Tamerlane: The Bandit who Became an Emperor

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Now, onto today’s video. Legend has it that on June 20, 1941, a team of Soviet archaeologists opened the tomb of a mighty Central Asian ruler whose ruthlessness and skill in battle were second only to Genghis Khan. His tomb bore the inscription, “When I rise from the dead, the world shall tremble.” When the archaeologists located the coffin, they read an even more ominous threat: “Whoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I.” Two days later, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa against the USSR, the largest land invasion in history.

The legend goes that when the fearsome warlord was again sealed in his tomb, the Soviets won at Stalingrad. This archaeological expedition actually took place, but I wouldn’t bet on the accuracy of any other details. However, this story captures the fierce reputation of today’s protagonist, Amir Timur, also known as Tamerlane.

Timur was a mercenary of Mongol origin who rose through the ranks to become the most powerful ruler in the 14th-century Islamic world. He eventually conquered an empire stretching from Delhi to the Mediterranean. In the words of historian Beatrice Forbes Manz, Timur could boast a stature bigger than life and a charisma bordering on the supernatural.

Before we get into the birth and rise of today’s protagonist, let me give you a little bit of context. After the death of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire was split between four of his descendants. His second son, Chagatai, inherited a vast territory in Central Asia, which became known as the Chagatai Khanate. This territory included most of modern-day Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, parts of Mongolia, and China’s Jinyang province.

The Khanate’s economy was based on nomadic herding and was less outwardly aggressive than its northern neighbor, the Golden Horde. This wasn’t out of kindness but because of constant internal strife and division. Eventually, the Chagatai Khanate fragmented into several entities, the largest being the powerful Moghulistan in the east and the less formidable Transoxiana in the west.

In this divided land, a boy was born in 1336 A.D. His birthplace was Kesh, modern-day Shahrisabz in Uzbekistan. His father was called Tarakai, a minor nobleman of the nomadic Barlas tribe, a Sunni Muslim Turkicized Mongol group once allied to Chagatai. At birth, he was called Timur, meaning “iron,” a name that carried an omen of strength, tenacity, and conquest.

Timur and his family never had a place to call home, following nomadic habits as they roamed the steppes south of the capital, Samarkand, looking for the best pastures for their livestock. The young Timur soon grew tired of looking after grazing animals. His parents were not clan leaders, but the Barlas society allowed upward mobility for tough youngsters who were handy with a composite bow, especially if shot from horseback.

Timur displayed a clear talent for violence in action, which he put to use by stealing horses and sheep from neighboring clans. Soon, he added banditry to cattle rustling on his CV and built a following of like-minded young warriors. At the age of 21, in 1357, Timur trained his gang into a mercenary outfit and entered the service of Tughluk Timur, the Khan of nearby Kashgar.

Shortly afterward, the ruler of Transoxiana, Amir Khasgan, died. Tughluk took the opportunity to invade and, in 1361, conquered Samarkand. The young Timur must have played an important role in the conquest, as he was appointed chief advisor to Tughluk’s son, Ilyas Khoja.

Timur was not happy to play second fiddle to Ilyas Khoja, so he forged an alliance with the ruler of Balkh, modern-day Afghanistan, Emir Hussein. The friendship was consolidated when Timur married Hussein’s sister. The two leaders kicked off a rebellion against Tughluk and Ilyas, which did not go as planned. They fled to the region of Khorasan, southwestern Afghanistan, where Timur resumed his mercenary activities.

In 1363, during a skirmish with enemy horsemen, an arrow pierced his right hand and knocked him off his horse. As a result, he lost his little and ring fingers and suffered a permanent injury to his right leg. From then on, he developed a lifelong limp and acquired the nickname that would make him immortal: Timur-i-Leng, or Timur the Lame, better known in the West as Tamerlane.

At this stage, one may define Timur as an exiled upstart with a prominent physical disability. This may have been a clear disadvantage, especially in territories spawned from the Mongol Empire, which valued physical prowess and nobility of blood. Only descendants from Genghis and their relatives could aspire to the title of Khan. But Timur’s ambitions knew no boundaries.

In 1364, he spotted an opportunity to continue his climb. Tughluk died, and it was time to settle scores with his son, Ilyas. Timur and Amir Hasan attacked Transoxiana, conquering the entire region by 1366. As it happened, Timur was the power in the shadows while Hussein had assumed titular power as Khan, establishing a new capital in Balkh.

However, the relationship between the two brothers-in-law started to sour. The Khan had grown arrogant, imposing a despotic rule and amassing the wealth of his subjects. According to some sources, he may have even kidnapped one of Timur’s sisters to join his harem, which was a significant breach of trust.

The last straw was when Hussein refused to pay his soldiers’ wages. In the spring of 1370, Timur started to plot, building alliances with other military leaders. Soon, he commanded a formidable army and went on the attack. Hussein’s forces were beaten time and again until Timur besieged Balkh. Hussein’s loyalists fought desperately, but Timur pressed on.

