Person
Historical figure
Timur (1320s – 17/18 February 1405), also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror, first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, and the founder of the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. He was undefeated in battle and is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and tacticians in history, as well as one of the most brutal and deadly. Timur is also considered a great patron of the arts, for he interacted with scholars and poets such as ibn Khaldun, Hafez, and Hafiz-i Abru. His reign led to the Timurid Renaissance.
Born into the Turkicized Mongol confederation of the Barlas in Transoxiana (now in Uzbekistan) in the 1320s, Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370 and from there he led a series of military campaigns defeating the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire, as well as the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent, thus becoming the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world. These conquests led to the creation of the Timurid Empire, which fragmented shortly after his death. He spoke several languages, including the Karluk Turkic language Chagatai (an ancestor of modern Uzbek and Uyghur), as well as Classical Mongolian and New Persian, which he used for diplomatic correspondence.
Timur was the last of the major nomadic conquerors of the Eurasian Steppe, and his empire set the stage for the rise of the more organized and lasting Muslim gunpowder empires of the 16th and 17th centuries. Timur was of both Turkic and Mongol descent, and, while probably not a direct descendant on either side, he shared a common ancestor with Genghis Khan on his father's side, though some authors have suggested his mother may have been a descendant of the Khan. He clearly sought to revive the legacy of Genghis Khan and saw himself as the restorer of the Mongol Empire. According to Gérard Chaliand, Timur considered himself Genghis Khan's heir.
Timur referred to himself as the "Sword of Islam". He was a patron of religion and the arts, but styled himself a ghazi (Arabic: غازي, romanized: ghāzī, lit. 'religious warrior') in the last years of his life. By the end of his reign, Timur had gained complete control over all the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Golden Horde, and had even attempted to restore the Yuan dynasty in China. Timur's armies were multi-ethnic and much feared, and laid waste to sizable parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of millions of people. Of all the areas he conquered, Khwarazm suffered the most, as it repeatedly rose against him. Timur carried out five military campaigns against Khwarazm.
He was the grandfather of the Timurid sultan, astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Beg, who ruled Central Asia from 1411 to 1449, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Babur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire.
Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Early life Earliest known portrait of Timur, commissioned right after his death in 1405–1409, by his grandson Khalil Sultan for an illustrated Timurid genealogy (TSMK, H2152). [ 1 ] Timur was born in Transoxiana near the city of Kesh (now Shahrisabz , Uzbekistan), some 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Samarkand , part of what was then the Chagatai Khanate. [ citation needed ] His name, Temur , means " iron " in Chagatai, his mother tongue (cf. Uzbek Temir , Turkish Demir ). [ 2 ] It is likely cognate with Genghis Khan 's birth name, Temüjin , a loan from Common Turkic * temürči(n) "blacksmith". [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Later Timurid dynastic histories claim that Timur was born on 8 April 1336, but most sources from his lifetime give ages that are consistent with a birthdate in the late 1320s. Several scholars suspect that the 1336 date was intended to link Timur to the legacy of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan , the last ruler of the Ilkhanate and a descendant of Hulegu Khan , who died in that year. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Timur was a member of the Barlas, a Mongol tribe [ 7 ] [ 8 ] that had been turkified in many aspects. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] His father, Taraghai , was described as a minor noble of this tribe. However, Manz argues that Timur may have later understated his father's social position to make his own successes appear more remarkable. She states that though he is not believed to have been especially powerful, Taraghai was reasonably wealthy and influential. [ 6 ] : 116  This is shown in the Zafarnama , which states that Timur later returning to his birthplace following the death of his father on 12 March 1360 AD, suggesting concern over his estate. [ 14 ] Taraghai's social significance is further hinted at by Arabshah , who described him as a magnate in the court of Amir Husayn Qara'unas . [ 15 ] In addition to this, the father of