Tamerlane's name.

Timur's full name was Timur ibn Taragay Barlas (Tīmūr ibn Taraġay Barlas - Timur son of Taragay from Barlas) in accordance with the Arabic tradition (alam-nasab-nisba). In Chagatai and Mongolian languages(both Altai) Temür or Temir means “iron”.

Not being a Genghisid, Timur formally could not bear the title of Great Khan, always calling himself only an emir (leader, leader). However, growing up in 1370 with the House of Genghisides, he accepted the name Timur Gurgan (Timūr Gurkānī, (تيمices free to live and act in their homes.

In various Persian sources, the Iranianized nickname Timur-e Lang (Tīmūr-e Lang, تیمور لنگ) “Timur the Lame” is often found; this name was probably considered at that time as contemptuous and derogatory. It turned into Western languages(Tamerlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine, Timur Lenk) and into Russian, where it does not have any negative connotation and is used along with the original “Timur”.

Personality of Tamerlane.

Timur's biography resembles the biography of Genghis Khan. The beginnings of the political activities of both conquerors are similar: they were the leaders of the detachments of adherents they personally recruited, who then remained the main support of their power. Like Genghis Khan, Timur personally entered into all the details of the organization of military forces, had detailed information about the forces of his enemies and the state of their lands, enjoyed unconditional authority among his army and could fully rely on his associates. Less successful was the choice of persons placed at the head of the civil administration (numerous cases of punishment for extortion of high dignitaries in Samarkand, Herat, Shiraz, Tabriz). Tamerlane loved to talk with scientists, especially to listen to the reading of historical works; with his knowledge of history he surprised the medieval historian, philosopher and thinker Ibn Khaldun; Timur used stories about the valor of historical and legendary heroes to inspire his soldiers.

Timur left behind dozens of monumental architectural structures, some of which have entered the treasury of world culture. Timur's buildings, in the creation of which he took an active part, reveal his artistic taste.

Timur cared primarily about the prosperity of his native Maverannahr and about enhancing the splendor of his capital, Samarkand. Timur brought craftsmen, architects, jewelers, builders, architects from all the conquered lands in order to equip the cities of his empire: the capital Samarkand, his father’s homeland - Kesh (Shakhrisyabz), Bukhara, the border city of Yassy (Turkestan). He managed to express all the care that he put into the capital Samarkand through words about it: “There will always be a blue sky and golden stars above Samarkand.” Only in last years he took measures to improve the well-being of other regions of the state, mainly border ones (in 1398 a new irrigation canal was built in Afghanistan, in 1401 - in Transcaucasia, etc.)

Biography.

Childhood and youth.

Timur was born on April 9, 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar near the city of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan) in Central Asia.

Timur spent his childhood and youth in the Kesh mountains. In his youth, he loved hunting and equestrian competitions, javelin throwing and archery, and had a penchant for war games. From the age of ten, mentors - atabeks who served under Taragai, taught Timur the art of war and sports games. Timur was a very brave and reserved man. Possessing sobriety of judgment, he knew how to make the right decision in difficult situations. These character traits attracted people to him. The first information about Timur appeared in sources starting in 1361, when he began his political activity.

Timur's appearance.

As shown by the opening of the tomb of Gur Emir (Samarkand) by M. M. Gerasimov and the subsequent study of the skeleton from the burial, which is believed to belong to Tamerlane, his height was 172 cm. Timur was strong and physically developed, his contemporaries wrote about him: “If Most warriors could pull the bow string to the level of the collarbone, but Timur pulled it to the ear.” His hair is lighter than most of his people.

Despite Timur's old age (69 years), his skull, as well as his skeleton, did not have pronounced, actually senile features. The presence of most of the teeth, the clear relief of the bones, the almost absence of osteophytes - all this rather suggests that the skull of the skeleton belonged to a person full of strength and health, whose biological age did not exceed 50 years. The massiveness of healthy bones, the highly developed relief and their density, the width of the shoulders, the volume of the chest and relatively high height - all this gives the right to think that Timur had an extremely strong build. His strong athletic muscles, most likely, were distinguished by a certain dryness of form, and this is natural: life on military campaigns, with their difficulties and hardships, almost constant stay in the saddle could hardly contribute to obesity.

Special external difference Tamerlane and his warriors kept their braids from other Muslims, according to Mongolian custom, which is confirmed by some Central Asian illustrated manuscripts of that time. Meanwhile, examining ancient Turkic sculptures and images of Turks in the paintings of Afrasiab, researchers came to the conclusion that the Turks wore braids back in the 5th-8th centuries. The opening of Timur's grave and analysis by anthropologists showed that Timur did not have braids. “Timur’s hair is thick, straight, gray-red in color, with a predominance of dark chestnut or red.” “Contrary to the accepted custom of shaving his head, at the time of his death Timur had relatively long hair.” (article by M. M. Gerasimov “Portrait of Tamerlane” from the book “Tamerlane”, published in Moscow in 1992). Some historians believe that the light color of his hair is due to the fact that Tamerlane dyed his hair with henna. But, M. M. Gerasimov notes in his work: “Even a preliminary study of beard hair under a binocular convinces that this reddish color is natural, and not dyed with henna, as historians described.” Timur wore a long mustache, not a trim one above the lip. As we managed to find out, there was a rule that allowed the highest military class to wear a mustache without cutting it above the lip, and Timur, according to this rule, did not cut his mustache, and it hung freely above the lip. “Timur’s small thick beard was wedge-shaped. Her hair is coarse, almost straight, thick, bright brown (red) in color, with significant gray streaks.”

Timur's parents, brothers and sisters.

His father's name was Muhammad Taragai or Turgai, he was a military man and a small landowner. He came from the Mongolian Barlas tribe, which by that time had already been Turkified and spoke the Chagatai language.

According to some assumptions, Timur's father Taragai was the leader of the Barlas tribe and a descendant of a certain Karachar noyon (a large feudal landowner in the Middle Ages), a powerful assistant to Chagatai, the son of Genghis Khan and a distant relative of the latter.

Timur's father was a pious Muslim, his spiritual mentor was Sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal

In Encyclopedia Britannica, Timur is considered a Turkic conqueror.

In Indian historiography, Timur is considered the head of the Chagatai Turks.

Timur's father had one brother, whose name in Turkic was Balta.

Timur's father was married twice: his first wife was Timur's mother Tekina Khatun. There is conflicting information about its origin. And the second wife of Taragay/Turgay was Kadak-khatun, the mother of Timur’s sister Shirinbek-aka.

Muhammad Taragay died in 1361 and was buried in Timur’s homeland - in the city of Kesh (Shakhrisabz). His tomb has survived to this day.

Timur had elder sister Kutlug Turkan-aka and younger sister of Shirin-bek-aka. They died before the death of Timur himself and were buried in mausoleums in the Shahi Zinda complex in Samarkand. According to the source “Mu'izz al-ansab”, Timur had three more brothers: Juki, Alim Sheikh and Suyurgatmysh.

Spiritual mentors of Timur.

Timur's first spiritual mentor was his father's mentor, the Sufi sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal. Timur's main spiritual mentor was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Sheikh Mir Seyid Bereke. It was he who presented Timur with the symbols of power: the drum and the banner, when he came to power in 1370. Handing these symbols, Mir Seyid Bereke predicted a great future for the emir. He accompanied Timur on his great campaigns. In 1391, he blessed him before the battle with Tokhtamysh. In 1403, they together mourned the unexpected death of the heir to the throne, Muhammad Sultan. Mir Seyid Bereke was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, where Timur himself was buried at his feet. Another mentor of Timur was the son of the Sufi sheikh Burkhan ad-din Sagardzhi Abu Said. Timur ordered the construction of the Rukhabad mausoleum over their graves.

Timur's knowledge of languages.

During the campaign against the Golden Horde against Tokhtamysh in 1391, Timur ordered an inscription in the Chagatai language to be embossed in Uyghur letters - 8 lines and three lines in Arabic, containing the Koranic text at Mount Altyn-Chuku. In history, this inscription is known as the Karsakpai inscription of Timur. Currently, the stone with Timur's inscription is kept and exhibited in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

A contemporary and captive of Tamerlane, Ibn Arabshah, who knew Tamerlane personally since 1401, reports: “As for Persian, Turkic and Mongolian, he knew them better than anyone else.” Princeton University researcher Svat Soucek writes about Timur in his monograph that “He was a Turk from the Barlas tribe, Mongolian in name and origin, but in all practical senses Turkic by that time. Timur's native language was Turkic (Chagatai), although he may have also spoken Persian to some extent due to the cultural environment in which he lived. He almost certainly did not know Mongolian, although Mongolian terms had not yet completely disappeared from documents and were found on coins.”

Legal documents of Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian and Turkic. For example, a document from 1378 giving privileges to the descendants of Abu Muslim who lived in Khorezm was compiled in the Chagatai Turkic language.

The Spanish diplomat and traveler Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who visited the court of Tamerlane in Transoxiana, reports that “Beyond this river (Amu Darya - approx.) the kingdom of Samarkante extends, and its land is called Mogalia (Mogolistan), and the language is Mughal, and this language is not understood in this ( southern - approx.) side of the river, since everyone speaks Persian", he further reports "the writing that is used by the Samarkant residents [who live - approx.] on the other side of the river is not understood and cannot be read by those who live on this side, and they call this writing mogali. And the lord (Tamerlane - approx.) keeps with him several scribes who can read and write on this"

According to the Timurid source "Muiz al-ansab", at the court of Timur there was a staff of only Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Ibn Arabshah, describing the tribes of Transoxiana, provides the following information: “The mentioned Sultan (Timur) had four viziers who were completely engaged in useful and harmful matters. They were considered noble people, and everyone followed their opinions. As many tribes and tribes as the Arabs had, the Turks had the same number. Each of the above-mentioned viziers, being representatives of one tribe, were a luminary of opinions and illuminated the arch of minds of their tribe. One tribe was called Arlat, the second - Zhalair, the third - Kavchin, the fourth - Barlas. Temur was the son of the fourth tribe."

According to Alisher Navoi, although Timur did not write poetry, he knew both poetry and prose very well, and, by the way, knew how to bring the proper beit to the right place.

Timur's wives.

He had 18 wives, of which his favorite wife was Emir Hussein's sister, Uljay Turkan Agha. According to another version, his beloved wife was the daughter of Kazan Khan, Sarai Mulk Khanum. She did not have her own children, but she was entrusted with the upbringing of some of Timur's sons and grandchildren. She was a famous patron of science and the arts. By her order, a huge madrasah and mausoleum for her mother were built in Samarkand.

In 1355, Timur married the daughter of Emir Jaku-barlas Turmush-aga. Khan Maverannahra Kazagan, convinced of Timur’s merits, in 1355 gave him his granddaughter Uljay Turkan-aga as his wife. Thanks to this marriage, Timur's alliance with Emir Hussein, the grandson of Kazagan, arose.

In addition, Timur had other wives: Tugdi bi, daughter of Ak Sufi kungrat, Ulus aga from the Sulduz tribe, Nauruz aga, Bakht Sultan aga, Burkhan aga, Tavakkul-hanim, Turmish aga, Jani-bik aga, Chulpan aga and others. Timur had 21 concubines.

During Timur's childhood, the Chagatai state collapsed in Central Asia (Chagatai ulus). In Transoxiana, since 1346, power belonged to the Turkic emirs, and the khans enthroned by the emperor ruled only nominally. In 1348, the Mogul emirs enthroned Tugluk-Timur, who began to rule in East Turkestan, the Kuldzha region and Semirechye.

The beginning of political activity.

In 1347, Emir Kazagan killed Genghisid Kazan Khan, after whose death the Chagatai ulus split into two separate states: Transoxiana and Mogolistan. After the collapse of the Chagatai ulus, the head of the Turkic emirs was Kazagan (1346-1358), who was not a Chingizid, but a native of the Karaunas. Formally, Genghisid Danishmadcha-oglan was elevated to the throne, and after his assassination Bayankuli Khan. After the death of Kazagan, his son Abdullah really ruled the country, but he was killed and the region was gripped by political anarchy.

Timur entered the service of the ruler of Kesh, Hadji Barlas, who was supposedly the head of the Barlas tribe. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tughluk-Timur. Haji Barlas fled to Khorasan, and Timur entered into negotiations with the khan and was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region, but was forced to leave after the departure of the Mongols and the return of Haji Barlas.

In 1361, Khan Tughluk-Timur again occupied the country, and Haji Barlas again fled to Khorasan, where he was subsequently killed. In 1362, Tughluk-Timur hastily left Transoxiana as a result of the rebellion of a group of emirs in Mogolistan, transferring power to his son Ilyas-Khoja. Timur was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region and one of the assistants of the Mogul prince. Before the khan had time to cross the Syr Darya River, Ilyas Khoja Oglan, together with Emir Bekchik and other close emirs, conspired to remove Timurbek from state affairs, and, if possible, to destroy him physically. The intrigues intensified and took dangerous character. Timur had to separate from the Mughals and go over to the side of their enemy - Emir Hussein (grandson of Kazagan). For some time, with a small detachment, they led the life of adventurers and went towards Khorezm, where in the battle of Khiva they were defeated by the ruler of those lands, Tavakkala-Kongurot, and with the remnants of their warriors and servants were forced to retreat deep into the desert. Subsequently, going to the village of Mahmudi in the region subject to Mahan, they were captured by the people of Alibek Dzhanikurban, in whose dungeons they spent 62 days in captivity. According to historian Sharafiddin Ali Yazdi, Alibek intended to sell Timur and Hussein to Iranian merchants, but in those days not a single caravan passed through Mahan. The prisoners were rescued by Alibek's elder brother, Emir Muhammad Beg.

In 1361-1364, Timurbek and Emir Hussein lived on the southern bank of the Amu Darya in the regions of Kakhmard, Daragez, Arsif and Balkh and waged a guerrilla war against the Mongols. During a skirmish in Seistan, which took place in the fall of 1362 against the enemies of the ruler Malik Qutbiddin, Timur lost two fingers on right hand and was seriously wounded in the right leg, which is why he became lame (the nickname “lame Timur” is Aksak-Temir in Turkic, Timur-e lang in Persian, hence Tamerlane).

In 1364, the Moguls were forced to leave the country. Returning back to Transoxiana, Timur and Hussein placed Kabul Shah from the Chagatand clan on the throne of the ulus.

The next year, at dawn on May 22, 1365, a bloody battle took place near Chinaz between the army of Timur and Hussein with the army of Mogolistan led by Khan Ilyas-Khoja, which went down in history as the “battle in the mud.” Timur and Hussein had little chance to defend native land, since Ilyas-Khoja’s army had superior forces. During the battle, a torrential downpour began, it was difficult for the soldiers to even look forward, and the horses got stuck in the mud. Despite this, Timur’s troops began to gain victory on his flank; at the decisive moment, he asked Hussein for help in order to finish off the enemy, but Hussein not only did not help, but also retreated. This predetermined the outcome of the battle. The warriors of Timur and Hussein were forced to retreat to the other side of the Syrdarya River.

Meanwhile, the army of Ilyas-Khoja was expelled from Samarkand by a popular uprising of the Serbedars, which was led by the madrasah teacher Mavlanazada, the artisan Abubakr Kalavi and the sharp shooter Mirzo Khurdaki Bukhari. Popular government was established in the city. The property of the rich sections of the population was confiscated, so they turned to Hussein and Timur for help. Timur and Hussein agreed to oppose the Serbedars - they lured them with kind speeches to negotiations, where in the spring of 1366 the troops of Hussein and Timur suppressed the uprising, executing the Serbedar leaders, but by order of Tamerlane they left alive the leader of the Serbedars - Mavlana-zade, to whom the people's preferences were addressed .

Election as "Great Emir".

Hussein wanted to rule on the throne of the Chagatai ulus among the Turkic-Mongolian people, like his grandfather Kazagan; according to established tradition, power from time immemorial belonged to the descendants of Genghis Khan. During the reign of Genghisid Kazankhan, the position of supreme emir was forcibly appropriated by the grandfather of Emir Hussein, Emir Kazagan, which served as a reason for the rupture of the already not very good relations between beks Timur and Hussein. Each of them began to prepare for the decisive battle.

Timur received great support from the clergy in the person of the Termez seids, the Samarkand sheikh-ul-Islam and Mir Seyid Bereke, who became Timur’s spiritual mentor.

Having moved from Sali-sarai to Balkh, Hussein began to strengthen the fortress. He decided to act with deception and cunning. Hussein sent Timur an invitation to a meeting in the Chakchak gorge to sign a peace treaty, and as proof of his friendly intentions he promised to swear on the Koran. Having gone to the meeting, Timur took two hundred horsemen with him just in case, but Hussein brought a thousand of his soldiers and for this reason the meeting did not take place. Timur recalls this incident: “I sent Emir Hussein a letter with a Turkic beit with the following content:

Whoever intends to deceive me will lie in the ground himself, I am sure. Having shown his deceit, He himself will die from it.

When my letter reached Emir Hussein, he was extremely embarrassed and asked for forgiveness, but the second time I did not believe him.”

Gathering all his strength, Timur crossed to the other side of the Amu Darya River. The advanced units of his troops were commanded by Suyurgatmish-oglan, Ali Muayyad and Hussein Barlas. On the approach to the village of Biya, Barak, the leader of the Andkhud Sayinds, advanced to meet the army and presented him with kettledrums and the banner of supreme power. On the way to Balkh, Timur was joined by Jaku Barlas, who arrived from Karkara with his army, and Emir Kaykhusrav from Khuttalan, and on the other side of the river, Emir Zinda Chashm from Shiberghan, Khazarians from Khulm and Badakhshan Muhammadshah also joined. Having learned about this, many of Emir Hussein’s soldiers left him.

Before the battle, Timur gathers a kurultai, at which a man from the Genghisid family, Suyurgatmysh, is elected khan. Shortly before Timur was confirmed as the “great emir,” a certain good messenger, a sheikh from Mecca, came to him and said that he had a vision that he, Timur, would become a great ruler. On this occasion, he presented him with a banner, a drum, a symbol of supreme power. But he does not take this supreme power personally, but remains close to it.

On April 10, 1370, Balkh was conquered, and Hussein was captured and killed by the ruler of Khutalyan, Kaykhusrav, as a matter of blood feud, since Hussein had previously killed his brother. A kurultai was also held here, in which Chagatai beks and emirs, high-ranking dignitaries of regions and tumans, and Termezshahs took part. Among them were former rivals and childhood friends of Timur: Bayan-suldus, emirs Uljaytu, Kaykhosrov, Zinda Chashm, Jaku-barlas and many others. The Kurultai elected Timur as the supreme emir of Turan, entrusting him with responsibility for establishing the long-awaited peace, stability and order in the country. And the marriage with the daughter of Genghisid Kazan Khan, the captive widow of Emir Hussein Sarai Mulk Khanum, allowed the Supreme Emir of Maverannahr Timur to add the honorary title “guragan”, that is, “son-in-law” to his name.

At the kurultai, Timur took the oath of all the military leaders of Transoxiana. Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan and was content with the title of “great emir” - the descendant of Genghis Khan Suyurgatmysh (1370-1388) and his son Mahmud (1388-1402) were considered khans under him. Samarkand was chosen as the capital, Timur began the struggle to create a centralized state.

Strengthening Timur's state.

The official name of Timur's state.

In the Karsakpai inscription of 1391, written in the Chagatai Turkic language, Timur ordered the name of his state to be engraved: Turan.

Tribal composition of Timur's troops.

Representatives of various tribes fought in Timur’s army: Barlas, Durbats, Nukuzes, Naimans, Kipchaks, Bulguts, Dulats, Kiyats, Jalairs, Sulduzs, Merkits, Yasavuris, Kauchins, etc.

Hiking to Mogolistan.

Despite the laid foundation of statehood, Khorezm and Shibergan, which belonged to the Chagatai ulus, did not recognize the new government in the person of Suyurgatmish Khan and Emir Timur. It was restless on the southern and northern borders of the border, where Mogolistan and the White Horde caused trouble, often violating borders and plundering villages. After Uruskhan captured Sygnyak and moved the capital of the White Horde, Yassy (Turkestan), Sairam and Transoxiana to it were in even greater danger. It was necessary to take measures to strengthen statehood.

The ruler of Moghulistan, Emir Kamar ad-din, tried to prevent the strengthening of Timur’s state. Mogolistan feudal lords often carried out predatory raids on Sairam, Tashkent, Fergana and Turkestan. The raids of Emir Kamar ad-din in the 70-71s and the raids in the winter of 1376 on the cities of Tashkent and Andijan brought especially great troubles to the people. In the same year, Emir Kamar ad-din captured half of Fergana, from where its governor, Timur’s son Umar Sheikh Mirza, fled to the mountains. Therefore, solving the problem of Mogolistan was important for calm on the borders of the country.

From 1371 to 1390, Emir Timur made seven campaigns against Mogolistan, finally defeating the army of Kamar ad-din and Anka-tyur in 1390 during the last campaign. However, Timur only reached the Irtysh in the north, Alakul in the east, Emil and the headquarters of the Mongol khans Balig-Yulduz, but he was unable to conquer the lands east of the Tangri-Tag and Kashgar mountains. Qamar ad-din fled and subsequently died of dropsy. The independence of Mogolistan was preserved.

Timur undertook his first two campaigns against the militant khan Kamar ad-din in the spring and autumn of 1371. The first campaign ended in a truce; during the second, Timur, leaving Tashkent through Sairam, located north of the city, moved towards the village of Yangi in Taraz. There he put the nomads to flight and captured large booty.

In 1375, Timur carried out his third successful campaign. He left Sairam and passed through the regions of Talas and Tokmak along the upper reaches of the Chu River. Timur returned to Samarkand via Uzgen and Khojent.

But Kamar ad-din was not defeated. When Timur's army returned to Transoxiana, he invaded Fergana, a province that belonged to Timur, and besieged the city of Andijan. Enraged Timur hurried to Fergana and for a long time pursued the enemy beyond Uzgen and the Yassy mountains to the At-Bashi valley, the southern tributary of the upper Naryn.

In 1376-1377 Timur made his fifth campaign against Kamar ad-din. He defeated his army in the gorges west of Issyk-Kul and pursued him to Kochkar.

The Zafarnama mentions Timur's sixth campaign in the Issyk-Kul region against Kamar ad-din in 1383, but the khan again managed to escape.

In 1389-1390 Timur intensified his actions to thoroughly defeat Kamar ad-din. In 1389 he crossed the Ili and crossed the Imil region in all directions, south and east of Lake Balkhash and around Ata-Kul. His vanguard, meanwhile, pursued the Mughals to the Black Irtysh, south of Altai. His advanced detachments reached Kara Khoja in the east, that is, almost to Turfan.

In 1390, Kamar ad-din was finally defeated, and Mogolistan finally ceased to threaten Timur’s power.

Fight against the Golden Horde.

In 1360, northern Khorezm, which was part of the Golden Horde, became independent. The Kungrat-Sufi dynasty, which declared its independence and strengthened its position in 1371, attempted to capture southern Khorezm, which was part of the Chagatai ulus. Emir Timur demanded the return of the captured lands of southern Khorezm first peacefully, sending first a tawachi (quartermaster), then a sheikhulislama (head of the Muslim community) to Gurganj, but Khorezmshah Hussein Sufi refused to fulfill this demand both times, taking the ambassador prisoner. Since then, Emir Timur has made five campaigns against Khorezm. At the last stage of the struggle, the Khorezmshahs tried to enlist the support of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. In 1387, the Sufi Kungrats, together with Tokhtamysh, carried out a predatory raid on Bukhara, which led to Timur’s last campaign against Khorezm and further military actions against Tokhtamysh.

Tamerlane's next goals were to curb the ulus of Jochi (known in history as the White Horde) and establish political influence in its eastern part and unite Mogolistan and Transoxiana, which had previously been divided into single state, which at one time was called the Chagatai ulus.

Realizing the danger to the independence of Transoxiana from the Jochi ulus, from the very first days of his reign, Timur tried in every possible way to bring his protege to power in the Jochi ulus. Golden Horde had its capital in the city of Sarai-Batu (Sarai-Berke) and extended across the North Caucasus, the northwestern part of Khorezm, Crimea, Western Siberia and the Volga-Kama principality of Bulgar. The White Horde had its capital in the city of Sygnak and extended from Yangikent to Sabran, along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, as well as on the banks of the Syr Darya steppe from Ulu-tau to Sengir-yagach and the land from Karatal to Siberia. Khan of the White Horde, Urus Khan, tried to unite the once powerful state, whose plans were thwarted by the intensified struggle between the Jochids and the feudal lords of the Dashti Kipchak. Timur strongly supported Tokhtamysh-oglan, whose father died at the hands of Uruskhan, who eventually took the throne of the White Horde. However, after ascending to power, Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Golden Horde and began to pursue a hostile policy towards the lands of Transoxiana.

Tamerlane made three campaigns against Khan Tokhtamysh, finally defeating him on February 28, 1395.

After the defeat of the Golden Horde and Khan Tokhtamysh, the latter fled to the Bulgar. In response to the plunder of the lands of Maverannahr, Emir Timur burned the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Batu, and gave the reins of its government into the hands of Koyrichak-oglan, who was the son of Uruskhan. Timur's defeat of the Golden Horde also had widespread economic consequences. As a result of Timur's campaign, the northern branch of the Great Silk Road, which passed through the lands of the Golden Horde, fell into decay. Trade caravans began to pass through the lands of Timur's state.

