text:
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 6, by Edward Gibbon, [1788], at sacred-texts.com
Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane To The Throne Of Samarcand. - His Conquests In Persia, Georgia, Tartary Russia, India, Syria, And Anatolia. - His Turkish War. - Defeat And Captivity Of Bajazet. - Death Of Timour. - Civil War Of The Sons Of Bajazet. - Restoration Of The Turkish Monarchy By Mahomet The First. - Siege Of Constantinople By Amurath The Second.
The conquest and monarchy of the world was the first object of the ambition of Timour. To live in the memory and esteem of future ages was the second wish of his magnanimous spirit. All the civil and military transactions of his reign were diligently recorded in the journals of his secretaries: 1 the authentic narrative was revised by the persons best informed of each particular transaction; and it is believed in the empire and family of Timour, that the monarch himself composed the commentaries 2 of his life, and the institutions 3 of his government. 4 But these cares were ineffectual for the preservation of his fame, and these precious memorials in the Mogul or Persian language were concealed from the world, or, at least, from the knowledge of Europe. The nations which he vanquished exercised a base and impotent revenge; and ignorance has long repeated the tale of calumny, 5 which had disfigured the birth and character, the person, and even the name, of Tamerlane. 6 Yet his real merit would be enhanced, rather than debased, by the elevation of a peasant to the throne of Asia; nor can his lameness be a theme of reproach, unless he had the weakness to blush at a natural, or perhaps an honorable, infirmity. *_0041
In the eyes of the Moguls, who held the indefeasible succession of the house of Zingis, he was doubtless a rebel subject; yet he sprang from the noble tribe of Berlass: his fifth ancestor, Carashar Nevian, had been the vizier !_0042 of Zagatai, in his new realm of Transoxiana; and in the ascent of some generations, the branch of Timour is confounded, at least by the females, 7 with the Imperial stem. 8 He was born forty miles to the south of Samarcand in the village of Sebzar, in the fruitful territory of Cash, of which his fathers were the hereditary chiefs, as well as of a toman of ten thousand horse. 9 His birth 10 was cast on one of those periods of anarchy, which announce the fall of the Asiatic dynasties, and open a new field to adventurous ambition. The khans of Zagatai were extinct; the emirs aspired to independence; and their domestic feuds could only be suspended by the conquest and tyranny of the khans of Kashgar, who, with an army of Getes or Calmucks, 11 invaded the Transoxian kingdom. From the twelfth year of his age, Timour had entered the field of action; in the twenty-fifth !!_0042 he stood forth as the deliverer of his country; and the eyes and wishes of the people were turned towards a hero who suffered in their cause. The chiefs of the law and of the army had pledged their salvation to support him with their lives and fortunes; but in the hour of danger they were silent and afraid; and, after waiting seven days on the hills of Samarcand, he retreated to the desert with only sixty horsemen. The fugitives were overtaken by a thousand Getes, whom he repulsed with incredible slaughter, and his enemies were forced to exclaim, "Timour is a wonderful man: fortune and the divine favor are with him." But in this bloody action his own followers were reduced to ten, a number which was soon diminished by the desertion of three Carizmians. !!!_0042 He wandered in the desert with his wife, seven companions, and four horses; and sixty-two days was he plunged in a loathsome dungeon, from whence he escaped by his own courage and the remorse of the oppressor. After swimming the broad and rapid steam of the Jihoon, or Oxus, he led, during some months, the life of a vagrant and outlaw, on the borders of the adjacent states. But his fame shone brighter in adversity; he learned to distinguish the friends of his person, the associates of his fortune, and to apply the various characters of men for their advantage, and, above all, for his own. On his return to his native country, Timour was successively joined by the parties of his confederates, who anxiously sought him in the desert; nor can I refuse to describe, in his pathetic simplicity, one of their fortunate encounters. He presented himself as a guide to three chiefs, who were at the head of seventy horse. "When their eyes fell upon me," says Timour, "they were overwhelmed with joy; and they alighted from their horses; and they came and kneeled; and they kissed my stirrup. I also came down from my horse, and took each of them in my arms. And I put my turban on the head of the first chief; and my girdle, rich in jewels and wrought with gold, I bound on the loins of the second; and the third I clothed in my own coat. And they wept, and I wept also; and the hour of prayer was arrived, and we prayed. And we mounted our horses, and came to my dwelling; and I collected my people, and made a feast." His trusty bands were soon increased by the bravest of the tribes; he led them against a superior foe; and, after some vicissitudes of war the Getes were finally driven from the kingdom of Transoxiana. He had done much for his own glory; but much remained to be done, much art to be exerted, and some blood to be spilt, before he could teach his equals to obey him as their master. The birth and power of emir Houssein compelled him to accept a vicious and unworthy colleague, whose sister was the best beloved of his wives. Their union was short and jealous; but the policy of Timour, in their frequent quarrels, exposed his rival to the reproach of injustice and perfidy; and, after a final defeat, Houssein was slain by some sagacious friends, who presumed, for the last time, to disobey the commands of their lord. *_0042 At the age of thirty-four, 12 and in a general diet or couroultai, he was invested with Imperial command, but he affected to revere the house of Zingis; and while the emir Timour reigned over Zagatai and the East, a nominal khan served as a private officer in the armies of his servant. A fertile kingdom, five hundred miles in length and in breadth, might have satisfied the ambition of a subject; but Timour aspired to the dominion of the world; and before his death, the crown of Zagatai was one of the twenty- seven crowns which he had placed on his head. Without expatiating on the victories of thirty-five campaigns; without describing the lines of march, which he repeatedly traced over the continent of Asia; I shall briefly represent his conquests in, I. Persia, II. Tartary, and, III. India, 13 and from thence proceed to the more interesting narrative of his Ottoman war.
I. For every war, a motive of safety or revenge, of honor or zeal, of right or convenience, may be readily found in the jurisprudence of conquerors. No sooner had Timour reunited to the patrimony of Zagatai the dependent countries of Carizme and Candahar, than he turned his eyes towards the kingdoms of Iran or Persia. From the Oxus to the Tigris, that extensive country was left without a lawful sovereign since the death of Abousaid, the last of the descendants of the great Holacou. Peace and justice had been banished from the land above forty years; and the Mogul invader might seem to listen to the cries of an oppressed people. Their petty tyrants might have opposed him with confederate arms: they separately stood, and successively fell; and the difference of their fate was only marked by the promptitude of submission or the obstinacy of resistance. Ibrahim, prince of Shirwan, or Albania, kissed the footstool of the Imperial throne. His peace-offerings of silks, horses, and jewels, were composed, according to the Tartar fashion, each article of nine pieces; but a critical spectator observed, that there were only eight slaves. "I myself am the ninth," replied Ibrahim, who was prepared for the remark; and his flattery was rewarded by the smile of Timour. 14 Shah Mansour, prince of Fars, or the proper Persia, was one of the least powerful, but most dangerous, of his enemies. In a battle under the walls of Shiraz, he broke, with three or four thousand soldiers, the coul or main body of thirty thousand horse, where the emperor fought in person. No more than fourteen or fifteen guards remained near the standard of Timour: he stood firm as a rock, and received on his helmet two weighty strokes of a cimeter: 15 the Moguls rallied; the head of Mansour was thrown at his feet; and he declared his esteem of the valor of a foe, by extirpating all the males of so intrepid a race. From Shiraz, his troops advanced to the Persian Gulf; and the richness and weakness of Ormuz 16 were displayed in an annual tribute of six hundred thousand dinars of gold. Bagdad was no longer the city of peace, the seat of the caliphs; but the noblest conquest of Holacou could not be overlooked by his ambitious successor. The whole course of the Tigris and Euphrates, from the mouth to the sources of those rivers, was reduced to his obedience: he entered Edessa; and the Turkmans of the black sheep were chastised for the sacrilegious pillage of a caravan of Mecca. In the mountains of Georgia, the native Christians still braved the law and the sword of Mahomet, by three expeditions he obtained the merit of the gazie, or holy war; and the prince of Teflis became his proselyte and friend.