A defeated Hussein sought refuge in the mosque of Balkh, offering all of his riches in exchange for his life. According to contemporary sources, Timur shed some tears at the sight of his old friend begging for mercy, but his allies clamored for revenge and killed the Khan in cold blood.

Timur collected an imposing war booty and married four of Hussein’s widows, one of whom was Saray, a descendant of Genghis Khan. With this newfound legitimacy, Timur restored the capital of Samarkand and declared himself sovereign of the Chagatai Khanate, the restorer of the Mongol Empire. Still, he styled himself as Amir rather than Khan, honoring Central Asian traditions.

For the following ten years, Timur fought endless campaigns, conquering areas corresponding to today’s southern Kazakhstan, western Uzbekistan, and the Xinjiang province in China. He even joined the Golden Horde in their fight against the Russians, occupied Moscow, and then took on the Lithuanians at Poltava, Ukraine.

Many of these campaigns may have been dictated by the opportunity to pillage, but Timur was a capable long-term strategist. His end goal was to consolidate power along the Silk Road, the wealthiest commercial route linking Europe to the Far East. By controlling it, he would ensure a consistent income to fund his expeditions.

Timur’s military prowess did not happen by chance. His horses were a composite bunch, with soldiers joining from every corner of Central and East Asia. The elite came from the steppes of Transoxiana, making up an army of around 140,000 strong, disciplined and staunchly loyal. Timur’s almost supernatural charisma ensured they would follow him everywhere.

They fought mainly on horseback, and their weapon of choice was the composite bow, which they mastered from an early age. By their early teens, each nomadic horseman could shoot an arrow every five seconds, hitting targets at 60 meters. These highly mobile units were complemented by well-trained infantry specialized in siege warfare.

When meeting an enemy in a pitched battle, Timur eschewed the traditional formation, instead splitting his army into seven divisions: three at the front, three in support, and a reserve to the rear. This allowed him to throw in fresh horses and riders when needed, wearing out the enemy’s defensive lines.

Timur realized the limitations of his army; they were good at conquering but less so at holding territories. Therefore, he concentrated occupation forces in rich agricultural lands and was happy to let go of the less profitable steppes. One such land full of riches was Persia, which he targeted in 1383.

The ruling Ilkhanid dynasty was extinct, and too many competitors vied to fill the power vacuum. Taking advantage of this civil strife, Timur invaded from the north, capturing Herat. Its inhabitants suffered horrific treatment, serving as an example for other cities. Timur’s army plundered treasures, leveled ancient landmarks, and slaughtered many defenders.

Rumors of such ruthlessness spread across the country, and several cities like Tehran surrendered without a fight. Others, like Isfahan, fought back only to regret it later. Timur ordered a massacre of Isfahan’s citizens, and their skulls were piled up in morbid towers. By 1385, all of Eastern Persia had fallen, depleted of its riches and talented inhabitants.

Timur deported artists, architects, intellectuals, and artisans to Samarkand, where they would contribute to the building of an imperial capital. In Timur’s vision, the city was to be the beating heart of the Islamic world and the cultural hub of Central Asia. Samarkand was to become a testament to Timur’s ambition to be recognized as the defender of Islam and the restorer of Genghis Khan’s greatness.

Between 1386 and 1394, he was unstoppable. Southern Iran, Iraq, Mesopotamia, and the Caucasus all bent the knee. Timur’s campaign to control Azerbaijan was conducted alongside Tokhtamish Khan of the Golden Horde. However, the two allies soon dissented over who should control the Silk Road.

Timur was not above turning against old friends, and a new war was on. Initially, Tokhtamish had the upper hand, invading Transoxiana and even besieging Samarkand. However, he was repulsed, and Timur chased him back into the Russian steppes. In 1391, the Golden Horde was defeated on the Kondurcha River, but they returned with vengeance four years later.

The two armies clashed again in April of 1395 over the Terek River in the northern Caucasus. This time, many of Tokhtamish’s generals defected to the other side, and Timur’s victory was decisive. During this campaign, the conqueror razed the cities of Sarai, Azov, and Astrakhan.

As his attention was diverted, Persia revolted against Timur, but the revenge was swift and brutal. More towers of skulls obscured the sun. In September of 1398, Timur set his sights on India. In his view, the Sultan of Delhi, Mahmoud Tughluk, was too tolerant of his Hindu subjects. He amassed an army of 90,000 men and crossed the Indus River, attacking Delhi on December 17th.

Delhi put up a strong defense by deploying dozens of war elephants covered in chain mail and topped by wooden towers. But Timur had a plan. He covered the battlefield with spiked iron caltrops, which wounded and diverted the attacking beasts. Then he unleashed a charge of riderless camels, each carrying a load of blazing hay. The terrified elephants stampeded, sowing confusion and panic among their own troops.

