Timur (1335 - 18 February 1405), monarch of the Timurid Empire (1370 - 1405)

There are two theories about the origins of Timur, one of the most famous conquerors in the history of the Middle East. One is that he was a descendant of Genghis Khan, a Turkic Mongolian, and the other is that he was a Turkic, but self-proclaimed descendant of Genghis Khan.

Timur often encouraged himself with the achievements of Genghis Khan, but he did not become Genghis Khan II after all. Although he also conquered many areas and looted countless spoils, Timur's war was even more clueless and lacked long-term strategic planning; the disappointment of Timur's descendants also made his empire a flash in the pan. Timur is also different from Genghis Khan. He is a devout Muslim and belongs to the Shiites. However, most of the opponents he faced in the war were also Muslims. On the contrary, it was often the infidels who benefited a lot from his wars.

Timur is tall, has a big head, and has brown skin. He is brave and good at fighting. He can rush to the front line to fight as a fearless soldier at critical moments. He also has a flexible character and can win a relaxed development environment through temporary surrender. He was illiterate, but absolutely intelligent, and a good friend of philosophers. He was shot and injured in his leg during a robbery, so he was also called the "lame" Timur by later generations, but this did not prevent him from becoming the most outstanding horse emperor.

The region that gave birth to the Timurid Empire, called the River Region, was between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers, roughly in what is now Uzbekistan, and was then part of the territory of the Western Tsakhatai Khanate. Timur was the nephew of Haji, the lord of Thirsty Stone, and was appointed governor of the thousand households. After Auru Timur of the Eastern Tsakhatai Khanate invaded and occupied Thirsty Stone, Timur defected to him and was appointed governor of Thirsty Stone.

But then Timur fell out with Tuhuru Timur's son Yeliyashihore, and was forced to go into exile in Persia with his brother-in-law Hussein. It was during his exile that his leg suffered lifelong injuries. After enduring hardships, Timur and Hussein made a comeback, defeating the Yeliyasi Firefighters and winning the entire river area. Later, Timur and Hussein turned against each other. After Timur defeated Hussein, he became the highest ruler of the river region. In 1370, he established himself as an emir and established the capital of Samarkand, initially establishing the country. Timur raised a descendant of Chagatai as a puppet and had full control in his own hands.

From then on, Timur continued to stretch his blade to his neighbors, expanding his empire. The first was to destroy Huarizmo on the Salt Sea, and then attacked the ancient enemy of the Dongchahatai Khanate five times in a row, all the way to Turpan, forcing Hamardin, the ruler of the Dongchahatai Khanate, to "disappear into a place where sables and silver rats are infested", and has never been able to recover. Timur first relieved the trouble in his bed and consolidated the new country.

Then the people of Iran and Afghanistan suffered. The successors of Hulagu took sides and attacked each other, making them Timur's best prey. From 1380 until 1393, Timur broke up one separatist power after another and annexed the regions of Iran and Afghanistan. So far, Timur's empire has reached the Indus River in the east, the Euphrates River in the west, the Caucasus in the north, and the Persian Gulf in the south. This is basically the largest territory of the Timurid Empire. Although the influence of Timurid's subsequent conquests was great, they were mainly aimed at plunder and revenge, and did not seize more territory as a result.

The war between Timur and the Golden Horde was extremely difficult, but mainly not because of the strength of the opponent, but because of the emptiness and blurring of the grasslands. He supported the descendant of Genghis Khan, Kuwuwuwuwuzhuang, and considered him his adopted son. However, after winning the Golden Horde in 1380, Kuwuwuwuzhuang was overwhelmed by the momentary glory and turned to attack his adoptive father. As a result, Timur fought back mercilessly. In 1389-1395, he personally invaded the Golden Horde three times and dragged Kuwuwuwuzhuang off the throne three times. The second conquest was the most difficult. Unable to find the enemy's main force and unfamiliar with the road, he trudged through the grasslands for more than 4 months, and finally tracked down Kuwuwuzhuang and defeated him before his strength was exhausted. The destruction of this area caused serious damage to the trade routes across Eurasia. And Timur left here without leaving any agents.

The invasion of India was also a consistent goal of Timur, who sent troops under the pretext that the Delhi Sultanate's regime tolerated the existence of a large number of Hindus under its rule, in order to disguise his desire for a rich and vast India. The Delhi Sultanate was at this time in a state of fragmentation, and it was also unable to resist the vibrant Timur Empire. In 1398, like many invaders who crossed the Indus from the northwest in history, Timur defeated the Delhi Sultan Mahmud Shah in the Battle of the Jumunna River (before this decisive battle, he slaughtered 100,000 Indian prisoners), and held his head high to the throne of the Delhi Sultan. After extensive destruction, Hizil Khan, who had supported the Hindu family Sayyid, acted as a proxy and left. However, the elephants brought from India played a role in the subsequent West Asian campaigns of Timur.

In 1400, Timur also led an army to attack Syria under the Egyptian slave dynasty, leaving it after capturing and sacking the cities of Aleppo and Damascus.

The battle of Chubbok in 1402 brought Timur's military honor to its climax. Most of the opponents Timur had encountered before were old or in civil strife, but this time he encountered the Ottoman Empire's "Thunder" Bayezid I, who had turned Europeans upside down by conquering most of the Balkans. After a dispute over the division of influence between the two sides, Timur's army pierced the heart of the "Thunder" empire. The two heroes fought a decisive battle outside Ankara. It turned out that Timur was superior. After Bayezid was defeated, he was imprisoned in an iron cage and soon died of anger. Timur's army sacked several major cities in Asia Minor, including Brusa, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and re-established many of the princes conquered by the Ottomans. History proves that Timur did not stop the Ottoman Empire from becoming powerful, but its victory gave Europeans a sigh of relief, and the Byzantine Empire continued to live for another half a century.

Timur had defeated almost all the great powers of Asia, except China, the easternmost point of the continent. He also wanted to restore the honor of the descendants of Genghis Khan and convert China to Islam. He had assembled an army ready for the expedition in 1405, but his illness and death finally spared China from him.

Although Timur was a brutal destroyer of the conquered regions, he brought treasures and talents from all over to the capital Samarkand and built the city into a prosperous city. He actively sponsored scholars and artists, and his era was known as "Timur's Renaissance", but in fact his influence and duration were limited.

On November 27, 1404, he led the so-called million cavalry (actually 200,000) to attack the Ming Dynasty. As a result, on February 18, 1405, he died of illness during the march, ending his glorious history of conquest.

Shortly after Timur's death, his empire divided and declined amid quarrels and struggles among many descendants. After all, he did not become Genghis Khan II because the power of a generation was limited. But more than a hundred years later, another outstanding figure emerged among his descendants, Babur, who established the Mughal Dynasty in India.

It is difficult to count the number of battles Timur led, and it is even more difficult to estimate the number of villages looted and people slaughtered. His ranking in this list should be based on the fact that he is just an outstanding destroyer rather than a qualified builder, and that most of the areas he conquered have not established a new order. This is the reason why Timur, the Central Asian overlord who conquered a large area of territory, did not rank at the top of this list.

Comments: Timur used Genghis Khan as an inspiration for his life, and held up the banner of Genghis Khan to increase his popularity. He also learned many successful experiences of Genghis Khan's military and management system. Unfortunately, he did not learn a very important point from the Mongol Empire: to encourage his children and grandchildren to go to distant places to start businesses, so that a wider area of land belonged to the Mongols. The war of Tamur was more focused on plunder, revenge and the spread of prestige.