Timur and Samarkand
Timur of Central Asia passes in war from Delhi to Damascus and Ankara, and brings craftsmen from the whole conquered world to Samarkand.
In 1370 Timur, an emir from near Samarkand, becomes master of Transoxiana and for thirty-five years goes on campaign: Persia, the Golden Horde, Delhi in 1398, Damascus in 1401, Ankara in 1402, where he takes the Ottoman sultan captive. Cities that resist are put to the sword; from the conquered ones craftsmen are brought to Samarkand, and the city is built up with mosques and mausoleums under turquoise domes. Timur dies in 1405 on a campaign against China. His empire breaks up within a generation, but his descendants rule in Herat and Samarkand for another century, and one of them, Babur, founds the Mughal empire in India. The Jewish communities of Persia and Syria were struck by his campaigns along with everyone.
Sources
Documents of the period
- the Zafarnama of Sharaf ad-Din Yazdi — the campaigns and the taking of Delhi, Damascus and Ankara
Scholarship
- studies of the history of Central Asia — the years 1370 and 1405 and the fate of the empire
Basis: documents and evidence.