the great Amir Hamid Kereyid of Moghulistan is stated as a friend of Taraghai's. [ 16 ] In his childhood, Timur and a small band of followers raided travellers for goods, especially animals such as sheep, horses, and cattle. [ 6 ] : 116  Around 1363, it is believed that Timur tried to steal a sheep from a shepherd but was shot by two arrows, one in his right leg and another in his right hand, where he lost two fingers. Both injuries disabled him for life. Some believe that these injuries occurred while serving as a mercenary to the khan of Sistan in what is today the Dasht-e Margo in southwest Afghanistan . Timur's injuries and disability gave rise to the nickname "Timur the Lame" or Temūr(-i) Lang in Persian, which is the origin of Tamerlane, the name by which he is generally known in the West. [ 17 ] ^ Droese, Janine; Karolewski, Janina (4 December 2023). Manuscript Albums and their Cultural Contexts: Collectors, Objects, and Practices . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 135. ISBN   978-3-11-132146-2 . To the best of my knowledge, the earliest portrait of Timur can be found in a genealogical scroll (Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum, H. 2152, fols 32-43"), produced shortly after his death in Samarqand (probably under the reign of Khalil Sultan, r. 1405-1409) ^ Richard Peters, The Story of the Turks: From Empire to Democracy (1959), p. 24. ^ Glassé, Cyril (2001). The new encyclopedia of Islam (Revised ed.). Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. ISBN   0759101892 . OCLC   48553252 . ^ Sinor, Denis (1990). "Introduction: The concept of Inner Asia". The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia . Cambridge University Press. pp.  1– 18. doi : 10.1017/chol9780521243049.002 . ISBN   978-0521243049 . ^ Manz, Beatrice F. (24 April 2012). "Tīmūr Lang". In Bearman, P.; Th. Bianquis; C. E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W. P. Heinrichs (eds.). Tīmūr Lang . Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition . The birthdate commonly ascribed to Tīmūr, 25 S̲h̲aʿbān 736/8 April 1336, is probably an invention from the time of his successor S̲h̲āh Ruk̲h̲ [q.v.], the day chosen for astrological meaning and the year to coincide with the death of the last Il-K̲h̲ān . ^ a b c Manz, Beatrice Forbes (1988). "Tamerlane and the Symbolism of Sovereignty". Iranian Studies . 21 ( 1– 2): 105– 122. doi : 10.1080/00210868808701711 . ISSN   0021-0862 . JSTOR   4310596 . ^ "Central Asia, history of Timur Archived 31 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine ", in Encyclopædia Britannica , Online Edition, 2007. (Quotation: "Under his leadership, Timur united the Mongol tribes located in the basins of the two rivers.") ^ " Islamic world ", in Encyclopædia Britannica , Online Edition, 2007. Quotation: "Timur (Tamerlane) was of Mongol descent and he aimed to restore Mongol power." ^ Carter V. Findley, The Turks in World History , Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN   978-0195177268 , p. 101. ^ G. R. Garthwaite, The Persians , Malden, ISBN   978-1557868602 , MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. p.148 . Quotation: "Timur's tribe, the Barlas, had Mongol origins but had become Turkic-speaking ... However, the Barlus tribe is considered one of the original Mongol tribes and there are "Barlus Ovogton" people who belong to Barlus tribe in modern Mongolia." ^ M. S. Asimov & Clifford Edmund Bosworth , History of Civilizations of Central Asia , UNESCO Regional Office, 1998, ISBN   9231034677 , p. 320. "One of his followers was [...] Timur of the Barlas tribe. This Mongol tribe had settled [...] in the valley of Kashka Darya, intermingling with the Turkic population, adopting their religion (Islam) and gradually giving up its own nomadic ways, like a number of other Mongol tribes in Transoxania ..." ^ Kravets, S. L.; et al., eds. (2016). "ТИМУ́Р ТАМЕРЛАН" [Timúr Tamerlan]. Great Russian Encyclopedia (in Russian). Vol. 32: Televizionnaya bashnya – Ulan-Bator. Moscow , Russia: Great Russian Encyclopedia. ISBN   978-5-85270-369-9 . Archived from the original on 26 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2023 . Сын бека Тарагая из тюркизированного монг. племени барлас [Son of Bek Taragai from the Turkified Mongol Barlas tribe] . ^ "Timur" . Encyclopædia Britannica . 5 September 2023. § Life. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015 . Retrieved 26 October 2023 . Timur was a member of the Turkicized Barlas tribe, a Mongol subgroup that had settled in Transoxania (now roughly corresponding to Uzbekistan) after taking part in Genghis Khan's son Chagatai's campaigns in that region. ^ Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Zafarnama (1424–1428), p. 35. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arabshah2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ). ^ Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Zafarnama (1424–1428), p. 75. ^ Marozzi 2004 , p. 31.
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