Hey @Talus I of Dixie, how is the relation between Kosmos and the Bishop of Rome? What is the current situation of the patriarch of the west? On one side, he lost all the lands of the latin rite outside of Italy, Bavaria and the far away lands of Britanny and Britain (comunication with those places must be a bitch, the bishops there are probably de facto acephalous) and his home is under direct authority of a roman emperor (bad for papist political pretensions). OTOH the orthodox suffered mighty and their base is under threat of existencial enemies of the empire (pagans and muslims). I was thinking that the not yet Pope may try to offer a bargain to Kosmos, in exchange for support, Kosmos support Rome's claim of superiority over the other patriarchs. But I don't really know how they are actually doing, the state of their authority, both church and emperor, a lot happened to them.

Kosmos actually have to do this, the greco-italian parts of the empire actually opposed iconoclasm (i.e eastern rite) greatly, so the only way to levy support in these areas is...break up with iconoclasm. So, we'll see even the Pope gaining something out of that civil war...other details will be explained later.

Also I just realised that compared to the first word map we got, it seems that Kosmos territory in Croatia and Serbia has been reduced to Dalmatia. Did the southern slavs kick him out during the chaos of the civil war? Those slavs, are they christian or pagan?

Nah, this (Byzantium with interior balkan territories) was just a error in the map, i actually going to remake that map because there are some errors that really trigger me to make other. There are slavic tribes, all pagan AFAIK.

Edit: Btw the serbs are christians heh
 
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Passing here to say that the next chapter is being made (probably getting out Tuesday/Wednesday), and will cover Faransa, so stay tuned. I planned out the next three updates, after Faransa's we'll take a look in what is happening on Germania (i expect to put Germany in two chapters but maybe it will get bigger, since i'll be including Bakhyia). With luck this week will be full of updates :)
 
I forgot to ask: how are shia states/dynasties/communities in the middle east and Persia doing? In otl they revolted a number of times against both Umayyads and abbasids (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_revolt , also how did ttl changes play into those revolts?). Heck, one supposed to be happening right about now https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_revolt_of_762–763 . It would be could an update explaining the changes in the fall of the umayyads and the abbasid revolution in contrast with otl.
 
I forgot to ask: how are shia states/dynasties/communities in the middle east and Persia doing? In otl they revolted a number of times against both Umayyads and abbasids (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_revolt , also how did ttl changes play into those revolts?). Heck, one supposed to be happening right about now https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alid_revolt_of_762–763 . It would be could an update explaining the changes in the fall of the umayyads and the abbasid revolution in contrast with otl.

I'll actually make one or two updates covering the abbasids, so no need to worry about that 😉, though the Shi'a will certainly revolt ITTL since they still consider the abbasids traitors for not installing the shi'ites as heads of the Caliphate. We have a lot of stuff going on in the Abbasid Caliphate, so expect an update or two about them.
 
The Age of Collapse: Chapter 6
Muslim World - The Age of Collapse
The Struggle of Faransa: Azure al-Tahamul

Enormous Work (754-760)
Faransa after the First Ibrahimite Rebellion was devastated, with the period of chaos that reigned during the rebellion taking away several harvests and the little prosperity of the cities of the still mainly-rural Faransa, with hunger and conflicts over scarce resources being spread across the country. The responsibility to resolve this rested with Azure ibn Ṭāriq, the Emir of Faransa with his seat at Wughdinu.

Shortly after his appointment as Emir by the Abbasid Caliph, Azure would summon all the lords of Faransa to the capital in order to receive his oaths of loyalty and also to be able to (literally) note all the lords, to ensure that nothing changes drastically without he knowing it. The Al-Dustur al-Sharif [1] would be enacted after that meeting, outlining all the vassal families and their lands in Faransa, both Muslim and Christian, in addition to their duties as vassals of the Emir by Faransa's right, the immediate families (it being, who only answer to the Emir's authorities) are as follows:

