A Greater Alodia

[Xenophonte]

Moses Georgios’ initial ransom demand was much more than Dhu’ayb could afford to pay as al-Tayyib’s wars of conquest had been expensive. The imam’s partners in the Jubba River Valley plantations made a decent contribution but it was not enough. Dhu’ayb was only able to secure a modest contribution from Yanis the Sultan of Showa. In August he tried to get Yanis to supplement that with a loan but after a few weeks was told that the sultan would “think about it”. Meanwhile he had solicited the Ismailis in India for a contribution but by the end of the year this amounted to a mere pittance.

Would seem that even when/if the Makurian king, would lower his initial ransom demand, that the Iman,still would probably to have to resign and that he 'd be ready for a more or less long captivity period. And, that when he will be able to return, he would be returning to a very least impoverished and/or nearly bankrupted ..

The attempt to restore Fatimid rule in Egypt convinced him that the imam was indeed an enemy.

I'd think that Moses Georgios would likely to be expected that he would adopt a similar point view to the Balduin one, And to use at least part of the ransom, to fund/finance to any and all Imamate enemies/dissidents...

 

[Tom_B]

Author's Comments: As of the end of 1163 Al-Tayyib is still imprisoned in Soba. His wife Khepri has yet to bear him a son so if he were to die there would be another continuity crisis in Ismaili caliphate. Khepri remained in Yemen. I considered having al-Tayyib take a second wife. May still happen.

 

[Tom_B]

Byzantine Empire and Georgia 1165-1168

The most common opinion within the Byzantine Empire about Emperor Alexios II was that he washas an overall competent emperor but not as good as his father had been. Many had disapproved of his decision to let the Second Crusade pass through the empire. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for Andronikos who was more charismatic than his brother. Andronikos was well aware of this and he intended to do his utmost to live up to his image. He decided a good start would be to eliminate the threat posed by the Danishmends. However this would have to wait until he was sure that there were no more challenges to his ascendancy and the rebellion in Apulia was suppressed. The former proved relatively easy. During the winter he was recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I. Prince Othniel wisely chose to formally affirm his loyalty as a vassal. The later turned out to more difficult than he expected and it wasn’t until late May that he was finally able to turn his attention to his campaign against the Danishmends.

By this time there was another complication. In 1163 Shams al-Din Ildeniz (Eldiguz), the ruler of Adurbadagan, Nasir al-Din Sokmen, the Shah-Armens, Aba al-Din Korpe Arslan, the atabeg of Maragheh, Fakhr ul-Din, the emir of Arzen and Saltuk II, a bey of the Sultan of Rum based at Erzurum formed an alliance and invaded the Kingdom of Grorgia. They defeated the Georgian army then took the fortress at Gagi. After that they laid waste to much of the Georgian countryside.

King George III had appealed to Emperor Alexios II for assistance. However Alexios did not have a particularly good relationship with George and ignored the request. When Andronikos seized the throne he decided to enter into negotiations with George in the spring of 1165 promising him ample assistance if Georgia were to become a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. George very reluctantly agreed to this. Andronikos put his Co-Emperor who had been the the Doux of Dyrrachium in charge of a sizable army he sends to Georgia.

arly in 1166 King George launched an offensive that takes his Muslim enemies by surprise and marched into Arran. He captured Ganja and devastated the land capturing many prisoners and loot. The Byzantine expedition is used in this offensive. An additional benefit to the Georgians is that the Sultan of Rum Kilij Arslan II is a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. He would order Saltuk II to leave the alliance and assist King George instead. On 2 September the Georgians with Byzantine assistance captured the important city of Ani then retake the fortress at Gagi on 30 November.

Meanwhile Andronikos initiated efforts to pressure Vitale II Michiel, the current Doge of Venice to give the Byzantine complete control of the city of Trani. The emperor had found the current system of jointly administering that city in conjunction with the Venetians unwieldy and frustrating. The doge ignored this which irritated Andronikos but he does not let that interfere with the steady reduction of Byzantine troops from Apulia that started with the end of the rebellion. He does wonder if Venice had in fact surreptiously incited that rebellion but has no proof of that. He also suspected Pope Paschal III of supporting the insurrection though he lacked evidence.

Andronikos has formed another even larger army during 1165 which includes the units he withdrew from Apulia after the rebellion was defeated. On 30 April he leads it to the fortified city of Aksaray which lies within the Sultnate of Rum not far from its border with the Danishmend lands. Since the Battle of Iconium Kilij Arslan II, the Sultan of Rum has been a Byzantine vassal. Following Andronikos he is at Aksaray along with 12,000 of his warriors. Andronikos meets with him in private and promises him a third of the Danishmend land and a quarter of the loot taken in this campaign but sternly warns him of the stern retribution if he ever turns against him. Three days later Prince Othniel arrives with most of the Antiochene army. That night they meet in private. Othniel does not makea good first impression and Andronikos harshly criticizes him.

The following morning the comined army departs Aksaray and proceeds to the relatively small castle at Nevsehir (Neapolis) which is on the border. It spends half a day there stocking up on supplies then proceeds into Danishmend territory. Their foe had already spotted them just before they reached Nevsehir but they are at the moment too few in number to do anything more than observe. The terrain is somewhat rugged in places but it doesn’t slow them too much. Their vanguard reaches the fortress city of Kayseri (Caesarea) on 14 May. The following day they commence a siege.

On 27 May Melik Mucahid Gazi, the ruler of the Sivas Branch of the Danishmends, arrives with most of his army. He attacks but soon realizes that he is badly outnumbered without any clear tactical advantage. He had hoped that the Turks from the Sultanate of Rum might turn on the Byzantines but that didn’t materialize. He therefore decided that it was best to withdraw. Andronikos was deeply disappointed because he had hoped to obliterate the Danishmend army. Furthermore the garrison inside Kayseri had briefly sortied and badly damaged half of the siege engines. This set back the siege which didn’t succeed in breaking into the city until 21 August and needed another week to take the citadel. A great deal of loot was taken. Andronikos honored his promise and gave a quarter of it to Kilij Arslan.

After 2 days of celebration the combined army advanced to the northeast and a week later reached Sarkilsa where there was a modest castle. A siege started which captured it on 27 October. Intially Andronikos had not been impressed by Othniel’s performance. The emperor slowly got to know the young prince very well and decided that he was in fact a diamond in the rough. He therefore ordered Othniel to return with him to Constantinople to spend the winter once the castle was taken.

Othniel protested that he was already away from Antioch too long While he was away his mother Constance was in charge. Andronikos asked if there was any genuine crisis going on at Antoich. When Othniel replied that there wasn’t the emperor said that the prince could afford to trust his Constance’s judgement for a while longer. So the two of them went back to Constantinople to spend the winter during which Andronikos proved to be an effective mentor. He grew so fond of Othniel that he arranged for him to marry Marie, the daughter of his eldest son, John Doukas on 24 February, 1167.

During the winter Andronikos assembled a third army. On 21 March, 1167 it approached the fortress city of Amasya, which had at one time been the Danishmend capital. It was northwest of Sivas, the current Danishmend capital. Last year’s campaign had convinced Melik Mucahid Gazi that the greatest threat to his capital was from the concentration of enemy forces at Sarkilsa which lay to the southwest. To counter this he weakened the garrisions in the north such as the one at Amasya. What was left was too weak to challenge the co-emperor’s army in the field.

A siege commenced the following day. When Mucahid Gazi learned of this he was very tempted to send most of his army at Sivas to Amasya but he strongly suspected that this was a clever diversion. The siege succeeded in taking the city on 25 June. It was thoroughly looted. None of this was shared with the Sultan of Rum.

