Tamerlane, whose proper name was TIMUR or TIMUR-I-LENG (i.e. Lame Timur), one of the great conquerors who came forth from the heart of Asia during the middle ages, was born at Kesh (or Sebz), some 50 miles S. of Samarcand, in 1336, his father being the chief of a Mongol clan. Tamerlane's youth and early manhood had been full of adventure, when in 1369, having overcome all his rivals and enemies, he seated himself on the throne of Samarcand. The rest of his life, after he had organised the internal affairs of his kingdom, was spent in military campaigns, inspired by his lust of conquest. He subdued nearly all Persia, Georgia, and the other Caucasian states, and the empire of the Eastern Kipchaks or the Tartars (in 1390). But the military genius of Toktamish, chief of the Eastern Kipchaks and also of the Western Kipchaks or the Golden Horde, imposed upon Tamerlane a second long and determined campaign; but in the end (1395) he effectually humbled his former protégé and broke up his empire. India was the next object of his ambition. He conquered (1398) all the states between the Indus and the lower Ganges, and returned to Samarcand with a fabulous wealth of booty. He next set out to measure himself against the Turks in Asia Minor; but first turned aside to win Damascus and other strong places in Syria from the Mameluke sovereigns of Egypt. At length on the plains of Angora the Mongol and Turkish hosts came together; and, as the result of a gigantic battle, Sultan Bajazet was taken prisoner and his troops utterly routed. The victorious Tamerlane, after resting awhile at Samarcand, turned his eyes towards China, but died whilst on his way to that country, at Otrar, on the eastern side of the Syr-Daria, on 17th February 1405. Tamerlane seems to have been in many respects a typical oriental ruler of the abler class: in times of peace he mingled clemency with justice, and fostered learning and the arts, but in war he was cruel, implacable, and reckless of human life. He is the hero of Marlowe's Tamburlaine.
The recognised Life is Petis de la Croix's translation (1722) of one by the Persian writer Sherif ed-Din. See also Sir Henry Howorth, History of the Mongols (1876-88), and Sir J. Malcolm, History of Persia (1828).