timur, would be a great ruler. On this occasion, he presented him with a banner, a drum, a symbol of supreme power. But he does not take this supreme power personally, but remains close to it.
On April 10, 1370, Balkh was conquered, and Hussein was captured and killed. At the kurultai, Timur took the oath of all the military leaders of Transoxiana. Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan and was content with the title of “great emir” - the khans under him were considered the descendant of Genghis Khan Suyurgatmysh (1370-1388), his son Mahmud (1388-1398) and Satuk Khan (1398-1405). Samarkand was chosen as the capital, and the feudal fragmentation was put to an end.
Strengthening Timur's state
Battle with Mogolistan and the Golden Horde
State of Tamerlane
Despite the laid foundation of statehood, Khorezm and Shibergan, which belonged to the Chagatai ulus, did not recognize the new government in the person of Suyurgatmish Khan and Emir Timur. It was restless on the southern and northern borders of the border, where Mogolistan and the White Horde caused trouble, often violating borders and plundering villages. After Uruskhan captured Sygnyak and moved the capital of the White Horde, Yassy (Turkestan), Sairam and Transoxiana to it were in even greater danger. It was necessary to take measures to strengthen statehood.
In the same year, the cities of Balkh and Tashkent recognized the power of Amir Timur, but the Khorezm rulers continued to resist the Chagatai ulus, relying on the support of the Dashti Kipchak rulers. Emir Timur demanded the return of the captured lands of Khorezm first peacefully, sending first a tawachi (quartermaster), then a shaykhulislama (head of the Muslim community) to Gurganj, but Husayn Sufi both times refused to fulfill this demand, taking the ambassador prisoner. Since then, Emir Timur has made five campaigns against Khorezm. It was finally taken in 1388.
The next goals of Amir Timur were to curb the Jochi ulus (known in history as the White Horde) and establish political influence in its eastern part and unite Mogolistan and Maverannahr, previously divided, into a single state, at one time called the Chagatai ulus. The ruler of Moghulistan, Emir Kamariddin, had the same goals as Timur. Mogolistan feudal lords often carried out predatory raids on Sairam, Tashkent, Fergana and Turkestan. The raids of Emir Kamariddin in the 70-71s and the raids in the winter of 1376 on the cities of Tashkent and Andijan brought especially great troubles to the people. In the same year, Emir Kamariddin captured half of Fergana, from where its governor Umar Shah Mirza fled to the mountains. Therefore, solving the problem of Mogolistan was important for calm on the borders of the country. From 1371 to 1390, Emir Timur made seven campaigns against Mogolistan, finally defeating the army of Kamariddin and Anka-tyur in 1390 during the last campaign. However, Timur only reached the Irtysh in the north, Alakul in the east, Emil and the headquarters of the Mongol khans Balig-Yulduz, but he was unable to conquer the lands east of the Tangri-Tag and Kashgar mountains. Kamariddin fled and subsequently died of dropsy. The independence of Mogolistan was preserved.
"Door to the chambers of Khan Tamerlane" painting by Vasily Vereshchagin 1875
Realizing the danger to the independence of Transoxiana from the unification of the Jochi ulus, from the very first days of his reign, Timur tried in every possible way to prevent its unification into a single state, which was once split into two - the White and Golden Hordes. The Golden Horde had its capital in the city of Sarai-Batu (Sarai-Berke) and extended across the North Caucasus, the northwestern part of Khorezm, Crimea, Western Siberia and the Volga-Kama principality of Bulgar. The White Horde had its capital in the city of Sygnak and extended from Yangikent to Sabran, along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, as well as on the banks of the Syr Darya steppe from Ulu-tau to Sengir-yagach and the land from Karatal to Siberia. Khan of the White Horde, Urus Khan, tried to unite the once powerful state, whose plans were thwarted by the intensified struggle between the Jochids and the feudal lords of the Dashti Kipchak. Timur strongly supported Tokhtamysh-oglan, whose father died at the hands of Uruskhan, who eventually took the throne of the White Horde. However, after ascending to power, Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Golden Horde and began to pursue a hostile policy towards the lands of Transoxiana. Amir Timur made three campaigns against Khan Tokhtamysh, finally defeating him on February 28, 1395.
After the defeat of the Golden Horde and Khan Tokhtamysh, the latter fled to the Bulgar. In response to the plunder of the lands of Maverannahr, Emir Timur burned the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Batu, and gave the reins of its government into the hands of Koyrichak-oglan, who was the son of Uruskhan. In search of Tokhtamysh, Timur began a campaign against Rus'.
In 1395, Tamerlane, who was marching against Rus', passed through the Ryazan region and took the city of Yelets; in the same year, Yelets was ravaged by Tamerlane’s troops, and the prince was captured; after Tamerlane moved towards Moscow, but unexpectedly turned around and went back on August 26th. According to church tradition, it was at that time that Muscovites met the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, transferred to Moscow to protect it from the conqueror. On the day of the meeting of the image, according to the chronicle, the Mother of God appeared to Tamerlane in a dream and ordered him to immediately leave the borders of Rus'. At the meeting place of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the Sretensky Monastery was founded. Tamerlane did not reach Moscow, his army marched along the Don and took it completely.
Tamerlane
There is another point of view. According to “Zafar-name” (“Book of Victories”) by Sheref ad-din Yezdi, Timur ended up on the Don after his victory over Tokhtamysh at the Terek River and before the total defeat of the cities of the Golden Horde in the same 1395. Tamerlane personally pursued the retreating commanders of Tokhtamysh after the defeat until they were completely defeated. On the Dnieper the enemy was finally defeated. Most likely, according to this source, Timur did not set the goal of a campaign specifically on Russian lands. Some of his troops, not he himself, approached the borders of Rus'. Here, on the comfortable summer Horde pastures that stretched in the floodplain of the Upper Don to modern Tula, a small part of his army stopped for two weeks. Although the local population did not offer serious resistance, the region suffered severe devastation. As Russian annalistic stories about Timur’s invasion testify, his army stood on both sides of the Don for two weeks, “captured” (occupied) the land of Yelets and “seized” (captured) the prince of Yelets. Some coin hoards in the vicinity of Voronezh date back to 1395. However, in the vicinity of Yelets, which, according to the above-mentioned Russian written sources, was subjected to a pogrom, no treasures with such a dating have been found to date. Sheref ad-din Yezdi describes large booty taken in Russian lands and does not describe a single combat episode with the local population, although the main purpose of the “Book of Victories” was to describe the exploits of Timur himself and the valor of his warriors. According to the legends of Yelets local historians of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Yelets residents showed stubborn resistance to the enemy. However, in the “Book of Victories” there is no mention of this; the names of the fighters and commanders who took Yelets, who were the first to ascend the rampart, and who personally captured the Yelets prince, are not named. Meanwhile, Russian women made a great impression on Timur’s warriors, about whom Sheref ad-din Yezdi writes in a poetic line: “Oh, beautiful feathers like roses stuffed into snow-white Russian canvas!” Then in “Zafar-name” there follows a detailed list of Russian cities conquered by Timur, including Moscow. Perhaps this is just a list of Russian lands that did not want an armed conflict and sent their ambassadors with gifts. After the defeat of Bek Yaryk Oglan, Tamerlane himself began to methodically ravage the lands of his main enemy Tokhtamysh. The Horde cities of the Volga region never recovered from Tamerlane’s devastation until the final collapse of this state. Many colonies of Italian merchants in the Crimea and in the lower reaches of the Don were also destroyed. The city of Tana (modern Azov) rose from ruins for several decades. Yelets, according to Russian chronicles, existed for another twenty years and was completely destroyed by certain “Tatars” only in 1414 or 1415.
He defeated Khan Tokhtamysh, who at that time headed the state of the Golden Horde. Fearing the transition of Transcaucasia and Western Iran to enemy rule, Tokhtamysh launched an invasion of this region in 1385. Having captured Tabriz and plundered it, the khan retreated with rich booty; Among the 90,000 captives was the Tajik poet Kamal Khojendi. In the 1390s, Tamerlane inflicted two severe defeats on the Horde khan - at Kondurch in 1391 and Terek in 1395, after which Tokhtamysh was deprived of the throne and forced to wage a constant struggle with the khans appointed by Tamerlane. With this defeat of the army of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane brought indirect benefit in the struggle of the Russian lands against the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Trips to the Caucasus, India, Syria, Persia and China
In 1380, Timur went on a campaign against Malik Ghiyasiddin Pir Ali II, who ruled in the city of Herat. At first, he sent an ambassador to him with an invitation to the kurultai in order to solve the problem peacefully, but Malik rejected the offer, detaining the ambassador. In response to this, in April 1380, Timur, under the leadership of emirzade Pirmuhammad Ja hangir, sent ten regiments to the left bank of the Amu Darya River. He captured the regions of Balkh, Shiberghan and Badkhiz. In February 1381, Emir Timur himself marched with troops and took the cities of Khorasan, Seraks, Jami, Kausiya, Tuye and Kelat, and Herat was taken after a five-day siege. also, in addition to Kelat, Sebzevar was taken, as a result of which the state of the Serbedars ceased to exist; in 1382, Timur's son, Miranshah, was appointed ruler of Khorasan; in 1383, Timur devastated Seistan and brutally suppressed the uprising of the Serbedars in Sebzevar.
In 1383, he took Seistan, in which the fortresses of Zirekh, Zave, Farah and Bust were defeated. In 1384 he captured the cities of Astrabad, Amul, Sari, Sultaniya and Tabriz, effectively capturing all of Persia. After which he went on a campaign to Armenia, after which he made several more campaigns of conquest in Persia and Syria. These campaigns are known in world history as three-year, five-year and seven-year campaigns, during which he fought wars in Syria, India, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey and Persia.
In 1402, Timur won a major victory over the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning, defeating him at the Battle of Ankara on July 28. The Sultan himself was captured. As a result of the battle, all of Asia Minor was captured, and the defeat of Bayezid led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by a peasant war and civil strife between his sons. The official reason for the war was the alleged presentation of gifts to Timur by Turkish ambassadors. Outraged by the fact that Bayezid was acting as a benefactor, Timur declared military action
Three great campaigns of Timur
Timur made three large campaigns in the western part of Persia and the adjacent regions - the so-called “three-year” (from 1386), “five-year” (from 1392) and “seven-year” (from 1399).
Three-year trek
For the first time, Timur was forced to return back as a result of the invasion of Transoxiana by the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in alliance with the Semirechensk Mongols (1387).
In 1388, Timur drove out his enemies and punished the Khorezmians for their alliance with Tokhtamysh, in 1389 he made a devastating campaign deep into the Mongolian possessions as far as the Irtysh to the north and to the Greater Zhyldyz to the east, in 1391 - a campaign against the Golden Horde possessions to the Volga. These campaigns achieved their goal.
In 1398, a campaign was launched against India; along the way, the highlanders of Kafiristan were defeated. In December, Timur defeated the army of the Indian Sultan (Toglukid dynasty) under the walls of Delhi and occupied the city without resistance, which was plundered by the army a few days later. In 1399, Timur reached the banks of the Ganges, on the way back he took several more cities and fortresses and returned to Samarkand with huge booty, but without expanding his possessions.
Five Year Campaign
During the “five-year” campaign, Timur conquered the Caspian regions in 1392, and western Persia and Baghdad in 1393; Timur's son, Omar Sheikh, was appointed ruler of Fars, Miran Shah - ruler of Transcaucasia. Tokhtamysh's invasion of Transcaucasia caused Timur's campaign against Southern Russia (1395); Timur defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek and pursued him to the borders of the Moscow kingdom. There he invaded the Ryazan lands, ravaged Yelets, posing a threat to Moscow. Having launched an attack on Moscow, he unexpectedly turned back and left the borders of Muscovy on the very day when Muscovites greeted the image of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, brought from Vladimir (from this day on, the icon is revered as the patroness of Moscow). Then Timur plundered the trading cities of Azov and Kafa, burned Sarai-Batu and Astrakhan, but the lasting conquest of the Golden Horde was not Tamerlane’s goal, and therefore the Caucasus range remained the northern border of Timur’s possessions. In 1396 he returned to Samarkand and in 1397 appointed his youngest son Shahrukh as ruler of Khorasan, Seistan and Mazanderan.
Seven Years' Campaign
The “seven-year” campaign was initially caused by the madness of Miranshah and the unrest in the region entrusted to him. Timur deposed his son and defeated the enemies who invaded his domain. In 1400, a war began with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazet, who captured the city of Arzinjan, where Timur's vassal ruled, and with the Egyptian Sultan Faraj, whose predecessor, Barkuk, ordered the murder of Timur's ambassador back in 1393. In 1400, Timur took Sivas in Asia Minor and Aleppo (Aleppo) in Syria (which belonged to the Egyptian Sultan), and in 1401 Damascus. Bayazet was defeated and captured in the famous Battle of Ankara (1402). Timur plundered all the cities of Asia Minor, even Smyrna (which belonged to the Johannite knights). The western part of Asia Minor was returned to the sons of Bayazet in 1403, and in the eastern part the small dynasties overthrown by Bayazet were restored. In Baghdad (where Timur restored his power (1401), and up to 90,000 inhabitants died), Miranshah's son, Abu Bekr, was appointed ruler. In 1404, Timur returned to Samarkand and then launched a campaign against China, for which he began preparing back in 1398. That year he built a fortress on the border of the current Syr-Darya region and Semirechye; Now another fortification was built, 10 days' journey further to the east, probably near Issyk-Kul.
Death
Mausoleum of Tamerlane in Samarkand
He died during the campaign against China. After the end of the seven-year war, during which Bayezid I was defeated, Timur began preparations for the Chinese campaign, which he had long planned due to Chinese claims to the lands of Transoxiana and Turkestan. He gathered a large army of two hundred thousand, with which he set out on a campaign on November 27, 1404. In January 1405, he arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins are not far from the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (according to historians - on February 18, according to Timur's tombstone - on the 15th). The body was embalmed, placed in an ebony coffin, lined with silver brocade, and taken to Samarkand. Tamerlane was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, which was still unfinished at that time.
Timur (Timur-Leng - Iron Lame), the famous conqueror of the eastern lands, whose name sounded on the lips of Europeans as Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), was born in Kesh (modern Shakhrisabz, "Green City"), fifty miles south of Samarkand in Transoxiana (the region of modern Uzbekistan between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya). According to some assumptions, Timur's father Taragai was the leader of the Mongol-Turkic tribe of Barlas (a large clan in the Chagatai Mongol tribe) and a descendant of a certain Karachar Noyon (a large feudal landowner in Mongolia in the Middle Ages), a powerful assistant of Chagatai, the son of Genghis Khan and a distant relative of the latter . Timur's reliable Memoirs say that he led many expeditions during the unrest that followed the death of Emir Kazgan, the ruler of Mesopotamia. In 1357, after the invasion of Tughlak Timur, Khan of Kashgar (1361), and the appointment of his son Ilyas-Khoja as governor of Mesopotamia, Timur became his assistant and ruler of Kesh. But very soon he fled and joined Emir Hussein, the grandson of Kazgan, becoming his son-in-law. After many raids and adventures, they defeated the forces of Ilyas-Khoja (1364) and set off to conquer Mesopotamia. Around 1370, Timur rebelled against his ally Hussein, captured him in Balkh and announced that he was the heir of Chagatai and was going to revive the Mongol empire.
Tamerlane devoted the next ten years to the fight against the khans of Jent (East Turkestan) and Khorezm and in 1380 captured Kashgar. He then intervened in the conflict between the khans of the Golden Horde in Rus' and helped Tokhtamysh take the throne. He, with the help of Timur, defeated the ruling khan Mamai, took his place and, in order to take revenge on the Moscow prince for the defeat he inflicted on Mamai in 1380, captured Moscow in 1382.
Timur's conquest of Persia in 1381 began with the capture of Herat. The unstable political and economic situation in Persia at that time contributed to the conqueror. The revival of the country, which began during the reign of the Ilkhans, slowed down again with the death of the last representative of the Abu Said family (1335). In the absence of an heir, rival dynasties took turns taking the throne. The situation was aggravated by the clash between the Mongol Jalair dynasties ruling in Baghdad and Tabriz; the Perso-Arab family of the Muzafarids, ruling in Fars and Isfahan; Kharid-Kurtov in Herat; local religious and tribal alliances, such as the Serbedars (rebels against Mongol oppression) in Khorasan and the Afghans in Kerman, and petty princes in the border areas. All these warring principalities could not jointly and effectively resist Timur. Khorasan and all of Eastern Persia fell under his onslaught in 1382 - 1385; Fars, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Armenia were conquered in 1386-1387 and 1393-1394; Mesopotamia and Georgia came under his rule in 1394. Between conquests, Timur fought Tokhtamysh, now khan of the Golden Horde, whose troops invaded Azerbaijan in 1385 and Mesopotamia in 1388, defeating Timur's forces. In 1391, Timur, pursuing Tokhtamysh, reached the southern steppes of Rus', defeated the enemy and overthrew him from the throne. In 1395, the Horde Khan again invaded the Caucasus, but was finally defeated on the Kura River. To top it off, Timur ravaged Astrakhan and Sarai, but did not reach Moscow. The uprisings that broke out throughout Persia during this campaign demanded his immediate return. Timur suppressed them with extraordinary cruelty. Entire cities were destroyed, the inhabitants were exterminated, and their heads were walled up in the walls of the towers.
In 1399, when Timur was already in his sixties, he invaded India, angry that the Delhi Sultans were showing too much tolerance towards their subjects. On September 24, Tamerlane's troops crossed the Indus and, leaving a bloody trail behind them, entered Delhi.
Having laid the stone foundation of the mosque, at the end of the same year, Timur undertook his last great expedition, the purpose of which was to punish the Egyptian Sultan Mameluke for supporting Ahmad Jalair and the Turkish Sultan Bayazet II, who had captured Eastern Anatolia. After restoring his power in Azerbaijan, Tamerlane moved to Syria. Aleppo was stormed and sacked, the Mameluke army was defeated, and Damascus was captured (1400). A crushing blow to the well-being of Egypt was that Timur sent all the craftsmen to Samarkand to build mosques and palaces. In 1401, Baghdad was stormed, twenty thousand of its inhabitants were killed, and all monuments were destroyed. Tamerlane spent the winter in Georgia, and in the spring he crossed the border of Anatolia, defeated Bayazet near Ankara (July 20, 1402) and captured Smyrna, which was owned by the Rhodian knights. Bayazet died in captivity, and the story of his imprisonment in an iron cage forever became a legend. As soon as the Egyptian Sultan and John VII (later co-ruler of Manuel II Palaiologos) stopped resisting. Timur returned to Samarkand and immediately began to prepare for an expedition to China. He set out at the end of December, but in Otrar on the Syr Darya River he fell ill and died on January 19, 1405. Tamerlane's body was embalmed and sent in an ebonite coffin to Samarkand, where he was buried in a magnificent mausoleum called Gur-Emir. Before his death, Timur divided his territories between his two surviving sons and grandsons. After many years of war and hostility over the will he left, Tamerlane’s descendants were united by the khan’s youngest son, Shahruk.
During Timur's life, contemporaries kept a careful chronicle of what was happening. It was supposed to serve as a basis for writing the official biography of the khan. In 1937, the works of Nizam ad-Din Shami were published in Prague. A revised version of the chronicle was prepared by Sharaf ad-Din Yazdi even earlier and published in 1723 in Petit de la Croix's translation. The opposite point of view was reflected by another contemporary of Timur, Ibn Arabshah, who was extremely hostile towards the khan. His book was published in 1936 in Sanders' translation under the title "Tamerlane, or Timur, the Great Emir." The so-called "Memoirs" of Timur, published in 1830 in Stewart's translation, are considered a forgery, and the circumstances of their discovery and presentation to Shah Jahan in 1637 are still questioned.
Portraits of Timur made by Persian masters have survived to this day. However, they reflected an idealized idea of him. They in no way correspond to the description of the khan by one of his contemporaries as a very tall man with a large head, rosy cheeks and naturally blond hair.
TIMUR, TAMERLANE, TIMURLENG (TIMUR-KHROMETS) 1336 - 1405
Central Asian conquering commander. Emir.
Timur, the son of a bek from the Turkified Mongolian Barlas tribe, was born in Kesh (modern Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan), southwest of Bukhara. His father had a small ulus. The name of the Central Asian conqueror comes from the nickname Timur Leng (Lame Timur), which was associated with his lameness in his left leg. Since childhood, he persistently engaged in military exercises and at the age of 12 began going on hikes with his father. He was a zealous Mohammedan, which played a significant role in his fight against the Uzbeks.
Timur early showed his military abilities and ability not only to command people, but also to subjugate them to his will. In 1361, he entered the service of Khan Togluk, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. He owned large territories in Central Asia. Quite soon, Timur became an adviser to the khan’s son Ilyas Khoja and the ruler (viceroy) of the Kashkadarya vilayet in the domain of Khan Togluk. By that time, the son of the bek from the Barlas tribe already had his own detachment of mounted warriors.
But after some time, having fallen into disgrace, Timur with his military detachment of 60 people fled across the Amu Darya River to the Badakhshan Mountains. There his squad was replenished. Khan Togluk sent a detachment of a thousand in pursuit of Timur, but he, having fallen into a well-arranged ambush, was almost completely exterminated in battle by Timur’s warriors.
Gathering his forces, Timur concluded a military alliance with the ruler of Balkh and Samarkand, Emir Hussein, and began a war with Khan Togluk and his son-heir Ilyas Khoja, whose army consisted mainly of Uzbek warriors. The Turkmen tribes sided with Timur, giving him numerous cavalry. Soon he declared war on his ally Samarkand Emir Hussein and defeated him.
Timur captured Samarkand, one of the largest cities in Central Asia, and intensified military operations against the son of Khan Togluk, whose army, according to exaggerated data, numbered about 100 thousand people, but 80 thousand of them formed garrisons of fortresses and almost did not participate in field battles. Timur's cavalry squad numbered only about 2 thousand people, but they were experienced warriors. In a series of battles, Timur defeated the Khan's troops, and by 1370 their remnants retreated across the Syr River.
After these successes, Timur resorted to military stratagem, which was a brilliant success. On behalf of the khan's son, who commanded Togluk's troops, he sent out an order to the commandants of the fortresses to leave the fortresses entrusted to them and to retreat beyond the Syr River with the garrison troops. So, with the help of military cunning, Timur cleared all the enemy fortresses of the khan’s troops.
In 1370, a kurultai was convened, at which the rich and noble Mongol owners elected a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, Kobul Shah Aglan, as khan. However, Timur soon removed him from his path. By that time, he had significantly replenished his military forces, primarily at the expense of the Mongols, and could now lay claim to independent khan power.
In the same 1370, Timur became emir in Transoxiana, a region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, and ruled on behalf of the descendants of Genghis Khan, relying on the army, nomadic nobility and Muslim clergy. He made the city of Samarkand his capital.
Timur began preparing for large campaigns of conquest by organizing a strong army. At the same time, he was guided by the combat experience of the Mongols and the rules of the great conqueror Genghis Khan, which his descendants had completely forgotten by that time.
Timur began his struggle for power with a detachment of 313 soldiers loyal to him. They formed the backbone of the command staff of the army he created: 100 people began to command dozens of soldiers, 100 hundreds and the last 100 thousand. Timur's closest and most trusted associates received senior military positions.
He paid special attention to the selection of military leaders. In his army, the foremen were chosen by the dozen soldiers themselves, but Timur personally appointed the centurions, thousand and higher-ranking commanders. A boss whose power is weaker than a whip and stick is unworthy of the title, said the Central Asian conqueror.
His army, unlike the troops of Genghis Khan and Batu Khan, received a salary. An ordinary warrior received from two to four times the price of horses. The size of such a salary was determined by the service performance of the soldier. The foreman received the salary of his ten and therefore was personally interested in the proper performance of service by his subordinates. The centurion received the salary of six foremen and so on.
There was also a system of awards for military distinctions. This could be the praise of the emir himself, an increase in salary, valuable gifts, rewarding with expensive weapons, new ranks and honorary titles such as, for example, Brave or Bogatyr. The most common punishment was the withholding of a tenth of the salary for a specific disciplinary offense.
Timur's cavalry, which formed the basis of his army, was divided into light and heavy. Simple light-horse warriors were required to be armed with a bow, 18-20 arrows, 10 arrowheads, an axe, a saw, an awl, a needle, a lasso, a tursuk (water bag) and a horse. For 19 such warriors on a campaign, one wagon was relied upon. Selected Mongol warriors served in the heavy cavalry. Each of her warriors had a helmet, iron protective armor, a sword, a bow and two horses. For five such horsemen there was one wagon. In addition to the mandatory weapons, there were pikes, maces, sabers and other weapons. The Mongols carried everything they needed for camping on spare horses.
Light infantry appeared in the Mongol army under Timur. These were horse archers (carrying 30 arrows) who dismounted before the battle. Thanks to this, shooting accuracy increased. Such mounted riflemen were very effective in ambushes, during military operations in the mountains and during the siege of fortresses.
