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86-451: Although sultans typically designated their sons to succeed them after death, the latter rarely lasted more than a few years before being usurped by one of the powerful Mamluk commanders, usually from among the Mamluks purchased by previous sultans. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan. During this period, the Mamluks fought Timur and conquered Cyprus . Over

172-714: A ghazi 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 inclusively multi-ethnic and were feared throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, sizable parts of which his campaigns laid waste. Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused

258-583: A conventional army, whereas the Ottomans relied on a conventional army only, with light cavalry combining with infantry units. The Nasrid Dynasty of Granada sought Ottoman assistance against the Spanish , but Sultan Bayezid could only send limited support due to his involvement in the Ottoman-Mamluk conflict. Nasrid–Ottoman relations were established, and a fleet under Kemal Reis was nevertheless dispatched to

344-477: A decade later in 1389 by Timur's son Miran Shah . Timur then headed west to capture the Zagros Mountains , passing through Mazandaran . During his travel through the north of Persia, he captured the then town of Tehran , which surrendered and was thus treated mercifully. He laid siege to Soltaniyeh in 1384. Khorasan revolted one year later, so Timur destroyed Isfizar, and the prisoners were cemented into

430-550: A descendant of the Khan. He clearly sought to invoke the legacy of Genghis Khan's conquests during his lifetime. Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire and according to Gérard Chaliand , saw himself as Genghis Khan's heir. 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

516-584: A land and sea attack on the Mamluks in 1485. Led by the new governor of Karaman, Karagöz Mehmed Pasha, the Ottoman forces, largely drawn from provincial troops, subdued the rebellious Turgudlu and Vasak tribes and captured many fortresses in Cilicia . Karagöz Mehmed's army was defeated by the Mamluks in battle outside Adana on 9 February 1486. Reinforcements from Istanbul, including Janissaries , were dispatched by Bayezid under his own son-in-law Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha , but

602-657: A mercenary to the khan of Sistan in what is today the Dashti 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. Persia Tokhtamysh–Timur war Georgia North Caucasia India Levant Anatolia By about 1360, Timur had gained prominence as

688-555: A military leader whose troops were mostly Turkic tribesmen of the region. He took part in campaigns in Transoxiana with the Khan of the Chagatai Khanate. Allying himself both in cause and by family connection with Qazaghan , the dethroner and destroyer of Volga Bulgaria , he invaded Khorasan at the head of a thousand horsemen. This was the second military expedition that he led, and its success led to further operations, among them

774-456: A number of economic policies that were damaging in the long term, such as a state monopoly on the spice trade . During Barsbay's reign Egypt's population was greatly reduced from what it had been a few centuries before, with only one fifth of the number of towns. He frequently raided Asia Minor , but died in 1438. During the reign of Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq an attempt to conquer Rhodes in 1444 from

860-562: A refugee in Timur's court, Tokhtamysh became ruler both of the eastern Kipchak and the Golden Horde . After his accession, he quarreled with Timur over the possession of Khwarizm and Azerbaijan . However, Timur still supported him against the Russians, and in 1382, Tokhtamysh invaded the Muscovite dominion and burned Moscow . Russian Orthodox tradition states that later, in 1395, having reached

946-625: A revolt broke out in Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Barakah and Barquq ; Barquq was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389 but recaptured Cairo in 1390. Early on, the Zahiri Revolt threatened to overthrow Barquq though the conspiracy was discovered before agitators could mobilize. Permanently in power, he founded

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1032-437: A siege of six months. His invasion was unopposed as most of the nobility surrendered without a fight, however he did encounter resistance by a force of 2,000 under Malik Jasrat at Sutlej river between Tulamba and Dipalpur . Jasrat was defeated and taken away as captive. Next he captured the fort of Bhatner which was being defended by Rajput chief Rai Dul Chand and demolished it. While on his march towards Delhi, Timur

