"Timur" The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05. Quotation: Tamerlane, c.1336–1405, b. Kesh, near Samarkand. He is also called Timur Leng [Timur the lame]. He was the son of a tribal leader. Some historians claim that he was the descendant of Jenghiz Khan. He was from a Mongol tribe, Barlos. There were mongol tribes used to live in the area where his father was a leader. Timur spent his early military career in subduing his rivals in what is now Turkistan; by 1369 he firmly controlled the entire area from his capital at Samarkand.
"Central Asia, history of Timur", in Encyclopædia Britannica, Online Edition, 2007., Quotation: "... Timur first united under his leadership the Turko-Mongol tribes located in the basins of the two rivers...."
