Mogha V
Saka Camp, Night, Spring 144 BC
Mogha sat on his seat, glass of badeh [1] in his hand, chuckling deriously, while the rest of the men in the grand tent sat in silence their heads hung in shame, despair and shock. The messenger too could not bear himself to look at his Chief. He averted his gaze to the back of the tent, so he would not bear the brunt of Mogha's rage.
Mogha himself kept giggling like a madman, holding his face and dropped his glass badeh to the floor. The liquid spilt all over the beautiful carpet, staining it. He finally took his hand of his face and looked at the messenger, still laughing. He then suddenly stopped laughing and his face twisted into a stern expression. He stood up bent down and picked up his fallen cup, but the well decorated vessel made of bone simply cracked in his grasp.
"My friend repeat what you said please? I want to make sure all of the men seated here could hear your message. Come on brother, say it again."
The messenger stumbled forcing the words out, his brow sweating as heavily as a storm that might flood and destroy the crops.
"Oh, Murundai, the Lord of the Parni, Meherdat [2] has honoured a call to arms from Heliocles of the Yavanas. He has dispatched his general Sohrab with all the troops he wasn't using to help the Yavana king. They are currently at Ashkabad and march for Bahldika and may be here within two weeks."
Mogha feigned happiness and ecstaticness and tuned around to his generals and chiefs. He looked at each of them expectantly hoping to see shame on the face of every single one of the men in front of him. He got his results. Each of the famed horsemen were hanging their heads.
"You heard that men? This man here has delivered me news all of you should have told me about. Add to this, it is because of your stupidity that we have ended in this situation, my anger knows no ends. What the hell were you thinking when you accosted that messenger party? Have you know sense what an insult this is to any proud lord? In my view this is all your doing and I should have every single one of you tied to a horse and ragged on the ground while it runs for three stades."
But by now Mogha was thinking rationally again and his anger had calmed down, replaced by despair at his situation. He scratched his beard and thought of what his next move would be now he was practically a small rabbit chased by two of the greatest wolves, with the ever looming threat of the tiger not far away. He then realised what he must do. He should do what any rabbit would do to evade capture. He must run into his hole, away from prying eyes. He stood there thinking for about fifteen minutes, oblivious to the rest of the world. He finally spoke, coming to a hard conclusion by the look of his eyes.
"My foolish friends, you must realise that while our chance of a safe passage and settlement was already doomed thanks to the Yavana's stupidity, now you must know that we can fight no war against Yavana if the Parni [3] are at their sides. For these are the same Parni that are reducing the mighty empire of Sulaka [4] to dust in the west. So I have come to final conclusion. We shall split the tribe in two, the larger half going south towards the hills of Paradaka [5]. The other half shall ride back north with me so we may find refuge in the Pamir Talooki [6]. I do this with a heavy heart, but the tribe must be split for its own good, for as fate sees it, Tujuka has commanded it." finished Mogha, exiting the tent for his own, leaving gloomy atmosphere in the chieftains' tent. The future was looking gloomy for the tribe and the line of Kardaka [7]..................
Pamir Village
[1] Persian wine, very symbolic and central to Persian tradition. It'd been fermented through out the Zagros Ranges and Iranian plateau for a long time.
[2] Mithradates I. He was considered greatest Parthian shah and one of the greatest Iranian rulers ever. He reduced the Seleucid empire to nothing but a rump state in Syria and defeated the Greco-Bactrians a few time. He was considered a great Grecophile despite destroying some of the greatest Hellenistic nations in the east.
[3] Native word for Parthians.
[4] Saka pronunciation of Seleucus.
[5] Balochistan. I couldn't find a suitable name for Balochistan except for this. Paradaka was actually a Indo-Scythian dynasty (probably a tribe actually) that ruled in the 3rd Century CE. They were actually mentioned as Mlecchas in the Vedic texts and were apparently conquered by Alexander
[6] Pamir Mountains. Kyrgyztan's flag actually is a referance to their Scythian heritage. The forty lines on the sun representing the forty mountain clans united by a legendary king.
[7] Mogha's ancestor and the name of his dynasty
------------------------------------------------------------
Ok guys, short update! Sorry I haven't updated for a while but RL has held me back for a while.
Anyways this is a MAJOR POD. In OTL Mithradates never answered this call to arms and the entire Greco-Bactrian kingdom was engulfed, but the Saka kept fleeing since the Yeuzhi were still on their tail. They fled to modern day Sistan province (which by the way come from Sagastan, a Middle Persian derivation of Sakastan) in Iran. From there they migrated into Hindustan in 1st century CE.
What's happening here is we are having an earlier migration combined with two migration routes, nearly one century earlier. This allows more time for cross-cultural exchange.
Mogha sat on his seat, glass of badeh [1] in his hand, chuckling deriously, while the rest of the men in the grand tent sat in silence their heads hung in shame, despair and shock. The messenger too could not bear himself to look at his Chief. He averted his gaze to the back of the tent, so he would not bear the brunt of Mogha's rage.
Mogha himself kept giggling like a madman, holding his face and dropped his glass badeh to the floor. The liquid spilt all over the beautiful carpet, staining it. He finally took his hand of his face and looked at the messenger, still laughing. He then suddenly stopped laughing and his face twisted into a stern expression. He stood up bent down and picked up his fallen cup, but the well decorated vessel made of bone simply cracked in his grasp.
"My friend repeat what you said please? I want to make sure all of the men seated here could hear your message. Come on brother, say it again."
The messenger stumbled forcing the words out, his brow sweating as heavily as a storm that might flood and destroy the crops.
"Oh, Murundai, the Lord of the Parni, Meherdat [2] has honoured a call to arms from Heliocles of the Yavanas. He has dispatched his general Sohrab with all the troops he wasn't using to help the Yavana king. They are currently at Ashkabad and march for Bahldika and may be here within two weeks."
Mogha feigned happiness and ecstaticness and tuned around to his generals and chiefs. He looked at each of them expectantly hoping to see shame on the face of every single one of the men in front of him. He got his results. Each of the famed horsemen were hanging their heads.
"You heard that men? This man here has delivered me news all of you should have told me about. Add to this, it is because of your stupidity that we have ended in this situation, my anger knows no ends. What the hell were you thinking when you accosted that messenger party? Have you know sense what an insult this is to any proud lord? In my view this is all your doing and I should have every single one of you tied to a horse and ragged on the ground while it runs for three stades."
But by now Mogha was thinking rationally again and his anger had calmed down, replaced by despair at his situation. He scratched his beard and thought of what his next move would be now he was practically a small rabbit chased by two of the greatest wolves, with the ever looming threat of the tiger not far away. He then realised what he must do. He should do what any rabbit would do to evade capture. He must run into his hole, away from prying eyes. He stood there thinking for about fifteen minutes, oblivious to the rest of the world. He finally spoke, coming to a hard conclusion by the look of his eyes.
"My foolish friends, you must realise that while our chance of a safe passage and settlement was already doomed thanks to the Yavana's stupidity, now you must know that we can fight no war against Yavana if the Parni [3] are at their sides. For these are the same Parni that are reducing the mighty empire of Sulaka [4] to dust in the west. So I have come to final conclusion. We shall split the tribe in two, the larger half going south towards the hills of Paradaka [5]. The other half shall ride back north with me so we may find refuge in the Pamir Talooki [6]. I do this with a heavy heart, but the tribe must be split for its own good, for as fate sees it, Tujuka has commanded it." finished Mogha, exiting the tent for his own, leaving gloomy atmosphere in the chieftains' tent. The future was looking gloomy for the tribe and the line of Kardaka [7]..................
Pamir Village
[1] Persian wine, very symbolic and central to Persian tradition. It'd been fermented through out the Zagros Ranges and Iranian plateau for a long time.
[2] Mithradates I. He was considered greatest Parthian shah and one of the greatest Iranian rulers ever. He reduced the Seleucid empire to nothing but a rump state in Syria and defeated the Greco-Bactrians a few time. He was considered a great Grecophile despite destroying some of the greatest Hellenistic nations in the east.
[3] Native word for Parthians.
[4] Saka pronunciation of Seleucus.
[5] Balochistan. I couldn't find a suitable name for Balochistan except for this. Paradaka was actually a Indo-Scythian dynasty (probably a tribe actually) that ruled in the 3rd Century CE. They were actually mentioned as Mlecchas in the Vedic texts and were apparently conquered by Alexander
[6] Pamir Mountains. Kyrgyztan's flag actually is a referance to their Scythian heritage. The forty lines on the sun representing the forty mountain clans united by a legendary king.
[7] Mogha's ancestor and the name of his dynasty
------------------------------------------------------------
Ok guys, short update! Sorry I haven't updated for a while but RL has held me back for a while.
Anyways this is a MAJOR POD. In OTL Mithradates never answered this call to arms and the entire Greco-Bactrian kingdom was engulfed, but the Saka kept fleeing since the Yeuzhi were still on their tail. They fled to modern day Sistan province (which by the way come from Sagastan, a Middle Persian derivation of Sakastan) in Iran. From there they migrated into Hindustan in 1st century CE.
What's happening here is we are having an earlier migration combined with two migration routes, nearly one century earlier. This allows more time for cross-cultural exchange.
