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The Witch Doctor President and Other Horrific Rulers

Khalid Elhassan December 25, 2019 32 min

3. The Rise of a Monster

Tamerlane was a Muslim Turko-Mongol who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. He was born in the Chagatai Khanate, then ruled by Genghis’ descendants, in today’s Uzbekistan. His rise began in 1360, when he led Turkic tribesmen on behalf of the Chagatai Khan. However, the Khan was murdered, leading to a power struggle among would-be successors.

By the time the dust had settled, Tamerlane had emerged as the power behind a throne occupied by a figurehead Chagatai puppet, through whom Tamerlane ruled. While his claimed descent from Genghis is dubious, Tamerlane justified his conquests as a restoration of the Mongol Empire and re-imposition of legitimate Mongol rule over lands seized by usurpers. After consolidating his power, he spent 35 years earning a reputation for savagery, while bringing fire and the sword to the lands between the Indus and the Volga, the Himalayas and the Mediterranean.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.