Timur's army was distinguished by a well-thought-out organization and a strictly defined order of formation. Each warrior knew his place in the ten, ten in the hundred, hundred in the thousand. Individual units of the army differed in the color of their horses, the color of their clothes and banners, and their combat equipment. According to the laws of Genghis Khan, before the campaign, the soldiers were given a strict review.
During campaigns, Timur took care of reliable military guards in order to avoid a surprise attack by the enemy. On the way or at a stop, security detachments were separated from the main forces at a distance of up to five kilometers. From them, patrol posts were sent out even further, which, in turn, sent mounted sentries ahead.
Being an experienced commander, Timur chose flat terrain, with sources of water and vegetation, for the battles of his predominantly cavalry army. He lined up the troops for battle so that the sun did not shine in the eyes and thus did not blind the archers. He always had strong reserves and flanks to encircle the enemy drawn into battle.
Timur began the battle with light cavalry, which bombarded the enemy with a cloud of arrows. After this, horse attacks began, which followed one after another. When the opposing side began to weaken, a strong reserve consisting of heavy armored cavalry was brought into battle. Timur said: “..The ninth attack gives victory..” This was one of his main rules in war.
Timur began his campaigns of conquest beyond his original possessions in 1371. By 1380, he had made 9 military campaigns, and soon all neighboring regions inhabited by Uzbeks and most of the territory of modern Afghanistan came under his rule. Any resistance to the Mongol army was severely punished. Commander Timur left behind enormous destruction and erected pyramids from the heads of defeated enemy warriors.
In 1376, Emir Timur provided military assistance to the descendant of Genghis Khan, Tokhtamysh, as a result of which the latter became one of the khans of the Golden Horde. However, Tokhtamysh soon repaid his patron with black ingratitude.
The Emir's Palace in Samarkand was constantly replenished with treasures. It is believed that Timur brought to his capital up to 150 thousand of the best craftsmen from the conquered countries, who built numerous palaces for the emir, decorating them with paintings depicting the aggressive campaigns of the Mongol army.
In 1386, Emir Timur launched a campaign of conquest in the Caucasus. Near Tiflis, the Mongol army fought with the Georgian army and won a complete victory. The capital of Georgia was destroyed. The defenders of the Vardzia fortress, the entrance to which led through the dungeon, put up brave resistance to the conquerors. Georgian soldiers repulsed all enemy attempts to break into the fortress through an underground passage. The Mongols managed to take Vardzia with the help of wooden platforms, which they lowered on ropes from the neighboring mountains. At the same time as Georgia, neighboring Armenia was conquered.
In 1388, after long resistance, Khorezm fell and its capital Urgench was destroyed. Now all the lands along the Jeyhun (Amu Darya) river from the Pamir Mountains to the Aral Sea became the possessions of Emir Timur.
In 1389, the cavalry army of the Samarkand emir made a campaign in the steppes to Lake Balkhash, in the territory of Semirechye? south of modern Kazakhstan.
When Timur fought in Persia, Tokhtamysh, who became the khan of the Golden Horde, attacked the emir's possessions and plundered their northern part. Timur hastily returned to Samarkand and began to carefully prepare for a great war with the Golden Horde. Timur's cavalry had to travel 2,500 kilometers across the arid steppes. Timur made three major campaigns in 1389, 1391 and 1394-1395. In the last campaign, the Samarkand emir went to the Golden Horde along the western coast of the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan and the Derbent fortress.
In July 1391, the largest battle took place near Lake Kergel between the armies of Emir Timur and Khan Tokhtamysh. The forces of the parties were approximately equal to 300 thousand mounted warriors, but these figures in the sources are clearly overestimated. The battle began at dawn with mutual archery fire, followed by mounted charges against each other. By noon, the army of the Golden Horde was defeated and put to flight. The winners received the Khan's camp and numerous herds.
Timur successfully waged war against Tokhtamysh, but did not annex his possessions to himself. The Emir's Mongol troops plundered the Golden Horde capital of Sarai-Berke. Tokhtamysh with his troops and nomads more than once fled to the most remote corners of his possessions.
In the campaign of 1395, Timur’s army, after another pogrom of the Volga territories of the Golden Horde, reached the southern borders of the Russian land and besieged the border fortress town of Yelets. Its few defenders could not resist the enemy, and Yelets was burned. After this, Timur unexpectedly turned back.
The Mongol conquests of Persia and neighboring Transcaucasia lasted from 1392 to 1398. The decisive battle between the army of Emir Timur and the Persian army of Shah Mansur took place near Patila in 1394. The Persians energetically attacked the enemy center and almost broke its resistance. Having assessed the situation, Timur reinforced his reserve of heavy armored cavalry with troops that had not yet joined the battle, and he himself led a counterattack, which was victorious. The Persian army was completely defeated at the Battle of Patil. This victory allowed Timur to completely subjugate Persia.
When an anti-Mongol uprising broke out in a number of cities and regions of Persia, Timur again set out on a campaign there at the head of his army. All the cities that rebelled against him were destroyed, and their inhabitants were mercilessly exterminated. In the same way, the Samarkand ruler suppressed protests against Mongol rule in other countries he conquered.
