What Was Timur A Success Or A Failure
Timur, or Tamerlane, was the last great nomadic nomadic conqueror of Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire and Dynasty. During his zenith, he commanded an empire which stretched from modern-day Turkey to Nepal. Most of Timur's life was spent in military conquest. His military expansions often involved the wholsale slaughter and genocide of the conquered peoples, leaving dead hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers and civilians. The life and analysis of Timur's reign can be divided into three areas: military conquest, governance, and downfall. Upon examination of these three areas, one can understand the basic framework of Timur's life and rule, as well as his failures. Before discussing Timur's military conquests and concurrent rise to power, it is necessary
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to provide some background of his early life.
Timur was born in modern-day Uzbekistan in 1336. He was born into the clan Barlas, of which his father was the head of. He grew up in an area an region which had no central government, and was basically a confederation of loosely-knit Turco-Mongolian tribes, known as the Ulus Chaghatay, which was the product of the Ghenghis Khan Empire a few generations before. Timur never learned to read or write, but despite his illiteracy, historical records show him to be very intelligent with a strong intellectual curiosity. Timur is also known as Tamerlane, which means to "Tamer the Lame" and refers to a physical handicap in which the left part of his body was partially paralyzed due to an injury sustained in battle. The word "timur" means "iron" in mongolian. In 1941, Russian anthropologist Mikhail M. Gerasimov exhumed the skeleton of Timur, and found him to be 5' 8" tall, which was tall for his era and race, and also ascertained Timur's physical
disability. The emergence of Timur as a military and tribal leader began when he became head of the Barlas tribe. Timur was the hereditary recipient of this position when his father retired to a Muslim monastary, telling Timur that "the world is a beautiful vase filled with scorpions." Timur had a personal, non-tribal following in addition to command of the Barlas, and gradually maneuvered himself to be head of the Ulus Chaghatry, by means of engaging in strategic military attacks with allies, and political manipulation. Becoming leader of the Ulus Chaghatry is a crucial development in Timur's rise to military leader, because it gave him leverage over other tribal leaders and allowed him to tap and command resources required for military expeditions. The particulars of this political system will be discussed later. Timur's first projection of military power was towards the north in Moghul territory, which hitherto had been a sanctuary for political dissidents. This was done not necessarily conquer or pilage, but to send a message to these dissidents that threat to his power would not be tolerated. For the next 30 years, Timur embarked on campaigns against the south, Iran in 1385, the Golden Horde, and his 7-year campaign against the west, in which he conquered Bagdad, the Mamluks in Syria, and interrupted Ottoman hegemony by looting and pilaging major Ottoman cities
(even capturing the Sultan Bayazid alive,) as well as other wanton acts of ruthless aggression. Between 1380 and 1390, Tamerlane sought to control neighboring tribes, and so conquered modern-day Iran, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Georgia. Timur even continued fighting into his sixties, when he was carried into India, because he was too old to walk, launching an invasion into northern India for no apparent strategic or objective reason, other than to fulfill his insatiable desire for plunder and destruction. Throughout these decades, acts of bloody massacre and genocide became characteristic of Timur's military style. In fact, the degree to which Timur is recogized as prominent historical fiigure is largely based upon the shocking and unprecedented level of murder committed by him and his army. There were times in battle when Timur ordered his soldiers to return from battle with no fewer than 2 human heads. Other accounts describe the construction of massive pyramids made from the heads and skulls of foreign civilians and soldiers, numbering in the tens of thousands, as memeorials to his victories. When he invaded India, he lost a bit of control over his army's propensity for slaughter, resulting in massive pilaging, almost irreversible destruction of Deli, and over 100,000 Indian soldiers put to death. It took over 100 years for Deli to rebuild what was lost to the rampage of Timur and his army. In 1401, Timur's adventures in Syria led him to conquer the country, and with Damascus being the only city which refused to surrender, Timur murdered 20,000 of its inhabitants.
to provide some background of his early life.
Timur was born in modern-day Uzbekistan in 1336. He was born into the clan Barlas, of which his father was the head of. He grew up in an area an region which had no central government, and was basically a confederation of loosely-knit Turco-Mongolian tribes, known as the Ulus Chaghatay, which was the product of the Ghenghis Khan Empire a few generations before. Timur never learned to read or write, but despite his illiteracy, historical records show him to be very intelligent with a strong intellectual curiosity. Timur is also known as Tamerlane, which means to "Tamer the Lame" and refers to a physical handicap in which the left part of his body was partially paralyzed due to an injury sustained in battle. The word "timur" means "iron" in mongolian. In 1941, Russian anthropologist Mikhail M. Gerasimov exhumed the skeleton of Timur, and found him to be 5' 8" tall, which was tall for his era and race, and also ascertained Timur's physical
disability. The emergence of Timur as a military and tribal leader began when he became head of the Barlas tribe. Timur was the hereditary recipient of this position when his father retired to a Muslim monastary, telling Timur that "the world is a beautiful vase filled with scorpions." Timur had a personal, non-tribal following in addition to command of the Barlas, and gradually maneuvered himself to be head of the Ulus Chaghatry, by means of engaging in strategic military attacks with allies, and political manipulation. Becoming leader of the Ulus Chaghatry is a crucial development in Timur's rise to military leader, because it gave him leverage over other tribal leaders and allowed him to tap and command resources required for military expeditions. The particulars of this political system will be discussed later. Timur's first projection of military power was towards the north in Moghul territory, which hitherto had been a sanctuary for political dissidents. This was done not necessarily conquer or pilage, but to send a message to these dissidents that threat to his power would not be tolerated. For the next 30 years, Timur embarked on campaigns against the south, Iran in 1385, the Golden Horde, and his 7-year campaign against the west, in which he conquered Bagdad, the Mamluks in Syria, and interrupted Ottoman hegemony by looting and pilaging major Ottoman cities
(even capturing the Sultan Bayazid alive,) as well as other wanton acts of ruthless aggression. Between 1380 and 1390, Tamerlane sought to control neighboring tribes, and so conquered modern-day Iran, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Georgia. Timur even continued fighting into his sixties, when he was carried into India, because he was too old to walk, launching an invasion into northern India for no apparent strategic or objective reason, other than to fulfill his insatiable desire for plunder and destruction. Throughout these decades, acts of bloody massacre and genocide became characteristic of Timur's military style. In fact, the degree to which Timur is recogized as prominent historical fiigure is largely based upon the shocking and unprecedented level of murder committed by him and his army. There were times in battle when Timur ordered his soldiers to return from battle with no fewer than 2 human heads. Other accounts describe the construction of massive pyramids made from the heads and skulls of foreign civilians and soldiers, numbering in the tens of thousands, as memeorials to his victories. When he invaded India, he lost a bit of control over his army's propensity for slaughter, resulting in massive pilaging, almost irreversible destruction of Deli, and over 100,000 Indian soldiers put to death. It took over 100 years for Deli to rebuild what was lost to the rampage of Timur and his army. In 1401, Timur's adventures in Syria led him to conquer the country, and with Damascus being the only city which refused to surrender, Timur murdered 20,000 of its inhabitants.