110 LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
of Bayazeed, or, as he is commonly called, Bajazet, 
and by his own admiring countrymen, the Thunder- 
bolt. Like his Tartar rival, this prince had consider- 
ably extended his conquests, and invaded the terri- 
tories of several princes in alliance with Timur. The 
latter had accordingly despatched a letter of remon- 
strance to the Ottoman, menacing hostility if he did 
not restrain his ambition, and confine his dominion 
within the limits of his own empire. The reply 
was such as might have been expected from the 
haughty Bayazeed, — one of severe and bitter recrimi- 
nation. 
ie The Mogul and Ottoman conquests now touched 
each other in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum and the 
Euphrates ; nor had the doubtful limit been ascertained 
by time and treaty. Each of these ambitious mon- 
archs might accuse his rival of violating his territory, 
of threatening his vassals, and protecting his rebels ; 
and by the name of rebels each understood the fugi- 
tive princes whose kingdoms he had usurped, and 
whose life and liberty he implacably pursued. The 
resemblance of character was still more dangerous 
than the opposition of interest ; and in their victorious 
career, Timour was impatient of an equal, and Bajazet 
was ignorant of a superior.”* 
The taunts and vehement defiance contained in 
the letter of the Turkish sultan roused the indignation 
of the Jagatay monarch, who marched without delay 
towards Anatolia, and invested Siwas or Sebaste, a 
strong city upon the borders of that country. After a 
* Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. xii. p. 17. 
