Mind-Benders of Islamic History
Lowered by rope over a besieged city's wall to meet Tamerlane
In 1401, as the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) besieged Damascus, the historian Ibn Khaldun — who had come with the Mamluk entourage and remained inside the city — had himself lowered over the wall by rope to meet him. The two conversed over several weeks, and Ibn Khaldun recorded the encounter in his own autobiography.
How we know
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) met Timur (c.1336–1405) during Timur's siege of Damascus, winter 1400–1401; the meetings spanned ~35 days in early 1401 and are recorded in Ibn Khaldun's autobiography (al-Taʿrīf); Fischel, "Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane" (1952).
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