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Chapter 93: The Naiman Conquest of Iran
The Naiman conquest of Seljuq Persia and Transoxiana has been historically very significant. At first, the Naimans, who have relatively recently conquered the Khitan realm in the Central Asian Steppes, sought to establish direct trade relations with the powers that were present in the Sogdian region; eventually however, a few provocations happened and the Naiman armies have proceeded and conquered the entire cultural region of Greater Iran.
The conquering armies have met relatively heavy resistance, especially in the fortresses and walled cities. The conquering steppe nomads were perceived as barbarians, who were somewhat accepted as being on the outmost fringe of the civilizational sphere of the Nestorian Asian cultural unity. Anyhow, the rich multicultural fabric of Sogdia, with elements of Iranian, Indian, Sinitic as well as Altaic civilizations; being the crossroad of cultures, similarly the Iranian plateau with its ancient cultural and historical legacy cannot be compared to the nomadic empire of the Naimans. Their perceptions of the conquering armies as barbarians were indeed not biased and based upon reality.
The invading armies sought to ease their conquest by using terror as a tactic[1], by using violence against civilians and military garrisons were they offer resistance; any town that would agree to surrender ended up unharmed.
Compared to China however, the Naiman conquest of Persian was much easier. For its part, the bulk of the country lacked a strong network of fortifications[2], relying mostly on walled cities (built of mud bricks), which could be brought down easily by siege engines. Furthermore, one ought to note, that the defender´s urban population was concentrated in a handful of large cities, such as Samarkand, Nishapur, Reyy, Ispahan, Merv, Balkh and Bost. This meant that the capture of these urban centres was a relatively easy task. Similarly, as the Seljuqs themselves were historically steppe nomads, they have also developed a tradition of cavalry warfare, which is highly effective in open plains, but once given the task of defending walled cities, your cavalry skills are effectively useless. However, the Seljuqs ´reliance on cavalry meant that they neglect in developing a professionally trained infantry; rather they had to rely mostly on poorly trained recruits. In all cases, the urban population of the empire was engaged in all sorts of task and professions, but military was not among them.
The practical results of this was a dramatic depopulation of the region, this affected mainly the urban centres, mainly along the Silk Road, where it affected primarily the region of Khorasan; in Sogdia and Khwarezm it was particularly the Naiman invasion which has changed the demographic balance in favour of the Turkic peoples and pushed the linguistic border of the East Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Khwarezmian way southwards; indeed Khwarezmian became virtually extinct, remaining as a liturgical language of the Denawari Manicheans in Central Asia, who have also suffered greatly in Sogdia. On the other hand, further southwards in the regions of Farah and Birjand, it was Nestorianism which was in decline and the demographic balance shifts in favour of Manichaeism.
The central regions of Persia itself have experienced quite drastic depopulation, to such significant extent, that the demographic balance has shifted once more towards Zoroastrianism. This may appear to be a peculiar outcome, as both overlords, the old and the new, were Nestorian Christians in religion. However, within Seljuq Persia, it was mostly the Turkic conquerors, the Seljuq clans and their vassals, who formed the bulk of the military, and then the townspeople, the urban populations who were Christian. These demographics suffered disproportionally greater during the Naiman conquest; the predominantly Persian Zoroastrian villagers, living in rural areas fared of well, relatively untouched.
One of the largest atrocities was the siege of Ispahan. Located in central Iran, Ispahan was the seat of Seljuq power. Upon route to Mesopotamia, the Patriarch of the East, Makikha went to meet the proceeding Naiman armies, and had the khan crowned Shahanshah of Persia, of Iran and Aniran. This gesture of the Patriarch has given results: and the city of Qtespon was spared from plunder; rather, the khan´s entry was similar to Alexander´s entrance into Babylon, and the Naimans themselves were astonished by the wonders of the city itself.
Ultimately, the Naiman invasions proceeded further westwards, into Upper Mesopotamia, also known as Assyria and Armenia. Both of these states submitted to the Naimans before they would actually cross their borders, which further allowed them to preserve their own autonomy. Thus the Naimans ended up controlling the entire Iranian Plateau, with its northern border being the southern foothills of the Caucasus Mountain in the Kura Valley of Kakheti, Hereti and Aghbania, and in the west bordering the Rhomaic Empire on a line from the Trebizond to Damascus.