1118-676: A stronghold of the Christian Knights Hospitalers , thus he referred to himself as ghazi or "Warrior of Islam". A mass beheading was carried out in Smyrna by Timur's soldiers. Ottoman%E2%80%93Mamluk War (1485%E2%80%931491) [REDACTED] Ottoman Empire The Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1485–1491, took place when the Ottoman Sultanate invaded the Mamluk Sultanate 's territories of Anatolia and Syria . This war

1204-933: A war with Bayezid I , sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and the Mamluk sultan of Egypt Nasir-ad-Din Faraj . Bayezid began annexing the territory of Turkmen and Muslim rulers in Anatolia . As Timur claimed sovereignty over the Turkoman rulers , they took refuge behind him. In 1400, Timur invaded Armenia and Georgia . Of the surviving population, more than 60,000 of the local people were captured as slaves, and many districts were depopulated. He also sacked Sivas in Asia Minor. Then Timur turned his attention to Syria, sacking Aleppo , and Damascus . The city's inhabitants were massacred, except for

1290-437: Is cognate with Genghis Khan 's birth name of Temüjin. 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. Multiple scholars suspect the 1336 date was designed to tie Timur to the legacy of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan , the last ruler of the Ilkhanate descended from Hulagu Khan , who died in that year. He

1376-458: Is stated as a friend of Taraghai's. In his childhood, Timur and a small band of followers raided travelers for goods, especially animals such as sheep, horses, and cattle. 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

1462-623: The Battle of the Kondurcha River , in 1391. In the second phase of the conflict, Timur took a different route against the enemy by invading the realm of Tokhtamysh via the Caucasus region. In 1395, Timur defeated Tokhtamysh in the Battle of the Terek River , concluding the struggle between the two monarchs. Tokhtamysh was unable to restore his power or prestige, and he was killed about a decade later in

1548-603: The Delhi Sultanate was one of Timur's largest and most devastating victories as at that time, Delhi was one of the richest cities in the world. The city of Delhi was sacked and reduced to ruins, with the population enslaved. After the fall of the city, uprisings by its citizens against the Turkic-Mongols began to occur, causing a retaliatory bloody massacre within the city walls. After three days of citizens uprising within Delhi, it

1634-527: The Holy Cities of Islam . Under the reign of Khusqadam , of Greek origin, tensions increased. Both Khusqadam and Mehmed II supported different candidates to the principality of Karaman . After the death of Mehmed II in 1481, Sultan Qaitbay offended the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II by harboring his rebellious brother, Cem . Bayezid II later seized Adana , Tarsus and other places within Mamluk territory, but

1720-463: The Ilkhanate to designate themselves. In that regard, he simply pursued an existing tradition in the Muslim world to designate conquerors. The title was referring to the conjunction of the two "superior planets", Saturn and Jupiter, which was held to be an auspicious sign and the mark of a new era. According to A. Azfar Moin, Sahib Qiran was a messianic title, implying that Timur might potentially be

1806-636: The Knights of St. John was repelled. Sayf ad-Din Inal came to power in 1453 and had friendly relations with the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II , who captured Constantinople later that year, causing great celebration in Egypt. The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks became more adversarial after this time. Both states constantly vied for control of the spice trade , and the Ottomans aspired to eventually take control of

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1892-543: 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 . 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

1978-505: The Mughal Empire . Through his father, Timur claimed to be a descendant of Tumbinai Khan , a male-line ancestor he shared with Genghis Khan . Tumanay's great-great-grandson Qarachar Noyan was a minister for the emperor who later assisted the latter's son Chagatai in the governorship of Transoxiana . Though there are not many mentions of Qarachar in 13th and 14th century records, later Timurid sources greatly emphasized his role in

2064-628: The Sarbadar dynasty surrendered. Timur began his Persian campaign with Herat , capital of the Kartid dynasty . When Herat did not surrender he reduced the city to rubble and massacred most of its citizens; it remained in ruins until Shah Rukh ordered its reconstruction around 1415. Timur then sent a general to capture rebellious Kandahar . With the capture of Herat the Kartid kingdom surrendered and became vassals of Timur; it would later be annexed outright less than

2150-673: The Timurid Renaissance . 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 ,

2236-510: The "awaited messiah descended from the prophetic line" who would "inaugurate a new era, possibly the last one before the end of time." Otherwise he depicted himself as a spiritual descendant of Ali, thus claiming the lineage of both Genghis Khan and the Quraysh. Timur spent the next 35 years in various wars and expeditions. He not only consolidated his rule at home by the subjugation of his foes, but sought extension of territory by encroachments upon

2322-1083: The Barlas. Tughlugh then attempted to set his son Ilyas Khoja over Transoxania, but Timur repelled this invasion with a smaller force. In this period, Timur reduced the Chagatai khans to the position of figureheads while he ruled in their name. Also during this period, Timur and his brother-in-law Amir Husayn, who were at first fellow fugitives and wanderers, became rivals and antagonists. The relationship between them became strained after Husayn abandoned efforts to carry out Timur's orders to finish off Ilya Khoja (former governor of Mawarannah) close to Tashkent . Timur gained followers in Balkh, consisting of merchants, fellow tribesmen, Muslim clergy, aristocracy and agricultural workers, because of his kindness in sharing his belongings with them. This contrasted Timur's behavior with that of Husayn, who alienated these people, took many possessions from them via his heavy tax laws and selfishly spent

2408-591: The Burji dynasty. Faced with a common enemy, Timur , Barquq joined with Bayezid I and Toktamish in a combined resistance and executed Timur's peace envoys. In the following months Timur was engaged in Georgia and unable to respond to Barquq's actions, while Barquq had died by 1399. In 1401, Timur invaded Syria and sacked Aleppo and Damascus . Syria was regained by Barquq's son, sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj , after Timur died in 1405, but Faraj continually faced rebellions from

2494-506: The Mamluks seized an Ottoman ambassador who was returning from Deccan with an Indian ambassador and gifts for the Ottoman Sultan. The conflict began when Bozkurt of Dulkadir (also called Alaüddevle), ruler of Dulkadirids , attacked the Mamluk city of Malatya , with the support of Bayezid. The Mamluks fought back and although they lost the first battle, they would eventually defeat Alaüddevle and his Ottoman allies. Bayezid launched

2580-439: The Mamluks, including Alaüddevle, thus restoring a line of Mamluk-oriented buffer states along the border. In 1490, the Mamluks would again return to the offensive, advancing into Karaman and laying siege to Kayseri . As soon as Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha marched against them with a relief army however, they raised the siege and returned to Cilicia. By this time the Mamluks were weary of the war and its heavy financial burden, while

2666-547: The Mamluks, instead focusing his troops in suppressing revolts by the Turgudlu and Vasak tribes, securing his rear. In 1488, the Ottomans launched a major attack, from both land and sea: the navy was led by Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, released from captivity, and the army by the governor of Rumeli , Hadim Ali Pasha . On this occasion, the Ottomans requested of the Venetians the use of Famagusta harbour to supply their troops by sea, but

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2752-464: The Mamluks, who still ruled in Syria and Egypt, to complete the Ottoman conquest of the Middle East . Al-Ghuri led his army to confront Selim I's invasion of Syria in 1516, but he died in the Battle of Marj Dabiq and the Mamluk army was routed. In 1517, the Ottomans completed their conquest with the capture of Cairo on January 22. The centre of power transferred from Cairo to Constantinople . However,

2838-587: The Mongol Empire and the Muslim world. According to the Mongol traditions, Timur could not claim the title of khan or rule the Mongol Empire because he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan . Therefore, Timur set up a puppet Chaghatayid Khan, Suyurghatmish , as the nominal ruler of Balkh as he pretended to act as a "protector of the member of a Chinggisid line, that of Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi ". Timur instead used