In the 1390s, Tamerlane inflicted two severe defeats on the Horde khan - at Kondurch in 1391 and Terek in 1395, after which Tokhtamysh was deprived of the throne and forced to wage a constant struggle with the khans appointed by Tamerlane. With this defeat of the army of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane brought indirect benefit in the struggle of the Russian lands against the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

In 1395, Tamerlane, who was marching against Tokhtamysh, passed through the Ryazan region and took the city of Yelets, after which Tamerlane moved towards Moscow, but unexpectedly turned around and went back on August 26th. According to church tradition, it was at that time that Muscovites met the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, transferred to Moscow to protect it from the conqueror. On the day of the meeting of the image, according to the chronicle, the Mother of God appeared to Tamerlane in a dream and ordered him to immediately leave the borders of Rus'. At the meeting place of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the Sretensky Monastery was founded. Tamerlane did not reach Moscow, his army marched along the Don and took it completely.

There is another point of view. According to “Zafar-name” (“Book of Victories”) by Sheref ad-din Yezdi, Timur ended up on the Don after his victory over Tokhtamysh at the Terek River and before the total defeat of the cities of the Golden Horde in the same 1395. Tamerlane personally pursued the retreating commanders of Tokhtamysh after the defeat until they were completely defeated. On the Dnieper the enemy was finally defeated. Most likely, according to this source, Timur did not set the goal of a campaign specifically on Russian lands. Some of his troops, not he himself, approached the borders of Rus'. Here, on the comfortable summer Horde pastures that stretched in the floodplain of the Upper Don to modern Tula, a small part of his army stopped for two weeks. Although the local population did not put up serious resistance, the region was severely devastated. As Russian chronicles tell us about Timur’s invasion, his army stood on both sides of the Don for two weeks, “captured” (occupied) the land of Yelets and “seized” (captured) the prince of Yelets. Some coin hoards in the vicinity of Voronezh date back to 1395. However, in the vicinity of Yelets, which, according to the above-mentioned Russian written sources, was subjected to a pogrom, no treasures with such a dating have been found to date. Sheref ad-din Yezdi describes large booty taken in Russian lands and does not describe a single combat episode with the local population, although the main purpose of the “Book of Victories” was to describe the exploits of Timur himself and the valor of his warriors. According to the legends recorded by Yelets local historians in XIX-XX centuries, the residents of Yeltstan put up stubborn resistance to the enemy. However, in the “Book of Victories” there is no mention of this; the names of the fighters and commanders who took Yelets, who were the first to ascend the rampart, and who personally captured the Yelets prince, are not named. Meanwhile, Russian women made a great impression on Timur’s warriors, about whom Sheref ad-din Yezdi writes in a poetic line: “Oh, beautiful feathers like roses stuffed into snow-white Russian canvas!” Then in “Zafar-name” there follows a detailed list of Russian cities conquered by Timur, including Moscow. Perhaps this is just a list of Russian lands that did not want an armed conflict and sent their ambassadors with gifts. After the defeat of Bek Yaryk Oglan, Tamerlane himself began to methodically ravage the lands of his main enemy Tokhtamysh. The Horde cities of the Volga region never recovered from Tamerlane’s devastation until the final collapse of this state. Many colonies of Italian merchants in the Crimea and in the lower reaches of the Don were also destroyed. The city of Tana (modern Azov) rose from ruins for several decades. Yelets, according to Russian chronicles, existed for another twenty years and was completely destroyed by certain “Tatars” only in 1414 or 1415.

Hikes to Iran and the Caucasus.

In 1380, Timur went on a campaign against Malik Ghiyasiddin Pir Ali II, who ruled in the city of Herat. At first, he sent an ambassador to him with an invitation to the kurultai in order to solve the problem peacefully, but Malik rejected the offer, detaining the ambassador. In response to this, in April 1380, Timur, under the leadership of emirzade Pirmuhammad Jahangir, sent ten regiments to the left bank of the Amu Darya River. He captured the regions of Balkh, Shiberghan and Badkhiz. In February 1381, Emir Timur himself marched with troops and took the cities of Khorasan, Seraks, Jami, Qausia, Isferain, Tuye and Kelat, and Herat was taken after a five-day siege. also, in addition to Kelat, Sebzevar was taken, as a result of which the state of the Serbedars ceased to exist; in 1382, Timur's son, Miranshah, was appointed ruler of Khorasan; in 1383, Timur devastated Seistan and brutally suppressed the uprising of the Serbedars in Sebzevar.

In 1383, he took Seistan, in which the fortresses of Zirekh, Zave, Farah and Bust were defeated. In 1384 he captured the cities of Astrabad, Amul, Sari, Sultaniya and Tabriz, effectively capturing all of Persia. After which he went on a campaign to Armenia, after which he made several more campaigns of conquest in Persia and Syria. These campaigns are known in world history as three-year, five-year and seven-year campaigns, during which he fought wars in the territory of modern Syria, India, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.

Three great campaigns of Timur.

Timur made three large campaigns in the western part of Persia and the adjacent regions - the so-called “three-year” (from 1386), “five-year” (from 1392) and “seven-year” (from 1399).

Three-year journey.

For the first time, Timur was forced to return back as a result of the invasion of Transoxiana by the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in alliance with the Semirechensk Mongols (1387).

In 1388, Timur drove out his enemies and punished the Khorezmians for their alliance with Tokhtamysh, in 1389 he made a devastating campaign deep into the Mongolian possessions as far as the Irtysh to the north and to the Greater Zhyldyz to the east, in 1391 - a campaign against the Golden Horde possessions to the Volga. These campaigns achieved their goal.

Five-year journey.

During the “five-year” campaign, Timur conquered the Caspian regions in 1392, and western Persia and Baghdad in 1393; Timur's son, Omar Sheikh, was appointed ruler of Fars, Miran Shah - ruler of Transcaucasia. Tokhtamysh's invasion of Transcaucasia caused Timur's campaign against Southern Russia (1395); Timur defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek and pursued him to the borders of the Moscow principality. There he invaded the Ryazan lands, ravaged Yelets, posing a threat to Moscow. Having launched an attack on Moscow, he unexpectedly turned back and left the Moscow lands on the very day when Muscovites greeted the image of the Vladimir Icon Holy Mother of God, brought from Vladimir (from this day on, the icon is revered as the patroness of Moscow). Then Timur plundered the trading cities of Azov and Kafa, burned Sarai-Batu and Astrakhan, but the lasting conquest of the Golden Horde was not Tamerlane’s goal, and therefore the Caucasus range remained the northern border of Timur’s possessions. In 1396 he returned to Samarkand and in 1397 appointed his youngest son Shahrukh as ruler of Khorasan, Seistan and Mazanderan.

Timur's campaign in India.

In 1398, a campaign was launched against India; along the way, the highlanders of Kafiristan were defeated. In December, Timur defeated the army of the Indian Sultan (Toglukid dynasty) under the walls of Delhi and occupied the city without resistance, which was plundered by the army a few days later. In 1399, Timur reached the banks of the Ganges, on the way back he took several more cities and fortresses and returned to Samarkand with huge booty, but without expanding his possessions.

Seven-year journey.

Timur's campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

The "seven-year" campaign was initially caused by unrest in the area ruled by Miranshah. Timur deposed his son and defeated the enemies who invaded his domain. In 1400, a war began with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazet, who captured the city of Arzinjan, where Timur's vassal ruled, and with the Egyptian Sultan Faraj, whose predecessor, Barkuk, ordered the murder of Timur's ambassador back in 1393. In 1400, Timur took Sivas in Asia Minor and Aleppo (Aleppo) in Syria (which belonged to the Egyptian Sultan), and in 1401 Damascus.

In 1399, in response to the actions of Sultan Bayazid I the Lightning, who patronized Timur's enemy Kara Yusuf and wrote an insulting letter, Timur began his seven-year campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1402, Timur won a major victory over the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning, defeating him at the Battle of Ankara on July 28. The Sultan himself was captured. As a result of the battle, all Asia Minor, and the defeat of Bayezid led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by a peasant war and civil strife between his sons. The official reason for the war was the alleged presentation of gifts to Timur by Turkish ambassadors. Outraged by the fact that Bayezid was acting as a benefactor, Timur declared military action.

The fortress of Smyrna (belonging to the Johannite knights), which Ottoman sultans The siege could not be taken for 20 years, but he captured it by storm in two weeks. The western part of Asia Minor was returned to the sons of Bayazet in 1403, and in the eastern part the small dynasties overthrown by Bayazet were restored.

Upon returning to Samarkand, Timur planned to declare his eldest grandson Muhammad Sultan (1375-1403), who was similar to his grandfather in actions and mind, as his successor. However, in March 1403 he fell ill and died suddenly.

The beginning of the campaign against China.

In August 1404, Timur returned to Samarkand and a few months later embarked on a campaign against China, for which he began preparing back in 1398. That year he built a fortress on the border of the current Syr-Darya region and Semirechye; Now another fortification was built, 10 days' journey further to the east, probably near Issyk-Kul. The campaign was stopped due to the outbreak cold winter, and in February 1405 Timur died.

Diplomatic relations.

Timur, who created a huge empire, established diplomatic ties with a number of states, including China, Egypt, Byzantium, France, England, Spain, etc. In 1404, the ambassador of the Castilian king, Gonzalez de Clavijo, Ruy, visited the capital of his state - Samarkand. The originals of Timur's letters to the French king Charles VI have been preserved.

Children.

Timur had four sons: Jahangir (1356-1376), Umar Sheikh (1356-1394), Miran Shah (1366-1408), Shahrukh (1377-1447) and several daughters: Uka Begim, Sultan Bakht aga, Bigi Jan, Saadat Sultan, Musalla.

Death.

He died during the campaign against China. After the end of the seven-year war, during which Bayazid I was defeated, Timur began preparations for the Chinese campaign, which he had long planned due to China's claims to the lands of Transoxiana and Turkestan. He gathered a large army of two hundred thousand, with which he set out on a campaign on November 27, 1404. In January 1405, he arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins are not far from the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (according to historians - on February 18, according to Timur's tombstone - on the 15th). The body was embalmed, placed in an ebony coffin, lined with silver brocade, and taken to Samarkand. Tamerlane was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, which was still unfinished at that time. Official mourning events were held on March 18, 1405 by Timur's grandson Khalil-Sultan (1405-1409), who seized the Samarkand throne against the will of his grandfather, who bequeathed the kingdom to his eldest grandson Pirmukhammed.

A look at Tamerlane in the light of history and culture.

Code of laws.

During the reign of Emir Timur, there was a set of laws called the “Timur Code,” which set out the rules of conduct for members of society and the responsibilities of rulers and officials, and also contained rules for managing the army and the state.

When appointed to a position, the “great emir” demanded devotion and fidelity from everyone. He appointed 315 people to high positions who had been with him from the very beginning of his career and fought side by side with him. The first hundred were appointed as tens, the second hundred as centurions, and the third as thousands. Of the remaining fifteen people, four were appointed beks, one as the supreme emir, and others to the remaining high posts.

The judicial system was divided into three stages: 1. Sharia judge - who was guided in his activities by the established norms of Sharia; 2. Judge ahdos - who was guided in his activities by well-established morals and customs in society. 3. Kazi askar - who led the proceedings in military cases.

The law was recognized as equal for everyone, both emirs and subjects.

Viziers under the leadership of Divan-Beghi were responsible for the general situation of their subjects and troops, for the financial condition of the country and the activities of government institutions. If information was received that the vizier of finance had appropriated part of the treasury, then this was checked and, upon confirmation, one of the decisions was made: if the embezzled amount was equal to his salary (uluf), then this amount was given to him as a gift. If the amount appropriated is twice the salary, then the excess must be withheld. If the embezzled amount was three times higher than the established salary, then everything was taken away in favor of the treasury.

Emirs, just like viziers, must be from a noble family, possess such qualities as insight, courage, enterprise, caution and frugality, conduct business, thoroughly thinking through the consequences of each step. They must “know the secrets of warfare, methods of dispersing the enemy army, not lose their presence of mind in the midst of a battle and be able to lead troops without trembling or hesitation, and if the battle order is disrupted, be able to restore it without delay.”

The protection of soldiers and ordinary people was secured. The Code obliged village and neighborhood elders, tax collectors and khokim (local rulers) to pay a fine to a commoner to the extent of the damage caused to him. If the harm was caused by a warrior, then it should have been handed over to the victim, and he himself would determine the punishment for him.

To the extent possible, the code enshrined the protection of the people in the conquered lands from humiliation and plunder.

A separate article is devoted in the code to attention to the beggars, who should have been collected in a certain place, given food and work, and also branded. If after this they continued to beg, then they should have been expelled from the country.

Emir Timur paid attention to the purity and morality of his people, he introduced the concept of the inviolability of the law and ordered not to rush to punish criminals, but to carefully check all the circumstances of the case and only after that render a verdict. Devout Muslims were explained the basics of religion for the establishment of Sharia and Islam, taught tafsir (interpretation of the Koran), hadith (a collection of legends about the Prophet Muhammad) and fiqh (Muslim jurisprudence). Also, ulemas (scholars) and mudarris (madressah teachers) were appointed to each city.

Decrees and laws in Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian-Tajik and Chagatai. At Timur's court there was a staff of Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Army of Tamerlane.

Drawing on the rich experience of his predecessors, Tamerlane managed to create a powerful and combat-ready army, which allowed him to win brilliant victories on the battlefields over his opponents. This army was a multinational and multi-religious association, the core of which were Turkic-Mongol nomadic warriors. Tamerlane's army was divided into cavalry and infantry, the role of which greatly increased at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. However, the bulk of the army was made up of mounted detachments of nomads, the core of which consisted of elite units of heavily armed cavalry, as well as detachments of Tamerlane’s bodyguards. Infantry often played a supporting role, but was necessary during sieges of fortresses. The infantry was mostly lightly armed and mainly consisted of archers, but the army also included heavily armed shock troops infantrymen.

In addition to the main branches of the military (heavy and light cavalry, as well as infantry), Tamerlane’s army included detachments of pontooners, workers, engineers and other specialists, as well as special infantry units that specialized in combat operations in mountainous conditions (they were recruited from residents of mountain villages). The organization of Tamerlane’s army generally corresponded to the decimal organization of Genghis Khan, but a number of changes appeared (for example, units of 50 to 300 people, called “koshuns,” appeared; the number of larger units, “kuls,” was also variable).

The main weapon of light cavalry, like infantry, was the bow. Light cavalrymen also used sabers or swords and axes. Heavily armed horsemen were clad in armor (the most popular armor was chain mail, often reinforced with metal plates), protected by helmets, and fought with sabers or swords (in addition to bows and arrows, which were common). Simple infantrymen were armed with bows, heavy infantry warriors fought with sabers, axes and maces and were protected by armor, helmets and shields.

Banners.

During his campaigns, Timur used banners with the image of three rings. According to some historians, the three rings symbolized earth, water and sky. According to Svyatoslav Roerich, Timur could have borrowed the symbol from the Tibetans, whose three rings meant the past, present and future. Some miniatures depict the red banners of Timur's army. During the Indian campaign, a black banner with a silver dragon was used. Before his campaign against China, Tamerlane ordered a golden dragon to be depicted on the banners.

There is a legend that before the Battle of Ankara, Timur and Bayezid the Lightning met on the battlefield. Bayezid, looking at Timur’s banner, said: “What impudence to think that the whole world belongs to you!” In response, Timur, pointing to the Turk’s banner, said: “It’s even greater impudence to think that the moon belongs to you.”

Urban planning and architecture.

During the years of his conquests, Timur brought not only material loot to the country, but also brought with him prominent scientists, artisans, artists, and architects. He believed that the more cultured people there were in cities, the faster its development would go and the more comfortable the cities of Transoxiana and Turkestan would be. During his conquests, he put an end to political fragmentation in Persia and the Middle East, trying to leave a memory of himself in every city he visited, he built several beautiful buildings in it. For example, he restored the cities of Baghdad, Derbend, Baylakan, fortresses, parking lots, bridges, and irrigation systems destroyed on the roads.

In 1371, he began the restoration of the destroyed fortress of Samarkand, the defensive walls of Shahristan with six gates Sheikhzade, Akhanin, Feruza, Suzangaran, Karizgakh and Chorsu, and two four-story buildings Kuksarai were built in the arch, which housed the state treasury, workshops and a prison, as well as Buston barn, which housed the emir's residence.

Timur made Samarkand one of the centers of trade in Central Asia. As the traveler Clavijo writes: “In Samarkand, goods brought from China, India, Tatarstan (Dasht-i Kipchak - B.A.) and other places, as well as from the richest kingdom of Samarkand, are sold annually. Since there were no special rows in the city where it would be convenient to trade, Timurbek ordered a street to be laid through the city, on both sides of which there would be shops and tents for selling goods.”

Timur paid great attention to the development of Islamic culture and the improvement of sacred places for Muslims. In the mausoleums of Shahi Zinda, he erected tombs over the graves of his relatives, at the direction of one of his wives, whose name was Tuman, aka a mosque, a dervish abode, a tomb and Chartag were erected there. He also built Rukhabad (the tomb of Burkhaniddin Sogardji), Qutbi Chahardahum (the tomb of Sheikh Khoja Nuriddin Basir) and Gur-Emir (the family tomb of the Timurid family). Also in Samarkand he built many baths, mosques, madrassas, dervish abodes, and caravanserais.

During 1378-1404, 14 gardens were cultivated in Samarkand and nearby lands: Bag-i bihisht, Bag-i dilkusha, Bag-i shamal, Bag-i buldi, Bag-i nav, Bag-i jahannuma, Bag-i takhti karacha and Bag-i davlatabad, Bag-zogcha (garden of rooks), etc. Each of these gardens had a palace and fountains. In his works about Samarkand, the historian Hafizi Abru mentions, in which he writes that “Samarkand, which had previously been built from clay, was rebuilt by erecting buildings from stone.” None of these palaces have survived to this day.

In 1399-1404, a cathedral mosque and a madrasah opposite it were built in Samarkand. The mosque later received the name Bibi Khanum (Lady Grandmother - in Turkic).

Shakhrisabz was equipped (in Tajik “ green City"), in which destroyed city walls, defensive structures, tombs of saints, majestic palaces, mosques, madrassas, and tombs were erected. Timur also devoted time to building bazaars and baths. From 1380 to 1404 the Aksaray Palace was built. In 1380, the family tomb Dar us-saadat was erected.

The cities of Yassy and Bukhara were also developed. In 1388, the city of Shahrukhiya, which was destroyed during the invasion of Genghis Khan, was restored.

In 1398, after the victory over the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh, a mausoleum was built in Turkestan over the grave of the poet and Sufi philosopher Khoja Ahmad Yassawi, on the orders of Timur, by Iranian and Khorezm craftsmen. Here the Tabriz master cast a two-ton copper cauldron in which food was to be prepared for those in need.

Development of science and painting.

In Maverannahr it became widespread applied arts, in which artists could demonstrate all their mastery of their skills. It became widespread in Bukhara, Yassy and Samarkand. Drawings have been preserved in the tombs of the tombs of Shirinbek-aga and Tuman-aga, made in 1385 and 1405, respectively. The art of miniatures, which adorned such books by writers and poets of Maverannahr as “Shahname” by Abulkasim Ferdowsi and “Anthology of Iranian Poets,” received particular development. The artists Abdulhay, Pir Ahmad Bagishamali and Khoja Bangir Tabrizi achieved great success in art at that time.

In the tomb of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, located in Turkestan, there was a large cast-iron cauldron and candlesticks with the name of Emir Timur written on them. A similar candlestick was also found in the tomb of Gur-Emir in Samarkand. All this indicates that Central Asian craftsmen, especially wood and stone craftsmen and jewelers and weavers, have also achieved great success.

In the field of science and education, law, medicine, theology, mathematics, astronomy, history, philosophy, musicology, literature and the science of versification have become widespread. A prominent theologian at that time was Jalaliddin Ahmed al Khwarizmi. Maulana Ahmad achieved great success in astrology, and in jurisprudence Abdumalik, Isamiddin and Sheikh Shamsiddin Muhammad Jazairi. In musicology, Abdulgadir Maraghi, father and son of Safiaddin and Ardasher Changi. In painting by Abdulhay Baghdadi and Pir Ahmad Bagishamoli. In philosophy Sadiddin Taftazzani and Mirsaid Sharif Jurjani. In the history of Nizamiddin Shami and Hafizi Abru.

The legend about the tomb of Tamerlane.

According to the legend, the source and time of which it is not possible to establish, there was a prediction that if Tamerlane’s ashes were disturbed, a great and terrible war would begin.

In the tomb of Timur Gur Emir in Samarkand, on a large dark green jade tombstone, the following is inscribed in Arabic script in Arabic and Persian:
“This is the tomb of the great Sultan, the gracious Khakan of Emir Timur Gurgan; son Emir Taragay, son Emir Bergul, son Emir Ailangir, son Emir Angil, son Kara Charnuyan, son Emir Sigunchinchin, son Emir Irdanchi-Barlas, son Emir Kachulay, son Tumnai Khan. This is the 9th generation.

Genghis Khan comes from the same family from which descend the grandfathers of the venerable Sultan buried in this sacred and beautiful tomb: Khakan Genghis the Son. Emir Maisukai-Bahadur, son of Emir Barnan-Bahadur, son of Kabul-Khan, son of the mentioned Tumnai-Khan, son of Emir Baysungary, son of Kaidu-Khan, son of Emir Tutumtin, son of Emir-Buk, son of Emir-Buzanjar.

Whoever wants to know further, let it be known: the latter’s mother’s name was Alankuva, who was distinguished by her honesty and impeccable morality. She once became pregnant by a wolf, who came to her in the opening of the room and, taking the form of a man, announced that he was a descendant of the Commander of the Faithful, Aliy, the son of Abu Talib. This testimony given by her is accepted as truth. Her praiseworthy descendants will rule the world forever.

Died on the night of 14 Shagban 807 (1405).”

At the bottom of the stone there is an inscription: “This stone was erected by Ulugbek Gurgan after his campaign in Jitt.”

Several less reliable sources also report that the tombstone has the following inscription: “When I rise (from the dead), the world will tremble.” Some undocumented sources claim that when the grave was opened in 1941, an inscription was found inside the coffin: “Anyone who disturbs my peace in this life or in the next will be subjected to suffering and die.”

Another legend says: In 1747, Nadir Shah of Iran took this jade tombstone, and on that day Iran was destroyed by an earthquake, and the Shah himself became seriously ill. The earthquake struck again when the Shah returned to Iran, and the stone was returned.

From the memoirs of Malik Kayumov, who was a cameraman during the opening of the grave:

I entered the nearest teahouse and saw three ancient old men sitting there. I also noted to myself: they look alike, like siblings. Well, I sat down nearby, and they brought me a teapot and a bowl. Suddenly one of these old men turns to me: “Son, you’re one of those who decided to open Tamerlane’s grave?” And I’ll take it and say: “Yes, I’m the most important one in this expedition, without me all these scientists are nowhere!” I decided to drive away my fear with a joke. Only, I see, the old people frowned even more in response to my smile. And the one who spoke to me beckons me to him. I come closer and see that he has a book in his hands - an old one, handwritten, the pages are filled with Arabic script. And the old man traces the lines with his finger: “Look, son, what is written in this book. “Whoever opens Tamerlane’s grave will release the spirit of war. And there will be such a bloody and terrible carnage, such as the world has not seen forever."

He decided to tell the others, and they laughed at him. It was June 20th. The scientists did not listen and opened the grave on June 22, and on the same day the Great Great Patriotic War began. Patriotic War. No one could find those elders: the owner of the teahouse said that on that day, June 20, he saw the old people for the first and last time.

The opening of Tamerlane's tomb was carried out on June 22, 1941 by the Soviet anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov. As a result of the study of the commander's skull, Tamerlane's appearance was recreated.

However, the plan for war with the USSR was developed at Hitler's headquarters back in 1940, the date of the invasion was limitedly known in the spring of 1941 and was finally determined on June 10, 1941, that is, long before the opening of the grave. The signal to the troops that the offensive should begin as planned was transmitted on June 20.

According to Kayumov, while at the front, he secured a meeting with Marshal Zhukov in October 1942, explained the situation and offered to return Tamerlane’s ashes back to the grave. This was carried out on November 19-20, 1942; These days there was a turning point in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Kayumov’s criticism of Aini provoked retaliatory criticism from Tajik society. Another version of events, belonging to Kamal Sadreddinovich Aini (son of the writer who participated in the excavations) was published in 2004. According to it, the book was dated to the end of the 19th century, and Kayumov did not know Farsi, so he did not understand the content of the conversation and believed that Aini had shouted at the elders. The words written in Arabic in the margins are “traditional sayings, which similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin and others, in order to protect the burials from seekers of easy money, looking for value in the graves of historical figures.” , which he told the old people.

