Timurid Banner
Rise[]
In 1402, after the Battle of Ankara, Timur organized his armies and began a campaign to wipe out the Ottomans. Without a Sultan, the Ottoman lands in Anatolia fell easily. By 1403, all of Anatolia was under Timurid rule. Timur devised a plan with the Byzantine emperor Andronikos V Palaiologos, to finish off the Ottomans by taking their capital Edirne. Palaiologos more than happily agreed. Timur marched his army of 50,000 across Constantinople, backed up by 10,000 Greeks. When Timur reached Edirne, he was rather shocked at what he saw. Along with a Ottoman army 50,000 strong, there was a Venetian army ready to assist the Ottomans. Timur was mad, but Palaiologos was furious, because the Venetain's were a enemy of the Byzantine's for centuries. In the following battle, Timur's army annhiliated the Turks army within 6 hours, and the Venetian forces were defeated by the Greeks and a small portion of Timur's forces, including several of his infamous war elephants. Edirne was surrendered to Timur, but in one of Timur's rare acts of kindness, he gave the Greeks all the wealth in the city. An alliance was formed and for the rest of Timur's reign, the Timurid empire was at peace.
In 1405, Timur died. His grandson, Khalil Sultan became ruler of the Timurids. Khalil was not fond of the Greeks, and believed Constantinople should be the new capital of the Timurid empire. But he realized that taking the city would not be a good idea...yet. Instead, Khalil looked south, to Arabia. He sent an emmisary to Mecca asking if they would join his empire. Mecca agreed, and Medina joined as well. Khalil controlled all of the Arabia without having to kill a single man. Khalil took some time managing his empire, and the Timurid dynasty flourished for several years. He annexed Greece in 1409, and developed an alliance with the Mamluks Sultanate the following year. In August of 1410, Timur put Constantinople to siege with 80,000 men, 70 cannons, 150 war elephants, and a massive Bombard made in Edirne. Khalil's cannons bombarded the city walls, and miners packed black powder under the walls and detonated them. By early September, the 10,000 greeks who guarded the city were reduced to 650 men, and their emperor lay dead, trampled by an elephant. Still, the greeks held out, but Khalil sent a force of 5000 to slaughter them. Within 10 minutes, all the defenders were dead, and Constantinople fell to the Timurids. The city was renamed Istanbul, and the Timurids were now truly a world power.
Siege of Constantinople
Expansion into Africa[]
For several decades, the Timurid Empire was at peace. The people flourished, and wealth from the silk road made the empire wealthy. In 1485, a new Sultan came to power named Husayn Bayqarah. Sultan Husayn was thirsty for more power, and Egypt, home of the Mighty Mamluks, was an ideal target. In 1486 Husayn marched onto Egypt with an army of 60,000. The Mamluks, confident they could defeat the Timurids, marched to defend their homeland with an army 70,000 strong. Husayn tricked the Egyptians into following him to an Oasis where the Mamluks were slaughtered by cannon, and hand cannon. The Caliph of the Mamluks died in the battle, and Sultan Husayn captured Giza. It took Husayn 7 years to fully subdue the Mamluks thanks to the stubborness and couarge of the Mamluks. In 1493, Husayn also managed to capture Libya and even parts of Sudan. In 1500 Husayn set out to take Algeria, but he died of Malaria the following month.