Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Ch. XXVII · Unit 8: Freedom fighters and far travelers
35. Tamerlane
Goal: Your child can tell who Tamerlane was, name some of the lands he conquered, and explain why the book says he was not a truly great man.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map or globe showing Europe, the Middle East and Asia (a free online map works)
- Paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)
What's in the book
Chapter XXVII (1333-1405): Timour the Lame, a descendant of Genghis Khan, becomes leader of the Mongolians and builds a marble palace at Samarcand. He conquers Persia, the Tatars of the north, part of Russia and northern India, taking Delhi. He storms Bagdad, defeats the Turkish sultan Bajazet and, the book says, shows him in an iron cage. He dies in 1405 on his way to invade China, and his empire falls to pieces.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Samarkand in Uzbekistan, in Central Asia. Then find Persia (Iran), Delhi in India, Baghdad, and Turkey. Say: Tamerlane's armies reached all of these.
Read the chapter
Read Chapter XXVII aloud. It begins:
Tamerlane was the son of the chief of a Mongolian tribe in Central Asia.
Heads-up: the book says he killed thousands of the people of Bagdad. It is one sentence.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- How did Timour get the name Tamerlane?
- Who was his famous forefather?
- What happened to the sultan Bajazet?
- Where was Tamerlane going when he died?
Talk it over
Read the book's verdict:
He was a soldier of genius but he cannot be called a truly great man.
Ask: Tamerlane won more land than almost anyone. Why does the book say he was not truly great? Who in this book do you think was truly great, and why?
A note on the story
SaySome historians think the iron cage is only a story told about Bajazet. The book itself says nobody knows how long he was kept in it.
Remember it
Add to the timeline: "1405 Tamerlane dies on the way to China." Say: He lived at the same time as the Black Prince.
Afterwards
Ask your child to name three places Tamerlane conquered and find them on the map.
Tip
Compare Tamerlane with Attila and Genseric. The book judges conquerors by what they built as well as what they took.
Answers to the book's problems
He was lamed in battle as a youth and called Timour the Lame, which became Tamerlane. Genghis Khan, who conquered Persia, China and other countries. He was captured, chained in an iron cage and shown to the soldiers and people as the army marched. He was marching with two hundred thousand men to invade China. Good answers note that his empire fell apart at once and that he was cruel; greatness is about more than winning.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.