The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 7 by Edward Gibbon, J. B. Bury

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 7

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But these cares were ineffectual for the preservation of his
fame, and these precious memorials in the Mogul or Persian
language were concealed from the world, or at least from the
knowledge of Europe. The nations which he vanquished
exercised a base and impotent revenge; and ignorance has
long repeated the tale of calumny, ⁵ which had disfigured the
birth and character, the person, and even the name, of Tamer-
lane. ⁶ Yet his real merit would be enhanced, rather than
debased, by the elevation of a peasant to the throne of Asia;
nor can his lameness be a theme of reproach, unless he had the
weakness to blush at a natural, or perhaps an honourable,
infirmity.

In the eyes of the Moguls, who held the indefeasible suc-
cession of the house of Zingis, he was doubtless a rebel-subject;
yet he sprang from the noble tribe of Berlass: his fifth ancestor,
Carashar Nevian, had been the vizir of Zagatai, in his new
realm of Transoxiana; and, in the ascent of some generations,
the branch of Timour is confounded, at least by the females, ⁷
with the Imperial stem. ⁸ He was born forty miles to the

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by Major Davy's letter. The Orientals have never cultivated the art of criticism;
the patronage of a prince, less honourable perhaps, is not less lucrative than that
of a bookseller; nor can it be deemed incredible that a Persian, the real author,
should renounce the credit, to raise the value and price, of the work.

⁵	The original of the tale is found in the following work, which is much esteemed for its florid elegance of style: Ahmedis Arabsiadae (Ahmed Ebn Arabshaw) Vitae et Rerum gestarum Timuri. Arabice et Latine. Edidit Samuel Henricus Manger. Franequerae, 1767, 2 tom. in 4to. This Syrian author is ever a malicious and often an ignorant enemy; the very titles of his chapters are injurious; as how the wicked, as how the impious, as how the viper, &c. The copious article of TIMUR, in Bibliothèque Orientale, is of a mixed nature, as d'Herbelot indifferently draws his materials (p. 877-888) from Khondemir, Ebn Schounah, and the Leb- tarikh.
⁶	Demir or Timour [Tīmūr] signifies, in the Turkish language, iron; and Beg is the appellation of a lord or prince. By the change of a letter or accent it is changed into Lenc [Lang], or lame; and a European corruption confounds the two words in the name of Tamerlane. [ Timur's lameness was due to an arrow wound in the foot, received in a battle in Sīstān, when he was conquering the countries south of the Oxus, before he won Transoxiana.]
⁷	After relating some false and foolish tales of Timour Lenc, Arabshah is com- pelled to speak truth, and to own him for a kinsman of Zingis, per mulieres (as he peevishly adds) laqueos Satanæ (pars i. c. i. p. 25). The testimony of Abulghazi Khan (p. ii. c. 5, p. v. c. 4) is clear, unquestionable and decisive. [ M. Cahun also agrees that the claim to connexion with the family of Chingiz was justified.]
⁸	According to one of the pedigrees, the fourth ancestor of Zingis, and the ninth of Timour, were brothers; and they agreed that the posterity of the eider should succeed to the dignity of Khan, and that the descendants of the younger should fill the office of their minister and general. This tradition was at least convenient to justify the first steps of Timour's ambition ( Institutions, p. 24, 25, from the Ms, fragments of Timour's History).

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Publication Information: Book Title: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Volume: 7. Contributors: Edward Gibbon - author, J. B. Bury - editor. Publisher: Methuen. Place of Publication: London. Publication Year: 1900. Page Number: 43.

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