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The battle of Ankara and the capture of Bayezid the Thunderbolt

وقعة أنقرة وأسر بايزيد الصاعقة

20 July 1402 CE · 804 AH

Ankara 1402 — Timur's host broke Bayezid's 120,000 in the July heat as his Tatar and Anatolian levies defected; the Thunderbolt died in chains the next year while Europe's kings congratulated Timur 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Anatolia
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

1390140014101420
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

Overview

In 804 AH (1402 CE) the armies of Bayazid I and Timur met near Ankara. al-Sallabi's book on the Ottoman state estimates Bayazid's forces at about a hundred and twenty thousand. Timur advanced at the head of large forces on 20 July 1402 CE. 1

The battle

It was a summer of intense heat, and many of Bayazid's soldiers died of thirst. The Tatar soldiers and the soldiers of the Asian principalities he had recently conquered fled and joined Timur. The Mongols won, and Bayazid was taken captive and died the following year. 1

Afterwards

The Christian states of the West rejoiced at Timur's victory and congratulated him. After the battle he took Iznik and Bursa, and freed Izmir from the knights of Rhodes. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
بايزيد الأول الصاعقة· Shams al-Din Ibn al-Jazari· تمرلنك

People and things also explored

Ibn Khaldun's Audience with Timur beneath Damascus· Timur Takes Delhi in 801 AH· The Beginning of Timur's Rise· Timur's Event at Damascus in 803 AH· Ahmad ibn Uways al-Jalayiri· İsa Çelebi· محمد الأول جلبي· مراد الأول

Sources

  1. al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 69-70
  • Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The battle of Ankara and the capture of Bayezid the Thunderbolt”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/battle-ankara-804/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Ibn Khaldun's Audience with Timur beneath Damascus

Ibn Khaldun's own account: summoned into Faraj's retinue mid-Rabi' I 803, racing the Tatars to Damascus, then — fearing a rumor and hearing Timur had asked after him — lowered from the city wall at dawn to Timur's deputy Shah Malik, and brought to the conqueror reclining among his dishes and seated Mughul circles, with the Khwarazmian faqih Abd al-Jabbar translating; Timur raised his head, extended his hand to be kissed, and asked how and why he had come from the Maghreb.