II. A just retaliation might be urged for the invasion of Turkestan, or the Eastern Tartary. The dignity of Timour could not endure the impunity of the Getes: he passed the Sihoon, subdued the kingdom of Kashgar, and marched seven times into the heart of their country. His most distant camp was two months' journey, or four hundred and eighty leagues to the north-east of Samarcand; and his emirs, who traversed the River Irtish, engraved in the forests of Siberia a rude memorial of their exploits. The conquest of Kipzak, or the Western Tartary, 17 was founded on the double motive of aiding the distressed, and chastising the ungrateful. Toctamish, a fugitive prince, was entertained and protected in his court: the ambassadors of Auruss Khan were dismissed with a haughty denial, and followed on the same day by the armies of Zagatai; and their success established Toctamish in the Mogul empire of the North. But, after a reign of ten years, the new khan forgot the merits and the strength of his benefactor; the base usurper, as he deemed him, of the sacred rights of the house of Zingis. Through the gates of Derbend, he entered Persia at the head of ninety thousand horse: with the innumerable forces of Kipzak, Bulgaria, Circassia, and Russia, he passed the Sihoon, burnt the palaces of Timour, and compelled him, amidst the winter snows, to contend for Samarcand and his life. After a mild expostulation, and a glorious victory, the emperor resolved on revenge; and by the east, and the west, of the Caspian, and the Volga, he twice invaded Kipzak with such mighty powers, that thirteen miles were measured from his right to his left wing. In a march of five months, they rarely beheld the footsteps of man; and their daily subsistence was often trusted to the fortune of the chase. At length the armies encountered each other; but the treachery of the standard-bearer, who, in the heat of action, reversed the Imperial standard of Kipzak, determined the victory of the Zagatais; and Toctamish (I peak the language of the Institutions) gave the tribe of Toushi to the wind of desolation. 18 He fled to the Christian duke of Lithuania; again returned to the banks of the Volga; and, after fifteen battles with a domestic rival, at last perished in the wilds of Siberia. The pursuit of a flying enemy carried Timour into the tributary provinces of Russia: a duke of the reigning family was made prisoner amidst the ruins of his capital; and Yeletz, by the pride and ignorance of the Orientals, might easily be confounded with the genuine metropolis of the nation. Moscow trembled at the approach of the Tartar, and the resistance would have been feeble, since the hopes of the Russians were placed in a miraculous image of the Virgin, to whose protection they ascribed the casual and voluntary retreat of the conqueror. Ambition and prudence recalled him to the South, the desolate country was exhausted, and the Mogul soldiers were enriched with an immense spoil of precious furs, of linen of Antioch, 19 and of ingots of gold and silver. 20 On the banks of the Don, or Tanais, he received an humble deputation from the consuls and merchants of Egypt, 21 Venice, Genoa, Catalonia, and Biscay, who occupied the commerce and city of Tana, or Azoph, at the mouth of the river. They offered their gifts, admired his magnificence, and trusted his royal word. But the peaceful visit of an emir, who explored the state of the magazines and harbor, was speedily followed by the destructive presence of the Tartars. The city was reduced to ashes; the Moslems were pillaged and dismissed; but all the Christians, who had not fled to their ships, were condemned either to death or slavery. 22 Revenge prompted him to burn the cities of Serai and Astrachan, the monuments of rising civilization; and his vanity proclaimed, that he had penetrated to the region of perpetual daylight, a strange phenomenon, which authorized his Mahometan doctors to dispense with the obligation of evening prayer. 23
III. When Timour first proposed to his princes and emirs the invasion of India or Hindostan, 24 he was answered by a murmur of discontent: "The rivers! and the mountains and deserts! and the soldiers clad in armor! and the elephants, destroyers of men!" But the displeasure of the emperor was more dreadful than all these terrors; and his superior reason was convinced, that an enterprise of such tremendous aspect was safe and easy in the execution. He was informed by his spies of the weakness and anarchy of Hindostan: the soubahs of the provinces had erected the standard of rebellion; and the perpetual infancy of Sultan Mahmoud was despised even in the harem of Delhi. The Mogul army moved in three great divisions; and Timour observes with pleasure, that the ninety-two squadrons of a thousand horse most fortunately corresponded with the ninety-two names or epithets of the prophet Mahomet. *_0043 Between the Jihoon and the Indus they crossed one of the ridges of mountains, which are styled by the Arabian geographers The Stony Girdles of the Earth. The highland robbers were subdued or extirpated; but great numbers of men and horses perished in the snow; the emperor himself was let down a precipice on a portable scaffold - the ropes were one hundred and fifty cubits in length; and before he could reach the bottom, this dangerous operation was five times repeated. Timour crossed the Indus at the ordinary passage of Attok; and successively traversed, in the footsteps of Alexander, the Punjab, or five rivers, 25 that fall into the master stream. From Attok to Delhi, the high road measures no more than six hundred miles; but the two conquerors deviated to the south-east; and the motive of Timour was to join his grandson, who had achieved by his command the conquest of Moultan. On the eastern bank of the Hyphasis, on the edge of the desert, the Macedonian hero halted and wept: the Mogul entered the desert, reduced the fortress of Batmir, and stood in arms before the gates of Delhi, a great and flourishing city, which had subsisted three centuries under the dominion of the Mahometan kings. !_0043 The siege, more especially of the castle, might have been a work of time; but he tempted, by the appearance of weakness, the sultan Mahmoud and his vizier to descend into the plain, with ten thousand cuirassiers, forty thousand of his foot-guards, and one hundred and twenty elephants, whose tusks are said to have been armed with sharp and poisoned daggers. Against these monsters, or rather against the imagination of his troops, he condescended to use some extraordinary precautions of fire and a ditch, of iron spikes and a rampart of bucklers; but the event taught the Moguls to smile at their own fears; and as soon as these unwieldy animals were routed, the inferior species (the men of India) disappeared from the field. Timour made his triumphal entry into the capital of Hindostan; and admired, with a view to imitate, the architecture of the stately mosque; but the order or license of a general pillage and massacre polluted the festival of his victory. He resolved to purify his soldiers in the blood of the idolaters, or Gentoos, who still surpass, in the proportion of ten to one, the numbers of the Moslems. **_0043 In this pious design, he advanced one hundred miles to the north-east of Delhi, passed the Ganges, fought several battles by land and water, and penetrated to the famous rock of Coupele, the statue of the cow, !!_0043 that seems to discharge the mighty river, whose source is far distant among the mountains of Thibet. 26 His return was along the skirts of the northern hills; nor could this rapid campaign of one year justify the strange foresight of his emirs, that their children in a warm climate would degenerate into a race of Hindoos.
