Tamerlane

Emir Timur is a very important figure in terms of both establishing the most powerful state of the period from scratch without inheriting from his family and the systems he implemented in his period. While this leader, who has never lost a war throughout history, expanded his lands in a very short time, the structure of the state was developing from Turkish-Mongolian traditions and Iranian bureaucracy. The state established in Turkestan became western-oriented in time and during the reign of Timur's son Shahruh, the center of the state shifted to Iran's Khorasan, as a result of which the Iranian influence became more evident. After the Timurid State achieved dominance in the region, it made its first conquests on Iran and Azerbaijan. However, the very rapid capture of the region caused it to get out of hand very quickly after Timur's death. After Timur's death, Azerbaijan was being lost during the Shahruh period and Iran was lost after Shahruh and the state entered a period of disintegration. With the exit of the Timurids from Iran, the region was again in the hands of the Turkmen and stability was ensured during the Safavid period.

La Renaissance timouride, l'ère du renouveau de l'art et de la science en Asie centrale Lorsque nous parlons de Renaissance, très vite nous baignons dans une atmosphère de richesses scientifique, littéraire, artistique, etc. En effet, la Renaissance connue en Occident est la période des temps modernes associée à la redécouverte du patrimoine de l'Antiquité par l'arrivée des Grecs en Occident à la suite de la prise de Constantinople par les Turcs. La Renaissance vend du rêve quand nous pensons à l'héritage laissé par les humanistes tels que More et Érasme ou les grands écrivains français tels que Montaigne, Rabelais, Labé, etc. Le renouveau de la peinture fascine tous les admirateurs de l'art et chacun-e est subjugué-e face aux oeuvres de Michel-Ange, de Raffaelo Sanzio, etc. En revanche rares sont ceux qui ont vent d'une autre Renaissance à savoir la Renaissance timouride qui laissa tout autant sa trace dans l'histoire de l'humanité. Ainsi la question suivante gagne son sens : « Comment s'est développée la Renaissance timouride et en quoi se rapproche-t-elle de la Renaissance occidentale ? ». Je m'efforcerai de répondre à cette question en exploitant les diverses formes de la Renaissance timouride qui eut lieu dans l'actuel Ouzbékistan. La Renaissance timouride est une ère artistique, culturelle et scientifique éclatante instaurée au XVe siècle par les Timourides. Elle est par conséquent contemporaine à la Renaissance occidentale. Les Timourides sont les descendants de Timour (Tamerlan) qui fut l'empereur de l'Empire timouride au XIVe siècle. Le thème timouride se développa très rapidement dans les cultures occidentales, la littérature et la musique. Vincent Fourniau (1996) écrivit que « la culture française surtout a fait une large place à ce thème, sous la forme d'un mythe présent dans la philosophie, la prose, la poésie, le théâtre et les livrets d'opéra. » L'Empire timouride, un empire fort :

ნაშრომში განხილულია XIII-XIV საუკუნეებში მახლობელ აღმოსავლეთსა და კავკასიაში გამავალი სავაჭრო გზები. დეტალურადაა მოცემული ჯალალ ად-დინის, მონღოლების და თემურ-ლენგის მიერ საქართველოზე განხორციელებული ლაშქრობების შედეგად სავაჭრო გზების განვითარების დინამიკაში გამოწვეული ცვლილებები. შესწავლილია თუ რა გავლენა მოახდინა ამან ქართულ მონარქიაზე და რა ნაბიჯებს დგამდნენ ქართველი მეფეები გაუარესებული სავაჭრო-ეკონომიკური მდგომარეობის გამოსასწორებლად.

წიგნში მიმოხილულია საქართველოში და მის გარშემო XIII-XIV საუკუნეების სავაჭრო გზებზე არსებული ქართული და უცხოური ისტორიოგრაფია. გამოყენებულია ქართული, სომხური, სპარსული, არაბული და ევროპული წყაროები. ზოგ შემთხვევაში გამოთქმულია მოსაზრებები ისტორიოგრაფიაში დამკვიდრებული იდეების გადასაფასებლად.

წიგნი განკუთვნილია როგორც შუა საუკუნეების საქართველოს და მახლობელი აღმოსავლეთის ისტორიის მკვლევრებისთვის, ასევე, ზოგადად, ისტორიით დაინტერესებული მკითხველისთვის.

Central Asian turkish tribes in XIII-XIVages are important in the ethnic structure change has passed. The Mongol invaded the Middle Asia caused people to enter. In the middle ages, caloyir, berlas, cinch and arlat ethnic groups were moved to Middle Asia.

The catastrophic Mongol incursions into the heart of the Muslim world during the thirteenth century left a path of death and destruction in their wake. Though the assaults succeeded in vanquishing Baghdad, toppling the Muslim caliph himself, it is notable that the famous contemporary historian, 'Ata-Malik Juwayni, does not describe this as the pinnacle of Mongol conquest. Rather, for this Sunni historian, the zenith and culmination of the Mongol invasion is the obliteration of the tiny rival enclave of the Ismailis, a Shi'i sect centered at the mountain fortress of Alamut. It is to this singular event that Juwayni dedicates the concluding one-third of his History of the World Conqueror. The Mongols sought a complete destruction of Alamut and the extermination of the Ismailis. Many of the Persian historians, led by Juwayni, believed that they were successful in this endeavor. Until recently, the complete extermination of the Ismailis in the face of the Mongol behemoth was also accepted as fact in Western scholarship. In this article it is maintained that Ismaili activity in the region in the aftermath of the Mongol invasions was even greater than previously suspected. Inconsistencies and exaggerations in Juwayni's testimony; a correction of his narrative based on other historians, including Rashid al-Din; and the evidence of regional histories, geographical tomes and inscriptions clearly point to sustained Ismaili presence in the region. This evidence is further supported by the fifteenth-century Nasa'ih-i Shah-rukhi, a hostile Khurasani source that clearly indicates that Alamut was a center of the Ismaili da'wa to which community funds were sent. The testimony of the Nasa'ih is supported by that of the da'wa literature of the Indian subcontinent, which provides very suggestive evidence that the residence of the Imam Islam Shah was Alamut. From this, it becomes clear that the south Caspian region continued, perhaps sporadically, as an important center of the Ismaili community for over a century after the Mongol irruption. The eagle had, so to speak, returned.

This article is concerned with the creation, by the Russian colonial administration, Russian researchers and photographers/artists, of a corpus of ‘historical monuments’ of Samarkand in the first decades after the conquest of the city. It uses travelogues, administrative reports, memoirs, the periodical press and artistic productions to determine the mechanism of selection of representative monuments, defined as the ‘cultural heritage’ of Russian Turkestan and, indirectly, of the Russian Empire. The internal logic of ‘patrimonialisation’, initiated from above and ideologically engaged, becomes more obvious when it is juxtaposed against native understandings of the significance of monuments, European practices, and the political projects of the Russian Empire.
 

On l'a peu souligné, mais c'est sous la forme d'une riḥla, que l'on traduit généralement par "récit de voyage", qu'Ibn Ḫaldūn a choisi de se présenter et d'expliquer le sens de sa démarche à la fin de son histoire universelle. Largement délaissée par les spécialistes du génial historien, en regard de la fascination exercée les deux autres parties de son Livre des Exemples (Kitāb al-'ibar)-la célèbre Muqaddima et la chronique universelle-, elle est tout simplement ignorée par les spécialistes de la riḥla. Les premiers la considèrent généralement comme un simple complément biographique, à l'exception de G. Martinez-Gros qui, en la replaçant dans l'économie générale de l'oeuvre, l'a abordée comme le "dernier exemple" illustrant sa théorie 1. Quant aux seconds, ils ne l'intègrent tout simplement pas dans leur réflexion, comme le dénote son absence dans les ouvrages de référence concernant ce genre littéraire 2. Certains spécialistes ont même soutenu, contre les choix d'Ibn Ḫaldūn lui-même, que le terme riḥla, ne se justifiait pas dans la mesure où le récit n'était structuré ni par les itinéraires suivis, ni par la description géographique et ethnographique des pays visités, le récit d'Ibn Ḫaldūn échappant aux catégories de la littérature de voyage, à laquelle les grands schémas interprétatifs, puis les routines académiques, ont trop souvent réduit la riḥla 3. Pourtant, en choisissant pour titre de cette partie de son ouvrage, le "Voyage d'Occident et d'Orient" (riḥla ġarb an wa šarq an) 4 , Ibn Ḫaldūn choisit de s'inscrire délibérément dans une pratique bien établie dans l'univers lettré de l'Islam médiéval, le voyage en quête de savoir, mais qui a revêtu une signification bien plus profonde chez les lettrés d'al-Andalus, où l'on 1 G. Martinez-Gros a montré tout ce que cette riḥla devait au discours de la muqaddima, cette trajectoire personnelle apparaissant comme le dernier "exemple" de sa théorie. Voir Martinez-Gros 2006, 13-22. 2 Il ne figure ni dans M'Ghirbi 1996, ni dans Touati 2000. 3 Merad 1956, 63. 4 Le titre complet de l'ouvrage est "La présentation d'Ibn Ḫaldūn et son voyage d'Occident et d'Orient" (al-taʻrīf bi-ibn Ḫaldūn wa-riḥlatuhu ġarb an wa šarq an). Comme le reste de l'ouvrage, ce texte a été sans cesse complété et révisé par son auteur. Les spécialistes distinguent trois grandes phases de composition : une première, rédigée au Maghreb, qu'il offrit au sultan hafside Abū l-'Abbās en 1382 ; la seconde, composée lors de son long séjour au Caire, fut dédiée au sultan mamelouk Barqūq en 1394 ; et la dernière est datée de 1405, soit un an seulement avant la mort de l'auteur. Pour l'étude détaillée de la traduction manuscrite, voir Fischel 1952, 14-17. Expériences impériales Éléments sous droit d'auteur-© Ausonius Éditions septembre 2020 : embargo de 2 ans eut conscience, sans doute plus qu'ailleurs, de l'effondrement de l'Empire islamique, en particulier de son emblème, le califat 5. Longtemps, la structure même de ces textes a favorisé leur réduction à de simples itinéraires d'apprentissage et à leur dénier toute signification politique. Pourtant, une lecture attentive de ces récits, notamment ceux d' Abū Bakr ibn al-'Arabī (m. 1147) et d'Ibn Ğubayr (m. 1217) 6 , a permis de montrer que, loin de se limiter à de pieux curriculum vitae, ces récits énoncent d'étonnants projets, qui ont eu l'ambition de reconstruire l'Empire islamique, tout en prétendant en dévoiler les fondements. L'objectif de cet article est précisément de réinscrire le récit d'Ibn Ḫaldūn dans cette tradition pour essayer de comprendre si sa trajectoire, mais aussi sa pensée, peuvent trouver une part, au moins, de leur explication dans la dynamique de cette quête andalouse. Alors que A. Cheddadi présente Ibn Ḫaldūn comme un "homme partagé", "tiraillé entre ambition politique et amour pour la science" 7 , et que G. Martinez-Gros affirme que sa pensée est née précisément d'un renoncement au pouvoir et à l'action 8 , la tradition de la riḥla incite au contraire à rechercher l'unité d'une démarche, en articulant science et action, et ainsi à restituer à sa pensée le projet politico-religieux qui en constituait l'horizon et qu'il eut l'ambition d'accomplir 9. Au Maghreb, sur les traces d'un empire Le terme riḥla ("voyage") ne renvoie pas à n'importe quel déplacement dans l'espace. Il identifie une pratique constitutive de l'univers lettré médiéval, le voyage en quête de savoir (riḥla fī ṭalab al-'ilm), dont il se fait l'apologue dans la Muqaddima à une époque où elle était largement délaissée 10. Dérivant de cette institution, son récit se présente comme un inventaire des maîtres (fahrasa), ordonné en fonction de l'itinéraire d'apprentissage 11. Après sa présentation (taʻrīf) proprement dite 12 , Ibn Ḫaldūn nous livre la liste des maîtres auprès desquels il débuta sa formation à Tunis. Essentiellement andalous, le groupe de ses maîtres fut renforcé par les savants de Fès qu'amena avec lui le sultan mérinide Abū l-Ḥasan 5 La première riḥla, celle d' Abū Bakr ibn al-'Arabī (m. 1147), fut rédigée en réponse à l'irruption des Almoravides dans un monde andalou morcelé en "royaumes de taifas" mais fidèle à l'imaginaire politique du califat omeyyade. Cet événement marqua la fin de l'empire, c'est-à-dire de l'ordre du monde, et des certitudes.