When everyone left the crypt, I saw three elders talking in Tajik with their father, A. A. Semenov and T. N. Kary-Niyazov. One of the elders was holding some old book in his hand. He opened it and said in Tajik: “This book is anciently written. It says that whoever touches Timurlane’s grave will be overtaken by misfortune and war.” All those present exclaimed: “Oh, Allah, save us from troubles!” S. Aini took this book, put on his glasses, looked through it carefully and turned to the elder in Tajik: “Dear, do you believe in this book?”

Answer: “Why, it begins with the name of Allah!”
S. Aini: “What kind of book is this, do you know?”
Answer: “An important Muslim book that begins with the name of Allah and protects the people from disasters.”
S. Aini: “This book, written in Farsi, is just “Jangnoma” - a book about battles and duels, a collection of fantastic stories about certain heroes. And this book was compiled only recently, in late XIX V. And those words that you say about Timurlane’s grave are written in the margins of the book in a different hand. By the way, you probably know that according to Muslim traditions, it is generally considered a sin to open graves and sacred places - mazars. And those words about the grave of Timurlane are traditional sayings that similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin Balogardon and others, in order to protect the burials from seekers of easy money, looking for value in the graves of historical figures. But for scientific purposes in different countries, like ours, they opened ancient burial grounds and the graves of historical figures. Here is your book, study it and think with your head.”

T.N. Kary-Niyazov picked up the book, looked through it carefully and nodded his head in agreement with S. Aini. Then Malik Kayumov, whom everyone there called “suratgir” (photographer), took the book into his hands. And I saw that he was turning the pages not from the beginning of the book, as it should be from right to left, but, on the contrary, in the European style, from left to right.

From the diary of S. Aini

According to sources, Timur was fond of playing chess.

In Bashkir mythology there is an ancient legend about Tamerlane. According to him, it was by order of Tamerlane in 1395-96 that the mausoleum of Hussein Bek, the first disseminator of Islam among the Bashkir tribes, was built, since the commander, having accidentally found the grave, decided to show great honor to him as a person who spread Muslim culture. The legend is confirmed by six graves of prince-military leaders at the mausoleum, who, for unknown reasons, died along with part of the army during the winter stop. However, who specifically ordered the construction, Tamerlane or one of his generals, is not known for certain. Now the mausoleum of Hussein Beg is located on the territory of the village of Chishmy, Chishminsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Personal belongings that belonged to Timur, by the will of history, ended up scattered among various museums and private collections. For example, the so-called Ruby of Timur, which adorned his crown, is currently kept in London.

based on materials from wikipedia.org

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Devil's fort: secret and obvious

According to another legend, Catherine II visited the ruins of the Devil's Settlement to get an answer to the question of whether she should marry her favorite Grigory Orlov. As we know from history, she did not become his wife, but what the Devil’s Settlement “told” Catherine, even the legend is silent: there was no answer...

In 1852 “Kazan Provincial Gazette” published excerpts from the work of the Bulgarian chronicler Sherif-Yeddin, where it was said: “...Khan Temir-Aksak, having ravaged the Devil’s settlement, visited the graves of the followers of Mohammed, located at the mouth of the Toima River, which flows into the Kama under the settlement. .."

Historians deeply doubt the fact that Tamerlane was in our area. But back in 1985-86. I heard from one of the Elabuga residents a legend about why the Devil’s Settlement was not destroyed by the legendary Tamerlane. Allegedly, the besieged carried out the will of the “iron lame man” and covered the entire tower from the base to the top with the severed heads of their soldiers. According to this little-known legend, Timur besieged the fortress and all those besieged faced imminent death. A secret underground passage, through which one could escape to a safe place, was discovered and blocked by Timur’s soldiers. It was still possible to defend the fortress: there were people, there were forces and weapons. It just didn't make sense. Everyone would have died. And then all the people living here would disappear. Timur, famous not only for his cruelty, but also for keeping his word, said that he would leave alive those who took refuge in the outermost tower of the fortress (it was the smallest). But at the same time, the tower itself should be covered from top to bottom with severed human heads. And not those warriors who had already died in the battle with Tamerlane, but the heads of those defenders of the fortress who were still alive and ready to fight.

After a painful night meeting, women and children entered the indicated tower (they had to revive great people, who lived here for centuries), and in the morning the warriors chopped off each other’s heads and stacked them near the tower so that the tower disappeared under a pyramid of human heads... Tamerlane kept his word: the tower remained intact, and those who took refuge in it remained alive. The people have been reborn. But at what cost!

In 1855 at the request of a native of Elabuga, Professor K.I. Nevostruev Shishkin, together with his artist son, examined the Devil's Settlement, decided to restore the dilapidated tower, but began work only in 1867. In 1871 Ivan Shishkin published in Moscow the book “History of the City of Yelabuga”, where, referring to “some oral traditions and news in printed books and manuscripts”, he reported that “in the place where the Devil’s settlement stood the city of Gelon, which was reached by the Persian King Darius Istasp, chasing the Scythians<за 512лет до Р.Х.>, and that, having spent the winter in the city, he burned it out..." and that in the place "where Gelon was, the ancient Bulgarian city of Bryakhimov is located." Shishkin also spoke about the priests who lived in the ruins of the Devil's settlement, to whom "the queen Kazan Sumbek" sent envoys, wanting to know how the war with Tsar Ivan IV would end...

The location of the commemorative cast iron plate with the inscription: “This the oldest monument not allowed to be destroyed; renewed by Elabuga citizens in 1867." Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences D.K. Zelenin in his guide to the Kama and Vyatka rivers (1904) indicated: "A little more and there would have been fewer of the most remarkable monuments in Rus', but enlightened people were found in Elabuga who saved the monument." Residents of Elabuga and residents of surrounding villages actively used the material of the fortress for their economic needs. And a century after Shishkin restored the tower, one of the Elabuga enterprises began quarrying stone on the territory of the fort. The quarry that was built destroyed the central part of the fort. and forever deprived us of solving some of the mysteries of the settlement.

Until now, on the slopes of the mountain topped with the legendary tower, people find (and find, mind you, by accident) evidence of bygone eras: arrowheads, human and animal bones, strange coins and amulets, clay shards... Now just imagine for a moment, what is found during specialized archaeological excavations...

But let's return to the legends. They testify that from the Devil's settlement to different sides There were several underground passages. Where they were and where they led is not known for certain. Old-timers testify that the remains of underground passages were visible in places back in the late 1970s.

The Elabuga writer Stanislav Romanovsky touched upon the secrets of the Devil's Settlement, but did not have time to reveal them. In 1989 His story “The Tower over the Kama” was published, the sixth chapter of which is called “Legends of the Devil’s Settlement”.

A. Ivanov

Mysteries of the Devil's Settlement

The famous Elabuga (“Devil’s”) settlement, now a monument of history and archeology, keeps many secrets and mysteries. federal significance. Professional archaeologists have long realized that the Elabuga land will never tire of gifting them with stunning historical finds.

As an amateur local historian, I fully agree with the opinion of Elabuga archaeologist A.Z. Nigamaev: “As for Elabuga, it has been unacceptably little studied” (see: “Evening of Elabuga,” August 29, 2007).

But I will never agree with his other opinion: “In the eyes of a Christian monk, a Muslim saint was the personification of the Antichrist, i.e. a “demon.” Therefore, it is by no means accidental that this settlement later received the name “Besovsky”, or “Devil’s” (Bulgarian cities ancestors: Alabuga, Kirmen, Chally., Kazan University Publishing House, 2005, p. 26).

By the way, academician B.A. Rybakov wrote: “The Slavs gave the name “Chertovo” to those places where religious buildings were located in pre-Christian times - either the Slavs or their predecessors.”

Undoubtedly, this name was given by later settlers who occupied previously inhabited and then abandoned places. Seeing the skillfully made buildings of the ancient citadel and not knowing who built them and why, these later settlers, partly out of superstition, partly out of ignorance, attributed them to the action of supernatural forces, believing that the devil himself had built them.

The Elabuga settlement is covered with centuries-old legends and traditions. In particular, there is a popular legend “The Mysterious Well”. This legend tells that the ancient wise men, who once lived in the fort, kept a fortune-telling snake in an underground well. Demanding sacrifices from the surrounding inhabitants, as well as from merchants sailing along the Kama, they fed them to the oracle snake. As the legend goes, the serpent's predictions were amazingly accurate.

“This epiphany, or oracle, was located near the suburb of Yelabuga, near the Toima River, which flows immediately into the Kama, which, when approached, stone ruins known as the “Devil's Settlement” are still visible. In it, the priests kept the adored great serpent, to whom people were given to being eaten instead of a sacrifice" (see: Notes of the Travels of Captain Rychkov., St. Petersburg, 1770, sheet 44 and 45).

Let's try to understand the above legend; it probably contains grains of truth. In my opinion, we are talking about pre-Christian times, i.e. about the time before the Nativity of Christ or, as scientists say, about centuries BC.

It is well known that centuries BC on the Elabuga land is the Ananyin cultural and historical community. Someone will think that the author is trying to prove that the white-stone fortress belonged to the Ananyin people. Of course, the stone citadel fortress was built much later, but the place for construction was not chosen by chance, namely where the Ananyin people had a protected cult place. I'll try to prove it. In the above-mentioned book by A.Z. Nigamaev “Bulgarian cities of the Kama region” in Fig. 53 shows a plan of a white stone building revealed by an excavation in 1993, i.e. plan of the citadel-fortress.

My attention was drawn to the following on the plan: “In the explored area, the Ananino layer includes the contours of a structure such as an above-ground dwelling and several pits located mainly in the western half of the excavation” (see: p. 20, second paragraph from the top).

Apparently, the archaeologist did not understand the purpose of the foundation of the Ananyin time (see attached figure). The foundation, trapezoidal in shape, is nothing more than an entrance-well to the Ananino dungeons, i.e. the same legendary "mysterious well".

In my opinion, it makes sense to excavate the ancient entrance-well. Of course, the excavations will be difficult and will take at least two to three years. Research on the ground carried out by the author in the summer of 2007 showed that ancient underground passages go in different directions from the well.

It is possible that Elabuga businessmen will be interested in excavating the well. Moreover, excavations are relevant, because 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the world-famous Ananino culture. You can, of course, set up hotels and restaurants, but don’t forget that this is just Additional services. Tourists are primarily interested in authentic layers of history and culture, and only then in the availability of hotels and restaurants.

Of course, the participation of a professional archaeologist is necessary when clearing the well so that the archaeological material is not destroyed. The presence of an archaeologist is necessary to stratify the layers so that a conclusion can be drawn about the exact time of origin, nature and functioning underground system.

Archaeologist K.I. Korepanov once proposed restoring secret passages: “It is necessary to restore part of the secret passages, ensure their safety, security, ventilation, etc., quite convenient for visiting and for visitors to satisfy their interest in the past” (see: "New Kama", December 28, 1991, article Kama "nut").

Tamerlane (Timur; April 8, 1336, p. Khoja-Ilgar, modern Uzbekistan - February 18, 1405, Otrar, modern. Kazakhstan; Chagatai تیمور (Temür‎, Tēmōr) — "iron") - Central Asian conqueror who played a significant role in the history of Central, South and Western Asia, as well as the Caucasus, Volga region and Rus'. Outstanding commander, emir (since 1370). Founder of the Timurid empire and dynasty, with its capital in Samarkand.

Name and identity

Tamerlane's name

Timur's full name was Timur ibn Taragay Barlas (Tīmūr ibn Taraġay Barlas — Timur son of Taragay from Barlasy) in accordance with the Arabic tradition (alam-nasab-nisba). Vchagatai and Mongolian languages ​​(both Altai) Temür or Temir Means " iron».

Not being a Genghisid, Timur formally could not bear the title of Great Khan, always calling himself only an emir (leader, leader). However, having intermarried with the house of Chingizids in 1370, he took the name Timur Gurgan (Timur Gurkānī, (تيموﺭ گوركان ), Gurkān is an Iranianized version of Mongolian kurugen or Khurgen, "son-in-law". This meant that Tamerlane, having become related to the Genghisid khans, could freely live and act in their homes.

The Iranianized nickname is often found in various Persian sources Timur-e Liang(Tīmūr-e Lang, تیمور لنگ) “Timur the Lame”, this name was probably considered at that time as contemptuously derogatory. It passed into Western languages ​​( Tamerlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine, Timur Lenk) and into Russian, where it does not have any negative connotation and is used along with the original “Timur”.

Monument to Tamerlane in Tashkent

Monument to Tamerlane in Samarkand

Personality of Tamerlane

The beginning of Tamerlane's political activity is similar to the biography of Genghis Khan: they were the leaders of the detachments of adherents they personally recruited, who then remained the main support of their power. Like Genghis Khan, Timur personally entered into all the details of the organization of military forces, had detailed information about the forces of his enemies and the state of their lands, enjoyed unconditional authority among his army and could fully rely on his associates. Less successful was the choice of persons placed at the head of the civil administration (numerous cases of punishment for extortion of high dignitaries in Samarkand, Herat, Shiraz, Tabriz). Tamerlane loved to talk with scientists, especially to listen to the reading of historical works; with his knowledge of history he surprised the medieval historian, philosopher and thinker Ibn Khaldun; Timur used stories about the valor of historical and legendary heroes to inspire his soldiers.

Timur left behind dozens of monumental architectural structures, some of which have entered the treasury of world culture. Timur's buildings, in the creation of which he took an active part, reveal his artistic taste.

Timur cared primarily about the prosperity of his native Maverannahr and about enhancing the splendor of his capital, Samarkand. Timur brought craftsmen, architects, jewelers, builders, architects from all the conquered lands in order to equip the cities of his empire: the capital Samarkand, his father’s homeland - Kesh (Shakhrisyabz), Bukhara, the border city of Yassy (Turkestan). He managed to express all his care that he put into the capital Samarkand through words about it: “There will always be a blue sky and golden stars above Samarkand.” Only in recent years has he taken measures to improve the well-being of other regions of the state, mainly border ones (in 1398 a new irrigation canal was built in Afghanistan, in 1401 in Transcaucasia, etc.)

Biography

Childhood and youth

Timur was born on April 8, 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar near the city of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan) in Central Asia.

Timur spent his childhood and youth in the Kesh mountains. In his youth, he loved hunting and equestrian competitions, javelin throwing and archery, and had a penchant for war games. From the age of ten, mentors - atabeks who served under Taragai, taught Timur the art of war and sports games. Timur was a very brave and reserved man. Possessing sobriety of judgment, he knew how to make the right decision in difficult situations. These character traits attracted people to him. The first information about Timur appeared in sources starting in 1361, when he began his political activity.

Timur's appearance

Timur at a feast in Samarkand

As shown by the opening of the tomb of Gur Emir (Samarkand) by M. M. Gerasimov and the subsequent study of the skeleton from the burial, which is believed to belong to Tamerlane, his height was 172 cm. Timur was strong and physically developed, his contemporaries wrote about him: “If Most warriors could pull the bow string to the level of the collarbone, but Timur pulled it to the ear.” His hair is lighter than most of his people. anthropologist show Mongoloid or mixed Mongoloid. A detailed study of the remains of Timur showed that, anthropologically, he was characterized by the Mongoloid South Siberian type

Despite Timur's old age (69 years), his skull, as well as his skeleton, did not have pronounced, actually senile features. The presence of most of the teeth, the clear relief of the bones, the almost absence of osteophytes - all this most likely indicates that the skull of the skeleton belonged to a person full of strength and health, whose biological age did not exceed 50 years. The massiveness of healthy bones, their highly developed relief and density, the width of the shoulders, the volume of the chest and relatively high height - all this gives the right to think that Timur had an extremely strong build. His strong athletic muscles, most likely, were distinguished by a certain dryness of form, and this is natural: life on military campaigns, with their difficulties and hardships, almost constant stay in the saddle could hardly contribute to obesity.

Restoration of Tamerlane's face from the skull performed by anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov in 1941 after opening the grave

A special external difference between Tamerlane and his warriors and other Muslims was the braids they kept, according to Mongolian custom, which is confirmed by some Central Asian illustrated manuscripts of that time. Meanwhile, studying ancient Turkic sculptures and images of Turks in the paintings of Afrasiab, researchers came to the conclusion that the Turks wore braids back in the 5th-8th centuries. The opening of Timur's grave and analysis by anthropologists showed that Timur did not have braids. “Timur’s hair is thick, straight, gray-red in color, with a predominance of dark chestnut or red.” “Contrary to the accepted custom of shaving his head, at the time of his death Timur had relatively long hair.” Some historians believe that the light color of his hair is due to the fact that Tamerlane dyed his hair with henna. But, M. M. Gerasimov notes in his work: “Even a preliminary study of beard hair under a binocular convinces that this reddish color is natural, and not dyed with henna, as historians described.” Timur wore a long mustache, not a trim one above the lip. As we managed to find out, there was a rule that allowed the highest military class to wear a mustache without cutting it above the lip, and Timur, according to this rule, did not cut his mustache, and it hung freely above the lip. “Timur’s small thick beard was wedge-shaped. Her hair is coarse, almost straight, thick, bright brown (red) in color, with significant gray streaks.” Huge scars were visible on the bones of the left leg in the area of ​​​​the kneecap, which is fully consistent with the nickname "lame"

Timur's parents, brothers and sisters

Mausoleums of Timur's sisters in the Shahi Zinda complex in Samarkand

His father's name was Taragai or Turgai, he was a military man and a small landowner. He came from the Mongolian Barlas tribe, which by that time had already been Turkified and spoke the Chagatai language.

According to some assumptions, Timur's father Taragai was the leader of the Barlas tribe and a descendant of a certain Karachar noyon (a large feudal landowner in the Middle Ages), a powerful assistant to Chagatai, the son of Genghis Khan and a distant relative of the latter.

Timur's father was a pious Muslim, his spiritual mentor was Sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal.

In Encyclopedia Britannica, Timur is considered a Turkic conqueror.

In Indian historiography, Timur is considered the head of the Chagatai Turks.

Timur's father had one brother, whose name in Turkic was Balta.

Timur's father was married twice: the first wife was Timur's mother Tekina Khatun. Conflicting information has been preserved about her origin. And the second wife of Taragay/Turgay was Kadak-khatun, the mother of Timur’s sister Shirin-bek aga.

Muhammad Taragay died in 1361 and was buried in Timur’s homeland - in the city of Kesh (Shakhrisabz). His tomb has survived to this day.

Timur had an older sister, Kutlug-Turkan aga, and a younger sister, Shirin-bek aga. They died before the death of Timur himself and were buried in mausoleums in the Shahi Zinda complex in Samarkand. According to the source “Mu'izz al-ansab”, Timur had three more brothers: Juki, Alim Sheikh and Suyurgatmysh.

Spiritual mentors of Timur

Mausoleum Rukhabad in Samarkand

Timur's first spiritual mentor was his father's mentor, the Sufi sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal. Also known are Zainud-din Abu Bakr Taybadi, a major Khorosan sheikh, and Shamsuddin Fakhuri, a potter and prominent figure in the Naqshbandi tariqa. Timur's main spiritual mentor was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Sheikh Mir Seyid Bereke. It was he who presented Timur with the symbols of power: the drum and the banner, when he came to power in 1370. Handing these symbols, Mir Seyid Bereke predicted a great future for the emir. He accompanied Timur on his great campaigns. In 1391, he blessed him before the battle with Tokhtamysh. In 1403, they together mourned the unexpected death of the heir to the throne, Muhammad Sultan. Mir Seyid Bereke was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, where Timur himself was buried at his feet. Another mentor of Timur was the son of the Sufi sheikh Burkhan ad-din Sagardzhi Abu Said. Timur ordered the construction of the Rukhabad mausoleum over their graves.

Timur's knowledge of languages

During the campaign against the Golden Horde against Tokhtamysh in 1391, Timur ordered an inscription in the Chagatai language in Uyghur letters - 8 lines and three lines in Arabic, containing the Koranic text, to be knocked out near Mount Altyn-Chuku. In history, this inscription is known as the Karsakpai inscription of Timur. Currently, the stone with Timur's inscription is kept and exhibited in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

A contemporary and captive of Tamerlane, Ibn Arabshah, who knew Tamerlane personally since 1401, reports: “As for Persian, Turkic and Mongolian, he knew them better than anyone else.” Princeton University researcher Svat Soucek writes about Timur in his monograph that “He was a Turk from the Barlas tribe, Mongolian in name and origin, but in all practical senses Turkic by that time. Timur's native language was Turkic (Chagatai), although he may have also spoken Persian to some extent due to the cultural environment in which he lived. He almost certainly did not know Mongolian, although Mongolian terms had not yet completely disappeared from documents and were found on coins.”

Legal documents of Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian and Turkic. For example, a document from 1378 giving privileges to the descendants of Abu Muslim who lived in Khorezm was compiled in the Chagatai Turkic language.

The Spanish diplomat and traveler Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who visited the court of Tamerlane in Transoxiana, reports that "Beyond this river(Amu Darya - approx.) the kingdom of Samarkand extends, and its land is called Mogalia (Mogolistan), and the language is Mughal, and this language is not understood in this(southern - approx.) side of the river, since everyone speaks Persian", then he reports “the letter that the people of Samarkant use,[living-approx.] on the other side of the river, those who live on this side do not understand and do not know how to read, but they call this letter mogali. A senor(Tamerlane - approx.) keeps with him several scribes who can read and write in this[language - note] » Orientalist professor Robert McChesney notes that by the Mugali language, Clavijo meant the Turkic language.

According to the Timurid source “Muiz al-ansab”, at Timur’s court there was a staff of only Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Ibn Arabshah, describing the tribes of Transoxiana, provides the following information: “The mentioned Sultan (Timur) had four viziers who were completely engaged in useful and harmful matters. They were considered noble people, and everyone followed their opinions. As many tribes and tribes as the Arabs had, the Turks had the same number. Each of the above-mentioned viziers, being representatives of one tribe, were a luminary of opinions and illuminated the arch of minds of their tribe. One tribe was called Arlat, the second - Zhalair, the third - Kavchin, the fourth - Barlas. Temur was the son of the fourth tribe."

According to Alisher Navoi, although Timur did not write poetry, he knew both poetry and prose very well, and, by the way, knew how to bring the proper beit to the right place.

Timur's wives

He had 18 wives, of which his favorite wife was Emir Hussein’s sister, Uljay Turkan aga. According to another version, his beloved wife was the daughter of Kazan Khan, Sarai Mulk Khanum. She did not have her own children, but she was entrusted with the upbringing of some of Timur's sons and grandchildren. She was a famous patron of science and the arts. By her order, a huge madrasah and mausoleum for her mother were built in Samarkand.

In 1355, Timur married the daughter of Emir Jaku-barlas Turmush-aga. Khan Maverannahra Kazagan, convinced of Timur’s merits, in 1355 gave him his granddaughter Uljay Turkan-aga as his wife. Thanks to this marriage, Timur’s alliance with Emir Hussein, the grandson of Kazagan, arose.

In addition, Timur had other wives: Tugdi bi, daughter of Ak Sufi kungrat, Ulus aga from the Sulduz tribe, Nauruz aga, Bakht Sultan aga, Burkhan aga, Tavakkul-hanim, Turmish aga, Jani-bik aga, Chulpan aga, etc.

During Timur's childhood, the Chagatai state collapsed in Central Asia (Chagatai ulus). In Transoxiana, since 1346, power belonged to the Turkic emirs, and the khans enthroned by the emperor ruled only nominally. In 1348, the Mogul emirs enthroned Tugluk-Timur, who began to rule in East Turkestan, the Kuldzha region and Semirechye.

Rise of Timur

Map of Chagatai Khanate

Beginning of political activity

Timur's conquests

In 1347, Emir Kazagan killed Genghisid Kazan Khan, after whose death the Chagatai ulus split into two separate states: Transoxiana and Mogolistan. After the collapse of the Chagatai ulus, the head of the Turkic emirs was Kazagan (1346-1358), who was not a Chingizid, but a native of the Karaunas. Formally, Genghisid Danishmadcha-oglan was elevated to the throne, and after his assassination Bayankuli Khan. After the death of Kazagan, his son Abdullah really ruled the country, but he was killed and the region was gripped by political anarchy.

Timur entered the service of the ruler of Kesh, Hadji Barlas, who was supposedly the head of the Barlas tribe. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tughluk-Timur. Haji Barlas fled to Khorasan, and Timur entered into negotiations with the khan and was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region, but was forced to leave after the departure of the Mongols and the return of Haji Barlas.

In 1361, Khan Tughluk-Timur again occupied the country, and Haji Barlas again fled to Khorasan, where he was subsequently killed. In 1362, Tughluk-Timur hastily left Transoxiana as a result of the rebellion of a group of emirs in Mogolistan, transferring power to his son Ilyas-Khoja. Timur was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region and one of the assistants of the Mogul prince. Before the khan had time to cross the Syr Darya River, Ilyas Khoja Oglan, together with Emir Bekchik and other close emirs, conspired to remove Timurbek from state affairs, and, if possible, to destroy him physically. The intrigues intensified and became dangerous. Timur had to separate from the Mughals and go over to the side of their enemy - Emir Hussein (grandson of Kazagan). For some time, with a small detachment, they led the life of adventurers and went towards Khorezm, where in the battle of Khiva they were defeated by the ruler of those lands, Tavakkala-Kongurot, and with the remnants of their warriors and servants were forced to retreat deep into the desert. Subsequently, going to the village of Mahmudi in the region subject to Mahan, they were captured by the people of Alibek Dzhanikurban, in whose dungeons they spent 62 days in captivity. According to historian Sharafiddin Ali Yazdi, Alibek intended to sell Timur and Hussein to Iranian merchants, but in those days not a single caravan passed through Mahan. The prisoners were rescued by Alibek's elder brother, Emir Muhammad Beg.

