Timur (Fidem Pacis)

Timur (1336-1398), also known as Tamerlane or Timur-e Lang, was a Turko-Mongol warlord and general in the service of the rump Chagatai Khanate, and later of the Mihranid Empire of Iran. A great warrior and strategist, and a devout Buddhist, his campaigns in Central and South Asia restored the authority of the Chagataid khans over the heart of the continent, thus paving the way for Dayan Khan's founding of the Great Altaic Confederation over a hundred years later.

Timur could easily have seized power for himself, and his friends and family often urged him to do so. He however remained loyal - that is, until Baraq Khan, jealous of Timur's success and fearful of his ambitions, attempted to have him assassinated. Timur survived and fled alone to neighbouring Iran, where he offered his services to the Mihranid dynasty.

The Mihranids, though they had fought against Timur in the past, welcomed him with open arms. Ten years later, when the Chagatai Khanate invaded Iran once again, it was Timur who led the Mihranid armies and defeated the Chagataids. He took his revenge on Baraq Khan in single combat on the battlefield, but was then killed by an arrow shot by his own son Shahrukh.