Middle Ages Biographies | Tamerlane Biography

Born 1336

Died 1405

Mongol-Turkic conqueror

Though not related to Genghis Khan (see entry), Tamerlane came from similar Central Asian roots and saw himself as a successor to the great conqueror. He set out to build an empire of his own, ravaging an area from modern-day Turkey to India, and from Russia to Syria. Along the way, he left a trail of death and mayhem, and though he made significant cultural contributions in his capital at Samarkand, these were outweighed by the misfortunes he dealt his own fellow Mongols and Muslims.

Mongols and Turks

Tamerlane is actually the name by which he became known to Europeans, who were largely spared the force of his wrath. Actually, his name was Timur (tee-MOOR), and an injury earned him the nickname Timur Lenk or "Timur the Lame," which became Tamerlane in European versions of his story.

He grew up in the region of...