And then in the east, the borders extended beyond those of the Seljuq domains, to extend also into the previously held Mandeshi lands, into the basin of Helmand Valley, Zabulistan, Makran, Kabulistan beyond the Hindukush and into Badakhshan. In general, the borders indeed corresponded to the linguistic borders of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages[3].
One of the lasting changes which is worth noticing is however the fact that by this time practically the entirety of the Nestorian world has come unified within the political boundaries of the Naiman Empire. This benefitted the Church of the East indeed, as it was the religion of most of the Khan´s subjects anyway, as well as the not-as-strictly enforced state religion, but still, with one monarch wielding practically all power, the Church has had to adapt to the new changes. As it goes, the Church has come more and more under the influence of the state, losing parts of its independence. However, also the Naimans relied on the Church to gain some degree of legitimacy[4].
[1] This is something very similar to the conduct that happened in OTL. However, the massacres committed by the Naiman (Mongol) armies were lesser in extent than happened in our timeline, and the promises given by the individual commanders of the army were kept. Thus, when a city did negotiate with the nomads on the terms of capitulation, which has included their lives being intact, they would not massacre them afterwards. However, they did demand a high penalty (such as gold, slaves, recruits etc.). Similarly, the commanders would not demand each soldier deliver a given amount of human heads to their commander, mainly based upon the teachings of Christian mercy, perhaps upon the advice of Nestorian court chaplain or monk.
[2] This is stated in the OTL wikipedia article. Here, I would assume that this fact was not as decisive as in OTL, as the Seljuqs have become somewhat stable.
[3] The divide roughly divides OTL Pakistan into two, with Sindha and Punjab on the Indian side and Balochistan and Pashtun areas on the Iranian side of it. Thus, Afghanistan and Balochistan plus FATA and Khyber Pashtunwa were conquered by the *Mongols*
[4] Pulling a Constantine or Charlemagne...
Maps:
View attachment 522243
Asia, political, sofar
View attachment 522244
Asia, linguistic
View attachment 522245
Asia, religion.
Note: These maps are not definitive.
The conquering armies have met relatively heavy resistance, especially in the fortresses and walled cities. The conquering steppe nomads were perceived as barbarians, who were somewhat accepted as being on the outmost fringe of the civilizational sphere of the Nestorian Asian cultural unity. Anyhow, the rich multicultural fabric of Sogdia, with elements of Iranian, Indian, Sinitic as well as Altaic civilizations; being the crossroad of cultures, similarly the Iranian plateau with its ancient cultural and historical legacy cannot be compared to the nomadic empire of the Naimans. Their perceptions of the conquering armies as barbarians were indeed not biased and based upon reality.
The invading armies sought to ease their conquest by using terror as a tactic[1], by using violence against civilians and military garrisons were they offer resistance; any town that would agree to surrender ended up unharmed.
Compared to China however, the Naiman conquest of Persian was much easier. For its part, the bulk of the country lacked a strong network of fortifications[2], relying mostly on walled cities (built of mud bricks), which could be brought down easily by siege engines. Furthermore, one ought to note, that the defender´s urban population was concentrated in a handful of large cities, such as Samarkand, Nishapur, Reyy, Ispahan, Merv, Balkh and Bost. This meant that the capture of these urban centres was a relatively easy task. Similarly, as the Seljuqs themselves were historically steppe nomads, they have also developed a tradition of cavalry warfare, which is highly effective in open plains, but once given the task of defending walled cities, your cavalry skills are effectively useless. However, the Seljuqs ´reliance on cavalry meant that they neglect in developing a professionally trained infantry; rather they had to rely mostly on poorly trained recruits. In all cases, the urban population of the empire was engaged in all sorts of task and professions, but military was not among them.