In 1361-1364, Timurbek and Emir Hussein lived on the southern bank of the Amu Darya in the regions of Kahmard, Daragez, Arsif and Balkh and waged a guerrilla war against the Mongols. During a skirmish in Seistan, which took place in the fall of 1362 against the enemies of the ruler Malik Qutbiddin, Timur lost two fingers on his right hand and was seriously wounded in his right leg, causing him to become lame (nicknamed “lame Timur” - Aksak-Temir in Turkic, Timur-e lang in Persian, hence Tamerlane).

In 1364, the Moguls were forced to leave the country. Returning back to Transoxiana, Timur and Hussein placed Kabul Shah from the Chagataid clan on the throne of the ulus.

The next year, at dawn on May 22, 1365, a bloody battle took place near Chinaz between the army of Timur and Hussein with the army of Mogolistan led by Khan Ilyas-Khoja, which went down in history as the “battle in the mud.” Timur and Hussein had little chance to defend their native land, since the army of Ilyas-Khoja had superior forces. During the battle, a torrential downpour began, it was difficult for the soldiers to even look forward, and the horses got stuck in the mud. Despite this, Timur’s troops began to gain victory on his flank; at the decisive moment, he asked Hussein for help in order to finish off the enemy, but Hussein not only did not help, but also retreated. This predetermined the outcome of the battle. The warriors of Timur and Hussein were forced to retreat to the other side of the Syrdarya River.

Meanwhile, the army of Ilyas-Khoja was expelled from Samarkand by a popular uprising of the Serbedars, which was led by the madrasah teacher Mavlanazada, the artisan Abubakr Kalavi and the sharp shooter Mirzo Khurdaki Bukhari. Popular government was established in the city. The property of the rich sections of the population was confiscated, so they turned to Hussein and Timur for help. Timur and Hussein agreed to oppose the Serbedars - they lured them with kind speeches to negotiations, where in the spring of 1366 the troops of Hussein and Timur suppressed the uprising, executing the Serbedar leaders, but by order of Tamerlane they left alive the leader of the Serbedars - Mavlana-zade, to whom the people's preferences were addressed .

Election as "Great Emir"

Timur during the siege of the Balkh fortress in 1370

Timur's throne stone

Hussein wanted to rule on the throne of the Chagatai ulus among the Turkic-Mongolian people, like his grandfather Kazagan; according to established tradition, power from time immemorial belonged to the descendants of Genghis Khan. During the reign of Genghisid Kazankhan, the position of supreme emir was forcibly appropriated by Emir Hussein's grandfather, Emir Kazagan, which served as a reason for breaking the already not very good relations between beks Timur and Hussein. Each of them began to prepare for the decisive battle.

Timur received great support from the clergy in the person of the Termez seids, the Samarkand sheikh-ul-Islam and Mir Seyid Bereke, who became Timur’s spiritual mentor.

Having moved from Sali-sarai to Balkh, Hussein began to strengthen the fortress. He decided to act with deception and cunning. Hussein sent Timur an invitation to a meeting in the Chakchak gorge to sign a peace treaty, and as proof of his friendly intentions he promised to swear on the Koran. Having gone to the meeting, Timur took two hundred horsemen with him just in case, but Hussein brought a thousand of his soldiers and for this reason the meeting did not take place. Timur recalls this incident: “I sent Emir Hussein a letter with a Turkic beit with the following content:

Whoever intends to deceive me will lie in the ground himself, I am sure. Having shown his deceit, He himself will die from it.

When my letter reached Emir Hussein, he was extremely embarrassed and asked for forgiveness, but the second time I did not believe him.”

Gathering all his strength, Timur crossed to the other side of the Amu Darya River. The advanced units of his troops were commanded by Suyurgatmish-oglan, Ali Muayyad and Hussein Barlas. On the approach to the village of Biya, Barak, the leader of the Andhud Sayinds, advanced to meet the army and presented him with kettledrums and the banner of supreme power. On the way to Balkh, Timur was joined by Jaku Barlas, who arrived from Karkara with his army, and Emir Kaykhusrav from Khuttalan, and on the other side of the river, Emir Zinda Chashm from Shiberghan, Khazarians from Khulm and Badakhshan Muhammadshah also joined. Having learned about this, many of Emir Hussein’s soldiers left him.

Before the battle, Timur gathers a kurultai, at which a man from the Genghisid family, Suyurgatmysh, is elected khan. Shortly before Timur was confirmed as the “great emir,” a certain good messenger, a sheikh from Mecca, came to him and said that he had a vision that he, Timur, would become a great ruler. On this occasion, he presented him with a banner, a drum, a symbol of supreme power. But he does not take this supreme power personally, but remains close to it.

On April 10, 1370, Balkh was conquered, and Hussein was captured and killed by the ruler of Khutalyan, Kaykhusrav, as a matter of blood feud, since Hussein had previously killed his brother. A kurultai was also held here, in which Chagatai beks and emirs, high-ranking dignitaries of regions and tumans, and Termezshahs took part. Among them were former rivals and childhood friends of Timur: Bayan-suldus, emirs Uljaytu, Kaykhosrov, Zinda Chashm, Jaku-barlas and many others. The Kurultai elected Timur as the supreme emir of Turan, entrusting him with responsibility for establishing the long-awaited peace, stability and order in the country. And the marriage with the daughter of Genghisid Kazan Khan, the captive widow of Emir Hussein Sarai Mulk Khanum, allowed the Supreme Emir of Maverannahr Timur to add the honorary title “guragan”, that is, “son-in-law” to his name.

At the kurultai, Timur took the oath of all the military leaders of Transoxiana. Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan and was content with the title of “great emir” - the descendant of Genghis Khan Suyurgatmysh (1370-1388) and his son Mahmud (1388-1402) were considered khans under him. Samarkand was chosen as the capital, Timur began the struggle to create a centralized state.

Strengthening Timur's state

Official name of Timur's state

In the Karsakpai inscription of 1391, written in the Chagatai Turkic language, Timur ordered the name of his state to be engraved: Turan.

Composition of Timur's troops

Representatives of various tribes fought in Timur’s army: Barlas, Durbats, Nukuzes, Naimans, Kipchaks, Bulguts, Dulats, Kiyats, Jalairs, Sulduzs, Merkits, Yasavuris, Kauchins, etc.

The military organization of troops was built like that of the Mongols, according to the decimal system: tens, hundreds, thousands, tumens (10 thousand). Among the sectoral management bodies was the wazirat (ministry) for the affairs of military personnel (sepoys).

Hikes to Mogolistan

Despite the laid foundation of statehood, Khorezm and Shibergan, which belonged to the Chagatai ulus, did not recognize the new government in the person of Suyurgatmish Khan and Emir Timur. It was restless on the southern and northern borders of the border, where Mogolistan and the White Horde caused trouble, often violating borders and plundering villages. After Uruskhan captured Sygnak and moved the capital of the White Horde, Yassy (Turkestan), Sairam and Transoxiana to it were in even greater danger. It was necessary to take measures to strengthen statehood.

The ruler of Moghulistan, Emir Kamar ad-din, tried to prevent the strengthening of Timur’s state. Mogolistan feudal lords often carried out predatory raids on Sairam, Tashkent, Fergana and Turkestan. The raids of Emir Kamar ad-din in the 70-71s and the raids in the winter of 1376 on the cities of Tashkent and Andijan brought especially great troubles to the people. In the same year, Emir Kamar ad-din captured half of Fergana, from where its governor, Timur’s son Umar Sheikh Mirza, fled to the mountains. Therefore, solving the problem of Mogolistan was important for calm on the borders of the country.

From 1371 to 1390, Emir Timur made seven campaigns against Mogolistan, finally defeating the army of Kamar ad-din and Anka-tyur in 1390 during the last campaign. However, Timur only reached the Irtysh in the north, Alakul in the east, Emil and the headquarters of the Mongol khans Balig-Yulduz, but he was unable to conquer the lands east of the Tangri-Tag and Kashgar mountains. Qamar ad-din fled and subsequently died of dropsy. The independence of Mogolistan was preserved.

Timur undertook his first two campaigns against the militant khan Kamar ad-din in the spring and autumn of 1371. The first campaign ended in a truce; during the second, Timur, leaving Tashkent through Sairam, located north of the city, moved towards the village of Yangi in Taraz. There he put the nomads to flight and captured large booty.

In 1375, Timur carried out his third successful campaign. He left Sairam and passed through the regions of Talas and Tokmak along the upper reaches of the Chu River. Timur returned to Samarkand via Uzgen and Khojent.

But Kamar ad-din was not defeated. When Timur's army returned to Transoxiana, he invaded Fergana, a province that belonged to Timur, and besieged the city of Andijan. Enraged Timur hurried to Fergana and for a long time pursued the enemy beyond Uzgen and the Yassy mountains to the At-Bashi valley, the southern tributary of the upper Naryn.

In 1376-1377 Timur made his fifth campaign against Kamar ad-din. He defeated his army in the gorges west of Issyk-Kul and pursued him to Kochkar.

The Zafarnama mentions Timur's sixth campaign in the Issyk-Kul region against Kamar ad-din in 1383, but the khan again managed to escape.

In 1389-1390 Timur intensified his actions to thoroughly defeat Kamar ad-din. In 1389 he crossed the Ili and crossed the Imil region in all directions, south and east of Lake Balkhash and around Ata-Kul. His vanguard, meanwhile, pursued the Mughals to the Black Irtysh, south of Altai. His advanced detachments reached Kara Khoja in the east, that is, almost to Turfan.

In 1390, Kamar ad-din was finally defeated, and Mogolistan finally ceased to threaten Timur’s power.

Fight against the Golden Horde

In 1360, northern Khorezm, which was part of the Golden Horde, became independent. The Kungrat-Sufi dynasty, which declared its independence and strengthened its position in 1371, attempted to capture southern Khorezm, which was part of the Chagatai ulus. Emir Timur demanded the return of the captured lands of southern Khorezm first peacefully, sending first a tawachi (quartermaster), then a sheikhulislama (head of the Muslim community) to Gurganj, but Khorezmshah Hussein Sufi refused to fulfill this demand both times, taking the ambassador prisoner. Since then, Emir Timur has made five campaigns against Khorezm. At the last stage of the struggle, the Khorezmshahs tried to enlist the support of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. In 1387, the Sufi Kungrats, together with Tokhtamysh, carried out a predatory raid on Bukhara, which led to Timur’s last campaign against Khorezm and further military actions against Tokhtamysh.

Tamerlane's next goals were to curb the Jochi ulus (known in history as the White Horde) and establish political influence in its eastern part and unite Mogolistan and Maverannahr, previously divided, into a single state, at one time called the Chagatai ulus.

State of Tamerlane

Realizing the danger to the independence of Transoxiana from the Jochi ulus, from the very first days of his reign, Timur tried in every possible way to bring his protege to power in the Jochi ulus. The Golden Horde had its capital in the city of Sarai-Batu (Sarai-Berke) and extended across the North Caucasus, the northwestern part of Khorezm, Crimea, Western Siberia and the Volga-Kama principality of Bulgar. The White Horde had its capital in the city of Sygnak and extended from Yangikent to Sabran, along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, as well as on the banks of the Syr Darya steppe from Ulu-tau to Sengir-yagach and the land from Karatal to Siberia. Khan of the White Horde, Urus Khan, tried to unite the once powerful state, whose plans were thwarted by the intensified struggle between the Jochids and the feudal lords of the Dashti Kipchak. Timur strongly supported Tokhtamysh-oglan, whose father died at the hands of Uruskhan, who eventually took the throne of the White Horde. However, after ascending to power, Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Golden Horde and began to pursue a hostile policy towards the lands of Transoxiana.

Tamerlane made three campaigns against Khan Tokhtamysh, finally defeating him on February 28, 1395.

Timur's campaign against the Golden Horde in 1391

Timur's campaign against the Golden Horde in 1395

After the defeat of the Golden Horde and Khan Tokhtamysh, the latter fled to the Bulgar. In response to the plunder of the lands of Maverannahr, Emir Timur burned the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Batu, and gave the reins of its government into the hands of Koyrichak-oglan, who was the son of Uruskhan. Timur's defeat of the Golden Horde also had broad economic consequences. As a result of Timur's campaign, the northern branch of the Great Silk Road, which passed through the lands of the Golden Horde, fell into decay. Trade caravans began to pass through the lands of Timur's state.

In the 1390s, Tamerlane inflicted two severe defeats on the Horde khan - at Kondurch in 1391 and Terek in 1395, after which Tokhtamysh was deprived of the throne and forced to wage a constant struggle with the khans appointed by Tamerlane. With this defeat of the army of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane brought indirect benefit in the struggle of the Russian lands against the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

In 1395, Tamerlane, who was marching against Tokhtamysh, passed through the Ryazan region and took the city of Yelets, after which Tamerlane moved towards Moscow, but unexpectedly turned around and went back on August 26th. According to church tradition, it was at that time that Muscovites met the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, transferred to Moscow to protect it from the conqueror. On the day of the meeting of the image, according to the chronicle, the Mother of God appeared to Tamerlane in a dream and ordered him to immediately leave the borders of Rus'. At the meeting place of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the Sretensky Monastery was founded. Tamerlane did not reach Moscow, his army marched along the Don and took it completely.

There is another point of view. According to “Zafar-name” (“Book of Victories”) by Sheref ad-din Yezdi, Timur ended up on the Don after his victory over Tokhtamysh at the Terek River and before the total defeat of the cities of the Golden Horde in the same 1395. Tamerlane personally pursued the retreating commanders of Tokhtamysh after the defeat until they were completely defeated. On the Dnieper the enemy was finally defeated. Most likely, according to this source, Timur did not set the goal of a campaign specifically on Russian lands. Some of his troops, not he himself, approached the borders of Rus'. Here, on the comfortable summer Horde pastures that stretched in the floodplain of the Upper Don to modern Tula, a small part of his army stopped for two weeks. Although the local population did not put up serious resistance, the region was severely devastated. As Russian chronicles tell us about Timur’s invasion, his army stood on both sides of the Don for two weeks, “captured” (occupied) the land of Yelets and “seized” (captured) the prince of Yelets. Some coin hoards in the vicinity of Voronezh date back to 1395. However, in the vicinity of Yelets, which, according to the above-mentioned Russian written sources, was subjected to a pogrom, no treasures with such a dating have been found to date. Sheref ad-din Yezdi describes large booty taken in Russian lands and does not describe a single combat episode with the local population, although the main purpose of the “Book of Victories” was to describe the exploits of Timur himself and the valor of his warriors. According to the legends recorded by Yelets local historians in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Yelets residents stubbornly resisted the enemy. However, in the “Book of Victories” there is no mention of this; the names of the fighters and commanders who took Yelets, who were the first to ascend the rampart, and who personally captured the Yelets prince, are not named. Meanwhile, Russian women made a great impression on Timur’s warriors, about whom Sheref ad-din Yezdi writes in a poetic line: “Oh, beautiful feathers like roses stuffed into snow-white Russian canvas!” Then in “Zafar-name” there follows a detailed list of Russian cities conquered by Timur, including Moscow. Perhaps this is just a list of Russian lands that did not want an armed conflict and sent their ambassadors with gifts. After the defeat of Bek Yaryk Oglan, Tamerlane himself began to methodically ravage the lands of his main enemy Tokhtamysh. The Horde cities of the Volga region never recovered from Tamerlane’s devastation until the final collapse of this state. Many colonies of Italian merchants in the Crimea and in the lower reaches of the Don were also destroyed. The city of Tana (modern Azov) rose from ruins for several decades. Yelets, according to Russian chronicles, existed for another twenty years and was completely destroyed by certain “Tatars” only in 1414 or 1415.

Trips to Iran and the Caucasus

In 1380, Timur went on a campaign against Malik Ghiyasiddin Pir Ali II, who ruled in the city of Herat. At first, he sent an ambassador to him with an invitation to the kurultai in order to solve the problem peacefully, but Malik rejected the offer, detaining the ambassador. In response to this, in April 1380, Timur, under the leadership of emirzade Pirmuhammad Jahangir, sent ten regiments to the left bank of the Amu Darya River. He captured the regions of Balkh, Shiberghan and Badkhiz. In February 1381, Emir Timur himself marched with troops and took the cities of Khorasan, Seraks, Jami, Qausia, Isferain, Tuye and Kelat, and Herat was taken after a five-day siege. also, in addition to Kelat, Sebzevar was taken, as a result of which the state of the Serbedars ceased to exist; in 1382, Timur's son, Miranshah, was appointed ruler of Khorasan; in 1383, Timur devastated Seistan and brutally suppressed the uprising of the Serbedars in Sebzevar.

In 1383, he took Seistan, in which the fortresses of Zirekh, Zave, Farah and Bust were defeated. In 1384 he captured the cities of Astrabad, Amul, Sari, Sultaniya and Tabriz, effectively capturing all of Persia. After which he went on a campaign to Armenia, after which he made several more campaigns of conquest in Persia and Syria. These campaigns are known in world history as three-year, five-year and seven-year campaigns, during which he fought wars in the territory of modern Syria, India, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.

Three great campaigns of Timur

Timur made three large campaigns in the western part of Persia and the adjacent regions - the so-called “three-year” (from 1386), “five-year” (from 1392) and “seven-year” (from 1399).

Three-year trek

For the first time, Timur was forced to return back as a result of the invasion of Transoxiana by the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in alliance with the Semirechensk Mongols (1387).

In 1388, Timur drove out his enemies and punished the Khorezmians for their alliance with Tokhtamysh, in 1389 he made a devastating campaign deep into the Mongolian possessions as far as the Irtysh to the north and to the Greater Zhyldyz to the east, in 1391 - a campaign against the Golden Horde possessions to the Volga. These campaigns achieved their goal.

[edit]Five-year campaign

During the “five-year” campaign, Timur conquered the Caspian regions in 1392, and western Persia and Baghdad in 1393; Timur's son, Omar Sheikh, was appointed ruler of Fars, Miran Shah - ruler of Transcaucasia. Tokhtamysh's invasion of Transcaucasia caused Timur's retaliatory campaign in Eastern Europe(1395); Timur defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek and pursued him to the borders of the Moscow principality. There he invaded the Ryazan lands, ravaged Yelets, posing a threat to Moscow. Having launched an attack on Moscow, he unexpectedly turned back and left the Moscow lands on the very day when Muscovites greeted the image of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, brought from Vladimir (from this day on, the icon is revered as the patroness of Moscow). Timur then plundered the trading cities of Azov and Kafa, burned Sarai-Batu and Astrakhan, but the lasting conquest of the Golden Horde was Tamerlane's goal, and therefore the Caucasus range remained the northern border of Timur's possessions. In 1396 he returned to Samarkand and in 1397 appointed his youngest son Shahrukh as ruler of Khorasan, Seistan and Mazanderan.

March on India

Timur's campaign in India

In 1398, a campaign was launched against India; along the way, the highlanders of Kafiristan were defeated. In December, Timur defeated the army of the Indian Sultan (Toglukid dynasty) under the walls of Delhi and occupied the city without resistance, which was plundered by the army a few days later. In 1399, Timur reached the banks of the Ganges, on the way back he took several more cities and fortresses and returned to Samarkand with huge booty, but without expanding his possessions.

Seven Years' Campaign

Timur defeats the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Sultan Nasir Adin Faraj.

Timur's campaign against the Ottoman Empire

The "seven-year" campaign was initially caused by unrest in the area ruled by Miranshah. Timur deposed his son and defeated the enemies who invaded his domain. In 1400, a war began with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazet, who captured the city of Arzinjan, where Timur's vassal ruled, and with the Egyptian Sultan Faraj, whose predecessor, Barkuk, ordered the murder of Timur's ambassador back in 1393. In 1400, Timur took Sivas in Asia Minor and Aleppo (Aleppo) in Syria (belonging to the Egyptian Sultan), and in 1401 Damascus.

In 1399, in response to the actions of Sultan Bayazid I the Lightning, who patronized Timur's enemy Kara Yusuf and wrote an insulting letter, Timur began his seven-year campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

Angora Battle

In 1402, Timur won a major victory over the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning, defeating him at the Battle of Ankara on July 28. The Sultan himself was captured. As a result of the battle, all of Asia Minor was captured, and the defeat of Bayezid led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by a peasant war and civil strife between his sons. The official reason for the war was the alleged presentation of gifts to Timur by Turkish ambassadors. Outraged by the fact that Bayezid was acting as a benefactor, Timur declared military action

The fortress of Smyrna (belonging to the Johannite knights), which the Ottoman sultans, besieging, could not take for 20 years, he captured by storm in two weeks. The western part of Asia Minor was returned to the sons of Bayazet in 1403, and in the eastern part the small dynasties overthrown by Bayazet were restored.

Upon returning to Samarkand, Timur planned to declare his eldest grandson Muhammad Sultan (1375-1403), who was similar to his grandfather in actions and mind, as his successor. However, in March 1403 he fell ill and died suddenly.

The beginning of the campaign against China

In August 1404, Timur returned to Samarkand and a few months later embarked on a campaign against China, for which he began preparing back in 1398. That year he built a fortress on the border of the current Syr-Darya region and Semirechye; Now another fortification was built, 10 days' journey further to the east, probably near Issyk-Kul. The campaign was stopped due to the onset of a cold winter, and in February 1405 Timur died.

Diplomatic ties

Letter from Timur to King Charles VI of France, 1402

Timur, who created a huge empire, established diplomatic ties with a number of states, including China, Egypt, Byzantium, France, England, Spain, etc. In 1404, the ambassador of the Castilian king, Gonzalez de Clavijo, Ruy, visited the capital of his state - Samarkand. The originals of Timur's letters to the French king Charles VI have been preserved.

Children

Mausoleum of the sons of Timur Jahangir and Umar Sheikh in Shakhrisyabz

Timur had four sons: Jahangir (1356-1376), Umar Sheikh (1356-1394), Miran Shah (1366-1408), Shahrukh (1377-1447) and several daughters: Uka Begim (1359-1382), Sultan Bakht aga (1362-1430), Bigi jan, Saadat Sultan, Musalla.

Death

Mausoleum of Emir Timur in Samarkand

He died during the campaign against China. After the end of the seven-year war, during which Bayezid I was defeated, Timur began preparations for the Chinese campaign, which he had long planned due to Chinese claims to the lands of Transoxiana and Turkestan. He gathered a large army of two hundred thousand, with which he set out on a campaign on November 27, 1404. In January 1405, he arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins are located near the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (according to historians - on February 18, according to Timur's tombstone - on the 15th). The body was embalmed, placed in an ebony coffin, lined with silver brocade, and taken to Samarkand. Tamerlane was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, which was still unfinished at that time. Official mourning events were held on March 18, 1405 by Timur's grandson Khalil-Sultan (1405-1409), who seized the Samarkand throne against the will of his grandfather, who bequeathed the kingdom to his eldest grandson Pirmukhammed.

A look at Tamerlane in the light of history and culture

Code of laws

During the reign of Emir Timur, there was a set of laws called the “Timur Code,” which set out the rules of conduct for members of society and the responsibilities of rulers and officials, and also contained rules for managing the army and the state.

When appointed to a position, the “great emir” demanded devotion and fidelity from everyone. He appointed 315 people to high positions who had been with him from the very beginning of his career and fought side by side with him. The first hundred were appointed as tens, the second hundred as centurions, and the third as thousands. Of the remaining fifteen people, four were appointed beks, one was appointed supreme emir, and others were appointed to other high posts.

The judicial system was divided into three stages: 1. Sharia judge - who was guided in his activities by the established norms of Sharia; 2. Judge ahdos - who was guided in his activities by well-established morals and customs in society. 3. Kazi askar - who conducted proceedings in military cases.

The law was recognized as equal for everyone, both emirs and subjects.

Viziers under the leadership of Divan-Beghi were responsible for the general situation of their subjects and troops, for the financial condition of the country and the activities of government institutions. If information was received that the vizier of finance had appropriated part of the treasury, then this was checked and, upon confirmation, one of the decisions was made: if the embezzled amount was equal to his salary (uluf), then this amount was given to him as a gift. If the amount appropriated is twice the salary, then the excess must be withheld. If the embezzled amount was three times higher than the established salary, then everything was taken away in favor of the treasury.

Emirs, just like viziers, must be from a noble family, possess such qualities as insight, courage, enterprise, caution and frugality, conduct business, thoroughly thinking through the consequences of each step. They must “know the secrets of warfare, methods of dispersing the enemy army, not lose their presence of mind in the midst of a battle and be able to lead troops without trembling or hesitation, and if the battle order is disrupted, be able to restore it without delay.”

The protection of soldiers and ordinary people was secured. The Code obliged village and neighborhood elders, tax collectors and khokim (local rulers) to pay a fine to a commoner to the extent of the damage caused to him. If the harm was caused by a warrior, then it should have been handed over to the victim, and he himself would determine the punishment for him.

