Restorer of the Mongol Empire, Timur, was born on 8th April 1336 in Kesh near Samarkand in Uzbekistan. He was the member of the Barlas tribe, a Mongol subgroup and began his life as a bandit leader. During this period, he received an arrow-wound in the leg, as a result of which he was nicknamed Timur i Lenk or Timur the Lame, corrupted in the West to Tamerlane.
In AD 1398, Timur invaded India on the pretext that the Sultanate of Delhi was showing excessive tolerance to their Hindu subjects. After capturing several places and leaving a trail of carnage, he marched on to Delhi. Here it is said that he butchered 100,000 men. Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Tughluq, the ruler of Delhi was defeated and the city was totally ransacked.
Timur had no desire to stay in India. After halting at Delhi for 15 days, he stormed Meerut and Haridwar. Marching along the Shiwalik Hills, he captured Jammu and crossed the Indus River.
