Collaborative timeline: Dunes of the Desert, a Timeline without Islam

[Tomislav Addai]

Transformation of the Persian Culture
Centuries of foreign have markedly shaped the Persian culture and what it means to be Persian. Firstly, a sharp divide could have been found between the “High” and “Low” layers of Persian culture. The “High” Persian culture had been that of the royal court and was emulated in the palaces and homesteads of the major noblemen. The “Low” Persian culture was that of the ordinary Persian commoner.

High Persian Culture
The Seljuks, and after them the Ilkhans were fascinated by the culture of the Persian nobility, and have found many of the customs and the courtly etiquette useful or entertaining, while other practices were not understood and continued under the rule of foreign dynasties.

Prostration, a gesture of submission, was deeply ingrained part of Persian culture
An example could be found in the practice of proskynesis or prostration. This gesture of submission has had a long tradition in the Iranian Plateau, and court etiquette demanded subjects to acknowledge the majesty of the shah by performing this gesture. The Ilkhans and the Seljuk dynasty before them have found this gesture useful in solidifying their political control while at the same time paying respect to the established cultural traditions. However, the conquerors faced very much the same problem as had Alexander when conquering Persia: his own people were unwilling to perform such acts of “hitting their forehead to the ground” as they considered themselves free men, and not subjects. The Turkic and Naimanic peoples were rather used to the zolgokh gesture, when two men touch each others elbows as a sign of greeting. This showed somewhat egalitarian nature of the steppe peoples; now demanding them admit their subservience in a profound manner did create opposition. This tensions has resulted in a slightly modified of the proskynesis was allowed for higher-ranking officials in the form of bowing, with the head going down to the level of the waist.

The holding of lavish feast, combined with drinking large quantities of wine (called Mey or Badeh) was certainly a custom the Naimans and the Turks did enjoy, as these peoples were particularly fond of drinking. Courtly etiquette demanded that should one not be able to contain his drink within himself, he must not release the contents of stomach out in front of anyone else.

Kumys, the traditional drink of the steppe nomads
This custom used to play an important social function, as the Persians believed that the courtiers, once drunk, would speak the truth and not withhold any secrets between each other. Thus, it ought to be a mechanism of preventing plots to become a major threat to the stability of the empire. The Ilkhans thus continued this tradition, though the tables at these feasts featured also airag,(1), a fermented dairy drink produced of mare´s or donkey milk. Further additions included the consumption distilled alcohol, as well as other additions of the steppe cuisine , mainly in form of various meat dishes, to the table. Unlike the Persians, the Turks and Naimans have drunk well over their share, and thus the Persians and Assyrians have taken advantage of this fact and used these hangovers to further their own goals.

Many homes in Maragheh remained yurts.
While the Ilkhans did appreciate the Persian sense of opulence and lavishness, they would not spend time in the palaces permanently. They feared that it was connected to a certain decadence, and have usually spent half of their year in Maragheh, the famous tent-city of the Ilkhans on the plains to the east of Lake Urmia – with its first permanent building being the Nestorian Cathedral. However, by the early 14th century, the tent-city has become a real city built of stone and bricks, and the Ilkhans have moved to a rather Spartan palace- should one describe it as such. Even there, however Persian-influenced aesthetics did make it inside – with the walls and floor being decorated with carpets and rugs.

Mosaics were not commonly used during the Ilkhanid period, though one did occasionally find them in Ispahan during the Seljuk period. Persian gardens were however commonly found in residence of all noble houses, even despite a dramatic disrepair of the irrigation system. These lush green spots of vegetation in an otherwise arid landscape were places where one felt more pleasant in the shadow of the trees, while also displaying little streams of water. Moreover, the gardens were a display of the power of the powerful in shaping the environment.

The Dome of Soltaniye- an example of late medieval Persian architecture
Traditional Iranian architecture, with frequent use of domes and pillars, remains a thing, as well as geometric city planning, using both circular and square layouts. Wind towers were added to buildings to create air conditioning- this being a Persian invention.

Persian intellectual life during the Medieval Period
All previous dynasties, including the Seljuks but with the notable exception of the Ilkhans, during the Medieval period had patronized Persian scholars. Most notable institutions include the Academy of Gundeshapur or Beth Lapat, which had a mixed Syriac-Persian environment, and scholars of both languages were active at the institution. Further Syriac universities could have been found in Nisibis, Niniveh and Kashkar, as well as in Qtespon. True, since the Seljuk conquest of the region, many treatises were damaged and the institutions were now a shadow of their former selves, not producing but rather passing down previous intellectual achievements. Since the Seljuks invasions, the universities have built an underground safe, where a copy of each treatise was left for safe-keeping in case of any plunder. These underground libraries certainly did save some of the works from destruction during the looting caused by advancing Naiman troops.

As for Persian centres of intellectual tradition, these can be located in Ispahan, Rayy, Herat and Jaguda, though the latter is perceived as not being truly part of greater Persia. Medieval Persian science is known for its developments of medicine, astronomy (including a major calendar reform), resulting in further advancements in trigonometry. Due to the arid nature of the country, there is great potential for night sky observation, which has been taken advantage of in more constructive ways than mere astrology.

The arid climate of Iran allows clear night skies
Development in khemy (2) also followed, and according to Persian scholar Zana of Spahan (in the 12th century)(3) all substances could be divided into three categories: “Spirits” that vapourise, “Metals” and Stones which can be only reduced to powder. Based on previous Aristotelian four-element theory, he added three new elements, mercury, sulphur and salt.

Persian philosophy is characterised by further elaborations based on previous Aristotelian and Platonic thought. Early medieval Persian philosophic thought built upon earlier Gnostic traditions, with some greater philosophers being of Manichean, other of Zoroastrian religious upbringing.

The chaos and destruction brought upon by the Naimans has resulted in a wholly new period in Persian thought. The illuminationist school of Persian philosophy, deeply influenced also by Manichean cosmology and existent dualism within the Iranian tradition. The soul is associated with the light, as are the angels and God, while the body is associated with the darkness. The goal for life is to become enlightened and achieve wisdom, with perhaps a concept similar to nirvana being borrowed from the Indian Subcontinent.

Low Persian Culture and Persian Identity
The notion of a Persian identity has come to be very much connected to the Zoroastrian religion, and the narrative, especially pronounced by the Guardians of Fire could be summarized briefly as follows: “Only a follower of the Zoroastrian religion is a true Persian. The Turkic invaders by definition cannot be Persian, nor are the Syriacs Persians”. Persian identity could have thus been found in the middle ground between two polar opposites – on one end were the Turkic and Naimanic steppe nomads, conquerors, who were viewed as the enemy from outside, destroying and burning down the heritage of Iran. On the other end of the spectrum was the urbanized Syriac merchant, leading his caravan full of riches running the empire for the ignorant khan. Or as another stereotype would put it, a Syriac monk with a walking stick on one hand and a Bible in the other, ready to disconnect the Persians from their tradition. The Syriacs proselytizing among the Persians were perceived as a direct threat to the very defining aspect of the Persian identity- Zoroastrianism. It is also for this very reason, why the Christian inhabitants of Rajj and other cities along the Silk Road were not perceived as true Persians – for having converted to Christianity. Moreover, those cities were places of great ethnic diversity, and during the 13th and 14th centuries, the mix of Persians, Assyrians, Khorasanis and Turks resulted in a highly divergent idiom of Persian, full of borrowings from all these languages to develop in the area. The Rajji language was the everyday language of this diverse urban population.

Zoroastrian religion plays a crucial role in Persian identity
Zoroastrian religion has become a key component of “Persianness” largely as it was now the force which stood for the ordinary Persians – they now lacked a numerous or influential nobility which was perceived as theirs, as the Ilkhans divided their empire into appanages and fiefs, which they handed over to Turkic and Luri clans, and Armenian nobles – notable exceptions were the Qartids in the east and the Bavandids on the Caspian coast. As written further above, the cities were not really Persian, rather featuring a multi-ethnic mix, so Persian identity remains connected to the Persian country-side and closely linked to the Zoroastrian religion.

Persian Mysticism
Apart from the “correct” or “priestly” attitude towards religion, medieval Persia was characterised also by a very rich mystical tradition. Persian mysticism focuses on letting the followers walk their own, individual paths to Ahura Mazda, and on understanding the “inner meaning” or “true message” of Prophet Zoroaster. The liturgical orthopraxy of the Zoroastrian priests was dropped in the practice of these tightly-knit communities. As general rule of thumb, in times of great havoc, people generally prefer to stick together with the ones they know, while becoming more and more suspicious to outsiders.

Persian mysticism generally built upon previous mystical traditions within the Zoroastrian religion, as well as Gnostic practices and local philosophical traditions. Various different mystical schools, known locally as brotherhoods (baradari) appeared, some focusing primarily on the concept of love, others on the concept of pleasure, yet others on the art of distinction. Some of these connect to the supernatural through various rituals , involving dance, music or transic chanting.

Many Persian philosophers and scholars were known to be members of these mystical brotherhoods, which were also places of social equality, highly standing in contrasted to the formal and deeply hierarchic Persian society. The very existence of these brotherhoods became a thorn in the eyes of Zoroastrian clerics, labelling these “secrets sects” as being secret followers of Manicheism.

Nestorian Patriarchs and bishops have numerously warned and discouraged “fellow Christians from joining secret sects, claiming to have the recipe to human pleasure. The best recipe for human life comes from the Creator of Man, who left us instructions in the Holy Bible. Anyone else who shall claim otherwise is a false prophet, a wolf in sheep´s clothing and we, as humble shepherds of the flock of Christ warn you not to attend their rituals full of lust and gluttony” as said by the words of Addai, archbishop of Rayy.

