A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last
master nomadic power, one of history's most extreme tyrants ever, and the
subject of Marlowe's play. Marozzi travelled in the footsteps of the great
Mogul Emperor of Samarkland to write this revealing combination of history and
travelogue.A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last
master nomadic power, one of history's most extreme tyrants ever, and the
subject of Marlowe's play. Marozzi travelled in the footsteps of the great
Mogul Emperor of Samarkland to write this wonderful combination of history and
travelogue. The name of the last great warlord conjures up images of mystery
and romance: medieval warfare on desert plains; the clash of swords on
snow-clad mountains; the charge of elephants across the steppes of Asia; the
legendary opulence and cruelty of the illiterate, chess-playing nemesis of
Asia. He ranks alongside Alexander as one of the world's great conquerors, yet
the details of his life are scarcely known in the West. He was not born to a
distinguished family, nor did he find his apprenticeship easy - at one point
his mobile army consisted only of himself, his wife, seven companions and four
horses - but his dominion grew with astonishing rapidity. In the last two
decades of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, he blazed
through Asia.; Cities were razed to the ground, inhabitants tortured without mercy,
sometimes enemies were buried alive - more commonly they were decapitated. On
the ruins of Baghdad, Tamerlane had his princes erect a pyramid of 90,000
heads. During his lifetime he sought to foster a personal myth, exaggerating
the difficulties of his youth, laying claim to supernatural powers and a
connection to Genghis Khan. This myth was maintained after his death in legend,
folklore, poetry, drama and even opera, nowhere more powerfully than in
Marlowe's play - he is now as much a literary constr
