Minorities and the Empire, Part 3: Ordering the East
When the first Pepper fleets arrived in India from newly-conquered Roman Egypt, fairly good relations with the native Hindus and with the Buddhists of Taprobane were established. It was a far different manner with the local Thomasine Christians. They were called Nestorians by the Orthodox, practitioners of a heresy far fouler in their eyes than anything the Catholics had done. At the beginning it did not matter much. Most Nestorians the Romans encountered were Kashmiri merchants, and as foreign traders their religion didn’t matter to the Romans, only their wares.
That changed in 1583 when after the Treaty of Kozhikode between the Roman and Vijayanagari Empires, the Romans lost all their trading quarters in Vijayanagar but were granted the city of Alappuzha as a Roman holding outright. The city had been captured during the war by a Roman fleet.
The Roman holding, which became a Kephalate under the Katepano of Taprobane, extended slightly beyond the city to include some nearby villages in a narrow coastal strip. The area contained a substantial minority of Thomasine Christians, the first extensive body of these believers to come under Roman rule. There were some who wanted to expel the lot; that was what had been done with the handful the Romans found in Surat. However the need to ensure the viability of this tiny toehold in southern India, surrounded by a decidedly lukewarm Vijayanagar, meant such inclinations were not followed. The Thomasines were forced to live outside the city defenses but allowed to stay in the villages.
The Thomasine Christians played a crucial role in the economy of Alappuzha, working in artisanal industries and providing valuable contacts for Indian merchants in the interior. Many were hired as local agents for Roman Ship Lords to procure goods for export to either Rhomania or Island Asia. (Indian cotton textiles are a valuable commodity there.) While still barred from spending the night in Alappuzha itself, they were treated effectively as a noble heresy, without any official status.
In the Roman heartland, such a thing would not be possible. But Rhomania-in-the-East is decidedly looser with the rules, not because of any greater enlightenment on the part of Romans in the east, but simply out of pragmatism.
How long that situation may have continued if left alone no one can say, but the Demetrian Truce radically changes the situation. The population of the northern Mesopotamian territories captured by Amirales has a respectable minority of Assyrian Christians, also labeled as Nestorians by the Romans. And the frontier with Persia is a region that the White Palace certainly cannot ignore.
The Assyrian Christian population of Mesopotamia is a shadow of what it was in centuries past, before Timur had come and massacred them by the thousands. Numbers-wise they are quite small but their strategic position gives them prominence far above mere demographics would suggest.
The initial Roman instinct is again to expel the lot, but as in Alappuzha pragmatism wins out. This is to be the staging ground for when the war resumes and turning the region into a depopulated waste hardly helps in that regard. But here the fuzzy gray area in which the Thomasines of Alappuzha reside is not an option; Roman bureaucracy wants things to be tidier then how they’re operated in the east.
However putting Nestorians on the ‘noble heresy’ list is too much for the Romans and the Orthodox Church is adamantly against the idea. It would be far more preferable if the Nestorians would, to be blunt, stop being Nestorians. There have been a few conversions to Orthodoxy in Alappuzha, but nothing to suggest a wave of converts is in the offing.
The result of this Roman preference is the twin Synods of Amida and Alappuzha in 1638, which although distant geographically are extremely similar in content and aim. There are meetings between Orthodox clergy and Assyrian/Thomasine priests and bishops, although the fact that both synods are held in Roman cities is quite telling. The well-read Assyrian Bishop of Mosul complains that the Romans treat him as the Catholics would treat the Orthodox Romans in discussions regarding church union during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
He has a point, although Orthodox Christians to this day deny it. The negotiations are extremely one-sided. While the Assyrian/Thomasine Christians will continue to worship God in their own language, many parts of their liturgy that contain Nestorian theology are stripped away and a long list of their religious texts are condemned as heretical. Not only texts that postulate Nestorian theology are banned; others whose ‘crime’ is to condemn historical Orthodox figures, usually for opposing Nestorianism, are also proscribed.
The new Assyrian and Thomasine Orthodox Churches created are in communion with the Roman Orthodox Church but are autocephalous. The Romans had not wished to concede this but were forced to do so by the Assyrian/Thomasines, who used the Japanese Orthodox Church as a precedent. Having given ground in so many other areas, they cling to this concession all the more ferociously to the point that without the Romans compromising here, the Synods would’ve failed. The Metropolitans who head the two churches are supposed to be approved by the Patriarch of Antioch, who would’ve been their head if the churches were not autocephalous, but this soon becomes ceremonial.