1. Known as Kumis in many Turkic languages
2. While maintaining a medieval sound, alchemy is a word derived from Arabic, so putting away the al- article leaves us the word “khemy”.
3. Based on Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan

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This was all for the culture window. Please ask more about culutral developments have I missed something.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Unification of Persia
Thus, we have to rival claimants to the crown of Persia: Rostam VI. Bavandid, controlling Mazandaran and the cities along the Silk Road and Parbod, leading the insurgents controlling Karmania in the south. The two men could not be more different: Rostam can claim descent by a bloodline lasting for centuries, tracing his descent to the noble houses of the Sassanid Empire. He is a skilled ruler, well-educated in diplomacy and courtly manners.

Parbod, on the other hand has made it up the ladder of the ranks of the secret organization called the Guardians of Fire. He was of humble birth, and has risen up due to his strategic talent and organization skills. Motivated by religious zeal and ardent nationalist fervour, it is easy to imagine that a Persia ruled by Parbod would become a Persia that would be fervent in terms of religion, a Persia that would rather close itself to the outside world.

The two leaders refuse to make concessions to one another, and each claims to be the rightful Shah of Persia himself, making the other the ultimate rival. Rostam has survived three attempts of assassination plotted by the Guardians of Fire. This was not to be tolerated. Parbod was to be removed, as well as his closest counsellors. After that, the remaining insurgents will be quick to flock to his banner, and stop posing trouble, as he would have fulfilled all the goals of the insurgency anyway.

The small party sent out by Rostam to murder Parbod has failed as well, mainly due to the secretive and suspicious nature of the Guardians of Fire. Rostam in times of need, sought alliance with the Pattokh, ruling in Herat, and the Lurish tribesmen in the Zagros. Even the Taraqay, the Ilkhan considered Rostam to be less of a threat than Parbod, and thus did not attack the Bavandid realm from the west.

14th century Persian warrior
The encounter between the two rival forces happened near Dizijan (1). The battle of Dizijan resulted in roughly five thousand dead on both sides, with the Bavandid cataphracts annihilating much of Parbod´s light infantry, before being effectively countered by the pikemen. While Bavandid forces were better armed, Parbod ´s troops were composed largely of poorly-armed, but more mobile skirmishers. Some of these skirmishers have attacked the position of Rostam himself, who was severely injured in the battle. His regalia were seized by Parbod, who continued his march northwards. There, however he found himself facing a determined enemy, barricaded in the cities of Rayy, Zanjan, Qazvin and Goman. The city watches and the militias were composed to a great extent of Christian Rajjis, determined to defend their homes from the fire-worshipping zealots.

Parbod suffered a defeat outside the city of Rayy, where his forces met with the Qartid army, before being attacked by the city watch from behind. Parbod and his most loyal followers managed to escape, and in the autumn of 1347 he returns to Sepahan, which is declared as his capital. Regrouping his forces, in the springtime he makes peace with the Lurish clans and attacks the Bavandids from the west, conquering Zanjan and Qazvin. The third battle of the Persian civil war takes place outside of Karaj (2). In this battle, the Bavandid forces are ultimately defeated, being sandwiched from three sides by the armies commanded by Parbod. Following this victory, the city of Rayy is besieged, with many inhabitants fleeing eastwards on the road to Semnan and to the Qartid domains once they saw Parbod´s forces approaching.

After two weeks, the archbishop of Rajj along with the city prefect agreed to surrender the city, open the gates and put ten wagons full of treasures in front of the gates as loot, as to prevent full looting and destruction of the city. While such measures did help prevent major damages, chroniclers still did report some minor incidents.

The fall of Rajj meant a factual unification of the Persian heartland, with Parbod becoming Shah. Continuing with the march eastwards, Parbod seized the city of Semnan from the Qartids, thus establishing the Dasht-e-Kevir Desert as a frontier between his realm and the Qartids.

Persian Nation-Building
Parbod has reigned over a unified Persia for ten years, until his death in 1358. He sought to reign peacefully until the next generation of recruits would grow up, to launch further campaigns to push the borders further in all directions. Before that, he however sought to build an effective body of bureaucracy and administration.

Until now, the only functioning organization with a hierarchical command structure was the secret military organization of the Guardians of Fire, whose members and commanders have been left in charge of entire cities and provinces (3). Loyalty of these brothers-in-arms was not in question, yet Parbod realized it is not possible to run the entire state like a secret liberation army, realizing that with time these commanders would become selfish satraps answerable to nobody.

Parbod thus, listening to his darigbed or chancellor Behnam devised a complex system of state bureaucracy, having inspectors at every level, so as to prevent fraud and personal enrichment. Records of every action were to be kept under surveillance. Government officials were to be appointed based on merit and competence, not heritage, in an atmosphere of constant competition and rivalry.

The provinces themselves were put under the authority of individual Marzpans , who were to collect taxes and use them within their own marzpanate, while providing levies if called upon. Of course, the actions of the marzpans were also reported and double-checked, and numerous had their hands cut off for stealing gold from the coffers.

This system made the administration more flexible, as the bureaucrats were not merely carrying out orders, but were encouraged to act independently to achieve the common goal. Once the state administration was in place, Parbod set out on his campaign of “purifying Persia”.

The Faravahar is the most common symbol of Zoroastrianism

The “Purifying” was carried out mostly by fire (4) and Parbod sought to purify Persia of intruders. First of all, many new atashkadas or fire temples were built, while numerous Manichean and Nestorian sites were desecrated, demolished or repurposed as fire temples.

Individuals were encouraged to convert to Zoroastrianism by putting on the symbolic belt at a fire temples. For some men, allowed polygamy was another incentive. New converts were encouraged by reduced taxes and social promotion, while in minor cities, pogroms against Manicheans and Christians were carried out.

The Nestorian monasteries of the Order of Mar Addai, which were already fortified multifunctional complexes composed of inns, hospitals, libraries as well as churches. During the chaotic years of the fall of the Ilkhanate, a new calling for Nestorian monks of the Order of Mar Addai has been authorized: the Companions of Mar Qardakh. These were to be “men of able body and physical strength, ready to give their last to protect the sheep of the Lord´s flock”. Mar Qardakh was 4th century Nestorian martyr, originally a Sassanid military noble, who converted to Christianity and once persecuted, he and a group of followers were able to repulse numerous waves of persecutors. Thus, the Companions of Mar Qardakh had effectively become a military order, sworn to protect Nestorian congregations should need be, wherever they are.

The Companions of Mar Qardakh no less that twelve years since their establishment were able to be a force to be reckoned with, turning many of the monasteries into heavily fortified refuges for Christians from the greater area. Within the first year of Parbod´s campaign, out of thirty targeted monasteries, twenty-four were able to stand firm and repulse the attackers.

Many of the Companions were of Rajji descent, while a significant proportion were of Turkic descent, while ethnic Assyrians were negligible. Parbod did not expect such a heavy resistance from Christians and feared an open rebellion from the Order of Mar Addai. The Christians however would not compare their chances to the might of the Persian state, and were exhausted, rather than planning any insurgency

The Campaigns of Behruz I. Parbodid
Behruz I. succeeded his uncle Parbod as the Shah of Persia. Unlike his father, who was driven by religious and nationalist zeal and grew to become more and more paranoid as time went on, Behruz was a more moderate ruler, seeking prosperity. In his first year, he issued orders to rebuild the irrigation canals across the entire realm, and to build new ones. These instructions were to be carried out, while he set on a series of campaign against his neighbours.

Late medieval Persian archer
His first campaign was directed against the mercantile state of Ormuz. This campaign was a relatively short one, and resulted in a quick victory, seizing Ormusian possessions on the Persian mainland. Behruz did not, however, attempt to lay siege upon the island-city of Ormus, as he lacked a capable fleet.

The second campaign of Behruz was directed eastwards, against the Qartid-controlled Khorasan. The Qartids have lost a war to Parbod a decade ago and had to abandon Semnan and the surrounding oases. Khorasan and Qohestan on the other hand, were much more populous regions, populated by Christian and Manichean Khorasanis, who had thus their distinct religious and linguistic identity.

Horse archers formed a large portion of Qartid forces
The Qartid forces consisted largely of traditional heavy cavalry – the cataphracts, and Naiman introduced elite light cavalry skirmishers. The infantry units of the Qartids comprised of both Hillman clans as well as city patrols, usually pikemen. Behruz´s forces consisted of a much larger share of infantry compared to the Qartids, with both heavy and light infantry formations, as well as cavalry. The encounter at Beihagh (5) was won by Persians, as they managed to make more effective use of their infantry, after the Qartid pikemen countered their cavalry forces.

Following the victory at Beihagh, the Persians besieged and conquered Nishapur, before moving towards Mashhad, where they won a lesser skirmish outside the city gates. The Persian campaign against the Qartids ended in an overall victory, with almost all their lands eventually being added to the Persian state, with two exceptions- one being the mountainous Ghor region (6) which came to be ruled by the Buddhist Second Dynasty of Ghur and the second the area surrounding Faryab, which was added to Sughd.

After returning from the victorious eastern campaign, Behruz returns to Sepahan, where he left an astonishing architectural legacy, in the forms of palaces, new fire temples and generally the size of city increased threefold during Behruz´s reign.

Behruz´s Reforms in Religion
The reign of Behruz also saw a reorganization of the Zoroastrian religion. The ancient fire temples of Adur Farnbag in coastal Persia and Adur Burzen-Mihr in Khorasan were rebuilt into impressive religious complexes, while the site of Adur Gushnasp, historically located to the southeast of Lake Urmia lay in Turkoman lands.

The third Great Fire had been described as the Fire of the Stallion, and was connected to the warrior class. Behruz decided that the new fire temple built in Sepahan (the name of which means literally “gathering of the army” ) should symbolically replace it.

Behruz also gathered the Zoroastrian clerics from within his borders and abroad – this being chiefly from Mazandaran, to make clarification in religious doctrine. The Council of Sepahan condemned the beliefs of Zurvanism, which had been particularly prevalent during the Sassanid era, especially in the western parts of the realm as heretical and declared “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” to be the creed and motto of every believer.