It was on the banks of the Ganges that Timour was informed, by his speedy messengers, of the disturbances which had arisen on the confines of Georgia and Anatolia, of the revolt of the Christians, and the ambitious designs of the sultan Bajazet. His vigor of mind and body was not impaired by sixty-three years, and innumerable fatigues; and, after enjoying some tranquil months in the palace of Samarcand, he proclaimed a new expedition of seven years into the western countries of Asia. 27 To the soldiers who had served in the Indian war he granted the choice of remaining at home, or following their prince; but the troops of all the provinces and kingdoms of Persia were commanded to assemble at Ispahan, and wait the arrival of the Imperial standard. It was first directed against the Christians of Georgia, who were strong only in their rocks, their castles, and the winter season; but these obstacles were overcome by the zeal and perseverance of Timour: the rebels submitted to the tribute or the Koran; and if both religions boasted of their martyrs, that name is more justly due to the Christian prisoners, who were offered the choice of abjuration or death. On his descent from the hills, the emperor gave audience to the first ambassadors of Bajazet, and opened the hostile correspondence of complaints and menaces, which fermented two years before the final explosion. Between two jealous and haughty neighbors, the motives of quarrel will seldom be wanting. The Mogul and Ottoman conquests now touched each other in the neighborhood of Erzerum, and the Euphrates; nor had the doubtful limit been ascertained by time and treaty. Each of these ambitious monarchs might accuse his rival of violating his territory, of threatening his vassals, and protecting his rebels; and, by the name of rebels, each understood the fugitive princes, whose kingdoms he had usurped, and whose life or liberty he implacably pursued. The resemblance of character was still more dangerous than the opposition of interest; and in their victorious career, Timour was impatient of an equal, and Bajazet was ignorant of a superior. The first epistle 28 of the Mogul emperor must have provoked, instead of reconciling, the Turkish sultan, whose family and nation he affected to despise. 29 "Dost thou not know, that the greatest part of Asia is subject to our arms and our laws? that our invincible forces extend from one sea to the other? that the potentates of the earth form a line before our gate? and that we have compelled Fortune herself to watch over the prosperity of our empire. What is the foundation of thy insolence and folly? Thou hast fought some battles in the woods of Anatolia; contemptible trophies! Thou hast obtained some victories over the Christians of Europe; thy sword was blessed by the apostle of God; and thy obedience to the precept of the Koran, in waging war against the infidels, is the sole consideration that prevents us from destroying thy country, the frontier and bulwark of the Moslem world. Be wise in time; reflect; repent; and avert the thunder of our vengeance, which is yet suspended over thy head. Thou art no more than a pismire; why wilt thou seek to provoke the elephants? Alas! they will trample thee under their feet." In his replies, Bajazet poured forth the indignation of a soul which was deeply stung by such unusual contempt. After retorting the basest reproaches on the thief and rebel of the desert, the Ottoman recapitulates his boasted victories in Iran, Touran, and the Indies; and labors to prove, that Timour had never triumphed unless by his own perfidy and the vices of his foes. "Thy armies are innumerable: be they so; but what are the arrows of the flying Tartar against the cimeters and battle-axes of my firm and invincible Janizaries? I will guard the princes who have implored my protection: seek them in my tents. The cities of Arzingan and Erzeroum are mine; and unless the tribute be duly paid, I will demand the arrears under the walls of Tauris and Sultania." The ungovernable rage of the sultan at length betrayed him to an insult of a more domestic kind. "If I fly from thy arms," said he, "may my wives be thrice divorced from my bed: but if thou hast not courage to meet me in the field, mayest thou again receive thy wives after they have thrice endured the embraces of a stranger." 30 Any violation by word or deed of the secrecy of the harem is an unpardonable offence among the Turkish nations; 31 and the political quarrel of the two monarchs was imbittered by private and personal resentment. Yet in his first expedition, Timour was satisfied with the siege and destruction of Siwas or Sebaste, a strong city on the borders of Anatolia; and he revenged the indiscretion of the Ottoman, on a garrison of four thousand Armenians, who were buried alive for the brave and faithful discharge of their duty. !_0044 As a Mussulman, he seemed to respect the pious occupation of Bajazet, who was still engaged in the blockade of Constantinople; and after this salutary lesson, the Mogul conqueror checked his pursuit, and turned aside to the invasion of Syria and Egypt. In these transactions, the Ottoman prince, by the Orientals, and even by Timour, is styled the Kaissar of Roum, the Caesar of the Romans; a title which, by a small anticipation, might be given to a monarch who possessed the provinces, and threatened the city, of the successors of Constantine. 32
1 These journals were communicated to Sherefeddin, or Cherefeddin Ali, a native of Yezd, who composed in the Persian language a history of Timour Beg, which has been translated into French by M. Petit de la Croix, (Paris, 1722, in 4 vols. 12 mo.,) and has always been my faithful guide. His geography and chronology are wonderfully accurate; and he may be trusted for public facts, though he servilely praises the virtue and fortune of the hero. Timour's attention to procure intelligence from his own and foreign countries may be seen in the Institutions, p. 215, 217, 349, 351.
2 These Commentaries are yet unknown in Europe: but Mr. White gives some hope that they may be imported and translated by his friend Major Davy, who had read in the East this "minute and faithful narrative of an interesting and eventful period."
Note: The manuscript of Major Davy has been translated by Major Stewart, and published by the Oriental Translation Committee of London. It contains the life of Timour, from his birth to his forty-first year; but the last thirty years of western war and conquest are wanting. Major Stewart intimates that two manuscripts exist in this country containing the whole work, but excuses himself, on account of his age, from undertaking the laborious task of completing the translation. It is to be hoped that the European public will be soon enabled to judge of the value and authenticity of the Commentaries of the Caesar of the East. Major Stewart's work commences with the Book of Dreams and Omens - a wild, but characteristic, chronicle of Visions and Sortes Koranicae. Strange that a life of Timour should awaken a reminiscence of the diary of Archbishop Laud! The early dawn and the gradual expression of his not less splendid but more real visions of ambition are touched with the simplicity of truth and nature. But we long to escape from the petty feuds of the pastoral chieftain, to the triumphs and the legislation of the conqueror of the world - M.
3 I am ignorant whether the original institution, in the Turki or Mogul language, be still extant. The Persic version, with an English translation, and most valuable index, was published (Oxford, 1783, in 4to.) by the joint labors of Major Davy and Mr. White, the Arabic professor. This work has been since translated from the Persic into French, (Paris, 1787,) by M. Langles, a learned Orientalist, who has added the life of Timour, and many curious notes.
4 Shaw Allum, the present Mogul, reads, values, but cannot imitate, the institutions of his great ancestor. The English translator relies on their internal evidence; but if any suspicions should arise of fraud and fiction, they will not be dispelled by Major Davy's letter. The Orientals have never cultivated the art of criticism; the patronage of a prince, less honorable, perhaps, is not less lucrative than that of a bookseller; nor can it be deemed incredible that a Persian, the real author, should renounce the credit, to raise the value and price, of the work.
5 The original of the tale is found in the following work, which is much esteemed for its florid elegance of style: Ahmedis Arabsiadae (Ahmed Ebn Arabshah) Vitae et Rerum gestarum Timuri. Arabice et Latine. Edidit Samuel Henricus Manger. Franequerae, 1767, 2 tom. in 4to. This Syrian author is ever a malicious, and often an ignorant enemy: the very titles of his chapters are injurious; as how the wicked, as how the impious, as how the viper, &c. The copious article of Timur, in Bibliotheque Orientale, is of a mixed nature, as D'Herbelot indifferently draws his materials (p. 877 - 888) from Khondemir Ebn Schounah, and the Lebtarikh.
6 Demir or Timour signifies in the Turkish language, Iron; and it is the appellation of a lord or prince. By the change of a letter or accent, it is changed into Lenc, or Lame; and a European corruption confounds the two words in the name of Tamerlane.
Note: According to the memoirs he was so called by a Shaikh, who, when visited by his mother on his birth, was reading the verse of the Koran, 'Are you sure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you up, and behold it shall shake, Tamurn." The Shaikh then stopped and said, "We have named your son Timur," p. 21. - M.
*_0041 He was lamed by a wound at the siege of the capital of Sistan. Sherefeddin, lib. iii. c. 17. p. 136. See Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 260. - M.
!_0042 In the memoirs, the title Gurgan is in one place (p. 23) interpreted the son-in-law; in another (p. 28) as Kurkan, great prince, generalissimo, and prime minister of Jagtai. - M.
7 After relating some false and foolish tales of Timour Lenc, Arabshah is compelled to speak truth, and to own him for a kinsman of Zingis, per mulieres, (as he peevishly adds,) laqueos Satanae, (pars i. c. i. p. 25.) The testimony of Abulghazi Khan (P. ii. c. 5, P. v. c. 4) is clear, unquestionable, and decisive.
8 According to one of the pedigrees, the fourth ancestor of Zingis, and the ninth of timour, were brothers; and they agreed, that the posterity of the elder should succeed to the dignity of khan, and that the descendants of the younger should fill the office of their minister and general. This tradition was at least convenient to justify the first steps of Timour's ambition, (Institutions, p. 24, 25, from the MS. fragments of Timour's History.)
9 See the preface of Sherefeddin, and Abulfeda's Geography, (Chorasmiae, &c., Descriptio, p. 60, 61,) in the iiid volume of Hudson's Minor Greek Geographers.
10 See his nativity in Dr. Hyde, (Syntagma Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 466,) as it was cast by the astrologers of his grandson Ulugh Beg. He was born, A.D. 1336, April 9, 11 degrees 57 minutes. P. M., lat. 36. I know not whether they can prove the great conjunction of the planets from whence, like other conquerors and prophets, Timour derived the surname of Saheb Keran, or master of the conjunctions, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 878.)