2924-451: The Ottoman throne in 1481, his brother Cem Sultan , who enjoyed great support in Anatolia , rose up and contended with him for the throne. After he was defeated in battle, he sought refuge first in the Ramadanids , and from there passed into Mamluk domains. Although the Mamluks declined to offer him any military support, this act aroused the hostility of Bayezid, which was further fanned when

3010-601: The Ottomans and the Mamluks remained in stalemate during the beginning of the 16th century, until Mamluk power was dramatically challenged by the incursion of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean from 1505, thereby threatening Mamluk traditional trade routes and a major source of revenue, and leading to the catastrophic Portuguese-Mamluk War . The Ottoman Empire would ultimately take over the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517, following

3096-632: The Ottomans grew concerned over a possible Crusade directed against them. Thus both powers were eager to settle the inconclusive conflict. A treaty was signed which fixed their mutual border at the Gülek Pass in the Taurus Mountains , leaving the Cilician plain to the Mamluks. The Ottomans were able to prevail on the Mamluks at sea, but on land the Mamluks successfully resisted the Ottomans, thanks to their string of fortresses in Anatolia and Syria , and

3182-872: The Russian land from Timur on 26 August, the all-Russian celebration in honor of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God was established. After the death of Abu Sa'id , ruler of the Ilkhanate , in 1335, there was a power vacuum in Persia. In the end, Persia was split amongst the Muzaffarids , Kartids , Eretnids , Chobanids , Injuids , Jalayirids , and Sarbadars . In 1383, Timur started his lengthy military conquest of Persia, though he already ruled over much of Persian Khorasan by 1381, after Khwaja Mas'ud, of

3268-596: The Sultanate was reduced to only a part of its former extent. This anarchy drew the attention of Timur, who in 1398 invaded Indian subcontinent during the reign of Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq . After crossing the Indus River on 30 September 1398 with a force of 90,000, he sacked Tulamba and massacred its inhabitants. He sent an advance guard under his grandson Pir Muhammad who captured Multan after

3354-508: The Turkmen tribes. Most of its provincial commanders were recalled to Constantinople and imprisoned in the Rumeli Hisar . In the meantime, the Mamluks laid siege to Adana, which fell after three months. Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha was able to achieve a minor victory in destroying a Mamluk detachment, but Cilicia was securely in Mamluk hands. More importantly, the Ottomans' Turkmen allies began to turn to

3440-434: The Venetians rejected the request and even dispatched a fleet to Cyprus to guard against an Ottoman landing. The Mamluks also sought naval assistance from Italian powers, but were turned down as well. The Ottoman fleet then moved to Alexandretta , hoping to intercept the Mamluk forces as they came up from Syria, while the Ottoman army, numbering some 60,000 men, secured control of Cilicia. Another great storm however destroyed

3526-688: The area of present-day Tyumen . During the course of Timur's campaigns, his army destroyed Sarai , the capital of the Golden Horde, and Astrakhan , subsequently disrupting the Golden Horde's Silk Road . The Golden Horde no longer held power after their losses to Timur. In May 1393, Timur's army invaded the Anjudan , crippling the Ismaili village only a year after his assault on the Ismailis in Mazandaran . The village

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3612-411: The army of Mallu Iqbal had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks. As his Tatar forces were afraid of the elephants, Timur ordered his men to dig a trench in front of their positions. Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry. When the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at

3698-652: The artisans, who were deported to Samarkand. Timur invaded Baghdad in June 1401. After the capture of the city, 20,000 of its citizens were massacred. Timur ordered that every soldier should return with at least two severed human heads to show him. When they ran out of men to kill, many warriors killed prisoners captured earlier in the campaign, and when they ran out of prisoners to kill, many resorted to beheading their own wives. British historian David Nicolle , in his "The Mongol Warlords", quotes an anonymous contemporary historian who compared Timur's army to "ants and locusts covering