«Oriente e occidente»: nella storia del mondo, questo incontro non soltanto è di importanza primaria ma rivendica un suo posto peculiare. Esso indica la direzione principale della storia, l'asse che si orienta sul corso del sole. Illuminato fin dai primi albori, è un modello che continua a svilupparsi fino ai giorni nostri. I popoli si presentano sull'antico palcoscenico e nell'antico intreccio con una tensione sempre nuova. La nostra ottica è tale che resta impressionata soprattutto dal luccichio delle armi sulla scena. Tutti quegli eserciti, falangi, argiraspidi, elefanti, scontri di cavalieri crociati e saraceni, battaglie navali nel Levante, squadroni di carri armati e di aerei, disfatte sul ghiaccio e nei deserti, distruzioni di città dai tempi di Demetrio Poliorcete, di Tito, di Tamerlano fino ai giorni nostri: tutto ciò sempre si imprime nella nostra memoria. Ma seguono poi sempre secoli pacifici, periodi di torpore dall'estremo Nord ai confini dell'Africa. Lo stesso vale per il tema della libertà e della costrizione del destino. Anche in questo caso, la nostra ottica resta impressionata soprattutto dal dispotismo. Avvertiamo tutto il peso del continente, udiamo dal Caucaso il tintinnare delle catene. I re persiani e i loro satrapi, gli scià e i khan, i condottieri di immense schiere e colonne sulle quali ondeggiano stendardi stranieri-code di cavallo, draghi, soli rossi, stelle, falci e mezzelune-: è sempre lo stesso terrore che ne anticipa l'irrompere, mentre gli incendi tingono di rosso il cielo. Di fronte a queste immagini impallidisce la minaccia di una sconfitta ad opera di genti a noi affini, di eguali in una guerra tra popoli e perfino in una guerra civile. Con i neri dagli occhi obliqui, con i piccoli gialli sorridenti, con i cavalieri dalle ispide chiome, con i giganti dagli ampi zigomi, è un nuovo sole quello che spunta. Come statue di divinità straniere, essi si stagliano sulle colline, davanti alle loro tende, nel palazzo conquistato. Verso di loro sale il fuoco dei gradi incendi simili a fuochi sacrificali; il sangue delle stragi, le urla delle donne violentate annunciano l'inizio del loro potere. I loro condottieri non somigliano ad Alessandro, il modello dei principi e dei comandanti occidentali; come per Gengis Khan, la gloria e la potenza per essi consistono nel «non avere mai pietà».

This brief article discusses the history of Nagar Thatta that Alexander visited, a sack of Nagar Thatta by Arghoons of Timoroid dynasty, and migration of people to the southern region of Gujarat. Alexander's departing port of India and its connection with Samma Rajputs and port of ancient Barbaricon. It also describes the brutal Arghoon rulers of the Sindh that induced famines and miseries.

Ibn Khaldoun's visit to Tamerlane in 1401 was not intended to pay homage to him, but to validate his concept of Açabiyya with the prediction of the decline of the Tartar Empire linked to the weakening of the Açabiyya among the dispersed Tamerlane successors.

Ibn Khaldoun explained to Tamerlane that "universal empires oppose individual empires”. Only the first (Arab, Persian and Byzantine) are based on a cohesive force (açabiyya) that makes them able to survive. "

By analogy what are the emerging individual empires status today? China and India are two of them. Why Breaking-up of Arab World should affect rising of China and India?

My reading of Ibn Khaldoun leads me to the following reflection: In a context of decadence of Middle Eastern states, an end of all these sub states is inevitable; why rising of China should be slowed down? What influence should have the  breaking-up of the Asian part of the Arab World on the rise of China and India ?

The answer has got two folders : 1) Bursting related to the dissemination of Integrism in south east Asia,

2)  Recomposition : In case of concrete support of Asian strong states like China and India, in conformity with  change theory linked to the concept of "cohesion-force - Ibn Khaldun's açabiyya". This change started already in the 2011 by Tunisian revolution, followed by the Egyptian revolution and has been stopped dramatically by the war in Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

What is expected from those Asian strong entities to overcome breaking-up phenomena dissemination ? One of the urgent requirements is to rebuild all those cities positioned on the Silk Road trajectory like Aleppo in Syria in relation to the concept of cohesion-force. In case of this shall not happen, those individual empires shall fail in contributing to the Ascent of Asia as a universal empire.

This work examines diplomatic contacts and relations between the Castilian kingdom and Timúr Lenk with further focus on the travelogue of Ruy González de Clavija and his voyage to Samarkand courtyard in the years of 1403 to 1406. The main point of the work represents de Clavija's travelogue that was written on his travels to the Middle east. Czech and two English translations of the text are indivisible parts of this work. Bilateral level of a Castilian - Mongolian relationships has been considered in broader understanding of the situation in the Iberian peninsula and in the understanding of diplomatic journeys prior to 1403. This work follows the journey of a legacy that comes from Cadiz and heads to Samarkand. The aim of this work is to examine this journey in a detailed manner from travelogue, which was preserved in Spanish and English transcription

Russia is a nation with a long and tumultuous history. It has been constantly reshaped by the often-violent intersection of competing factions. From the clashes of Nordic and Asiatic nomads in the early medieval period, through the struggle between czarists and revolutionaries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and up to the current competition for power in the post-Soviet period, this volume examines Russia as a nation defined by ethnic, political and cultural rivalries.

