Timur (Tamerlane)

Alexey Antonov’s Studio
2014

Tamerlane played an important role in the history of medieval Central Asia. He was born into a noble family: his father was a tribal chief. However, their family was non-Chinggisid; therefore, Tamerlane could not claim the supreme title and was only called Emir, rather than Khan. He became related to the family of the great Genghis Khan after a successful marriage, when Tamerlane took the title of Gurkhan, i.e. the Khan’s brother-in-law.

Tamerlane (Timur), 1336 – 1405. A Central Asian Emir; military leader and conqueror; founder of the Timurid dynasty (the 14th – 15th century).

History

Leading his first campaign in 1360, he conquered the ulus of Chagatai Khan, which made up the majority of Central Asia. In the 1370s, after receiving the title of the Grand Emir, he set out to conquer the neighbouring lands — the Caucasus and the Middle East. Tamerlane’s Army inherited the best traditions of the Mongol army — a strict hierarchy and rigid discipline, and additionally was improved to meet the standards in terms of weapons and military tactics. This conqueror was famous and feared for his extreme cruelty in dealing with those he conquered: he ordered to build pyramids of severed heads of his defeated enemies.

His clash with Khan Tokhtamysh, the ruler of the Golden Horde, was one of the most important battles for Tamerlane. Once they had been allies, but in the 1380s, confrontation began, and eventually the Horde was crushed. This predetermined its fall and, in particular, the liberation of Russia from the Horde.

Even before the fight with Tokhtamysh was over, Tamerlane devised the expedition to “the Russian ulus”. In 1395, he defeated the Principality of Elets on the border with the steppes and intended to move further north. Grand Prince Vasily I Dmitriyevich set out from Moscow, wishing to intercept his troops. At the same time, the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Vladimir was moved to Moscow, and the good news came on the day when the icon arrived: Tamerlane retreated southward, abandoning the campaign to Russia. This event was perceived as a great miracle worked by the relic and an evidence of the fact that Russia was under the patronage of the Mother of God.

As for Tamerlane, he led a successful campaign to India, conquered the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and began preparations for the invasion of China. However, he died at the beginning of the expedition to the East. The state founded by Tamerlane split into many states in the second half of the 15th century. Only one of his descendants, Babur, founded the Mughal Empire in India in the early 16th century. Timur’s dynasty ruled there until the first half of the 18th century when the Empire finally broke up.

The Stone

The artists used a lot of colours in their interpretation of Timur, which is consonant to the diversity of the peoples in his Empire: shades of red and golden ochre, sky blue and bright green. This leaves no doubt that we see no one else but the Conqueror of Central Asia.

To make the great commander’s figure especially vivid, the masters used stones in saturated colours. The leather parts of the helmet, the shoulder pads, and the armour covered with small metal plates are made of Urazova Village jasper, which is bright red with white quartz veins. The horse blanket made of mottled cream-red jasper looks very realistic, and the shirt is made of a rare kind of rhodonite, bright pink without dark spots and veins. The shiny helmet, leggings and sleeves, the chest badge carved from polished pyrite, and other small elements add clear, vibrant “notes” to the composition. The combination of the horse figure made of Aushkul jasper and the quartzite parts is also interesting: the natural ochre spots on the mineral are in perfect harmony with the strands in the tail and at the edge of the hooves.

The base of the sculpture conveys the idea of a prosperous state: the numerous buildings of speckled pegmatite are spectacularly crowned with blue domes. The blue chalcedony seas are framed with sandy deserts carved from large pieces of aventurine, their natural “folds” forming a realistic landscape. The sandy hues are in contrast with the green malachite. Its surface is intricately indented with “curls” resembling the patterns on the walls of buildings in Central Asia. The hemisphere under the horse’s hooves gives an idea of the area conquered by the military commander, comparable with “half the world”.

Ruy González de Clavijo. Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy González de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarkand (1403 – 1406).

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo was sent as Ambassador to Samarkand to bring the gifts and letters from the Spanish King. Along the way, he kept a detailed diary describing his entire long journey and the customs and way of life of the Oriental countries in the early 15th century. In this text, Tamerlane is called Timur Beg and Tokhtamysh is referred to as Tokatmish.

Now I will relate how Timour Beg conquered and destroyed Tokatmish, formerly Emperor of Tartary, a powerful and valiant man. Tokatmish entered the land that belonged to Timour Beg and devastated it. This aggression came to the knowledge of Timour Beg, so he marched after the invader with a smaller force and overtook him on the banks of a great river called Tesina, which is near Tartary. Timour Beg marched, as fast he could, to secure a pass over the river. But when he arrived, the emperor Tokatmish had already crossed the river.

On the third night, Timour Beg ordered the women to put helmets on their heads, that they might look like men; and all the men rode on, with two horses a piece, leaving the royal encampment, the women who looked like men, the servants, and the prisoners. Timour then returned to the ford, and crossed the river. At midnight he fell upon the Tartar camp, routed the army, took all the spoils, and Tokatmish escaped by flight. This was a famous deed; for Tokatmish had a great army, and it was said to be one of the greatest victories of Timour Beg, for Tokatmish was more powerful than the Turk.

<...>Next to the main city of India, called Delieste (Delhi), there was a battle between the lord of India and Timour Beg, to which the King of India brought a large army, and about fifty elephants. Timour Beg was defeated by the Indian lord in the first battle because of these elephants. The next day they fought again; Senor Timour Beg ordered to bring a lot of camels, load them with straw and have them stand opposite the elephants. When the battle began, he ordered to set fire to the straw, and when elephants saw the burning camels, they fled. They say that elephants are terribly afraid of fire because they have very small eyes. Thus the lord of India was defeated and Timour Beg took from that lord all flat land which he owned and which bordered on the empire of Samarkand.