Andronikos along with Othniel returned to Sarkilsa on 2 April. Othniel had brought along his bride Maria Komnene. The following day he sent her with a strong escort to Antioch where she finally got to meet Constance who had been unable to attend her son’s wedding. She found that there was one medium sized problem and several small problems that Constance had to deal with. The medium sized one was the unrelenting enmity of Count Reynald of Poitiers, the ruler of Edessa.

On 5 April Andronikos led his combined army out of Sarkilsa and proceeded northeast. On 11 April they were confronted by the Danishmend army led by Mucahid Gazi. Andronikos’ combined army had more than a 3:2 numerical advantage and quickly prevailed but more than half of the Danishmend army managed to escape and retreated into the walls of Sivas. A siege ensued. The Sultan of Rum did a good job of providing Andronikos with supplies.

He broke into the city on 2 September but needed another 9 days to take its citadel. There he captured Melik Mucahid Gazi. Andronikos wanted to execute him but spared his life in exchange for his issuing orders for the surrender of the fortresses at Niksar and Tokat. Once again a large quantity of loot was captured and once again Andronikos gave a quarter of it to Kilij Arslan though there was a small disagreement about the land that Andronikos was going to turn over to the sultan.

There was 3 days of celebration when the siege of Sivas ended. After that Othniel immediately led the Antiochene army back home. Though he still had many opponents a majority of the city’s population welcomed him. He spent the first day making up for lost time with his wife. After that he began to argue with his mother about some of the decisions she had made while he was gone.

In the early May of 1167 King George III attacked the city of Dvin with most of his army together with the Byzantine expeditionary force. Saltuk II was there as well with half of his army. They were not opposed and tried unsuccessfully to take the city with an assault. After that they started a siege. Three weeks later George learned that his vassal Shah Argsartan of Shirvan was being attacked by the Khazars and Kripchaks. George quickly departed with most of the Georgian army to their aid. He left only a small Georgian detachment behind at Dvin along with the Byzantine expedition and Saltuk’s force. He put the co-emperor in charge of the siege.

When Ildeniz learned of this he moved on Dvin to lift the siege with all of the warriors of the alliance he could assemble on short notice. This resulted in a pitched battle 6 km south of the city on 21 June. The co-emperor kept a quarter of his Byzantine infantry back at Dvin to guard his siege engines against a possible sortie by the garrison. This gave Ildeniz a modest numerical advantage.

At first both sides fought very cautiously but then it intensified. Saltuk fought halfheartedly against his former allies. Ildeniz noticed this and concentrated on the Georgians who were not coordinating very well with the co-emperor. At a cost he put them to flight. This exposed the Byzantine flank putting them in danger. The co-emperor countered this by quickly leading a bold cavalry charge. This convinced Ildeniz that the battle was turning against him and he ordered a withdrawal. However the co-emperor was badly wounded and soon ordereda retreat as well. When he reached Dvin he ordered the siege to be terminated and for his army to retreat all the way back to Ani. He died from his wounds during the night. Ildeniz publicly claimed he had won a great victory but he had suffered heavy losses which made him cautious.

When news of the death of his co-emperor reached Andronikos he cried crocofile tears. Andronikos never completely trusted the man fearing that he was plotting to usurp him though there was no evidence of that other than a few rumors. One reason he sent him away to Georgia was to keep him far away from the seat of power. Furthermore Andronikos wanted his son John Doukas to be his heir. The possibility that the co-emperor’s assignment to Georgia might prove fatal occurred to him. He was glad that it did. It was of course necessary to laud him now that he was dead.

Andronikos then made John Doukas the new co-emperor. He soon dispatched him to Georgia as well. He did this because he wanted his son to have the glory of a military accomplishment to bolster his image. To that end he more than doubled the size of the Georgian expeditionary force using most of the troops involved in his campaign against the Danishmends. He had originally intended to follow up his campaign against the Sivas branch of the Damishmends with one against the Malayta branch but decided that could wait. He encouraged King George to take advantage of this and take decisive action against the Eldiguvids in 1168.

George took this advice. He felt he could not afford to completely abandon Shah Argsartan so he left a quarter of his army in Shirvan but returned to Ani with the rest. In early May he launched a new offensive. He returned to Dvin and captured it on 27 June without Ildeniz trying to interfere with the siege. He only celebrated for one day then continued southeast As a result of his victory he experienced a stream of Armenian men volunteering to fight. He lightly armed them and organized them as irregulars. As they approached the important city of Nakhchivan on 5 July Ildeniz engaged him with his army. This time it did not include any Ahmadili soldiers. This was because Adalbert, the Prince of Mosul had taken most of his army and began a siege of the Ahmafdil capital, Maragheh on 4 June. This siege would ultimately fail in late August but in the meantime it kept the Ahmadili army preoccupied.

After a few initial skirmishes the main action started just before noon. This time Saltuk’s men were held back as a reserve along with the poorly trained Armenian irregulars. The Georgian and Byzantine armies cooperated reasonably well. They possessed overwhelming numerical superiority and used it efficiently. Ildeniz tried a few tricks including a feigned retreat to no avail. He saw that he faced annihilation and decided to order a real retreat. Initially George thought this was another feigned retreat so he waited before ordering a pursuit. This let most of Ildeniz’s army escape. He sent a fifth of his men into Nakhchivan to reinforce the garrison. He took the rest to the fortified town of Jugha (Julfa) which was a relatively short distance to the southeast on the left bank of the Aras River.

George then began to besiege Nakhchivan. On 25 July ildeniz approached Nakhchivan with his army. This forced George to interrupt the siege and prepare for battle. After a brief cavaly skirmish Ildeniz withdrew. Three days later he was back and the same sequence of events repeated itself. On 1 August Ildeniz returned again. Once again he retreated but after last light doubled back and attacked. He succeeded in destroying nearly half of the siege engines before retreating. Afterwards he finally returned to Jugha.

A week later he was back to make another feint but did not attempt a night raid. This strategy was proving quite effective in disrupting the siege of Nakhchivan to George’s dismay. When Ildeniz’s army approached again on 12 August he tried his best to force a battle but once again Ildeniz managed to slip away and returned to Jugha. George then decided to move the Georgian army forward to the village of Jamaldin. Because of thelocal geography there were only two routes from Jugha to Nakhchivan. Both of them came fairly close to Jamaldin. He left the Byzantine expeditionary force, Saltuk’s men and the Armenian irregulars behind at Nakhchivan to continue the siege.

Sure enough on 18 August Georgian scouts spotted Ildeniz’s army near the village of Abrakunis northeast of Jamaldin. The following morning George intercepted them near the village of Arazin attacking their left flank. George tried to cut off his foe’s line of retreat. Ildeniz reacted quickly to prevent that but in a furious fight ended up losing his baggage train and nearly half of his men. The route Ildeniz was ising was the longer one so George ordered his army to take the shorter one so he could arrive at Jugha before Ildenniz and block his entry. However ildeniz had no intention of holing up inside Jugha. Instead he used the Khudafarin Bridge to cross the Aras River well to east of Jugha.

George reached a large hill overlooking Jugha at dusk on 19 August then proceeded to wait. After three days it became obvious that Ildeniz wasn’t coming. George prepared to head back to Nakhchivan and rejoin the siege but then changed his mind. Now that Ildeniz was badly weakened he could afford to besiege Nakhchivan and Jugha simultaneously.

It was Jugha that fell first. The population of Jugha was overwhelmingly Armenian. On the night of 6 Srptember a band of them temporaily gained control of one of the gates and opened it. The Georgians were able to pour in before the gate could be closed. They captured the city after an hour of frantic melee. George made it clear that Jugha was not to be looted. What he gained instead was many more Armenian irregulars.

After that George concentrated his forces around Nakhchivan which they captured on 27 October. Unlike Jugha more than half of Nakhchivan’s population was Muslim so it was looted thoroughly. In early November Georgian cavalry raided as far south as Marand which they did not try to capture. After that King George was content to remain ensconced behind the Aras River for the winter.