The second issue to be dealt with were the mystical “brotherhoods” or schools operating across Persia. Truly enough, the Guardians of Fire who had sparked the rebellion against the Ilkhanate belonged to one such mystical brotherhood. The clergy however were worried, for these brotherhoods not only discarded their authority, but had turned the message of Zoroaster upside down and back to front.

Religion in Iran. What can be seen are inroads of Zoroastrianism into Khorasan, while Media is thoroughly Nestorian
A territorially organized religious hierarchy was established, similar to the organization of the Christian churches. The highest rank is the Mobadan Mobad (Priest of Priests) seated at Sepahan. Below the Mobadan Mobad were high-ranking clerics called Mobads, in charge of a city and its surroundings, on par with a Christian bishop. Each individual temple had its own priest called Herbad , who was a respected figure in the village, also taking the role of a judge and arbiter.

The Fall of the Ilkhans and the Rise of the Turkomans

A linguistic map of Iran
The defeated Ilkhan Taraqay was left with only Atropatene or Adarbaigan as his last provinces together with Aghbania. After dying under suspicious circumstances in 1351, he left a handful of rather weak claimants to succession. The rump Ilkhanate was abolished in 1353 when Qara Yusif (“Black Joseph”), a chief of one of the Turkoman clans deposed the Ilkhans and established their own rule, with their capital in Tabriz. This formation entered the history books under the name of Qara Qoyunlu, or Black Sheep Turkomans. The tribal confederation of – that it was – no more has soon accepted the Christian Lorestani people living in the Zagros Mountains, anxious of a subsequent Persian campaign to subdue them.

The banner of the Qara Qoyunlu, art by Xumarov on DeviantArt
The Jalayrid dynasty of Upper Mesopotamia was also challenged by the Qara Qoyunlu. Unfortunately for the Jalayrids, by the late 14th century they had grown comfortable and decadent, and when an aging, but experienced Qara Yusuf called the Lurish tribes for help to conquer Upper Mesopotamia, leaving command in the hands of his son Adbeșan (7). The Lurish mountaineers were more than happy to retaliate for the Jalayrid punitive raids of their villages and valleys; the Jalayrids surrendered to the Turkoman prince swiftly after being defeated near Shahrezor.

The northernmost domains of the Jalayrids were not seized however, by Adbeșan, for they were already in the hands of another Turkoman confederation – the White Sheep Turkomans. The Aq Qoyunlu, as they were know in their native language, rose to power in eastern Anatolia, breaking free from the Eretnids and subsequently seized the regions of Mardin, TurAbdin and Nisibis, and finally taking over the Euphrates Valley in Syria.

The emblem of the Aq Qoyunlu

The Qepasian dynasty ruling from Kaskar over southern Mesopotamia was rather hasty in acknowledging the suzerainty of the Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans, while the Patriarchal State of Qtespon had to give the north-eastern parts of their domains, reaching almost to the city gates, to the Turkomans. The resulting empire was thus spanning from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, controlling all passes through the Zagros, and able to effectively tax all trade along the Silk Road.

Devastation of Armenia
The Taronid Kingdom of Armenia found itself placed between the two Turkoman tribal confederations of Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu. Unfortunately for the Armenians, they failed to make peace with the Turkic hordes, and in the 1380s, the Armenian Kingdom was attacked Turkoman horseman, looting burning and pillaging, laying waste to many castles, churches and towns. The southern parts of the Armenian kingdom, in the region of Vaspurakan, were directly annexed by Qara Qoyunlu, as well as the city of Nakhichevan, while the region of Artsakh, Syunik and Ararat and Vanand (8). It is presumed that between one fifth and one quarter of Armenians died during this campaign of destruction carried out by the Turkoman tribes. Chroniclers also reported that the raiding armies returned home with a great loot, so large that they, even with the stolen cattle and horses were unable to carry it back, and on the way back they had raided surrounding villages for captives to help them take the loot home.

The bulk of the Armenian army had been defeated at the Battle of Khoy by the more mobile Turkoman horse archers. After that, Armenian resistance relied primarily on the mountainous terrain, with many hiding behind the walls of great castles and cities such as Van or Khlat, or retreating to the inaccessible mountainous regions.

After three years of looting, the Turkomans left Armenia, mainly because there was nothing else left to loot. Northern Armenia, Syunik and Artsakh have managed to escape the worst and in 1358 the existence of the Taronid Kingdom of Armenia ended, when King Grigor pledged fealty to the king of Georgia, thus establishing the Dual Kingdom of Georgia-Armenia with its capital at Tbilisi.

Conquest of Media
Towards the end of the 14th century, after the death of Behruz and ascension Manuchir I. Parbodid another major war in western Persia broke out. Adbeșan now in his early fifties invades Media, seizing Zanjan and Qazvin, stopping just outside Goman. Further Turkoman attacks conquered the cities of Rayy, Saveh (9) and Goman. However, subsequent attacks of Manuchir have repulsed the Turkoman forces from the three mentioned cities, and many Christians left along the retreating Turkoman army.

A political map of Iran in the late 14th century, with Qara Qoyunlu shown in orange and Parbodid Persia in blue
Interestingly, during the war against Persia, the Turkomans were aided by the Companions of Mar Qardakh , who in return were granted the city of Qazvin and surroundings as their new headquarters.

A map of political systems in Iran. This new golden colour represents Iranian bureaucracy
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1. A village outside Qom.
2. In Alborz province, to the west of Tehran.
3. Is it just me, or are we beginning to feel a slight touch of some totalitarian single-party dictatorship?
4. Melisandra approves, for the night is dark and full of terrors
5. Sabzevar, Razavi Khorasan Province.
6. Cognate with Slavic “Gora/hora” meaning mountain, located in central Afghanistan
7. My experiment with an Azerbaijani variant of Assyrian name Abdišo
8. Kars Province of Turkey
9. In Markazi Province

 

[ramones1986]

Would there be a tendency here of reviving Derafsh Kaviani as the national banner of TTL Iran?

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Would there be a tendency here of reviving Derafsh Kaviani as the national banner of TTL Iran?

That is likely to be one of the hot candidates, especially should there be some other dynasty in power tracing their lines back to the days of old (e.g. Bavandids). The Faravahar is among the options, as well as the Shahbaz, a mythical eagle.
Given the origins of the current regime, I would suspect that a flame or fire ought to be present in their flags (I think I have even hinted how the rebel flag looked like in a previous update). Of course, now that it is a banner of the state it would be different somewhat, but some elements are likely to be kept

 

[Tomislav Addai]

A careful reader has already discovered the fates of Mesopotamia during both the early and late 14th century. The collapse of the Ilkhanate left Mesopotamia divided into three entities – Upper Mesopotamia or historical Assyria, later known as Gozarto (1) which came under ruleof the Jalayrids, then the central region surrounding the city of Qtespon ruled as a temporal holding directly by the Catholicos of the Church of the East. Finally, Lower Mesopotamia, historical Babylonia, which later came to be known as Sawat, came under the rule of the native Assyrian Qepasian dynasty.

Both the Jalayrid and Qepasian dynasties ultimately fell to the sway of the Turkoman Qara Qoyunlu confederation. Even the Catholicos himself became a de facto tributary or vassal of the Turkomans.

Nahraya (2) in the late 14th century was a rather sparsely populated region. Waves of Naiman invasions, Black Death and subsequently Turkoman attacks have reduced the population of Nahraya significantly, incomparably to the densely populated cradle of civilization.

Upper Mesopotamia, is a rural country, populated by three peoples. The largest group, roughly two-thirds of the population are ethnic Assyrians. Many of them are farmers, living in villages along the major rivers: Tigris, and the two Zab rivers. Assyrians can also be found in the cities of the country – Karka d´Beth Slokh(3), Ninweh(4), Arbela (5) and Tagrith (6), working as artisans and craftsmen, but also merchants. Assyrians are also known as “masters of the pen” – relating to their high share among the medics, lawyers and scholars in the region, while the title of the “masters of the sword” is referring to elite members of other ethnic groups.

The citadel of Arbela, one of the chief cities of Upper Mesopotamia

The second prominent ethnic group found in Upper Mesopotamia are the Turkomans, who can be found predominantly in foothills of the Zagros mountains, chiefly in the vicinity of Karka d Beth Slokh, known to them as Kärkuek. They were predominantly herders of mutton and horse, and being excellent horsemen. Written Turkoman from the Ilkhanate period has been found using the Uyghur script, however, apparently it has fallen into disuse, and by the late 14th century it was dropped in favour of Syriac script.

The walls of the citadel of Karka
In the mountain valleys and villages dwelt the Iranian –speaking Lurish and Kurdish hillmen, also having a shepherding lifestyle. These mountain tribes provided fierce infantry warriors.

Lower Mesopotamia under the administration of the Qepasian dynasty is currently experiencing renewed population growth, as they have commenced a massive repair of the irrigation canals, which had previously fallen into disrepair. The result was a doubling or even tripling of the arable land, resulting in both food surpluses and population growth. There are two major cities in Lower Mesopotamia: Kashkar on the Tigris, which was also the seat of the Qepasian dynasty, and Prath d´Maishan being the major port of Lower Mesopotamia.

Historical buildings in Prath d´Maishan
Aramaic remains the prevalent language, with the Sawatian form being rich in Persian and partly also Arabic loanwords. Apart from Christians, there remains a Gnostic Mandean community in the marshlands of the Lower Tigris, and a growing Msadeqi Mazouni community. The Mazounis could be found chiefly in towns like Kashkar but more importantly Prath d´Maishan, living in separate neighbourhoods and making their living as merchants.

Assyrian science continues to flourish at academies in Qtespon, Niniveh, Nisibis, Kashkar and Gundeshapur. Traditional sciences, such as astronomy and astrology continue their development, as well as mathematics and geometry. Apparently, Assyrian astronomers in the 14th century were able to further developments in optics, until Gabriel BetSargis came up with a shimshamarkatic (heliocentric) model, claiming that it is perhaps the planets including the Earth orbiting the sun. This theory came to be opposed by a numerous community of court astrologers, many having links to Gnostic and Manichean sects. Ultimately, it was the Nestorian Church that further sponsored the study of astronomy and defended Gabriel Bet Sargis from attacks by infuriated astrologers.

After the bleak experience of the Black Death, Assyrian scholars came to focus more on free will, and fatalism was discarded as a way of seeking excuses. Once reading a philosophic essay by Syriac philosophers, at times one feels like reading the Gospels – for the simple fact that they are full of thought experiments, parables and concrete illustrations, preferring to use concepts familiar from daily life to abstract theories. Assyrian scholars have argued that the world has been created, likening it to a house. A simple theory of evolution has also been proposed, extendable to animals, plants but also rocks. They all appear to be specifically adapted to their environments.



State of the Nestorian Church in the 14th Century
The Church of the East in the 14th century is having to deal with a number of issues. Firstly, they have lost jurisdiction over China, as the Nestorian Christians there are placed under the authority of a Most Holy Church of the Luminous Religion, with the argument being that China is an empire and ancient civilization on par with Rome or Persia, and as Christianity in the Mediterranean, within the borders of the Roman Empire came organized under five Patriarchates so should Christians in China. Furthermore, the argument went, that the Christians of Persia ought to have come under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch, but as they were subject of the Sassanid Shahanshah, a separate Patriarchate was established. And of course, the cultural differences between Mesopotamia and China were more pronounced than between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean.

A map of Nestorian metropolitan provinces in western Asia
Of course, the Patriarch feared, that other parts of the world would be eager to pursue national reša d´šaith, or as the Greeks would say, autocephaly (7). Possible candidates for such moves could be some bold Khans in Sughd or some Raja in the south of India. Fortunately, it turns out, that both of these rulers came to benefit from the foreign contacts brought in by the mere existence of Assyrian monasteries.

The practice of the “Persian Marriages”, previously causing a challenge in dealing with, was largely dealt with a Deus ex Machina, being the inquisitions of Parbod in Persia. Unsurprisingly, those Christians who still had concubines, were quick to accept conversion to Zoroastrianism. It has become generally known that more often the village priest or the castle chaplain would turn a blind eye, especially if the culprit was of high social standing, while monks of Mar Addai would be rigorous in their pursuit of canon law.

The Holy Order of Mar Addai
Another major issue that the Church of the East is going to have to tackle is the rising power and influence of the Holy Order of Mar Addai. Originally, it was established as a tool for evangelization along the Silk Road. Unlike monasticism of the Desert Fathers in Egypt, Syria or even Rhomania, Nestorian monks were not hermits hard-to-reach in inaccessible locations, but are dedicated to a life of service. In contrast to Catholic Europe, the Nestorian monks are not divided into dozens of monastic orders, but rather there exists solely on order of Nestorian monks, and Nestorian monasteries function as polyfunctional centres, with a church, an inn, a library and hospital being the most basic ones.

The introduction of the Companions of Mar Qardakh, the calling of warriors of faith has been rather controversial. Now that the Holy Order of Mar Addai has its own army, it has become one of the most powerful institutions in Asia, and, unsurprisingly, the thorn in the eyes of many local rulers.

Mar Behnam monastery in Upper Mesopotamia
The monasteries of the Order of Mar Addai were outside of the jurisdiction of the local bishops, though originally they were presumed to be in close cooperation. Rather, the abbots of the monasteries were overseen by the Visitor, which functioned practically like an inspector, and reported directly to the Patriarch. The resulting state of affairs meant that the Order of Mar Addai had established a parallel structure, answerable only to the Patriarch. In quite a few regions, there were more monastic clergy than regular parish priests, and written evidence suggests that tension between regular clergy and monks, first reported as early as the 13th century, has now become a serious issue.

The question may arise, why, if previously the Order had existed for centuries, has the problem risen in the 14th century. The question can be answered by the collapse of the continent-spanning Naiman Empire and its successor realms. Even the Naiman conquerors were impressed by the infrastructural network built by the Order of Mar Addai and ought to copy it with their own postal service. Subsequently, the monks noticed many other ways, how to make use of their network of monasteries. Once the empire crumbled, and again the Turkic khagans were busy raiding and waging war upon each other, should they not spend time hunting or building magnificent palaces, the Order of Mar Addai found itself again to be the sole organization capable of providing a handful of services.

Antique map depicting historical caravans along the Silk Road
Firstly, as Naiman troops stopped patrolling the Silk Road and safety on the roads decreased, a certain Brother Khnanisho, being the innkeeper came up with an idea. As the road is risky, what if, a merchant in Yumen came and deposited his money when his in Yumen in exchange of a certificate, and then once reaching Qtespon, presented the certificate, and his money would be paid to him there. This idea, together with a possibility to “pre-order” a bed at inns in further monasteries, has become a particularly innovative idea, such that it greatly increased the wealth of the Order, as many travellers and merchants who had deposited gold were robbed and killed by bandits.

By the mid-to-late 14th century, the Order has come to be wealthy enough to equip its own army. The Companions of Mar Qardakh have become a serious threat to Parbod in his persecution of Nestorians, and the authorization of them as another “calling” of Assyrian monks was frowned upon by secular rulers, and clergy alike.

Companions of Mar Qardakh have fortified inaccessible locations- here Alamut in the Alborz Mountains
It was no secret that the Order of Mar Addai remained a force of globalization across much of Asia during the late medieval period. Their network of libraries and schools meant that knowledge and education standardized across much of the continent. Relatively high fluctuation in the monasteries meant that monks from many different backgrounds came to interact with one another, and more often than not, this resulted in new inventions, as people brought up in a different culture looked at things differently and found a new way of using the same thing.

The courtyard of a Nestorian monastery
The dense network of monasteries also meant another thing for the Church of the East – which the doctrine and practice of Christianity standardized across the entire Asian continent – with China being the big exception. Distinctive, controversial and near-heretical tendencies were quickly registered and channelled to the topmost level, where they were dealt with and decided upon, and prior to causing a general uproar.

In a time when corruption in the Nestorian Church was increasing and it became a public secret that quite a few of the Patriarchs won their office not by consensus of the Holy Spirit but rather by bags of gold, it turned out to be the monastic wing of the Church which put an end to the bribing. In the late 14th century, indeed as many as five Patriarchal candidates were sent to monasteries at the edges of the known world to serve as scribes as penance for their attempted manipulation of the patriarchal election. Not by chance, it turns out, that three of those five were open critics of the Order of Mar Addai and their disproportionate influence within the church.

Council of Kashkar
By the year 1387 the Catholicos Shemon IV has called a Council of the entire church to Kashkar in lower Mesopotamia. Theological controversies were to be addressed, as well as continued issues related to practical issues of the faithful: a zero toleration of “Persian marriages”, and discouragement of joining mystical brotherhoods, which were esoterical, if not Gnostic in nature, and their spirituality was thus not compatible with the teaching of the Church.

The real issue, however was to find a solution to the dichotomy between parish clergy and monasteries. The metropolitan of Samarqand proposed a solution in putting the office of the Visitor under the authority of the local Archbishop, thus all monasteries within an ecclesiastical province would be answerable to the local archbishop. The metropolitan of Herat proposed simply to put all monasteries under the authority of the local bishops, with a vicar amongst the Abbots acting as an intermediary between the monasteries and the local bishop.

The Abbots and Visitors of the monasteries were not eager to agree to the arrangement, as it would disrupt he organizational autonomy. However, it has become clear that the need to reign them in was dramatically, as more of the Visitor had more power than the actual bishop.

Clergy of the Church of the East in typical vestments
While some high-ranking prelates in Qtespon argued for the defence of the autonomy of the monasteries, ultimately the proposal of the Metropolitan of Samarqand was the one that was implemented. Effectively a Metropolitan province, headed by an archbishop, had numerous suffragan bishoprics, and for most practical purposes, the monasteries formed another, territorially non-contiguous bishopric. Further, it has been decided each province of the Order of Mar Addai was to hand over one third of their presently held finances and transfer it to the Archbishoprics –and a quarter of all future incomes was to go to the Archbishops.

Previously, a high share of the funds collected by the Oder of Mar Addai had been going directly to the office of the Catholicos, who commences the building of the impressive Cathedral of Mar Addai in Qtespon. The Archbishops used the newly acquired funds largely to build an enlarge academies – most profound is the Academy of Samarqand in Sogdia. Continued support for academic establishments was described with formulations calling for khans and shahs to “grant freedom to those who are in the further pursuit of wisdom” and to such.
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1. OTL rendered in Arabic as Jazira
2. The Assyrian name of Mesopotamia
3. Kirkuk
4. Mosul, on the right bank of the Tigris
5. Erbil
6. Tikrit
7. A literal translation from Classical Syriac saying “head of self”. Hopefully it does make sense.

 

[HerodotosofBerlin]

Can we see an update on the byzantines soon?

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Can we see an update on the byzantines soon?

What I can say is that the update will come before updates on Europe. I have not yet decided whether to turn towards Europe or Africa first

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Eastern Arabia in the 14th Century
Beth Qatriye
The coastal strip of Beth Qatriye – previously under some form of control by the Ilkhanate has reasserted its own independence during the latter half of the 14th century. Even under the Ilkhanate, the region has been chiefly controlled by local Qatriyan amirs. As it has always been, effective control over the region was largely in the major coastal towns, while in desert, the local Qatriyan clan of Bar Waqeili (1) reigned supreme.

The Bar Waqeili tribal confederation has thus reasserted their independence by the mid-fourteenth century, when the Ilkhans were busy fighting the Persian insurgents, and effectively stopped paying taxes.

Pearl hunting is an important part of daily life in Beth Qatriye
The primary economic activity, aside from piracy, was diving for pearls and growing wine in the more hospitable areas – the oases on the other hand were producing dates, while techniques of obtaining salt from the sea in the hot climate were also made of use.

Concerns over piracy have caused the city-state of Ormus to attack the region thrice. Initially, Ormusian punitive campaigns failed, as the Ormusi fleet and mercenary army were able to seize control over the coastal towns, such as Jubail, Awal and Qatif. However, once attempting to cement their control in the hinterlands, their patrols were repeatedly attacked by local skirmishers, and the cities were regained via attacks through secret tunnels. Ormusi commanders have also noted the fact that the Bar Waqeili clan has been constantly avoiding an “honest battle in the open”, rather relying on ambushes and minor skirmishes, before disappearing in the desert.

The third campaign against the Bar Waqeili saw the involvement of the fiercest tribes from the interior of the peninsula – the Banu Tamim and the Banu Amir from the region of Yamamah. These tribesmen were to provide an effective counter to the Bar Waqeili skrimishers. The results of the third campaign were a victory for Ormus. The ruling chieftain of the Bar Waqeili was executed and the region received a new ruler- Dadisho Bar Gibril, who was to administer the lands of Beth Qatriye as a vassal of Ormus.

While a number of Ormusi merchants and aristocrats have settled on the peninsula of Qatar, specifically on its eastern coast around the town of Murwab, most of the interior remains under the rule of the amirs of Beth Qatriye. The island of Awal, or Dilmun (2) has come under direct Ormusi supervision.

Religion in eastern Arabia
In regards to religion, the 14th century has seen a resurgence of Christianity in the region, and the previous trend of a rise of Msadeqiyya Manicheans has been reversed – this may have been caused by the wars, when property of Manicheans was targeted on purpose, and previous emigration of many of them to Ormus, while more and more Christian families arrived to the region from the arid interior of the Peninsula.

In the final decades of the 14th century, following the defeat of Ormus by Mazoun, the house of Bar Gibril declared their independence from Ormusi supervision and seized control over Murwab.

Kingdom of Ormus
The city of Ormus enjoyed a privileged position under the Ilkhanate as its main port in regards to its maritime trade. Its geographic position has naturally predestined it to become a major naval power controlling the trade with Indian Subcontinent and across the Persian Gulf.

A late medieval depiction of the city of Ormus
The city of Ormus had not been conquered by the Naimans, and many people fleeing the brutality of the Naimans had found shelter under in the domains ruled by Ormus. Many philosophers and educated people moved to Ormus, as well as wealthy merchants and skilled commanders.

During the rule of the Ilkhanate, as has been mentioned, Ormus was the main port of the Ilkhanate, through which they traded with India and China. As such, the demographics of the city have changed significantly, as many Persians from the mainland have come to live within the city itself, fleeing devastation of the continent. Others have poured to the city to seek opportunities in prosperity caused by trade.

By the beginning of the 14th century, Ormus has become an increasingly diverse and multicultural society – with Ormusi Aramaic, Baloch and Persian languages being the most common languages spoken in the streets of the city, with Gujarati and Konkani, as well as other western Indian languages being also heard occasionally. Religiously, Msadeqiyya remains the plurality religion, but Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism, Mandeism, Judaism and also Indian religions – such as Jainism and Hinduism are also present, with their own places of worship. Furthermore, there exists also a visible minority of persons of Bantu ancestry, who have reached the area via slave trade. Most of them remain in the lowest strata of Ormusi society – as oarsmen in their fleets or house servants.

Baloch people have become a significant proportion of the population – while a significant amount live as servants, still others have come to the city as mercenaries.

The map above depicts the rise of monarchical regimes in Eastern Arabia, which until then had a rich republican tradition
The political establishment of Ormus has also changed significantly. Originally, Ormus was a plutocratic republic. The political life of the Ormusi republic has come to be filled with political intrigue and more often than not, political opponents were taken care of through either poison or some dagger in the dark. After a series of defeats in wars, largely due to incompetent leadership, a certain Salghur, commander of the city watch has had enough. With the support of the Baloch soldiers and mercenaries under his command, Salghur in 1375 performed a coup.

Salghur established a monarchic regime and concentrated all decisive authority into his hands, seeking effective administration. The wealthiest merchants had had their private residences and palaces raided by patrols, and a half of their wealth was confiscated by the state.

The Nestorian monk Mar Sabrisho of Arbela has given us a first-hand account: “The city of Ormus is located on an island off the coast of Persia. Its wealth is beyond imagination and the merchants of Ormus have gathered all gems and spices from all corners of the world. Avarice and greed, are however not the only form of vice present in the city. The second most profound vice is lust, and lawful marriage and fidelity is an exception in the adulterous culture of the city.” He went on to say, that Ormus has had two bishops deposed in the early 14th century for their moral failings.

Belly dancing is one of the common sights found at Ormus
The wealthiest merchants were known to have large shapastana (3) with dozens, sometimes even hundreds of concubines, and many citizens had at least two or three wives. Carnal pleasures were thus commonly found in Ormus

Ormus has also become a place of luxury, attracting magnificent painters, sculptors and artists of all kinds.

Unfortunately for Ormus, after the death of Salghur, the royals were concerned less and less with practical issues, and devoted themselves to wine, poetry, comedies, and women. One of the princes had boasted that each night, he had ridden one girl of virginity. The continued decay and lack of morale have subscribed themselves to the colossal defeat of Ormusi forces in the war against Mazoun. Unfortunately for the Ormusi, their vassals in Beth Qatriye seized the opportunity to rid themselves of “the decadent drunkards and adulterers”.

Kingdom of Mazoun
The most outspoken rival of Ormus was located to its southeast. Mazoun has been ruled by a relatively stable regime of the Dapirs since the late twelfth century. In contrast to Ormus, it has not been as wealthy as its rival, and its inhabitants had experienced also modest periods, not only times of abundance. The resulting effects were that Mazoun was able to economize its resources in a much more practical way than its rival. Furthermore, Mazoun was able to attract much more scholars and inventors, making it the local centre of innovation.

Geographically Mazoun consists of two distinct areas. The Hajjar Mountains cut the realm in half, being a barrier between the cosmopolitan, sea-ward looking Riviera stretching from Sur in the south across Mascat to roughly Sohar in the west. This region was by far more populous, and lived by commerce. In this region, the most important thing is wealth, and successful merchants are held in high respect, as are successful pirate captains The hinterland region, known as Azd, is characterized by a much more conservative society, with Msadeqiyya clerics playing a pivotal role in the life of the society. Unsurprisingly, this region is in fact the seat of the highest-ranking Msadeqiyya cleric,who resides in Bahla. In Azd, honour plays a crucial role, and disputes among the clans are settled by the clergy. Should they fail to do so, a wave of vendettas is likely to ignite and last a couple of decades. The tribes of Azd have a reputation of being particularly fierce warriors, and together with numerous regiments of Baloch mercenaries form the bulk of Mazouni army.

The desert area of Azd is known for its independent-minded tribes
The Mazouni army consisted thus of well-equipped cavalry forces, drawn from the Azdi hinterland and Baloch mercenary troops. The infantry of Mazoun consisted again of largely Baloch mercenaries, but also from recruits from the Mazouni Riviera. Mazouni infantry in the 14th century was equipped with most up-to-date weaponry. Crossbows are gradually phased out in favour of harquebuses, some of the most primitive gunpowder weapons. Mazouni infantry formations had these harquebusiers shielded by halberdmen and pikemen, to provide them safety until they load their weapons.

The depiction of the arbuebus
Mazounis waged a series of wars against Ormus and Hadhramawt to restore their control over the disputed borderlands, known as tip of Magan. For Ormus the area was strategically important, as it secured Ormusi monopoly over control of the entry towards the Persian Gulf.

Despite a better material background, the Ormusians were not able to win decisively, as Mazouni forces were both better organized and better equipped, but also due to the fact that Mazoun was able to commit more resources to the army.

While the Ormusians were able to win in the first war, when they have managed to seize control of the entire Mazouni coast, reducing Mazoun to the tramontane are in the hinterland, known as Azd, around the oases of Nizwa and Bahla. For a few years, thus Ormus was able to monopolize the entire trade with India. The next war however, saw a decisive counterattack, with Ormus losing the entire Mazouni coast except the port of Sohar.

The capture of Sohar by Mazounis in the third war has proven to be decisive in their campaigns against Ormus – the city was a key to Ormusi control over the Arabian coast. Its seizure resulted in a rapid collapse of Ormusi control in Magan. The result was the end of Ormusi control over their possessions on the Peninsula.

Mazounis and Ormusians also competed across the entire sea of Mazoun over access to trade emporia and markets. Subsequently, Mazounis seized the region of Hadhramawt and Dhofar, midway along the southern Arabian coast on the way to Himyar. Both regions were famous particularly for their trade in frankincense, and entering the trade with this luxurious commodity was certainly something that the Dapirs were deeply interested in.

The port of Salalah does offer some interesting opportunities, but it appears that there is still one piece of rock that the Mazounis are extremely interested in. Located off the tip of Hafuf, the island of Suqutra has until now been a possession of Himyarites (who were, unsuccessfully, seeking to force their own form of Christianity on the island´s nominally Nestorian populace). According to the Dapirs of Mazoun, Suqutra is extremely valuable as a resupplying station for any ship sailing from Aden to the Konkani or Malabar coasts of India.

A war against Himyar in the final years of the 14th century over Suqutra was declared. While the Himyarites were able loot and gain control over Hadhramawt and Dhofar, the naval superiority of Mazoun meant firstly that a successful disembarkment on the island was realized, much to the pleasure of the islanders, and secondly, that experienced Mazouni pirates were able to raid the ports of the Himyarites – most notably destroying the fleet stationed in the port of Aden during a surprise attack. Several amphibious attacks on coastal cities launched by the Mazounis were successful, and the Hiyarties were defeated.

