Tamerlane's Religious Policy: Between Orthodoxy and Opportunism

Lucas and Luna explore Tamerlane's complex and pragmatic approach to religion. While he presented himself as a defender of Sunni Islam, building mosques and patronizing scholars, he also persecuted Shia Muslims in Persia and employed Christian and Zoroastrian engineers. His military campaigns often targeted fellow Muslims as ruthlessly as non-believers. We examine his construction of the Bibi-Khanym mosque in Samarkand, his treatment of religious minorities, and the contradiction between his violent conquests and his claim to Islamic piety. Using accounts from Ibn Arabshah and Ruy González de Clavijo, we see how Tamerlane used faith as both a sword and a shield. This episode looks at a conqueror who killed for religion when it suited him and showed mercy to infidels when it didn't. A nuanced portrait of power and belief on the steppe. #Tamerlane #Timur #Sahib-iQiran #BibiKhanym #Samarkand #Islam #Shia #Sunni #IbnArabshah #Clavijo #CentralAsia #MongolEmpire #ReligiousPolicy #MedievalHistory #Empire #Conquest #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo