Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-09-22

Prom Harper. Magazine


There Is probably 10 chapter Of
the worlds history 10 ersmnec ~iis
fighting a. that which Chronicles the
doings Ia India from the tenth cen
t2ry ~ the fourteenth. and 70 en-
deavor 70 condeDse sny account Of
the bumerous sieges Suffered by
Delhi and BY many aHosber city II
Northern India during that period.
would be % produce = picture 81
unceasing bloOdshed and u wear
some sAmeness. The character Of
TimuF Beg. Or Tamsrlane. however.
Is 20 very extraordinary a. 70 merit
description From him date the
famous Mogul Empire. finally ex
,inguished 10 the present century b.
absorption into the Ess, India com
pauy.
Ills SUCCESSORS. says GibbOn.
"eXtsndsd their sway from the
mountains 81 Ksshmir 20 Cape
CONFORM. and from Bandahsr 10 tie
Gulf Of Bengal. Since the reign Of
Aurangzebe their empire has been
dissolved, their trasures Of Delhi
have been Titied by a Persian rObber,
Nadir shah, and the richest Of their
kingdoms Is nov possessed By com
pany Of Christian merchants Of re- |
mote Island in the Northern Ocean.
IL is said that Timur Beg was q
grave man, of quiet manners. halt 4
of one haad aud one foot, and de l
lighting 10 the game Of chess. which
he greatly complicated by doubling /
the number Of pieces from thirty
two to sixtyfOur He Is described
az ruling his household with calm
equity. by no means sparing his sons
from the observance Of the Law
temperature and regular in his life,
and aiming ever at the establishment
Of an idea kingdom where child
might carry purse OF gold 10 safety
from east 20 ives, of the Asian con
tinent How man of such chsrac-
ter could al the same time be 50 en-
phaiically the arch destroyer Of man
kind il not clear As for the author
iiy be exercised over his children, II
is at least certain that when he in
vaded India, his grandson. Pr Mo
hammad had made little war for
himself at MdltaH. and would have
persisted miserably had his grand
father not come 10 his rescue. How
young Pr went out to conquer India
on his own account is not told, but
Il Is certain tina. TimUr was not pro
voked To any act of sharp justice
Thurs sons seemed to have only
waited for his death 10 tear each
other 10 pieces at their leisure.
Timur, the wild chess player, sig
nalized his SUGGESTS ia India by
series Of barbarous massacres. Al
one time. on one day alone, he muir
dered 100, 900 prisoners In cold blood,
lest they should turn against him
Having Conquered the weak Nah
moud Ill, before Delhi. he entered
the city and had himself proclaimed
Emperor Ia all the mosques on Fri
day the Moslem Sunday. and i'm
mediately left the city 10 the mercy
of his Moghul soldiers, who burned.
plundered and slew till they were |
weary. lie aiterward returned and
gave evidence Of his taste for the
beautiful by ordering the famous
mosque OF Ferosc, which had es-
capped the flames, TO be copied 10
samarkand.
These doiDgs Of Timur appear the |
more barbarons when we remember |
that he was himself a Mussulmsn |
saeking Il Mussulman kings city. |
and Staying by the hundred thous-
and his Mussalman subjects He |
had not the excuse which he subsc- |
suently alleged In support Of his ex
pedition against China, that he was
carrying the faith OF the pfophe, into
n heather country. The Kingdom
founded by Mohammed Of Ghor was
essentially Moslem. and It's Invasion
by Tsmerlane was purely a. arbitrary
an act OF plumber as was the con.
quest Of his own successors by Nadir
Shah, the Persian freebooter of the
eighteenth century
Timur died of drinking too much
iced water 90 u march 10 China in
1905 As was 10 be expected, his
kingdom or empire fell to pieces,
and FOR 100 years a series Of parvenu
eInperors Of all sorts reigned al
Delhi. bcsieging il. taking IL and
holding IL as they were able.