The practical results of this was a dramatic depopulation of the region, this affected mainly the urban centres, mainly along the Silk Road, where it affected primarily the region of Khorasan; in Sogdia and Khwarezm it was particularly the Naiman invasion which has changed the demographic balance in favour of the Turkic peoples and pushed the linguistic border of the East Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Khwarezmian way southwards; indeed Khwarezmian became virtually extinct, remaining as a liturgical language of the Denawari Manicheans in Central Asia, who have also suffered greatly in Sogdia. On the other hand, further southwards in the regions of Farah and Birjand, it was Nestorianism which was in decline and the demographic balance shifts in favour of Manichaeism.
The central regions of Persia itself have experienced quite drastic depopulation, to such significant extent, that the demographic balance has shifted once more towards Zoroastrianism. This may appear to be a peculiar outcome, as both overlords, the old and the new, were Nestorian Christians in religion. However, within Seljuq Persia, it was mostly the Turkic conquerors, the Seljuq clans and their vassals, who formed the bulk of the military, and then the townspeople, the urban populations who were Christian. These demographics suffered disproportionally greater during the Naiman conquest; the predominantly Persian Zoroastrian villagers, living in rural areas fared of well, relatively untouched.
One of the largest atrocities was the siege of Ispahan. Located in central Iran, Ispahan was the seat of Seljuq power. Upon route to Mesopotamia, the Patriarch of the East, Makikha went to meet the proceeding Naiman armies, and had the khan crowned Shahanshah of Persia, of Iran and Aniran. This gesture of the Patriarch has given results: and the city of Qtespon was spared from plunder; rather, the khan´s entry was similar to Alexander´s entrance into Babylon, and the Naimans themselves were astonished by the wonders of the city itself.
Ultimately, the Naiman invasions proceeded further westwards, into Upper Mesopotamia, also known as Assyria and Armenia. Both of these states submitted to the Naimans before they would actually cross their borders, which further allowed them to preserve their own autonomy. Thus the Naimans ended up controlling the entire Iranian Plateau, with its northern border being the southern foothills of the Caucasus Mountain in the Kura Valley of Kakheti, Hereti and Aghbania, and in the west bordering the Rhomaic Empire on a line from the Trebizond to Damascus.
And then in the east, the borders extended beyond those of the Seljuq domains, to extend also into the previously held Mandeshi lands, into the basin of Helmand Valley, Zabulistan, Makran, Kabulistan beyond the Hindukush and into Badakhshan. In general, the borders indeed corresponded to the linguistic borders of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages[3].
One of the lasting changes which is worth noticing is however the fact that by this time practically the entirety of the Nestorian world has come unified within the political boundaries of the Naiman Empire. This benefitted the Church of the East indeed, as it was the religion of most of the Khan´s subjects anyway, as well as the not-as-strictly enforced state religion, but still, with one monarch wielding practically all power, the Church has had to adapt to the new changes. As it goes, the Church has come more and more under the influence of the state, losing parts of its independence. However, also the Naimans relied on the Church to gain some degree of legitimacy[4].
[1] This is something very similar to the conduct that happened in OTL. However, the massacres committed by the Naiman (Mongol) armies were lesser in extent than happened in our timeline, and the promises given by the individual commanders of the army were kept. Thus, when a city did negotiate with the nomads on the terms of capitulation, which has included their lives being intact, they would not massacre them afterwards. However, they did demand a high penalty (such as gold, slaves, recruits etc.). Similarly, the commanders would not demand each soldier deliver a given amount of human heads to their commander, mainly based upon the teachings of Christian mercy, perhaps upon the advice of Nestorian court chaplain or monk.
[2] This is stated in the OTL wikipedia article. Here, I would assume that this fact was not as decisive as in OTL, as the Seljuqs have become somewhat stable.
[3] The divide roughly divides OTL Pakistan into two, with Sindha and Punjab on the Indian side and Balochistan and Pashtun areas on the Iranian side of it. Thus, Afghanistan and Balochistan plus FATA and Khyber Pashtunwa were conquered by the *Mongols*
[4] Pulling a Constantine or Charlemagne...
Maps:
View attachment 522243
Asia, political, sofar
View attachment 522244
Asia, linguistic
View attachment 522245
Asia, religion.
Note: These maps are not definitive.
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.2k