The article is devoted to the byzantine view of the Battle of Ankara (1402) between Emir Tamerlan and the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid I. This battle is mentioned in three poorly explored byzantine works written by contemporaries. As a result of the study the author comes to the conclusion that the Byzantines perceived the Battle of Ankara as divine will and the miracle of the Mother of God, which, by directing one barbarian against another, saved Constantinople from the Ottoman troops who had held the city under siege for eight years. By attaching superhistorical significance to historical events, the byzantines authors create a historical myth, expecting that this is the maintenance of people's faith in the viability of a perishing empire.
В статье рассматривается взгляд византийцев на битву при Анкаре 1402 г., которая произошла между эмиром Тамерланом и османским султаном Баязидом I. Это сражение упоминается в трех малоизученных византийских сочинениях, написанных современниками тех событий. В результате проведенного исследования автор приходит к выводу о том, что византийцы воспринимали Ангорскую битву как божественную волю и чудо Богородицы, которая, направив одного варвара против другого, спасла Константинополь от османских войск, державших город в осаде в течение восьми лет. Придав конкретным историческим событиям метаисторическое значение, византийские авторы создали исторический миф, задачей которого являлось поддержание веры людей в жизнеспособность погибающей империи.

If the simple idea of uniformitarianism were only applied in the social science, history, linguistics--such wonderful results would be instantly available and such dreadful soul-destroying mistakes that go on for centuries could be avoided....

Mongolian emir Timur Lenk was not only politically active in Near and Middle East but also has had diplomatic relations with European curts. That was mainly case in, for example, Byzantine Empire, Genoa, Venice, England, France, Castile, and Aragon. Important role in those relations was occuppied by the intermediary dominican monk John III. of Sultaniya. Bilateral contracts were mainly focused on common free trade. These relations were created mainly thanks to the expansiveness of Ottoman empire in the area of Near East. The key event became the battle of Ankara in 1402.
The aim of this scientific article is to summarize the knowledge we have about relations that the Emir Timur Lenk has made in the European space. The article is dived into 5 chapters, which are based on the place, where Timur Lenk has made the relations. The article is mainly based on primary sources but we also used secondary literature.

Παρουσίαση της πολιορκίας και της κατάληψης της λατινικρατούμενης Σμύρνης από τον Ταμερλάνο (1402) μέσω των σχετικών πληροφοριών από τις βυζαντινές πηγές του 15ου αιώνα (δημοσιεύτηκε στα Πρακτικά του Δ΄ Πανελληνίου Συνεδρίου για τον ελληνισμό της Μ. Ασίας - εκδ. Θεσσαλονίκη 1996, και ανατυπώθηκε στο Ν. Νικολούδης, Μεσαιωνική Μακεδονία, Θράκη και Μ. Ασία, εκδ. Αντ. Σταμούλη, Θεσσαλονίκη 2006).
An analysis of the information of 15th century Byzantine sources on the conquest of Smyrna my Tamerlane (1402) (published in the Proceedings of the 4th Panhellenic Conference on Greeks in Asia Minor - Thessalonike 1998; repr. in N. Nikoloudis, Byzantine Macedonia, Thrace and Asia Minor, A. Stamoulis Publ., Thessalonike 2006).

The author reconstructs the history of Tamerlane’s campaign in 1395 and the circumstances of his capture of Tana (Azov), the most important Venetian and Genoese trading stations at the mouth of the Don River. Research is based on a complex analysis of Western European and eastern sources. The documents of the Venetian State Archives are of a paramount importance for the purpose. The author evaluates the volume of commodity circulation in Tana in the indicated period and analyzes consequences of this event for the Black Sea and Volga regions. The paper delineates policy of the Italian maritime republics in the region and the measures of Venice and Genoa to restore Tana after the defeat.

This article analyzes the positions and titles in the central authority of the state administration of Amir Temur. Amir Temur was used on this system of tribal foundations. The Chagatai played an important role in the government, which was the basis of the military power of Amir Temur. It is worth noting that he drew attention to moral and professional factors and experience in transferring ranks and titles, but he took control of the land, private landowners, funds and trade, which he jointly owned with state lands.