To the extent possible, the code enshrined the protection of the people in the conquered lands from humiliation and plunder.

A separate article is devoted in the code to attention to the beggars, who should have been collected in a certain place, given food and work, and also branded. If after this they continued to beg, then they should have been expelled from the country.

Emir Timur paid attention to the purity and morality of his people, he introduced the concept of the inviolability of the law and ordered not to rush to punish criminals, but to carefully check all the circumstances of the case and only after that render a verdict. The fundamentals of religion for the establishment of Sharia and Islam were explained to devout Muslims, they were taught tafsir (interpretation of the Koran), hadith (a collection of legends about the Prophet Muhammad) and fiqh (Muslim jurisprudence). Also, ulemas (scholars) and mudarris (madressah teachers) were appointed to each city.

Decrees and laws in Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian-Tajik and Chagatai. At Timur's court there was a staff of Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Army of Tamerlane

Drawing on the rich experience of his predecessors, Tamerlane managed to create a powerful and combat-ready army, which allowed him to win brilliant victories on the battlefields over his opponents. This army was a multinational and multi-religious association, the core of which were Turkic-Mongol nomadic warriors. Tamerlane's army was divided into cavalry and infantry, the role of which greatly increased at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. However, the bulk of the army was made up of mounted detachments of nomads, the core of which consisted of elite units of heavily armed cavalry, as well as detachments of Tamerlane’s bodyguards. Infantry often played a supporting role, but was necessary during sieges of fortresses. The infantry was mostly lightly armed and consisted mainly of archers, but the army also included heavily armed infantry shock troops.

In addition to the main branches of the military (heavy and light cavalry, as well as infantry), Tamerlane’s army included detachments of pontooners, workers, engineers and other specialists, as well as special infantry units that specialized in combat operations in mountainous conditions (they were recruited from residents of mountain villages). The organization of Tamerlane’s army generally corresponded to the decimal organization of Genghis Khan, but a number of changes appeared (for example, units of 50 to 300 people, called “koshuns,” appeared; the number of larger units, “kuls,” was also variable).

The main weapon of light cavalry, like infantry, was the bow. Light cavalrymen also used sabers or swords and axes. Heavily armed horsemen were clad in armor (the most popular armor was chain mail, often reinforced with metal plates), protected by helmets, and fought with sabers or swords (in addition to bows and arrows, which were common). Simple infantrymen were armed with bows, heavy infantry warriors fought with sabers, axes and maces and were protected by armor, helmets and shields.

Banners

During his campaigns, Timur used banners with the image of three rings. According to some historians, the three rings symbolized earth, water and sky. According to Svyatoslav Roerich, Timur could have borrowed the symbol from the Tibetans, whose three rings meant the past, present and future. Some miniatures depict the red banners of Timur's army. During the Indian campaign, a black banner with a silver dragon was used. Before his campaign against China, Tamerlane ordered a golden dragon to be depicted on the banners.

There is a legend that before the Battle of Ankara, Timur and Bayezid the Lightning met on the battlefield. Bayezid, looking at Timur’s banner, said: “What impudence to think that the whole world belongs to you!” In response, Timur, pointing to the Turk’s banner, said: “It’s even greater impudence to think that the moon belongs to you.”

Urban planning and architecture

National Museum of Timurid History in Tashkent and its image on the 1000 sum banknote

During the years of his conquests, Timur brought not only material loot to the country, but also brought with him prominent scientists, artisans, artists, and architects. He believed that the more cultured people there were in cities, the faster its development would go and the more comfortable the cities of Transoxiana and Turkestan would be. During his conquests, he put an end to political fragmentation in Persia and the Middle East, trying to leave a memory of himself in every city he visited, he built several beautiful buildings in it. For example, he restored the cities of Baghdad, Derbend, Baylakan, fortresses, parking lots, bridges, and irrigation systems destroyed on the roads.

In 1371, he began the restoration of the destroyed fortress of Samarkand, the defensive walls of Shahristan with six gates Sheikhzade, Akhanin, Feruza, Suzangaran, Karizgakh and Chorsu, and two four-story buildings Kuksarai were built in the arch, which housed the state treasury, workshops and a prison, as well as Buston barn, which housed the emir's residence.

Timur made Samarkand one of the centers of trade in Central Asia. As the traveler Clavijo writes: “In Samarkand, goods brought from China, India, Tatarstan (Dasht-i Kipchak - B.A.) and other places, as well as from the richest kingdom of Samarkand, are sold annually. Since there were no special rows in the city where it would be convenient to trade, Timurbek ordered a street to be laid through the city, on both sides of which there would be shops and tents for selling goods.”

Timur paid great attention to the development of Islamic culture and the improvement of sacred places for Muslims. In the mausoleums of Shahi Zinda, he erected tombs over the graves of his relatives, at the direction of one of his wives, whose name was Tuman, aka a mosque, a dervish abode, a tomb and Chartag were erected there. He also built Rukhabad (the tomb of Burkhaniddin Sogardji), Qutbi Chahardahum (the tomb of Sheikh Khoja Nuriddin Basir) and Gur-Emir (the family tomb of the Timurid family). Also in Samarkand he built many baths, mosques, madrassas, dervish abodes, and caravanserais.

During 1378-1404, 14 gardens were cultivated in Samarkand and nearby lands: Bag-i bihisht, Bag-i dilkusha, Bag-i shamal, Bag-i buldi, Bag-i nav, Bag-i jahannuma, Bag-i takhti karach and Bag-i davlatabad, Bag-zogcha (garden of rooks), etc. Each of these gardens had a palace and fountains. In his works about Samarkand, the historian Hafizi Abru mentions, in which he writes that “Samarkand, which had previously been built from clay, was rebuilt by erecting buildings from stone.” None of these palaces have survived to this day.

In 1399-1404, a cathedral mosque and a madrasah opposite it were built in Samarkand. The mosque later received the name Bibi Khanum (Lady Grandmother in Turkic).

Shakhrisabz (in Tajik “green city”) was developed, in which destroyed city walls, defensive structures, tombs of saints, majestic palaces, mosques, madrassas, and tombs were erected. Timur also devoted time to building bazaars and baths. From 1380 to 1404 the Aksaray Palace was built. In 1380, the family tomb Dar us-saadat was erected.

The cities of Yassy and Bukhara were also developed. In 1388, the city of Shahrukhiya, which was destroyed during the invasion of Genghis Khan, was restored.

In 1398, after the victory over the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh, a mausoleum was built in Turkestan over the grave of the poet and Sufi philosopher Khoja Ahmad Yassawi, on the orders of Timur, by Iranian and Khorezm craftsmen. Here the Tabriz master cast a two-ton copper cauldron in which food was to be prepared for those in need.

Development of science and painting

In Maverannahr, applied art became widespread, in which artists could demonstrate all their mastery of their skills. It became widespread in Bukhara, Yassy and Samarkand. Drawings have been preserved in the tombs of the tombs of Shirinbek-aga and Tuman-aga, made in 1385 and 1405, respectively. The art of miniatures, which adorned such books by writers and poets of Maverannahr as “Shahname” by Abulkasim Ferdowsi and “Anthology of Iranian Poets,” received particular development. The artists Abdulhay, Pir Ahmad Bagishamali and Khoja Bangir Tabrizi achieved great success in art at that time.

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan, built by Timur

In the tomb of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, located in Turkestan, there was a large cast-iron cauldron and candlesticks with the name of Emir Timur written on them. A similar candlestick was also found in the tomb of Gur-Emir in Samarkand. All this indicates that Central Asian craftsmen, especially wood and stone craftsmen and jewelers and weavers, have also achieved great success.

In the field of science and education, law, medicine, theology, mathematics, astronomy, history, philosophy, musicology, literature and the science of versification have become widespread. A prominent theologian at that time was Jalaliddin Ahmed al Khwarizmi. Maulana Ahmad achieved great success in astrology, and in jurisprudence Abdumalik, Isamiddin and Sheikh Shamsiddin Muhammad Jazairi. In musicology, Abdulgadir Maraghi, father and son of Safiaddin and Ardasher Changi. In painting by Abdulhay Baghdadi and Pir Ahmad Bagishamoli. In philosophy Sadiddin Taftazzani and Mirsaid Sharif Jurjani. In the history of Nizamiddin Shami and Hafizi Abru.

The Legend of Tamerlane's Tomb

According to the legend, the source and time of which it is not possible to establish, there was a prediction that if Tamerlane’s ashes were disturbed, a great and terrible war would begin.

In the tomb of Timur Gur Emir in Samarkand, on a large dark green jade tombstone, the following is inscribed in Arabic script in Arabic and Persian:
“This is the tomb of the great Sultan, the gracious Khakan of Emir Timur Gurgan; son Emir Taragay, son Emir Bergul, son Emir Ailangir, son Emir Angil, son Kara Charnuyan, son Emir Sigunchinchin, son Emir Irdanchi-Barlas, son Emir Kachulay, son Tumnai Khan. This is the 9th generation.

Genghis Khan comes from the same family from which descend the grandfathers of the venerable Sultan buried in this sacred and beautiful tomb: Khakan Genghis the Son. Emir Maisukai-Bahadur, son of Emir Barnan-Bahadur, son of Kabul-Khan, son of the mentioned Tumnai-Khan, son of Emir Baysungary, son of Kaidu-Khan, son of Emir Tutumtin, son of Emir-Buk, son of Emir-Buzanjar.

Whoever wants to know further, let it be known: the latter’s mother’s name was Alankuva, who was distinguished by her honesty and impeccable morality. She once became pregnant by a wolf, who came to her in the opening of the room and, taking the form of a man, announced that he was a descendant of the Commander of the Faithful, Aliy, the son of Abu Talib. This testimony given by her is accepted as truth. Her praiseworthy descendants will rule the world forever.

Died on the night of 14 Shagban 807 (1405).”

At the bottom of the stone there is an inscription: “This stone was placed by Ulugbek Gurgan after the campaign in Jitta”.

Several less reliable sources also report that the tombstone contains the following inscription: "When I rise (from the dead), the world will tremble". Some undocumented sources claim that when the grave was opened in 1941, an inscription was found inside the coffin: “Whoever disturbs my peace in this life or the next will suffer and die.”.

Another legend says: In 1747, Nadir Shah of Iran took this jade tombstone, and on that day Iran was destroyed by an earthquake, and the Shah himself became seriously ill. The earthquake struck again when the Shah returned to Iran, and the stone was returned.

From the memoirs of Malik Kayumov, who was a cameraman during the opening of the grave:

I entered the nearest teahouse and saw three ancient old men sitting there. I also noted to myself: they look alike, like siblings. Well, I sat down nearby, and they brought me a teapot and a bowl. Suddenly one of these old men turns to me: “Son, you’re one of those who decided to open Tamerlane’s grave?” And I’ll take it and say: “Yes, I’m the most important one in this expedition, without me all these scientists are nowhere!” I decided to drive away my fear with a joke. Only, I see, the old people frowned even more in response to my smile. And the one who spoke to me beckons me to him. I come closer and see that he has a book in his hands - an old one, handwritten, the pages are filled with Arabic script. And the old man traces the lines with his finger: “Look, son, what is written in this book. “Whoever opens Tamerlane’s grave will release the spirit of war. And there will be such a bloody and terrible carnage, such as the world has not seen forever."

He decided to tell the others, and they laughed at him. It was June 20th. The scientists did not listen and opened the grave on June 22, and on the same day the Great Patriotic War began. No one could find those elders: the owner of the teahouse said that on that day, June 20, he saw the old people for the first and last time.

The opening of Tamerlane's tomb was carried out on June 22, 1941 by the Soviet anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov. As a result of the study of the commander's skull, Tamerlane's appearance was recreated.

However, the plan for war with the USSR was developed at Hitler's headquarters back in 1940, the date of the invasion was limitedly known in the spring of 1941 and was finally determined on June 10, 1941. that is, long before the opening of the grave. The signal to the troops that the offensive should begin as planned was transmitted on June 20.

According to Kayumov, while at the front, he secured a meeting with Army General Zhukov in October 1942, explained the situation and offered to return Tamerlane’s ashes back to the grave. This was carried out on November 19-20, 1942; These days there was a turning point in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Kayumov’s criticism of Aini provoked retaliatory criticism from Tajik society. Another version of events, belonging to Kamal Sadreddinovich Aini (son of the writer who participated in the excavations) was published in 2004. According to it, the book was dated to the end of the 19th century, and Kayumov did not know Farsi, so he did not understand the content of the conversation and believed that Aini had shouted at the elders. The words written in Arabic in the margins are “ these are traditional sayings, which similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin and others, in order to protect burials from seekers of easy money looking for value in the graves of historical figures“, which is what he told the old people.

When everyone left the crypt, I saw three elders talking in Tajik with their father, A. A. Semenov and T. N. Kary-Niyazov. One of the elders was holding some old book in his hand. He opened it and said in Tajik: “This book is anciently written. It says that whoever touches Timurlane’s grave will be overtaken by misfortune and war.” All those present exclaimed: “Oh, Allah, save us from troubles!” S. Aini took this book, put on his glasses, looked through it carefully and turned to the elder in Tajik: “Dear, do you believe in this book?”

Answer: “Why, it begins with the name of Allah!”
S. Aini: “What kind of book is this, do you know?”
Answer: “An important Muslim book that begins with the name of Allah and protects the people from disasters.”
S. Aini: “This book, written in Farsi, is just “Jangnoma” - a book about battles and duels, a collection of fantastic stories about certain heroes. And this book was compiled only recently, at the end of the 19th century. And those words that you say about Timurlane’s grave are written in the margins of the book in a different hand. By the way, you probably know that according to Muslim traditions, it is generally considered a sin to open graves and sacred places - mazars. And those words about the grave of Timurlane are traditional sayings that similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin Balogardon and others, in order to protect the burials from seekers of easy money, looking for value in the graves of historical figures. But for scientific purposes, in different countries, like ours, ancient burial grounds and graves of historical figures were opened. Here is your book, study it and think with your head.”

T.N. Kary-Niyazov picked up the book, looked through it carefully and nodded his head in agreement with S. Aini. Then Malik Kayumov, whom everyone there called “suratgir” (photographer), took the book into his hands. And I saw that he was turning the pages not from the beginning of the book, as it should be from right to left, but, on the contrary, in the European style, from left to right.

— From the diary of S. Aini

According to sources, Timur was fond of playing chess (more precisely, shatranj).

In Bashkir mythology there is an ancient legend about Tamerlane. According to him, it was by order of Tamerlane in 1395-96 that the mausoleum of Hussein Bek, the first disseminator of Islam among the Bashkir tribes, was built, since the commander, having accidentally found the grave, decided to show great honor to him as a person who spread Muslim culture. The legend is confirmed by six graves of prince-military leaders at the mausoleum, who, for unknown reasons, died along with part of the army during the winter stop. However, who specifically ordered the construction, Tamerlane or one of his generals, is not known for certain. Now the mausoleum of Hussein Beg is located on the territory of the village of Chishmy, Chishminsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Personal belongings that belonged to Timur, by the will of history, ended up scattered among various museums and private collections. For example, the so-called Ruby of Timur, which adorned his crown, is currently kept in London.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Timur's personal sword was kept in the Tehran Museum.

This amazing person is another mysterious figure in a long line of extraordinary rulers who achieved incredible success. He was called one of the greatest conquerors in human history, along with Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, and was also titled “ruler of the world.” At birth he was named Timur; they began to call him Tamerlane much later, when the Europeans, impressed by his victories, changed the name in their own way. He claimed dominance in Italy, kept the Ottoman Sultan in a cage, however, for some reasons of his own, he did not conquer Kievan Rus. But often this is where the majority’s knowledge ends, so it makes sense to understand in more detail who the great conqueror really was.

Lame Timur Tamerlane: biography of the leader’s rebellious son

The greatest emir, the founder of the Timurid dynasty, entered world history, as an outstanding conqueror and subtle connoisseur of arts, science and other cultural achievements. According to legend, just like Genghis Khan, a clot of dried blood was clutched in the tiny fist of the newborn Timur. This sign promised the baby a wonderful future, full of accomplishments and exploits. This is practically what happened - the boy grew up and took over half the world.

According to Arab tradition, boys were usually named using the formula alam-nasab-nisba, and our character is no exception. His full name sounds like Timur ibn Taragai Barlas, which can literally be translated as Timur son of Taragai from Barlas. He acquired his nickname much later, after the Persian campaign, in which, having received a serious wound, he was never able to fully recover from the disease. Then the brilliant and invincible commander began to be called derogatory and insulting Timur(-e) Liang, which means “lame”. Over time, it lost its bad connotation and was transformed by Western peoples into Tamerlane or, in the Russian manner, Asak-Temir (“Iron Leg”).

Briefly about the cruel commander

By right of birth, he could acquire influence exclusively in his small tribe, since he was the son of a leader. However, thanks to his organizational and strategic-tactical talent, as well as cruelty, often excessive but justified, he managed to crush the colossal lands of Central Asia, the Middle and Far East. In the best years, the emir's possessions stretched over five million kilometers. For comparison, it is worth saying that the modern area of ​​Russia is about seventeen million square kilometers.

They also had to suffer from Timur's conquests. Kievan Rus. In pursuit of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, the commander led his troops into Yelets and plundered it, burning it almost to the ground. For some reason he didn’t go to Moscow then. Researchers believe that it is worth thanking the internal conflicts in his empire. Be that as it may, this significantly weakened the influence of the Horde on the world political situation. The Tatar khanates became less and less powerful, in contrast to the Russian princes, who were increasing their influence.

When understanding who Tamerlane is in history, we must not forget that, in addition to the fact that he was indeed one of the most cruel rulers, he was also well educated, respecting science and art. He actively built his own state: thanks to him, a huge library and the magnificent Koksarai palace were built. On its gates there was an inscription that best reflects the essence of this man’s rule: “If you doubt our power, look at our buildings.” In modern Uzbekistan, this ancient leader is considered a true national hero.

Birth of Timur: Emir from a Small Tribe

Muhammad Taragai, or Turgai, was born and raised in a small village of the Mongolian Barlas family. According to some sources, he was the son of a chief and in due course became the head of his clan. Perhaps his ancestor was Karachar-noyon (secular leader of the clan), who was the first assistant of Chagatai himself, the second son of Khan Genghis and his wife. He became a devout Muslim and military man, who worked the land between campaigns.

According to tradition, Muhammad married a beautiful and healthy girl, Tekina Khatun. On April 8, 1336, in the village of Khoja-Ilgar, which was located in the mountains near the town of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan), she gave birth to a boy, whom it was decided to name Timur. By that time, he already had an older sister, a little later a younger one appeared, as well as three brothers: Suyurgatmysh, Juki and Alim Sheikh.

He spent his childhood there. Apparently, he received an excellent education, since, according to the testimony of the Arab historian and writer Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Arabshah, who was captured by him, he was fluent in Arabic, Persian and Turkic languages, in addition to his native Mongolian. His teacher was his father’s confessor, Shams ad-din Kulal, an imam, a man enlightened in every sense. In addition, the boy had to study hunting, tactics and strategy, which was not typical for simple tribal leaders. But Turgay had his own view of education. He was clearly preparing his son for an outstanding career, because at the age of ten he was placed under the supervision of atabeks (educators of the Seljuk Sultan).

On the path to the revival of the Mongol Empire: Tamerlane on the throne

There is no exact information about what Timur did in his youth and early youth. His father died in sixty-one. Only after this did information about his political and military career begin to appear. Probably, after the death of his father, he received real power in his clan, concentrating it in one hand - his own.

Should know

At the very beginning of its political career Only people from his family obeyed Timur. Among them, he recruited quite large detachments of followers who were ready to follow him through fire and water. It was they who became the backbone, the basis of his powerful army in the future.

From vassals of Togluk Timur to rulers

Even during the life of Muhammad Taragai in the forty-seventh year of the fourteenth century, the ulus of Chagatai, to which our character belonged, broke up into two separate powers: Mogolistan (Mogulistan) and Transoxiana. A year before the death of the father of the future military leader, the second was captured by Tughluk-Timur Khan (Togluk-Timur), a man of completely unknown origin. There is information that he arrived in these lands, and was not born here, but on top of that, he converted to Islam at the age of twenty-four and performed the rite of circumcision on himself. A year later, he captured Mogolistan, becoming the sole ruler of the former Chagatai ulus. It is clear that Tamerlane became his direct vassal.

However, he did not have to hide his own ambitions for long - Tughluk fell ill in the year sixty-two and died, as local chroniclers recorded in their reports. Before his death, he transferred all rights to his son, Ilyas Khoja Khan. An educated, well-mannered, and ambitious young man, Timur Taragai, became his right hand and ruler of the Kesh region. However, this situation did not suit the heir who had just assumed his rights; he did not want to share power with anyone, so he gave the order to secretly kill Tamerlane. He did not wait for reprisals, taking a detachment of the most devoted and faithful, he went over to the side of the enemy - Emir Hussein. He went to the outskirts of Khorezm, where for some time he led the life of a “gentleman of fortune,” and in fact, an ordinary robber.

During his wanderings through the Persian lands, Timur managed to be both a winner and a prisoner who was intended to be sold, and also received a hip injury during the battle near Sistan (Sakastan or Drangian) (سیستان ), which is southwest of Iran. At the same time he was deprived of three fingers on his right hand. All these injuries will remain with him for the rest of his life. Until the year sixty-four, Hussein and Timur, living on the banks of the Amu Darya, waged a real hidden “underground” war against the son of Tughluk-Timur Khan. As a result, they had to retreat, but the uprising that broke out in Samarkand helped drive out Ilyas-Khoja. In the spring of 1966, the allies managed to suppress the rebellion, executing two of its leaders - a rifleman and an artisan, but saving the life of the third - the madrasah teacher Mavlan-zade, who had enormous influence among the people.

After this, relations between Hussein and Timur began to deteriorate, because everyone wanted to take power into their own hands. The commander Timur was more powerful and successful, so many minor leaders with considerable armies joined him, thereby strengthening his power.

In 1970, he finally conquered Hussein, becoming the de facto ruler, but everything unexpectedly became complicated. The fact is that, according to the law, only a descendant of the Genghisids could govern the country, otherwise he could not receive the title of khan. Therefore, at the kurultai (supreme assembly) he took the oath as a military leader, after which he began to be called the great emir. Samarkand was elected the main city, and he himself began to make plans to improve all institutions of power.

Interesting

Intending to expand his state as much as possible, as well as to establish centralized perfect power in it, Timur figured out how to circumvent the ban on the title of ruler. He married Sarai-mulk khanum (Bibi, Kanyo, Katta), the daughter of a direct descendant of the Genghisids - Kazan Khan. Since then, he received the right to the title of “gurgan”, that is, son-in-law. Thus, he became a member of the family of the great ruler, gaining access to any titles.

Leadership of a conquered state

A little time passed, and Tamerlane’s power was also recognized by Tashkent and Balkh, but the rulers of Khorezm continued to resist. In the spring of seventy-one, they even tried to recapture the southern territories that had previously belonged to the Persians. Subsequently, in order to conquer the city and the country, Timur had to march against it five times. But he also decided to carry out large-scale reforms within the state.

• The first was the administrative reform of army management (yasa), which is better known as the “Timur Code”. New law clearly regulated the relationship between Sharia and secular law.
• The second part of the reforms was construction, including the erection of monuments and buildings in honor of military campaigns and victories. Tamerlane restored Baghdad, Baylakan and Derbent, which were seriously damaged during the conquests. But the most money and effort was invested in Samarkand. Mosques, madrassas, gardens, fountains and much more were built here. Often this was done by the wife of the new khan, Bibi Khanum.
• Road construction and development transport system- another merit of the ruler. He diligently erected hundreds of caravanserais along the entire length of the roads between cities.

The emir created an extensive network of intelligence officers who vigilantly ensured that the laws of the state were carried out exactly. A new tax system for merchants who had to pay what they could to support the poor, sick and disadvantaged. There was a social assistance system - beggars were gathered in certain places, given housing, salary and work, but a stigma was established for this. If a person continued to work hard after that, then he was left alone. When a homeless person chose to beg, he was subject to deportation outside the state.

Wars of conquest of the Iron Lame

Khan Tamerlane was a cruel and even ruthless warrior, although after the capture of one or another people he tried to protect people from all sorts of misunderstandings. He successfully completed several campaigns against Mogolistan, after which he was able to drive out the ruler there, Kamar ad-Din, beyond the Irtysh, where he subsequently died of dropsy.

• In the eightieth year of the fourteenth century, Malik Ghiyas-ad-din Pir-Ali II, who ruled in Western Asia, doubted the power of Timur. Three years later, our hero defeated the rebellious vassal and became virtually the sole ruler of Persia.
• The curbing and conquest of the Golden Horde became Tamerlane's second goal. It took at least eight years to finally sort out the problem, and first they lost and then recaptured Samarkand. By 1396 it was all over - Timur was finally proclaimed ruler.
• Two years later, he raided Delhi, India, and managed to reach the Ganges itself. He plundered the city and burned it, and returned home with rich booty.
• In the ninety-ninth year, he set out on a difficult campaign against Iran, which lasted seven years, but in fact, by the second year of the fifteenth century, the Ottoman Empire had already submitted to him.

