1398 sacking of Delhi by Temur; Image Source: Gerry Embleton

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'It is difficult to take an empire like a bride to your bosom without trouble and difficulty and the clashing of swords. The desire of your prince is to take this kingdom with its rich revenue. Well, let him wrest it from us by force of arms if he is able. I have numerous armies and formidable elephants, and am quite prepared for war.' -Sarang Khan.

The plains of Samarkand roared from the clattering of the arms. No one would have guessed that Sarang Khan's bold and teasing response to what seemed like Temur's importunate demand was all that was required. Nothing could hinder the emperor, no doubts and no fears. The Almighty Allah was protecting him in his fight against the infidel.

He knew his target like the back of his palm. From 1388, since the demise of Firuz Shah, fratricide and rampancy had torn India apart. Degeneration had broken the country into petty kingdoms-Deccan, Kashmir, and Bengal. Furthermore, the internecine conflict had ravaged the treasure house of Delhi. Historian Sir George Dunbar writes, 'Within ten years five kings, the grandsons and the youngest sons of Firuz, followed one another on the throne of Delhi like transient and embarrassed phantoms, The state of the country was an open invitation to an invader'. And Taimur gleefully accepted this invitation.

With the rising dawn of 17 December 1398, the gates of Delhi were opened for one of the most catastrophic battles. The ferocious troops of Mallu and Sultan Mahmud who represented the then ruling head of the Sultanate were teamed with weapons and deadly beasts, the elephants. Right and left wings, along with a center and an advanced guard that was so typical of the traditional formations, were swiftly employed by Muslim armies.

> 'So hot a battle was never seen before. The fury of soldiers was never carried to so great excess; and so frightful a noise was never heard: for the cymbals, the common kettle-drums, the drums, and trumpets, with the great brass kettle-drums which beat on the elephants' backs, the bells which the Indians sounded, and the cries of the soldiers, were enough to make even the earth to shake', reported Yazdi, the official biographer of Taimur.
> 

The initial assault by Taimur's archers against the Indian right-wing interrupted the formation of the Sultanate army. Sultan Mahmud's vanguard and left-wing were subjugated at the rear and flank by the brilliant maneuver of Taimur's vanguard. Sultan Mahmud lost several men and Taimur was not going to miss this opportunity. However, it wasn't going to be easy. At a prearranged signal from Mallu and Sultan Mahmud, hundreds of elephants thundered forward with men poised in heavy armors ready to strike. All attempts by Taimur's men seemed insufficient. But Taimur wasn't going to give up so easily. He had already made preparations for a situation like this and it was the perfect time to reveal them. Bearing heavy bundles of dried grass, camels were brought into the battlefield. With the loads dismounted and the advancing elephants in sight, the camels were driven into a frenzy. The tables had turned and now the elephants were being chased by raging camels. Under natural instincts the elephants wheeled around, trampling its troop members, impaling themselves on the vicious caltrops. The fight was nearing its end. 'The Indian troops on the left and the right fell on the ground like shadows,' wrote Khwandamir. 'The heads of the Indians were reduced to atoms, they were like coconuts dropped from the trees.'

A valiant charge towards the head of the right-wing was led by Pir Mohammed. Dismembered without mercy, the Indians retreated in search of safety under the city's wall. Prince Khalil, who was just 15 years old at that time, overcame an elephant and its guards and presented them as gifts to Temur, his grandfather. The battle had ended. 

The diarist of the Indian campaign, Ghiyath ad-din Ali wrote 'The sun of victory and triumph rose from the east of his majesty's banners and a whirlwind of happiness powdered the eyes of the enemy with the dust of misfortune. So great were the heaps of corpses that the battlefield resembled a dark mountain and rivers of blood rushed across it in mighty waves.

Taimur's Tatars had accomplished the impossible. He had outdone both Genghis and Alexander and had traversed across treacherous mountains, rivers, and deserts of the world. At that moment, all his ordeal and efforts made sense as the richest city in the world lay at his knees. Delhi had failed to defend itself against its invaders and the untold treasures were now for Taimur to exploit.

Taimur remained completely occupied for two weeks from then, amassing war booty and accepting the surrender of local princes. Then, suddenly orders for departure were given out and Khizr Khan, founder of the Sayyid dynasty was installed on the throne. Emperor Taimur's journey was not going to be easy. He had many more battles to fight and many more infidels to slay. But at that moment, as he inched closer towards Samarkand, passing on his way the Oxus and Termez, where he met his imperial household, nothing could put a damper on his high spirits. He anticipated his triumphal entry into the capital, which lay only a few hours away. He knew it was going to be the most spectacular one to date.

Faraway, Delhi lay battered. The vanishing of generations of wealth amassed by the Indian sultans seemed like a skillful act of prestidigitation. Standing crops and grain stores were destroyed. Disease and famine became widespread. Rotting heads towered towards the sky and putrid corpses seemed to poison the air. The already weak kingdoms and the flailing north Indian territories had suffered a major catastrophic invasion. As Justin Marozzi puts it, 'Delhi was utterly ruined and those of its people who were left, died, while for two months not a bird moved wing in the city.'

A dark chapter in the history of India had been written and it would take more than a century for Delhi to recover.

'How do you move an army of ninety thousand with twice that number of horses a thousand miles across the roof of the world?' The question itself conjures up images that would give a person nightmares. But for the great Taimur, it seemed like any other obstacles that he was prepared to deal with. He was oblivious to every ordeal and saw only his final destination, Delhi. So when the final day arrives and the battlefield is set, will Delhi be able to defend itself or will it get lost in the pages of history?