"Biz ki Mülük-i Turan, Emir-i Türkistan'ız:
(We are the possessors of Turan and Emir of Turkestan)
Biz ki Türk oğlu Türk'üz;
(We are real Turks that are the sons of Turks)
Biz ki milletlerin en kadîmî ve en ulusu
(We are the members of the oldest and the highest nation)
Türk'ün başbuğuyuz!..."
(We are the leaders of Turks)
Timur was the founder of the great Turkish Empire that was called with
his name. He was born in the city of Keş in Turkestan on the date of 8th April 1336.
Today, the name of this place that was located in the south of Samarkand is "Yehr-i
Şebz". His father was Turagay (Turgay) who was the bey of Barlas tribe and his
mother was Tekine Hatun. The Barlas tribe was a Turkish tribe that had come from the
Central Asia. In that period, the Barlas tribe was submissive to Chagatai Khanate. Timur's
father had died in the year of 1360, and his paternal uncle, Hajji Barlas who had replaced
him was killed in the year of 1361. Timur was at the age of 25 then.
Timur who was a brave and intelligent Turkish nobleman would benefit
from every opportunity to show his political and military genius and he would become
exalted and a conqueror within a short period. He would ascend the throne of the Eastern
Turkish Khanate, and then, the borders of its empire would extend from Idyll River (Volga)
towards the Ganges River in India and from Tien Shan Mountains towards Izmir and Damascus.
In order to reach to the levels of the famous conquerors such as
Alexander the Great, Caesar and Dara, etc., Timur had organised 17 military expeditions,
all of which ended up with victory, and he had subdued the khans of 27 countries and he
had become their sovereign.
We should get acquainted with such a character through reviewing his childhood.
The following statements are the words uttered by the historians in respect of Timur:
He was a child that knew to ride horse, to put on swords, and to pass
the arrow that he threw from the eye of a needle; and he was a gallant that fought in a
war at the age of twelve.
He was a young idealist that spent his spare time remaining from wars
and war training through reading and taking courses from great celebrities and scholars;
He was an extraordinary and unique strategist that defeated an army of
ten thousands of people with a force of three hundreds of people;
He was a commander that got injured in the course of a war and
therefore, the adjective of "lenk" that meant "lamed" in the Farsi
language was added as a suffix to the end of his name (Turks would call him as "Aksak
Timur" (Lamed Timur) and the Western people would call him as
"Tamburlaine").
He was the protector of religion, science and art that knew much about
the history of the world and particularly the Turkish-Islam history;
The ruler that prevented the assimilation and eradication of Turkish
language, Turkish art and culture under the pressure of Farsi culture in Asia and that
opened the era of superiority of Turkish language and culture;
The friend of those who asked for mercy; the cruel plague of his
enemies, but the ruler that was nearly worshipped by his soldiers and the father of the
nations…
The examples can be given in numerous lists. There are some people who
try to indicate his sins to be much more than his good works and his oppression to be much
more effective than his justice. They remind of the events that he had made towers from
the heads cut off and that he had destroyed and incinerated the cities. He had fought with
Yildirim Bayezid and he was blamed for bringing discord and fight between fraternal
armies. Actually, pursuant to Ankara War, Ottoman State vacillated for a specific period
and it underwent an Interregnum period. However, the same historians and even all the
historians state that Timur had endeavoured great efforts to abstain from the war until
the last moment and that Yildirim endeavoured great efforts to start the war.
to be continued
|