When news of these developments reached Emperor Andronikos he distorted them. He told his subjects that it was the Byzantine Army under the command of his son that had won a great victory over the Turcomans at the Battle of Arazin. By this time Andronikos was experiencing a variety of health problems including tuberculodis. He made plans to bring his son back to Constantinople in the spring.

 

[Tom_B]

Iberia and Ifriqiya 1164-1168

The Almohad caliph, Abu Yaqub Yusuf had returned to Marrakesh in December of 1164 leaving his brothers Abu Hafs ‘Umar and Abu Sa’id ‘Uthman in charge of Al-Andalus. The main operation underway at that time was the difficult siege of Cordoba which was held by the Almoravids. Sa’id ‘Uthman directed the siege. On 8 March 1164, Abu ibn Mardanish the Almoravid ruler of Murcia surprised the Almohad army besieging Cordoba with a night attack. The morale of the Almohad soldiers had deteriorated during the difficult winter siege motly due to the harsh weather and inadequate rations. They were quickly routed with heavy losses. Their baggage train and siege engines were captured. Sa’id ‘Uthman just barely managed to escape. What was left of his army fled all the way to Seville where his brother had his headquarters.

The Murcian casualties were light. They celebrated for 4 days. In the beginning of April ibn Mardanish besieged Ecija which had a weak Almohad garrison. He captured it on 19 May. After that his father-in-law Ibrahim ibn Hamusk persuaded him to attack Carmona next as a stepping stone to taking Seville. The siege of Carmona was not as easy as ibn Hamusk had predicted but they did eventually capture it on 23 August.

After that ibn Hamusk wanted to try to besiege Seville. By this time ibn Mardanish had changed hid mind about doing fhat for several reasons. One was that he learned that a large number of Almohad reinforcements from Morocco had recently arrived at Seville. Another was that he learned that on 18 July Alfonso had become both the Count of Barcelona and King of Aragon. The union this created posed a serious threat Murcia’s northern lands esp. the important city of Tortosa. He therefore withdrew his army back to Jaen and eventually Murcia. This made ibn Hamusk very angry. He knew that the smaller army that he commanded had no chance of taking Seville without ibn Mardanish’s aid. He soon withdrew to Cordoba and sulked.

When Yaqub Yusuf had returned to Marrakesh he soon began taking steps to increase the size of his army as he intended to overwhelm the Almoravids and conquer Murcia. The first wave of reinforcements landed at Algeciras in late July. When he learned of the defeat at Cordoba he was deeply disappointed and increased his efforts at growing his army. However because of the losses that his father had sustained fighting the Egyptians in Ifriqa there were limits to what he could generate.

During 1164 King Ferdinand II of Leon and Galicia consolidated his grip on Portugual which he had conquered the prior year. However he also had interests in neighboring Kingdom of Castile where there was a civil war going on between the Lara family and Castro family over the regency of the underage King Alfonso. King Fernando supported Fernando Rodriguez de Castro, the leader of the Castro family. In the spring the Castro family assembled forces at Catle Huete in Leonese controlled Toledo for an invasion of Castile. In July Count Manrique Perez de Lara, the head of the Lara family demanded that the Castro familt turn over Huete Castle. Fernando refused and a battle ensued. The Castro family defeated the Lara family and killed Manrique but the Lara family retained possession of King Alfonso.

In the first half of 1164 the Kingdom of Lower Egypt was largely inactive in Ifriqiya mostly because King Merkourios did not want to make a major commitment while the War of Alodian Succession was still underway. Furtthermore suppressing the Faitmid insurrection had been a drain on his resources and damaged parts of his nation. He did make a few preparations in the spring which included reinforcing Berenice and strengthening its defences.

This was fortunate because in 16 June a force of Banu Sulaym Arabs showed up there and demanded its surrender. When the garrison commander refused their commander ordered an impromptu assault an hour later in broad daylight. This was easily repelled. Two days later the Banu Sulaym made a better assault after dark. This time the defenders were hatd pressed and just barely managed to repel the Arabs. The commander of the attackers was badly wounded during this assault. He decided against attempting a siege and withdrew. In late July Berenice received additional reinforcements and in late August still more.

One of King Merkourios’ advisers had persuaded him that he should begin to extend Egyptian power in Egypt inland despite opposition from the vizier Quartus and Ngissitikol. Quartus opposed it because he didn’t want any Ifriqiya campaign while Ngissitikol wanted to conserve strength for a resumption of the conflict with the Almohad Caliphate. A sizable detachment from the Egyprian army at Tripoli moved south. On 12 July it captured the oasis town of Gharyan which was on the crossroads of two trade routes without encountering any resistance. Most of the inhabitants had grown to dislike the Almohads due to the heavy taxation they had imposed.

The Egyptians had also reinforced their small army at Anabucis and sent it south. On 29 August it arrived at the oasis town of Maradah. The army had used up the last of the water it brought with it. They quickly captured 2 of the springs on the edge of the town and slaked their thirst. As they were doing so they were attacked by a force half their size that was a mixture of Berbers and Banu Sulaym. The parched Egyptians were not going to be driven away from the precious springs. They fought ferociously and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents who eventually withdrew into the heart of the town. There was a wall but it was not in good repair and the Egyptians were able to exploit a weak spot and break into the town on 18 September. In less than an hour of intense fighting they captured the town.

Meanwhile the heavily reinforced Egptian army at Berenice advanced northeast along the coast at the beginning of September. They defeated a large band of Banu Sulaym on 5 September then proceeded to besiege the coast town of Tocra the next day. They broke into the town on 9 December. After that the Egyptian general concentrated on celebrating the Christmas season while strengthening to town’s defenses. King Merkourios was dissatisfied with this and sent word that he expected the general to resume his advance NLT 10 March.

The general reluctantly complied taking the nearby inland town of Barca with an assault on 13 March. After that he spent the next two week establishing Egyption dominion over the western part of the Jebel Akhdar, a mountainous plateau that is is the wettest Libyan region. After that he returned to Torca and began advancing northeast along the coast again.

On 6 April he reached the town of Tolmeita which surrendered without putting up a fight. He rested there for 2 days then resumed advancing northeast. However in less than two full days he discovered that the narrow coastal strip stopped altogether. He was forced to turn back and return to Tocra. From there he proceeded east along the inland road. He did not encounter any significant resistance until he reached a castle at a place once called Olbia that the Muslims had corrupted into “Libya”. After dark on 25 April he tried unsuccessfuly to take it with an assault. The next day he commenced a siege which captured it on 11 July. After that he let his men rest then continued on to his main objective, the fortified town of Bayda. On 17 July he defeated a smaller force of Banu Sulaym west of the town. The Bnau Sulaym then retreated into the town causing another siege to begin.

In the June of 1165 Mazizdag al-Ghumari, a leader of the Ghumari Berbers rebelled against the Almohads taking advantage of the fact that most of the Almohad army had been moved to al-Andalus. The caliph scraped together what he could and started fighting the in the Ghumara Mountains of northern Morocco. This was another distraction for Yaqub Yusuf who wanted to concentrate on eliminating the Almoravids. In the July of 1166 he finally decisively defeated Mazizdag al-Ghumari.

In early May 1165 the last wave of Almohad reinforcements arrived at Seville where ample supplies had been stockpiled. Their offensive started with Carmona which they captured on 12 July. From there they proceeded to Ecija which they captured on 17 September. A week later they started besieging Cordoba. Once again this to be a difficult siege though the Almohads did a better job of feeding their soldiers during the winter this time.

