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Chapter 95: Mazdaki Merchants in Mazoun
We are taking a look again at the realm of Mazoun to be found at the southern tip of Arabia. During the previous century, Mazoun itself has has been overshadowed by the city-state of Ormus, which controlled the strait of the same name, as well as lands on both the Persian and Arabic shore of the strait. The wealth of Ormus came from its dominance over the trade between India and Mesopotamia, and more frequently than not not have Ormusi merchants resorted to piracy.
View attachment 529184
Ormus and surrounding realms
The city of Ormus, shielded by its insular localtion, has acknowledged the authority of the Ilkhan, paying a yearly tribute. Despite the tribute, the city still maintains much of its wealth, and has become a place of luxury and lavishness. Indeed, the city has earned a reputation of being one of the morally most corrupt cities on the planet, where the existence of any moral code was largely ignored, be it Christians, Mandeans or Manicheans.
Nominally the majority of Ormusian citizens were of the Msadiqiyya (Mazdaki) Manichean denomination, speaking the Ormusi dialect of Aramaic. Ormus itslef was howeverhome also to a significant number of Baloch descended serfs and a great number of slaves. In fact, the total slave population of the city was estimated to be around twice the number of the free men - and slaves were either bought along the East African coast or were the captured crew of enemy ships.
Slaves were usually employed in doing the manual labour - also in vessels as rowmen and doing all sorts of tasks. As for the soldiers, Ormus employed mainly Baloch tribesmen, ready to fight for a nice sum of money.
Apart from slaves, another very valuable commodity was spices. Ormus commanded most of the spice trade with India.
View attachment 529192
Linguistic map: the Persian coast of the Ormusi realm has seen the area crowded by fleeing refugees from the rest of Persia, changing linguistic border.
Both Ormus and its rival, Mazoun have welcomed many Persian scholars, fleeing the plunder and havock caused by the ravaging hordes. Although many of them first arrive in Ormus, they were rather disgusted by the state of morale that was omnipresent in the city, as well as by the fact that the city was a liberatarian plutocracy. Many found much better conditions within the realm of Mazoun, where the Dapir created the Grand Academy of Wisdom, and personally funded all scholars. The result was that both Ormus and Mazoun to an even larger degree become centers of innovation
View attachment 529191
Forms of government in South Arabia
Ormus was ruling over the Emirate of Magan, which was very sparsely populated. The Maganese were also resorting to piracy for livelyhood, however after attacking a few Mazouni vessels, Magan was defeated by Ormus in a swift campaign. Ormus went to war also with Beth Qatriye, where they take over the peninsular and insular regions; the rump realm of Hasa remains independent for the time being. Meanwhile , the Sarlimian schism with Nestorians has ended, as many Sarlimians in the north return under the fold of the Church of the East. Further south, however they embrace Msadeqi Manicheism.
The realm of Mazoun has come under the shadow of Ormus, but still it was a nest of piracy, a base to attack the western coast of India ( although some profit of course came from honest trade). Compared to Ormus, Mazounis appear as "virtuous pirates", where with the doctrine of moderacy and generally the more conservative nature of the Mazouni society at this point makes Mazoun to be viewed as a good arrangement of the society.
The power of the Dapir remains rather strong, with the other institutions being mearly appendices or consultative organs of the Dapir, Therefore, Mazoun is regarded as a monarchy.
View attachment 529189
The spread of the Msadeqiyya religion
As mentioned, the Msadeqiyya religion has become already widespread in the Indian Ocean trade network - from Mazoun, to the coast of Makrat and Gujarat, also on the islands of Lakshawdeep and Maldives, and making inroads also into Sumatra and Champa. Quite naturally, the Msadeqiyya sect of Manicheism has made inroads also into parts of the African Continent, around the city of Berbera and the Azanian coast. With this said, Msadeqiyya has become the most widespread sect of Manicheism, although heavily divergent.
View attachment 529195
Mazoun has slightly altered the East Syriac script to better suit their South Arabic language.
View attachment 529184
Ormus and surrounding realms
The city of Ormus, shielded by its insular localtion, has acknowledged the authority of the Ilkhan, paying a yearly tribute. Despite the tribute, the city still maintains much of its wealth, and has become a place of luxury and lavishness. Indeed, the city has earned a reputation of being one of the morally most corrupt cities on the planet, where the existence of any moral code was largely ignored, be it Christians, Mandeans or Manicheans.
Nominally the majority of Ormusian citizens were of the Msadiqiyya (Mazdaki) Manichean denomination, speaking the Ormusi dialect of Aramaic. Ormus itslef was howeverhome also to a significant number of Baloch descended serfs and a great number of slaves. In fact, the total slave population of the city was estimated to be around twice the number of the free men - and slaves were either bought along the East African coast or were the captured crew of enemy ships.
Slaves were usually employed in doing the manual labour - also in vessels as rowmen and doing all sorts of tasks. As for the soldiers, Ormus employed mainly Baloch tribesmen, ready to fight for a nice sum of money.
Apart from slaves, another very valuable commodity was spices. Ormus commanded most of the spice trade with India.
View attachment 529192
Linguistic map: the Persian coast of the Ormusi realm has seen the area crowded by fleeing refugees from the rest of Persia, changing linguistic border.
Both Ormus and its rival, Mazoun have welcomed many Persian scholars, fleeing the plunder and havock caused by the ravaging hordes. Although many of them first arrive in Ormus, they were rather disgusted by the state of morale that was omnipresent in the city, as well as by the fact that the city was a liberatarian plutocracy. Many found much better conditions within the realm of Mazoun, where the Dapir created the Grand Academy of Wisdom, and personally funded all scholars. The result was that both Ormus and Mazoun to an even larger degree become centers of innovation
View attachment 529191
Forms of government in South Arabia
Ormus was ruling over the Emirate of Magan, which was very sparsely populated. The Maganese were also resorting to piracy for livelyhood, however after attacking a few Mazouni vessels, Magan was defeated by Ormus in a swift campaign. Ormus went to war also with Beth Qatriye, where they take over the peninsular and insular regions; the rump realm of Hasa remains independent for the time being. Meanwhile , the Sarlimian schism with Nestorians has ended, as many Sarlimians in the north return under the fold of the Church of the East. Further south, however they embrace Msadeqi Manicheism.
The realm of Mazoun has come under the shadow of Ormus, but still it was a nest of piracy, a base to attack the western coast of India ( although some profit of course came from honest trade). Compared to Ormus, Mazounis appear as "virtuous pirates", where with the doctrine of moderacy and generally the more conservative nature of the Mazouni society at this point makes Mazoun to be viewed as a good arrangement of the society.
The power of the Dapir remains rather strong, with the other institutions being mearly appendices or consultative organs of the Dapir, Therefore, Mazoun is regarded as a monarchy.
View attachment 529189
The spread of the Msadeqiyya religion
As mentioned, the Msadeqiyya religion has become already widespread in the Indian Ocean trade network - from Mazoun, to the coast of Makrat and Gujarat, also on the islands of Lakshawdeep and Maldives, and making inroads also into Sumatra and Champa. Quite naturally, the Msadeqiyya sect of Manicheism has made inroads also into parts of the African Continent, around the city of Berbera and the Azanian coast. With this said, Msadeqiyya has become the most widespread sect of Manicheism, although heavily divergent.
View attachment 529195
Mazoun has slightly altered the East Syriac script to better suit their South Arabic language.
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 730