The wondrous city of Delhi soon became another wasteland of ruins. The following year, Timur looked to the west to settle accounts with the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, guilty of having seized Mongol lands in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).

The confrontation began with some serious banter. Timur told the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid, “Thy obedience to the Qur’an in waging war against the infidels is the sole consideration that prevents us from destroying thy country.” Bayezid replied, “What are the arrows of the flying Tartar against the scimitars and battle axes of my firm and invincible Janissaries?”

Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we? The Timurids galloped westward, storming Aleppo, Damascus, and Baghdad. In 1401, 20,000 of Baghdad’s citizens were slaughtered. After setting camp for the winter, Timur reached Anatolia in the early summer of 1402. He first laid siege to the town of Sivis, promising not to shed a drop of blood if the inhabitants surrendered, and they did. Three thousand of them were then buried alive, so technically, Timur kept his promise.

The next challenge was Bayezid’s main army of 85,000 men. The two forces squared off at Ankara on July 28th. Timur had managed to turn many Ottoman vassals to his side, outnumbering his foe almost two to one. But Bayezid knew how to fight a defensive battle. He deployed his infantry along a stream on hilly terrain, thus protecting them.

Seeing the futility of the initial charges, Timur decided to wear out the opponents with a stratagem. He had a creek diverted, denying Ottoman horses and their riders access to water. The demoralized horsemen were ultimately scattered by a charge of war elephants that Timur had imported from Delhi.

The elite Janissaries, now without mounted support, were easy pickings for Timur’s heavy cavalry attacking their flanks. Bayezid inspired his surrounded men to fight on until nightfall. He then attempted to break out of the encirclement but was captured by his enemy. The Sultan was brought back to Samarkand, where he suffered a humiliating captivity at the hands of Timur, who allegedly used him as a footstool.

The Ottomans lost not only their leader but 40,000 of their finest soldiers. The power vacuum in the Ottoman Empire resulted in a civil war, much to the delight of Western European powers, always wary of the Ottoman threat. The kings of England, France, and Castile sent messages to Timur congratulating him on his victory. The Castilians even sent an ambassador to Samarkand, Roy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who gave a vivid account of Timur’s court and exotic grandiosity.

He was especially impressed by the Amir’s 15 palaces, many of which could be disassembled and moved when necessary. He also described how the supposed defender of the Islamic faith was a heavy drinker who organized lavish feasts every night. When one guest showed up late to one of his parties, Timur punished him by piercing his nose like a pig.

After Clavijo departed in November 1404, the aging Timur prepared for what would be his last expedition. This time, on the receiving end would be Ming China. Timur had a bone to pick with the Ming since 1395 when their emperor had sent a message describing himself as lord of the realms of the face of the earth and treating Timur as a subordinate.

Timur retaliated by detaining the emperor’s envoys. When more messengers came looking for them, he had them put in jail. Timur’s plan was to get rid of the arrogant emperor and replace him with the Yuan dynasty, descendants of Kublai Khan.

The usual careful planner made a huge mistake. Good sense would dictate initiating military campaigns in the spring to take advantage of the good weather and plentiful pastures for the war horses. But Timur set off in December 1404 at the head of 200,000 troops. His astrologers had seen good omens in the stars, but the weather begged to disagree.

Frosty conditions made the trek increasingly difficult for the army. While crossing the Sir Darya River in Uzbekistan, the once undefeated leader fell ill, possibly as a consequence of the cold. The scourge of Central Asia probably wished for a glorious death in battle, but in February of 1405, at age 69, Timur died of natural causes.

During his decades of military successes, the prince had failed to create a functioning government structure. Power was almost always centered around him, with no trusted lieutenant to take his place and inspire the troops. The expedition melted away, and the 200,000 soldiers marched back to Samarkand.

Timur’s body, embalmed in oils and laid in an ivory coffin, was buried in a splendid mausoleum. Six centuries later, the legacy of Timur is controversial, to say the least. Driven by ambition and skill, a disabled cattle rustler and mercenary had defeated some of the most powerful nations in Asia and the Middle East, assembling a large empire.

His actions in Anatolia weakened the Ottomans long enough for the Byzantine Empire to survive 50 more years, and his defeat of the Golden Horde allowed for the expansion of Russia, Lithuania, and Poland. But while in power, he focused mainly on destruction and conquest. Some estimates place his death toll at 17 million, about five percent of the global population at the time.

His inattention to political matters eventually left his empire at the mercy of foreign invaders, as his line of succession was not clear. His last surviving son and his grandsons fought each other for dominance, losing the western half of the empire. Nonetheless, his Timurid dynasty survived for yet another century while Samarkand flourished as a center for the arts, literature, and science.

A later descendant, Babur, took control of Kabul and later Delhi, founding the Mughal dynasty. I’ll leave the last word to you: was he a great ruler whose actions and influence had a huge impact on the geopolitics of Eurasia, or do you agree with military historian David Nicol, who argued that Timur might have been