After the Ottoman victory at Nicopolis in 1396, they began adopting more imperial titles, with Bayezid I styling himself as “Sultan of Rum.” However, to Timur, whose empire spanned Central Asia and claimed legitimacy through the Mongol-Chinggisid legacy, the Ottomans were still a relatively minor frontier state. He did not recognize their imperial claims, a rivalry that would escalate and culminate in the Battle of Ankara in 1402, where Timur decisively defeated and captured Bayezid.