Amir Timur, the Central Asian conqueror

On 17th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban in 817 AH, the Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur died, while on an expedition against China, after conquering all the lands from the Mediterranean coast of Syria to River Ganges in India, and from the Persian Gulf in the south to Moscow in the north. He was of ferocious nature and at times destroyed entire cities and massacred whole populations, but at the same time patronized arts and literature, including the Persian language. He is buried in his capital Samarqand in what is now the Republic of Uzbekistan in a beautiful mausoleum called Gur-e Amir.

The Battle of Kondurcha River
On July 18, 1391 AD, Amir Timur defeated Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present day southeast Russia in the Battle of Kondurcha River, a major battle of the Tokhtamysh-Timur War fought by the two Turkic Muslim warlords in the 1380s and early 1390s in the Caucasus Mountains, Turkistan and Eastern Europe. In the late 1370s and early 1380s, Timur had helped Tokhtamysh to assume supreme power in the White Horde against the latter's uncle Urus Khan. After this he united the White and Blue Hordes, forming the Golden Horde, and launched a massive military campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382, restoring the Turko-Tartar power in Russia. But Tokhtamysh after defeating Lithuania in the west in 1383, had territorial ambitions in Iran and Central Asia, and on account of this he turned against his old ally, Timur. The two fought for over a decade until Timur decisively routed Tokhtamysh in the Battle of the Terek River in 1395 and had him deposed.

The Battle of Ankara
On July 20,1402 AD, Amir Timur inflicted a shattering defeat on the Ottomans in the Battle of Ankara, capturing Sultan Bayezid I – the only instance when an Ottoman Sultan has been captured in person. The battle was the culmination of years of insulting letters exchanged between Bayezid, whose armies were sweeping across Europe, and Timur, whose empire stretched over most of the Muslim east. The defeat and the subsequent death of Bayezid in captivity in Samarqand, led to a period of crisis for the Ottoman Empire. However the Timurid Empire went into terminal decline following Timur's death just three years after the battle, while the Ottoman Empire made a full recovery, and continued to increase in power for another two to three centuries.