3784-404: The artistic and educated. This would later influence the next great Persian conqueror: Nader Shah . Timur then began a five-year campaign to the west in 1392, attacking Persian Kurdistan . In 1393, Shiraz was captured after surrendering, and the Muzaffarids became vassals of Timur, though prince Shah Mansur rebelled but was defeated, and the Muzafarids were annexed. Shortly after Georgia

3870-439: The battle Tokhtamysh and some of his army were allowed to escape. After Tokhtamysh's initial defeat, Timur invaded Muscovy to the north of Tokhtamysh's holdings. Timur's army burned Ryazan and advanced on Moscow. He was pulled away before reaching the Oka River by Tokhtamysh's renewed campaign in the south. In the first phase of the conflict with Tokhtamysh, Timur led an army of over 100,000 men north for more than 700 miles into

3956-427: The buffer principalities of Beylik of Dulkadir , led by Bozkurt of Dulkadir centered on Elbistan and Maras . The Ottomans were a stronger military power, but were weakened by internal dissensions and the lack of a strong centralized leadership by the Sultan Bayezid, who remained in Constantinople . Throughout the conflict, the Mamluk army was characterized by the usage of brilliant nomadic cavalry in addition to

4042-410: The challenge by creating a myth and image of himself as a "supernatural personal power" ordained by God. Timur's most famous title was Sahib Qiran ( صَاحِبِ قِرَان , 'Lord of Conjunction'), which is rooted in astrology a title that was used before him to designate Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib , the paternal uncle of Muhammad and which was taken by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars and by various rulers of

4128-412: The coasts of Spain. Ottoman support ended up being insufficient, in part leading to the Fall of Granada in 1492. With famine and plague spreading, a peace treaty was eventually sealed in May 1491, with the Mamluks remaining a powerful entity against the Ottomans , although they were financially exhausted. The boundaries between the two powers remained essentially unchanged. The opposition between

4214-449: The combined Ottoman army was again defeated before Adana on 15 March. Karagöz Mehmed fled the field, while Hersekzade Ahmed was taken captive, and Cilicia returned to Mamluk control. In 1487, the Ottomans again sent a major army consisting of a great number of regular army units and Janissaries, supported by the fleet and the forces of Dulkadir, and led by the Grand Vizier Koca Davud Pasha . Davud Pasha however avoided operations against

4300-436: The course of the 15th century, the sultanate was weakened by infighting and economic decline brought about by multiple factors. Although militarily powerful, they were eventually unable to compete with the more modern army of the Ottoman Empire , leading to their eventual conquest in 1517 by the Ottomans. From 1250, Egypt had been ruled by the first Mamluk dynasty, the mostly Cuman - Kipchak Turkic Bahri dynasty . In 1377

4386-438: The daughter of 'Sadr al-Sharia', which is believed to refer to the Hanafi scholar Ubayd Allah al-Mahbubi of Bukhara . Timur was born in Transoxiana near the city of Kesh (modern Shahrisabz , Uzbekistan ), some 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Samarkand , part of what was then the Chagatai Khanate . His name Temur means " Iron " in the Chagatai language , his mother-tongue (cf. Uzbek Temir , Turkish Demir ). It

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4472-423: The deaths of millions of people. Of all the areas he conquered, Khwarazm suffered the most from his expeditions, as it rose several times against him. Timur's campaigns have been characterized as genocidal . 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

4558-525: The early history of the Mongol Empire . These histories also state that Genghis Khan later established the "bond of fatherhood and sonship" by marrying Chagatai's daughter to Qarachar. Through his alleged descent from this marriage, Timur claimed kinship with the Chagatai Khans . The origins of Timur's mother, Tekina Khatun, are less clear. The Zafarnama merely states her name without giving any information regarding her background. Writing in 1403, John III , Archbishop of Sultaniyya , claimed that she

