Timur

"Tamerlane" and "Tamerlan" redirect here. For the poem, see Tamerlane (poem). For people named Tamerlan, see Tamerlan (given name). For people named Timur or Temur, see Timur (name). For other uses, see Timur (disambiguation).

Timur
Facial reconstruction from Timur's skull, by Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov
Amir of the Timurid Empire
Reign9 April 1370 –
18 February 1405
Coronation9 April 1370, Balkh[3]
SuccessorKhalil Sultan
Born1320s
Near Kesh, Chagatai Khanate
Died18 February 1405
Farab, Timurid Empire
Burial
Gur-e-Amir, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
ConsortSaray Mulk Khanum
Wives
  • Chulpan Mulk Agha
  • Aljaz Turkhan Agha
  • Tukal Khanum
  • Dil Shad Agha
  • Touman Agha
Issue
Detail
Names
Shuja-ud-din Timur[4]
DynastyTimurid
FatherAmir Taraghai
MotherTekina Khatun
ReligionSunni Islam

Timur,[b] also known as Tamerlane[c] (1320s – 17–18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeated commander, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and tacticians in history, as well as one of the most brutal and deadly.[7][8][9] Timur is also considered a great patron of art and architecture, for he interacted with intellectuals such as Ibn Khaldun, Hafez, and Hafiz-i Abru and his reign introduced the Timurid Renaissance.[10]

Born into the Turkicized Mongol confederation of the Barlas in Transoxiana (in modern-day Uzbekistan) in the 1320s, Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370. From that base he led military campaigns across Western, South, and Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Southern Russia, defeating in the process the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire, as well as the late Delhi Sultanate of India, becoming the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world.[11] From these conquests he founded the Timurid Empire, which fragmented shortly after his death. He spoke several languages, including Chagatai, an ancestor of modern Uzbek, as well as Mongolic and Persian, in which he wrote diplomatic correspondence.

Timur was the last of the great nomadic conquerors of the Eurasian Steppe, and his empire set the stage for the rise of the more structured and lasting Islamic gunpowder empires in the 16th and 17th centuries.[12][13][14] 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,[15][16][17] though some authors have suggested his mother may have been a descendant of the Khan.[18][19] He clearly sought to invoke the legacy of Genghis Khan's conquests during his lifetime.[20] Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire and according to Gérard Chaliand, saw himself as Genghis Khan's heir.[21]

To legitimize his conquests, Timur relied on Islamic symbols and language, referring to himself as the "Sword of Islam". He was a patron of educational and religious institutions. He styled himself as a ghazi in the last years of his life.[22] 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 inclusively multi-ethnic and were feared throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe,[7] sizable parts of which his campaigns laid waste.[23] Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of millions of people.[24][25] Of all the areas he conquered, Khwarazm suffered the most from his expeditions, as it rose several times against him.[26] Timur's campaigns have been characterized as genocidal.[27]

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.[28][29]

  1. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 9. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1847. p. 377.
  2. ^ Manz 1999, p. 14.
  3. ^ Muntakhab-al Lubab, Khafi Khan Nizam-ul-Mulki, Vol I, p. 49. Printed in Lahore, 1985
  4. ^ W. M. Thackston, A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art (1989), p. 239
  5. ^ ʻInāyat Khān; Muḥammad Ṭāhir Āšnā ʿInāyat Ḫān (1990). The Shah Jahan Nama of 'Inayat Khan: An Abridged History of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Compiled by His Royal Librarian: the Nineteenth-century Manuscript Translation of A.R. Fuller (British Library, Add. 30,777. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–17.
  6. ^ Johanson, Lars (1998). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 0415082005.
  7. ^ a b Marozzi 2004, p. [page needed].
  8. ^ Meri, Josef W. (2005). Medieval Islamic Civilization. Routledge. p. 812. ISBN 978-0415966900.
  9. ^ "Timur | Biography, Conquests, Empire, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  10. ^ Marozzi 2004, pp. 341–342.
  11. ^ Shahane, Girish (28 December 2016). "Counterview: Taimur's actions were uniquely horrific in Indian history". Scroll.in.
  12. ^ Darwin, John (2008). After Tamerlane: the rise and fall of global empires, 1400–2000. Bloomsbury Press. pp. 29, 92. ISBN 978-1596917606.
  13. ^ Manz 1999, p. 1.
  14. ^ Marozzi, Justin (2006). Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World. Da Capo Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-0306814655.
  15. ^ Seekins, Donald M.; Nyrop, Richard F. (1986). Afghanistan A Country Study. The Studies. p. 11. ISBN 978-0160239298 – via Google Books. Timur was of both Turkish and Mongol descent and claimed Genghis Khan as an ancestor
  16. ^ International Association for Mongol Studies (2002). Монгол Улсын Ерөнхийлөгч Н. Багабандийн ивээлд болж буй Олон Улсын Монголч Эрдэмтний VIII их хурал (Улаанбаатар хот 2002. VIII. 5–11): Илтгэлүүдийн товчлол [Eighth International Congress of Mongolists being convened under the patronage of N. Bagabandi, president of Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar city 2002): Summary of presentations] (in Mongolian). Vol. III. OUMSKh-ny Nariĭn bichgiĭn darga naryn gazar. pp. 5–11 – via Google Books. First of all, Timur's genealogy gives him a common ancestor with Chinggis Khan in Tumbinai – sechen or Tumanay Khan.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference woods was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Lodge, Henry Cabot (1916). The History of Nations. Vol. 14. P. F. Collier & Son. p. 46. Timur the Lame, from the effects of an early wound, a name which some European writers have converted into Tamerlane, or Tamberlaine. He was of Mongol origin, and a direct descendant, by the mother's side, of Genghis Khan.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arabshah2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Richard C. Martin, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World A–L, Macmillan Reference, 2004, ISBN 978-0028656045, p. 134.
  21. ^ Gérard Chaliand, Nomadic Empires: From Mongolia to the Danube translated by A. M. Berrett, Transaction Publishers, 2004. translated by A.M. Berrett. Transaction Publishers, p. 75. ISBN 076580204X. Limited preview at Google Books. p. 75., ISBN 076580204X, p. 75., "Timur Leng (Tamerlane) Timur, known as the lame (1336–1405) was a Muslim Turk. He aspired to recreate the empire of his ancestors. He was a military genius who loved to play chess in his spare time to improve his military tactics and skill. And although he wielded absolute power, he never called himself more than an emir.", "Timur Leng (Tamerlane) Timur, known as the lame (1336–1405) was a Muslim Turk from the Umus of Chagatai who saw himself as Genghis Khan's heir."
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Matthew White: Atrocitology: Humanity's 100 Deadliest Achievements, Canongate Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0857861252, section "Timur".
  24. ^ "The Rehabilitation of Tamerlane". Chicago Tribune. 17 January 1999.
  25. ^ John Joseph Saunders, The history of the Mongol conquests (p. 174), Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, 1971, ISBN 0812217667.
  26. ^ Barthold, V. V. (1962). Four studies on the History of Central Asia. Vol. 1 (Second Printing ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill. p. 61.
  27. ^ Foss, Clive (1992). "Genocide in History" (PDF). In Freedman-Apsel, Joyce; Fein, Helen (eds.). Teaching About Genocide: A Guidebook for College and University Teachers: Critical Essays, Syllabi, and Assignments. Ottawa: Human Rights Internet. p. 27. ISBN 189584200X. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Timur". Encyclopædia Britannica, Online Academic Edition. 2007.
  29. ^ Manz, Beatrice F. (2000). "Tīmūr Lang". Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). Brill. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2014.


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