Around the next year, the conqueror Tamerlane began preparations for a new campaign - to China. This time he planned to do something different from what he did with India - to capture and destroy. The smart ruler hoped to establish control over the Silk Road in order to receive additional profit.

Personal life and death of the Asian conqueror

For all his ambitions, Timur managed to establish quite acceptable relations with a large number of neighboring countries. France, England, Byzantium, Egypt and China were ready to conduct a dialogue with this man. In the fourth year, Gonzalez de Clavijo, a Castilian traveler, diplomat and historian, chamberlain of Enrique III the Painful, visited Samarkand. In addition, letters from the Mongol to the French monarch Charles VI the Mad have survived to this day. However, all this in no way explains what he was like in privacy, whether you were happy in your marriage, whether you extended your family line with heirs, which is also worth looking into.

Wives, concubines and children

Information about Tamerlane’s family is quite scattered and contradictory. According to one version, he considered Sarai-mulk khanum his beloved wife, because she was appointed the main one of all. However, according to other sources, he considered his second wife, Uljay-Turkan aga (Tarkan Uljay Khanym), the daughter of Kazan Khan, to be the closest to the man, thanks to whom he received the opportunity to become a khan. In total, he had eighteen wives and an unknown number of concubines. From these women he had four sons.

• Ghiyas ad-din Muhammad Jahangir (1356), who later died at the age of twenty from heart disease.
• Mugis ud-Din Umar Sheikh (1356) was appointed ruler of Fars by his father and was killed in battle by an enemy arrow.
• Jalal ad-din Miran Shah (1366), later governor of Iran and Iraq and ruler of Transcaucasia. He died in battle after the death of his father at the age of forty-two.
• Muin al-Haqq wa-d-Din Shahrukh (1377), who became the king of Khorasan and the Timurid Empire. His son Ulugbek became a famous astronomer.

Timur also had daughters, most of whose names history has not preserved. Only a few of the girls are known: Bigi Jan, Uka Begim, Miran Shah, Umar Sheikh, Mussala, Saadat Sultan. Those of them who survived to adulthood were successfully married, engaged in charity work and in every possible way supported the greatness of their husbands and their native country.

Death of the conqueror of Asia

Even during the military campaign against the Ottoman ruler Bayezid I the Lightning, Khan Tamerlane planned campaigns in China, without breaking diplomatic relations with him. The rulers of the Celestial Empire laid claim to Turkestan and Transoxiana (Maverannahr or Fararud), which did not suit the leader of the Mongols at all. On November twenty-seventh of the fourth year, at the head of an army of two hundred thousand, he set out on a new campaign. Almost immediately after the New Year, when the cavalcade reached the fortified city of Otrar, he suddenly felt ill.

Modern scientists believe that, in addition to his injuries and battle wounds, he had bone tuberculosis, which eventually forced him to literally live on horseback. However, whether this disease became the cause of death is unknown. Immediately after his death, his body was embalmed, placed in a black wooden coffin on a bed of silver brocade and taken home to Samarkand. There, in the Gur Emir mausoleum, which at that time was not yet completed, he was laid to rest. His sarcophagus was made of dark green jade.

Mysticism and secrets around the Great Khan

Tamerlane’s personality is shrouded in secrets and mysteries, and even modern scientists cannot give answers to some questions about him. There is a version that the ruler’s appearance was quite European, like Genghis Khan’s. He was much taller than the Mongols - almost 173 centimeters. For a long time It was believed that he dyed his beard and hair with henna, but this turned out to be untrue. Tests showed that the man was naturally fiery red-haired. He wore long hair braided, a beard and mustache, which he did not trim above his lip. But this is the most common of the incomprehensible - more to come.

• On the grave of the great man, according to legend, Timur’s curse was inscribed, which stated that anyone who disturbed him would soon suffer. In 1747, the Iranian Shah Nadir liked the jade sarcophagus. He ordered it to be cut and loaded onto camels. On the same day, his country was hit by a terrible earthquake with a huge number of victims.
• Later legends are also associated with Tamerlane’s stone. Soviet researchers opened the tomb to study the mummy on June 19, 1941. No one needs to be reminded what happened soon. He was reburied with honors a year later. Only then did the turning point in the Great Patriotic War come.
• The Persian Shahs, through unknown means, acquired the original sword of Tamerlane, which at the beginning of the nineteenth century was kept in one of the museums in Tehran, after which it was presented as a gift to Nicholas the First, as it was considered a sign of invincibility.

It is not known exactly where the weapons of the outstanding ruler and warrior went after the revolution. Perhaps Hitler and his secret service Ahnenerbe became interested in him. He was a lover of mystical witchcraft artifacts.

Assessing the activities of a bloodthirsty commander

Tamerlane played a significant role in the history of Central, Central and South Asia. He was the first to establish a truly majestic and strong Temurid empire with its capital in Samarkand. He, like Genghis Khan, managed to group previously scattered and often even warring tribes around the center, reconciling them and forcing them to make every effort for the common good. Timur had a huge influence on the development of the peoples who later became residents of the post-Soviet space. He promoted science, the arts, introduced a convenient government system, as well as early social policies aimed at supporting everyone who wanted to work.

It was Tamerlane who managed to finally deal with the Horde, taking its place on the world stage. True, his empire could not last long, and the descendants of the khan were unable to preserve what their illustrious ancestor left them as an inheritance. For Europe, the appearance of such a hero turned out to be frightening and incomprehensible, especially after the plague and the Tatar-Mongol invasion rushed there from the dark depths of Asia. A medieval historian from Armenia said that the “fire-bearded Mongol” could be called the “forerunner of the Antichrist.”

In memory of the Turkic warrior

Nowadays, the names Timur, Tamir and even the full form Tamerlane are common not only in Asia, but also in the European part of the continent - this is a tribute to the great warrior. There are a lot of objects in Uzbekistan that are named after this formidable ruler: caves, gorges, valleys and even settlements of different sizes. Recently opened in Tashkent National Park Temurids. There, in the main library of the country, the only copy of the history of Khan Tamerlane, written by the ancient chronicler Ali-ben Dzhemal-al-Islam, is kept. Moreover, there is a later retelling of the same text made by Nizam-ud-din Shami, but it is already in London Bloomsbury.

The story of the curse of the “lame ruler” and his Chalk of Fate is played out in the mystical-fantasy film “Day Watch”, directed by Timur Bekmambetov. There are many other feature films and documentaries about him. The outstanding Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin, like others, more than once returned to the theme of conquest and mysticism around the Mongol invader. Two large paintings - “The Apotheosis of War” and “The Doors of Khan Tamerlane” - belong to his brush.

Tamerlane's name.

Timur's full name was Timur ibn Taragay Barlas (Tīmūr ibn Taraġay Barlas - Timur son of Taragay from Barlas) in accordance with the Arabic tradition (alam-nasab-nisba). In the Chagatai and Mongolian languages ​​(both Altaic) Temür or Temir means “iron”.

Not being a Genghisid, Timur formally could not bear the title of Great Khan, always calling himself only an emir (leader, leader). However, growing up in 1370 with the House of Genghisides, he accepted the name Timur Gurgan (Timūr Gurkānī, (تيمices free to live and act in their homes.

In various Persian sources, the Iranianized nickname Timur-e Lang (Tīmūr-e Lang, تیمور لنگ) “Timur the Lame” is often found; this name was probably considered at that time as contemptuous and derogatory. It passed into Western languages ​​(Tamerlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine, Timur Lenk) and into Russian, where it has no negative connotation and is used along with the original “Timur”.

Personality of Tamerlane.

Timur's biography resembles the biography of Genghis Khan. The beginnings of the political activities of both conquerors are similar: they were the leaders of the detachments of adherents they personally recruited, who then remained the main support of their power. Like Genghis Khan, Timur personally entered into all the details of the organization of military forces, had detailed information about the forces of his enemies and the state of their lands, enjoyed unconditional authority among his army and could fully rely on his associates. Less successful was the choice of persons placed at the head of the civil administration (numerous cases of punishment for extortion of high dignitaries in Samarkand, Herat, Shiraz, Tabriz). Tamerlane loved to talk with scientists, especially to listen to the reading of historical works; with his knowledge of history he surprised the medieval historian, philosopher and thinker Ibn Khaldun; Timur used stories about the valor of historical and legendary heroes to inspire his soldiers.

Timur left behind dozens of monumental architectural structures, some of which have entered the treasury of world culture. Timur's buildings, in the creation of which he took an active part, reveal his artistic taste.

Timur cared primarily about the prosperity of his native Maverannahr and about enhancing the splendor of his capital, Samarkand. Timur brought craftsmen, architects, jewelers, builders, architects from all the conquered lands in order to equip the cities of his empire: the capital Samarkand, his father’s homeland - Kesh (Shakhrisyabz), Bukhara, the border city of Yassy (Turkestan). He managed to express all the care that he put into the capital Samarkand through words about it: “There will always be a blue sky and golden stars above Samarkand.” Only in recent years did he take measures to improve the well-being of other regions of the state, mainly border ones (in 1398 a new irrigation canal was built in Afghanistan, in 1401 - in Transcaucasia, etc.)

Biography.

Childhood and youth.

Timur was born on April 9, 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar near the city of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan) in Central Asia.

Timur spent his childhood and youth in the Kesh mountains. In his youth, he loved hunting and equestrian competitions, javelin throwing and archery, and had a penchant for war games. From the age of ten, mentors - atabeks who served under Taragai, taught Timur the art of war and sports games. Timur was a very brave and reserved man. Possessing sobriety of judgment, he knew how to make the right decision in difficult situations. These character traits attracted people to him. The first information about Timur appeared in sources starting in 1361, when he began his political activity.

Timur's appearance.

As shown by the opening of the tomb of Gur Emir (Samarkand) by M. M. Gerasimov and the subsequent study of the skeleton from the burial, which is believed to belong to Tamerlane, his height was 172 cm. Timur was strong and physically developed, his contemporaries wrote about him: “If Most warriors could pull the bow string to the level of the collarbone, but Timur pulled it to the ear.” His hair is lighter than most of his people.

Despite Timur's old age (69 years), his skull, as well as his skeleton, did not have pronounced, actually senile features. The presence of most of the teeth, the clear relief of the bones, the almost absence of osteophytes - all this rather suggests that the skull of the skeleton belonged to a person full of strength and health, whose biological age did not exceed 50 years. The massiveness of healthy bones, the highly developed relief and their density, the width of the shoulders, the volume of the chest and relatively high height - all this gives the right to think that Timur had an extremely strong build. His strong athletic muscles, most likely, were distinguished by a certain dryness of form, and this is natural: life on military campaigns, with their difficulties and hardships, almost constant stay in the saddle could hardly contribute to obesity.

A special external difference between Tamerlane and his warriors and other Muslims was the braids they kept, according to Mongolian custom, which is confirmed by some Central Asian illustrated manuscripts of that time. Meanwhile, examining ancient Turkic sculptures and images of Turks in the paintings of Afrasiab, researchers came to the conclusion that the Turks wore braids back in the 5th-8th centuries. The opening of Timur's grave and analysis by anthropologists showed that Timur did not have braids. “Timur’s hair is thick, straight, gray-red in color, with a predominance of dark chestnut or red.” “Contrary to the accepted custom of shaving his head, at the time of his death Timur had relatively long hair.” (article by M. M. Gerasimov “Portrait of Tamerlane” from the book “Tamerlane”, published in Moscow in 1992). Some historians believe that the light color of his hair is due to the fact that Tamerlane dyed his hair with henna. But, M. M. Gerasimov notes in his work: “Even a preliminary study of beard hair under a binocular convinces that this reddish color is natural, and not dyed with henna, as historians described.” Timur wore a long mustache, not a trim one above the lip. As we managed to find out, there was a rule that allowed the highest military class to wear a mustache without cutting it above the lip, and Timur, according to this rule, did not cut his mustache, and it hung freely above the lip. “Timur’s small thick beard was wedge-shaped. Her hair is coarse, almost straight, thick, bright brown (red) in color, with significant gray streaks.”

Timur's parents, brothers and sisters.

His father's name was Muhammad Taragai or Turgai, he was a military man and a small landowner. He came from the Mongolian Barlas tribe, which by that time had already been Turkified and spoke the Chagatai language.

According to some assumptions, Timur's father Taragai was the leader of the Barlas tribe and a descendant of a certain Karachar noyon (a large feudal landowner in the Middle Ages), a powerful assistant to Chagatai, the son of Genghis Khan and a distant relative of the latter.

Timur's father was a pious Muslim, his spiritual mentor was Sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal

In Encyclopedia Britannica, Timur is considered a Turkic conqueror.

In Indian historiography, Timur is considered the head of the Chagatai Turks.

Timur's father had one brother, whose name in Turkic was Balta.

Timur's father was married twice: his first wife was Timur's mother Tekina Khatun. There is conflicting information about its origin. And the second wife of Taragay/Turgay was Kadak-khatun, the mother of Timur’s sister Shirinbek-aka.

Muhammad Taragay died in 1361 and was buried in Timur’s homeland - in the city of Kesh (Shakhrisabz). His tomb has survived to this day.

Timur had an older sister, Kutlug Turkan-aka, and a younger sister, Shirin-bek-aka. They died before the death of Timur himself and were buried in mausoleums in the Shahi Zinda complex in Samarkand. According to the source “Mu'izz al-ansab”, Timur had three more brothers: Juki, Alim Sheikh and Suyurgatmysh.

Spiritual mentors of Timur.

Timur's first spiritual mentor was his father's mentor, the Sufi sheikh Shams ad-din Kulal. Timur's main spiritual mentor was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Sheikh Mir Seyid Bereke. It was he who presented Timur with the symbols of power: the drum and the banner, when he came to power in 1370. Handing these symbols, Mir Seyid Bereke predicted a great future for the emir. He accompanied Timur on his great campaigns. In 1391, he blessed him before the battle with Tokhtamysh. In 1403, they together mourned the unexpected death of the heir to the throne, Muhammad Sultan. Mir Seyid Bereke was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, where Timur himself was buried at his feet. Another mentor of Timur was the son of the Sufi sheikh Burkhan ad-din Sagardzhi Abu Said. Timur ordered the construction of the Rukhabad mausoleum over their graves.

Timur's knowledge of languages.

During the campaign against the Golden Horde against Tokhtamysh in 1391, Timur ordered an inscription in the Chagatai language in Uighur letters - 8 lines and three lines in Arabic, containing the Koranic text, to be knocked out near Mount Altyn-Chuku. In history, this inscription is known as the Karsakpai inscription of Timur. Currently, the stone with Timur's inscription is kept and exhibited in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

A contemporary and captive of Tamerlane, Ibn Arabshah, who knew Tamerlane personally since 1401, reports: “As for Persian, Turkic and Mongolian, he knew them better than anyone else.” Princeton University researcher Svat Soucek writes about Timur in his monograph that “He was a Turk from the Barlas tribe, Mongolian in name and origin, but in all practical senses Turkic by that time. Timur's native language was Turkic (Chagatai), although he may have also spoken Persian to some extent due to the cultural environment in which he lived. He almost certainly did not know Mongolian, although Mongolian terms had not yet completely disappeared from documents and were found on coins.”

Legal documents of Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian and Turkic. For example, a document from 1378 giving privileges to the descendants of Abu Muslim who lived in Khorezm was compiled in the Chagatai Turkic language.

The Spanish diplomat and traveler Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who visited the court of Tamerlane in Transoxiana, reports that “Beyond this river (Amu Darya - approx.) the kingdom of Samarkante extends, and its land is called Mogalia (Mogolistan), and the language is Mughal, and this language is not understood in this ( southern - approx.) side of the river, since everyone speaks Persian", he further reports "the writing that is used by the Samarkant residents [who live - approx.] on the other side of the river is not understood and cannot be read by those who live on this side, and they call this writing mogali. And the lord (Tamerlane - approx.) keeps with him several scribes who can read and write on this"

According to the Timurid source "Muiz al-ansab", at the court of Timur there was a staff of only Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Ibn Arabshah, describing the tribes of Transoxiana, provides the following information: “The mentioned Sultan (Timur) had four viziers who were completely engaged in useful and harmful matters. They were considered noble people, and everyone followed their opinions. As many tribes and tribes as the Arabs had, the Turks had the same number. Each of the above-mentioned viziers, being representatives of one tribe, were a luminary of opinions and illuminated the arch of minds of their tribe. One tribe was called Arlat, the second - Zhalair, the third - Kavchin, the fourth - Barlas. Temur was the son of the fourth tribe."

According to Alisher Navoi, although Timur did not write poetry, he knew both poetry and prose very well, and, by the way, knew how to bring the proper beit to the right place.

Timur's wives.

He had 18 wives, of which his favorite wife was Emir Hussein's sister, Uljay Turkan Agha. According to another version, his beloved wife was the daughter of Kazan Khan, Sarai Mulk Khanum. She did not have her own children, but she was entrusted with the upbringing of some of Timur's sons and grandchildren. She was a famous patron of science and the arts. By her order, a huge madrasah and mausoleum for her mother were built in Samarkand.

In 1355, Timur married the daughter of Emir Jaku-barlas Turmush-aga. Khan Maverannahra Kazagan, convinced of Timur’s merits, in 1355 gave him his granddaughter Uljay Turkan-aga as his wife. Thanks to this marriage, Timur's alliance with Emir Hussein, the grandson of Kazagan, arose.

In addition, Timur had other wives: Tugdi bi, daughter of Ak Sufi kungrat, Ulus aga from the Sulduz tribe, Nauruz aga, Bakht Sultan aga, Burkhan aga, Tavakkul-hanim, Turmish aga, Jani-bik aga, Chulpan aga and others. Timur had 21 concubines.

During Timur's childhood, the Chagatai state collapsed in Central Asia (Chagatai ulus). In Transoxiana, since 1346, power belonged to the Turkic emirs, and the khans enthroned by the emperor ruled only nominally. In 1348, the Mogul emirs enthroned Tugluk-Timur, who began to rule in East Turkestan, the Kuldzha region and Semirechye.

The beginning of political activity.

In 1347, Emir Kazagan killed Genghisid Kazan Khan, after whose death the Chagatai ulus split into two separate states: Transoxiana and Mogolistan. After the collapse of the Chagatai ulus, the head of the Turkic emirs was Kazagan (1346-1358), who was not a Chingizid, but a native of the Karaunas. Formally, Genghisid Danishmadcha-oglan was elevated to the throne, and after his assassination Bayankuli Khan. After the death of Kazagan, his son Abdullah really ruled the country, but he was killed and the region was gripped by political anarchy.

Timur entered the service of the ruler of Kesh, Hadji Barlas, who was supposedly the head of the Barlas tribe. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tughluk-Timur. Haji Barlas fled to Khorasan, and Timur entered into negotiations with the khan and was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region, but was forced to leave after the departure of the Mongols and the return of Haji Barlas.

In 1361, Khan Tughluk-Timur again occupied the country, and Haji Barlas again fled to Khorasan, where he was subsequently killed. In 1362, Tughluk-Timur hastily left Transoxiana as a result of the rebellion of a group of emirs in Mogolistan, transferring power to his son Ilyas-Khoja. Timur was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region and one of the assistants of the Mogul prince. Before the khan had time to cross the Syr Darya River, Ilyas Khoja Oglan, together with Emir Bekchik and other close emirs, conspired to remove Timurbek from state affairs, and, if possible, to destroy him physically. The intrigues intensified and became dangerous. Timur had to separate from the Mughals and go over to the side of their enemy - Emir Hussein (grandson of Kazagan). For some time, with a small detachment, they led the life of adventurers and went towards Khorezm, where in the battle of Khiva they were defeated by the ruler of those lands, Tavakkala-Kongurot, and with the remnants of their warriors and servants were forced to retreat deep into the desert. Subsequently, going to the village of Mahmudi in the region subject to Mahan, they were captured by the people of Alibek Dzhanikurban, in whose dungeons they spent 62 days in captivity. According to historian Sharafiddin Ali Yazdi, Alibek intended to sell Timur and Hussein to Iranian merchants, but in those days not a single caravan passed through Mahan. The prisoners were rescued by Alibek's elder brother, Emir Muhammad Beg.

In 1361-1364, Timurbek and Emir Hussein lived on the southern bank of the Amu Darya in the regions of Kakhmard, Daragez, Arsif and Balkh and waged a guerrilla war against the Mongols. During a skirmish in Seistan, which took place in the fall of 1362 against the enemies of the ruler Malik Qutbiddin, Timur lost two fingers on his right hand and was seriously wounded in his right leg, causing him to become lame (the nickname “lame Timur” is Aksak-Temir in Turkic, Timur- e lang in Persian, hence Tamerlane).

In 1364, the Moguls were forced to leave the country. Returning back to Transoxiana, Timur and Hussein placed Kabul Shah from the Chagatand clan on the throne of the ulus.

The next year, at dawn on May 22, 1365, a bloody battle took place near Chinaz between the army of Timur and Hussein with the army of Mogolistan led by Khan Ilyas-Khoja, which went down in history as the “battle in the mud.” Timur and Hussein had little chance to defend their native land, since the army of Ilyas-Khoja had superior forces. During the battle, a torrential downpour began, it was difficult for the soldiers to even look forward, and the horses got stuck in the mud. Despite this, Timur’s troops began to gain victory on his flank; at the decisive moment, he asked Hussein for help in order to finish off the enemy, but Hussein not only did not help, but also retreated. This predetermined the outcome of the battle. The warriors of Timur and Hussein were forced to retreat to the other side of the Syrdarya River.

Meanwhile, the army of Ilyas-Khoja was expelled from Samarkand by a popular uprising of the Serbedars, which was led by the madrasah teacher Mavlanazada, the artisan Abubakr Kalavi and the sharp shooter Mirzo Khurdaki Bukhari. Popular government was established in the city. The property of the rich sections of the population was confiscated, so they turned to Hussein and Timur for help. Timur and Hussein agreed to oppose the Serbedars - they lured them with kind speeches to negotiations, where in the spring of 1366 the troops of Hussein and Timur suppressed the uprising, executing the Serbedar leaders, but by order of Tamerlane they left alive the leader of the Serbedars - Mavlana-zade, to whom the people's preferences were addressed .

Election as "Great Emir".

Hussein wanted to rule on the throne of the Chagatai ulus among the Turkic-Mongolian people, like his grandfather Kazagan; according to established tradition, power from time immemorial belonged to the descendants of Genghis Khan. During the reign of Genghisid Kazankhan, the position of supreme emir was forcibly appropriated by Emir Hussein's grandfather, Emir Kazagan, which served as a reason for breaking the already not very good relations between beks Timur and Hussein. Each of them began to prepare for the decisive battle.

Timur received great support from the clergy in the person of the Termez seids, the Samarkand sheikh-ul-Islam and Mir Seyid Bereke, who became Timur’s spiritual mentor.

Having moved from Sali-sarai to Balkh, Hussein began to strengthen the fortress. He decided to act with deception and cunning. Hussein sent Timur an invitation to a meeting in the Chakchak gorge to sign a peace treaty, and as proof of his friendly intentions he promised to swear on the Koran. Having gone to the meeting, Timur took two hundred horsemen with him just in case, but Hussein brought a thousand of his soldiers and for this reason the meeting did not take place. Timur recalls this incident: “I sent Emir Hussein a letter with a Turkic beit with the following content:

Whoever intends to deceive me will lie in the ground himself, I am sure. Having shown his deceit, He himself will die from it.

When my letter reached Emir Hussein, he was extremely embarrassed and asked for forgiveness, but the second time I did not believe him.”

Gathering all his strength, Timur crossed to the other side of the Amu Darya River. The advanced units of his troops were commanded by Suyurgatmish-oglan, Ali Muayyad and Hussein Barlas. On the approach to the village of Biya, Barak, the leader of the Andkhud Sayinds, advanced to meet the army and presented him with kettledrums and the banner of supreme power. On the way to Balkh, Timur was joined by Jaku Barlas, who arrived from Karkara with his army, and Emir Kaykhusrav from Khuttalan, and on the other side of the river, Emir Zinda Chashm from Shiberghan, Khazarians from Khulm and Badakhshan Muhammadshah also joined. Having learned about this, many of Emir Hussein’s soldiers left him.

Before the battle, Timur gathers a kurultai, at which a man from the Genghisid family, Suyurgatmysh, is elected khan. Shortly before Timur was confirmed as the “great emir,” a certain good messenger, a sheikh from Mecca, came to him and said that he had a vision that he, Timur, would become a great ruler. On this occasion, he presented him with a banner, a drum, a symbol of supreme power. But he does not take this supreme power personally, but remains close to it.

On April 10, 1370, Balkh was conquered, and Hussein was captured and killed by the ruler of Khutalyan, Kaykhusrav, as a matter of blood feud, since Hussein had previously killed his brother. A kurultai was also held here, in which Chagatai beks and emirs, high-ranking dignitaries of regions and tumans, and Termezshahs took part. Among them were former rivals and childhood friends of Timur: Bayan-suldus, emirs Uljaytu, Kaykhosrov, Zinda Chashm, Jaku-barlas and many others. The Kurultai elected Timur as the supreme emir of Turan, entrusting him with responsibility for establishing the long-awaited peace, stability and order in the country. And the marriage with the daughter of Genghisid Kazan Khan, the captive widow of Emir Hussein Sarai Mulk Khanum, allowed the Supreme Emir of Maverannahr Timur to add the honorary title “guragan”, that is, “son-in-law” to his name.

