Amir Timur, also spelled Tamerlane, was a 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror. As the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia, he is considered the greatesTurkic ruler of his era. Timur was born in Transoxiana near the city of Kesh (present-day Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan), some 80 miles south of Samarkand. His father, Taraghay, was the chief minister to the local ruler of the Chagatai Khanate. Timur’s mother was a descendant of Genghis Khan. Timur grew…