The story of Il gran Tamerlano is based on events surrounding the Battle of Ankara of 1402, fought between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turco-Mongol ruler Timur, who is known in English-speaking countries as Tamerlane.
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However, few years later following the defeat of Beyazıt by Timur in the battle of Ankara the beylik was restored.
After the disastrous Battle of Ankara in 1402 however, the weakened Ottomans were forced to return the eastern half of Thessaly to Byzantine rule, while the remainder reverted to virtual independence, and the two forts of Pteleos and Gardiki came under Venetian control.
On Bayezid's overthrow at the Battle of Ankara (July 20, 1402), Schiltberger passed into the service of Bayezid's conqueror Timur: he now appears to have followed Timur to Samarkand, and perhaps also to Armenia and Georgia.