Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
He was from the Barlas tribe, which was Mongolian but had been heavily Turkicised since their immigration to the area in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion in the 1220s – hence the phrase ‘Turco-Mongolian’. Timur’s tribe was different from that of Chingez Khan and his descendants who were from the imperial Borjigin clan. That meant Timur could never really become the Mongol Emperor legitimately. So he tried really hard to root his legitimacy as a leader in his connection to the Great Mongol Empire, even marrying the wife of his fallen friend turned foe Hussein, since she was descended from Chingez himself. Subsequently, Timur and his successors (including the Mughals of India) referred to themselves as ‘Gurkani’, meaning son-in-law, as it signified their connection to the glorious Chingez Khan. Since he couldn’t be the Khan, he settled for ‘Amir’ – the Arabic word for ‘prince’. But he would go on to become much more than a mere prince.
Big thank you to Nomads & Empires Podcast for his help with the script. Check out his podcast: buzzsprout.com/1842984
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Images Used:
Music Used:
Doug Maxwell - Arabian Nightfall (Sting):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bRzD...
If any of the images or songs are yours, please let me know I will amend them. Please don't report me straight away!
He was from the Barlas tribe, which was Mongolian but had been heavily Turkicised since their immigration to the area in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion in the 1220s – hence the phrase ‘Turco-Mongolian’. Timur’s tribe was different from that of Chingez Khan and his descendants who were from the imperial Borjigin clan. That meant Timur could never really become the Mongol Emperor legitimately. So he tried really hard to root his legitimacy as a leader in his connection to the Great Mongol Empire, even marrying the wife of his fallen friend turned foe Hussein, since she was descended from Chingez himself. Subsequently, Timur and his successors (including the Mughals of India) referred to themselves as ‘Gurkani’, meaning son-in-law, as it signified their connection to the glorious Chingez Khan. Since he couldn’t be the Khan, he settled for ‘Amir’ – the Arabic word for ‘prince’. But he would go on to become much more than a mere prince.
Big thank you to Nomads & Empires Podcast for his help with the script. Check out his podcast: buzzsprout.com/1842984
FREE NEWSLETTER:
https://mailchi.mp/a69f93be6c66/hikma-history-newsletter
- Become a Patron for as little as a dollar a month to vote on upcoming and keep the movement going!
patreon.com/user?u=12397811
Massive thank you to our Patreons:
Callum
Derek
Richard
Pedro
Muhammad
Igor
Aman
Shawn
William
Tahsin
Zaki
Sam
Elman
Walid
Areeb
Edgar
Claudius
Bilal
Rob
Kjetil
Amin
Deniz
Yehoshua
Artin
Adam
Farid
Ibrahim
Ari
Joshua
Haseeb
Mahmoud
Joel
CoreBard
- Join our social media community:
Twitter:
twitter.com/HikmaHistory
Instagram:
instagram.com/hikmahistory
Facebook:
facebook.com/HikmaHistory
Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hikma...
#genghiskhan #mongol #turkic
Images Used:
Music Used:
Doug Maxwell - Arabian Nightfall (Sting):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bRzD...
If any of the images or songs are yours, please let me know I will amend them. Please don't report me straight away!