11 In the Institutions of Timour, these subjects of the khan of Kashgar are most improperly styled Ouzbegs, or Usbeks, a name which belongs to another branch and country of Tartars, (Abulghazi, P. v. c. v. P. vii. c. 5.) Could I be sure that this word is in the Turkish original, I would boldly pronounce, that the Institutions were framed a century after the death of Timour, since the establishment of the Usbeks in Transoxiana. Note: Col. Stewart observes, that the Persian translator has sometimes made use of the name Uzbek by anticipation. He observes, likewise, that these Jits (Getes) are not to be confounded with the ancient Getae: they were unconverted Turks. Col. Tod (History of Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 166) would identify the Jits with the ancient race. - M.
!!_0042 He was twenty-seven before he served his first wars under the emir Houssein, who ruled over Khorasan and Mawerainnehr. Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 262. Neither of these statements agrees with the Memoirs. At twelve he was a boy. "I fancied that I perceived in myself all the signs of greatness and wisdom, and whoever came to visit me, I received with great hauteur and dignity." At seventeen he undertook the management of the flocks and herds of the family, (p. 24.) At nineteen he became religious, and "left off playing chess," made a kind of Budhist vow never to injure living thing and felt his foot paralyzed from having accidentally trod upon an ant, (p. 30.) At twenty, thoughts of rebellion and greatness rose in his mind; at twenty-one, he seems to have performed his first feat of arms. He was a practised warrior when he served, in his twenty-seventh year, under Emir Houssein.
!!!_0042 Compare Memoirs, page 61. The imprisonment is there stated at fifty-three days. "At this time I made a vow to God that I would never keep any person, whether guilty or innocent, for any length of time, in prison or in chains." p. 63. - M.
*_0042 Timour, on one occasion, sent him this message: "He who wishes to embrace the bride of royalty must kiss her across the edge of the sharp sword," p. 83. The scene of the trial of Houssein, the resistance of Timour gradually becoming more feeble, the vengeance of the chiefs becoming proportionably more determined, is strikingly portrayed. Mem. p 130 - M.
12 The ist book of Sherefeddin is employed on the private life of the hero: and he himself, or his secretary, (Institutions, p. 3 - 77,) enlarges with pleasure on the thirteen designs and enterprises which most truly constitute his personal merit. It even shines through the dark coloring of Arabshah, (P. i. c. 1 - 12.)
13 The conquests of Persia, Tartary, and India, are represented in the iid and iiid books of Sherefeddin, and by Arabshah, (c. 13 - 55.) Consult the excellent Indexes to the Institutions.
Note: Compare the seventh book of Von Hammer, Geschichte des Osman ischen Reiches. - M.
14 The reverence of the Tartars for the mysterious number of nine is declared by Abulghazi Khan, who, for that reason, divides his Genealogical History into nine parts.
15 According to Arabshah, (P. i. c. 28, p. 183,) the coward Timour ran away to his tent, and hid himself from the pursuit of Shah Mansour under the women's garments. Perhaps Sherefeddin (l. iii. c. 25) has magnified his courage.
16 The history of Ormuz is not unlike that of Tyre. The old city, on the continent, was destroyed by the Tartars, and renewed in a neighboring island, without fresh water or vegetation. The kings of Ormuz, rich in the Indian trade and the pearl fishery, possessed large territories both in Persia and Arabia; but they were at first the tributaries of the sultans of Kerman, and at last were delivered (A.D. 1505) by the Portuguese tyrants from the tyranny of their own viziers, (Marco Polo, l. i. c. 15, 16, fol. 7, 8. Abulfeda, Geograph. tabul. xi. p. 261, 262, an original Chronicle of Ormuz, in Texeira, or Stevens's History of Persia, p. 376 - 416, and the Itineraries inserted in the ist volume of Ramusio, of Ludovico Barthema, (1503,) fol. 167, of Andrea Corsali, (1517) fol. 202, 203, and of Odoardo Barbessa, (in 1516,) fol 313 - 318.)
17 Arabshah had travelled into Kipzak, and acquired a singular knowledge of the geography, cities, and revolutions, of that northern region, (P. i. c. 45 - 49.)
18 Institutions of Timour, p. 123, 125. Mr. White, the editor, bestows some animadversion on the superficial account of Sherefeddin, (l. iii. c. 12, 13, 14,) who was ignorant of the designs of Timour, and the true springs of action.
19 The furs of Russia are more credible than the ingots. But the linen of Antioch has never been famous: and Antioch was in ruins. I suspect that it was some manufacture of Europe, which the Hanse merchants had imported by the way of Novogorod.
20 M. Levesque (Hist. de Russie, tom. ii. p. 247. Vie de Timour, p. 64 - 67, before the French version of the Institutes) has corrected the error of Sherefeddin, and marked the true limit of Timour's conquests. His arguments are superfluous; and a simple appeal to the Russian annals is sufficient to prove that Moscow, which six years before had been taken by Toctamish, escaped the arms of a more formidable invader.
21 An Egyptian consul from Grand Cairo is mentioned in Barbaro's voyage to Tana in 1436, after the city had been rebuilt, (Ramusio, tom. ii. fol. 92.)
22 The sack of Azoph is described by Sherefeddin, (l. iii. c. 55,) and much more particularly by the author of an Italian chronicle, (Andreas de Redusiis de Quero, in Chron. Tarvisiano, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. xix. p. 802 - 805.) He had conversed with the Mianis, two Venetian brothers, one of whom had been sent a deputy to the camp of Timour, and the other had lost at Azoph three sons and 12,000 ducats.
23 Sherefeddin only says (l. iii. c. 13) that the rays of the setting, and those of the rising sun, were scarcely separated by any interval; a problem which may be solved in the latitude of Moscow, (the 56th degree,) with the aid of the Aurora Borealis, and a long summer twilight. But a day of forty days (Khondemir apud D'Herbelot, p. 880) would rigorously confine us within the polar circle.
24 For the Indian war, see the Institutions, (p. 129 - 139,) the fourth book of Sherefeddin, and the history of Ferishta, (in Dow, vol. ii. p. 1 - 20,) which throws a general light on the affairs of Hindostan.
*_0043 Gibbon (observes M. von Hammer) is mistaken in the correspondence of the ninety-two squadrons of his army with the ninety-two names of God: the names of God are ninety-nine. and Allah is the hundredth, p. 286, note. But Gibbon speaks of the names or epithets of Mahomet, not of God. - M
25 The rivers of the Punjab, the five eastern branches of the Indus, have been laid down for the first time with truth and accuracy in Major Rennel's incomparable map of Hindostan. In this Critical Memoir he illustrates with judgment and learning the marches of Alexander and Timour.
Note: See vol. i. ch. ii. note 1. - M.
!_0043 They took, on their march, 100,000 slaves, Guebers they were all murdered. V. Hammer, vol. i. p. 286. They are called idolaters. Briggs's Ferishta, vol. i. p. 491. - M
**_0043 See a curious passage on the destruction of the Hindoo idols, Memoirs, p. 15. - M.
!!_0043 Consult the very striking description of the Cow's Mouth by Captain Hodgson, Asiat. Res. vol. xiv. p. 117. "A most wonderful scene. The B'hagiratha or Ganges issues from under a very low arch at the foot of the grand snow bed. My guide, an illiterate mountaineer compared the pendent icicles to Mahodeva's hair." (Compare Poems, Quarterly Rev. vol. xiv. p. 37, and at the end of my translation of Nala.) "Hindoos of research may formerly have been here; and f so. I cannot think of any place to which they might more aptly give the name of a cow's mouth than to this extraordinary debouche - M.
26 The two great rivers, the Ganges and Burrampooter, rise in Thibet, from the opposite ridges of the same hills, separate from each other to the distance of 1200 miles, and, after a winding course of 2000 miles, again meet in one point near the Gulf of Bengal. Yet so capricious is Fame, that the Burrampooter is a late discovery, while his brother Ganges has been the theme of ancient and modern story Coupele, the scene of Timour's last victory, must be situate near Loldong, 1100 miles from Calcutta; and in 1774, a British camp! (Rennel's Memoir, p. 7, 59, 90, 91, 99.)
27 See the Institutions, p. 141, to the end of the 1st book, and Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 1 - 16,) to the entrance of Timour into Syria.
28 We have three copies of these hostile epistles in the Institutions, (p. 147,) in Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 14,) and in Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 19 p. 183 - 201;) which agree with each other in the spirit and substance rather than in the style. It is probable, that they have been translated, with various latitude, from the Turkish original into the Arabic and Persian tongues.
Note: Von Hammer considers the letter which Gibbon inserted in the text to be spurious. On the various copies of these letters, see his note, p 11 - 16. - M.
29 The Mogul emir distinguishes himself and his countrymen by the name of Turks, and stigmatizes the race and nation of Bajazet with the less honorable epithet of Turkmans. Yet I do not understand how the Ottomans could be descended from a Turkman sailor; those inland shepherds were so remote from the sea, and all maritime affairs.
Note: Price translated the word pilot or boatman. - M.
30 According to the Koran, (c. ii. p. 27, and Sale's Discourses, p. 134,) Mussulman who had thrice divorced his wife, (who had thrice repeated the words of a divorce,) could not take her again, till after she had been married to, and repudiated by, another husband; an ignominious transaction, which it is needless to aggravate, by supposing that the first husband must see her enjoyed by a second before his face, (Rycaut's State of the Ottoman Empire, l. ii. c. 21.)
31 The common delicacy of the Orientals, in never speaking of their women, is ascribed in a much higher degree by Arabshah to the Turkish nations; and it is remarkable enough, that Chalcondyles (l. ii. p. 55) had some knowledge of the prejudice and the insult.
Note: See Von Hammer, p. 308, and note, p. 621. - M.
!_0044 Still worse barbarities were perpetrated on these brave men. Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 295. - M.
32 For the style of the Moguls, see the Institutions, (p. 131, 147,) and for the Persians, the Bibliotheque Orientale, (p. 882;) but I do not find that the title of Caesar has been applied by the Arabians, or assumed by the Ottomans themselves.

subset: commoncrawl


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After a year of hard work and waiting, I am excited to announce that "American Youth" will be in stores and available online May 2009. That's just a couple of months away! "American Youth" is a 240-page photography book, that examines the newest generation of 18 to 24-year-olds in detail. The photographs are by Redux photographers, which I am proud to be one of.
I photographed two groups of young people for the book. Street youth in Seattle's U-District, and three of the Sea Gals cheerleaders, the NFL cheerleaders for the Seattle Seahawks. The cheerleader picture above is an outtake, but it is one of my favorites. "Define Girlfriend" is in the book. You can read a little more about my work on this project in a recent interview I did at Feature Shoot (read here).
I will post more of my favorite outtakes and pictures from the book as the book release gets closer, but for now you can head over to the "American Youth" blog and website. The website has bios of all the contributing photographers, as well as many of the pictures from the book.
"American Youth" website – http://images.americanyouthbook.com/
"American Youth" blog – http://americanyouthbook.com/blog/
Cover image © Erika Larsen/Redux


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It happened. I knew it would. I tried to push it aside as long as I could but, well, I'll be leaving in a week so it was due to arrive.
Leadville Lunacy.
The Race Across The Sky. 50 miles out and back in the Colorado Rockies. Leadville is the city with the highest elevation in the United States. We run from 92oo to 12600 feet.
I'm afraid of heights. Wait, I WAS afraid of heights. Past tense. No longer. I say so.
I hadn't made any reservations for accommodations until today. I know myself well. I know that as soon as I begin to make reservations or begin to pack..I begin to become a bit more OCD than usual.
This morning I set up our itinerary. A few nights in South Dakota doing the tourism thing. Black Hills, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Lake Sylvan, Needles.
Off to Colorado. It's been 14 years since I've been to Colorado. The last time I was too afraid to get out of the car because my legs were mush and I was afraid of the heights. Nice. I looked at the mountains with a NO WAY. We drove to California and the same thing happened to me in Yosemite. NO WAY.
Well, I've changed since then. I have stepped out of my comfort zone umpteen times for different occasions and have come out stronger on the other side. It's ok.
There aren't any accommodations available in Leadville (duh). I did find a sweet B&B called Ores and Mines in Twin Lakes. I don't know if the boys will like it. I don't think there are any tv's. Oh well. It's 500 feet from the shore of Twin Lakes. It's right off of the race course, at mile 39.5 and 75. We can stay there a few nights and luckily for me a lister on the Leadville yahoo group is giving up his Super 8 in Leadville the night before the race. We'll stay there Friday night, which works well, as the race begins at 4 AM, I can walk to the start line from the Super 8. We'll head back home after the race commences on Sunday. Hopefully I am going home a finisher.
We will take in Coors Field to see a Rockies/Razorback game (while wondering how the TWINS are doing at home), check out Garden of the Gods, the Rocky Mountain National Park and whatever else we can find.
It's all I can think about. I knew it would happen. I was sitting at the pool today, going over the race course and splits. Tyler said "Mom, you have all next week to do that, relax, read your book" He knows me so well.
Troy said "Mom, you seem as nervous about this as you did the first time you ran Superior 100. Oh, you didn't finish that the first time ..did you? But you did last year!" Yeah, you are right Troy.
It's here..Leadville Lunacy. I'm the lunatic. I'm a nervous lunatic. It's another excellent adventure right..nothing to worry about..
Friday, August 01, 2008
2 comments:
- Cathy said...
Hey Julie
I work about a mile from Coors Field. I'd love to meet you in person. You are such an inspiration to me. Feel free to email me: cathkunst -at- hotmail dot com & I'll send more contact info if you like.
Safe travels & a great race to you.
- SteveQ said...
Leadville will be a piece of cake, given your training. Just get there as early as possible to acclimate. Hope this year's race is snow-free (it was last year, but it did snow the day before).
Expect me to badger you about how to pack for Superior!
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GSA, DOD Partnership to Protect Sensitive Data
February 12, 2008
Saves Government Millions of Dollars
February 12, 2008
Contact: Dirk Fillpot, 202-501-1231
WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Defense (DOD) announced today that collaborative efforts to provide federal, state and local agencies with the latest Data-At-Rest (DAR) encryption technology at reduced prices have yielded approximately $58 million in savings through avoided
costs to the government.
DAR encryption products protect sensitive unclassified data on mobile computing devices and removable storage media.
The Data At Rest Tiger Team (DARTT), a multi-agency task force in partnership with the DOD Enterprise Software Initiative (DOD ESI) and GSA SmartBUY, analyzed sales reports from July through December 2007 to evaluate DAR encryption products purchased by state, local and federal government agencies from qualified vendors using DOD/GSA-sponsored blanket purchase agreements (BPAs). DARTT's analysis showed that, cumulatively, the BPAs enabled these government organizations
to purchase $73 million in DAR products for only $15 million.
"Protecting data-at-rest has become increasingly critical in today's information technology environment of highly mobile data and decreasing device size," said John Johnson, assistant commissioner for integrated technology services in the Federal Acquisition Service of GSA. "Personal identity information or sensitive government information stored on devices such as laptops, thumb drives and PDAs is often unaccounted for and unprotected, and that can pose a problem if these devices are compromised."
"The DARTT process is a powerful tool to attain interagency consensus in achieving OMB-directed security goals," Johnson said. "GSA SmartBUY is moving forward to establish competitively awarded BPAs for compliance with the federal desktop core configuration and security content automation protocol that will bring significant value to the government at large."
As part of an initiative that began in June 2007, the DARTT employed a highly collaborative acquisition process using Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 8, Required Sources of Supplies and Services, to competitively award multiple BPAs for use by federal, state, local and tribal governments and NATO. The team was able to achieve a consensus on stringent technical requirements and received support from the U.S. Air Force's 754th Electronic Systems Group at Gunter Air Force Base, Ala., the acquisition arm of DOD ESI. The DARTT enables the acquisition of information assurance and computer network defense technologies at deep discounts by leveraging the purchasing power of the federal government.
"This is an innovative and exciting process," said David Wennergren, DOD deputy chief information officer. "I am extremely pleased that this historic effort is already showing results that far exceed our initial expectations."
Robert Lentz, deputy assistant secretary of defense for information and identity assurance, underscored the significance and impact of this achievement. "The American public and government employees expect us to do all we can to protect personally identifiable information (PII) data on laptops and removable media," he said. "The success of the DARTT represents an important step toward achieving this critical requirement and ensuring that PII is protected at all levels of the government. This acquisition is also a key part of our information assurance transformation strategy to strive for enterprise solutions across government."
Government agencies that have taken advantage of government-wide BPAs to purchase DAR products include the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Commerce, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Transportation Security Administration, US Army, government contractors, and a multi-state consortium led by the State of New York. Through the
GSA Cooperative Purchasing Program, numerous state and local government agencies from Ohio, Washington, Georgia, South Carolina, Michigan, Florida, and Connecticut have purchased products from the BPAs—a first in government, according to GSA.
# # #
Founded in 1949, GSA serves as a centralized procurement and property management agency for the federal government. GSA manages more than one-fourth of the government's total procurement dollars and influences the management of $500 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 208,000 vehicles. GSA helps preserve our past and define our future, as a steward of more than 425 historic properties, and as manager of USA.gov, the official portal to federal government information and services. GSA's mission to provide superior workplaces, expert technology solutions, acquisition services, purchasing and E-Gov travel solutions and management policies, at best value, allows federal agencies to focus on their core missions.
Did You Know? FAS annual business volume of $46 billion accounts for more than one-seventh of the entire federal procurement budget. FAS manages acquisition programs that include information technology, telecommunications, furniture, tools, office products and supply items, and all travel, motor vehicles and credit card services.


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Each year, sky watchers anticipate the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in the second week of August.
But this year's event might be harder to view due to a Supermoon on Aug. 10, when the full moon looks the biggest and brightest, according to NASA.
Scientists expect that some bright fire streaks may still be visible. They released the following tips for prime meteor shower viewing:
Viewing Tips
The Perseids are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the pre-dawn hours, though at times it is possible to view meteors from this shower as early as 10:00 p.m.. Find an area well away from city or street lights. Come prepared with a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair. Lie flat on your back with your feet facing northeast and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible After about 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors. Be patient -- the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse.
Meteor Shower Facts
- Comet of Origin: 109P/Swift-Tuttle
- Radiant: Constellation Perseus
- Active: 17 July -- 24 Aug. 2014
- Peak Activity: 12-13 Aug. 2014
- Peak Activity Meteor Count: Up to 100 meteors per hour
- Meteor Velocity: 59 km (37 miles) per second
The Perseids come from the Comet Swift Tuttle, which leaves a trail of debris when it swings through the inner solar system. When earth passes through that debris field, "specks appear in the skies and disintegrate in flashes of light, " says NASA. During peak meteor activity, up to 100 meteors can appear per hour.
-Capital Public Radio Staff
Measuring Meteor Shower Activity In Your Area


text:
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Christmas Eve
21 comments:
Thanks for sharing your latest work, it looks beautiful. Again!ReplyDelete
Beautiful work as always!! I love Yorkshire sculpture park, such a great place. I will be visiting in the summer again!!ReplyDelete
I hope you and yours have a fabulous Xmas and New Year x x
Warmest Christmas Wishes Kirsty, XReplyDelete
This may at last push me into visiting the park. I've been very remiss, being as we live so close. Merry Christmas xReplyDelete
- Anonymous25 December 2013 at 02:56
Ooh, that sounds exciting about the Yorkshire Sculpture Park! Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year to you, I look forward to seeing more of your lovely work in 2014 :)ReplyDelete
Merry Christmas!ReplyDelete
I love love love your work!
Oh my gosh I've been following you for quite some time and I love your art work. It makes me want to be at the beach somewhere. Always. But that deer! Well, I had to comment on it. It's Adorable! I love it!ReplyDelete
Cindy Bee
It's beautiful as ever! love it!ReplyDelete
Ich bin mal wieder total begeistert. Für das Jahr 2014 wünsche ich Gesundheit und viele kreative Ideen :-)ReplyDelete
Good luck for the New Year and I spotted you in February's Country Living Emporium. I reckon you've 'arrived' - well done!ReplyDelete
I love what you do, It's so a small worl I love it !ReplyDelete
Your little villages are so cute!ReplyDelete
Really beautiful...!!!!!!!!!ReplyDelete
Congratulations for your job...!!!!! I love it...!!!!!!
Hi, I love your craft, is beauty, I love a colors, I follow your blog, hugs from Brazil.ReplyDelete
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- Anonymous15 September 2014 at 05:45
love the bottom photo, it looks like the white cliffs of dover where I live !ReplyDelete
Hi,I love your art work, I've been following you in Pinterest,Iwork with papier mache and recicled objets.I hope some day visit your country and your city,..hugs from Paraguay.!ReplyDelete
I really appreciate your professional approach. These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.ReplyDelete
It looks so realistic and awakens wonderful feelings of the true winter.ReplyDelete
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"New Slaves" is best described as an "open letter" from Kanye West to the people - made into music. Produced by the Very G.O.O.D Beats crew, New Slaves is sonically simplistic yet still possesses melody courtesy of the droning synths. Frank Ocean assists on the outro, providing an amazing contrast to the aggressive tone used throughout the song, acting in a reflective manner. However from a lyrical standpoint it's without a doubt one of Kanye's greatest songs. He labeled verse 2 as the "best verse of all time" and with topics that range from modern day slavery to the fashion industry, and even America's prison system, it's hard to disagree
The Chi-town native doesn't just stop at the music. With a guerrilla marketing scheme fit for a military coup, Ye projected the track onto buildings in 66 locations across the world. It's been 8 months since the song's release and the significance of "New Slaves is only just surfacing. Between the time of the song's release and present day, the attitude of multiple industries has started to shift dramatically - would Jay Z and Beyonce have released projects with such unorthodox promotion methods if Kanye didn't do it first? His movement, spearheaded with this peoples anthem, was made to inspire others to think in a similar light. "New Slaves" invokes the power of free speech and brandishing the truth like an axe, Kanye challenges listeners to think outside the Matrix
Just as Mandela blew up the buildings and eventually became president. Contrary to popular opinion, sometimes you have to blow up the building.
— Kanye West
The RG community (i.e. THE WORLD) has spoken, and we present to you the most comprehensive list of 2013's best rap songs.
In what was one of Hip Hop's most meaningful years in a very long time, we saw releases from just about every major player. There were bangers, name-drops, screenplays, #newrules, realllly long songs and much more. This list boils all those tracks down to the ones we'll remember the most, ones we're still bumping, and ones that hit us the hardest.
This list is crowdsourced and curated by RG Editors. Note: Only 4 tracks per main artist can appear on the list!
Check out the Spotify playlist here


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Spirits Unleashed
Even today, one-and-a-half decades after they appeared on the political stage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Taliban are still a bewildering phenomenon. The standard studies on the subject, written back in the 1990s by Ahmed Rashid and Neamatollah Nojumi, already reached very different conclusions on how this movement came about.
According to Rashid, the Taliban were born in Afghanistan's Kandahar region from a local initiative launched by veterans of the defensive war against the Red Army. Apart from their Pashtun identity, they also usually shared a madrassa background – calling themselves Taliban (pupils) in memory of their training at these Koran schools.
They wanted to put an end to the banditry of certain local chieftains within the mujahideen groups that had originally fought against the Soviet invaders but which by the early 1990s had become enmeshed in a bloody civil war against each other.
After the core of the Taliban had been formed and had made a name for itself through local "purges", Pakistan, which had up to then backed the mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, pledged its support to the new players on the scene.
In Nojumi's study, by contrast, Pakistani intervention policy is seen as having played a major role in instigating the rise of the Taliban. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Pakistani influence
Both Rashid and Nojumi see the Taliban's effectiveness as guardians of the roads as one reason for their ascendancy. At the top of the Pakistan regime's list of priorities at the time was securing the transport routes through Afghanistan to Central Asia.
As a way of eliminating the many roadblocks, manned by guards who hindered the flow of Pakistani transports by demanding exorbitant tolls, the Pakistanis decided to join forces with the Taliban. The Taliban began to drive the gangs off the streets and received increasing support from Pakistan for their efforts.
Transports coming from Pakistan were conducted by the Pakistani "Transport Mafia", which now shared a portion of its proceeds – stemming in part from the drug trade – with the Taliban in exchange for their protection.
It was a question of much more than money, however, says Nojumi. In a new anthology of texts on the Taliban and the Afghanistan crisis, he highlights even more emphatically than in his 1992 study that this lucrative transport business was largely in the hands of the Pakistani military, which had originally supplied Afghan's mujahideen with Pakistani weapons. The goal at the time was not only to fight the Soviet invaders, but also to install a Pakistan-friendly regime in Kabul.