Green: the domain controlled by Mazoun at the end of 14th century. Red: the independent Beth Qatriye. The purple domains of Ormus are barely visible
Thus, at the end of the 14th century, Mazoun gains two important border regions: the peninsular region of Magan in the west, which the Dapirs heavily fortify, as they anticipate a possible Ormusi attempt for reconquest, and then Hadhramawt and Dhofar in the south, which provides southern promontory of Mazouni power. Mazoun is a naval power to be reckoned with, commanding the southern coast of Arabia, seeking to dominate the trade in the Indian Ocean Basin.

Culture of Mazoun
The culture of Mazoun is something that requires some further detail, for it is relatively distinct. The Mazouni language was originally a South Arabian one, on the far end of the dialect continuum, related to Mehri and Dhofari on the southern coast of Arabia. Throughout the centuries, however, Mazouni has diverged substantially from its ancestral form, mainly due to heavy interaction with Iranian and Indian linguistic zones. What however should be noted, are relatively few, if any influences from Aramaic or Syriac, caused by the fact that Nestorianism failed to take root in the area, and Persian had remained the prestige language in Mazoun.

Above: the linguistic map of the region
The three languages that had a profound influence on Mazouni are Persian, Baloch and Gujarati. Persian linguistic influences have been present in the area since the time of the Sassanids, and much of the vocabulary in the domains of governance, infrastructure and abstract concepts, the terminology in religion and philosophy has its origin in classical Persian (or partially late classical Parthian). Economic and trade concepts were borrowed from Ormus from the local idioms of Aramaic and Persian, which coexist in the city. Parts of the military terminology on the other hand have come from the Baloch language. Gujarati (and to a lesser extent Konkani and Malabar languages) on the western coast of India have given the Mazouni language many terms in describing exotic animals and plants, as well as spices.

Mazouni language is written in the Mazouni script, originally derived from Nestorian or Syriac script. Written documents from the 14th century show us largely practical documents of merchants speaking of regular transactions and ship diaries. Other types of documents show us legal decisions and the “Chronicle of the Realm” an official chronicle with a prescribed set of issues which are considered noteworthy. It has proven to be an extremely valuable source to historians. From the Chronicle of the Realm we precisely know how many ships departed from the ports of Mazoun every season for their merchant adventures.

Fishing provides a large part of the Mazouni diet
Mazouni thought and ethics has been deeply influenced by both Persian and Indian intellectual life. In contrast to Ormus, gluttony has seldom been an issue for Mazounis. In the coastal regions, the diet was mostly pescetarian, with many fruits and vegetables and spices always on the table, unlike meat. Different thinkers in Mazoun took different attitudes to the perception of time – the conservative position of the religious establishment was that time was linear; however philosophers living in the cosmopolitan coastal regions, often coming in contact with India on their journeys come to think of time as cyclical (this attitude may have been strengthened by the experience of the monsoon phenomenom).

In contrast to the intricacy of the etiquette of Ormus, corrupted by the lavishness, but also inspired by neighbouring Persian etiquette, Mazounis are known to openly despise people who speak a lot and say nothing, calling them “venomous snakes”, and should one feel openly any hostility toward another and seeks vengeance, poisoning is out of question. Rather, it has become customary to challenge the offender to a duel – often through sticking a dagger, along with the explanation of the offence to into the doors of one´s rival.

Straight talk and honesty is a virtue often accompanying Mazouni merchants, and breaking a given promise is something that is known to destroy one´s reputation overnight. Mazounis seldom to gestures of prostration or any other gesture of submission – the only such gesture qualifying as such can be described followingly: one hand on the waist, the second straight and a very slight bowing of the torso. The notion of personal space is rather larger in comparison to neighbouring cultures – roughly to half an arm´s length, something which could be explained by the importance of private property.

Regarding some practical philosophy, the life motto of most of the Mazounis appears to be “work hard, plan carefully, live modestly, and you will make a fortune” (4). Unlike in Ormus, Mazounis generally see no sense in displaying their status or fortunes publically through luxurious garments or magnificent palaces. While knowing how to enjoy life, and take some earthly pleasures, Mazounis could be considered to be rather disciplined, and contrast themselves to the citizens of Ormus.

1. OTL: Banu Uqayl
2. Bahrain
3. Original Persian word for Harem, meaning “night station”
4. Protestant work ethic, anyone?

 

[Tomislav Addai]

As has been demanded, we will focus our attention now to the hegemonic power of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Rhomaic Empire has lost large parts of inner Anatolia to the Ilkhanate during the past century, but Rhomanian domination has prevailed across most of the Haemic Peninsula and the coastal and northwestern regions of Anatolia. Further dominions of the Rhomanians include Cyprus, Cilicia and the Syrian coast, as well as Apulia on the “heel” of the Italian “boot”. The only part of the Libyan continent, as it was then known in Rhomania was the region of Cyrenaica.

Late Medieval Rhomania saw an increased urbanization (1). The cities of Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Adrianople, Smyrna, Trebizond, Tarsus and Antioch are important cities of commerce and manufacturing. The imperial administration was often concerned with the need of supplying the large urban populations with agricultural products from the hinterland. For Constantinople and Adrianople, this was from the densely populated province of Thrace, producing grain, olives, while the shepherds of the Rhodopes supplied cheese and meat. Thessaloniki was supported by the rural regions of upper Macedonia and Thessaly. Smyrna and Tarsus have large hinterland regions; the growth of Trebizond on the other hand was limited by its lack of an agricultural hinterland, and the diet in the Pontic cities was often composed on fish and sea fruits as well as cheese and typical mountain produce, while baked products were rare. Historically, grain had been imported from Taurica (2) and gradually the trade routes reopen.

The early 14th century saw a renaissance in culture – art and philosophy in the Empire. The largest universities were present in Constantinople and Antioch, while other provincial capitals had their own schools, though their reputation was not as highly regarded as the two aforementioned, and were more concerned with training of professionals for specific tasks needed in the daily life of almost every village – such as medicine, law and theology. These subjects were studied more deeply, following an introduction into the seven liberal arts (music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, grammar, logic and rhetoric) .These schools were thus training persons highly demanded in everyday life. However, the universities of Constantinople and Antioch were concerned with a more complex pursuit of wisdom, and philosophers concerned with all disciplines could be found in the universities of Constantinople and Antioch.

A reconstruction of the Magnaura Hall, housing the university of Constantinople
Aristotle and Plato remain highly respected and often citied philosophers- and the Academy in Athens is reopened (Athens no longer remains a chief city, but is rather a humble provincial town, renown largely to the educated for its past significance, but not for its present fame).

The work of Demetrios Allatios Human Societies and their Structure has become a classic work of contemporary Rhomaic philosophy. Allatios grounds his ideas in Aristolte, Plato and the Bible. With his premises being the original inequality of human beings and virtue, and evaluating different goods and virtues, he comes to a following conclusion:

“As we know, in the past every city ruled itself and was submitted to no other than themselves. Thus, the citizens of Athens ruled themselves, while they neighbours the Thebans did not at all subject themselves to the laws of the Athenians, and so did Corinth, Sparta and each and every of them. In the present we see societies of different size be found in the oecumene: we see the city, we find the kingdom and the empire. Which, however suits best human nature?

Firstly we take a look at the city. A city is however small and cannot obtain all it needs within its limits. It is not sufficient – say a great fire comes or some sort of natural destruction – who will come to the aid of the citizens? Another city? Why should they? When looking at ancient history, we see a great many of wars, between neighbouring cities, with people of same language fighting their follow neighbours. (…)

Secondly, looking at the kingdom, found among the Franks. The kingdom is larger than the city and usually its people are all of the same tribe. The king cannot listen to the concerns of all of his subjects- only his noblemen, who reside in castles in different parts of the realm. The kings themselves, and their nobles are concerned with virtue, mainly though through glory through war (perhaps due to their barbaric roots), which however leads to wars. (…)

Lastly, there is the Empire. The Empire is not just a big kingdom, but has the noble goal of uniting all humans (…).Some say, that is not freedom a virtue? Freedom to choose which way to govern the city? (…)” The argument goes that freedom to make bad decisions will be ultimately destructive. Ultimately Demetrios asks that what is better- one legionary or an entire legion, composed of many legionaries. He then asks, what is better, the squabbling and scheming pantheon of gods, with Zeus, and Poseidon and Hades, with none of them all-powerful, or an all-powerful God of the Testaments?

Thus his conclusion goes to say that the universal empire led by a virtuous emperor on the throne is the best political establishment. The emperor however, is needed to be able to receive the concerns of his subjects and listen to his counsellors. Furthermore, the emperor ought to allow all peoples regardless of their origin to submit to the Emperor and become integrated into the Rhomaic civilization.

The resulting mind-set in the Rhomaic Empire is that : (a) ideally the entire globe should come under the rule of one emperor, who would establish a lasting peace – the “peace of the Naimans” was a cited example, though it failed for two reasons – the brutality of its conquests, and secondly for the disunity of the khans and (b) societies are graded and systematically categorized according to their level of sophistication (3) – with hunter-gatherer clans ranking ultimately lowest and the “Four Grand Civilizations” – the Rhomanians, Chinese, Persians and Indians are ranked highest, with everyone else ranking in between. Gradually, philosophers in Constantinople and Antioch argue specifically on the categorization of that tribe or that principality into a given category.

