[swilhelm73]

One glaring problem here...the latter Mongol hordes *were* Muslims.

Most especially one can look at Tamerlane who could fairly be called a fanatical Islamic "crusader".

[John Valentine]

Tamerlane, more properly Timur Lenk, or Timur the Lame was indeed Muslim, having adopted the religion to make his rule a bit more acceptable to the Muslim states he subjugated in central asia.

Timur was essentially a terrorist as he would ruthlessly exterminate entire cities, ususally allowing a very fuew to live, maimed and sent off to nearby settlements to spread the fear. But he never made much attempt to hold territory or to rule it. It's hard to fathom what drove the man, but you have to conclude that he was a bloody minded maniac for starters.

The earlier, and far more successful, Mongols (Genghis Khan and his sons, for example) were by and large animists or Buddhists.

A really good book about these people is "Warriors of the Steppes" - can't remember the author's name...

[rmlew]

Timur the Lame, may well have been Muslim, but his conquest was mostly aiomed at fellow Muslims. Theonly exceptions are when he when past Muslim India into Hidu areas.
Sick SOB. The artisans of sacked cities were sent to Samarkhand. The rest of the population either fled or where massacred with piles of heads left at the city gates.
Supposedly, there was a curse on his tomb that if it was descrated, a more horrible conquerer would descend upon the offending nation. His tomb was opened on June 20, 1940 by Soveit archeologists.

[TheCrusader]

"One glaring problem here...the latter Mongol hordes *were* Muslims."

? The Mongols conquered much of Islam and the Ottoman Empire, and some of them may have been 'absorbed' into the Islamic cult, but the the Huns and Moslems were at war against each other. The Huns (Mongols) conquered and reconqured Baghdad and Persia, but it was an Egyptian army commanded by Marmeluke Sultan Kutuz who won the first victory against the Mongols.