Timur was doing this purely for the love of the game. Was this the greatest rivalry of all time? There’s not many occasions where the two greatest generals of an era face one another. And while the battle was great, the lead up to the beef was even better. By 1400, Bayezid “the Thunderbolt” had a ridiculous résumé. He had crushed the massive crusading army at Nicopolis, swallowed most of the Turkish beyliks in Anatolia, strangled Constantinople, and built an army centered around elite Janissaries and hardened Balkan troops. In Europe, Bayezid looked almost unstoppable. Unfortunately, coming toward him from the east was possibly the one man alive with an even scarier résumé. Timur. Persia. Central Asia. India. The Golden Horde. Iraq. Syria. City after city had either submitted or been destroyed. Timur had spent decades perfecting mobility, intelligence, deception, logistics and psychological warfare. He was in his sixties, partially crippled from old injuries, and apparently still looking around Asia asking, “Who else?” The collision began over eastern Anatolia. Bayezid had conquered Turkish princes who fled to Timur. Timur’s enemies, including Qara Yusuf and Sultan Ahmad Jalayir, fled in the opposite direction and received Bayezid’s protection. Each ruler was effectively sheltering the other man’s enemies. Then Timur demanded Bayezid surrender them. Bayezid responded with one of the most disrespectful diplomatic exchanges of the Middle Ages. In the surviving correspondence he essentially attacks Timur’s entire career: you defeated Persians, Indians, Tatars and Syrians? Congratulations. None of them are my Ottomans. He reportedly opens one reply by calling Timur an “old dog” and makes the challenge personal enough to invoke triple divorce from their wives if either ruler refused battle. Timur’s response becomes increasingly cold. He reminds Bayezid how quickly he had taken Sivas, while Bayezid had struggled elsewhere. He mocks the Christian origins of many Ottoman soldiers after Bayezid questions his Islamic legitimacy. And eventually comes the message that perfectly summarizes the entire relationship: Once the sword is drawn, there is no place for the pen. Later histories also preserve the immortal insult of Timur warning Bayezid that he was effectively an ant challenging elephants. Whether that exact sentence appeared verbatim in their surviving letters is questionable, but it captures Timur’s attitude perfectly. Bayezid wasn’t intimidated. And that’s important. This wasn’t some minor king stupidly provoking Timur. Bayezid had every reason to believe he could win. Then came Ankara, 1402. Timur maneuvered through Anatolia with extraordinary speed, devastated the countryside Bayezid needed for supplies and positioned himself near Ankara. Bayezid force-marched his army through brutal summer heat trying to catch him. When they finally met, both sides fielded enormous multinational forces: Timurid horse archers and heavy cavalry against Ottoman Janissaries, sipahis, Anatolian troops and the legendary Serbian heavy cavalry of Stefan Lazarević. And Timur had one additional weapon: Bayezid’s own politics. Several Anatolian contingents in Bayezid’s army came from principalities he had recently conquered. Their former rulers were standing on Timur’s side. During the battle, portions of Bayezid’s Anatolian forces defected. The Serbian troops fought ferociously. The Janissaries held around Bayezid. But slowly the Ottoman army was enveloped. Stefan reportedly urged Bayezid to escape. Bayezid refused. The Thunderbolt fought until his position became impossible, attempted to break away that night, and was captured. And THAT is where the rivalry becomes almost mythological. The man who had challenged Timur’s courage was now sitting in Timur’s custody. Bursa was plundered. Bayezid’s household fell into Timurid hands. And he lost everything. Lesson learned…don’t mess with Timur. - @historywithcarter