TIMUR BEG. 
119 
CHAPTER XII. 
a. d. 1404 . 
Timur, upon returning to the capital of his empire, 
at once displayed his magnificence and his power. 
He gave audience to the ambassadors of Egypt, Ara- 
bia, India, Tartary, Russia, and Spain, the last of 
whom presented several pieces of tapestry so exqui- 
sitely wrought as to eclipse the finest efforts of the most 
celebrated Oriental artists. During this brief respite 
from the fatigues of war, he completed another mag- 
nificent palace, forming a square of two hundred feet, 
ornamented with numberless marble sculptures, and 
the walls of which were faced with porcelain. The 
completion of this gorgeous edifice he distinguished 
by a grand entertainment, to which all foreigners 
of distinction within his dominions were invited, and 
among them the different ambassadors of Europe then 
at the court of this Eastern conqueror. Having dis- 
posed of six of his grandsons in marriage, he so- 
lemnised their nuptials in the gardens of Khani 
Ghul * with a splendour which almost realised the 
descriptions of Eastern romance. The trees of se- 
veral large forests are said to have been cut down to 
This signifies the mine of roses/ 
