Siege of Balkh (1370)

The battle of Balkh was a key success in Timur's rise to power, and established him as the ruler of the western Chaghatai in Transoxiana.

Twelve years earlier Timur (known in the West as Tamerlane) had been a minor member of the Barlas tribe, one of many tribes in the western part of the Chagatai Khanate. Since the 1330s the Khanate had been split in two, between Mawarannahr (Transoxiana) in the west and Moghulistan in the east. Between 1347 and 1358 Mawarannahr was ruled by Amir Qazaghan, but in 1358 he was assassinated on the orders of Tughlugh Timur, Khan of Moghulistan. This was followed by an invasion from Moghulistan. Hajji Beg, ruler of the Barlas tribe, decided to flee, but Timur offered his services to the Moghuls, as a result becoming head of the tribe. During this period Timur formed an alliance with Amir Husayn of Balkh, a grandson of Qazaghan, marrying his sister.

Timur's period as a Moghul vassel came to an end when Tughlugh Timur appointed his son Ilyas Khoja as governor of Mawarannahr. Timur and Husayn both rebelled, going underground. Over the next few years Timur survived as a bandit and a mercenary, and it was probably during this period that he suffered the wounds that caused his famous lameness (possible origin of the name Tamerlane). Eventually the two men were able to force the Moghuls out of Mawarannahr, but only for a short time. In 1365 Ilyas Khoja returned at the head of an army, defeating Timur and Husayn at the battle of Tashkent. Husayn's failure to support Timur during this battle probably played a part in the eventual end of their alliance, but for the moment the two men remained together. Ilyas Khoja was unable to take advantage of his victory. He advanced to besiege Samarkand, but was repulsed and forced to retreat back into Moghulistan, where in 1369 his family was overthrown.

In the aftermath of this failed siege Timur and Husayn were able to seize control of Samarkand. Something of a 'cold war' period seems to have followed, with the two men uniting against further Moghul threats, but fighting amongst themselves the rest of the time. Timur seems to have been more successful at building up support than Husayn, successfully maintaining a balance between the nomads who formed the core of his army and the more settled city dwellers. In contract Husayn alienated many of the nomads by rebuilding the city and citadel of Balkh, at the south-western edge of the Chagatai Khanate. This city had an ancient history and had been one of the jewels of the Islamic world before being destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1220. It was still uninhabited in 1333, and Husayn's decision to rebuild will have worried his nomad supporters, who traditionally preferred their leaders to rely on the strength of their troops and not on fortifications (similar disputes had hastened the original split in the Chagatai Khanate).

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Wikipedia