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The Umayyad Mosque in
Damascus.
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Timur, in the west known as Tamerlane, had proclaimed himself restorer of the
Mongol empire around 1370. From his base in Samarkand where
he spent little time, he defeated other Mongol khans. He supported the Mongol
khan of Crimea against the Russians. The Russians had been conquered by Genghis
Khan and the Golden Horde and paid tribute to the Mongols. Today’s Tatars of Crimea are their descendants.
Timur supported the Golden Horde and took Moscow, then moving west he defeated
the Lithuanians. In 1383 he conquered Persia, Mesopotamia, Azerbaijan, Armenia,
Georgia and India. But he was not able to put an efficient administration to rule,
so often after he left a conquered territory, revolts broke out. He usually
came back, destroyed, massacred and built towers of skulls.
Timur defeating the Sultan of Egypt.
Map of Timur’s empire at his death.
After Damascus Timur captured Baghdad and defeated and captured the
Ottoman ruler Bayezid near Ankara. He prepared for an expedition to China, but
fell ill and died in 1405. This part of the Mongol empire was divided between
his sons and one of them, Shah Rokh, kept most intact
for a few decades, and then it fell apart. One of Timur’s descendants, Babur
took Kabul and moved on to India and established the dynasty of the Great
Mughals. They ruled over much of India until the British came.
Registan, a public square in
the heart of Samarkand.
Timur was put to rest in a beautiful mausoleum in Samarkand; the tomb
was opened for the first time in 1941 by the Soviets. They found a tall man,
lame in both right limbs. Opening his tomb was supposed to be a bad omen, and
later that year Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
Sources and more
information
I am open to your
comments and proposals.
Warmly
Bjarte Bjørsvik
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