At the kurultai, Timur took the oath of all the military leaders of Transoxiana. Like his predecessors, he did not accept the title of khan and was content with the title of “great emir” - the descendant of Genghis Khan Suyurgatmysh (1370-1388) and his son Mahmud (1388-1402) were considered khans under him. Samarkand was chosen as the capital, Timur began the struggle to create a centralized state.

Strengthening Timur's state.

The official name of Timur's state.

In the Karsakpai inscription of 1391, written in the Chagatai Turkic language, Timur ordered the name of his state to be engraved: Turan.

Tribal composition of Timur's troops.

Representatives of various tribes fought in Timur’s army: Barlas, Durbats, Nukuzes, Naimans, Kipchaks, Bulguts, Dulats, Kiyats, Jalairs, Sulduzs, Merkits, Yasavuris, Kauchins, etc.

Hiking to Mogolistan.

Despite the laid foundation of statehood, Khorezm and Shibergan, which belonged to the Chagatai ulus, did not recognize the new government in the person of Suyurgatmish Khan and Emir Timur. It was restless on the southern and northern borders of the border, where Mogolistan and the White Horde caused trouble, often violating borders and plundering villages. After Uruskhan captured Sygnyak and moved the capital of the White Horde, Yassy (Turkestan), Sairam and Transoxiana to it were in even greater danger. It was necessary to take measures to strengthen statehood.

The ruler of Moghulistan, Emir Kamar ad-din, tried to prevent the strengthening of Timur’s state. Mogolistan feudal lords often carried out predatory raids on Sairam, Tashkent, Fergana and Turkestan. The raids of Emir Kamar ad-din in the 70-71s and the raids in the winter of 1376 on the cities of Tashkent and Andijan brought especially great troubles to the people. In the same year, Emir Kamar ad-din captured half of Fergana, from where its governor, Timur’s son Umar Sheikh Mirza, fled to the mountains. Therefore, solving the problem of Mogolistan was important for calm on the borders of the country.

From 1371 to 1390, Emir Timur made seven campaigns against Mogolistan, finally defeating the army of Kamar ad-din and Anka-tyur in 1390 during the last campaign. However, Timur only reached the Irtysh in the north, Alakul in the east, Emil and the headquarters of the Mongol khans Balig-Yulduz, but he was unable to conquer the lands east of the Tangri-Tag and Kashgar mountains. Qamar ad-din fled and subsequently died of dropsy. The independence of Mogolistan was preserved.

Timur undertook his first two campaigns against the militant khan Kamar ad-din in the spring and autumn of 1371. The first campaign ended in a truce; during the second, Timur, leaving Tashkent through Sairam, located north of the city, moved towards the village of Yangi in Taraz. There he put the nomads to flight and captured large booty.

In 1375, Timur carried out his third successful campaign. He left Sairam and passed through the regions of Talas and Tokmak along the upper reaches of the Chu River. Timur returned to Samarkand via Uzgen and Khojent.

But Kamar ad-din was not defeated. When Timur's army returned to Transoxiana, he invaded Fergana, a province that belonged to Timur, and besieged the city of Andijan. Enraged Timur hurried to Fergana and for a long time pursued the enemy beyond Uzgen and the Yassy mountains to the At-Bashi valley, the southern tributary of the upper Naryn.

In 1376-1377 Timur made his fifth campaign against Kamar ad-din. He defeated his army in the gorges west of Issyk-Kul and pursued him to Kochkar.

The Zafarnama mentions Timur's sixth campaign in the Issyk-Kul region against Kamar ad-din in 1383, but the khan again managed to escape.

In 1389-1390 Timur intensified his actions to thoroughly defeat Kamar ad-din. In 1389 he crossed the Ili and crossed the Imil region in all directions, south and east of Lake Balkhash and around Ata-Kul. His vanguard, meanwhile, pursued the Mughals to the Black Irtysh, south of Altai. His advanced detachments reached Kara Khoja in the east, that is, almost to Turfan.

In 1390, Kamar ad-din was finally defeated, and Mogolistan finally ceased to threaten Timur’s power.

Fight against the Golden Horde.

In 1360, northern Khorezm, which was part of the Golden Horde, became independent. The Kungrat-Sufi dynasty, which declared its independence and strengthened its position in 1371, attempted to capture southern Khorezm, which was part of the Chagatai ulus. Emir Timur demanded the return of the captured lands of southern Khorezm first peacefully, sending first a tawachi (quartermaster), then a sheikhulislama (head of the Muslim community) to Gurganj, but Khorezmshah Hussein Sufi refused to fulfill this demand both times, taking the ambassador prisoner. Since then, Emir Timur has made five campaigns against Khorezm. At the last stage of the struggle, the Khorezmshahs tried to enlist the support of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. In 1387, the Sufi Kungrats, together with Tokhtamysh, carried out a predatory raid on Bukhara, which led to Timur’s last campaign against Khorezm and further military actions against Tokhtamysh.

Tamerlane's next goals were to curb the Jochi ulus (known in history as the White Horde) and establish political influence in its eastern part and unite Mogolistan and Maverannahr, previously divided, into a single state, at one time called the Chagatai ulus.

Realizing the danger to the independence of Transoxiana from the Jochi ulus, from the very first days of his reign, Timur tried in every possible way to bring his protege to power in the Jochi ulus. The Golden Horde had its capital in the city of Sarai-Batu (Sarai-Berke) and extended across the North Caucasus, the northwestern part of Khorezm, Crimea, Western Siberia and the Volga-Kama principality of Bulgar. The White Horde had its capital in the city of Sygnak and extended from Yangikent to Sabran, along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, as well as on the banks of the Syr Darya steppe from Ulu-tau to Sengir-yagach and the land from Karatal to Siberia. Khan of the White Horde, Urus Khan, tried to unite the once powerful state, whose plans were thwarted by the intensified struggle between the Jochids and the feudal lords of the Dashti Kipchak. Timur strongly supported Tokhtamysh-oglan, whose father died at the hands of Uruskhan, who eventually took the throne of the White Horde. However, after ascending to power, Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Golden Horde and began to pursue a hostile policy towards the lands of Transoxiana.

Tamerlane made three campaigns against Khan Tokhtamysh, finally defeating him on February 28, 1395.

After the defeat of the Golden Horde and Khan Tokhtamysh, the latter fled to the Bulgar. In response to the plunder of the lands of Maverannahr, Emir Timur burned the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Batu, and gave the reins of its government into the hands of Koyrichak-oglan, who was the son of Uruskhan. Timur's defeat of the Golden Horde also had broad economic consequences. As a result of Timur's campaign, the northern branch of the Great Silk Road, which passed through the lands of the Golden Horde, fell into decay. Trade caravans began to pass through the lands of Timur's state.

In the 1390s, Tamerlane inflicted two severe defeats on the Horde khan - at Kondurch in 1391 and Terek in 1395, after which Tokhtamysh was deprived of the throne and forced to wage a constant struggle with the khans appointed by Tamerlane. With this defeat of the army of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane brought indirect benefit in the struggle of the Russian lands against the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

In 1395, Tamerlane, who was marching against Tokhtamysh, passed through the Ryazan region and took the city of Yelets, after which Tamerlane moved towards Moscow, but unexpectedly turned around and went back on August 26th. According to church tradition, it was at that time that Muscovites met the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, transferred to Moscow to protect it from the conqueror. On the day of the meeting of the image, according to the chronicle, the Mother of God appeared to Tamerlane in a dream and ordered him to immediately leave the borders of Rus'. At the meeting place of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the Sretensky Monastery was founded. Tamerlane did not reach Moscow, his army marched along the Don and took it completely.

There is another point of view. According to “Zafar-name” (“Book of Victories”) by Sheref ad-din Yezdi, Timur ended up on the Don after his victory over Tokhtamysh at the Terek River and before the total defeat of the cities of the Golden Horde in the same 1395. Tamerlane personally pursued the retreating commanders of Tokhtamysh after the defeat until they were completely defeated. On the Dnieper the enemy was finally defeated. Most likely, according to this source, Timur did not set the goal of a campaign specifically on Russian lands. Some of his troops, not he himself, approached the borders of Rus'. Here, on the comfortable summer Horde pastures that stretched in the floodplain of the Upper Don to modern Tula, a small part of his army stopped for two weeks. Although the local population did not put up serious resistance, the region was severely devastated. As Russian chronicles tell us about Timur’s invasion, his army stood on both sides of the Don for two weeks, “captured” (occupied) the land of Yelets and “seized” (captured) the prince of Yelets. Some coin hoards in the vicinity of Voronezh date back to 1395. However, in the vicinity of Yelets, which, according to the above-mentioned Russian written sources, was subjected to a pogrom, no treasures with such a dating have been found to date. Sheref ad-din Yezdi describes large booty taken in Russian lands and does not describe a single combat episode with the local population, although the main purpose of the “Book of Victories” was to describe the exploits of Timur himself and the valor of his warriors. According to the legends recorded by Yelets local historians in the 19th-20th centuries, the Yelets residents stubbornly resisted the enemy. However, in the “Book of Victories” there is no mention of this; the names of the fighters and commanders who took Yelets, who were the first to ascend the rampart, and who personally captured the Yelets prince, are not named. Meanwhile, Russian women made a great impression on Timur’s warriors, about whom Sheref ad-din Yezdi writes in a poetic line: “Oh, beautiful feathers like roses stuffed into snow-white Russian canvas!” Then in “Zafar-name” there follows a detailed list of Russian cities conquered by Timur, including Moscow. Perhaps this is just a list of Russian lands that did not want an armed conflict and sent their ambassadors with gifts. After the defeat of Bek Yaryk Oglan, Tamerlane himself began to methodically ravage the lands of his main enemy Tokhtamysh. The Horde cities of the Volga region never recovered from Tamerlane’s devastation until the final collapse of this state. Many colonies of Italian merchants in the Crimea and in the lower reaches of the Don were also destroyed. The city of Tana (modern Azov) rose from ruins for several decades. Yelets, according to Russian chronicles, existed for another twenty years and was completely destroyed by certain “Tatars” only in 1414 or 1415.

Hikes to Iran and the Caucasus.

In 1380, Timur went on a campaign against Malik Ghiyasiddin Pir Ali II, who ruled in the city of Herat. At first, he sent an ambassador to him with an invitation to the kurultai in order to solve the problem peacefully, but Malik rejected the offer, detaining the ambassador. In response to this, in April 1380, Timur, under the leadership of emirzade Pirmuhammad Jahangir, sent ten regiments to the left bank of the Amu Darya River. He captured the regions of Balkh, Shiberghan and Badkhiz. In February 1381, Emir Timur himself marched with troops and took the cities of Khorasan, Seraks, Jami, Qausia, Isferain, Tuye and Kelat, and Herat was taken after a five-day siege. also, in addition to Kelat, Sebzevar was taken, as a result of which the state of the Serbedars ceased to exist; in 1382, Timur's son, Miranshah, was appointed ruler of Khorasan; in 1383, Timur devastated Seistan and brutally suppressed the uprising of the Serbedars in Sebzevar.

In 1383, he took Seistan, in which the fortresses of Zirekh, Zave, Farah and Bust were defeated. In 1384 he captured the cities of Astrabad, Amul, Sari, Sultaniya and Tabriz, effectively capturing all of Persia. After which he went on a campaign to Armenia, after which he made several more campaigns of conquest in Persia and Syria. These campaigns are known in world history as three-year, five-year and seven-year campaigns, during which he fought wars in the territory of modern Syria, India, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.

Three great campaigns of Timur.

Timur made three large campaigns in the western part of Persia and the adjacent regions - the so-called “three-year” (from 1386), “five-year” (from 1392) and “seven-year” (from 1399).

Three-year journey.

For the first time, Timur was forced to return back as a result of the invasion of Transoxiana by the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in alliance with the Semirechensk Mongols (1387).

In 1388, Timur drove out his enemies and punished the Khorezmians for their alliance with Tokhtamysh, in 1389 he made a devastating campaign deep into the Mongolian possessions as far as the Irtysh to the north and to the Greater Zhyldyz to the east, in 1391 - a campaign against the Golden Horde possessions to the Volga. These campaigns achieved their goal.

Five-year journey.

During the “five-year” campaign, Timur conquered the Caspian regions in 1392, and western Persia and Baghdad in 1393; Timur's son, Omar Sheikh, was appointed ruler of Fars, Miran Shah - ruler of Transcaucasia. Tokhtamysh's invasion of Transcaucasia caused Timur's campaign against Southern Russia (1395); Timur defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek and pursued him to the borders of the Moscow principality. There he invaded the Ryazan lands, ravaged Yelets, posing a threat to Moscow. Having launched an attack on Moscow, he unexpectedly turned back and left the Moscow lands on the very day when Muscovites greeted the image of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, brought from Vladimir (from this day on, the icon is revered as the patroness of Moscow). Then Timur plundered the trading cities of Azov and Kafa, burned Sarai-Batu and Astrakhan, but the lasting conquest of the Golden Horde was not Tamerlane’s goal, and therefore the Caucasus range remained the northern border of Timur’s possessions. In 1396 he returned to Samarkand and in 1397 appointed his youngest son Shahrukh as ruler of Khorasan, Seistan and Mazanderan.

Timur's campaign in India.

In 1398, a campaign was launched against India; along the way, the highlanders of Kafiristan were defeated. In December, Timur defeated the army of the Indian Sultan (Toglukid dynasty) under the walls of Delhi and occupied the city without resistance, which was plundered by the army a few days later. In 1399, Timur reached the banks of the Ganges, on the way back he took several more cities and fortresses and returned to Samarkand with huge booty, but without expanding his possessions.

Seven-year journey.

Timur's campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

The "seven-year" campaign was initially caused by unrest in the area ruled by Miranshah. Timur deposed his son and defeated the enemies who invaded his domain. In 1400, a war began with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazet, who captured the city of Arzinjan, where Timur's vassal ruled, and with the Egyptian Sultan Faraj, whose predecessor, Barkuk, ordered the murder of Timur's ambassador back in 1393. In 1400, Timur took Sivas in Asia Minor and Aleppo (Aleppo) in Syria (which belonged to the Egyptian Sultan), and in 1401 Damascus.

In 1399, in response to the actions of Sultan Bayazid I the Lightning, who patronized Timur's enemy Kara Yusuf and wrote an insulting letter, Timur began his seven-year campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1402, Timur won a major victory over the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning, defeating him at the Battle of Ankara on July 28. The Sultan himself was captured. As a result of the battle, all of Asia Minor was captured, and the defeat of Bayezid led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by a peasant war and civil strife between his sons. The official reason for the war was the alleged presentation of gifts to Timur by Turkish ambassadors. Outraged by the fact that Bayezid was acting as a benefactor, Timur declared military action.

The fortress of Smyrna (belonging to the Johannite knights), which the Ottoman sultans, besieging, could not take for 20 years, he captured by storm in two weeks. The western part of Asia Minor was returned to the sons of Bayazet in 1403, and in the eastern part the small dynasties overthrown by Bayazet were restored.

Upon returning to Samarkand, Timur planned to declare his eldest grandson Muhammad Sultan (1375-1403), who was similar to his grandfather in actions and mind, as his successor. However, in March 1403 he fell ill and died suddenly.

The beginning of the campaign against China.

In August 1404, Timur returned to Samarkand and a few months later embarked on a campaign against China, for which he began preparing back in 1398. That year he built a fortress on the border of the current Syr-Darya region and Semirechye; Now another fortification was built, 10 days' journey further to the east, probably near Issyk-Kul. The campaign was stopped due to the onset of a cold winter, and in February 1405 Timur died.

Diplomatic relations.

Timur, who created a huge empire, established diplomatic ties with a number of states, including China, Egypt, Byzantium, France, England, Spain, etc. In 1404, the ambassador of the Castilian king, Gonzalez de Clavijo, Ruy, visited the capital of his state - Samarkand. The originals of Timur's letters to the French king Charles VI have been preserved.

Children.

Timur had four sons: Jahangir (1356-1376), Umar Sheikh (1356-1394), Miran Shah (1366-1408), Shahrukh (1377-1447) and several daughters: Uka Begim, Sultan Bakht aga, Bigi Jan, Saadat Sultan, Musalla.

Death.

He died during the campaign against China. After the end of the seven-year war, during which Bayazid I was defeated, Timur began preparations for the Chinese campaign, which he had long planned due to China's claims to the lands of Transoxiana and Turkestan. He gathered a large army of two hundred thousand, with which he set out on a campaign on November 27, 1404. In January 1405, he arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins are not far from the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (according to historians - on February 18, according to Timur's tombstone - on the 15th). The body was embalmed, placed in an ebony coffin, lined with silver brocade, and taken to Samarkand. Tamerlane was buried in the Gur Emir mausoleum, which was still unfinished at that time. Official mourning events were held on March 18, 1405 by Timur's grandson Khalil-Sultan (1405-1409), who seized the Samarkand throne against the will of his grandfather, who bequeathed the kingdom to his eldest grandson Pirmukhammed.

A look at Tamerlane in the light of history and culture.

Code of laws.

During the reign of Emir Timur, there was a set of laws called the “Timur Code,” which set out the rules of conduct for members of society and the responsibilities of rulers and officials, and also contained rules for managing the army and the state.

When appointed to a position, the “great emir” demanded devotion and fidelity from everyone. He appointed 315 people to high positions who had been with him from the very beginning of his career and fought side by side with him. The first hundred were appointed as tens, the second hundred as centurions, and the third as thousands. Of the remaining fifteen people, four were appointed beks, one as the supreme emir, and others to the remaining high posts.

The judicial system was divided into three stages: 1. Sharia judge - who was guided in his activities by the established norms of Sharia; 2. Judge ahdos - who was guided in his activities by well-established morals and customs in society. 3. Kazi askar - who led the proceedings in military cases.

The law was recognized as equal for everyone, both emirs and subjects.

Viziers under the leadership of Divan-Beghi were responsible for the general situation of their subjects and troops, for the financial condition of the country and the activities of government institutions. If information was received that the vizier of finance had appropriated part of the treasury, then this was checked and, upon confirmation, one of the decisions was made: if the embezzled amount was equal to his salary (uluf), then this amount was given to him as a gift. If the amount appropriated is twice the salary, then the excess must be withheld. If the embezzled amount was three times higher than the established salary, then everything was taken away in favor of the treasury.

Emirs, just like viziers, must be from a noble family, possess such qualities as insight, courage, enterprise, caution and frugality, conduct business, thoroughly thinking through the consequences of each step. They must “know the secrets of warfare, methods of dispersing the enemy army, not lose their presence of mind in the midst of a battle and be able to lead troops without trembling or hesitation, and if the battle order is disrupted, be able to restore it without delay.”

The protection of soldiers and ordinary people was secured. The Code obliged village and neighborhood elders, tax collectors and khokim (local rulers) to pay a fine to a commoner to the extent of the damage caused to him. If the harm was caused by a warrior, then it should have been handed over to the victim, and he himself would determine the punishment for him.

To the extent possible, the code enshrined the protection of the people in the conquered lands from humiliation and plunder.

A separate article is devoted in the code to attention to the beggars, who should have been collected in a certain place, given food and work, and also branded. If after this they continued to beg, then they should have been expelled from the country.

Emir Timur paid attention to the purity and morality of his people, he introduced the concept of the inviolability of the law and ordered not to rush to punish criminals, but to carefully check all the circumstances of the case and only after that render a verdict. Devout Muslims were explained the basics of religion for the establishment of Sharia and Islam, taught tafsir (interpretation of the Koran), hadith (a collection of legends about the Prophet Muhammad) and fiqh (Muslim jurisprudence). Also, ulemas (scholars) and mudarris (madressah teachers) were appointed to each city.

Decrees and laws in Timur's state were compiled in two languages: Persian-Tajik and Chagatai. At Timur's court there was a staff of Turkic and Tajik clerks.

Army of Tamerlane.

Drawing on the rich experience of his predecessors, Tamerlane managed to create a powerful and combat-ready army, which allowed him to win brilliant victories on the battlefields over his opponents. This army was a multinational and multi-religious association, the core of which were Turkic-Mongol nomadic warriors. Tamerlane's army was divided into cavalry and infantry, the role of which greatly increased at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. However, the bulk of the army was made up of mounted detachments of nomads, the core of which consisted of elite units of heavily armed cavalry, as well as detachments of Tamerlane’s bodyguards. Infantry often played a supporting role, but was necessary during sieges of fortresses. The infantry was mostly lightly armed and consisted mainly of archers, but the army also included heavily armed infantry shock troops.

In addition to the main branches of the military (heavy and light cavalry, as well as infantry), Tamerlane’s army included detachments of pontooners, workers, engineers and other specialists, as well as special infantry units that specialized in combat operations in mountainous conditions (they were recruited from residents of mountain villages). The organization of Tamerlane’s army generally corresponded to the decimal organization of Genghis Khan, but a number of changes appeared (for example, units of 50 to 300 people, called “koshuns,” appeared; the number of larger units, “kuls,” was also variable).

The main weapon of light cavalry, like infantry, was the bow. Light cavalrymen also used sabers or swords and axes. Heavily armed horsemen were clad in armor (the most popular armor was chain mail, often reinforced with metal plates), protected by helmets, and fought with sabers or swords (in addition to bows and arrows, which were common). Simple infantrymen were armed with bows, heavy infantry warriors fought with sabers, axes and maces and were protected by armor, helmets and shields.

Banners.

During his campaigns, Timur used banners with the image of three rings. According to some historians, the three rings symbolized earth, water and sky. According to Svyatoslav Roerich, Timur could have borrowed the symbol from the Tibetans, whose three rings meant the past, present and future. Some miniatures depict the red banners of Timur's army. During the Indian campaign, a black banner with a silver dragon was used. Before his campaign against China, Tamerlane ordered a golden dragon to be depicted on the banners.

There is a legend that before the Battle of Ankara, Timur and Bayezid the Lightning met on the battlefield. Bayezid, looking at Timur’s banner, said: “What impudence to think that the whole world belongs to you!” In response, Timur, pointing to the Turk’s banner, said: “It’s even greater impudence to think that the moon belongs to you.”

Urban planning and architecture.

During the years of his conquests, Timur brought not only material loot to the country, but also brought with him prominent scientists, artisans, artists, and architects. He believed that the more cultured people there were in cities, the faster its development would go and the more comfortable the cities of Transoxiana and Turkestan would be. During his conquests, he put an end to political fragmentation in Persia and the Middle East, trying to leave a memory of himself in every city he visited, he built several beautiful buildings in it. For example, he restored the cities of Baghdad, Derbend, Baylakan, fortresses, parking lots, bridges, and irrigation systems destroyed on the roads.

In 1371, he began the restoration of the destroyed fortress of Samarkand, the defensive walls of Shahristan with six gates Sheikhzade, Akhanin, Feruza, Suzangaran, Karizgakh and Chorsu, and two four-story buildings Kuksarai were built in the arch, which housed the state treasury, workshops and a prison, as well as Buston barn, which housed the emir's residence.

Timur made Samarkand one of the centers of trade in Central Asia. As the traveler Clavijo writes: “In Samarkand, goods brought from China, India, Tatarstan (Dasht-i Kipchak - B.A.) and other places, as well as from the richest kingdom of Samarkand, are sold annually. Since there were no special rows in the city where it would be convenient to trade, Timurbek ordered a street to be laid through the city, on both sides of which there would be shops and tents for selling goods.”

Timur paid great attention to the development of Islamic culture and the improvement of sacred places for Muslims. In the mausoleums of Shahi Zinda, he erected tombs over the graves of his relatives, at the direction of one of his wives, whose name was Tuman, aka a mosque, a dervish abode, a tomb and Chartag were erected there. He also built Rukhabad (the tomb of Burkhaniddin Sogardji), Qutbi Chahardahum (the tomb of Sheikh Khoja Nuriddin Basir) and Gur-Emir (the family tomb of the Timurid family). Also in Samarkand he built many baths, mosques, madrassas, dervish abodes, and caravanserais.

During 1378-1404, 14 gardens were cultivated in Samarkand and nearby lands: Bag-i bihisht, Bag-i dilkusha, Bag-i shamal, Bag-i buldi, Bag-i nav, Bag-i jahannuma, Bag-i takhti karacha and Bag-i davlatabad, Bag-zogcha (garden of rooks), etc. Each of these gardens had a palace and fountains. In his works about Samarkand, the historian Hafizi Abru mentions, in which he writes that “Samarkand, which had previously been built from clay, was rebuilt by erecting buildings from stone.” None of these palaces have survived to this day.

In 1399-1404, a cathedral mosque and a madrasah opposite it were built in Samarkand. The mosque later received the name Bibi Khanum (Lady Grandmother - in Turkic).

Shakhrisabz (in Tajik “green city”) was developed, in which destroyed city walls, defensive structures, tombs of saints, majestic palaces, mosques, madrassas, and tombs were erected. Timur also devoted time to building bazaars and baths. From 1380 to 1404 the Aksaray Palace was built. In 1380, the family tomb Dar us-saadat was erected.

The cities of Yassy and Bukhara were also developed. In 1388, the city of Shahrukhiya, which was destroyed during the invasion of Genghis Khan, was restored.

