Aziza Saparbaeva, student of the 3rd stage of history education, Urganch State University, Faculty of Socio-Economic Sciences, winner of the state scholarship named after Navoi.


The event that happened in the life of Amir Temur and left a scar on him for life took place in Seistan in 1362. At the suggestion of Malik Qutbiddin, governor of Seistan, two friends go to fight against his enemies. During the battle, Amir Temur was seriously injured by a bow and arrow on his right elbow and right leg. As a result, he will be lame for life.

Amir Temur remembers this in his "Tuzukoti Temuriy":

"On my way to Baktarzamin and Kandahar, I stopped and built a village [2] when I reached the Hirmand [1] river. I stood by that river for several days to rest my soldiers. At that time, about a thousand Turkish and Tajik horsemen from the Garmsir [3] region and their troops joined me. In this way, Garmsir region came under my control.
Then I decided to travel to Seistan [4]. When this news reached the governor of Seistan, he sent gifts and greetings through the ambassador and asked for my help: "My enemies oppressed me and took my seven fortresses from my hands. If they cut the hand of the enemy from me, I would supply their soldiers with food for six months.''

After consulting on my own, I decided to march towards Seistan. Seeing that I took five of the seven fortresses captured by the enemy by force and anger, fear fell into the heart of the governor of Seistan, and he took his yesterday's enemies as his friends, and held such a council among themselves: "If Amir Temur stays here as long as I stay, it is certain that the property of Seystan will be lost from our hands", saying that all the Sipah and raiyats of Seystan united and attacked me.

Because the governor of Seistan did not keep his promise, I was helpless and started fighting against them. At that moment, a bullet hit my elbow and another shot hit my leg.

Even so, I won over them in the end. But I didn't like the climate of that country, so I left there and went to Garmsir again. I stayed in that region for two months until my wounds healed."

The Spanish ambassador de Clavijo, who traveled to Samarkand in 1404, wrote that Amir Temur lost many of his troops when he faced the cavalry of Seistan. "They also knocked Temur off his horse and injured his right leg. After that, he became lame for life and got the name Temurlang," writes Claviho. He also says that Amir Temur's right hand was injured, he was paralyzed, and then he lost his finger.
Because of these injuries, the Persians called him "Temurlang". Therefore, in Russian and Western sources, his name is given as "Tamerlan", "Tamerlain".

1) Hirmand - the Helmand River in the south of present-day Afghanistan.
2) Land means residence here.
3) Garmsir (Persian - hot country) - adjacent lands of Seistan and Baluchistan.
4) Seistan is a country located in the south-east of present-day Iran and south-west of Afghanistan. In 1872, it was divided between Iran and Afghanistan. The part up to the Helmand River passed to Iran, and east of it to Afghanistan.


In the first and second picture, we see the statue of Amir Temur and the state he built.