● The Banu Awdu, Duqis of Uqytnia [2], with seat in Tawlusā [3]
● The Banu Pippin, Mayurdumus of Asiyah [4], with seat in Rymī [5]
● The Banu Meroveg, Mayurdumus of Barish, with seat in Barish [6]
● The Banu Harifū, Duqis of Sysmanih, with seat in Smanw [7]
● The Banu Murwant, Sheikhs of Bryfanse, with seat in Āish [8]
● The Banu Abo, Duqis of Al-Alb, with seat in Fabih [9]
● The Banu Hasan, Sheikhs of Fyfeh, with seat in Fyfeh [10]
● The Banu Godomar, Duqis of Burgndyia, with seat in Dayjun [11]
● The Banu Gharīfu, Mayurdumus of Nystrah, with seat in Rumajūsh [12]
● The Banu Lothar, Duqis of Mytis, with seat in Mytis [13]
● The Banu Thywdhbāl, Duqis of Almāniya (technically, in practice, they're Duqis of Yilsash, with seat in Strāshburgh [14]
● The Banu Raimund, Sheikhs of Dulaa, with seat in Dulaa [15]
● The Banu Māsiwa, Sheikhs of Awyunās, with seat in Awyunās [16]
● The Banu Bernhard, Sheikhs of Muliāh, with seat in Muliāh [17]
● The Banu Yusuf, Sheikhs of Bayzantih, with seat in Bayzantih [18]
● The Banu Armin, Sheikhs of Lusana, with seat in Lusana [19]

Screenshot_20200123-092737-1.jpg

The Immediate Lands of Faransa

With that, Azure started work on Faransa's internal diplomacy, finding allies in the Banu Meroveg of Barish and the Banu Lothar of Mytis, engaging his daughters Nunja and Zahra for the heirs of both, respectively. After the meeting, Azure raised an army of 14.000 soldiers and set out on a campaign to stabilize the country, receiving levies from his vassals along the way, although he managed to erase several ukhawias in the north of the country (including gathering several of them in a possession of the emir, Phenelyia [20]), resolve conflicts between the Banu Abo and the Banu Murwant [21] (basically favoring the Murwant claim to the domain of Bryfanse) and defeat the Bakhyians at the Battle of Ghūskur [22] (although the rest of campaign in Bakhyia was unsuccessful), Azure was unable to succeed in his siege against the Ukhawia of Al-Hafar, which was giving asylum to the ibrahimite leaders, and also failed to eliminate Minathulaty and Nuteqali from the map.

In 758, Azure would finally end his 4-year campaign, settling on Wughdinu to finally manage his possessions, ordering the conversion of Église Saint-Paul to a mosque [23], the reconstruction and renovation of the roman thermae in the city [24] and several other construction works expanding and developing the city, including a renovation of the walls and the renovation of the old roman theater, what would start the development of a pattern in faranish culture in relation to theaters, which would last until present-day.

Outside Wughdinu, Azure started building a road from the city to Tawlun [25], with support from the Sheikhs of Bryfanse and a renovation of the roman road from Fiyināh [26] to Lusana. With the establishment of Emir's possessions in Phenelyia and Al-Shamaliu, Azure also paid special attention there, with the construction of Ribats in Bahrfira, Kamray and G'ysh [27] to ensure the safety of their possessions against possible attacks by Nuteqali and Bakhyia, respectively.

The vassals also contributed to the development of Faransa, of course, with the beginning of a process of "acculturation" in the region [28], cities like Dayjun, Barish, Tawlusā and Wughdinu started a process of gradual but exponential growth, with the arabs soon bringing its new irrigation and agriculture techniques to Faransa (those with even greater development to occur), allowing the region to slowly regain its prosperity from roman times, while culturally, various roman (and frankish!!!) works in the region were translated into arabic [29], and with that translation works, the development of linguistical, economical and historical studies of the region, bringing potential social mobility for the local christians as many peasants eventually turned into scholars for language, economy and history, as the arabs also brought the madrasahs with them.

However, not everything was bliss, as the border regions in the north and east constantly suffered raids from Bakhyia, Brittany and the Germanic tribes, hindering significantly development there, as the local lords tried to figure out how stop these raids (eventually they arrived at the conclusion that Ribat-style fortifications are the way to go but yeah, eventually), until the germans stopped raiding...........They went to invade Faransa.

