This is the first serious study of Tamerlane, the great nomad conqueror who rose to power in 1370 on the ruins of the Mongol Empire and led his armies on campaigns of unprecedented scope, ranging from Moscow to Delhi. As the last nomad ruler to unite the steppe regions of Eurasia, Tamerlane marks the transition from the era of nomad conquest and rule to the modern ascendency of the settled world.

Beatrice Forbes Manz uses the history of Iran under the Timurid ruler Shahrukh (1409 1447) to analyse the relationship between government and society in the medieval Middle East. She provides a rich portrait of Iranian society over an exceptionally broad spectrum - the dynasty and its servitors, city elite and provincial rulers, and the religious classes, both ulama' and Sufi. The work addresses two issues central to pre-modern Middle Eastern history: how a government without the monopoly of force controlled a heterogeneous society, and how a society with diffuse power structures remained...

Beatrice Forbes Manz uses the history of Iran under the Timurid ruler Shahrukh (1409 1447) to analyse the relationship between government and society in the medieval Middle East. She provides a rich portrait of Iranian society over an exceptionally broad spectrum - the dynasty and its servitors, city elite and provincial rulers, and the religious classes, both ulama' and Sufi. The work addresses two issues central to pre-modern Middle Eastern history: how a government without the monopoly of force controlled a heterogeneous society, and how a society with diffuse power structures remained...