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Lindsey Graham (4:27)

From Noiser in Airship. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History D History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is December 17, 1398. Emperor Timur captures Delhi. It's 1370 in Balkh, a city ruled by Mongol warlords. Seven years after Timur was wounded while trying to steal sheep, timur is now 34 years old. Ignoring the constant ache in his leg, he stands as tall as possible, trying to look regal and powerful. Shackled before him is Timur's brother in law, Hussein, a rival warlord that Timur has just bested in battle. Over the last few years, Timur has carved out a reputation as a skilled fighter and general, and as word spreads of his prowess, more and more warriors flock to his Banner. Timur then married the sister of rival warlord Hussein, and for a while, the two men formed an alliance, raiding neighboring territories and carrying off the plunder together. But the two men soon fell out over the question of how to deal with their defeated enemies. Hussein favored mercy for the vanquished, but Timur thought that was just weakness. The partnership between the two warlords became increasingly strained, but outright conflict was avoided thanks to the family ties between them. But a few months ago, Timur's wife died, and that freed Timur from any pretense of family loyalty. He marched his army into Hussein's territory and laid siege to the city of Balkh. Now, after two days of fierce fighting, Hussein has just surrendered, and now he kneels, begging for his life. He offers to give over his city unconditionally, as long as Timur spares him. But Timur just spits on the ground in disgust. This is exactly the kind of weakness that Timur cannot abide. But with a dismissive gesture, Timur agrees to the deal. The city of Balkh surrenders, and Timur's warriors stream into the gates. But as soon as they've established control, Timur goes back on his word. He gives the order for Hussein to be beheaded. Hussein protests, but Timur cuts him off with a sneer, explaining that he's sticking to the terms of their agreement. Precisely. He promised that he would spare Hussein, but he didn't say anything about what his men would do. Hussein's murder is more than just an act of cruelty. It's a signal to others that Timur is not a man to be trifled with. Or at least this is what Timur hopes. He needs to be seen as a strong leader, because he's actually in a vulnerable position. He controls only a small region and is surrounded on all sides by other warlords who are all wary of his growing power. If they united against him, Timur wouldn't stand a chance. So for Timur, going on the offense is the best form of defense. Over the next two decades, he wages seven different military campaigns. And one by one, the neighboring warlords all fall to Timur's onslaught. And as is characteristic, Timur shows no mercy as he crushes his opponents. Every rival that stands against him is put to the sword. Every settlement is plundered, every building is burned, and civilians are slaughtered by the thousands. Soon, Timur declares himself the head of a new empire. Because with his closest threats neutralized, Timur has begun to think bigger. He's inspired by the example of his ancestor, Genghis Khan. Who marched his armies from China to the gates of Europe. So Timur turns his attention west to the rich lands of Persia. By now, Timur's reputation precedes him, and in many cities, the people simply surrender without a fight in the hope of being spared. So as his soldiers advance, Timur sends caravans of plunder back east to his home city of Samarkand. Timur's aim is to transform Samarkand into the capital of the Islamic world. And it is Timur's Muslim faith that decides who will be conquered next. For more than a century, the Muslim rulers of the Delhi Sultanate have controlled large parts of the Indian subcontinent. But many of their subjects are Hindu, and Timur believes the Sultans have been too tolerant of them. So he decides to take matters into his own hands. In September 1398, Timur gathers 90,000 of his warriors and marches into India. He heads straight for the heart of the Sultanate, the city of Delhi itself. A long running civil war within the Sultanate means that its forces are weak and divided and town after town fall. So that just three months after setting out, Timur's army will be at the gates of Delhi. But the Sultan there won't give up the city without a fight. And Timur will be forced to work for one of the most famous victories of his long military career.

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Lindsey Graham (11:15)

It'S the morning of December 17, 1398, outside Delhi, a few days after Tamil Timur laid siege to the city. Now in his early 60s, Timur watches as hundreds of his soldiers dig a ditch around his army encampment. He flexes his right hand in the cool winter air. As the ruler of an empire that now covers one and a half million square miles, Timur is one of the most powerful men on the planet. But he's still troubled by the wounds he suffered more than three decades ago. His hand is missing two fingers where the shepherd's arrow found its mark, and that dull throb is a constant reminder to Timur of the price of failure. A few days ago, Timur's army arrived outside the walls of Delhi. Timur hoped that Sultan Nasruddin Mahmud would surrender without a fight, as so many of his enemies had done in the past. But the sultan decided to make a stand, so Timur deployed his troops around the city walls and prepared for battle. Digging a ditch around his camp may seem an unusual tactic for an army based predominantly on mobile cavalry and mounted archers. But the garrison defending Delhi doesn't just have men at its disposal, it also has a number of war elephants. They are dangerous animals, protected by chainmail and with poison coating their tusks. The deep ditch is designed to keep Timur's army safe from these beasts if they break through the lines and get as far as the encampment. And the ditch is completed just in time. While Timur is overseeing the final excavations, Delhi's main gate opens, and out marches the sultan's army and a company of war elephants, trumpeting loudly. But as intimidating as the elephants are, Timur knows their weakness. They're afraid of fire. So Timur orders his soldiers to strap bales of hay to the backs of camels and then light them ablaze. Timur's soldiers prod the camels toward the enemy, and as they feel the heat on their backs, the animals panic and Break into a run. The war elephants trumpet even louder, but now it's a scream of fear at the living torches racing toward them. The huge beasts turn and bolt, trampling many of the Sultan's army beneath their feet in their rush to escape the flames. With his enemy in disarray, Timur orders his men to attack. His cavalry makes light work of picking off the fleeing troops. And by evening, it's clear the city will soon fall. Knowing that Timur will show them no mercy, thousands of civilians flee Delhi that night. And among those who escape is Sultan Nasruddin Mahmud, who abandons his wealthy capital and flees with his life. The next day, Timur's soldiers sweep into Delhi unopposed. Over the next two weeks, they burn, pillage, and destroy everything they can get their hands on. Any citizens who are foolhardy enough to defend their possessions are slaughtered. The rest are enslaved. Corpses pile up in the street. But Timur won't let any of them be buried. He wants the bodies to act as a deterrent to anyone who might consider rising up against him. And soon, the once magnificent city of Delhi is in ruins. Timur orders his army back to Samarkand, but when he returns home, he has no time to rest. The western provinces of his empire have taken advantage of Timur's absence, and rebellion is brewing. Timur responds in his usual brutal manner, leading another campaign into the west, cracking down on any hint of dissent and enslaving more than 60,000 people. With the rebellion crushed, Timur heads back home again, stopping off to sack the cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Baghdad. And it's there that Timur insists that every one of his soldiers present him with the heads of two slain enemies. The soldiers rush through the city, massacring anyone they find. And when that isn't enough, they resort to beheading their own wives rather than risk disappointing their emperor. But Timur still isn't satisfied. If he's going to match the achievements of his forebear Genghis Khan, then he needs to expand his empire to the east. There, the Ming dynasty rules the vast realm of China. But Timur is confident the Ming emperors will have no answer to his battle hardened and fanatically loyal troops. But Timur will never get the chance to face the Ming in battle. Instead, he'll be confronted by a faceless foe that even he will have no answer to. Old age.

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Lindsey Graham (16:41)

It's February 1405 in Autra, on the eastern frontier of Timur's empire. Seven years after the sack of Delhi. Timur lies sweating in his tent, vaguely aware of hushed voices whispering around him. A group of doctors are conferring, and from their worried expressions, Timur can tell he's seriously ill. Two months ago, Timur set out from Samarkand at the head of an army of over 200,000 men. He intended to march them on a year long expedition into the heart of Ming China and bring another ruin cooler to his knees. But a few days ago, Timur fell ill and his aging body struggled to fight off the sickness. Timur soon had to order his army to halt and set up camp to give him a chance to recover. Outside his tent, a cold wind whistles and although Timur is shivering, the doctors say he's suffering from a fever and they need to bring his temperature down. They summon servants to bring buckets of ice and pack it around his body. But Timur soon starts shaking uncontrollably. Eventually, the doctors confess that they don't know what else to do, that this might be one fight Timur cannot win. With what little strength he has left, Timur gathers his commanders and his wives to his bedside. In a weakened voice, he tells them that his empire should be divided up between his sons and grandsons after he dies, just as the Mongol Empire was shared out between the descendants of Genghis Khan. And then later that Evening at around 8 o'clock, Timur draws his last breath. His body is taken back to Samarkand and interred under a slab of black jade. But Samarkand is no longer the capital of a vast empire, just as Timur decreed his realm is dissolved upon his death, and its various territories are ruled separately by his heirs. None of Timur's successors will ever reunite his empire, because none will ever display the necessary military talent and ruthless brutality traits that Timur used to crush his opponents and conquer countless great cities, including Delhi, which felt the full force of Timur's terrible wrath on December 17, 1398. Next on History Daily December 18, 1972 President Richard Nixon launches the Christmas Bombing, the last major American offensive in the Vietnam War. From Neuser and Ersche, this is History Daily. Posted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham Audio editing by Mohammad Shazib Sound design by Molly Bach Music by Throng this episode is written and researched by Rob Skrang Edited by Scott Reeves Managing Producer Emily Burke Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.

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