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Timur

1336 CE – 1405 CE

Retrace Timur's life across the map — 21 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Battle of the Mire1365 CE
   The Battle of Tashkent also known as the Battle of the Mire or The Battle of the Marshes took place between the Chagatai Khanate and the forces of Amir Husayn and Timur, and a rare defeat for Timur.
2. Siege of Balkh1370 CE
   The Timurid conquests and invasions started in the late 14th century with Timur's control over the Chagatai Khanate and ended at the start of the 15th century with the death of Timur. Due to the sheer scale of Timur's wars, and due to the fact that he was generally undefeated in battle, he has been regarded as one of the most successful military commanders of all time. These wars resulted in Timur's supremacy over Central Asia, Persia, the Caucasus, the Levant, and parts of South Asia and Eastern Europe, and they also resulted in the formation of the short-lived Timurid Empire.
3. Siege of Urgench1379 CE
   The Siege of Urgench (1379) was led against the ancient city of Konye-Urgench by Timur's army, in which also participated his son Umar Shaykh.
4. Siege of Herat1381 CE
   The Siege of Herat (1381) was led by the Turco-Mongol ruler Timur against the city of Herat in 1381.
5. Tokhtamysh–Timur War1386 CE
   The Tokhtamysh–Timur war was fought from 1386 to 1395 between Tokhtamysh, the khan of the Golden Horde, and the warlord and conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire, in the areas of the Caucasus Mountains, Turkestan and Eastern Europe. The battle between Timur and Tokhtamysh played a key role in the decline of Mongol power over the Russian principalities.
6. Siege of Tbilisi1386 CE
   The siege of Tbilisi was the successful siege of the city of Tbilisi, capital of the Kingdom of Georgia, by the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur, which ended on 22 November 1386. The official history of his reign, Zafarnama, represents this invasion in Georgia as a jihad.
7. Siege of Isfahan1387 CE
   The Siege of Isfahan (1387) was part of Timur’s Persian campaigns. Timur captured the city from the Muzaffarid dynasty, resulting in heavy casualties and its incorporation into the Timurid Empire.
8. Siege of Alinja1388 CE
   The siege of Alinja occurred between the armies of the Jalayirid Sultanate and Timurid Empire starting in 1388. Two offensives by the Qara Qoyunlu would interrupt the sieges, but by 1396 Miran Shah had resumed besieging the fortress. In 1399, George VII of Georgia attacked the Timurids and released some of those who had been imprisoned. In retaliation, Timur ravaged southern Georgia and northern Armenia, killing, destroying, and enslaving people. The fortress managed to withstand the intermittent siege, but faced with starvation, surrendered in 1401.
9. Battle of the Kondurcha River1391 CE
   The Battle of the Kondurcha River was the first major battle of the Tokhtamysh–Timur war. It took place at the Kondurcha River, in the Bulgar Ulus of the Golden Horde, in present-day Samara Oblast, Russia. Tokhtamysh's cavalry tried to encircle Timur's army from the flanks. However, the Central Asian army withstood the assault, after which its sudden frontal attack put the Horde troops to flight. However, many of the Golden Horde troops escaped to fight again at Terek.
10. Battle of Shiraz1393 CE
    The Battle of Shiraz (1393) was a battle between the forces of the Timurid Empire and the forces of the Muzaffarid ruler Shah Mansur in 1393, near the base of the defender in Shiraz in southern Iran. It is part of Timur's five-year long campaign in Iran (1392-1397).
11. Siege of Constantinople1394 CE
    The siege of Constantinople from 1394 to 1402 was a long blockade of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I. Already in 1391, the rapid Ottoman conquests in the Balkans had cut off the city from its hinterland. After constructing the fortress of Anadoluhisarı to control the Bosporus strait, Bayezid tried to starve the city into submission by blockading it both by land and, less effectively, by sea.
12. Battle of Khankala1395 CE
    During the Main Timurid campaign against Simsim in 1395, the main Simsim army, led by Khour II as well as other Chechen nobles clashed with the Timurids led by Timur. The battle resulted in the defeat of the former.
13. Battle of the Terek River1395 CE
    The Battle of the Terek River was the last major battle of the Tokhtamysh–Timur war. It took place on 14 April 1395, at the Terek River, North Caucasus. The result was a victory for Timur.
14. Battle of Ushkudzhe1395 CE
    The Battle of Ushkudzhe was the final confrontation between Aukh and the Gazikumukh Shamkhalate with the Timurid Empire. Although fierce fighting, the Aukhs, Gazikumukhs аnd Akusha-dargin failed to defeat the numerical superior conqueror Timur, who, in retribution for the formers resistance, conducted a campaign in both states, resulting in the end of the Aukh and Gazikumukh struggle against the conqueror.
15. Siege of Multan1398 CE
    The siege of Multan took place in 1398, it was led by Pir Muhammad and Timur. A six-month long siege resulted in a Timurid victory.
16. Battle of Aleppo1400 CE
    The sack of Aleppo was a major event in 1400 during the war between the Timurid Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate.
17. Siege of Damascus1400 CE
    The siege of Damascus was a major event in 1400–01 during the war between the Timurid Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate.
18. Siege of Baghdad1401 CE
    In 1401, Timur, the ruler of the Timurid Empire, besieged the Jalayirid Sultanate capital of Baghdad for forty days and then massacred its inhabitants for resisting. The Turco-Mongol army looted the treasury and razed much of the city, except for mosques and madrasas. Contemporaries reported that each Mongol soldier was ordered to bring at least one severed head of an inhabitant. Only one out of a hundred of the city's inhabitants reportedly survived the massacre to be sold into slavery.
19. Siege of Ankara1402 CE
    The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 28 July 1402, at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of Timur and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I. The battle was a major victory for Timur, leading to the Ottoman Interregnum.
20. Battle of Ankara1402 CE
    The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 28 July 1402, at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of Timur and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I. The battle was a major victory for Timur, leading to the Ottoman Interregnum.
21. Siege of Birtvisi1403 CE
    The siege of Birtvisi was a siege laid by the Timurid sultan, Timur, against Birtvisi Fortress in eastern Georgia in 1403, as part of the Timurid invasions of Georgia from 1386 to 1403.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].