Having left behind 67 years of his life and being quite tired and exhausted, Emir Timur arrived in Georgia (in July 1403) after a difficult journey, made conquests here, crossed the Kur River, and on his way to Karabakh to spend the winter, he came to Beylekan. When he arrived there, he ordered the reconstruction of Beylekan, which had long been in ruins, and the opening of a canal from the Aras River to here.
Timur, who spent the winter in Karabakh, set out from there to go to Samarkand in late March 1404, crossed the Aras River in order to build a bridge, and when he came from the villages of Nehr-i Barlas to the vicinity of Nimetabad, he gave Mirza Omar, as previously agreed, in a toast, Fars and Kirman up to Hormuz, Iraq-ı Acem from Rey to Azerbaijan, Arran, Mugan, Karabakh, Gilânât, Shirvan, Shemahi, Derbend, Georgia, Abkhazia, Diyarbekir up to Hejaz, the land of Rum up to Iraq and Istanbul, Alexandria and the land of Damascus up to the Nile. The Timurid mirzas in the Persian region and Arab Iraq (Timurid princes were called Mirzas), as well as Shirvanshah Sheikh Ibrahim, the ruler of Mardin Sultan Isa, the ruler of Van Melik Izzeddin, the Georgian King Kyustendil, the ruler of Urmia Dizek, the ruler of Maragha Calik, and the ruler of Ardabil Bistam Bey were also to be subordinate to Omer. Timur appointed Jaku's son Cihanshah as his Atabey , left some beys and a force of 10 thousand men with him, gave him advice, and set off for Samarkand. Moreover, Miranshah's beys and soldiers were also given to him, and thus Miranshah was placed under his son's command and guardianship.
Timur, who moved forward from here by making some conquests, crossed the Ceyhun River and arrived in Samarkand in July 1404. Here he continued his construction activities and organized feasts to celebrate his victories in his last western campaign.
When Emir Timur set out on the Seven-Year Expedition in 1397, he left the administration of Samarkand to Muhammad Sultan, the son of Cihangir, and the administration of the Andijan region, that is, the Mongol border, to Iskander Mirza, the son of Omer Sheikh. Taking advantage of the death of the Mongol Khan Hizir Hoca Oğlan, Iskander Mirza marched on the Mongols with the beys who were given to his service, made successful campaigns as far as Hoten and returned to Andijan. When he intended to come to Samarkand from there, he turned back when he was told that Muhammad Sultan did not have a good opinion of him. This action of his was interpreted as opposition, and the beys there captured Iskander with his men and sent him to Samarkand.
Here he was tried and İskender was imprisoned, and his atabeg was executed along with 26 of his men. After some time, Muhammed Sultan and İskender were summoned, and there was no one left in the region, after the Battle of Ankara, Miranşah's son Halil Sultan was sent to the Turkestan border.
Timur, who decided to destroy the idolaters even before the Indian Expedition, ordered his army to prepare for a great expedition, sent Pir Muhammed, the son of Cihangir, and Şeydi Ahmed, the son of Ömer Şeyh, to the Kandahar region, and sent ambassadors from various countries to their hometowns. He decided to give the countries extending to China to the two sons of his younger son Şahruh, and gave Tashkent, Sayram, Ashpara and all the provinces up to the Chinese border to Ulugh Beg; and the region up to Endican, Kashgar and Hoten to İbrahim Sultan.
After this decision, Timur set off from Samarkand towards Aksulat at the end of November 1404, when the stars were right. However, since the weather was much colder than previous years, he ordered him to winter in Aksulat. After staying here for a while and writing letters to the surroundings, he sent the princes Halil Sultan, Ömer Şeyh’s son Ahmed and some beys as the right wing to Tashkent and Shahruhiye, and his grandson from his daughter, Sultan Hüseyin, with the left wing soldiers to winter in Sayram, and then he set off for Otrar as his first route. After crossing the Sir-i Derya over the ice, they arrived in Otrar in mid-January 1405.
Emir Timur stayed here for a while after receiving news that the roads after Otrar on the route followed for the China Campaign were not suitable for the campaign. Undoubtedly, Timur was exhausted by his old age and the difficult conditions under which he was campaigning. When the order to move forward was given to the advanced forces in mid-February, Timur suddenly fell ill. Despite all the efforts of the doctor in the army, the health of the Great Turkish Leader was getting worse day by day. When his illness worsened, he appointed Pir Muhammed, the son of the deceased Cihangir, as his heir, along with Emir Sheikh Nureddin and Emir Shah Melik, and after receiving a promise from those present that they would not break the promise, he took to flight on February 18, 1405 at the age of 69 due to colic.
I respectfully commemorate the Great Turkish Leader Sahipkıran Emir Timur, who was never defeated in history.
Sources:
Umut Berhan Sen, Sahipkıran Emir Timur, 2019
Beatrice Forbes Manz, Tamerlane - The Last Nomadic Conqueror of the Steppes, Chronicle, 2017
Prof. Dr. İsmail Aka, Timurids, TTK, 1995
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