Meanwhile ibn Mardanish increased his army with a general levy. The Kingdom of Castile also provided him with some soldiers. On 26 February 1166 he tried to surprise the Almohads again but this time they were much better prepared and drove him off. On 30 May the Almohads finally succeeded in breaking into the city but the citadel held out until 12 June. They captured Ibn Hamusk who had stayed in Cordoba confident that his son-in-law would rescue him again. Ibn Hamusk told the Almohads that he was willing to support them. The Almohads were not sure that they could trust him. Instead they imprisoned him in the hope that they could get ibn Mardanish to pay a generous ransom. Instead the “Wolf King” was only willing to pay a much lower ransom.

News of the fall of Cordoba led King Alfonso II of Aragon to finally attack Murcia. On 4 September he besieged the city of Tortosa which Barcelona had long coveted. The siege did not prove to be as easy as he hoped. It wasn’t until 19 February, 1167 that the city surrendered.

The caliph sent stiil more reinforcements to Al-Andalus in July along with instructions to try to take Murcia before the end of the year. On 29 August they captured the city of Andujar. During September they harried Galera, Caravaca, Baza and Sierra de Segura. In early October they captured Cullar and Velez on the way to Murcia.

When Abu Hafs ‘Umar threatened Lorca ibn Mardanish rode out to meet him with nearly all of his army. On 27 October he engaged them in the Guadalentin Valley near Alhama. In addition to having a sizable numerical advantage the Almohads were eventually able to envelop the Almovarids who were devastated. Ibn Mardanish just barely managed to escapre back to Murcia with the remnants of his army.

Abu Hafs ‘Umar knew that Murcia had formidable defenses and would be very difficult to capture. So his immediate follow up was to ravage the countryside. After that Abu Hafs ‘Umar took most of the army to Marrakesh where the caliph awarded prizes to each soldier and recorded their names. Yaqub Yusuf then decided to send the Banu Hilal soldiers belonging to the Athbaj clan to reinforce the garrison at Susa while sending those of the Riyah clan to join the campaign in the Ghumara Mountains. Abu Hafs ‘Umar had persuaded him that due to the Battle of Alhama the Almoravid Kingdom was doomed as long as they continued to apply pressure.

Abu Sa’id ‘Uthman who had stayed behind at Cordoba was very worried about the Leonese offensive. The caliph responded by quickly sending the Hintata Berbers, some of his best men, to al-Andalus to help deal with that threat but otherwise he would wait until spring before returning the others.

In the May of 1165 King Ferdinand II of Leon married Princess Urraca of Portugal in order to try to reconcile the Portuguese whom he had conquered. In the April of 1166 he terminated his truce with the Almohads. On 27 June he captured Caceres. This victory forced the Almohads to weaken their forces fighting the Almoravids in order the counter the Leonese. Nevertheless Ferdinand was still able to capture Alcantara.on 31 August giving him a crossing over the Tagus River then go on to take Alburquerque on 11 November.

News of the large Almohad offensive against the Almoravids reached Cairo at the end of August 1165. Ngissitikol immediately seized on it as a reason to end their truce with the Almohad Caliphate and go on a major offensive against them in Ifriqiya. This again resulted in a heated argument with the vizier but Ngissitikol quickly persuaded the king to end the truce. However he again failed to convince the ruler that the best strategy would be to reinforceMadia then launch an offensive from there to take Monastir and Susa. Instead the monarch wanted to start by retaking Sfax. He also wanted to take the fortress city of Gabes. This became was their first offensive action with an Egyptian army departing Zarzis to besiege Gabes on 7 November. The Egyptians broke into the city on 15 February but do not take the citadel until a week later.

Durng the winter the Egyptians amply reinforced Mahdia. On 28 March this army arrived at Sfax and began a siege. At the end of April it received reinforcement from Gabes. The Egyptians broke into the city on 5 August and captured it in heavy fighting. The citadel surrendered 2 days later. By this time King Moses Georgios of Makuria/Alodia was demanding that King Merkourios provide him with soldiers for duty in Ceylon assisting the Chola. Quartus tried to use that to justify ending the Ifriqiya campaign. However what they ended up sending Moses Georgios was not very big, Merkourios decided to continue the offensive. Not only that but he was finally going to launch an offensive heading north out of Mahdia.

Most of the Egyptian soldiers at Sfax were brought back to Mahdia at the end of August while additional reinforcements were sent to Mahdia by sea. The Egyptians knew that the Almohads had a decent sized army at the port of Monastir. On 9 September the Egyptian army that had been assembled at Mahdia approached Monastir. The Egyptian commander tried to lure the Almohads into fighting in the open but after a brief skirmish they retreated inside the city.

The next day the Egyptians began a siege. It turned out to be a difficult one with the defenders making 2 successful sorties in November that destroyed several siege engines. However all attempts by the Almohads to supply the city by sea failed due to the Egyptian navy controlling the seas. Each attempt to do so resulted in more losses for the Almohad navy. The caliph was intent on pursuing his campaign against ibn Mardanish so he insisted that more than half of his navy be stationed near the Straits of Gibraltar. The city was finally starved into surrendering on 1 July, 1167.

Ngissitikol had 3 sons. The youngest of these was Keddi who was brighter and more ambitious than his brothers. His father often used him for unusual assignments. In the spring of 1164 he had sent him to Iberia as a sort of special envoy representing the interests of the Egyptian crown. While spending some time in Castile, Aragon and Navarre he spent most of it in Murcia where he became friends with ibn Mardanish.

A month after the disastrous Battle of Alhama he met in private with the Wolf King. He started off on a dour note emphasizing the grim situation the king found himself. For the time being Murcia’s stout defenses protected the king from the wrath of Caliph Yaqub Yusuf but there was no guarantee that the Almohads might not ultimately prevail in a lengthy siege. In the meantime they would gobble up as much as they could of his kingdom. King Alfonso of Aragon would also grab as much as he could in the north.

The Wolf King did not deny what Keddi was saying but he could sense that the Alodian was leading up to something. What that was turned out to be an offer that Lower Egypt would send a large army to assist Murcia. The conditions for this would be that ibn Mardanish become an Egyptian vassal and that he turn over the key seaport of Almeria to Egypt. Murcia would have to pay tribute but while Keddi would not specify how much he vaguely promised that it would not be unreasonable. Coptic churches would be built in Murcia, Cartagena and Valencia. With Lower Egypt deeply involved Alfonso would have to think twice before continuing his campaign against Murcia. Keddi had already begun promising negotiations with King Sancho VI of Navarre that could lead to an effective alliance against the Crown of Aragon. He did acknowledge that Tortosa would very probably be lost.

It was hard to impress the Wolf King but Keddi’s proposal did. He gave the matter serious thought and accepted it the next day. Keddi then returned to Cairo and met with his father, who required some convincing because he realized it would mean halting his cherished Ifriqiya offensive at Monastir. However it was the prospect of gaining complete control of Almeria that made it an offer too tempting to refuse. Then next day the two of them brought it to King Merkourios. At first the monarch thought the idea was excessively bold with greater risk than reward. He was startled that Ngissitikol was willing to abandon the goal of taking Tunis that he had long advocated. At first he was resistant but in a little more than he warmed up to the idea. This was primarily was because he wanted to enhance the prestige of his kingdom in the capitals of Europe and having a presence as far away as Iberia would definitely accomplish that.

The following day he brought up the idea with his other advisers. His vizier Quartus was shocked and openly accused Ngissitikol of losing his mind. Two of his advisers quickly expressed very serious doubts as well. The king was beginning to have second thoughts when to his surprise his oldest son, Prince Damian suddenly spoke up in favor of the idea. Another minister who had been cautiously silent then guardedly expressed approval. The meeting lasted 3 hours but when it was over the king was persuaded. That left the matter of the tribute that they would demand. The king decided on 50,000 Almoravid dinars per year despite Keddi arguing that it should be less. Ngissitikol then argued that due to the grave military situation Murcia currently faced the tribute should not take effect until 1168 and that ibn Marsnish should be allowed to pay half of it in silk instead of money. Merkourios agreed to that.

