Temur-i-Lang--the historical Tamerlane--appears as a character in Book 1 of The Years of Rice and Salt. (Page originally posted by Dr. Tom Scheinfeldt)

According to Wikipedia:

Tīmūr bin Taraghay Barlas (Chagatai Turkic: تیمور - Tēmōr, "iron") (1336 – February 1405) was a 14th-century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent, conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1405) in Cent ral Asia Timurid dynasty, which survived in some form until 1857. He is also known as Timur-e Lang (Persian: تیمور لنگ‎ ) which translates to Timur the Lame, as he was lame after sustaining an injury to the leg as a child.... After his marriage into 13th-century Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan's family, he took the name Timūr Gurkānī (Persian: تيمور گوركانى‎ ), Gurkān being the Persianized form of the original Mongolian word kürügän, "son-in-law". Alternative spellings of his name are: Temur, Taimur, Timur Lenk, Timur-i Leng, Temur-e Lang, Amir Timur, Aqsaq Timur, as well as the Latinized Tamerlane and Tamburlaine.
(Wikipedia contributors, "Timur," accessed 1/22/07)