Timur's invasion

History glossary

Also called: Invasion of Timur · Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"

Meaning

Timur's invasion was the attack on north India in 1398 by Timur, a Turkic-Mongol conqueror from Central Asia. He sacked Delhi with terrible violence. Large numbers of people were killed or enslaved, and the thriving city was left in ruins. Timur then went back home with huge plunder and left chaos behind. The attack broke the Tughlaq dynasty and the power of the Delhi Sultanate.

Example

In his memoirs, Timur said he had two aims in India: "war with the infidels" and "to gain something by plundering the wealth of the infidels". After he left, Delhi's power shrank. Regional sultanates such as Gujarat and Jaunpur grew stronger. Babur, who founded the Mughal Empire in 1526, was a descendant of Timur.

Don't confuse with

  • Mahmud of Ghazni's raids: these came in the early 11th century and were mainly aimed at Punjab and temple towns like Mathura and Somnath. Timur came almost 400 years later and attacked the capital of an existing sultanate.

Related concepts

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