Ngissitikol accompanied his son on the journey back to Murcia. They met with ibn Mardanish on 6 March. He was not happy with the size of the tribute but was grateful that it would be delayed a little. He reluctantly accepted the Egyptian offer. Ngissitikol soon returned to Egypt while Keddi traveled to Almeira where would act as the interim governor. During May he received a fairly modest number of Egyptian soldiers pulled from the siege of Monastir. During the summer he received much more substantial reinforcements. Meanwhile the Almohads captured Granada on 29 June.

The Egyptian army was overwhelmingly Copts but they had formed a single regiment of Muslims willing to serve. Three fifths were Ishmaili with the rest being Sunni. During the recent insurrection in Egypt fomented by al-Tayyib was concern about its loyalty but it did not join in the revolt. Merkourios decided to send it along Ngissitikol as the Egyptian first wave provided ibn Mardanish agreed to become a vassal. If not they would at least protect Ngissitikol from possible marauders.

King Ferdinand resumed his offensive in early April. His objective was the small but important city of Badajoz. On 29 April, 1167 he quickly defeated a smaller Almohad army then commenced a siege the next day. At this point there was a difference of opinion between the caliph and and Abu Sa’id ‘Uthman as to what strategy to pursue. The former wanted there to be an emphasis on attacking Murcia as much as possible while the latter wanted to concentrate on defeating King Ferdinand.

Further complicating matters Yaqub Yusuf had only returned a little more than half of the soldiers that had participated in the Battle of Alhama by the end of April. He began sending more in June. On 3 July Ferdinand defeated an Almohad army that tried to lift the siege of Badajoz. Meanwhile the Almohad operations against Murcia consisted of only fairly small raids. While the siege of Badajoz was underway a small force of both Portuguese and Leonese led by by Gerald the Fearless captured Estremoz in a surprise attack. On 20 August the Leonese captured Badajoz. Three days they began a siege of Elvas to the west which they captured on 3 October. After that Ferdinand reinforced Gerald who then captured Evora with another surprise attack on 5 November while Ferdinand captured the castle at Arraiolos on 6 December.

Upon learning of the fall of Badajoz Yaqub Yusuf concluded that the best strategy would be to negotiate a new truce with Ferdinand then concentrate on the campaign against the Almoravids. This was contrary to advice of Sa’id ‘Uthman who preferred negotiating a truce with ibn Mardanish then concentrate of defeating Leon. Sensing that he was negotiating from a position of strength Ferdinand insisted that the Almohads withdraw from the lands north of Lisbon. In the end the caliph was forced to agree to this with a few minor changes to the boundary. The truce went into effect on 20 January, 1168. It was a triumph for King Ferdinand which greatly enhancing his prestige.

Meanwhile Keddi was quite busy diplomatically. In November he negotiated a defensive treaty with King Sancho VI of Navarre and King Alfonso VIII of Castile to counter Aragon. Under it ibn Mardanish agreed to turn over the castles at Vilches and Alzaraz to Castile. This in turn caused King Alfonso to agree to a truce with Murcia on 17 February, 1168. This truce recognized Aragonese control of Tortosa which was enough to satisfy King Alfonso for the time being.

On 14 March, 1168 a very large Egyptian fleet decisively defeated an Almohad fleet off the island of of Pantelleria. The next day the Egyptians landed an invasion force on the island. After some initial problems on the beach the invaders overwhelmed the relatively small Almohad garrison, which then retreated into a small castle. Starvation forced them to surrender to the Egyptians on 28 September.

Murcia began to receive Coptic soldiers in the March of 1168. Abu Hafs ‘Umar began his 1168 campaign by besieging Jaen with a large army on 2 May. It surrendered on 15 June. With the help of ibn Hamusk who was still their captive he was able to pressure Baza into submission on 10 July. After that Hafs ‘Umar besieged the fortresss at Guadix which he captured on 1 September.

A week later he tried to intimidate Castle Tabernas into surrendering. However Keddi has reinforced the castle’s weak garrison with Egyptian soldiers and it refuses. The following night the Almohads attempt an assault but are repelled with heavy losses. Hafs ‘Umar then begins a siege. On 12 September the Egyptian army at Almeira crosses the Andarax River at Benahadux. Before first light on 14 September it makes a surprise attack on the Almohads at Tabernas quickly destroying more than a third of their army and capturing half of their baggage train. The Almohads fled in disarray to the northeast. Egyptian losses were light but they made only a brief pursuit then return to the castle. When the Almohads reached the Almanzaro River they headed upriver until they reached Seron then proceeded to Baza where they would spend the winter.

 

[Tom_B]

Author's Comment: As of 1163 the Kingdom of Murcia ITL was significantly stronger than OTL having control of the important cities of Cordoba, Almeria and Tortosa.

 

[Tom_B]

Yemen, Oman and Showa 1164-1166

Even though they had defeated the Fatimid Yemeni army at Tiwi in the summer of 1162, the leaders of the seaport of Sur remained very worried about the power of the Fatimids who at the time appeared to be running rampant throughout Oman. They were unaware of the mounting problems that the Fatmids were experiencing in Oman. A significant minority of Sur’s populace was Ibadi. They were well aware of the al-Tayyib’s persecution of the Ibadis.

The current Sultan of Mohadishu was an implacable foe of Alodia. He was also worried about the Fatimid expansion into Oman as it could interfere with the sultanate’s lucrative trade with Persian Gulf. In the November of 1162 the sultan entered into negotiations with Sur. In early March of 1163 Sur, which had not learned that the imam, Abu’l-Qasim al-Tayyib had been captured in Egypt, agreed to become a vassal of Mogadishu. It would pay a substantial tribute and Mogadishu would station a large army there. That army arrived in pieces starting in June.

The closest Fatimid force to Sur was in the village of Tiwi. In late February 1164 most of the Mogadishan army skirmished with the Fatimids in the nearby mountains. After dark on 7 March a sizable Mogadishan force landed north of Tiwi and proceeded to take the Fatimid forces by surprise from the rear. Those that tried to flee were crushed against the Mogadishan army in the mountains. Very few managed to escape. The prisoners were enslaved and sent back to Mogadishu. Afterwards the Mogadishans occupied the village.

The next day they continued up the coast and reached the seaport of Quriyat on 18 March. They promptly began a siege which captured it on 1 June. After that the Mogadishan commander had no clear instructions. Trying to take Muscat was tempting but he feared that the Fatimids would likely have a large army there. So most of his army stayed at Quriyat but he did send out some cavalry to conduct raids in the countryside starting in July.

While this was going on the Fatimid grip on Oman continued to deteriorate. The persecution of the Ibadis became increasingly difficult to implement and effectively ceased. In order to be able to pay the ransom for the imam his vizier, Dhu’ayb had taken several cost cutting measures, one of which was to reduce the size of the army. With the exception of Muscat, Bahla, Nizwa, Adam and Thumrait the garrisons in Oman have become so small that they are unable to effectively exert any power beyond their gates. The Nabhani are growing in strength and continue to whittle down the Fatimids by ambushing their patrols. Their ruler, King Muhammed al-Fallah continued to elude capture.

On the night of 18 May the Nabhani were able to capture the coastal village of Khor Fakkan with a surprise assault. The loss of Khor Fakkan made it nearly impossible for the Fatmids to supply their garrison at Dibba by land. Another of the vizier’s cost cutting measures was to reduce the size of the Yemeni navy. He sold off nearly a fifth of its vessels and those that he retained were not receiving needed maintenance and often had less than a full crew.

