Tamerlane's Religious War: The Heretic Campaigns of 1393-94

Most people know Tamerlane as a steppe conqueror who built pyramids of skulls. But in 1393-94, he launched a series of campaigns that were different: he targeted fellow Muslims he deemed heretics. This episode explores Tamerlane's religious justification for war, focusing on his brutal campaigns against the Sarbadars of Sabzevar, the Muzaffarids of Shiraz, and the Jalayirids of Baghdad. Lucas and Luna discuss how Tamerlane used accusations of apostasy (takfir) to legitimize violence against other Sunni Muslims, the role of the ulama in his court, and the famous encounter with the philosopher Ibn Khaldun outside Damascus. We also examine how these religious campaigns contrasted with his pragmatic tolerance of Christians, Zoroastrians, and Hindus in his empire. Was Tamerlane genuinely pious, or was religion just another tool of conquest? The evidence from the Zafarnama and the hostile account of Ibn Arabshah paints a complex picture of a ruler who both patronized Islamic scholarship and slaughtered Muslim populations with theological justification. #Tamerlane #Timur #Takfir #HereticCampaigns #Sarbadars #Muzaffarids #Jalayirids #IbnKhaldun #Zafarnama #IbnArabshah #Sabzevar #Shiraz #Baghdad #CentralAsia #MedievalIslam #History #FexingoHistory #ReligiousWar Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo