Tamerlane was a Central Asian conqueror who built one of the largest empires in history between 1370 and 1405. His campaigns resulted in the deaths of an estimated 17 million people — approximately 5% of the world’s population at the time. He constructed towers and pyramids from the skulls of defeated enemies across Persia, India and the Middle East. In June 1941 Soviet archaeologists opened his tomb in Samarkand despite warnings from local elders. An inscription inside warned that opening the tomb would release a conqueror more terrible than Tamerlane. On 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa — the largest military invasion in history.
INTERESTING FACT Soviet archaeologists were ordered to reseal the tomb and return Tamerlane’s remains with full Islamic burial rites in November 1942. Two months later the Germans surrendered at Stalingrad. The timing has never been officially acknowledged by the Russian government.
Nearby on the Dark Atlas
The Tomb That Warned The World Would TrembleSoviet scientists opened the tomb of a conqueror who killed millions — and, so the legend goes, unleashed a curse the next morning.
Samarkand, Uzbekistan · 1941 · 3.3 km away
The Retreat That Killed An ArmySixteen thousand British troops and camp followers retreated from Kabul, and almost none of them made it out alive.
Kabul to Jalalabad road, Afghanistan · 1842 · 598 km away
The Diamond Taken From a Ten-Year-Old KingA legal trap stripped a child king of his mother, his throne, and the most famous diamond in the world.
Lahore, Pakistan · 1849 · 1117 km away
- The Soldier Devoured Alive by Insects
A young soldier was bound between two boats and left to be eaten alive by insects drawn to honey on his skin.
Persia, Iran · 401 BC · 1436 km away
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