This would have been enough to handle the weak Nabhani navy but increasingly the Hormuzi navy which saw the Fatimids as a threat would pounce on Fatimid ships carrying supplies. The problem grew much worse during the summer as more than half of the large Mogadishan navy started to use Sur and Quriyat as bases from which they would sortie against the Fatimid fleet. The starving garrison at Dibba surrendered to the Nabhani on 5 August.

In the May of 1164 King Moses Georgios of Makuria and Alodia decided to further reduce the ransom he was demanding for al-Tayyib because of the expenses he was incurring trying to build up his navy so he could overwhelm the traitors at Hafun. The one small benefit that Dhu’ayb gained from the failed Egyptian insurrection was that it precipitated another wave of wealthy Egyptian Ismailis emigrating to Yemen because they feared a backlash. Dhu’ayb skillfully pressured them into making a sizable contribution in order to secure the imam’s release. He also had a bit of luck in quickly suppressing the Zaida revolt which had broken out. He sold the Zaida prisoners as slaves.

In July he sent word to Moses Georgios that he was willing to pay the ransom. It took some time to work out the details of the exchange so the imam doesn’t return to his capital at Sana’a until 6 October. His time in prison has a deep lasting impact on al-Tayyib’s mind. He is convinced that Allah has tested him and purified his soul. He is prone to sudden changes in moods.

When he arrives at Sana’a he is very angry with Dhu’ayb for taking so long to secure his release. He removes him as vizier and has him beaten. The imam does not replace him with a new vizier. He has convinced himself that the perfidy of the viziers was the biggest reason for the decline of the Fatimid Caliphate. He takes direct control of the government. This puts heavy demands on his time which is sometimes unable to perform because his mind wanders off into a deep mysticism. Sometimes he writes down his mystical experiences.

While in prison al-Tayyib decided that he needed to take at least one more wife because he still did not have a son. Since he doesn’t want to spend much time exploring possibilities in distant countries he quickly selects a Zurayid princess whom he marries on 17 December. Earlier that month a revolt breaks out in Medina which is another place where Dhu’ayb had shrunk the garrison. Ironically the imam’s first wife finally conceives a son in late February 1165.

1164 was in general a year of peace and prosperity for the Sultanate of Showa. Most of its Sunni continued to dislike being ruled by an Ismaili but with a few exceptions have concluded that resistance is futile. Showa had an uneasy relationship with the Sultanate of Dewaro to the southeast. The Sultan of Dewaro was a devout Sunni but he was also very cautious. He viewed taking direct action against Sultan Abu’l-Fath Yanis of Showa as too risky. He was content to merely support peaceful Sunni proseltyzing inside Showa. He also tried to forge an alliance against Showa with the Emir of Berbera but found him to frustratingly timid. Meanwhile Dewaro and Showa conducted a goodly amount of mutually beneficial trade.

In the first half of the year the sea trade out of Zeila was still a great boon to Showa but became less productive when Mogadishan pirates started operating out of Sur and Quriyat. Showa’s fairly small navy was too weak to counter this development. Yanis began expanding his navy in the fall. The release of al-Tayyib soon resulted in the imam demanding money to pay off the loans that helped pay his ransom. Yanis informed the imam that he had already made a generous contribution and was only willing to make small contributions going forward.

The imam was convinced that his vizier had not tried hard enough to capture Muhammed al-Fallah. Upon his return he intensified those efforts. These were unsuccessful. This upset him greatly. He was then persuaded by two of his advisers that the Mogadishan presence at Quriyat posed a grave threat to Muscat. Given the poor state of Yemeni finances it wasn’t until the May of 1165 that an army al-Tayyib thought was sufficiently large was assembled at Muscat.

On 2 June as it approached Quriyat the commander of Mogadishan army there decided to meet the Fatimids on the open field where he was pleasantly surprised to find that he actually outbumbered them. At first it appeared that he would prevail but when he fell for a well executed fake retreat things unraveled in a hurry. He barely managed to avoid annihilation by quickly retreating inside the walls of the city.

The Fatimids then began a difficult siege. Before the end of June the Mogadishan defenders made 2 successful nighttime sorties destroying several siege engines. Despite this and a shortage of supplies the Fatimid commander persisted with the siege because he feared the wrath of al-Tayyib. The Mogadishans made 5 more sorties during July with only one failing. On 3 August there was yet another but in the early morning. It defeated the Fatimid army and forced them to retreat. The Mogaddishan general only pursued them a small distance then returned to Quriyat.

Meanwhile Muhammed al-Fallah had learned that the Fatimid garrison at the important seaport of Sohar had been greatly reduced in size and suffered from bad morale due to the soldiers being badly underfed. He captured it with a bold assault on 24 July.

Throughout the year the Mogadishans fought a series of small to medium sized naval engagements with the Fatimid navy, winning most of them. Al Hadd was an important seaport in antiquity that had dwindled to a small village. The Mogadishans began to see its location as advantageous. They seized control of the village on 6 September without encountering resistance and soon began constructing a small fort.

The failed attack on Quriyat was the only major operation that al-Tayyib could afford to undertake in 1165 given his severely strained finances. He wasn’t even able to hunt for Muhammed al-Fallah for the rest of the year. His control over the precious frankincense fields of Dhofar deteriorated still further. His attempts at trying to reinvigorate the persecution of Ibadis failed. The Nabhani continued to have success at raiding the Fatimid supply caravans that ran from the Dhofar to the city of Adam. These caravans had taken on increased importance because the Mogadishans had cut the sea lane to Muscat.

1165 started off fairly well for Showa but poor weather caused a famine before the end of the year. This was only partially offset by food imports from its neighbors except the Dewaro Sultanate which was also hit by the famine. There were the inevitable food riots in the places hardest hit but the government survived the worst of it. Meanwhile the vital trade using the port of Zeila continues to suffer from Mogadishan piracy.

1166 started off poorly for the Fatimids with a modest Nabhani army intimidating the commander of the small badly underfed Fatimid garrison at Al Suwayq into surrendering on 26 February. Fatimid control control over the countryside continued to shrink. Meanwhile negotiations were underway between the Muhammed al-Fallah and the Sultan of Mogadishu. This resulted in a treaty of alliance being signed in May. Under it Muhammed al-Fallah recognized Mogadishu’s sovereignty over Sur and Quriyat but also over Muscat which it had not yet conquered. In turn the sultanate would assist the Nabhani in driving the Fatimids out of Oman. The sultan also promised not to persecute Ibadis. On 9 July a large Mogadishan army approached Muscat and soon commences a siege. A week later the garrison has some success with a nighttime sortie but when it tries it again on 21 July the Mogadishans are better prepared and quickly smash it.

On 2 August the Nabhani army tries unsuccessfully to take Barka which is not far from Muscat with an assault. The next day it begins a siege. On 20 August a Fatimid army tries to lift the siege of Muscat but it has poor morale and is quickly routed. On 30 September the Fatimid garrison at Barka surrenders. After that the Nabhani join the Mogadishans in the siege of Muscat. The Fatimd navy has a bit of luck in early October and manage to slip a sizable convoy with supplies through the Mogadishan blockadeto Muscat. This lets the garrison hold out until 11 December.

Things improved a notch for Showa in 1166 with the famine ending. However the Mogadishans continued to impede the trade going through Zeila. Yanis continues to be pressured by al-Tayyib to contribute more which he resists. Because of this he learns in October that al-Tayyib is trying to foment a coup that will replace him with a more generous Ismaili sultan.

 

[Tom_B]

This is probably going to be the next to last segment of this project.

 

[Tom_B]

The Sultan of Mogadishu had promised the king of the Nabhani, Muhammed al-Fallah that he would aid them in their struggle with the Fatimids once he had control of Muscat. He was sincere in his commitment but he was in no great hurry to carry it out much to the chagrin of Muhammed al-Fallah. It wasn’t until 25 May 1167 that their combined forces unsuccessfully tried to capture a small castle at Izki with an assault. By themselves the Nabhani had prepared for this operation by taking weakly held towers and bridges in the Bidbid region that lay southwest of Muscat. By this time some friction had arisen between the Nabhani and the Mogadishans. For one thing after the fall of Muscat the Mogadishans demanded control of the nearby farmlands. Furthermore the Nabhanis discovered that many of the devoutly Sunni Mogadishans looked down on Ibadis. The Mogadishan general began a siege the next day but the Nabhani were impatient. By themselves they made a second assault on May 28 that succeeded albeit with fairly heavy losses.

Three days later the combined Nabhani and Mogadishan army approached their main ojbective, the key trading center of Nizwa. They soon ccommenced a very methodical siege. Despite their problems the Nabhani and Mogadishans worked reasonably well together during the siege. In early July a Fatimid army approached Nizwa but its commander decided he was too badly outnumbered and withdrew after a minor cavalry skirmish. On 7 November they managed to break into the city and captured it in a few hours of heavy fighting. The Mogadishans did some looting despite their general having promised to refrain from doing so. This caused some protests from the Nabhani which further weakened their alliance with the Mogadishans.

For a while it began to look like the Mogadishans would not render any further aid to the Nabhani whom they thought were being ungrateful. However their sultan still hated al-Tayyib and Muhammed al-Fallah fervently wanted to regain his old capital, the Bahla Fort which he wasn’t sure he could take without the help of the Mogadiishans. In the March of 1168 they ironed out their differences and the sultan ordered his army to assist ithe Nabhani in retaking Bahla with the understanding that once that was accomplished the Nabhani would be on their own. The sultan again promised that his soldiers would refrain from looting.

The combined Nabhani and Mogadishan army its siege of the Bahla Fort on 8 May. They broke into the city on 24 October and captured it in heavy fighting. This time the Mogadishans refrained from looting. The citadel held out for only 5 more days. Muhammed al-Fallah returned to his capital in glory.

1167 had for the most part been much the same as 1166 for the Showa Sultanate. The amount of trade that came through the port of Zeila continued to suffer from Mogadishan piracy. Sultan Yanis continued to have problems with al-Tayyib constantly pressuring him to increase his contributions. Yanis found this aggravating and in October informed the imam that he would be reducing his contributions going forward.

This enraged the imam who intensified his efforts to have Yanis usurped by an Ismaili who would be more generous. On 27 February these efforts bore fruit when Sultan Yanis along with his eldest son were killed and a prominent Ismaili named Haji seized power in the Showan capital of Walale with the aid of some senior Mamluk officers who detested him due to his harsh discipline. However on 4 April Yanis’ second son wth the support of a different group of Mamluks seize control of Walale in heavy fighting during which Haji manages to escape. A civil war between the two factions of Mamluks ensued.

This presents the devoutly Sunni Sultan of Dewaro with the opportunity to intervene that he had been longing for. He invades Showa on 11 May and defeats Yanis’ son on 20 May who then retreats into Walale. A siege ensues. On 23 June Sunnis inside the city overpower the guards after dark and open the gates allowing the Dewaro forces to enter. In less than an hour of confused fighting they secure the city and capture Yanis’ son. The Sultan of Dewaro considered trying to absorb all of Showa but decided that would be too unwieldy. Instead he annexed a small piece of Showa and iinstalled his younger brother as the new sultan who then acknowledged Showa as a tributary of Dewaro.

The new sultan had his hands as Haji was still at large and being a very devout Ismaili was unwilling to accept a Sunni as sultan so he continued fighting. At this time Showa was 62% Sunni, 21% Ismaili, 11% Christian and 6% pagan. The Christians had been indifferent when the war was between two Ismailis but were worried that they might suffer persecution under a Sunni sultan so many of them supported Haji as did more than a few pagans. Despite this Haji lost a big battle against the Sunnis on 2 August but managed to avoid annihilation. After that all he could do was wage a guerilla campaign. In several places such as Ifat and Harar the Sunnis began persecuting Ismailis, Christians and pagans.

When King Moses Georgios learned that Christians were being persecutedin Showa he was outraged. He instructed King Germa of Axum to occupy the portion of Showa adjacent to Axum. Christians were more than a quarter of the population there. Meanwhile al-Tayyib was enraged at how his Showan intrigue had unraveled. On 17 October a Fatimid flotilla seized control of the port of Zeila in concert with most of the Mamluks there. Ironically Zeila’s trade had been experiencing a resurgence because the Sultan of Mogadishu had ordered his navy to stop plundering its sea traffic once he learned that it had a Sunni sultan. When he learned that the Fatimids had seized Zeila he rescinded those orders. In late November the Emir of Berbera decided to annex a piece of Showa as well.

Elsewhere…

In the July of 1167 Empress Petronia, daughter of King Basil of Alodia, finally bore her husband, Emperor Frederick Barbarosa a son which he named Frederick. Previously she had given birth to three daughters. The second daughter only lived a few months. The Second Crusade had made the relationship between Frederick and Emperor Alexios II a bit chilly but not overtly hostile. They both shared a mutual interest in restraining Hungary.

When Andronikos became the Byzantine Emperor Frederick feared that he might try to further expand Byzantine power in Italy. Those fears were amplified when he learned that Andronikos was trying to pressure the Venetians into giving him complete control of the city of Trani. Later when Frederick learned about the degree of Andronikos’ involvement in Caucasia he concluded that the possibility of Byzantine expansion inside Italy was postponed for the time being.

Frederick continued to have problems with the Italian city states and the Commune of Rome. Though he had a few relatively minor disagreements with the emperor Pope Paschal III took care to appease Frederick whom he saw as the only thing standing between him and the wrath of the Commune of Rome. On 26 September 1168 Pope Paschal III died of cancer. The cardinals then elected a cardinal named John who took the regnal name of Callixtus III, who continued the policies of his predecessor. This infuriated the Commune of Rome who assembled a large but poorly trained army that tried to force him out of Rome on 5 November. They were defeated by a much smaller imperial contingent led by Christian of Mainz.

Egpyptian trade with the kimgdom of Takrur steadily grew though not as fast as Ngissitikol had hoped. By 1168 he had other three Alodian merchants competing with him though his vessels still accounted for more than half of the trade for a variety of reasons. One of them was that he was ahead of them on the learning curve. Another was that he recognized the advantage provided by the fishing village Nouakchott which the other merchants largely ignored. There his vessels could acquire fresh water for free and food cheaper than they could get it in Takrur. They could also get assistance repairing their ships there if needed without being overcharged.

When Yaqub Yusuf became the Almohad caliph he increased his naval presence in and around the Straits of Gibraltar which raised the chances of an Egyptian vessel heading for Takrur being intercepted though not so high to eliminate the traffic. When the caliph negotiated a truce with King Merkourios Egyptian vessels were then free to pass through the straits. When Merkourios ended the truce Ngissitikol who was a close adviser knew that the Almohads would again attack Egyptian ships and so was better prepared than his competition to deal with that. Gaining control of the key Iberian port of Almeria proved very useful in facilitating the trade with Takrur. Since it was his son who had negotiated the treaty that accomplished that he was again better prepared than his competition to utilize it.

In the September of 1167 a ship owned by one of his competitors got lost and came within sight of both Cap-Vert and the island of Goree but nothing came of this discovery. In the July of 1168 Ngissitikol established a very small settlement on the north coast of Gran Canaria which he hoped would become another useful stopover point on the route. Unfortunately the island’s natives wiped out the settlement at the end of October.

Meanwhile the Europeans remained ignorant of this trade though in late 1158 a wealthy Genoese merchant was starting to become curious about rumors he was hearing about Egypt trading with West Africa. Ironically the Almohads who intercepted Egyptian merchantmen en route were already well aware of Takrur as their predecessors, the Almoravids, had raided Takrur back in the late 11th century when it was part of the Ghana Empire.