4644-439: The elephants for they'll crush you under their feet. Shall a petty prince such as you are contend with us? But your rodomontades (braggadocio) are not extraordinary; for a Turcoman never spake with judgement. If you don't follow our counsels you will regret it Finally, Timur invaded Anatolia and defeated Bayezid in the Battle of Ankara on 20 July 1402. Bayezid was captured in battle and subsequently died in captivity, initiating

4730-476: The elephants, howling in pain: Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked. Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines. Timur capitalized on the subsequent disruption in the forces of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, securing an easy victory. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq fled with remnants of his forces. The capture of

4816-473: The emirs there and he was forced to abdicate in 1412. After Faraj, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'in was permitted to rule the sultanate in Cairo for several months, but the role of sultan was soon taken by another Mamluk, Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh . Under the reign of Sultan Barsbay , the Mamluk Sultanate grew to its widest territorial extent. In 1426, he invaded the Kingdom of Cyprus and forced its kings to become Mamluk vassals . However, Barsbay also introduced

4902-459: The fleet, and the Mamluks were able to advance into Cilicia. The two armies met at Ağaçarıyı near Adana on 26 August 1488. Initially, the Ottomans made good progress on their left, but their own right flank was driven back. When the Karaman soldiers fled the battlefield, the Ottomans were forced to retreat, conceding the field and the victory to the Mamluks. The Ottoman army withdrew to Karaman to regroup, suffering more casualties to attacks by

4988-454: The frontier of the Principality of Ryazan , Timur had taken Yelets and started advancing towards Moscow. Vasily I of Moscow went with an army to Kolomna and halted at the banks of the Oka River . The clergy brought the famed Theotokos of Vladimir icon from Vladimir to Moscow. Along the way people prayed kneeling: "O Mother of God, save the land of Russia!". Suddenly, Timur's armies retreated. In memory of this miraculous deliverance of

5074-443: The lands of foreign potentates. His conquests to the west and northwest led him to the lands near the Caspian Sea and to the banks of the Ural and the Volga . Conquests in the south and south-West encompassed almost every province in Persia , including Baghdad , Karbala and Northern Iraq. One of the most formidable of Timur's opponents was another Mongol ruler, a descendant of Genghis Khan named Tokhtamysh . After having been

5160-470: The mamluks continued to exist as a political and military class in Ottoman Egypt . While the governors were appointed by the Ottoman sultan, the mamluks vied for influence within the country and held many high political positions. They were finally destroyed and exterminated by Muhammad Ali Pasha during his rise to power in Egypt in the early 19th century. Timur Timur , also known as Tamerlane (1320s – 17–18 February 1405),

5246-405: The other. Nevertheless, both the Venetian historian Domenico Malipiero and the Ottoman chronicler Tursun Bey report that as early as 1468, Mehmed II planned to campaign against the Mamluks in Syria, which was only averted by the refusal of Uzun Hassan and Karamanids to cooperate, leading to the invasion and eventual annexation of the Karaman Beylik by Mehmed. When Bayezid II ascended

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5332-467: The people, which was collected by Adil Aqa, who was also given control over Soltaniyeh. Adil was later executed because Timur suspected him of corruption. Timur then went north to begin his Georgian and Golden Horde campaigns, pausing his full-scale invasion of Persia. When he returned, he found his generals had done well in protecting the cities and lands he had conquered in Persia. Though many rebelled, and his son Miran Shah , who may have been regent ,

5418-420: The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks was adversarial: both states vied for control of the spice trade , and the Ottomans aspired to eventually take control of the Holy Cities of Islam . The two states however were separated by a buffer zone occupied by Turkmen states such as Karamanids , Aq Qoyunlu , Ramadanids , and Dulkadirids , which regularly switched their allegiance from one power to

5504-410: The steppe. He then rode west about 1,000 miles advancing in a front more than 10 miles wide. During this advance, Timur's army got far enough north to be in a region of very long summer days causing complaints by his Muslim soldiers about keeping a long schedule of prayers . It was then that Tokhtamysh's army was boxed in against the east bank of the Volga River in the Orenburg region and destroyed at