Many Assyrian and Thomasine Christians go along with the Synods, possibly for rather worldly reasons. While they lack proficiency in Greek, a serious handicap if any ambitious Assyrian/Thomasine wishes to rise above the provincial level, their Orthodox status grants them preferential treatment on the local level. They are taxed on the regular rate with no surcharges and have opportunities for government scholarships at university. (While non-Orthodox may study at Roman universities, they cannot receive government scholarships. This has been a rather effective tool in encouraging ambitious young men to convert.)
However many do not, wanting to remain true to the faith of their forefathers, regardless of Roman pressure that often escalates into threats and more. The Assyrians are given a grace period of three years to decide if they wish to join the Assyrian Orthodox Church; those who do not will be expelled at the expiration of that window. As for the Thomasines, the laxer ways of the East protect them. The Thomasine Orthodox may reside in Alappuzha, but those who do not convert continue their lives and work out in the villages.
Northern Mesopotamia is in serious flux and it is quite clear to everyone, including the Ottomans, the Romans intend to stay. The nomadic tribes of the area are Turkish, the stock from which the ghazis that have raided eastern Anatolia since they moved to Mesopotamia over three centuries past have sprung. During previous Roman occupations, such as during the Eternal War, the tribes typically retreated to the badlands while harassing and waiting the Romans out.
However now the Romans are not busy facing down Ottoman field armies and can concentrate efforts on the tribes. The Roman reaction to them is simple: Leave or die. The latter half of the 1630s is filled with a military effort to crush the tribes. Captives are deliberately dispersed, often being sold into slavery, with children usually being taken away to be raised by Orthodox families. Romans who decry this practice, pointing out the similarity to hated Catholic proposals vis-à-vis Orthodox children, are loudly condemned. The empty tribal lands are given to the Anizzah, who played a large part in this vicious little war.
With the settled peoples the Romans are subtler. For the Sunnis, a list of restriction and requirements is distributed through the land. If they are willing to accept the list, then they may stay. If not, they have 1 year to leave without paying any export dues on what they take with them. The list is a harsh one, with substantial tax surcharges, tight restrictions on the construction and upkeep of religious buildings and of religious bequests. There are other social restrictions, such as types of clothing and colors they are not allowed to wear.
The inspiration for many of these come from the Nullification Acts issued by Alexeia I prior to the Time of Troubles. The purpose of these petty insults is to encourage the Sunnis to leave voluntarily, and many take the hint and leave. They migrate to central Mesopotamia where Ibrahim settles them in areas devastated by Philanthropenos’ raid, while others find work on the Mosul fortifications, where they are inspired laborers.
However the Romans don’t want all of the Sunnis to leave. Kurdish Orthodox military officers and priests circulate amongst the Kurds of the region, distributing a Kurdish version of the list that is decidedly less onerous. There are still tax surcharges and restrictions on religious foundations and bequests, but not quite as tight, and all the ‘petty insult’ aspects are dropped. So while some Kurdish Sunnis still emigrate, the proportions are smaller. Some Kurds, with the example of their northern Orthodox brethren, elect to convert to Orthodoxy for the same reasons as their northern brethren had.
The edicts were designed to ‘fix’ the ‘Sunni problem’ but the Romans hoped for some conversions. Taking a cue from the Remainers of Egypt, they presented financial inducements in the form of offering converts a cut of their neighbor’s property if they emigrated. Some take up this offer, but here in Northern Mesopotamia hatred of the Romans is high, a centuries-old tradition. Just as the Romans have developed an identity based on not being Latin, many of those dwelling in Mesopotamia have developed an identity based on not being Roman. Thus it is estimated that about half of the population in the Ottoman territories controlled by the Romans during the Demetrian Truce end up leaving during that period, either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Some of the empty lands are given to new converts, on condition they subsidize priests brought in to educate them in their new faith. The remainder are split up between some Bithynian and Pontic Greek settlers and displaced Syrian loyalists, a mix of Melkites and the noble heresy groups.
Despite the laxer treatment of the Thomasine loyalists compared to the Assyrian loyalists in the East, in recent decades as Roman officialdom grows more powerful vis-à-vis the Ship Lords there is some tightening of the rules. The Roman desire for information about the East is followed and matched by a desire to categorize everything, including the people. However the Katepanoi, the Viceroys of Rhomania, recognize the need for pragmatism and treating the locals well.
