One of the most famous personalities in world history is Amir Temur - the great commander and statesman of the Middle Ages. He was called differently - Lame Timur, Tamerlan, Timur Gurgan, but everywhere the name of this conqueror was pronounced with horror. Amir Temur, the great commander, inspired awe by all nations. The biography of this ruler and commander will be the subject of our discussion.
Pedigree
First of all, let's find out the genealogy of the great conqueror. The ancestors of Amir Temur came from the Mongolian tribe Barlas, which at the time of his birth, was largely obstructed. Baralutai, the son of Hachiu, is considered to be its ancestor.
After the great Mongol conquests, a significant part of the barlases moved to Central Asia, to the territory of the so-called Chagatai ulus, one of the parts of the empire allocated to the possession of the son of Genghis Khan Chagatai and his descendants. Barlases in many respects adopted the culture of the local population, although they retained a significant part of their own traditions. Their colloquial speech was the so-called Chagatai language, which was one of the forms of the Turkic Old Uighur language. By the time of the birth of Temur, the Barlas did not use the Mongolian speech.
Temur's father was Mohamed Taragay, a small feudal lord descended from Karachar-noion, who was the right hand of Chagatai. The mother of the future commander was Tekina-Khatun. From this marriage, besides Temur, three sons were born - Alim-sheikh, Dzhuki and Suyurgatmysh, as well as the daughter of Kutlug-Turkan. Later Taragay was married for the second time with Kadak-Khatun, in which the daughter of Shirik-bek was born.
Thus, interpreting this information to European terminology more familiar to us, we can say that Temur came from a small noble family.
Status in the Chagatai State
Of course, Amir Temur is a great commander, his biography is full of interesting facts, but before you begin to study it, you should learn more about the situation in the Chagataev state in which the future conqueror was born.
By the time Tamerlane was born, the Chagatai ulus was an amorphous state in which the khan’s power was weak. The era was marked by political turmoil in the country and civil wars. Quite often, rulers died a violent death. Their succession to the throne has become quite common. The attempts of some representatives of the Chagatai dynasty to strengthen their power and carry out management reforms did not give the expected result.
Finally, in 1346, after the birth of Temur, the Genghis Khan dynasty lost control of Maverannahr (between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers). The Chagatays were able to maintain power only in the Seven Rivers, which was now called Mogolistan. Thus, in 1346, the Chagatai ulus fell into two parts.
In the western part (Maverannahr) a certain Kazagan was established, having killed the legitimate ruler of Kazan Khan. He was not Genghisides, and therefore could not accept the title of Khan. He took the title of emir and ruled on behalf of the nominal khans of the Chagatai dynasty. In 1358, Kazagan was treacherously killed by the ruler of Mogolistan Togluk-Timur, who was his son-in-law. After the murder of the son of Kazagan Abdullah, who ruled for a short time, Maverannahr seized chaos. Chagataid Toluk-Timur invades the country and captures it.
Amir Temur, the great commander, entered the political arena in such an atmosphere. The biography of this person was directly related to these events.
Birth and young years
Now let's find out when and where Amir Temur was born. The future great conqueror, as mentioned above, was born in the family of Muhammad Taragay. This happened in April 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar, near Kesha (now Shakhrisabz in Uzbekistan). Amir Temur spent his childhood in these places. The biography of his early years of life is almost unknown, but from some sources it is clear that Tamerlan was fond of hunting from an early age, and from the age of 10 began full-fledged military training under the supervision of professional mentors.
In 1356, he marries the granddaughter of Emir Kazagan - Uljay-Turkan. In the same year, their firstborn was born - Jahangir.
When the future conqueror turned 25 years old, his father died in 1361. Since that time, the name of Temur appears in the chronicles.
Wandering period
Initially, Temur had at his disposal a relatively small detachment of warriors, personally recruited by him. At the head of this detachment, Tamerlan began to serve Togluk-Temur, who conquered Maverannahr in 1360. He made Temur the ruler of the tribal region around Kesh. But two years later Togluk-Timur was forced to leave the country, as riots began in Mogolistan. His governor, he left the son of Ilyas-Khoja.
Soon, Ilyas-Khoja decided to eliminate Temur from state affairs, and even kill if possible. Upon learning of this, Tamerlan leaves the service and draws close with his sister's brother - Hussein, who was the grandson of Emir Kazagan. They had a rather warm relationship before, but in 1360 the roads of Temur and Hussein were divided. The first went to the service of the Mogolistan khan, and the second chose the path of struggle. But Hussein is defeated and fled from Balkh, in which he ruled to Kabul.
Now, Temur and Hussein again became allies. Their union grew into a blood brotherhood. The period from 1361 to 1364 was a time of wandering and fighting against the Mughals. Friends knew the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat. They were in the service of many rulers, at the same time not forgetting about their main goal. Even in captivity at this time was visited by the emir Temur. The biography of the future great commander suggests that in one of the battles of this period he received a severe wound to his leg, because of which he remained lame for life. That is why it began to be called Temur Lyang, which means Khromets, or in the European manner - Tamerlane.
Mogul victory
In the end, Hussein managed to recapture the city of Balkh. After the death of Togluk-Timur, Temur and Hussein managed to oust his son Ilyas-Khoja from Maverannahr. They defeat the Mughals in the decisive battle at the Stone Bridge (1363) and drive them out of the country. Hussein becomes the Amir of Samarkand. But in 1365, due to Hussein’s indecision, the Allies were defeated by Ilyas-Khoja in the Mud Battle and forced to leave the city. The uprising of the Serbedars in 1366, directed against the Mughals, allows the return of power over the region to Hussein and Temur.
