ABSTRACT
From Samarkand, Tamerlane fled into the mountains. Now the man who had overcome all his enemies, the fortunate Emir, he who had expected to become ruler of Transoxania, was a homeless refugee, pursued, hunted. In the mountains he met his fellow-fugitive, Hosain, brother of his wife Aldshai, and grandson of Emir Kuzgan. The two of them joined the forces as remained to them, and for three years ensued the romance of the knight-errant, a life "of adventure and hazard". Tamerlane now found himself at the head of a troop which, though small, was apt for any adventure, and he began to form audacious schemes. Many ballads have been written about the romantic period in the life of young Tamerlane, and as late as the nineteenth century European travellers in Asia could hear Kirghizes and Siberian Tartars singing them.
