Timur (Tamerlane), Timurid Gurkhan of Transoxiana and Khorasan. AH 771-807/AD 1370-1405

A V2366, Very Fine

Khwarizm mint. Timur named as Gurkhan below mint signature; Reverse, nominal Chaghatayid overlord Suyurghatmish cited above date. This coin dates from the time of Timur’s conquest of Khwarizm and is in the same style as issues of the previous rulers of Khwarizm, the Sufids. These tiny gold coins of Khwarizm are the only gold coins known to have been struck by the conqueror Timur. They were first revealed little more than a decade ago and remain very rare.

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Timur (Tamerlane, from the Persian Timur-e Lang meaning “Timur the Lame”, AH 771-807/ AD 1370-1405 ) was the founder of the Timurid dynasty. Like many tyrants in the history of the region, he is a contradictory figure. He was both brutal and cultured. He ordered mass killings yet took great joy in hearing poetry. He defeated the emerging Ottoman power in Anatolia, destroyed many warlords in central and western Persia and unified most of the territory of the former Ilkhan and Seljuq Empires thru three campaigns, lasting a total of 15 years. His name became the equal of Chingiz Khan in the murdering of civilian populations and the destruction of cities. On June 20. 1941, Soviet anthropologists and archaeologists opened his grave in Samarkand. Many, including religious leaders of the time, considered this a great insult that would anger the soul of the conqueror and cause great destruction. Interestingly enough, on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union across the entire eastern front. In the three years that followed, millions perished.