5590-461: The subjugation of Khwarazm and Urgench . Following Qazaghan's murder, disputes arose among the many claimants to sovereign power. Tughlugh Timur of Kashgar , the Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, another descendant of Genghis Khan, invaded, interrupting this infighting. Timur was sent to negotiate with the invader but joined with him instead and was rewarded with Transoxania. At about this time, his father died and Timur also became chief of

5676-476: The tax collectors and some of Timur's soldiers, he ordered the massacre of the city's citizens; the death toll is reckoned at between 100,000 and 200,000. An eye-witness counted more than 28 towers constructed of about 1,500 heads each. This has been described as a "systematic use of terror against towns...an integral element of Tamerlane's strategic element", which he viewed as preventing bloodshed by discouraging resistance. His massacres were selective and he spared

5762-415: The tax money building elaborate structures. Around 1370, Husayn surrendered to Timur and was later assassinated, which allowed Timur to be formally proclaimed sovereign at Balkh . He married Husayn's wife Saray Mulk Khanum , a descendant of Genghis Khan, allowing him to become imperial ruler of the Chaghatay tribe. Timur's Turco-Mongolian heritage provided opportunities and challenges as he sought to rule

5848-444: The title of Amir meaning general, and acting in the name of the Chagatai ruler of Transoxania. To reinforce this position, Timur claimed the title güregen (royal son-in-law) to a princess of Chinggisid line. As with the title of Khan, Timur similarly could not claim the supreme title of the Islamic world, Caliph , because the "office was limited to the Quraysh , the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad ". Therefore, Timur reacted to

5934-402: The twelve-year Ottoman Interregnum period. Timur's stated motivation for attacking Bayezid and the Ottoman Empire was the restoration of Seljuq authority. Timur saw the Seljuks as the rightful rulers of Anatolia as they had been granted rule by Mongol conquerors, illustrating again Timur's interest with Genghizid legitimacy. In December 1402, Timur besieged and took the city of Smyrna ,

6020-556: The walls alive. The next year the kingdom of Sistan, under the Mihrabanid dynasty , was ravaged, and its capital at Zaranj was destroyed. Timur then returned to his capital of Samarkand , where he began planning for his Georgian campaign and Golden Horde invasion. In 1386, Timur passed through Mazandaran as he had when trying to capture the Zagros. He went near the city of Soltaniyeh , which he had previously captured but instead turned north and captured Tabriz with little resistance, along with Maragha . He ordered heavy taxation of

6106-443: The whole countryside, plundering and ravaging." In the meantime, years of insulting letters had passed between Timur and Bayezid. Both rulers insulted each other in their own way while Timur preferred to undermine Bayezid's position as a ruler and play down the significance of his military successes. This is the excerpt from one of Timur's letters addressed to Ottoman sultan: Believe me, you are but pismire ant: don't seek to fight

6192-525: Was Qansuh al-Ghuri , who came to power in 1501. While he attempted some reforms, including the introduction of the first military regiment with gunpowder weapons, he was unable to fully integrate them into the Mamluk army and he could not fix the country's economic problems. By 1516, the Ottomans were free from other concerns — Sultan Selim I had just vanquished the Safavid Persians at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 —and turned their full might against

6278-572: 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. 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

6364-402: Was a member of the Barlas, a Mongolian tribe that had been turkified in many aspects. His father, Taraghai was described as a minor noble of this tribe. However, Manz believes that Timur may have later understated the social position of his father, so as to make his own successes appear more remarkable. She states that though he is not believed to have been especially powerful, Taraghai

6450-459: Was an essential event in the Ottoman struggle for the domination of the Middle-East . After multiple encounters, the war ended in a stalemate and a peace treaty was signed in 1491, restoring the status quo ante bellum . It lasted until the Ottomans and the Mamluks again went to war in 1516–17 ; in that war the Ottomans defeated and conquered the Mamluks. Despite being two Sunni Muslim states,

