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he surprised and took Nakhshab, a town which was de- 

 fended by a garrison of 12,000 men, among whom there 

 were most probably a great number of traitors. In A.H. 

 768 (A.D. 13GG ! he defeated Husein near his capital, Balkh, 

 and this prince was murdered by some emirs, who, seeing 

 their former master forsaken by fortune, endeavoured to 

 obtain the favour of Timur by putting his rival to death. 

 Balkh, which was defended by the adherents of Husein, 

 was taken by storm and destroyed by fire after a siege of 

 three years, A.H. 771 (A.D. 1369), and Timur was proclaimed 

 khan "of JagataV in the same year by the KumltaT, or the 

 general assembly of the people. He chose Samarkand 

 for his capital. Husein-Sofi, khan of Khowaresm (Khiwa), 

 having imprisoned Timur's ambassadors, was attacked 

 by Timur, who, after five campaigns, at last succeeded 

 in taking the town of Khowaresm, in A.H. 781 (A.D. 

 1379). The town was destroyed, and the principal inha- 

 bitants, especially artists and scholars, were transplanted 

 to Kesh, which became the second capital of Timur's 

 empire. Previously to this the khan of the Getes, who 

 was master of the country between the Sihun, or Jax- 

 and the Irtish, had likewise been compelled to 

 pay homage to Timur, who thus became master of a 

 part of Siberia and of the whole country which we 

 now call Turkistan, and which was formerly known by 

 the name of Great Tartary. After these conquests 

 Timur thought himself strong enough to carry into 

 effect the plan of making himself master of all those 

 countries which had once obeyed his ancestor Genghis- 

 Khan. He first attacked Khorisan, or the north-eastern part 

 of Persia, which was then divided between Gaiyath-ed-dtn- 

 Pir-'Ali, who resided at Herat, and Khojah-'Ali-Murjid, 

 whose capital was Sebsewir. Khojah-'Ali-Murjid, whose 

 dominions were on the boundaries of JagataV, paid homage 

 to Timur as soon as he was summoned ; but the master of 

 Herat prepared a vigorous resistance. Timur took Herat 

 by storm, but did not destroy it. He carried off as his 

 only trophy the iron gates of this town, which were noted 

 for their beautiful workmanship, and which he ordered to 

 be transported to his birthplace, Kesh. The larger towns 

 of Khorisin surrendered without resistance, and Timur was 

 only checked by several strong fortresses, such as Shabur- 

 k'm, Kabushin, and especially Kahkaha, between Balkh 

 and Kelat, in the mountains of the Hindu-Kush. When 

 these fortresses fell, all Khon'isiin was under his yoke. The 

 inhabitants of Sebsewar having revolted, Timur took the 

 town by storm: two thousand of the inhabitants were 

 placed alive one upon the other, till they formed a mass 

 like a tower, and each layer of human beings was fastened 

 to the rest by mortar, as if they were so many bricks. 



Beginning his career at an age when other conquerors 

 are satisfied with their laurels, Timur had employed twenty 

 in reflecting on the principles of warfare. He 

 led his armies with the prudent boldness of an ex- 

 perienced general, but not with the superiority of genius. 

 The differences between the numerous successors of Gen- 

 ghin-Khan enabled Timur to attack them one after another, 

 and each was pleased with the fall of his rivals. He em- 

 il the same policy in his war against Persia. This 

 country was governed by several princes. Shah-Sheja, of 

 the dynasty of .Miwaffer, who reigned in Pars and southern 

 Irak, or in that part of Persia which was most exposed to 

 any army from the east, submitted to Timur without re- 

 sistance. Thus Sultan Ahmed, of the house of the Ilkhans, 

 the master of Northern Irak and Azerbijan, or Western 

 Persia, had alone to sustain the attacks of the Tartars, A.H. 

 788 (A.D. 13865. Timur entered the dominions of Ahmed 

 by following the coast of the Caspian Sea. In one cam- 

 paign he conquered the provinces of Mazanderan, Rei, 

 amf Rustemdar, and took the towns of Sultania, Tabris, and 

 Nakhshiwan. He crossed the Araxes at Julfa on a mag- 

 nificent bridge, which was strongly fortified on both sides, 

 but which is now destroyed. Kars, now the key of Eastern 

 Turkey, fell into his hands; Tiflis surrendered, and the 

 prince of Georgia purchased his protection by adopting 

 the Mohammedan faith. The prince of Shirwan sent tri- 

 bute to the camp of Timur, nine pieces of each thing sent 

 'nine was a holy number among the Mongol princes), but 

 only eight slaves; the ninth was himself. On these 

 terms he was allowed to remain in possession of his do- 

 minions. Taherten, king of Armenia, submitted to Timur 

 without, any resistance; but Kira-Yiisuf, prince of Diyar- 

 bckir, and master of the country round Lake Wan, prepared 



to defend himself. A body of Timur's army marched 

 against him, and took the fortresses of Akhlat and Adil- 

 juwaz by storm ; and Timur himself conducted the Metre. 