Regarding the Senate of the Rhomaic Empire, we have the four primary political factions: the Faction of Reconquest focusing on a strong military and territorial expansion, then Faction of the Market aiming for a strong navy and new trade opportunities. The Faction of the Knights, seeking to strengthen the position of the land-owners and aiming to transform the country into a feudal one appears to be losing ground given the developments in increasing urbanization. The Faction of the Purple, backing Imperial attempts to centralize the Empire can thus be found in a somewhat direct opposition in relation to the Faction of the Knights. One of the primary powers of the Senate was, together with the Patriarch of Constantinople, to be the kingmaker in event of a succession crisis.

It was primarily the Faction of the Market that has been a decisive force in the early 14th century Rhomania, and the empire has become a thalassocracy controlling the Eastern Mediterranean. Large forests were planted across various hilly regions of the empire, as building material for future fleets It was the Faction of the Market that has directed the Rhomanian fleet and army against Sicily in the 1320s, seizing Calabria and the eastern shore of Sicily (subsequently the western part of the island became part of Afirka.

In a few years, the Rhomaic Empire entered into another conflict, this time with the two merchant republics of Ragusa and Venice over control of the )Adriatic trade routes. Venice moreover was very active in the eastern Mediterranean and has set up colonies of Italian merchants on many of the Aegean islands. Venetian merchants were also active in Taurida but very importantly, Venice was engaged in high-intensity trade with Kemet, which was the only contender of the Rhomaic Empire for the control of the Eastern Mediterranean

The city of Ragusa was one of the targets of the second campaign of emperor John Palaiologos
The war against these two Italian states occurred primarily on sea, where the imperial fleet proved its numerical superiority. A blockade of the city of Ragusa both from land and fro mesa was established, before the princes surrendered and Ragusa accepted Rhomaic suzerainty, while maintaining their republican institutions. Venice was not attacked directly – the Venetians were able to rebuke the Rhomanians in Istria and ultimately a peace was established, resulting in Venetians paying tribute to the Empire.

By the year 1340 the Salghurid dynasty of Konya has become a major target of the Rhomaic Empire. The then Emperor, John Palaiologos together with the Faction of Reconquest set out on a campaign to regain the region of central Anatolia. Among his best generals was a man of Armenian descent from Cilicia, known as Sarkis of Trazark. His role in designing the battle plan was crucial, and he is also known to have had a great support among his forces, which were composed of mostly Armenian and Syriac horsemen and archers, to a lesser also pikemen.

The Turkoman cavalry fielded by the Salghurids
After the victory of the Salghurids, the Emperor was concerned with attacking the Eretnids, to fully secure Anatolia once and for all. Sarkis was delegated to station the troops under his command at Tarsus, to consolidate his forces and was supposed to, according to the plan, attack the Eretnid forces to the south.

However, instead, Sarkis summoned the diocesan councils of both Cilicia and Syria and decided to act independently of the Emperor, as Sarkis was concerned by the fact that Antioch lacked an effective hinterland. Local levies and guardsmen were raised in both provinces, and Sarkis set march on the Malikate of Aram, governed by Qeryaq (4). The Malikate of Aram was one of the successor states of the Ilkhanate, spanning from the Syrian Desert to Gaza. In Syria, it turned out Sarkis achieved important victories, entering ultimately the cities Damascus and Zahle.

Before leaving Antioch, Sarkis has informed the imperial fleet of his ambitions and instructed them to set sail against Gaza. However, it turned out that Kemet took advantage of the opportunity and has marched its army across the Sinai, before Qeriaq pledged fealty to the Pharaoh.

Imperial fleets disembarked on the Galilean coast, in Acre, and Sidon, before learning that Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron were firmly in Kemetian hands. Ultimately it was the Emperor who ordered the imperial troops to stand down, as any form of military campaign against Kemet was against his interest.

Furthermore, it was decided that Sarkis of Trazark committed treason by acting against imperial orders and causing complete chaos from the strategic perspective (the campaign against the Eretnids did thus not begin). Sarkis refused to obey the authority of the Emperor, rather he raised his own banners and instigated a revolt. While the Greek heartland of the Empire supported the legitimate Emperor, a man named Constantine Vargas , commander of the troops stationed on the Pontic coast rallied to his cause.

The snow-covered peaks of the Taurus

Sarkis crossed the Taurus and established his camp at Konya, where he rallied a number of previously defeated Turkomans and Armenians under his banner, before marching to the northwest upon Constantinople. Meanwhile Constantine Vargas was moving westwards, seizing the Pontic Coast up to the river Saggarios (5). The host of Sarkis met with Imperial forces near Dorylaeum (6), where his superior tactical skills has given him victory, as well as his Turkoman cavalrymen. The defeated loyalist forces retreated to the city of Nikomedia (6) in Bithynia on coast of the Marble Sea.

The city offered heavy resistance, with many troops pulled from Thrace and Constantinople itself being sent there to halt the advance of the pretender. Sarkis made a decision to fake their retreat, and waited for the forces inside the city to march out, seeking to defeat them in open battle. Ultimately, his idea proved to be a success, especially as the forces of Constantine Vargas attacked the loyalist forces from the rear.

The seizure of Nikomedia gave Sarkis control over Bithynia and cleared the path to Constantinople, and with the help of the Pontic fleet Sarkis transferred his armies across the Bosporus at night, sending roughly one half to secure the Theodosian Walls, and the other part his troops was ready to besiege the City of the World.

However, bloodshed did not occur, as the previous Emperor was killed in a coup and the gates of the city were opened. Thus came to power Sarkis I. of the Cilician dynasty. Sarkis has diverted his attention to Syria and Cilicia – transferring his seat to Antioch in the winter and Trazark in Cilicia in summer. In Syria and among Armenians, he was a popular Emperor. On the other hand, his absence in Constantinople caused a public uproar.

A map of the Rhomaic Empire at the end of the reign of Sarkis the Cilician
The security of Syria remained a concern of Sarkis for the later part of his reign- campaigning against the Ak Koyunlu Turkomans over Berroia/ Aleppo and other cities in northern Syria, before it was agreed that the course of the Euphrates shall be the border between the two.

1. Contrary to what happened in OTL, which was caused partly by the fragmentation of Anatolia into numerous beyliks. In this timeline, the rural population of Anatolia has moved to a large number westwards into the major cities.
2. Crimea
3. This idea was originally found in the writing by @Basileus444 in The Age of Miracles Continues
4. A possible Turkoman variation of the name Quriaqos
5. Sakarya River, Turkey
6. Near Eskisehir , Turkey
7. Izmit

 

[HerodotosofBerlin]

Good update ex ited for more

 

[TyranicusMaximus]

If the Romans can survive the next century or two they should make it to this timeline's modern day, but Cyrenaica and Italy, perhaps Syria too seem unlikely to stick around.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Good update ex ited for more

The Rhomaic Empire will definitely receive another update.
@TyranicusMaximus should ethnic nationalism come along, it may indeed disrupt the empires integrity

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Sarkis was a military commander driven by his sense of duty, with a strong sense of duty. He ordered several laws upholding moral order, such as banning of brothels and stupid comedies, but also one of their favourite past-times – the chariot races of the Hippodrome. He rarely visited Constantinople. If necessary, he favoured a villa in Skoutarion opposite the Bosporus on the Anatolian side. He felt uncomfortable in the large city, calling it a basket of poisonous snakes. True enough, many of its citizens were angered by his moralistic laws, and his absence from the city. He had an Armenian neighbourhood built in both Galata, north of the Golden Horn, with a cathedral church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. The suburb of Galata had also a significant Latinate (read: Italian) and Jewish community in addition to its Rhomanian (Greek) plurality. Subsequently, the suburb of Skoutarion (Armenian: Skutor) across the Bosporus had also been enlarged and became a largely Armenian neighbourhood.

While residing in Syria, he left his younger brother Grigor in Skutor. His brother Grigor was a much more outgoing type of person, and made quite a number of influential friends among the important families of the city. By the time of Sarkis´death, in 1375 there were four contenders to the throne: Andronikos of the House Palaiologos, claiming succession from the deposed emperors of the Palaiologos dynasty, then Grigor, the brother of Sarkis, and his son Hagop. The fourth contender was Alexios of the Komnenian dynasty, controlling the Pontic coast.

The fact that Sarkis was rather unpopular has led some senators to claim him to be an usurper, and supported either the Palaiologid claimant, especially those in Macedonia and Morea, as well as some of those in Thrace; the Komnenian claimant had strong support in Anatolia, especially in Pontus and in Asiana. Hagop by this time was only a youngster on sixteen, little experienced in matters of state and military, relying on his court for advice. Grigor did manage to win over some of the important families of the empire, though by customs of succession his claim is considered invalid.

The Senate as a unified body had collapsed and a number of parallel Senates were established, supporting rival claimants. Most importantly, the Faction of the Market was rather keen on supporting the Komnenians, though a small section of them favoured Grigor. The Faction of the Knights, on the other hand, declared for Andronikos, while the Faction of Reconquest and Faction of the Purple ceased to exist as unified factions, and their members split according to personal sympathies. As mentioned, the provinces of Asiana and Pontus supported Alexios, Bithynia and Anatolikon declared for Grigor, Macedonia, Thrace, and Morea for Andronikos and Epirus and Dacia as well as Creta et Cyrenaica stayed neutral in the dispute, though the latter apparently sided tacitly with the Komnenians. Cilicia and Syria were under control of Hagop and his court. Grigor held the city of Constantinople, while Smyrna and Thessaloniki were under control of Alexios and Andronikos, respectively.

The first campaigns saw Grigor consolidate his positions in the vicinity of the capital, while Andronikos along with his son Manuel pushed across the region of ancient Troy, seizing control of the Hellespont strait. The Komnenians on the other hand seized the strategically town of Ankyra in north-central Anatolia.

A map of the civil war
In the second year of the conflict, Grigor attacked Andronikos´ forces in Thrace and pushed him westwards, while Alexios conquers Bithynia. In the south, Grigors bannermen in Anatolia are sandwiched between Syrian forces and Alexios´ loyalists. The disembarkment of Komnenian fleet in Athens opens another theatre in the struggle.