There is a religious hierarchy in the Roman territories. Orthodox Christians are the highest on the list, followed by Buddhists and then Hindus. Being fluent in Greek boosts one’s status, regardless of religion. Both Buddhists and Hindus are effectively ‘noble heresies’ in the way they are treated, but the strictures on them are lighter than those imposed in the Imperial heartland. Religious bequests face no limitations provided a levy, based on a percentage of the bequest’s value, is paid to the Romans. They can also rise much higher in Roman ranks than a ‘noble heretic’ could in the heartland, although the real factor behind that is the recognition that heartland Roman human resources are limited and heavily outnumbered by the Easterners.
Race is viewed as irrelevant; religion and language are the criteria that matter. As a result there are many eastern peoples of high status in the Roman administration and army, although the Kephale & Tourmarch level is a glass ceiling for non-Orthodox. The principal effect of stronger Roman administration is that the categories are enforced; there is no more of the ‘Orthodox-in-public but Buddhist-in-private’ that was a feature of many of the earlier Easterners who served in Roman administration.
There are a growing number of Orthodox Easterners, principally in the Katepanate of Pahang. At this stage, the richer one is, the more likely one is to be Orthodox as the same cultural and economic and social pulls present in eastern Anatolia operate here as well. While learning Greek is still necessary to remove all social barriers, to encourage conversions the Orthodox Church sponsors substantial translation works. Once the Bible and certain liturgical works have been translated into an eastern language, it is authorized for Christian worship and natives worship in their own language.
Many of these are Digenoi, the offspring of mixed Roman-Easterner marriages, which is encouraged by the Roman government. There is no half-breed stigma against these individuals, who are valued for their skills and loyalty to the Empire. The most prestigious are the Malay-Roman Digenoi, mirroring the Malays themselves, where Orthodox conversion is at its highest. Malay and Malay Digenoi rise high in Roman service, particularly in the military, renowned for their valor.
Over the past few decades, Roman control of larger swathes of territory has grown in Malaysia and in the Herakleian Islands. Much of this control, particularly when is more than a day’s journey from the coast, is loose, the territory and people controlled by local chiefs or rulers bound by terms of vassalage to a certain Katepanate. (Despite being part of the Empire since the reign of Nikephoros IV “the Spider”, the interior of Taprobane operates on a similar model)
These vassals have to maintain a Roman advisor. Ideally the advisor is to stay out of the vassal’s way unless Romans or Roman interests are involved, but some are inevitably busybodies who like to interfere. The vassal has the right to appeal to the Kephale whose territory envelopes the vassal state’s, but such appeals go much better for the vassal if they’re higher up the religious-linguistic hierarchy in place. Many local notables send their sons to the various Katepanate capitals for a Roman-style education for this reason.
The Taprobani, the Malays, and the Herakleians are the main Easterners that live under Roman dominion, but there is also a sizeable Wu Chinese population in Singapura who are responsible for putting that city on the map. Many have converted to Orthodox Christianity but still maintain some Chinese customs. Festivals are still celebrated, just with Christian iconography added, and while ancestors aren’t worshipped, they are venerated and prayers for their souls prayed at shrines that commemorate their forefathers.
There are also some Japanese communities. Some are merchants from Japan who trade in Pyrgos and New Constantinople, while others are ronin for hire. Many of those ronin are samurai who cannot stand serving under the Orthodox Shimazu after their murder of the Imperial line, but are quite willing to take the coin of the Orthodox Romans.
In addition there are Zeng Chinese, some expatriates and others merchants. The Zeng are a crucial pillar of Pyrgos’ economy. Aside from the trade with mainland China that they oversee, they also provide many important services. Eighty five percent of laundries in Pyrgos in 1640 are owned and operated by Zeng Chinese for example. Because of the power and wealth of the Heavenly Kingdom, the Zeng are not discriminated against. They must pay taxes, of course, but at a rate 10% higher than those paid by Greek Orthodox.
By the doctrine of civilization-ism, the Chinese are ranked very highly. The expansion of trade with China and some diplomatic missions in the 1620s help to warm Roman-Chinese relations somewhat. However they are still fraught at times. The Chinese view the Romans as barbarians, and the Romans know and resent this. There are also the issues regarding Korea as well, which hardly help matters. Yet at the same time the Chinese want the pepper of Island Asia and the silver of Mexico while the Romans want the porcelain and silk of China, so both sides make do.
These communities of peoples living in Rhomania-in-the-East whose origins lie outside Roman domains are there voluntarily, following economic opportunities. Far to the west in the Caribbean, the story is vastly different.
