The Timurids had really no interception with the Western world then, but rather expanding from the Middle East, lil' of Africa, and a small portion of Eastern Europe. Quite frankly, they are a very decent civilization to play, if all you want to see in battle is cannon balls smashing infantry units, cavalry units, and artillery units like grass. But the average scholar must understand that the Timurids were of Mongolian descent, and carried out the future plans of the kin. So you could call them powerful but in the end the slowness of conquering every single municipality isn't worth it. The old sage smokes his birchtree wooden pipe, and lightly puts in more of his favorite pipe tobacco, Highland McClelland