+ Name of the Battle: Timur invades India
+ Venue: Delhi
+ Year: 1398
Timur, the founder of the Timurid Dynasty, was the conqueror of Western, South
and Central Asia in the 14th century, An ancestor of Babur, who formed the
Mughal empire in India, Timur had this unstoppable urge to re-establish the
broken Mongol empire. He founded the Timurid Empire. Timur was known in
History for his barbaric conquests of India and Russia. He was also known for
his cultural achievements of the Timurid Dynasty, though the architectural
marvels of Samarkand, his capital in modem Uzbekistan. He was also known
as Tamerlane or Timur Lang or Timur the Lame. He left India in 1399 after the
massive conquests. And just as he was preparing a huge army to invade China,
he died in 1405 CE
The reasons that led to the battle
After his victorious win over Persia and Mesopotamia and other areas in the
west and the south, Timur, the great conqueror tumed his attention to India. The
main reasons for his conquest of India were:
+ To destroy and plunder the massive wealth of India
+ To fight a "Holy war" against the infidels
+ To destroy the temples and the idols and make people believe in Islam
In 1398, Timur invaded India with an aim of destroying the hindu kings and
rulers. Also, he felt that the Muslim sultans of Delhi were showing great
tolerance to their Hindu subordinates. He started his joumey from Samarkand.
After crossing the Sindh river, he entered Punjab. This was on 24 September
1398. Many villages and towns were destroyed. Mass murders took place.
Timur and his army marched forward unchecked. Prior to this invasion, Timur's
grandson Pir Muhammad had already started his expedition to India, He had
captured Uch and Multan, Pir Muhammad then joined Timur. The governor of
the fort of Bhatnir was defeated, and Timur destroyed the fort and the city. He
marched further with his troops and entered Delhi by crossing the Indus River.
Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Tughlug of the Tughlag dynasty could not do
anything to resist Timur and was easily defeated. Another battle took place
between the Indian army of Mahmud Tughlug and Timur in December 1398; the
army of Mahmud Tughlug was completely routed at Panipat. This conquest of
Delhi by Timur, led to the complete destruction of the city, people were killed
and Delhi was reduced to ruins. His atrocities were justified by himself in the
name of holy war that took place for the glory of Islam.
The Strength of Warring Forces
Historians say that in 1398, when Delhi was attacked by Timur, he had 92
regiments of 1000 horsemen each,Aftermath of the battle: winner and loser
+ Winner: Timur
+ Loser: Tughlaq Sultan Mahmud Shah
Timur stayed in Delhi for about 15 days and plundered all its wealth. While
returning back to his kingdom, he conquered Firozabad, Meerut, Haridwar,
Kangra and Jammu. He left India in 1399 and appointed Khizr Khan as
governor of Lahore, Multan, and Dipalpur. He brought with him to his empire
thousands of slaves and 90 captured elephants, carrying with them precious
stones, gold, coins looted from India.
The larger implications of the battle
More than lakhs of Hindus were taken as prisoners before he entered Delhi. To
provide protection to the elephants in the war, Timur made a defence camp with
brushwood and trees, followed by huge stones, cattles and the Hindu women.
His army were kept with the women prisoners, where they were tortured and
raped . Before leaving for the battle, all of the 1 lakh men, who were supposed
to be the infidels, were ordered to be Killed brutally, These included both the
Muslims and the Hindus. Timur's conquests of India brought a huge scale
devastation to the country. Whichever place he went, he reduced it to ruins.
Many people were massacred. Thousands of villages were burnt and destroyed
completely. The cities with riches were extensively plundered. Even after
capturing Delhi, the bloodshed continued for many days. The towns of
Jahanpanah and Siri were completely demolished by Timur. It is said that the
army of Timur could not be brought under anyone's control and they went on
Killing, looting, plundering, and making prisoners.
The overall place and significance of the battle in
the Indian history
The invasion of India by Timur had a great significance in the Indian History. In
history, Timur is known as a ferocious ruler who did not hesitate to massacre
the inhabitants of his conquered cities. Timur's invasion of India led to the
destruction of the agricultural fields and crops, granaries were plundered, trade
and commerce fell. There was a terrible famine in Delhi after the war. The
whole suburbs became infectious due to the massacre of the people with
bloods and bodies laid all over. A large number of people were butchered . The
north western provinces were ravaged and laid in waste. The Tughlaq Empire
was completely liquidated. Delhi lost its richness, its glory, its people, and its
rule. All builders, stone-masons and craftsmen were taken as prisoners to build
Timurs seat of his empire, Masiid- jami, in his capital city Samarkand, which
was one of its kind in the country
According to Historians, one of Timur's greatest achievements was the capture
and invasion of the Delhi Sultanate. This conquest had undoubtedly surpassed
other great invasions of India, such as that of Alexander the Great or Genghis
Khan. The reason being, it was this invasion of Delhi which took away the entire
richness of the city and harsh conditions were inflicted on the people. After
Delhi was conquered by Timur's army, few uproars took place by the peopleagainst the Turkic-Mongols. But, these led to more bloody massacre within the
city. Timur destroyed the entire Delhi Sultanate and also the Tughlag dynasty. It
is said that Delhi took almost a century to recover and emerge again from this
great loss.