Rise to power
Monument of Emir Timur in Tashkent
Tughlugh's death facilitated the work of reconquest, and a few years of perseverance
and energy sufficed for its accomplishment, as well as for the addition of a vast extent
of territory. It was in this period that Timur reduced the Jagatai khans to the position
of figureheads, who were deferred to in
theory but in reality ignored, while Timur
ruled in their name. During this period Timur and his brother-in-law Husayn, at first
fellow fugitives and wanderers in joint adventures full of interest and romance, became
rivals and antagonists. At the close of 1369 Husayn
was assassinated and Timur,
having been formally proclaimed sovereign at Balkh,
mounted the throne at
Samarkand, the capital of his dominions.
It is notable that Timur never claimed for himself the title of khan, styling himself amir
and acting in the name of the Chagatai ruler of Transoxania. Timur was a military
genius but sometimes lacking in political sense. He tended not to leave a government
apparatus behind in lands he conquered, and was often faced with the need to conquer
such lands again after inevitable rebellions.
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