In 1398, after the victory over the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh, a mausoleum was built in Turkestan over the grave of the poet and Sufi philosopher Khoja Ahmad Yassawi, on the orders of Timur, by Iranian and Khorezm craftsmen. Here the Tabriz master cast a two-ton copper cauldron in which food was to be prepared for those in need.

Development of science and painting.

In Maverannahr, applied art became widespread, in which artists could demonstrate all their mastery of their skills. It became widespread in Bukhara, Yassy and Samarkand. Drawings have been preserved in the tombs of the tombs of Shirinbek-aga and Tuman-aga, made in 1385 and 1405, respectively. The art of miniatures, which adorned such books by writers and poets of Maverannahr as “Shahname” by Abulkasim Ferdowsi and “Anthology of Iranian Poets,” received particular development. The artists Abdulhay, Pir Ahmad Bagishamali and Khoja Bangir Tabrizi achieved great success in art at that time.

In the tomb of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, located in Turkestan, there was a large cast-iron cauldron and candlesticks with the name of Emir Timur written on them. A similar candlestick was also found in the tomb of Gur-Emir in Samarkand. All this indicates that Central Asian craftsmen, especially wood and stone craftsmen and jewelers and weavers, have also achieved great success.

In the field of science and education, law, medicine, theology, mathematics, astronomy, history, philosophy, musicology, literature and the science of versification have become widespread. A prominent theologian at that time was Jalaliddin Ahmed al Khwarizmi. Maulana Ahmad achieved great success in astrology, and in jurisprudence Abdumalik, Isamiddin and Sheikh Shamsiddin Muhammad Jazairi. In musicology, Abdulgadir Maraghi, father and son of Safiaddin and Ardasher Changi. In painting by Abdulhay Baghdadi and Pir Ahmad Bagishamoli. In philosophy Sadiddin Taftazzani and Mirsaid Sharif Jurjani. In the history of Nizamiddin Shami and Hafizi Abru.

The legend about the tomb of Tamerlane.

According to the legend, the source and time of which it is not possible to establish, there was a prediction that if Tamerlane’s ashes were disturbed, a great and terrible war would begin.

In the tomb of Timur Gur Emir in Samarkand, on a large dark green jade tombstone, the following is inscribed in Arabic script in Arabic and Persian:
“This is the tomb of the great Sultan, the gracious Khakan of Emir Timur Gurgan; son Emir Taragay, son Emir Bergul, son Emir Ailangir, son Emir Angil, son Kara Charnuyan, son Emir Sigunchinchin, son Emir Irdanchi-Barlas, son Emir Kachulay, son Tumnai Khan. This is the 9th generation.

Genghis Khan comes from the same family from which descend the grandfathers of the venerable Sultan buried in this sacred and beautiful tomb: Khakan Genghis the Son. Emir Maisukai-Bahadur, son of Emir Barnan-Bahadur, son of Kabul-Khan, son of the mentioned Tumnai-Khan, son of Emir Baysungary, son of Kaidu-Khan, son of Emir Tutumtin, son of Emir-Buk, son of Emir-Buzanjar.

Whoever wants to know further, let it be known: the latter’s mother’s name was Alankuva, who was distinguished by her honesty and impeccable morality. She once became pregnant by a wolf, who came to her in the opening of the room and, taking the form of a man, announced that he was a descendant of the Commander of the Faithful, Aliy, the son of Abu Talib. This testimony given by her is accepted as truth. Her praiseworthy descendants will rule the world forever.

Died on the night of 14 Shagban 807 (1405).”

At the bottom of the stone there is an inscription: “This stone was erected by Ulugbek Gurgan after his campaign in Jitt.”

Several less reliable sources also report that the tombstone has the following inscription: “When I rise (from the dead), the world will tremble.” Some undocumented sources claim that when the grave was opened in 1941, an inscription was found inside the coffin: “Anyone who disturbs my peace in this life or in the next will be subjected to suffering and die.”

Another legend says: In 1747, Nadir Shah of Iran took this jade tombstone, and on that day Iran was destroyed by an earthquake, and the Shah himself became seriously ill. The earthquake struck again when the Shah returned to Iran, and the stone was returned.

From the memoirs of Malik Kayumov, who was a cameraman during the opening of the grave:

I entered the nearest teahouse and saw three ancient old men sitting there. I also noted to myself: they look alike, like siblings. Well, I sat down nearby, and they brought me a teapot and a bowl. Suddenly one of these old men turns to me: “Son, you’re one of those who decided to open Tamerlane’s grave?” And I’ll take it and say: “Yes, I’m the most important one in this expedition, without me all these scientists are nowhere!” I decided to drive away my fear with a joke. Only, I see, the old people frowned even more in response to my smile. And the one who spoke to me beckons me to him. I come closer and see that he has a book in his hands - an old one, handwritten, the pages are filled with Arabic script. And the old man traces the lines with his finger: “Look, son, what is written in this book. “Whoever opens Tamerlane’s grave will release the spirit of war. And there will be such a bloody and terrible carnage, such as the world has not seen forever."

He decided to tell the others, and they laughed at him. It was June 20th. The scientists did not listen and opened the grave on June 22, and on the same day the Great Patriotic War began. No one could find those elders: the owner of the teahouse said that on that day, June 20, he saw the old people for the first and last time.

The opening of Tamerlane's tomb was carried out on June 22, 1941 by the Soviet anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov. As a result of the study of the commander's skull, Tamerlane's appearance was recreated.

However, the plan for war with the USSR was developed at Hitler's headquarters back in 1940, the date of the invasion was limitedly known in the spring of 1941 and was finally determined on June 10, 1941, that is, long before the opening of the grave. The signal to the troops that the offensive should begin as planned was transmitted on June 20.

According to Kayumov, while at the front, he secured a meeting with Marshal Zhukov in October 1942, explained the situation and offered to return Tamerlane’s ashes back to the grave. This was carried out on November 19-20, 1942; These days there was a turning point in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Kayumov’s criticism of Aini provoked retaliatory criticism from Tajik society. Another version of events, belonging to Kamal Sadreddinovich Aini (son of the writer who participated in the excavations) was published in 2004. According to it, the book was dated to the end of the 19th century, and Kayumov did not know Farsi, so he did not understand the content of the conversation and believed that Aini had shouted at the elders. The words written in Arabic in the margins are “traditional sayings, which similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin and others, in order to protect the burials from seekers of easy money, looking for value in the graves of historical figures.” , which he told the old people.

When everyone left the crypt, I saw three elders talking in Tajik with their father, A. A. Semenov and T. N. Kary-Niyazov. One of the elders was holding some old book in his hand. He opened it and said in Tajik: “This book is anciently written. It says that whoever touches Timurlane’s grave will be overtaken by misfortune and war.” All those present exclaimed: “Oh, Allah, save us from troubles!” S. Aini took this book, put on his glasses, looked through it carefully and turned to the elder in Tajik: “Dear, do you believe in this book?”

Answer: “Why, it begins with the name of Allah!”
S. Aini: “What kind of book is this, do you know?”
Answer: “An important Muslim book that begins with the name of Allah and protects the people from disasters.”
S. Aini: “This book, written in Farsi, is just “Jangnoma” - a book about battles and duels, a collection of fantastic stories about certain heroes. And this book was compiled only recently, at the end of the 19th century. And those words that you say about Timurlane’s grave are written in the margins of the book in a different hand. By the way, you probably know that according to Muslim traditions, it is generally considered a sin to open graves and sacred places - mazars. And those words about the grave of Timurlane are traditional sayings that similarly exist in relation to the burials of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Ahrar, and Hazrati Bogoutdin Balogardon and others, in order to protect the burials from seekers of easy money, looking for value in the graves of historical figures. But for scientific purposes, in different countries, like ours, ancient burial grounds and graves of historical figures were opened. Here is your book, study it and think with your head.”

T.N. Kary-Niyazov picked up the book, looked through it carefully and nodded his head in agreement with S. Aini. Then Malik Kayumov, whom everyone there called “suratgir” (photographer), took the book into his hands. And I saw that he was turning the pages not from the beginning of the book, as it should be from right to left, but, on the contrary, in the European style, from left to right.

From the diary of S. Aini

According to sources, Timur was fond of playing chess.

In Bashkir mythology there is an ancient legend about Tamerlane. According to him, it was by order of Tamerlane in 1395-96 that the mausoleum of Hussein Bek, the first disseminator of Islam among the Bashkir tribes, was built, since the commander, having accidentally found the grave, decided to show great honor to him as a person who spread Muslim culture. The legend is confirmed by six graves of prince-military leaders at the mausoleum, who, for unknown reasons, died along with part of the army during the winter stop. However, who specifically ordered the construction, Tamerlane or one of his generals, is not known for certain. Now the mausoleum of Hussein Beg is located on the territory of the village of Chishmy, Chishminsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Personal belongings that belonged to Timur, by the will of history, ended up scattered among various museums and private collections. For example, the so-called Ruby of Timur, which adorned his crown, is currently kept in London.

based on materials from wikipedia.org

A few more legends:

Devil's fort: secret and obvious

According to another legend, Catherine II visited the ruins of the Devil's Settlement to get an answer to the question of whether she should marry her favorite Grigory Orlov. As we know from history, she did not become his wife, but what the Devil’s Settlement “told” Catherine, even the legend is silent: there was no answer...

In 1852 “Kazan Provincial Gazette” published excerpts from the work of the Bulgarian chronicler Sherif-Yeddin, where it was said: “...Khan Temir-Aksak, having ravaged the Devil’s settlement, visited the graves of the followers of Mohammed, located at the mouth of the Toima River, which flows into the Kama under the settlement. .."

Historians deeply doubt the fact that Tamerlane was in our area. But back in 1985-86. I heard from one of the Elabuga residents a legend about why the Devil’s Settlement was not destroyed by the legendary Tamerlane. Allegedly, the besieged carried out the will of the “iron lame man” and covered the entire tower from the base to the top with the severed heads of their soldiers. According to this little-known legend, Timur besieged the fortress and all those besieged faced imminent death. A secret underground passage, through which one could escape to a safe place, was discovered and blocked by Timur’s soldiers. It was still possible to defend the fortress: there were people, there were forces and weapons. It just didn't make sense. Everyone would have died. And then all the people living here would disappear. Timur, famous not only for his cruelty, but also for keeping his word, said that he would leave alive those who took refuge in the outermost tower of the fortress (it was the smallest). But at the same time, the tower itself should be covered from top to bottom with severed human heads. And not those warriors who had already died in the battle with Tamerlane, but the heads of those defenders of the fortress who were still alive and ready to fight.

After a painful night meeting, women and children entered the indicated tower (they had to revive the great people who had lived here for centuries), and in the morning the warriors chopped off each other’s heads and stacked them at the tower so that the tower disappeared under a pyramid of human heads... Tamerlane kept his word: the tower remained intact, and those who took refuge in it remained alive. The people have been reborn. But at what cost!

In 1855 at the request of a native of Elabuga, Professor K.I. Nevostruev Shishkin, together with his artist son, examined the Devil's Settlement, decided to restore the dilapidated tower, but began work only in 1867. In 1871 Ivan Shishkin published in Moscow the book “History of the City of Yelabuga”, where, referring to “some oral traditions and news in printed books and manuscripts”, he reported that “in the place where the Devil’s settlement stood the city of Gelon, which was reached by the Persian King Darius Istasp, chasing the Scythians<за 512лет до Р.Х.>, and that, having spent the winter in the city, he burned it out..." and that in the place "where Gelon was, the ancient Bulgarian city of Bryakhimov is located." Shishkin also spoke about the priests who lived in the ruins of the Devil's settlement, to whom "the queen Kazan Sumbek" sent envoys, wanting to know how the war with Tsar Ivan IV would end...

The location of the commemorative cast-iron slab with the inscription: “This ancient monument was not allowed to be destroyed; it was restored by Elabuga citizens in 1867” is unknown. Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences D.K. Zelenin in his guide to the Kama and Vyatka rivers (1904) indicated: “A little more and there would have been fewer of the most remarkable monuments in Rus', but in Elabuga there were enlightened people who saved the monument.” Yelabuga residents and residents of surrounding villages actively used the fortress material for their economic needs. And a century after Shishkin restored the tower, one of the Elabuga enterprises began mining stone on the territory of the settlement. The quarry destroyed the central part of the settlement and forever deprived us of solving some of the mysteries of the settlement.

Until now, on the slopes of the mountain topped with the legendary tower, people find (and find, mind you, by accident) evidence of bygone eras: arrowheads, human and animal bones, strange coins and amulets, clay shards... Now just imagine for a moment, what is found during specialized archaeological excavations...

But let's return to the legends. They indicate that several underground passages ran from the Devil's Settlement in different directions. Where they were and where they led is not known for certain. Old-timers testify that the remains of underground passages were visible in places back in the late 1970s.

The Elabuga writer Stanislav Romanovsky touched upon the secrets of the Devil's Settlement, but did not have time to reveal them. In 1989 His story “The Tower over the Kama” was published, the sixth chapter of which is called “Legends of the Devil’s Settlement”.

A. Ivanov

Mysteries of the Devil's Settlement

The famous Yelabuga (“Devil’s”) settlement, now a historical and archeological monument of federal significance, keeps many secrets and mysteries. Professional archaeologists have long realized that the Elabuga land will never tire of gifting them with stunning historical finds.

As an amateur local historian, I fully agree with the opinion of Elabuga archaeologist A.Z. Nigamaev: “As for Elabuga, it has been unacceptably little studied” (see: “Evening of Elabuga,” August 29, 2007).

But I will never agree with his other opinion: “In the eyes of a Christian monk, a Muslim saint was the personification of the Antichrist, i.e. a “demon.” Therefore, it is by no means accidental that this settlement later received the name “Besovsky”, or “Devil’s” (Bulgarian cities ancestors: Alabuga, Kirmen, Chally., Kazan University Publishing House, 2005, p. 26).

By the way, academician B.A. Rybakov wrote: “The Slavs gave the name “Chertovo” to those places where religious buildings were located in pre-Christian times - either the Slavs or their predecessors.”

Undoubtedly, this name was given by later settlers who occupied previously inhabited and then abandoned places. Seeing the skillfully made buildings of the ancient citadel and not knowing who built them and why, these later settlers, partly out of superstition, partly out of ignorance, attributed them to the action of supernatural forces, believing that the devil himself had built them.

The Elabuga settlement is covered with centuries-old legends and traditions. In particular, there is a popular legend “The Mysterious Well”. This legend tells that the ancient wise men, who once lived in the fort, kept a fortune-telling snake in an underground well. Demanding sacrifices from the surrounding inhabitants, as well as from merchants sailing along the Kama, they fed them to the oracle snake. As the legend goes, the serpent's predictions were amazingly accurate.

“This epiphany, or oracle, was located near the suburb of Yelabuga, near the Toima River, which flows immediately into the Kama, which, when approached, stone ruins known as the “Devil's Settlement” are still visible. In it, the priests kept the adored great serpent, to whom people were given to being eaten instead of a sacrifice" (see: Notes of the Travels of Captain Rychkov., St. Petersburg, 1770, sheet 44 and 45).

Let's try to understand the above legend; it probably contains grains of truth. In my opinion, we are talking about pre-Christian times, i.e. about the time before the Nativity of Christ or, as scientists say, about centuries BC.

It is well known that centuries BC on the Elabuga land is the Ananyin cultural and historical community. Someone will think that the author is trying to prove that the white-stone fortress belonged to the Ananyin people. Of course, the stone citadel fortress was built much later, but the place for construction was not chosen by chance, namely where the Ananyin people had a protected cult place. I'll try to prove it. In the above-mentioned book by A.Z. Nigamaev “Bulgarian cities of the Kama region” in Fig. 53 shows a plan of a white stone building revealed by an excavation in 1993, i.e. plan of the citadel-fortress.

My attention was drawn to the following on the plan: “In the explored area, the Ananino layer includes the contours of a structure such as an above-ground dwelling and several pits located mainly in the western half of the excavation” (see: p. 20, second paragraph from the top).

Apparently, the archaeologist did not understand the purpose of the foundation of the Ananyin time (see attached figure). The foundation, trapezoidal in shape, is nothing more than an entrance-well to the Ananino dungeons, i.e. the same legendary "mysterious well".

In my opinion, it makes sense to excavate the ancient entrance-well. Of course, the excavations will be difficult and will take at least two to three years. Research on the ground carried out by the author in the summer of 2007 showed that ancient underground passages go in different directions from the well.

It is possible that Elabuga businessmen will be interested in excavating the well. Moreover, excavations are relevant, because 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the world-famous Ananino culture. You can, of course, set up hotels and restaurants, but we must not forget that these are just additional services. Tourists are primarily interested in authentic layers of history and culture, and only then in the availability of hotels and restaurants.

Of course, the participation of a professional archaeologist is necessary when clearing the well so that the archaeological material is not destroyed. The presence of an archaeologist is necessary to stratify the layers so that conclusions can be drawn about the exact time of origin, nature and functioning of the underground system.

Archaeologist K.I. Korepanov once proposed restoring secret passages: “It is necessary to restore part of the secret passages, ensure their safety, security, ventilation, etc., quite convenient for visiting and for visitors to satisfy their interest in the past” (see: "New Kama", December 28, 1991, article Kama "nut").

Name: Tamerlane (Amir Timur, Aksak Timur, Timur)

State: Golden Horde

Field of activity: Politics, army

Greatest Achievement: Fought for power in the Golden Horde, founded the Timurid Empire.

History remembers few names that inspired such horror as Tamerlane. However, this was not the actual name of the conqueror of Central Asia. It is more accurate to call him Timur, from the Turkic word for “iron.” His names are also known: Aksak Timur, Timur Leng (literally - Iron Lame).

Tamerlane is remembered as an evil conqueror who razed ancient cities to the ground and destroyed entire nations. On the other hand, he is also known as a great patron of the arts, literature and architecture. One of his representative achievements is his capital in the beautiful city of Samarkand, in modern Uzbekistan.

A complex person, a historical figure. The life of Tamerlane continues to interest us six centuries after his death.

Early years of Tamerlane

Timur was born in 1336, near the city of Kesh (now called Shakhrisabz), about 75 km south of Samarkand, in Maverranakhr. His father, Taragai, was the head of the Barlas clan. Barlas was a mixed Mongolian and Turkic race, descended from earlier inhabitants of Transoxiana. Unlike their nomadic ancestors, the Barlas were farmers and traders.

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Arabshah in the 14th century in the biography “Tamerlane or Timur: Great Amir"states that Tamerlane's roots go back to Genghis Khan on his mother's side; reliability this statement is in question.

Disputes about the causes of Tamerlane's lameness

European versions of Timur's name - "Tamerlane" or "Tamberlaine" - are based on the Turkic nickname Timur-i-Leng, which means "Timur the Lame" or "Iron Lame". Tamerlane's body was exhumed by a Soviet team led by archaeologist Mikhail Gerasimov in 1941, and they found actual evidence of two healed wounds on Tamerlane's right leg. Two fingers were missing on his right hand.

There are many versions of the reasons for Tamerlane’s lameness, but we will stick to the one that in his youth Tamerlane was the leader of a whole gang of his peers and was engaged in robbery, where he was injured.

Political situation in Maverranakhr

During Tamerlane's youth, Maverranakhr was torn by conflict between local nomadic clans and the sedentary Chagatai Mongol khans who ruled it. abandoned the nomadic life of Genghis Khan and his other ancestors and largely supported their urban lifestyle. Naturally, this angered its citizens.

In 1347, someone named Kazgan seized power from the ruler of the Chagatai ulus. Kazgan ruled until his death in 1358. After Kazgan's death, various military commanders and religious leaders sought power. Tughluq Timur, a Mongol military commander, won in 1360.

Young Tamerlane gains and loses political influence

At this time, Timur's uncle Hadji Beg headed the Barlas clan, and he refused to submit to Tughluk Timur. Hadji Beg fled, and the new Mongol ruler decided to install the seemingly more flexible young Tamerlane in his place.

In fact, Tamerlane had already begun to make plans against the rightful khan. He entered into an alliance with Kazgan’s grandson, Emir Husain, and married his sister. The latter pursued his own personal goals, wanting to make Tamerlane his puppet. In this case, he would not risk his head in the fight against Khan Tokhtamysh or any other Genghisid placed on the throne in Sarai.

Pretty soon, the Golden Horde forces overthrow Tamerlane and Emir Khusain, and they are forced to go on the run and even turn to banditry in order to survive.

In 1362 Tamerlane loses almost his entire retinue and even goes to prison in Persia for two months. The prison escape attracts the attention of the Persian ruler and some people recognize the prisoner as Tamerlane, in whose army they had to fight. The soldiers remembered him as a fair and wise commander.

The beginning of the ascent of Tamerlane

Tamerlane's courage and tactical skill made him a successful mercenary soldier in Persia, and he soon gained great prestige. In 1364, Tamerlane and Emir Husain united again and defeated Ilyas Khoja, son of Tughluk Timur. By 1366, two warlords controlled Transoxiana.

Tamerlane's wife died in 1370. She was the last factor that held him back from getting rid of Emir Husain, with whom there had recently been more and more disagreements and treacherous actions. Emir Husain was besieged and killed in the city of Balkh, and Tamerlane declared himself ruler of the entire region. Tamerlane was not a Genghisid (the ancestral descendant of Genghis Khan), so he ruled as an emir (from the Arabic word for "prince"), and not as a khan.

Over the next decade, Timur conquered the rest of Central Asia.

Expansion of Tamerlane's empire

Having gained control of Central Asia, Tamerlane invaded the Russian ulus in 1380. Tamerlane captured Herat (a city in modern Afghanistan) in 1383 and began a campaign against Persia. By 1385 all of Persia was his.

In 1391 and 1395, Tamerlane fought against his former protégé and legitimate khan of the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh. The Timurid army captured Moscow in 1395. While Tamerlane was busy in the north, Persia rebelled. The answer was harsh. He razed entire cities to the ground and built pyramids of rebel skulls in their place.

By 1396, Tamerlane had also conquered Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Mesopotamia and Georgia.

Tamerlane's army of 90,000 crossed the Indus River in September 1398 and set out for India. The country fell into pieces after the death of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-1388) of the Delhi Sultanate, and by this time Bengal, Kashmir and the Deccan had separate rulers.

The Turkic-Mongol occupiers left a bloody trail along their path; Delhi's army was defeated in December and the city was destroyed. Tamerlane captured tons of treasures. 90 war elephants were fully loaded and sent back to Samarkand.

Tamerlane headed west in 1399, recapturing Azerbaijan and conquering Syria. Baghdad was destroyed in 1401 and 20,000 people were killed. In July 1402, Timur captured Egypt and conquered it.

Tamerlane's last campaign and his death

The rulers of Europe were glad that Turkish Sultan Bayezid was defeated, but they trembled at the thought that Tamerlane was on their doorstep. The rulers of Spain, France and other powers sent ambassadors with letters of congratulations to Tamerlane, hoping to prevent an attack.

However, Tamerlane had big plans. In 1404, he decided that he would conquer Ming Dynasty China. (The ethnic Han dynasty overthrew their cousins, the Yuan, in 1368).

Unfortunately for him, the Timurid army marched out in December, during an unusually cold winter.

The men and horses died of hypothermia, and 68-year-old Timur fell ill. He died in February 1405 in Otrar, in Kazakhstan.

Tamerlane began life as the son of a minor leader, like his supposed ancestor Genghis Khan. Through sheer intelligence, military skill and force of personality, he was able to conquer an empire stretching from Russia to India and from the Mediterranean to Mongolia.

However, unlike Genghis Khan, Timur conquered not to open trade routes or protect his borders, but to plunder and plunder. The Timurid Empire did not last long after the death of its founder because Tamerlane rarely bothered to create any kind of government structure after he destroyed the existing order.

While Tamerlane was a devout Muslim, he apparently felt no compunction about destroying cities and killing their inhabitants. Damascus, Khiva, Baghdad... these ancient capitals of the Islamic world never went unnoticed by Tamerlane. His intention appears to have been to make his capital at Samarkand the first city in the Islamic world.

Contemporary sources say that Tamerlane's forces killed approximately 19 million people during their conquests. This number is probably exaggerated, but Tamerlane seemed to have a great love for slaughter.

In the absence of Tamerlane

Despite the threat of death from the conqueror, his sons and grandsons immediately began to fight for the throne when he died. The most successful Timurid ruler, Tamerlane's grandson Uleg Beg, gained fame as an astronomer and scientist. However, Uleg was not a good administrator and was killed by his own son in 1449.

In India, Tamerlane's descendants were more successful; his great-grandson Babur founded the Mughal dynasty in 1526. The Mughals ruled until 1857, when the British drove them out. (Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, is also a descendant of Tamerlane).

Tamerlane's reputation

Tamerlane is revered in the west for his victory over the Ottoman Turks. This is confirmed by the works “Tamerlane the Great” by Christopher Marlowe and “Tamerlane” by Edgar Allen Poe.

It is not surprising that people in Turkey, Iran and the Middle East remember him less favorably.

In post-Soviet Uzbekistan, Tamerlane was turned into a folk hero. However, residents of Uzbek cities such as Khiva are skeptical about this historical figure; they remember that he destroyed their city and killed almost every inhabitant.