DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5827#0037
14 LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
It is clear, from various passages in these memoirs,
that the notion of absolute dominion was scarcely
ever absent from the prince's thoughts; and there
can be no doubt that from his earliest years he was
preparing himself for empire. Even at this period
of his life some instances of sovereignty which he
exercised rendered him an object of respect and fear
to his youthful followers. Having upon one occasion
been informed that a wolf had carried off a sheep, the
young despot commanded that the shepherd should
be brought before him. Sternly upbraiding him with
his negligence, he ordered him to be severely punished
on the spot.—Upon another occasion, one of his re-
tainers had been detected stealing cattle. He in-
stantly commanded that the culprit should be im-
paled ; and no intercession could prevail upon him to
remit the severity of this cruel sentence. He thus
became the terror of all his dependants; and it was
this stern influence, and the awe in which he was
held, that directed his thoughts to conquest. His
growing ambition was roused by the ascendency he
had acquired over a few daring spirits, as eager as
himself to be involved in those exciting deeds which
eventually lead to power.
The act of justice exercised by Timur upon his
guilty retainer was the immediate cause of revealing
to the prince the secret of his strength, and of con-
firming him in his determination to seek for glory
in the acquisition of dominion. The parents of the
criminal who had been impaled for robbery, thinking
the punishment of their son extreme, at once threw
off their allegiance, and publicly protesting against the
unjustifiable application of that power with which their
It is clear, from various passages in these memoirs,
that the notion of absolute dominion was scarcely
ever absent from the prince's thoughts; and there
can be no doubt that from his earliest years he was
preparing himself for empire. Even at this period
of his life some instances of sovereignty which he
exercised rendered him an object of respect and fear
to his youthful followers. Having upon one occasion
been informed that a wolf had carried off a sheep, the
young despot commanded that the shepherd should
be brought before him. Sternly upbraiding him with
his negligence, he ordered him to be severely punished
on the spot.—Upon another occasion, one of his re-
tainers had been detected stealing cattle. He in-
stantly commanded that the culprit should be im-
paled ; and no intercession could prevail upon him to
remit the severity of this cruel sentence. He thus
became the terror of all his dependants; and it was
this stern influence, and the awe in which he was
held, that directed his thoughts to conquest. His
growing ambition was roused by the ascendency he
had acquired over a few daring spirits, as eager as
himself to be involved in those exciting deeds which
eventually lead to power.
The act of justice exercised by Timur upon his
guilty retainer was the immediate cause of revealing
to the prince the secret of his strength, and of con-
firming him in his determination to seek for glory
in the acquisition of dominion. The parents of the
criminal who had been impaled for robbery, thinking
the punishment of their son extreme, at once threw
off their allegiance, and publicly protesting against the
unjustifiable application of that power with which their