In 1398, the great conqueror invades India. In the same year, Timur's army besieged the fortified city of Merath, which the Indians themselves considered impregnable. Having examined the city fortifications, the emir ordered digging. However, underground work progressed very slowly, and then the besiegers took the city by storm with the help of ladders. Having burst into Merath, the Mongols killed all its inhabitants. After this, Timur ordered the destruction of the Merath fortress walls.
One of the battles took place on the Ganges River. Here the Mongol cavalry fought with the Indian military flotilla, which consisted of 48 large river ships. The Mongol warriors rushed with their horses into the Ganges and swam to attack enemy ships, hitting their crews with well-aimed archery.
At the end of 1398, Timur's army approached the city of Delhi. Under its walls, on December 17, a battle took place between the Mongol army and the army of Delhi Muslims under the command of Mahmud Tughlaq. The battle began when Timur with a detachment of 700 horsemen, having crossed the Jamma River to reconnoiter the city fortifications, was attacked by the 5,000-strong cavalry of Mahmud Tughlaq. Timur repelled the first attack, and soon the main forces of the Mongol army entered the battle, and the Delhi Muslims were driven behind the city walls.
Timur captured Delhi in battle, subjecting this numerous and rich Indian city to plunder and its inhabitants to massacre. The conquerors left Delhi, burdened with enormous booty. Everything that could not be taken to Samarkand, Timur ordered to be destroyed or completely destroyed. It took a century for Delhi to recover from the Mongol pogrom.
The cruelty of Timur on Indian soil is best evidenced by the following fact. After the battle of Panipat in 1398, he ordered the killing of 100 thousand Indian soldiers who surrendered to him.
In 1400, Timur began a campaign of conquest in Syria, moving there through Mesopotamia, which he had previously conquered. Near the city of Aleppo (modern Aleppo) on November 11, a battle took place between the Mongol army and Turkish troops commanded by Syrian emirs. They did not want to sit under siege behind the fortress walls and went out to battle in the open field. The Mongols inflicted a crushing defeat on their opponents, and they retreated to Aleppo, losing several thousand people killed. After this, Timur took and plundered the city, taking its citadel by storm.
The Mongol conquerors behaved in Syria in the same way as in other conquered countries. All the most valuable things were to be sent to Samarkand. In the Syrian capital of Damascus, which was captured on January 25, 1401, the Mongols killed 20 thousand inhabitants.
After the conquest of Syria, a war began against the Turkish Sultan Bayazid I. The Mongols captured the border fortress of Kemak and the city of Sivas. When the Sultan's ambassadors arrived there, Timur, to intimidate them, reviewed his huge, according to some information, 800 thousand army. After this, he ordered the capture of crossings across the Kizil-Irmak River and besieged the Ottoman capital Ankara. This forced the Turkish army to accept a general battle with the Mongols near the camps of Ankara, which took place on June 20, 1402.
According to eastern sources, the Mongol army numbered from 250 to 350 thousand soldiers and 32 war elephants brought to Anatolia from India. The Sultan's army, consisting of Ottoman Turks, mercenary Crimean Tatars, Serbs and other peoples of the Ottoman Empire, numbered 120-200 thousand people.
Timur won victory largely thanks to the successful actions of his cavalry on the flanks and the bribery of 18 thousand mounted Crimean Tatars to his side. In the Turkish army, the Serbs who were on the left flank held out most steadfastly. Sultan Bayazid I was captured, and the encircled infantrymen - the Janissaries - were completely killed. Those who fled were pursued by the emir's 30 thousand light cavalry.
After a convincing victory at Ankara, Timur besieged the large coastal city of Smyrna and, after a two-week siege, captured and plundered it. The Mongol army then turned back to Central Asia, once again sacking Georgia along the way.
After these events, even those neighboring countries that managed to avoid the aggressive campaigns of Timur the Lame recognized his power and began to pay him tribute, just to avoid the invasion of his troops. In 1404 he received a large tribute from the Egyptian Sultan and the Byzantine Emperor John.
By the end of Timur's reign, his vast state included Transoxiana, Khorezm, Transcaucasia, Persia (Iran), Punjab and other lands. All of them were united together artificially, through the strong military power of the conquering ruler.
Timur, as a conqueror and great commander, reached the heights of power thanks to the skillful organization of his large army, built according to the decimal system and continuing the traditions of the military organization of Genghis Khan.
According to the will of Timur, who died in 1405 and was preparing a great campaign of conquest in China, his power was divided between his sons and grandsons. They immediately began a bloody internecine war and in 1420 Sharuk, the only one remaining among Timur’s heirs, received power over his father’s domains and the emir’s throne in Samarkand.
Tamerlane came from the Barlas family. The ethnonym “Barlas” has been known since the time of Genghis Khan.
In most sources, the Barlas are mentioned as one of the most powerful Turkic tribes. The Arab historian Rashid ad-Din writes that the four thousand army that Genghis Khan allocated to his son Chagatai consisted, in particular, of the Barlas and they were originally a Mongol tribe called Barulos, which translated from Mongolian means “fat, strong.” It also meant “commander, leader, brave warrior” and was associated with the military courage of the tribe.