Hussein again became Amir of Samarkand and the supreme ruler of Maverannahr, and Temur - only his main assistant. This fact gave rise to a crack in the seemingly strong friendship, since Temur considered himself deprived during the division of power.
Fighting Hussein
The final breakdown of relations between Temur and Hussein occurred in 1367 after the death of the wife of the first and sister of the second of them - Uljay-Turkan.
The confrontation between them grew. It is worth noting that thanks to reasonable and thoughtful actions, the authority of Temur among the people and in the eyes of the soldiers grew more and more. But the positions of Hussein were melting. From it began to move more and more soldiers to the camp, which was organized by Amir Temur. The biography of this commander opened a new chapter.
Between Temur and Hussein from 1367 to 1370 an open confrontation began, hostilities were fought. There were periods when the commanders put up and became allies again, but there were never any previous fraternal relations between them. In 1370, in the decisive battle of Balkh, Temur defeated Hussein. Amir of Samarkand was captured and executed at the request of Tamerlane’s comrades-in-arms, although he himself was inclined to save his former friend’s life.
Temur married the wife of Hussein Saray-mulk, who was also the daughter of the last legitimate Chagatai ruler of Kazan Khan. Thus, Tamerlan became related to the house of Genghis Khan. After that, he took the honorary nickname Gurgan among the Mongols, which means "son-in-law of the khan." This marriage affirmed the legitimacy of his claims to power in the region.
Great Amir
After the death of Hussein, a kurultai was assembled, at which a decision was made to proclaim Tamerlane as Amir of Turan (his state was so called). Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan, which was allowed to be worn only by hereditary Genghisides. Khan elected the son of Kazan Khan, the brother of the deceased wife of Tamerlane, Suyugartmysh. But everyone understood who the real power belonged to. The real ruler was Amir Temur - the great commander. The biography of this person was subsequently associated with the strengthening and expansion of his state.
Tamerlane made the ancient city of Samarkand its capital, like Hussein. He decorated him in every possible way, contributed to the development of science. In the very first years of his reign, Temur managed to strengthen the state power in the country, until then tormented by civil strife. Now he could take up the matter, thanks to which he became famous throughout the world - with great conquests.
Tamerlane's Conquest
It is not enough to say that Amir Temur is a great commander. This man is one of the greatest warlords of all time. He managed to create a grand empire, which in size was not much inferior to the power of Genghis Khan.
Temur's foreign political activity was very intense. He made a number of campaigns in Mogolistan and in the end he actually conquered it. Five times he sent troops to Khorezm, which ultimately led to his annexation to the empire.
In the 80s of the XIV century, Temur managed to subjugate the entire territory of Iran. Thanks to Tamerlane’s pressure, Tokhtamysh came to power in the Blue Horde. In the future, he was able to gain a foothold in the Golden Horde. But, feeling too strong, Tokhtamysh decided to gain independence from his powerful patron. This led to a protracted war between the khan of the Golden Horde and the emir of Turan. Temur made three campaigns against Tokhtamysh. During the last of them, the emir’s troops even invaded the territory of Russia, having plundered some local cities. In the end, Tokhtamysh was overthrown, and Timur-Kutlug, the new protege of Tamerlane, was appointed khan instead.
One of Temur's greatest victories was the battle of Ankara, in which in 1402 he defeated another great conqueror - the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid - and captured him.
In addition, Tamerlane made a number of successful campaigns in India, and at the end of his life made a campaign against China, but death interrupted his plans to conquer the Celestial Empire.
Death of Temur
Tamerlan died in early 1405 at the age of 68, during the organization of a campaign against China, in the city of Otrar. His body was embalmed and transported to the capital of the empire - Samarkand.
Later, in this city, the sons of Tamerlane built the Gur-Emir Mausoleum, in which Amir Temur, the great commander, was buried. Photos of this tomb can be seen above.
Heritage
Amir Temur created one of the greatest empires of all time. Its territory stretched from the borders of India and China in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, from the Indian Ocean in the south to Russia in the north. But the children and grandchildren could not save the power of the father. Civil wars broke out between them , which led to the collapse of the empire. The final collapse of the Temurid state occurred after the invasion of nomadic Uzbeks from the north.
At the same time, one of the descendants of Tamerlane - Babur - became the founder of another powerful state, which, unlike Turan, lasted for many centuries. This state became the Mughal Empire in India.
Interesting Facts
Let's look at interesting facts from the life of Amir Temur.
It is known that even in his youth he was held captive along with his twin Hussein at one of the Turkmen princes. They intended to sell them into slavery. Only thanks to the intercession of the brother of this ruler, Temur and Hussein were released.
One of the main hobbies of Tamerlane was the game of shatrange, which is considered the ancestor of modern chess.
Characteristic
Of course, it is difficult to give a full description of such a versatile personality, which was Amir Temur. A brief biography does not allow this to be done in full. Nevertheless, we know that Tamerlan was fond of not only war and the conduct of public affairs, but devoted a lot of time to science and art.
Of course, Amir Temur was one of the brightest personalities of his era. He was a strong-willed and purposeful man who, thanks to his incredible charisma and extraordinary intelligence, managed to create the greatest empire.