At the end of 1168 Eleanor of Aquitaine is still married to King Louis VII of France though their relationship has had more than its share of problems. She has had 2 sons; the oldest Philip is 20 at the end of 1168. King Henry II therefore has no claim to Aquitaine. I have not been able to work out all of the butterflies this has created. Neither have I figured out a plausible wife for King Henry II (I resisted the temptation to make it an Egyptian princess). It is a preeminent example of the butterfly explosion that is occurring at this point.

This is the end of the TL. I am not taking it past 1168. However in the next day or two I may post a few general comments about what has happened so far.

 

[Xenophonte]

Instead he annexed a small piece of Showa and iinstalled his younger brother as the new sultan who then acknowledged Showa as a tributary of Dewaro.

. He instructed King Germa of Axum to occupy the portion of Showa adjacent to Axum.

On 17 October a Fatimid flotilla seized control of the port of Zeila in concert with most of the Mamluks there

In late November the Emir of Berbera decided to annex a piece of Showa as well.

So, t, with the loss of so many territories, the Sultanate of Showa, has been left a shadow of its former self and greatly reduced both territorially and politically as a 'mere tributary' at best if not outrightly puppetized to the Sunny one of Dewaro.

When Yaqub Yusuf became the Almohad caliph he increased his naval presence in and around the Straits of Gibraltar which raised the chances of an Egyptian vessel heading for Takrur being intercepted though not so high to eliminate the traffic.

I think that, if as would appear, that the commerce with W. Africa would growth that sooner or later would reach a point where the intermittent or constant piracy with their attacks to the traffic would be perceived as intolerable enough as either size Gibraltar or dealt once for all with the Almohad Navy.

Ngissitikol established a very small settlement on the north coast of Gran Canaria which he hoped would become another useful stopover point on the route. Unfortunately the island’s natives wiped out the settlement at the end of October.

I would suppose that if it'd be so useful as stopover point that it would be another but better defended settlement attempt and/or that would be an attempt to negotiate/trade with the Natives. Speaking of which,I'm surprised that if even for grant their settlement security that they didn't attempted to did it before.

though in late 1158 a wealthy Genoese merchant was starting to become curious about rumors he was hearing about Egypt trading with West Africa.

I would suppose that given the Genoese links both in the Mediteraneo and in Almeria, that it would a question of when more than if, that they would know about just opened new African market.

King Henry II therefore has no claim to Aquitaine. I have not been able to work out all of the butterflies this has created. Neither have I figured out a plausible wife for King Henry II (I resisted the temptation to make it an Egyptian princess). It is a preeminent example of the butterfly explosion that is occurring at this point.

Well, perhaps, Constance of Castile that OTL was married to Louis VII of France, here, instead could be a good option for Henry II...
Now, about the butterflies,the first would be that Aquitaine would be earlier and closely linked to the Crown/Dynasty and fare better without all the armies fighting and campaigning there as it was being disputed between the English and the French Crowns. Also, conversely, I think that the French King relation with his vassal that also was King of England, while undoubtedly rocky, I'd suppose that it wouldn't so tense and conflictive as OTL or at least that any conflicts would be localized in Normandie/Northern France. Which, would allow to the French king to focus his politically-military efforts there. About England, I'd suppose that with Henry II and Eleanor OTL sons and descendants being butterflied, it would be very hard to estimate the impact of the changes past his reign. But, perhaps, if whatever wife that Henry would marry IITL, would bears him several childs, that the feudatary issues/links with France and the complicated relation with the French Crown, could be eventually be decided to 'fix it' separating the French fiefdoms and the English Crown inheritances. Finally, I wouldn't discard that the OTL Norman invasion of Ireland would either be butterflied away or that the English King would have other foreign policy priorities/opportunities...

This is the end of the TL. I am not taking it past 1168.

It's a pity, but I understand the reason for your decision. I want to thank you for keeping on and continued to writing and developing this fascinating and very unusual Timeline, even if that at this very day I still don't know why it doesn't get more support!

 

[Tom_B]

@Xenophonte Thanks very much for your input and and support As for Showa I estimated that only about 35-40% of its territory that got annexed so it has not been reduced to insignificance.

As for Gran Canaria Ngissitikol underestimated the natives. It was a mistake but one that was fairly common in history. He was another of the high and mighty Alodian merchants that were some of my favorite characters in this TL.

Genoa was very involved with Iberia in this period. I saw them as being as the most likely European state to get interested in the West African trade.

Constance of Castile is an excellent choice for Henry's wife. Yeah I sort of saw that TTL would be better for Aquitaine but I couldn't work out the other stuff. And I hadn't given any thought at all to Ireland (which is bit unusual for me).

I won't deny that I was hoping for more interest. I think if I posted in smaller installments more readers would have stuck with it. A map or two might've helped. Anyway the next time someone complains that there are not enough African TL's I can clear my throat loudly then say "Been there done that"

 

[Xenophonte]

You are welcome. Re Constance of Castile, who know, perhaps, it could mark a shift in the English Kingdom foreign policies from Northern France to Iberia. Re Normand Ireland, while I'm not an expert in English History, I suppose that given that it depended on specific circumstances, that it could be affected by the Butterflies as well as any other OTL events in reign. And indeed when somebody would ask for unusual TL pods or not often used scenarios, this,IMO, would be the perfect example.
Also, @Tom_B If you allow me the suggestion, if you aren't planning otherwise, you could, now that it's complete, repost this TL in this Forum.

 

[Tom_B]

Epilogue

The POD of this TL could easily go in different paths and if someone wants to do that be my guest. My gameplan was to start with medium level divergence fairly localized then ramp things up in the middle of the 12th Century. The big turning point is the conquest of Egypt at a point when the Fatimid Caliphate was particularly vulnerable. This creates a Coptic Egypt with Upper and Lower Egypt split. Furthermore I couldn’t resist saving the infant imam, al-Tayyib. Yeah I pretty much made King Paul the proverbial “Great Man” though I tried to avoid crossing the Tropic of Mary Sue.

This project ended up being Empire Friendly though I did not consciously set out to make it that way. The Byzantine Empire as of 1168 is considerably better off than OTL though it still has serious problems. For example Rum will either turn against the Byzantines at some point or else splinter with some of the fragments being hostile. It might end up at war with the Holy Roman Empire in Italy. Another civil war before the end of the century is better thsn 50/50. At first it looks like a Fourth Crusade is out of the question but if say the newly formed Principality of Mosul should fall to the Turcomans it might trigger a new crusade which could end up getting badly repurposed like the Fourth Crusade. I was tempted to have Emperor Alexios II try to heal the Great Schism nut decided against trying to go down that rabbit hole.

Likewise things are better for the Holy Roman Empire. In addition to seizing Calabria and more than half of Sicily. Frederick’s fight with the papacy was been avoided. It should be noted that I used the antipopes of OTL as the papal line in TTL. Again things could go wrong. It is the Holy Roman Empire after all. A war with the Byzantine Empire over Italy might not turn out so well. Frederick Barbarossa’s mixed race son is certain to encounter obstacles and could turn out to be ill suited for high office.

Even the Chola comes out ahead with a good chance of lasting longer than OTL.

In addition to the Empires this TL is very favorable to the Outremer. This does not guarantee that it will stay that way. The newly formed Principality of Mosul is particularly vulnerable. Furthermore conflict within and between the Outremer polities is nigh inevitable. However as long as it has a Coptic Egypt at its back it is hard to see anything like the near total collapse of OTL occurring.

I never did decide if Saladin even exists ITTL.

I am a tad disappointed that I didn’t come up with much for the Kingdom of Ennarea which lies south of Axm. It is still predominantly pagan but with both Christianity and Islam slowly growing. In this period the Oromo were SSW of Ennarea.