Franco-Thuringian Crossing of the Rhine, Wasatbahrian Campaign, Nabeel ibn Azure and the First Farano-Bavarian War (761-769)
The Franco-Thuringian invasion has its roots well in the creation of Faransa, that is, in the collapse of the Frankish Kingdom.

The Surbi or Suribiiyn [30] since their separation from Samo's Tribal Union, have continued to raid the lands of the Thuringii, but whenever major moves to the region were made, the Franks resolved the situation in favor of the Thuringii, returning the slavs to vassal status. However, the collapse of Francia in 741 changed the entire political situation in the region, with the power vacuum being felt almost instantly.

First, Duke Odilo of Bavaria invaded the possessions of the Alemanni, who after finding themselves unable to effectively fight the Bavarian invasion, retreated to behind the Rhine, killing the Duke of Alsace and establishing themselves as Dukes of Alemanni-in-exile in 742, Thywdhbāl [31] would convert to Islam to secure the support of the muslim governor of Faransa, al-Waddi.

But the important thing is that, with the collapse of frankish power in Germania, the Surbi had a free rein in their attacks against the Thuringii, which gradually forced their displacement, until a mass emigration occurred between 752 and 757, towards to the lands of the frankish tribes to the east of the Rhine [32], with the situation in the region being somewhat chaotic.

Soon, in 761, a confederation between the thuringian migrants and the franconians was formed for the "greater good" of both peoples, and then, led by the thuringian tribal chief Berthar, an army of 40.000 Germans crossed the Rhine towards Faransa, capturing the small fortified town of Mirqin [33] and thereafter rushing in the area between the Saraf and Mawsil Rivers [34], defeating Marcomir son of Lothar at the Battle of Fiiny [35], soon putting him and the rest of his troops under siege in his capital of Mytis, while messengers ran to Wughdinu for help from Azure, and while the Franco-Thuringians crossed the Rhine en masse to settle in new lands.

Upon receiving the news, Azure hurried to join an army, demanding his vassals to also contribute troops, soon gathering 30.000 soldiers in Bar [36] under the command of his eldest son Nabeel al-Almāniu [37], who enthusiastically commanded the army, crossing the Mawsil in June 762 and completely defeating the Franco-Thuringians at Mytis, subsequently engaging in a long campaign against the tribes that settled on the west-bank of the Rhine, which would last until the end of 763, when the problem would become greater.

At the same time, Azure commanded his campaign against the Ukhawia of Wasatbahr in the south, and as previously mentioned twice, it failed significantly, but its effects were greater than anticipated, as this resulted in the Banu Murwant revolting (which was suppressed with the troops "borrowed" by Fennas al-Muahad.) and Azure's eventual decision to simply withdraw from the conflict in order to avoid more revolts.

While Nabeel cleared the region of the tribes one by one, apparently, more arrived in the direction south, settling in the lands of the Duqis of Almāniya and basically surrounding them in Strāshburgh, with the slow but steady advance of Nabeel in the north, the franconian tribes in the region called for help from Athalwolf of Bavaria [38] in exchange for their subjugation, seeing the opportunity, Athalwolf assembled an army of 20.000 men and crossed the Rhine in late 763, ending the Siege of Strāshburgh, capturing the entire Banu Thywdhbāl family and subsequently killing them. Bavaria's entry into the war also coincided with a new franco-thuringian army of 40,000 warriors crossing the Saraf, showing that 764 would be a difficult year for Faransa.

Nabeel initially went to answer the Bavarian invasion, but news of the new franco-thuringian army convinced him to change the direction of the march to the Saraf, where on 6 May, the armies met on the plains around Jirmundāh [39], with the result being again favorable to the faranish army, but with the franco-thuringians managing to retreat to Mirqin again, with that, Narbeel sent a small contingent of 10,000 men to finish the job, while he commanded the rest (16.000 thanks to casualties-in-battle) against the Bavarians.

In the campaign against the Bavarians, Nabeel had secondary support from the Sheikhs of Gharbrayn, who united against a possible bavarian invasion of their lands from Yilsash. However, Athalwolf was already marching north to help the franco-thuringians, and soon the two armies met on June 27 at one of the al-Fawj passes [40], where, using extensively heavy cavalry and infantry to block the pass (and denying the enemy's numerical superiority), Nabeel was able to breach severe casualties against the bavarian army, forcing Athalwolf to retreat.

The rest of the campaign followed with the bavarian army being defeated again in another battle outside Strāshburgh (18 August), forcing Athalwolf to cross the Rhine back to Bavaria while Nabeel campaigned against the franconian tribes in Yilsash, with a grateful help from the local Alemanni [41].

By 765, most of the problems had been resolved, with the franco-thuringians returning to behind the Saraf River and the bavarians to the east of the Rhine (but in political terms the invasion paid off as it ended any challenge to the bavarian claims in Swabia.), with Azure honoring his son after his arrival in Wughdinu, what was missing was to make that security last, and Azure (already in his 60s) guaranteed that this would be his last great mission as the Emir of Faransa.

First, Azure made a deal with the Banu Lothar and the franco-thuringian tribes on their land, enabling the tribes to maintain their settlements (which would be fortified to become points of defense against possible invasions) in exchange for their conversion to Islam and help with soldiers for the army (and they gladly accepted). After that, he took the Banu Thywdhbāl lands for himself, appointing a governor of alemanni stock to take over the region in his place, with the aim of gaining even more sympathy from the locals, and well, he would succeed.

But to secure the border for good, Azure sent Nabeel for another campaign, a raid against the Franco-Thuringian Confederation, not to capture any kind of loot (though they captured anyway), but to collapse the Confederacy and destroy the threat to the border. And well, half the work had already been done, with the lack of success in the two campaigns having divided a good part of the confederation tribes (mainly between Franconians and Thuringians), Nabeel's attack only gave the coup de grace, eliminating any kind of unity between the confederation and effectively ending the danger to Faransa, with the region turning into a patch of franconian and thuringian tribes.

With Bavaria it was something else, Azure just ordered the armies of the Sheikhs of Gharbrayn to finish the work with constant raids to the kingdom, in 767 Athalwolf would be overthrowed in Bavaria partially because of these raids, with Berthold [42] eventually ending the raids after sending a great tribute to Azure in Wughdinu.

Azure's last years would be mostly peaceful, with him doing his utmost to guarantee the rise of Nabeel as his successor over his other two brothers Maqsu and Arlynu [43], anyway, his death in the beginning of 769 generated everything that he wanted to avoid...

Instability, a lot of it.

[1]: "The Noble Code", basically a list of all the noble families of Faransa, their lands, their rights and their duties as vassals. It allows Azure to keep an eye on its enemies and entrench its allies, however, it ends up legitimizing its enemies somewhat too, and anyway, long-term it will have big consequences
[2]: Sons of Odo, but it's the christian branch. Hatton (who succeded Odo in Aquitaine) managed to maintain his large territory by basically helping the moorish invasion and subsequently being wise in the politics
[3]: Toulouse, France
[4]: Sons of Pepin, with their first ruler being Hieronymus, son of Charles Martel, he arrived there by leading a christian revolt against the ibrahimites and thereafter joining the political game of Faransa. The title Mayurdumu is an arabization of Majordomo, as the arabs interpreted it as a noble title
[5]: Reims, France
[6]: Sons of Meroveg, or, the Merovingians, they're here because they played nice with the arabs, basically, after the ibrahimites went to shambles Childeric installed himself in Barish and turned to pay loyalty for Azure
[7]: Sons of Charivius, basically the Dukes of Maine, they declared themselves vassals of Azure but in practice they're ibrahimites. The seat is at Le Mans, France
[8]: Sons of Mauronte, they're here since frankish times so...they gave a help for the muslim invasion and maintained their lands. The seat is at Aix-en-Provence, France
[9]: Sons of Abbo, the frankish Patrician of Provence, the Bishop of Fabih turned himself in a somewhat secular figure, but then he died, and Abbo had family connections with him so he just took the land for himself. The seat is at Gap, France
[10]: They're berbers, nothing too special about them. The seat is at Viviers, France
[11]: They claim descent from the last Burgundian King Godomar, and just ran into place. They (together with the Banu Pippin and Awdu) are somewhat rallying points for the christians in Faransa
[12]: Sons of Grifo, as sons of Grifo (who have somewhat the reputation Count Julian in Andalus) they gained a fief in Neustria from the ibrahimites, so you can guess that, yeah, they're ibrahimites. The seat is at Rouen, France
[13]: They're leaders from a frankish tribe that just said "Fuck this i want some thicc land on the other side of the Rhine" and after that entered the politics of Faransa. The seat is at Metz, France
[14]: Basically, Muslim Alemannia-in-Exile, the bavarians don't like it. The seat is at Strasbourg, France
[15]: Just an native sheikh, nothing important. The seat is at Dola, France
[16]: These are berbers, as the mountainous terrain at the region is good for pasture. The seat is at Oyonnax, France
[17]: Other native sheikh, though he is important because he controls some gorgeous salt mines. The seat is at Lons-le-Saunier, France (and the name means literally "(City of) Salt"
[18]: Arabs right there, they're of Yemeni stock and remained out of the ibrahimite controversy since they were too occupied warring with the other lords. The seat is at Besançon, France
[19]: They're not natives, they're of burgundian (germanic) descent, though as of now they are pretty much nativized, they still have pride of their germanic ancestry. The seat is at Lausanne, Switzerland (omg a seat that isn't in France :0).
[20]: The name comes from the roman name that comes from the name of a gaulish tribe in the region
[21]: Murwant was a rebel after all, heh, Abbo wants his control over Provence back, basically
[22]: Goyencourt, France
[23]: Here we go, Franco-Muslim Architecture!
[24]: Muslim cleanliness being active right here, Lyon has actually a lot of roman stuff preservated so we can actually maintain it as a thing
[25]: Toulon, France
[26]: Vienne, France
[27]: Saint-Lô, Cambrai and Guise
[28]: OTL Carolingian Renaissance somewhat happening earlier TTL, though its consequences will be a lot more widespread, it will be a "slow but steady" thing
[29]: Roman/Frankish-Arab Translation Mania, the same thing is happening with the abbasids about greco-persian stuff
[30]: The Sorbs
[31]: Theudebald, OTL Duke of Alemannia from 730 'til 745
[32]: The Franconians to be more exact, they are far from being strong enough to resist the thuringian invasion, so they end up being defeated and crowded into a even bigger melting pot with the thuringians and fleeing alemanni tribes.
[33]: Saarburg, Germany
[34]: Saar and Moselle rivers, respectively
[35]: Vigny, France
[36]: Bar-le-Duc, France
[37]: "The Alemannian", more on that later but this will be pretty important
[38]: He thinks that the King is his puppet, he's right
[39]: Sarreguemines, France
[40]: The Vosgues
[41]: No one likes have their land invaded, y'know
[42]: More crazy things happening in Bavaria heh, stay tuned for the next update
[43]: Arabized names for "Maximus" and "Arlenus"

And yes i know that my footnotes are giantnotes.
 
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Wow good update looks like Europe is going to be a hot mess are we going to see a Germanic conquest of France followed by a christian revival? Also how are thing back east are the Abbasid's doing well and whats going on in China and India?
 
Wow good update looks like Europe is going to be a hot mess are we going to see a Germanic conquest of France followed by a christian revival? Also how are thing back east are the Abbasid's doing well and whats going on in China and India?

Well, at least for now we'll not see a Germanic conquest, but yeah Europe will be a big mess for the near future, y'all can blame the slavs for this, more specifically, the sorbs. After these more two/three covering Germania, Slavia, Britain and the Adventures of the Ukhawias (Vikings!), i'll go back east, but i can say that the Abbasids are doing well, China is about to Tangexplode (or not...) and India is...a mess? I just know that are some beauty butterflies right there. For more you'll have to wait (not too much because i want to rush some updates since i'm in summer vacation)
 
How about central asia it's still under Chinese control right will the Chinese keep it?

