Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-11

after one of the bloodiest battles in the
history of mankind. Timerlane carried
his rival around with him in an IRON cage
as an example to those who were tempted
to defy his authority.
King of Twenty-Seven Kings.
One by one, this shepherd boy .grasped
the crowns of seven and twenty kings
and for twenty years his authority was
undisputed in Asia outside of the Chinese
empire Samarkand, lis capital, was
gorged with loot from Turkey, Persia,
SYRIA, India and the cities of the Mos
covites.
He determined to make Samarkand the
rival of Rome in architectural splendor
and intellectual culture. he brought wise
men from the east, artists from the west
and Adventures from all the territory be-
tween the Persian gulf and the polar
sea and the Voga and the Ganges.
The wise, the learned and the ambitious
thrOnged the palaces of Samarkand. AM
bassadors from the kingdoms Of Europe
came here to make treaties with him and
brought gifts of great value.
Description by Spaniard.
One of the ambassadors. Ruy Con-
| zales de Clavijo, bearing messages from
the King of Spain, wrote a vivid descrip-
IlCn OF tne CITY dbu tie tOuIi. his
mors are the most complete and doubt
less the most accurate account we have
of the reign of the Tartar conqueror and
the splendor of his capital.
Although familiar with the incompara-
BILE architecture of the MoOrs at Granada,
Cordova and Seville, he confesses his
amazement at the magnifcence of the
barbar ian city in the deserts of Asia
The mosques and colleges were thronged
with scholars. the palaces were surround
ed by gardens las lovely as paradise. In
which thousands of pavllions, rose col
ored, azure and snow white, stood gilt
tering in the sum-
He tells us that Tamerlane and his
courtiers dined at tables laden with
dishes of pure gold; they drank from
goblets enameled with rubies; their food
was borne to them on silver trays SO
heavy that it took three men to carry
them; the guests were served with pyra-
mids of meat and countless jars OF
precious wine. and when the emir was
pleased with his surroundings he show
cred coins of gold and jeweled rings upon
his guests.
Nothing amazed the Spaniard more than
the pavilion of the queen, where she dlned
upon table of gold, the top of which
he says. was a single emerald. 1t was
placed under tree similar to one de-
scribed in the story of Aladdin and ms
wonderful lamp. Its trunk was Of sill
YER. its boughs and branches were OF
gold it's fruits were rubies, pearls, dla-
mondS and saDphires.
No fable Of mythology was ever so ex-
travagant in it's descriptions of splendor
as the stories which those grandees sent
home to the Spanish court. While much
of their rhapsody must have been exag-
geration, their enthusiasm was no douot
Justified Their statements are confirmed
by other writer's and by the records OF
period which may be termed the golden
age of Central Asia, not to mention the
ruins that still exist.
Passing of Tamerlane.
But even the powerful can tempt the
gods too far. Tamerlanes ambition over
reached itself. All Asia. except the
Chinese nation, now paid homage TO the
shepherd boy of the desert.
He had attained power and enjoyed
glory equal 10 that of Alexander the
Great, and was not willing to rest until
he had overcome and plundered the
Chinese cities which were reported TO
be An exhaustless source of treasure.
Tamerlane spent the year 14O4 prepar-
ing for his expedition, and in JANUARY.
1905 followed by 100000 fighting men. set
out from Samarkand toward the noun
tains that divide China and Turkestan.
The winter was unusually cold; the desert
was covered with snow, the Jaxarkes was
frozen over, and the great horde crossed
upon the ice.
A blizzard of unprecedented severity
compelled JTamerane to stop at Otrar,
200 miles east of Samarkand. where he
settled down to await milder weather.
But exposure and fatigue had at last
overcome the man whom nothing had
been able to subdue.
He took to his bed with fever. and the
icy water with which ne tried to assuage
his thirst brought on chill from which
he died during a furious storm that
almost destroyed his silken tent.
When the tempest had subsidized suf-
ficiently to allow the troops to find the
desert trail they turned their faces
homeward. bearing the body of the EN-
peror of Asia. eribaImed with the richest
of spices, drenched in rose water. peace
fully reposing in a casket OF EBONY. and
they placed 1t with reverence In the
mausoleum he had erected for himself at
Samarkand.
He was sixty-nine years old at the date
of his death: he reigned for thirty-three
years as Emperor OF Asia, ond at least
thirds of his entire. life was occupied
with active warfare for conquest. His
battles are counted by the hundreds. 1t
Is said that he was never defeated except
by the angel of death.