 of Wan. This famous fortress fell after a siege of twenty 

 days, the garrison was cast from the steep rock on which 

 this town is situated, and the fortifications were razed by 

 ten thousand miners and pioneers. Ready to cross the 

 Carduchian Mountains and to descend into the valley of 

 the Upper Tigris, Timur was obliged, by a revolt of the 

 inhabitants of Ispahan, to march suddenly to southern 

 Persia. He took Ispahan by a general assault : he spared 

 the lives and the houses of artists and scholars, but the re- 

 mainder of the city was destroyed, and the inhabitants 

 were massacred. More than 70,000 heads were laid at the 

 feet of the conqueror, who ordered his soldiers to pile them 

 up on the public places of the town, A.H. 789 (A.D. 1387). 



Satisfied with having conquered the greater part of 

 Persia, Timur turned his arms towards the north, and over- 

 ran the kingdom of Kiptshak, which was then governed by 

 Toktamish-Khan. This war lasted from A.H. 789 to 799 

 (A.D. 1387 to 1396). [TARTARS, Kiptshak.'} We shall 

 here only mention the march of Timur in the campaign of 

 A.H. 793 (A.D. 1391). According to Sheref-ed-din, Timur 

 started from Tashkend, on the Jaxartes, on the 13th of 

 Safer, A.H. 793 (19th of January, 1391). He marched in 

 a northern direction, and passed by Kura-suma, Yazi, 

 Kara-chuk, and Sabran, until he reached Sarik-Uzen, on 

 the river Arch : thence he proceeded as far as Mount 

 Kuchuk-dagh, and subsequently crossed Mount Ulu-dagh, 

 or the range of the Altai. He then took a north-western 

 direction until he reached the upper part of the river 

 Tobol in Siberia, and thence proceeded westward, crossing 

 the Ural Mountains, and the upper part of the river Ural, 

 or Yai'k, where he drew up his army on the banks of the 

 Bielaya, a southern tributary of the Kama, which flows 

 into the Wolga. Toktamish, who awaited Timur in the 

 environs of Orenburg, was not a little astonished to find 

 him so far advanced towards the north ; but being informed 

 of his having taken that direction, he hastened to the 

 country of the Bielaya (Bashkiria >, and fought that dreadful 

 battle which took place on the 15th of Rejeb, A.H. 793 

 (18th of June, 1391), in which his whole army was slaugh- 

 tered. 



In the following year (A.H. 794; A.D. 1392) Timur re- 

 turned to his residence at Samarkand, and he left the war 

 with Kiptshak to his lieutenants ; he only appeared in the 

 field in A.H. 797 (A.D. 1315) in order to stop the progress of 

 Toktamish in the Caucasian countries. Meanwhile 

 troubles broke out in northern Persia, which were put down 

 by Timur's generals, who committed unheard-of cruelties, 

 especially in the town of Amul, where the whole tribe of 

 the Fedayis was massacred. Timur himself attacked 

 southern Persia after his first return from Kiptshak. The 

 country of Fars was governed by several princes of the 

 dynasty of Mozaffer, vassals of Timur, who aimed at inde- 

 pendence. After having occupied Loristan, Timur entered 

 Fars by the mountain-passes east of Shiraz, which were 

 defended by the stronghold of Kalai'-zefid ; but this for- 

 tress and the capital Sniraz were taken, the princes were 

 put to death or fell in battle, and Timur's son Mir&n- 

 Shah was invested with the government of Fars and Khu- 

 zistan. From Shiraz Timur marched westwards to attack 

 the king of Bagdad, Ahmed Jelair, of the house of Ilkhan. 

 Bagdad surrendered without resistance, and Sultan Ahmed 

 and his family fled towards the Euphrates, accompanied 

 by a small body of cavalry. Timur and forty-five emirs 

 mounted on the swiftest Arabian horses pursued the sultan, 

 and came up with him before he had reached the Eu- 

 phrates. In the engagement which ensued Ahmed was 

 again defeated and compelled to fly, leaving his harem and 

 one of his sons in the hands of the victor. The scholars 

 and artists of Bagdad were transplanted to Samarkand ; 

 Timur remained at Bagdad for two months, allowing so 

 little licence to his soldiers that he ordered all the wine 

 which was found in the town to be thrown into the Tigris. 



During this time Kara-Yusuf, prince of Diyarbekir, had 

 recovered part of those districts round Lake Wan which 

 Timur had taken from him in a former campaign ; and se- 

 veral princes in Armenia and Georgia were still indepen- 

 dent. Timur resolved to bring them to submission, and 

 after having succeeded in this, to attack the kingdom of 

 Kiptshak on its boundaries in the Caucasus. Starting from 

 Bagdad in A.H. 797 (A.D. 1394), he marched to the Upper 



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