This is something i cannot spoil about now, because that's the bigger conflict occuring in the East right now, so you'll have to wait 'til then...But still, last time i mentioned Central Asia there still was a campaign to be fought, so this campaign will be fought :biggrin:
 
Mayurdumu is an arabization of Majordomo
In a way Majordomo did count, as his Major Dominus ie Great Lord but yeah become the one of a servant(ie Majordomo is like Steward, was both a servant title and a noble one too, )

Well what an update, show how Faransa evolved and this slowly becoming an organized mess..wonder what will come of the post Azure Faransa now
 
I'm kinda surprised India and China won't be Muslim - not much of a "Muslim World" if they're not, right?;)

You caught me on that :p, though as per "Muslim World" it was clearly an overstatement :b, after all, the muslims will have some presence in India and China (especially the former), but we'll still see future fights between these two worlds...

I hope the Chinese win I do not want to see this become to much of a Islam wank.

Things will happen in China, these things will greatly benefit their enemies, but China won't get out without a fight, and they have the capabilities to outfight their enemies (The Battle of Aksu is a clear show-up of this, btw), but sadly for anyone that controls territory in Central Asia, a new power will arise and change everything. More about that in future updates :p

In a way Majordomo did count, as his Major Dominus ie Great Lord but yeah become the one of a servant(ie Majordomo is like Steward, was both a servant title and a noble one too, )

Well what an update, show how Faransa evolved and this slowly becoming an organized mess..wonder what will come of the post Azure Faransa now

Oh, i don't knew about that, though for that way it isn't nothing major just me not knowing that btw. But yeah, Faransa is becoming an organized mess, but i promise that some pretty interesting things are about to happen in Faransa, don't forget about the somewhat gallo-roman names of the two newer brothers, they mean something!
 
I see that the map has changed a bit since the fisrt one. Nize passed from Kosmos Italy to Faranza and Brittany recovered the eastern part of its territory.
I assume the reason the andalusi emir is so helpful to Faransa it's to keep a good buffer space, use it as an excuse to keep taking bits and pieces of southern Faransa and to send the most restless ghazis to places where they dont cause trouble.
 
I assume the reason the andalusi emir is so helpful to Faransa it's to keep a good buffer space, use it as an excuse to keep taking bits and pieces of southern Faransa and to send the most restless ghazis to places where they dont cause trouble

Actually is pretty much this, the andalusians gain much by maintaining Faransa alive, Faransa grants a stable northern border (i.e the only border) and an friendly Faransa means that the andalusian emirs literally doesn't have to care about securing a frontier, their frontier is on the existence of Faransa, and it ends up being for Faransa's gain too.
 
Actually is pretty much this, the andalusians gain much by maintaining Faransa alive, Faransa grants a stable northern border (i.e the only border) and an friendly Faransa means that the andalusian emirs literally doesn't have to care about securing a frontier, their frontier is on the existence of Faransa, and it ends up being for Faransa's gain too.
This means that the andalusi emir doesn't need that big of an army, only internal order (rebellions) and aid to Faransa. He will probably rebuild his navy or buy off the Maltese. He will need both an Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets to protect trade and project power, specially towards the Maghreb. Al Andalus is poised to become to the Maghreb what is Egypt is to the Mashriq.
Al Andalus may as well be an island in terms of security.
 
I am a little confused by the names of some muslim rulers in ttl. I searched Azure and I only could find "It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian لاجورد (lajvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli"." It doesnt seem to be an islamic name, while it could be a personal name it was common for people born under one name to change it once they achieved a position of power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_name . I have a similar objection about the name of a Maltese ruler mentioned in an old post.
 
I am a little confused by the names of some muslim rulers in ttl. I searched Azure and I only could find "It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian لاجورد (lajvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli"." It doesnt seem to be an islamic name, while it could be a personal name it was common for people born under one name to change it once they achieved a position of power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_name . I have a similar objection about the name of a Maltese ruler mentioned in an old post.
Not all Muslim who convert changes their names, and i liked Azure name too
 
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