6536-546: Was devastated so that the Golden Horde could not use it to threaten northern Iran. In the same year, Timur caught Baghdad by surprise in August by marching there in only eight days from Shiraz. Sultan Ahmad Jalayir fled to Syria, where the Mamluk Sultan Barquq protected him and killed Timur's envoys. Timur left the Sarbadar prince Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghdad , but he was driven out when Ahmad Jalayir returned. Ahmad

6622-440: Was forced to annex rebellious vassal dynasties, his holdings remained. So he proceeded to capture the rest of Persia, specifically the two major southern cities of Isfahan and Shiraz . When he arrived with his army at Isfahan in 1387, the city immediately surrendered ; he treated it with relative mercy as he normally did with cities that surrendered (unlike Herat). However, after Isfahan revolted against Timur's taxes by killing

6708-553: Was growing more politically powerful in Persian Iraq . A group of locals in the region was dissatisfied with this and, Khwandamir writes, these locals assembled and brought up their complaint with Timur, possibly provoking his attack on the Ismailis there. In the late 14th century, the Tughlaq dynasty which had been ruling over Delhi Sultanate since 1320 had declined. Most of the provincial governors had asserted their independence, and

6794-456: Was of lowly origin. The Mu'izz al-Ansab , written decades later, says that she was related to the Yasa'uri tribe, whose lands bordered that of the Barlas . Ibn Khaldun recounted that Timur himself described to him his mother's descent from the legendary Persian hero Manuchehr . Ibn Arabshah suggested that she was a descendant of Genghis Khan. The 18th century Books of Timur identify her as

6880-564: Was opposed by the Jat peasantry, who would loot caravans and then disappear in the forests. He had thousands of Jats killed and many taken captive. But the Sultanate at Delhi did nothing to stop his advance. The battle took place on 17 December 1398. Before the battle, Timur slaughtered some 100,000 slaves who had been captured previously in the Indian campaign. This was done out of fear that they might revolt. Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and

6966-461: Was prepared for the attack, evidenced by its fortress and system of tunnels. Undeterred, Timur's soldiers flooded the tunnels by cutting into a channel overhead. Timur's reasons for attacking this village are not yet well understood. However, it has been suggested that his religious persuasions and view of himself as an executor of divine will may have contributed to his motivations. The Persian historian Khwandamir explains that an Ismaili presence

7052-484: Was reasonably wealthy and influential. This is shown in the Zafarnama , which states that Timur later returning to his birthplace following the death of his father in 1360, suggesting concern over his estate. Taraghai's social significance is further hinted at by Arabshah , who described him as a magnate in the court of Amir Husayn Qara'unas . In addition to this, the father of the great Amir Hamid Kereyid of Moghulistan

7138-412: Was said that the city reeked of the decomposing bodies of its citizens with their heads being erected like structures and the bodies left as food for the birds by Timur's soldiers. Timur's invasion and destruction of Delhi continued the chaos that was still consuming India, and the city would not be able to recover from the great loss it suffered for almost a century. Before the end of 1399, Timur started

7224-509: 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. 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

7310-558: Was unable to defeat the Mamluks during a prolonged war that ended in 1491. Qaitbay also tried to help the Muslims in Spain by threatening the Christians in Syria, but without effect. He died in 1496, leaving several hundred thousand ducats in debts to the great Venetian trading families. Following another several years of political instability and succession disputes, the last major Mamluk sultan

7396-525: Was unpopular but got help from Qara Yusuf of the Kara Koyunlu ; he fled again in 1399, this time to the Ottomans. In the meantime, Tokhtamysh, now khan of the Golden Horde , turned against his patron and in 1385 invaded Azerbaijan . The inevitable response by Timur resulted in the Tokhtamysh–Timur war . In the initial stage of the war, Timur won a victory at the Battle of the Kondurcha River . After

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