This would create for Islamabad an additional bastion against possible aggression from archenemy India while securing the loyalty of the Afghan exile community in Pakistan.
Transformation into a mass movement
In 1995 a whole fleet of Toyota pick-ups, financed with American help, was added to the vehicle pool of the Pakistani "Transport Mafia". Nojumi attributes this move to pressure from the oil lobby – the American company Unocal and the Saudi Delta Oil were planning to build two pipelines and hoped that this intervention would help stabilize the political situation.
As it turned out, these Toyotas not only transported large numbers of weapons, but also thousands of Afghan and Pakistani Taliban fighters from the Pashtun regions to the borderland between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As a mass movement, the Taliban were thus from the start an Afghan-Pakistani phenomenon with a largely shared tribal background. Fighters were recruited in Koran schools and Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, and received their military training from the Pakistanis – likewise with financial assistance from the Americans, as Bhutto admitted.
Their growing strength spelled a turning point for the Taliban, who succeeded in September 1995 in capturing the province of Herat, formerly considered invincible. They thus advanced from a being a local power to exerting cross-regional control in Afghanistan.
The Taliban leaders were not prepared for this changeover from militia to revolutionary mass movement. According to Nojumi, they lacked the expertise required to build a functional administrative apparatus.
They paid no heed to the everyday needs of the Afghan population, and their draconian punishments for allegedly un-Islamic behaviour quickly caused people's initial enthusiasm for the new order to wane.
The path to power
But how did the Taliban nonetheless manage to rapidly bring large stretches of the country under their control? We may assume that they did not necessarily have to resort to violence; through bribery or skilled negotiations they would certainly have been able to prompt many a warlord to capitulate, or some of his followers to switch sides.
The American political scientist Abdulkader Sinno is trying to develop this line of thought further to explain the Taliban's rise. He largely limits his observations to the Taliban's triumph in the Pashtun regions, which was abetted by their shared tribal culture as well as the Pashtuns' hope to once again become the dominant force in Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban were confronted with a wide variety of hostile organisations in the Pashtun Belt: from gangs that controlled a particular road and had a limited stake in the opium business, to militiamen who exercised power over several towns and were active on a much larger scale.
The local rulers secured their control not only through arms but also through feudalistic relationship networks. Kinship played a role here, and many a local chieftain owed his status to his religious authority or his service in the anti-Soviet jihad.
Limits of the movement
Not all local rulers were equally popular with their subjects. This probably helped the Taliban succeed again and again in using financial incentives to encourage the retinues of local patrons to change camps.
Even high-ranking commanders in the militias of regional warlords were apparently lured astray with money or the promise of a high post, with the Taliban sometimes taking strategic advantage of tensions between them and their superiors. This is how Abdul Malik, one of the commanders working for the feared Usbek fighter Rashid Dostum, was persuaded to join the Taliban – his decision helped along by the fact that Malik suspected Dostum of killing his brother.
For Sinno, the case of Malik is both a perfect example of the Taliban's recruitment strategy and a demonstration of why their success outside the Pashtun area was short-lived. When some of his units were to be placed under Taliban command for the joint seizure of Mazar-e-Scharif in early summer 1997, Malik turned against his new allies.
Where persuasion failed or was doomed from the start, the Taliban resorted to political assassinations. This is why Ahad Khan Karzai, father of the reigning president of Afghanistan, was shot to death when he emerged from a mosque in July 1999.
Old Taliban and "Neo-Taliban"
What role the old relationship networks play in the recent resurgence of the Taliban is still an open question. But the reconciliation strategy that Karzai espoused after the dissolution of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001, a tactic that provoked much controversy in Afghanistan, likely has something to do with the emergence of a "Neo-Taliban".
Amin Tarzi doubts that the old guard of the Taliban, who apparently took advantage of Karzai's offer of amnesty to go underground in the remote Pashtun regions, are leading the burgeoning military resistance against the newly installed democratic regime.
He thinks that the insurgents are recruiting followers instead from those Pashtun tribes that once sympathised with the Taliban and haven't given up hope of regaining their standing as the leading force in Afghanistan. Now, however, they find themselves pushed to the fringes of the new government and national armed forces. What's more, they are the main target in the so-called War on Terror.
The main objectives of these insurgents, who are joined by Al Qaeda elements, are to drive the foreign troops out of their country and to re-establish an Islamic state under Sharia law.
Afghanistan expert Amin Tarzi believes that those leading the uprising are organised in small groups that are all jockeying for power. Not everyone who calls himself a Taliban really represents the old guard, let alone its erstwhile political programme. Accordingly, there are a variety of standpoints on the ideological level, exhibiting varying degrees of pan-Islamic fervour.
Joseph Croitoru
© Qantara.de 2009
Translated from the German by Jennifer Taylor
"The Rise and Fall of the Taliban", in: "The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan", edited by Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi. Harvard University Press, Cambridge 2008.
Interview with Mohammed Hanif
"People Did Not Want the Taliban"
Mohammed Hanif has caused a stir with his recent novel about the unholy alliance between Pakistan's military and its jihadists - an alliance that was forged in the 1980s. In this interview with Eren Güvercin, he talks about the influence of the Taliban and the mistakes America has made
Ahmed Rashid's "Descent into Chaos"
No Peace in Afghanistan without Pakistan
In has latest book, "Descent into Chaos" the Pakistani author and journalist Ahmed Rashid writes on how, seven years after the overthrow of the Taliban, the region is still far from stable. Thomas Bärthlein has read the book
A Journey to the Afghan Province of Nuristan
Hope and Skepticism in the Valley of Light
People in the West generally perceive eastern Afghanistan as a war zone. True, the terrain is hotly contested, both politically and militarily. But we hear very little about the progress made in these remote regions. Martin Gerner reports from the area


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Jonathan Martin was physically attacked by a Miami Dolphins teammate and was told a teammate was going to have sex with his sister as he endured a season and a half of harassment and taunting, according to a letter released by his lawyer Thursday.
Not only does the statement dispute the assertion made by many that Martin lacked the fortitude to survive in an NFL locker room, it identifies one of the abusive comments he allegedly suffered at the hands of his teammates.
"Jonathan Martin's toughness is not at issue," the statement from attorney David Cornwell begins (via NBCSports' ProFootballTalk). "Jonathan has started every game with the Miami Dolphins since he was drafted in 2012. At Stanford, he was the anchor for Jim Harbaugh's 'smash mouth' brand of football and he protected Andrew Luck's blind side."
Martin has been conspicuously silent since he abruptly left the Miami Dolphins last week following a prank in the team's cafeteria.
Allegations surfaced earlier this week that Richie Incognito sent Martin, his teammate on the Dolphins' offensive line, racist and threatening text messages. The Dolphins suspended Incognito indefinitely on Sunday for conduct detrimental to the team.
"The issue is Jonathan's treatment by his teammates. Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing. For the entire season and a half that he was with the Dolphins, he attempted to befriend the same teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment. This is a textbook reaction of victims of bullying," The attorney's letter reads. "Despite these efforts, the taunting continued. Beyond the well-publicized voicemail with its racial epithet, Jonathan endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate, and daily vulgar comments such as the quote at the bottom. These facts are not in dispute."
According to Cornwell, the vulgar taunt Martin received related to his sister.
"Quote from teammate: 'We are going to run train on your sister. . . . She loves me. I am going to f–k her without a condom and c– in her c—,'" Cornwell wrote.
The statement does not specify which teammate allegedly made the comment.
ProFootballTalk reported late Wednesday that Martin's agent Kenny Zuckerman called GM Jeff Ireland after Martin left the team and issued a complaint to Ireland about the way Incognito had treated Martin.
According to PFT, Ireland told Zuckerman that Martin should confront Incognito, adding that he should "punch" the veteran guard and member of the team's player leadership council.
Cornwell said Martin decided it would be best to leave the team.
"Eventually, Jonathan made a difficult choice. Despite his love for football, Jonathan left the Dolphins. Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football. In the meantime, he will cooperate fully with the NFL investigation," Cornwell wrote.
