Category Archives: Mongols

Gunpowder Empires, 1501-1524

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Ruth

We’ve traced the messy patchwork of changing power alliances in the sweep of Asian land between Turkey and China. In 1500, the patchwork was as shifting as ever, although the Ottoman piece grew larger and larger. On its eastern border, … Continue reading →

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Samarkand and the Math Emperor, 1405

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Ruth

Timur’s grandson Mohammed, son of Shah Rukh, was a huge nerd. It’s hard to be born into a notorious warlord’s family when you really just want to sit up at night in an observatory measuring the stars, or calculate Pi … Continue reading →

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Bayezid v. Timur: Showdown at Ankara, 1402

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Ruth

Two empires were expanding during the late 1300s; inevitably, they collided. In 1400, Timur’s Turko-Mongolian army based in Samarkand invaded the region we know as Turkey, and we’re almost to the point where we can call it that, but not … Continue reading →

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The Crusade of Nicopolis (and a bit about Dracula), 1396

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Ruth

While Timur was taking over Central Asia and India, the Ottoman-ruled zone was also growing. In 1389, Sultan Murad died in the Battle of Kosovo, killed by Serbian knights, but his son Bayezid was on hand. Bayezid had his brother … Continue reading →

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Amir Timur, 1370-1400: Tamerlane the terror

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Ruth

We know little about the early life of Timur, until he stepped into world history in 1370. That’s when he became the ruler of Balkh, in Afghanistan, and began to prosecute a new “Mongol” war of conquest. He wasn’t a … Continue reading →

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Ibn Battuta Sees the World and Meets Hermits, 1325-55

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Ruth

The Muslim world had grown so large that it was very hard for them to know all parts of their own lands, let alone the rest of the world. Around 1355, a Moroccan named Ibn Battuta dictated and published his … Continue reading →

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Game of Mamluk Thrones, 1290-1330

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Ruth

The Mamluks governed based on competence, in a time when governance was always based on inheritance. They didn’t come up with a framework for peaceful transfers of power or group selection of the leader. Instead, they functioned like a monarchy … Continue reading →

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The First Ottomans and the Last Ilkhan, 1302-1337

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Ruth

In 1280, a Turk named Osman became the Bey of Söğüt, Turkey, and over the next 20 years, he took control of neighboring tribes and towns. His son Orhan named the new group the “Osmanlı,” or as we would say … Continue reading →

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Mamluks vs. Mongols, 1299

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Ruth

I have it marked down as an important battle: the Third Battle of Homs in 1299, when the Mongols defeated the Mamluks after two previous losses at the same place. But when I look at it more closely, I’m not … Continue reading →

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Marco Polo and the Golden Ticket, 1299

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Ruth

We owe the first descriptions of Xanadu and Khanbalik (Beijing) to Marco Polo of Venice, whose book was published in 1299, co-written by Rusticello of Pisa. The book was quickly translated into many languages; the oldest manuscript we have is … Continue reading →

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