Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1997), 291–292; A Letter Sent
from Maynhem Concerning the late Defeate given the Duke
of Brunswicke by Monsieur Tilly:... (London: Printed by
Bernard Alsop for Nathaniel Butter, 1622); Watts, Wil-
liam, The Swedish Intelligencer. Wherein out of the Truest
and Choysest Informations are the famous actions of that
warlike Prince historically led along, from the Norimberg
Leaguer, unto the day of his death at the victory of Lutzen...
(London: Printed by I.L. for Nath. Butter and Nicholas
Bourne, 1633); Watts, William, The Swedish Intelligencer.
Wherein out of the Truest and Choysest Informations are the
famous actions of that warlike Prince historically led along,
from His Majesties first entring into the empire, untill his
great Victory over the Generall Tilly at the battle of Leipsith
... (London: Printed for Nath. Butter and Nicholas
Bourne, 1634); March 14. Numb. 23. The Continuation
of our Weekly Newes, from the 18 of February to this 14 of
March Containing, amongst other things, these Particulars
following: the good Successe of the king of Sweden in the land
of Meckelburgh, with the names of the townes he hath lately
taken. With divers particulars concerning Monsieur Tilly
his preparation and strength to oppose the said King of Swe-
den.... (London: Printed for Nath. Butter and Nicholas
Bourne, 1631); Bruce, George, “Leipzig,” Collins Diction-
ary of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers,
1995), 139.
Timur (Tamerlane, Timur-I-Lenk) (1336–1405)
Tartar warrior
Timur (Persian for “Iron”)—known by Asians as Timur-
I-Lenk and by Europeans as Tamerlane—was born
sometime in the year 1336 at Kesh, the valley of Samar-
kand (also Samarqand), now in modern Uzbekistan. He
was a direct descendant of the famed Mongol warrior
genghis khan, but he was an ethnic Tartar and not
a Mongol. In 1653, historian Samuel Clarke wrote one
of the first biographies of Tamerlane in which he notes
that “Tamerlane was born at Samercand [sic], the Chief
City of the Zain-Cham, or, as others will, Og, Prince
of the Zagatajans, of the country Sachithay (sometimes
part of the famous Kingdome of Parthia), third in de-
scent from Zingis the Great, and successful Captain of
the Tartars, which Og being a Prince of a peaceable na-
ture (accounting it no less honour quietly to keep the
Countries left him by his father, then with much trouble
and no less hazard to seek how to enlarge the same) long
lived in most happy peace with his Subjects, no less
happy therein then himself; not so much seeking after
the hoording [sic] of gold and silver... as contenting
himself with the encrease [sic] and profit of his sheep
and herds of cattel [sic].” According to the Arabic his-
torian Ali Sharaf ad-Din, Timur stole sheep as a youth
and, sometime in his 20s, was wounded during a theft,
suffering wounds in his leg and arm that left him lame
for the remainder of his life. It is because of this that he
was known as “Timur the Lame,” and this nickname
became corrupted over the centuries to the current “Ta-
merlane.” However, as the editors of The Wordsworth
Dictionary of Military Biography note, “Such biographi-
cal material as survives appears to be commissioned and
distinctly suspect.”
Little is known of Timur’s early life, or when he
first began his military conquests. However, historians
believe that sometime about 1365, he took control of
a band of nomadic warriors situated between the Oxus
and Jaxartes Rivers. From there, over a period of more
than 30 years, he led this band in conquering vast areas
of territory across Asia. Timur capitalized on the fractur-
ing of the empire of his ancestor Genghis Khan, who
had amassed great territories but whose successors could
not match his power and influence. Timur traveled con-
stantly, and historians believe he never had a permanent
home at any time during his life. For 24 years from 1370,
he fought in the Central Asian provinces of Khwareszm
(also called Khorezm) and Jatah, and in 1380 he occu-
pied the city of Kashgar. In 1381, the city of Herat—
now in Afghanistan—was seized by his horsemen, and
four years later all of eastern Persia, now modern Iran,
was taken as well. Within two more years, Timur’s bands
of nomadic horsemen had driven across most of what is
now the Middle East, sweeping across Babylon (modern
Iraq), Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
Just as Timur conquered Armenia (1386), a group
of Mongols headed by the warrior Toktamish invaded
Azerbaijan and defeated one wing of Timur’s army.
Timur quickly moved on the Mongols and defeated
them. However, he did not pursue Toktamish, and
the Mongol turned to invade Samarkand. Marching
approximately 50 miles per day, Timur’s army arrived
back in Samarkand, where they were able to beat back
Toktamish’s forces. Timur then decided to invade his
enemy’s homeland, the Mongol khanate in what is now
eastern Russia and northern China. Gathering a force
of some 100,000 men, he invaded Russia in 1390, but
it was not until the following year that the two forces0 timuR