Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/214

AN INDIAN DECORATIVE DESIGN. CHAPTER IX 1398 - 1399 A. D. AFTER Ms victorious sweep over Persia and Meso- potamia to Asia Minor on the west and his occu- pation of Afghanistan on the south, Timur Lang, or Tamerlane, the great conqueror, turned his attention to India as the next country in which to wage a holy war and from which to carry away rich spoils sanctified by religion. China also had attracted his eye, so that his mind wavered for a moment as to which country he should invade, but an omen from the Koran settled his decision, and he determined to make the expedition against Hindustan. We have a somewhat detailed account of his campaign recorded in autobiographic memoirs which he caused to be written down, and a translation of these, made from the Turkish language into Persian two centuries after his death, serves as a valuable record of the great conqueror's exploits, 174