Tamerlane's Elephant Corps at the Battle of Ankara

In 1402, outside Ankara, Tamerlane faced the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I in one of the largest battles of the medieval world. This episode focuses on a surprising weapon in the Timurid arsenal: war elephants. Lucas and Luna explore where the elephants came from—many captured in the Delhi campaign of 1398—how Tamerlane's engineers trained them, and how they performed against the Ottoman Janissaries and Serbian knights. The episode also examines the logistical feat of moving hundreds of elephants from India to Anatolia, the psychological impact on the Ottoman troops, and the aftermath: whether Tamerlane truly considered using his elephant corps for the planned invasion of China. Drawing on the Zafarnama, Ibn Arabshah, and the account of the Castilian envoy Clavijo, this conversation sheds light on a neglected aspect of Timurid military history. #Tamerlane #TimuridEmpire #BattleOfAnkara #WarElephants #BayezidI #OttomanEmpire #MongolWarfare #CentralAsia #MedievalHistory #Zafarnama #IbnArabshah #Clavijo #MilitaryHistory #ElephantWarfare #Anatolia #HistoryPodcast #FexingoHistory #SiegeCraft Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo