Tamerlane, or "Timur the Lame," was a 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror who claimed descent from Genghis Khan and considered himself the restorer of the Mongol Empire. After subduing(鎮圧する)his rivals in central Asia, he turned his attention to Persia and, later, to India, Syria, and Iraq. His conquests ultimately reached from India and Russia to the Mediterranean. A cruel conqueror, he massacred thousands and punished rebellious cities by constructing pyramids out of human skulls.