Tamerlane always boasted that his ancestors were from the tree of Genghis Khan and attached great importance to kinship with this dynasty. Most of Tamerlane's military leaders were Barlas.
Interestingly, when the Shah of Persia Mansoor Muzaffari in his message he called Tamerlane an “Uzbek”, the “iron lame man” was greatly offended. This became the reason for a campaign against Persian Shiraz, as a result of which the city was destroyed and plundered.
Tamerlane, one of the greatest conquerors in world history, was born on April 8, 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar, now known as the Uzbek city of Shakhrisabz.
Here are 12 facts about the conqueror Timur, known as Tamerlane or the Great Lame.
1. The real name of one of the greatest commanders in world history is Timur ibn Taragai Barlas, which means “Timur son of Taragai from the Barlas family.” Various Persian sources mention a derogatory nickname Timur-eLiang, that is "Timur the Lame", given to the commander by his enemies. “Timur-e Liang” migrated to Western sources as "Tamerlane". Having lost its derogatory meaning, it became the second historical name of Timur.
2. Since childhood, he loved hunting and war games, Timur was a strong, healthy, physically developed person. Anthropologists who studied the commander’s tomb in the 20th century noted that the biological age of the conqueror who died at 68, judging by the condition of the bones, did not exceed 50 years.
Reconstruction of Tamerlane's appearance based on his skull. Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov, 1941 Photo: Public Domain
3. From the time of Genghis Khan Only the Chingizids could bear the title of Great Khan. That is why Timur formally bore the title of emir (leader). At the same time, in 1370 he managed to become related to the Chingizids by marrying his daughter Kazan KhanBarn-mulkHanim. After this, Timur received the prefix Gurgan to his name, which means “son-in-law,” which allowed him to live and act freely in the houses of the “natural” Chingizids.
4. In 1362, Timur, who was waging a guerrilla war against the Mongols, was seriously injured during the battle in Seistan, losing two fingers on his right hand and receiving a severe wound to his right leg. The wound, the pain from which haunted Timur for the rest of his life, led to lameness and the appearance of the nickname “Timur the Lame.”
5. Over several decades of virtually continuous wars, Timur managed to create a huge state, which included Transoxiana (the historical region of Central Asia), Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The conqueror Timur himself gave the created state the name Turan.
Conquests of Tamerlane. Source: Public Domain
6. At the peak of his power, Timur had at his disposal an army of about 200 thousand soldiers. It was organized according to a system created by Genghis Khan - tens, hundreds, thousands, as well as tumens (divisions of 10 thousand people). A special management body, whose functions were similar to the modern Ministry of Defense, was responsible for order in the army and its provision with everything necessary.
7. In 1395, Timur’s army found itself in Russian lands for the first and last time. The conqueror did not consider Russian territories as an object for annexation to his power. The cause of the invasion was Timur’s struggle with the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. And although Timur’s army devastated part of the Russian lands, capturing Yelets, in general the conqueror, with his victory over Tokhtamysh, contributed to the fall of the influence of the Golden Horde on the Russian principalities.
8. The conqueror Timur was illiterate and in his youth did not receive any education other than military education, but at the same time he was a very talented and capable person. According to the chronicles, he spoke several languages, loved to talk with scientists and demanded that works on history be read aloud to him. Possessing a brilliant memory, he then cited historical examples in conversations with scientists, which greatly surprised them.
9. Waging bloody wars, Timur brought from his campaigns not only material booty, but also scientists, artisans, artists, and architects. Under him, there was an active restoration of cities, the founding of new ones, the construction of bridges, roads, irrigation systems, as well as the active development of science, painting, secular and religious education.
Monument to Tamerlane in Uzbekistan. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
10. Timur had 18 wives, among whom are often distinguished Uljay-Turkanayeah And Barn-mulkHanim. These women, who are called “Timur’s beloved wives,” were relatives of each other: if Uljay-Turkan aga was the sister of Timur’s comrade-in-arms Emir Hussein, then Sarai-mulk khanum is his widow.
11. Back in 1398, Timur began preparing for his conquest in China, which began in 1404. As often happens in history, the Chinese were saved by chance - the campaign that had begun was interrupted due to an early and extremely cold winter, and in February 1405 Timur died.
12. One of the most famous legends associated with the name of the great commander tells about the “curse of Tamerlane’s grave.” Allegedly, immediately after the opening of Timur’s grave, a great and terrible war should begin. Indeed, Soviet archaeologists opened the tomb of Timur in Samarkand on June 20, 1941, that is, two days before the start of the Great Patriotic War. Skeptics, however, recall that the plan to attack the USSR was approved in Nazi Germany long before the opening of Timur’s grave. As for the inscriptions promising trouble to those who open the grave, they were no different from similar ones made on other burials of Timur’s era, and were intended to scare away tomb robbers. It is worth noting one more point - the famous Soviet anthropologist and archaeologist Mikhail Gerasimov, who not only participated in the opening of the tomb, but also restored Timur’s appearance from his skull, lived safely until 1970.
