Haunted by the Ghost of Timur
A Visit to Samarkand’s Gur-e-Emir Triggers a Moral Dilemma
As the sun rises over the far-flung Central Asia city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, I find myself sitting alone in quiet meditation with maybe the most ruthless killer in history.
That’s because I’m at the Gur-e-Amir, the mausoleum of Timur the Conqueror, and am staring at the black jade cenotaph that marks Timur’s grave in the necropolis chamber below.
Timur, for those who aren’t up on their Central Asian history, was an emperor who in the late 1300s made Samarkand his capital while on his way to creating one of the largest land empires in history, one that stretched from Western China to Southern Russia to Northern India to Turkey, Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Timur borrowed his military strategy and tactics from his predecessor Genghis Khan, deploying brutal methods of siege and savagery in order to attain victory. Undefeated in battle, it is estimated that Timur was responsible for the deaths of over 17 million people — 5% of the world’s population at the time.
For a more in-depth exploration of Timur and Samarkand, check out my latest article, The Curse of Timur, featured in the Spring ’24 issue of Hidden Compass Magazine. You can also view my Hidden Compass: Behind the Byline interview here.
