Timur Lang - Capture Of Delhi(1398) Poem by narayana aghalaya

Timur Lang 1336-1405 was a Turko Mongol Persianate Conqueror who commanded a huge empire right from Turkey to Delhi. He was a very clever general and rarely faced defeat. He was keen to capture Delhi which was one of the richest cities those days. Delhi's Sultan Shah Tughlaq (1388-1413) was not very strong. The Tughlaq dynasty 1321-1413 was in decline.Its most famous ruler was Mohammed Bin Tughlaq 1325-1351.The Tughlaq Army had huge number of elephants. The army had covered the tusks with poison.Timur Lang's Tatar army were scared of elephants. Their army had many camels.Timur hit upon an idea, a bit diabolic. He ordered a long trench to be dug and filled with hay (dry grass) . The camels were loaded with as much wood as they could carry. The trench was set aflame. And the camels were prodded with iron spikes to charge through the trench. The camels themselves caught fire. Elephants were scared seeing burning camels charging towards them. They turned their heads and ran away in retreat.This way Timur had an easy victory. The Sultan fled. Once Timur entered Delhi, he killed over a lakh people who were trying to resist and looted the city.It was a gory end for Delhi.*also called Timur the Lame Shakespearean sonnets have 14 lines in 4 stanzas with rhymingsequence abab cdcd efef gg; each line also has 10 syllables