pardon and reward of two thousand sectaries of Ali, who were desirous to visit the tomb of his son.
I have expatiated on the personal anecdotes which mark the character of the Mogul hero; but I shall
briefly mention,4 that he erected on the ruins of Bagdad a pyramid of ninety thousand heads; again visited
Georgia; encamped on the banks of Araxes; and proclaimed his resolution of marching against the Ottoman
emperor. Conscious of the importance of the war, he collected his forces from every province: eight hundred
thousand men were enrolled on his military list;5 but the splendid commands of five, and ten, thousand
horse, may be rather expressive of the rank and pension of the chiefs, than of the genuine number of
effective soldiers.6 In the pillage of Syria, the Moguls had acquired immense riches: but the delivery of
their pay and arrears for seven years more firmly attached them to the Imperial standard.
During this diversion of the Mogul arms, Bajazet had two years to collect his forces for a more serious
encounter. They consisted of four hundred thousand horse and foot,7 whose merit and fidelity were
of an unequal complexion. We may discriminate the Janizaries, who have been gradually raised to an
establishment of forty thousand men; a national cavalry, the Spahis of modern times; twenty thousand
cuirassiers of Europe, clad in black and impenetrable armor; the troops of Anatolia, whose princes had
taken refuge in the camp of Timour, and a colony of Tartars, whom he had driven from Kipzak, and to
whom Bajazet had assigned a settlement in the plains of Adrianople. The fearless confidence of the
sultan urged him to meet his antagonist; and, as if he had chosen that spot for revenge, he displayed
his banner near the ruins of the unfortunate Suvas. In the mean while, Timour moved from the Araxes
through the countries of Armenia and Anatolia: his boldness was secured by the wisest precautions; his
speed was guided by order and discipline; and the woods, the mountains, and the rivers, were diligently
explored by the flying squadrons, who marked his road and preceded his standard. Firm in his plan of
fighting in the heart of the Ottoman kingdom, he avoided their camp; dexterously inclined to the left; occupied
Cæsarea; traversed the salt desert and the River Halys; and invested Angora: while the sultan, immovable
and ignorant in his post, compared the Tartar swiftness to the crawling of a snail;8 he returned on the
wings of indignation to the relief of Angora: and as both generals were alike impatient for action, the
plains round that city were the scene of a memorable battle, which has immortalized the glory of Timour
and the shame of Bajazet. For this signal victory the Mogul emperor was indebted to himself, to the
genius of the moment, and the discipline of thirty years. He had improved the tactics, without violating
the manners, of his nation,9 whose force still consisted in the missile weapons, and rapid evolutions, of
a numerous cavalry. From a single troop to a great army, the mode of attack was the same: a foremost
line first advanced to the charge, and was supported in a just order by the squadrons of the great vanguard.
The general's eye watched over the field, and at his command the front and rear of the right and left
wings successively moved forwards in their several divisions, and in a direct or oblique line: the enemy
was pressed by eighteen or twenty attacks; and each attack afforded a chance of victory. If they all proved
fruitless or unsuccessful, the occasion was worthy of the emperor himself, who gave the signal of advancing
to the standard and main body, which he led in person.10 But in the battle of Angora, the main body
itself was supported, on the flanks and in the rear, by the bravest squadrons of the reserve, commanded
by the sons and grandsons of Timour. The conqueror of Hindostan ostentatiously showed a line of elephants,
the trophies, rather than the instruments, of victory; the use of the Greek fire was familiar to the Moguls
and Ottomans; but had they borrowed from Europe the recent invention of gunpowder and cannon, the
artificial thunder, in the hands of either nation, must have turned the fortune of the day.11 In that day
Bajazet displayed the qualities of a soldier and a chief: but his genius sunk under a stronger ascendant; and,
from various motives, the greatest part of his troops failed him in the decisive moment. His rigor and
avarice12 had provoked a mutiny among the Turks; and even his son Soliman too hastily withdrew from
the field. The forces of Anatolia, loyal in their revolt, were drawn away to the banners of their lawful
princes. His Tartar allies had been tempted by the letters and emissaries of Timour;13 who reproached
their ignoble servitude under the slaves of their fathers; and offered to their hopes the dominion of their
new, or the liberty of their ancient, country. In the right wing of Bajazet the cuirassiers of Europe charged,
with faithful hearts and irresistible arms: but these men of iron were soon broken by an artful flight and
headlong pursuit; and the Janizaries, alone, without cavalry or missile weapons, were encompassed by
the circle of the Mogul hunters. Their valor was at length oppressed by heat, thirst, and the weight of
numbers; and the unfortunate sultan, afflicted with the gout in his hands and feet, was transported from