1398-99: Timur captured over 100,000 captives when he reached Delhi. On the even of his attack on Delhi he killed them all. From his assault on Delhi onwards on his return to his capital, he has left a tragic trail of barbaric slaughter, destruction, pillage and enslavement, which he records in his memoir (Malfuzat _ i_Timur. ).
December 16, 1398: “15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. The spoil was so great that each man secured 50-100 prisoners —men, women, children. There was no man who took less than 20. If each soldier on an average had taken 60 captives, the total yield of slaves was about 100,000.
On the way back to his capital in central Asian narrates Timur, he instructed his commanders “to take every fort and town and village” they came across and “to put all the infidels of the country to sword… My brave fellows pursued and killed many of them, made their wives and children prisoners.
After reaching Kutila, he attacked the infidels. “After a slight resistance, the enemy took flight, but many of them fell under the swords of my soldiers, All the wives and children of the infidels were made prisoners. “
Moving forward upon arriving at the bank of the Ganges during the bathing festival, his soldiers, “slaughtered many of the infidels and pursued those who fled to the mountains.” The spoils, adds Timur which exceeds all computations… fell into the hand of my victorious soldiers.” Spoils included slaves,
When he reached Siwalik notes Timur, “the infidels …were dismayed at the slight and took flight. The Holy warriors pursued them and made of slain… Immense spoil beyond all compute” was obtained “All the Hindu women and children in the valley were made prisoners”
On the other side of the river Raja Ratan Sen, hearing of Timur’s approach, had drawn his force at the fortress of Trusartra (Kangra), When he attacked the fortress, records Timur, “the Hindus broke and fled, and my victorious soldiers pursued them with only a few escaping …” they secured great plunders’ exceeding all calculations and each with 10 to 20 slaves., “The means that the assault yielded 20,000 to 30,000 slaves.
On the other side of the Siwalik Valley was the large and important town of Hindustan, called Nagarkot. In the attack, “The Holy warries … made heap corpses and “a vast booty” including prisoners… fell into the hands of the victors who retuned triumphant and loaded with spoils , concluded Timur.
On his way back from Delhi, Timur had made major assaults on the Hindu fortress, towns, and villages, beside other smaller incursions and captured slaves from fortresses towns and villages, besides other smaller incursions and captured slaves in each. The rough number of captive —some 20,0000 to 30, 0000 0— is available only for the assault in Kangra. If similar number of slaves were captured in the other assaults, he must have acquired 100 to 150 thousand slaves in the course of return. Combined with the captives made at Delhi, he had driven away some 200 to 250 thousand slaves from India. At Delhi, he also had selected thousand of artisans and craftsmen, whom he brought to his capital” ((Lala, 1994).
References
Lal, K. (1994). Muslim Slave system In medieval India. https://dn720002.ca.archive.org/…/Muslim%20Slave…
The Mulfuzat Timury; or, Autobiographical memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Timur By Timur 1336-1405, Abu Talib al-Hussaini, Stewart Charles, 1764-1837. https://archive.org/details/mulfuzattimuryor00timuuoft.
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Rinita Mazumdar
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like how bandits attacked, they
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