Latest / Tamerlane: The Conqueror Who Tried to Rebuild the Mongol Legacy — Fexingo History / The Siege of Delhi: Tamerlane's Invasion of India
Transcript
- Lucas: So last time we talked about Timur's wars against Tokhtamysh and the Golden Horde, and we left him in his early 1390s, dominant from the Volga to the Indus. But there's one major campaign we haven't touched yet — his invasion of India. Luna: Oh right, the Delhi Sultanate. That's a whole different world from the steppes. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a fascinating episode because it shows Timur's ambition wasn't just about reuniting the Mongol Empire — it was also about wealth and religious prestige. India was famously rich, and the Delhi Sultanate was in a weakened state under Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq. He was only about 20 years old and faced rebellions everywhere. Lucas: Timur began his march in early 1398. He crossed the Hindu Kush, then the Khyber Pass — which had been the gateway for invaders since Alexander. His army was mostly cavalry, but he also brought a corps of engineers to build bridges and siege equipment. Luna: What was his justification for invading? I mean, India wasn't part of the Mongol legacy, was it? Lucas: Great question. Timur officially claimed he was waging a jihad against the 'infidel' Hindu rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, even though the Sultanate was Muslim. He pointed out that they were too tolerant of Hindus — that they allowed Hindu temples and even appointed Hindu officials. It was a convenient excuse, but also part of his self-image as a defender of Islam. Lucas: There was also a practical reason: the Delhi Sultanate had been sheltering his enemies, like some Afghan rebels and former Chagatai nobles. And of course, there was the immense wealth — Delhi was one of the richest cities in the Islamic world at the time. Luna: So he was after both piety and plunder. Classic Tamerlane. Lucas: Right. The campaign was brutal from the start. As he moved through the Punjab, he faced resistance from local governors, but he crushed them. One story that stands out: at the city of Bhatner, the garrison surrendered, but Timur had them all killed because they had insulted him. This was standard Timur — he didn't tolerate defiance. Lucas: By the time he reached the outskirts of Delhi in December 1398, his army had swelled with captives, including many Hindus. And this is where one of the most horrific incidents occurs: he ordered the massacre of about 100,000 prisoners — all of them, mostly Hindus — because he feared they might revolt during the coming battle. Luna: Wait, a hundred thousand? That's staggering. On purpose? Lucas: Yes, on his direct orders. Timur's own memoirs, the Malfuzat-i Timuri, record it matter-of-factly. He says he consulted with his commanders and they agreed it was necessary. It's one of the darkest stains on his legacy, but it's also a reminder of how casually he treated human life outside his own circle. Luna: That's horrifying. And then came the battle for Delhi itself? Lucas: Yes. Sultan Mahmud Shah came out to meet him at Panipat — the same field where, 128 years later, Babur would found the Mughal Empire. Mahmud Shah had about 10,000 cavalry, 40,000 infantry, and, importantly, 120 war elephants. Timur had never faced elephants before. Lucas: The elephants were terrifying — they could trample men and horses, and their armor made them hard to kill. But Timur had a plan. He ordered his men to dig trenches and place sharp stakes in front of their lines. He also brought out camels loaded with straw and set them on fire, charging them at the elephants to spook them. Luna: Did it work? Lucas: It worked brilliantly. The elephants panicked and turned back on their own army, causing chaos. Timur's cavalry then flanked the Delhi forces, and within a few hours, the Sultan's army was routed. Mahmud Shah fled to Gujarat, and Delhi lay open. Lucas: Timur entered Delhi on December 17, 1398. He gave orders that no harm should come to the city's inhabitants, but his troops — already angry after the battle — began looting. Within a few days, the city was in flames. Thousands of civilians were killed, and the riches were immense: gold, silver, jewels, silks, and even the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, though that story is later legend. Luna: He didn't stay long though, right? I remember he left after a couple of weeks. Lucas: Correct. He was in Delhi for only 15 days. He knew he couldn't hold India — his army was far from home and the summer heat would be deadly. So he loaded up his loot and marched back to Samarkand, leaving behind a shattered sultanate. But he did take something else: thousands of skilled craftsmen, including masons, carpenters, weavers, and stonecutters, whom he sent to Samarkand to build his grand monuments. Luna: So the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Registan were built partly by Indian artisans? Lucas: Exactly. That's one of the lasting legacies of the Indian campaign. The artisans from Delhi brought new techniques and styles that blended with Persian and Central Asian traditions. You can see Indian influences in some of the floral and geometric patterns in Timurid architecture. Lucas: But the immediate aftermath in India was chaos. The Delhi Sultanate never fully recovered. Provincial governors declared independence, and over the next century, the region fragmented into smaller kingdoms. It wasn't until Babur, a descendant of Timur, invaded in 1526 that a new empire — the Mughal Empire — rose from the ashes. Luna: It's ironic — Timur destroyed the Delhi Sultanate, but his own bloodline ended up ruling India for centuries. Lucas: Absolutely. The Mughals always looked back to Timur as their ancestor and inspiration. Babur wrote about him in his memoirs, and Akbar even had the Malfuzat-i Timuri translated into Persian. In a way, Timur's Indian campaign was the first step toward the Mughal Empire, even if he didn't intend it. Lucas: One more thing I want to mention: Timur's religious justification. He saw himself as a sword of Islam, but his actions in India — massacring Hindus and looting Muslim cities — show that religion was often a veneer. He killed Muslims just as readily when it suited him. The invasion of India was as much about ego and wealth as it was about faith. Luna: So would you say the Indian campaign was a success or a failure for him? Lucas: Short-term, a huge success: he got immense loot, prestige, and skilled labor. Long-term, it destabilized the region without any lasting Timurid rule. But from his perspective, he didn't care about ruling India — he wanted to plunder it and show that his power extended even there. In that sense, it was a triumph. Luna: And it set the stage for the Mughals. So maybe that's his real legacy in India — not what he did, but what his descendants did. Lucas: Exactly. It's one of those historical ironies: the destroyer who paved the way for builders. And that's a good note to end on. Next time, we'll look at Timur's final campaign — his march toward China, and the question of what might have been.