claim: Timur defeated the Knights Templar.
evidence: Timur -LRB- تیمور Temur , Chagatai  : Temur , 9 April 1336 -- 18 February 1405 -RRB- , historically known as Amir Timur and Tamerlane -LRB- تيمور لنگ Temur -LRB- - i -RRB- Lang , `` Timur the Lame '' -RRB- , was a Turco-Mongol conqueror .. Chagatai. Chagatai language. Turco-Mongol. Turco-Mongol. As the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia he became the first ruler in the Timurid dynasty .. Timurid. Timurid dynasty. Timurid Empire. Timurid Empire. Persia. Persia. Central Asia. Central Asia. Timurid dynasty. Timurid dynasty. Born into the Barlas confederation in Transoxiana on 9 April 1336 , Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370 .. Chagatai Khanate. Chagatai Khanate. Chagatai. Chagatai language. Barlas. Barlas. Transoxiana. Transoxiana. From that base he led military campaigns across Western , South and Central Asia , the Caucasus and southern Russia , and emerged as the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world after defeating the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria , the emerging Ottoman Empire , and the declining Delhi Sultanate .. Central Asia. Central Asia. Western. Western Asia. South. South Asia. Muslim world. Muslim world. Mamluks of Egypt and Syria. Mamluk Sultanate ( Cairo ). Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Empire. Delhi Sultanate. Delhi Sultanate. Muslim. Muslim. From these conquests he founded the Timurid Empire , but this empire fragmented shortly after his death .. Timurid. Timurid dynasty. Timurid Empire. Timurid Empire. Timur is considered the last of the great nomadic conquerors of the Eurasian Steppe , and his empire set the stage for the rise of the more structured and lasting Gunpowder Empires in the 1500s and 1600s .. nomadic conquerors. nomadic empire. Eurasian Steppe. Eurasian Steppe. Gunpowder Empires. Gunpowder Empires. According to John Joseph Saunders , Timur 's background was Iranized and not steppe nomad .. John Joseph Saunders. John Joseph Saunders. Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan -LRB- died 1227 -RRB- .. Mongol Empire. Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan. `` In his formal correspondence Temur continued throughout his life to portray himself as the restorer of Chinggisid rights .. Chinggisid. Borjigin. He justified his Iranian , Mamluk , and Ottoman campaigns as a re-imposition of legitimate Mongol control over lands taken by usurpers .. To legitimize his conquests , Timur relied on Islamic symbols and language , referred to himself as the `` Sword of Islam '' , and patronized educational and religious institutions .. Islam. Islam. He converted nearly all the Borjigin leaders to Islam during his lifetime .. Islam. Islam. Borjigin. Borjigin. `` Temur , a non-Chinggisid , tried to build a double legitimacy based on his role as both guardian and restorer of the Mongol Empire . ''. Mongol Empire. Mongol Empire. Chinggisid. Borjigin. Timur also decisively defeated the Christian Knights Hospitaller at the Siege of Smyrna , styling himself a ghazi .. Knights Hospitaller. Knights Hospitaller. Siege of Smyrna. Siege of Smyrna. ghazi. ghazi ( warrior ). By the end of his reign , Timur had gained complete control over all the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate , the Ilkhanate , and the Golden Horde , and even attempted to restore the Yuan dynasty in China .. Chagatai Khanate. Chagatai Khanate. Chagatai. Chagatai language. Ilkhanate. Ilkhanate. Golden Horde. Golden Horde. Yuan dynasty. Yuan dynasty. Timur 's armies were inclusively multi-ethnic and were feared throughout Asia , Africa , and Europe , sizable parts of which his campaigns laid to waste .. Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people , amounting to about 5 % of the world population at the time .. He was the grandfather of the renowned Timurid sultan , astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Beg , who ruled Central Asia from 1411 to 1449 , and the great-great-great-grandfather of Babur -LRB- 1483-1530 -RRB- , founder of the Mughal Empire , which ruled parts of South Asia for over three centuries , from 1526 until 1857 .. Timurid. Timurid dynasty. Central Asia. Central Asia. South. South Asia. Ulugh Beg. Ulugh Beg. Babur. Babur. Mughal Empire. Mughal Empire. Timur is also recognized as a great patron of art and architecture , as he interacted with Muslim intellectuals such as Ibn Khaldun and Hafiz-i Abru .. Muslim. Muslim. Ibn Khaldun. Ibn Khaldun. Hafiz-i Abru. Hafiz-i Abru