Many great men have ruled the world. Long ago most of the men who ruled were soldiers and waged many wars. The trekkers are now in a country called Iran and one of rulers of that area was named Tamerlane (1336-1405 CE). His name means "Timur the Lame" because he hurt his leg and couldn't walk very well. His first language was Turkish and he grew up believing in Islam. That area of the world was full of tribes that didn't get along very well. They fought a lot over who would be their ruler. Tamerlane put together an army and fought other tribes until he won control of many lands and lots of people.

The names of some of the people he ruled were the Mongols, the Turks, and the Persians. Before Tamerlane, a strong soldier named Genghis Khan had been the ruler and Tamerlane wanted to rule the same area that Genghis Khan had.

Tamerlane died in 1405 CE while he was trying to invade China. After his death, his grand empire fell apart. While he was alive he asked his workers to write about his life and adventures. They wrote these wonderful stories in a book called the Book of Victory. The stories in this book show that Tamerlane was not always a very nice man, but he did give money to artists and writers. He is remembered as much for his good actions as for his bad ones.