Military leader

About 1360, Timur gained prominence as a military leader whose troops were mostly Turkic tribesmen of the
region.[16] He took part in campaigns in Transoxiana with the Khan of the Chagatai Khanate. Allying himself
both in cause and by family connection with Qazaghan, the dethroner and destroyer of Volga Bulgaria, he
invaded Khorasan[46] at the head of a thousand horsemen. This was the second military expedition that he led,
and its success led to further operations, among them the subjugation of Khwarezm and Urgench.

Following Qazaghan's murder, disputes arose among the many claimants to sovereign power. Tughlugh Timur
of Kashgar, the Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, another descendant of Genghis Khan, invaded,
interrupting this infighting. Timur was sent to negotiate with the invader but joined with him instead and was
rewarded with Transoxania. At about this time, his father died and Timur also became chief of the Berlas.
Tughlugh then attempted to set his son Ilyas Khoja over Transoxania, but Timur repelled this invasion with a
smaller force.[46]

Rise to power

Timur commanding the Siege of Balkh

It was in this period that Timur reduced the Chagatai khans to the position of figureheads while he ruled in
their name. Also during this period, Timur and his brother-in-law Amir Husayn, who were at first fellow
fugitives and wanderers, became rivals and antagonists. The relationship between them became strained
after Husayn abandoned efforts to carry out Timur's orders to finish off Ilya Khoja (former governor of
Mawarannah) close to Tashkent.[9]:40

Timur gained followers in Balkh, consisting of merchants, fellow tribesmen, Muslim clergy, aristocracy and
agricultural workers, because of his kindness in sharing his belongings with them. This contrasted Timur's
behavior with that of Husayn, who alienated these people, took many possessions from them via his heavy
tax laws and selfishly spent the tax money building elaborate structures. [9]:41–2 Around 1370, Husayn
surrendered to Timur and was later assassinated, which allowed Timur to be formally proclaimed sovereign
at Balkh. He married Husayn's wife Saray Mulk Khanum, a descendant of Genghis Khan, allowing him to
become imperial ruler of the Chaghatay tribe. [9]
Legitimization of Timur's rule
Timur's Turco-Mongolian heritage provided opportunities and challenges as he sought to rule the Mongol
Empire and the Muslim world. According to the Mongol traditions, Timur could not claim the title of khan or
rule the Mongol Empire because he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan. Therefore, Timur set up a puppet
Chaghatay Khan, Suyurghatmish, as the nominal ruler of Balkh as he pretended to act as a "protector of the
member of a Chinggisid line, that of Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi".[47] Timur instead used the title of Amir
meaning general, and acting in the name of the Chagatai ruler of Transoxania.[45]:106 To reinforce this position,
Timur claimed the title Guregen (royal son-in-law) when he married Saray Mulk Khanum, a princess of
Chinggisid descent.[13]:14

As with the title of Khan, Timur similarly could not claim the supreme title of the Islamic world, Caliph,
because the "office was limited to the Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad". Therefore, Timur
reacted to the challenge by creating a myth and image of himself as a "supernatural personal power"
ordained by God.[47] Otherwise he was described as a spiritual descendant of Ali, thus taken lineage of both to
Genghis Khan and the Quraysh.[48]