<P> In May 1393, Timur's army invaded the Anjudan, crippling the Ismaili village only a year after his assault on the Ismailis in Mazandaran . The village was prepared for the attack, evidenced by its fortress and system of underground tunnels . Undeterred, Timur's soldiers flooded the tunnels by cutting into a channel overhead . Timur's reasons for attacking this village are not yet well understood . However, it has been suggested that his religious persuasions and view of himself as an executor of divine will may have contributed to his motivations . The Persian historian Khwandamir explains that an Ismaili presence was growing more politically powerful in Persian Iraq . A group of locals in the region was dissatisfied with this and, Khwandamir writes, these locals assembled and brought up their complaint with Timur, possibly provoking his attack on the Ismailis there . </P> <P> In 1398, Timur invaded northern India, attacking the Delhi Sultanate ruled by Sultan Nasir - ud - Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq of the Tughlaq Dynasty . He was opposed by Ahirs and faced some reversals from the Jats, but the Sultanate at Delhi did nothing to stop him . After crossing the Indus river on 30 September 1398, he sacked Tulamba and massacred its inhabitants . Then he advanced and captured Multan by October . </P> <P> Timur crossed the Indus River at Attock (now in Pakistan) on 24 September 1398 . His invasion did not go unopposed and he encountered resistance from the Governor of Meerut during the march to Delhi . Timur was still able to continue his approach to Delhi, arriving in 1398, to fight the armies of Sultan Nasir - ud - Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, which had already been weakened by a succession struggle within the royal family . </P> <P> The battle took place on 17 December 1398 . Sultan Nasir - ud - Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and the army of Mallu Iqbal had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks . As his Tatar forces were afraid of the elephants, Timur ordered his men to dig a trench in front of their positions . Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry . When the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at the elephants howling in pain: Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked . Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines . Timur capitalized on the subsequent disruption in the forces of Nasir - ud - Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq, securing an easy victory . Nasir - ud - Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq fled with remnants of his forces . Delhi was sacked and left in ruins . Before the battle for Delhi, Timur executed 100,000 captives . </P>

Who is the sultan of delhi when tamur attack delhi