Battle of Ankara

The Battle of Ankara was fought between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I against the emir of the Timurid Empire, Tamerlane, also known as Timur on July 28, 1402.

Emir Timur was from Transoxiana, which is now Uzbekistan. He became Central Asia's strongest kingdom after taking advantage of the weakened successor states of the Mongol Empire. Timur wanted to rebuild the once-great Mongol Empire, and he had been very successful. On the other hand, Bayezid was the son of Murad I. Bayezid had been invading other parts of Turkey, until he began to siege Constantinople in 1394, under the rule of Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. In response, Pope Boniface IX called a crusade which included troops from France, the Holy Roman Empire, many Balkan states, many Italian city states, and the Teutonic Knights. However they were destroyed in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. The two warlords began having problems when in 1398 when he conquered the Emirate of Djanik, violating their treaty. Then, Bayezid took Elbistan and Malatya. The two began to write insulting letters to each other.

This is a letter Timur wrote to Bayezid:

Believe me, you are but a Pismire ant: don't seek to fight the elephants for they'll crush you under their feet. Shall such a petty prince such as you are to contend with us? But for your rodomontades [braggadocio] are not extraordinary; for a Turcoman never spoke with judgement. If you don't follow our counsels, you'll regret it.

Bayezid dismissed him and wrote about the strength of the Janissaries. He also wrote, saying whoever did not show up to battle, their wife be divorced from them. In another letter, Bayezid wrote his name in large, gold letters while leaving Timur's name in small, black letters. It became obvious the two hated each other, and finally, Timur entered Ottoman territory.

The Ottomans began an attack on the Timurid troops, which was stopped by the horse archers of Timur. Thousands were killed from the archer's fire, and the Timurids right attacked the Ottoman left. The left, led by Bayezid's son Süleyman Çelebi fought against Miran shah, the son of Timur. On the right, the Timurids led by Shah Rukh attacked the Serbians led by Stefan Lazarevic. Stefan was able to hold the pressure. In the center, Timur charged with the majority of his army. The Tatars on the left however switched sides and flanked Süleyman. However, another one Bayezid's sons, Mehmed I attacked the Tartars, followed by Süleyman attacking them from behind. The two brother's succeeded in destroying the Tatars. Süleyman quickly fled the battlefield, and sensing defeat was near, the Anatolian mercenaries of Bayezid switched sides and attacked his center. Miran Shah eventually pushed back Mehmed, followed by Timur sending his center to attack Bayezid's slowly retreating center. Stefan, seeing the Anatolians switch sides, turned around and crushed them, before making his way to Bayezid, urging him to flee. Bayezid ignored Stefan and instead took his sons, Mustafa and Musa, along with his Janissaries to a nearby hill. The rest of the army fled, and Bayezid made a last stand, until after hours, he fled. The Timurids pursued and captured him when his horse had fallen. Mustafa and Musa escaped the battle. With Bayezid's capture, the Battle of Ankara had ended.

Bayezid was brought to Timur, and historians describe their first meeting as follows:

When Timur saw Bayezid, he laughed. Bayezid, offended by this laugh, told Timur that it was indecent to laugh at misfortune; to which Timur replied: "It is clear then that fate does not value power and possession of vast lands if it distributes them to cripples: to you, the crooked, and to me, the lame."

The fate of Bayezid was uncertain. Some say he was kept in a golden cage and subjected to humiliation. Others say he was treated kindly and respectfully. He would only die a few months later, with his death also being a mystery. Bayezid was the only Ottoman sultan to ever be captured in battle. Timur set the Ottoman realm in chaos by releasing their vassals and leaving them leaderless. He then turned to invade China but would die on the way. The Timurid Empire would eventually crumble in a short amount of time. The siege on Constantinople was lifted and Manuel gave many gifts to Timur. The Ottomans entered the Ottoman Interregnum between all four of Bayezid's sons. Mehmed would win the civil war, and eventually the Ottoman Empire would be restored.