Monthly Archives: February 2018

Bedreddin’s Unitarian Revolution, 1416

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Ruth

A threat to the young Ottoman state even more serious than Timur’s invasion came in the form of Bedreddin, a Turkish sheikh, judge, and mystic. It was important to the Ottomans to create a unified state by enforcing Sunni Islam … 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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Bayezid and the Child Tax: 1362-1402

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Ruth

The Ottoman Empire was growing east and south of Constantinople. It pushed against other Turkish beyliks, absorbing land as they were conquered. Orhan, son of Osman, defeated the Karası beylik and his son Murad married one of the captured widows. … Continue reading →

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Ibn Khaldun asks tough questions, 1377

Posted on February 10, 2018 by Ruth

The Ibn Khaldun family were descended from a Bedouin, Khaldun, who settled near Seville in the early years of Muslim conquest. Under Reconquista pressure in the 13th century, they moved to Tunis, where they were among the educated governing elite. … Continue reading →

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