Beatrice Forbes ManzCritiques
Auteur de The rise and rule of Tamerlane
10 oeuvres 192 utilisateurs 4 critiques
Critiques
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0521633842.01._SX100_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
The Rise and Fall of Tamerlane par Beatrice Forbes Manz
Signalé
Dilip-Kumar | 1 autre critique | Jun 6, 2021 | The Timurids were the the descendants of Tamerlane (alias Timur). In the fifteenth century they ruled the shrinking remains of his empire in Iran and Central Asia - from the sixteenth they would go on to greater fame as the Great Mughals of India after the Uzbeks kicked them out of Transoxiana.
This book focues on the reign of Shahrukh (also written Shah Rukh), Tamerlane's youngest son whose long reign (1405-1447) saw him reunify the bulk of his father's dominions - renewed civil war after his death lead to the permanent loss of the western parts of the empire. What chiefly interests Forbes Manz, however, isn't these wars, but the functioning of the empire and of local elites during the relative stability of Shahrukh's years of secure power. It's about princes of the dynasty, military figures (mostly of Turco-Mongol origin), viziers and bureaucrats (mostly Iranians), and religious figures (likewise); and why they mostly cooperated with the ruler and why they sometimes did not.
The book isn't an easy read; dense, and with an unremitting barrage of Perso-Arabic names, many of them similar. It doesn't help that Forbes Manz frequently refers to the same personage with several different forms of the name - frex, the later Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn Bayqara is also spoken of as simply Sultan Husayn or Husayn Bayqara. He's not to be confused with Bayqara b. Umar Shaykh, also known simply as Bayqara. The reader also better know what a Sufi shaykh or a tariqa is.
Not a bad book, but I should probably have read something more introductory on the subject first. I might also have liked a bit more focus on military affairs, partly because that's a special interest of mine, partly because the Timurids were a military dynasty for whom military leadership was the chief task of the ruler.
This book focues on the reign of Shahrukh (also written Shah Rukh), Tamerlane's youngest son whose long reign (1405-1447) saw him reunify the bulk of his father's dominions - renewed civil war after his death lead to the permanent loss of the western parts of the empire. What chiefly interests Forbes Manz, however, isn't these wars, but the functioning of the empire and of local elites during the relative stability of Shahrukh's years of secure power. It's about princes of the dynasty, military figures (mostly of Turco-Mongol origin), viziers and bureaucrats (mostly Iranians), and religious figures (likewise); and why they mostly cooperated with the ruler and why they sometimes did not.
The book isn't an easy read; dense, and with an unremitting barrage of Perso-Arabic names, many of them similar. It doesn't help that Forbes Manz frequently refers to the same personage with several different forms of the name - frex, the later Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn Bayqara is also spoken of as simply Sultan Husayn or Husayn Bayqara. He's not to be confused with Bayqara b. Umar Shaykh, also known simply as Bayqara. The reader also better know what a Sufi shaykh or a tariqa is.
Not a bad book, but I should probably have read something more introductory on the subject first. I might also have liked a bit more focus on military affairs, partly because that's a special interest of mine, partly because the Timurids were a military dynasty for whom military leadership was the chief task of the ruler.
Signalé
AndreasJ | May 11, 2014 | You can't really call this a biography; Forbes Manz makes no attempt to portray Tamerlane (or Temür, as she prefers to write) the man beyond a few remarks about his intelligence, military acumen, and cruelty. She does chronicle his career - the rise part in more detail than the rule one - but the real focus of the book is one the political system he rose within, took over, and transformed among the Turco-Mongol ruling class in Central Asia and Iran.
Signalé
AndreasJ | 1 autre critique | Dec 13, 2013 | Comprises: Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World (de Hartog), Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (Rossabi), and Tamerlane: His Rise and Rule (Manz).
Signalé
kire-nrojb | Jan 25, 2015 | Ce site utilise des cookies pour fournir nos services, optimiser les performances, pour les analyses, et (si vous n'êtes pas connecté) pour les publicités. En utilisant Librarything, vous reconnaissez avoir lu et compris nos conditions générales d'utilisation et de services. Votre utilisation du site et de ses services vaut acceptation de ces conditions et termes.