Timurid conquests and invasions

Timurid Invasions

Timurid Empire at its greatest extent (without vassals) – dark green is territories and light green is areas subjugated to Timur's raids.
Date1370–1507 (137 years)
Location
Eurasia
Result

Timurid victory:

The Timurid conquests and invasions started in the seventh decade of the 14th century with Timur's control over Chagatai Khanate and ended at the start of the 15th century with the death of Timur. Due to the sheer scale of Timur's wars, and the fact that he was generally undefeated in battle, he has been regarded as one of the most successful military commanders of all time. These wars resulted in the supremacy of Timur over Central Asia, Persia, the Caucasus, the Levant, and parts of South Asia and Eastern Europe, and also the formation of the short-lived Timurid Empire.[14]

Timur gained power over the Western Chagatai Khanate (Transoxiana) after defeating Amir Husayn, the regent of the Chagatai Khanate, at the Battle of Balkh but the laws laid down by Genghis Khan prevented him from becoming Khagan in his own right because he was not directly descendant of Genghis Khan by birth.[15] Instead, he installed a puppet Khan descended from Ögedei, Suurgatmish. After that, he launched massive military campaigns in all directions and established his suzerainty over most of Middle East and Central Asia.[15] He never adopted the title of Emperor or Caliph, maintaining the title of Amir.[16]

To legitimize his rule and military campaigns Timur married Husayn's widow Saray Mulk Khanum, a princess descended from Genghis Khan.[17] In this way he called himself Temur Gurgan (son-in-law of the Great Khan, Genghis Khan).[18][19] Timurid territorial gains in Transoxiana and Central Asia as well as Timur's suzerainty over the Mamluk Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire, the Delhi Sultanate and the Golden Horde were weakened after his death, due to a war of succession between his son and grandson Shahrukh Mirza and Khalil Sultan.[15] However, in the Indian subcontinent a Timurid state survived until the mid 19th century in the form of the Mughal Empire which was founded by his great-great-grandson Babur.[20]

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  2. ^ Grousset, René (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1304-1.
  3. ^ Kumāra, Mahendra; Śarmā, Parameśa; Siṃha, Rājapāla (1991). Jāṭa balavāna: Jāṭa itihāsa (in Hindi). Madhura-Prakāśana.
  4. ^ Mallu, who later received the title of Iqbal Khan, was a noble in Siri and an ally of Muqarrab Khan, but later on betrayed him and Nusrat Khan, and allied with Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah. History Of Medieval India; V. D. Mahajan p.205
  5. ^ Rafis Abazov, Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Central Asia, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 56.
  6. ^ Marozzi, Justin (2004). Tamerlane Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-711611-X.
  7. ^ Minorsky, Vladimir, "Tiflis", in: M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel (1993), E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, p. 757. Brill, ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
  8. ^ Kevin Reilly (2012). The Human Journey: A Concise Introduction to World History. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 164–. ISBN 978-1-4422-1384-5.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Dahmus, Joseph Henry (1983). "Angora". Seven Decisive Battles of the Middle Ages. Burnham Incorporated Pub.
  11. ^ Europe in the Late Middle Ages, ed. John Rigby Hale, John Roger Loxdale Highfield, Beryl Smalley, (Northwestern University Press, 1965), 150;"Timur, after defeating the Mamluks in 1400, won a decisive victory over the Ottomans near Ankara in 1402".
  12. ^ Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, ISBN 81-219-0364-5, p.237
  13. ^ Darwin, John (2008). After Tamerlane: the rise and fall of global empires, 1400–2000. Bloomsbury Press. pp. 29, 92. ISBN 978-1-59691-760-6.
  14. ^ Manz, Beatrice Forbes (1999-03-25). The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521633840.
  15. ^ a b c Marozzi, Justin (2004). Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, conqueror of the world. HarperCollins.
  16. ^ InpaperMagazine, From (2011-01-01). "Past present: Emperor's new names". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  17. ^ Shterenshis, Michael (2013). Tamerlane and the Jews. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 28. ISBN 978-1136873669.
  18. ^ Sonbol, Amira El-Azhary (2005). Beyond the Exotic : Women's Histories in Islamic Societies (1. ed.). Syracuse Univ. Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-8156-3055-5.
  19. ^ Shterenshis, Michael (2002). Tamerlane and the Jews. RoutledgeCurzon. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7007-1696-8.
  20. ^ "Mirza Muhammad Haidar". Silk Road Seattle. University of Washington. Retrieved 2019-02-12. On the occasion of the birth of Babar Padishah (the son of Omar Shaikh)