Meanwhile, an Aventura Police report released Friday claims Incognito harassed a woman at a Dolphins golf tournament in Aventura last year.
According to the report, Incognito allegedly used a golf club to touch the woman's privates and emptied a water bottle in her face during the tournament at the Turnberry Resort and Club.
The woman reported the incident to police but Incognito was never arrested.
More NBC6.com Stories:


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decision X/2
, the Conference of the Parties adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020) and urged Parties and other Governments to develop national and regional targets in the framework of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The information below presents examples of national targets established by Parties that contribute to the implementation of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Malta's first
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2012-2020)
, entitled "Working Hand-in-Hand with Nature", serves as a policy driver to set the country on the right track to meet its biodiversity and environmental objectives, as identified in Malta's National Environment Policy (2012) and in the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets and EU targets. The NBSAP addresses the need to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services through biodiversity integration in decision-making as well as within policies, plans and programmes of those sectors that act as drivers of biodiversity change. Nineteen national targets with action-driven and outcome-oriented measures, grouped under 18 thematic areas, have been set out, with implementation of actions assigned to one of four possible timeframes. CBD, EEA, SEBI and EU indicators, including the EU 2010 Biodiversity Baseline, have been adapted to serve as examples of indicators to measure progress towards NBSAP implementation and are subject to revision. Examples of prioritized actions relate to the establishment of: species and habitat action plans for priority species, especially endemic species, and for rare specialized habitats; a strict protection regime, incorporating measures to address the illegal and the incidental capture and killing of protected species, including those that are migratory; a range of governance types for long-term management of protected areas, based on good governance principles.
By 2020, more than 55% of Maltese citizens are aware of the term "biodiversity", know what it means amd also know what steps they can take to conserve and use biodiversity is a sustainable manner.
By 2020, the rate of loss of natural and semi-natural habitats of conservation value is at least halved, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced. The percentage cover of "forests and semi-natural areas" has not decreased below the CORINE land cover data of 2006.
By 2020, Malta's 13% land area covered by terrestrial Natura 2000 sites is maintained, and Malta's sufficiency in the designation of key marine biodiversity areas is improved through a representative network of marine protected areas.
By 2020, the risk of local extirpation of known threatened species has been reduced, with 30% of the species of European Community Importance in the Maltese territory having a favourable or improved conservation status.
By 2020, vulnerable ecosystems that provide essential services are safeguarded, with at least 15% of degraded ecosystems restored, while 20% of habitats of European Community Importance in the Maltese territory have a favourable or improved conservation status.
Dominican Republic
The "
Estrategia Nacional de Conservación y Uso Sostenible de la Biodiversidad y Plan de Acción (2011-2020)
" constitutes the country's first NBSAP. Aligned with the global framework, national targets have been developed for the short, medium and long terms, as have milestones and indicators. The Ecosystem Approach is promoted in planning processes. The NBSAP is linked to implementation of the National Development Strategy (2010-2030) indicating that, by 2016, actions to strengthen aspects related to biodiversity, under the fourth strategic objective of the National Development Strategy on sustainable natural resource management, will be carried out as necessary. Women were highly involved in the NBSAP development process. The business sector (e.g. Bon Agroindustrial and Fundación Propa-Gas) is engaged in numerous biodiversity conservation activities through its association with RENAEPA, the national non-profit network promoting the integration of the business sector in sustainable natural resource management processes. A draft sectoral law on biodiversity has been submitted to Parliament for adoption.
By 2016, the rate of loss of natural habitats is reduced by 25%, and degradation and fragmentation are reduced.
is closely linked to the National Strategic Development Plan of Timor-Leste for the next two decades and consistent with other policy frameworks such as the National Adaptation Programme of Action on Climate Change, National Action Programme to Combat Land Degradation, Fisheries Sector Plan and the Forestry Sector Plan. It also serves as a guiding policy framework for district and sub-district authorities, civil society and the private sector. It contains 5 Priority Actions and 5 Priority Targets and 21 Strategic Actions, as well as additional detailed activities for implementing the Nagoya outcomes over the decade. The NBSAP uses the Ecosystem Approach and notably contains both a CEPA Strategy and Action Plan as well as a Partnership Strategy for addressing financing needs. A priority target of the NBSAP is to establish, by 2015, a national biodiversity monitoring and reporting system using the CHM as an operational tool. The NBSAP also outlines the strategy to ratify and implement the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing.
By 2015, rehabilitation activities in critical watershed and degraded lands have been undertaken and at least one million trees have been planted per year; and sustainable livelihoods have been provided to local communities through ecosystem restoration activities.
Actions for Biodiversity 2011-2016
", Ireland's second National Biodiversity Plan, addresses objectives raised by the international and European communities to reduce biodiversity loss. The plan comprises 7 strategic objectives, twenty-one national targets accompanied by 102 actions (with headline biodiversity indicators expected to be adopted in 2012), as well as outcomes.
No protected habitats or species in worsening conservation status by 2016; majority of habitats or species in, or moving towards, favourable conservation status by 2020
United Kingdom
Launched on 19 August 2011, "
Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services
" outlines the strategic direction for biodiversity policy for the next decade on land (including rivers and lakes) and at sea, building upon the Natural Environment White Paper published in June 2011. A set of outcomes for 2020 has been defined, with examples provided below. Outcomes will be delivered through actions in four areas: a more integrated large-scale approach to conservation on land and at sea; putting people at the heart of biodiversity policy; reducing environmental pressures; and improvement of knowledge.
By the end of 2016, in excess of 25% of English waters will be contained in a well-managed Marine Protected Area network that helps deliver ecological coherence by conserving representative marine habitats;
By 2020, at least 17% of land and inland water, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, conserved through effective, integrated and joined up approaches to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services including through management of our existing systems of protected areas and the establishment of nature improvement areas;
By 2020, we will be managing and harvesting fish sustainably;
The strategy aims to ensure that biodiversity values are considered in the decision-making processes of both the public and private sectors. The government also intends to develop a set of indicators and new and innovative financing mechanisms for achieving the 2020 outcomes.
European Union
At its meeting of 21 June 2011, the
Environment Council of the European Union
endorsed the new
to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and agreed to further discuss the actions in order to ensure the effective and coherent implementation of the Strategy. There are
six main targets
and 20 actions to help Europe reach its goal that cover the following:
Full implementation of EU nature legislation to protect biodiversity
Better protection for ecosystems, and more use of green infrastructure
More sustainable agriculture and forestry
Better management of fish stocks
Tighter controls on invasive alien species
A bigger EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss
Brazil launched a national consultation to develop National Targets for Biodiversity on 8 April 2011. The initiative entitled
"Dialogues on Biodiversity: building the Brazilian strategy for 2020"
is meant to engage Brazilian society in a process to strengthen the implementation of the agreements reached at the 10th Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP-10) which took place in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, IUCN, WWF-Brazil and IPÊ are leading this initiative with the support of the United Kingdom's Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
National biodiversity targets (primarily quantitative), and other relevant targets, for 2010 and beyond 2010, based on the information provided in the fourth national reports and other related information published by countries, are available
. Although these targets have not been specifically established within the framework of the Aichi Targets adopted in 2010, certain national targets can nevertheless be linked to the Aichi Targets and the 2020 implementation framework.
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In-Laws Face Off
Dr. Phil talks to mothers-in-law at war with their sons-in-law and the loved ones caught in the middle. Can these feuding families put aside their grievances and foster a peace?
Greg and Amy have only been married for 10 months, but the couple says Amy's mom, Terry, is ruining their relationship. Greg says his mother-in-law is manipulative and controlling, and she even called Child Protective Services on him for allegedly abusing Amy's young children.
"Ridiculous is not a big enough word to describe this whole entire situation."
Donna, says her son-in-law, Steve, is an abusive parent who hits her grandchildren. Steve refutes this and says his mother-in-law is a "man-hater" trying to ruin his marriage. Donna's daughters, Rochelle and Shannon, speak up about the family drama, and you'll be surprised to learn who they think is to blame.
"She expects him to jump in and be father of the year."
Dr. Phil sent Greg, Amy and their family backstage to calm down and decide how they can set aside their grievances. Is the family still bickering? Will Greg and his mother-in-law, Terry, be able to foster a peace?
"You just want to continue your bickering, and you didn't need to come here for that."