Timurid relations with Europe

Persian letter of Timur to Charles VI of France, 1402

Timurid relations with Europe developed in the early 15th century, as the Persianate Turco-Mongol ruler Timur and European monarchs attempted to operate a rapprochement against the expansionist Ottoman Empire. A strong hostility remained between the Timurds and the Ottoman Turks as well as the Egyptian Mamluks.[1]

Although his self-proclaimed title was ghazi (or "conqueror"), Timur maintained relatively friendly relations with Europe.[1] Europe at the time was threatened by the conquering armies of the Ottoman Turks and was desperate for allies. Timur likewise saw the European states as allies to help him fight his Ottoman enemies. After his successful campaigns in the Indian subcontinent in 1399, Timur took Aleppo and Damascus in 1400.[2] He fought and eventually vanquished the Ottoman ruler Bayazid I at the Battle of Ankara in July 1402.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Atiya, Aziz Suryal (1938) [1938], The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages, Kraus, p. 256ff, ISBN 9780527037000, archived from the original on 2016-05-13, retrieved 2022-05-21
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wood 136 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).