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| Timur at the Siege of Balkh |
Parents: Muhammad Taraqai and Tekina Mohbegim
Date of Birth: 8 April 1336
Royal House: Timurid
Spouse: Saray Milk-khanum, among others
Reign: 1370 – 1405
Summary: Many people know of the name Tamerlane, or in actuality Timür-e Lang, or Timur the Lame. Yet few know why he is famous or what he did. In actuality, he did little that had not already been accomplished. During his early years, he was known to claim the legacy of Genghis Khan, though he himself was of Turkish origin. He was Muslim, but it is unclear if he practiced the Sunni or the Shi'a form and both he held in high regard. He joined the army of the Chagatai Khanate, which ruled most of Central Asia, in 1360. He was a successful soldier but the Chagatai Khanate fell into civil war upon the death of Kurgan, its khan. Timur took the lead and turned the once-powerful Chagatai khanate into a figurehead organization under his indirect leadership. Timur began feuding for power with his brother, Husayn, and the brother was finally killed in 1370 and Timur took the throne of the Chagatai Khanate at Samarkand. Timur never took the title of khan, preferring the lesser title of amir and throughout his reign he continued to rule in the name of the Chagatai ruler of Transoxania, but the ruler at that point held no power.
In 1370, Timur began his regional conquest. For 35 years, he would become the dominant power in Central Asian politics creating an empire that would span across Persia to the Kurdish Steppe, encompass all of the Turkic people of Afghanistan, and stretch to the Indus River in Pakistan. He maintained conflicted alliances with many of his neighbors. Tokhtamysh, the khan of the Golden Horde north of Kazakhstan, was a refugee in his court before becoming khan. Timur and Tokhtamysh feuded frequently but Timur still supported him in his campaigns against Muscovy (Russia). When Abu Sa'id died, the Ilkhanate lost its leadership and Timur came to claim the title of "King of Kings". Timur was brutal in his conquest of Persia, killing tens of thousands and burning cities to the ground. War with Tokhtamysh was renewed when Timur was marching on Moscow and it consumed much of the 1380s and 1390s. In 1395, Timur finally defeated Tokhtamysh and destabilized the Golden Horde economy, sinking the region into poverty for the next two hundred years. With Central Asia under his control, Timur in 1398 invaded India, attacking Delhi. He continued his slaughter through Pakistan as he made his way to the Indian capital, finally sacking it in early 1399. That same year, Timur turned on the burgeoning Ottoman Empire in Turkey as well as the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt. Both were pushing into his Arabian territories and Tamerlane would not have it. He invaded Armenia and Georgia, enslaving the population and dispersing much of the citizenry. He sacked Baghdad in 1401 after a massacre of thousands. He then invaded Ankara and killed Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. This prompted a decade-long interregnum in the Ottoman Empire. In 1404, Timur set up plans to invade China with the help of the recently-deposed Northern Yuan dynasty. Unfortunately for Timur, he died of fever or plague before reaching the Chinese border. While history has branded him as one of the only people capable of ruling out of Afghanistan, Timur was in fact a despotic and cruel tyrant whose memory in the region is not forgotten by those whose ancestors were suppressed and killed by him.
In 1370, Timur began his regional conquest. For 35 years, he would become the dominant power in Central Asian politics creating an empire that would span across Persia to the Kurdish Steppe, encompass all of the Turkic people of Afghanistan, and stretch to the Indus River in Pakistan. He maintained conflicted alliances with many of his neighbors. Tokhtamysh, the khan of the Golden Horde north of Kazakhstan, was a refugee in his court before becoming khan. Timur and Tokhtamysh feuded frequently but Timur still supported him in his campaigns against Muscovy (Russia). When Abu Sa'id died, the Ilkhanate lost its leadership and Timur came to claim the title of "King of Kings". Timur was brutal in his conquest of Persia, killing tens of thousands and burning cities to the ground. War with Tokhtamysh was renewed when Timur was marching on Moscow and it consumed much of the 1380s and 1390s. In 1395, Timur finally defeated Tokhtamysh and destabilized the Golden Horde economy, sinking the region into poverty for the next two hundred years. With Central Asia under his control, Timur in 1398 invaded India, attacking Delhi. He continued his slaughter through Pakistan as he made his way to the Indian capital, finally sacking it in early 1399. That same year, Timur turned on the burgeoning Ottoman Empire in Turkey as well as the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt. Both were pushing into his Arabian territories and Tamerlane would not have it. He invaded Armenia and Georgia, enslaving the population and dispersing much of the citizenry. He sacked Baghdad in 1401 after a massacre of thousands. He then invaded Ankara and killed Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. This prompted a decade-long interregnum in the Ottoman Empire. In 1404, Timur set up plans to invade China with the help of the recently-deposed Northern Yuan dynasty. Unfortunately for Timur, he died of fever or plague before reaching the Chinese border. While history has branded him as one of the only people capable of ruling out of Afghanistan, Timur was in fact a despotic and cruel tyrant whose memory in the region is not forgotten by those whose ancestors were suppressed and killed by him.
Date of Death: 18 February 1405
Successor: Khalil Sultan
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople (806)
- Gregory V, pope of Rome (999)
- Yaropolk II, prince of Kiev (1139)
- Kublai Khan, khagan of the Mongol Empire and emperor of China (1294)
- Albert II, duke of Mecklenburg (1379)
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