Tamerlane treated his prisoner with the most condescending kindness, seated him by his side upon the imperial couch, and endeavored to solace him by philosophical disquisitions upon the mutability of all human affairs.

The annals of the day do not sustain the rumor that Bajazet was confined in an iron cage.
The empire of Tamerlane now extended from the Caspian and the Mediterranean to the Nile and the Ganges.

He established his capital at Samarcand, some six hundred miles east of the Caspian Sea.

To this central capital he returned after each of his expeditions, devoting immense treasures to the erection of mosques, the construction of gardens, the excavation of canals and the erection of cities.

And now, in the pride and plenitude of his power, he commenced his march upon Russia.
His army, four hundred thousand strong, defiled from the gates of Samarcand, and marching to the north, between the Aral and the Caspian Seas, traversed vast plains, where thousands of wild cattle had long enjoyed undisturbed pasturage.