Andronikos Palaiologos, one of the claimants to the throne
Alexios´crossing of the Hellespont practically led to the elimination of Grigor as a contender, while the Epirus´ and Dalmatia´s alignment for Alexios have won him the war practically. By the end of 1378 it was clear that the Komnenian dynasty was to return to the Imperial throne, and Grigor and his remaining men fled on a ship to Georgia. The city of Constantinople opens its gates and crowns Alexios the Emperor. The Palaiologos, still controlling Macedonia and Thessaloniki, hastily seek reconciliation with the triumphant emperor – they are named as exarchs in Morea, parts of which they held at the time of their surrender.

Seizing the opportunity, Kemet takes over the region of Cyrenaica, in fact the sole possession of the Empire on the Libyan continent.

However, it turns out that one of the claimants to the throne remained undefeated. Hagop, reigning in Antioch advised by his courtiers, mainly by Hovhannes Mamonikian, his steward and the competent general Yousef Aun, Hagop was took a cautious stand in the war, and maintained control over Cyprus, Cilicia, Syria and Antioch. Maintaining amicable relations with both Italian states and Lebanon, Hagop hopes to preserve Syrian independence, while expanding slightly eastwards – primarily to gain control of Tadmur or Palmyra.

Alexios Megas Komnenos
With Alexios Megas Komnenos rising to the imperial palace begins what the historians would call as the “Komnenian Restoration”. The Empire enjoyed a period of relative peace, now after suffering another civil war, and there were few hawks in the Senate. Once again, it was primarily the Faction of the Market that had the upper hand, and the Empire experienced increased urbanisation and maritime trade. The city of Ragusa in Dalmatia, one of the more recent additions to the Empire has become the centre of Adriatic trade, much to the discontent of Venetians. In Italy, it were the cities of Tarent and Syracuse, that rose to importance as major outlets of Mediterranean trade between Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Komnenian Restoration saw a period of increased intellectual and cultural activity. Many new pieces of literature, both poetic, epic and factual, were written down, and academic institutions flourished. It was focus on the man, on the individual and earthly life. This philosophical current, known as Anthropism, for its focus on the Human, rooted back in the classical tradition of Aristotle. Anthropist writers were concerned in writing “in the language of the common man, and their works are very well testimony to the evolution of the various Hellenic dialects of the later 14th century: Pontic with its many Kartvelian influences, Cappadocian of Anatolia heavily influenced by Armenian and Oghuz Turkic, and the western dialects of Morea and Epirus. Most scholars, primarily those in Thessaloniki, Adrianople, Constantinople and Smyrna, however continued to use the slightly modified standard High Rhomaic.

The Anthropist art, often ready to depict the beauty of the human body, nevertheless produced a back-clash. It came from the monastic mystical tradition cultivated in Athos and many other monasteries across the Empire and was known as Hesychasm. Based around inner meditation, focusing on the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, sinner”) repeated as a mantra. These practices were often strange to an outsider, such as a group of monks from Calabria – one of the places where Latin and Greek cultures met.

The issue has come to cause a serious controversy within the Orthodox Church, and it appears that it drew the monastic clergy against some of the well-versed secular clergy, with most parish priests staying aside of the whole thing.

Monasteries in Rhomania
What originated as a dispute on the method of prayer became part of a wider cultural debate within the Rhomaic Empire. Some see the whole issue to be a conflict between Aristotelianist and Platonic worldviews, between the practical and the mystical. For others it came to be regarded as a conflict on the place of religion in Rhomaic society – although that never was the case. Others have been trying to find a connection with Gnostic movements. For quite a few others, they were a new generation of religious fanatics, ready to hit down on the high culture of the Komnenian Restoration.

The Hesychast supporters organized themselves into the Faction of the Seekers of Salvation, becoming one of the major factions of the Senate, becoming second only to the Faction of the Market. Unrest, caused by vigilante Hesychast sympathisers broke out in western Macedonia and mountainous Morea, as well as Lycia and Caria.

Skutor opposite Constantinople experienced riots against the local Armenian population. Emperor Alexios has had enough. He summoned the Patriarch of Constantinople and ordered him to sort out this trouble. Andronikos Palaiologos ruling Morea dealt harshly with the revolting fanatics.

Apparently, the House of Palaiologos, firmly entrenched in Morea were one of the strongest opponents of the Hesychast movement, and in terms of geopolitics they looked westwards, viewing opportunities and contacts in the Appenine Peninsula. They considered themselves as practical, military men, interested in collecting the taxes from the peasants, dressing the recruits in armour and perhaps counting the profits brought up by trade. Not by mumbling tantric verses. Rather often, they were waiting for the lengthy liturgies to end. Though full of deep symbolism, quite a few people were tired of the hour-lengthy liturgies, and would never imagine to go on meditating for some hour or two.

The issue of the Hesychast controversy has not been solved during the lifetime of Alexios Megas Komnenos. However, he was rather successful in repairing the damage caused by the civil war and by the final years of his reign, he did see the country prosper.

The interior of the Anatolian Plateau, particularly the region of Konya had significant Turkish and Armenian populations. Alexios sought to repopulate the land with more Greek subjects. Over time, however, it did turn out that Turkish had become the common tongue in this region, with many Greek and Armenian loanwords. The Anatolian Turkish were chiefly of Nestorian religion and used the Armenian script to write down their tongue. Subsequent Patriarchs have sent a number of Orthodox priests fluent in the Turkish tongue to convert the Turks and bring them to the fold of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The progress of this effort was rather slow, and any results were tentative at best.

The biggest threat lay however east of the Halys River. The domain of the Eretnids, originally a Turkic Uyghur dynasty lay in the border regions between Armenia and Anatolia. This region was a bastion of the heretical Paulician faith, and apparently the Eretnids were rather quick to find support from the heretical Armenians living in the region. The area was heavily fortified, with a dense network of inaccessible mountain fortresses in the mountainous terrain. The Emperor feared that the moment he attacks their domain, their forces would cross the Halys and seize Konya, and provoke a rebellion of the Anatolian Turks, while in the meantime the Hesychast movement would launch a rebellion of their own.

The Eretnids have come to rule over the upper Euhrates basin and the southern foothills of the Pontic Mountains, once again displacing the Aq Qoyunlu Turkoman rule from that region.

And then there was Syria. King Hagop Sarkisyan of the Trazarkian dynasty has been ruling the land to the south of the Taurus Mountains since the civil war. This included the regions of Cilicia and Cyprus, while maintaining a rather indirect hold over Lebanon as well. For the Rhomaic Empire, the existence of an independent Syria appears to be a threat, primarily because this Syria appears to be allying itself with Kemet, which in turn has taken advantage of the previous civil wars in the Rhomaic Empire and seized Cyrenaica.

Hagop Sarkisyan was thus ruling Syria as an Armenian king. The realm consisted of various religious and linguistic groups. There were the Antiochian Greeks, the Syriacs, the Armenians and the Arabs. The Greeks were Orthodox for the most part, the Armenians were followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. As for the Syriac-speaking subjects of his, some were followers of the Syriac Jacobite Church, though some were also Nestorians. However, the plurality were followers of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. The Arabs too, appear to be half-to- half divided among Nestorian and Jacobite denominations.

The Cathedral of Saint George in Damascus, belonging to the Syriac Jacoite Church
Historically, it ought to have been the Syriac Jacobite Church, whose adherents made a plurality in the region and was a main driver of cultural autonomy in Syria, seeking to preserve the Aramophone Syrian population from cultural Hellenization. However, over the course of the centuries, its position has been continually undermined by both the Rhomaic Emperors from the west and the Turkic Nestorian conquerors from the east, each seeking to impose their own denomination of Christianity over Syria.

A map of the religion in Syria
Hagop saw little difference in the Orthodox and Jacobite interpretation of Christianity. He was told that the Jacobite was the same as his own Armenian understanding of Christology, but once again, it appears to be a subject of theoretical scholarly debate of a handful of theologians, not something that should have made any practical difference. It turns out that the differences between the Orthodox and the Jacobites have largely faded away by now, and Hagop was seeking for a way to unite the two churches of Syria…

 

[PecuTheGreat]

God damn it, Byzantines fighting themselves again

 

[Tomislav Addai]

God damn it, Byzantines fighting themselves again

They havent for a long time...

 

[PecuTheGreat]

They havent for a long time...

Yeah, that's true in this Timeline which was weird but I guess that came from me listening to the History of Byzantium Podcast

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Kemet.
The dominions of the successors of Boutros the Builder saw even further territorial acquisitions. In the east, after Sarkis of Trazark has weakened Syria, king Shenouda of Kemet seized the opportunity and secured the Holy Land. True enough, the arid Siani Peninsula and the Wall of Boutros the builder did offer a strong defense, but the temptation of seizing control over the Holy Land and Jerusalem itself was once again too great. Apart from its strategic importance as a buffer state, it had a deep spiritual significance.

While Kashromi and Rakote remain important cities with populations of 50 000 and 35 000 people, the city of Tamiat has grown to an astonishing 70 000 people, more than doubling its population during the last century. The city´s strategic location, as its proximity to the Red Sea have caused it to become the major trade hub and stop on the way to Ethiopia and India.

Following Boutros´ project with building the Wall to keep foreign invaders at bay, merchants and engineers were beginning of thinking about ways how to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas. It turned out that the easiest way was to dig again the Canal of the Pharaohs, which would connect the eastern courses of the Nile with the Bitter Lake and then the Red Sea.

The couse of the Canal of the Pharaohs
This ambitious project would require even more labour, and even more slaves were bought at the Kinari Coast to Kemet, where they were charged to the hard manual labour.

Since the time of Boutros, the society of Kemet underwent some transformation. While in Upper Egypt, it is predominantly the Church which remains the largest and most powerful institution, in Lower Egypt, the landed nobility has gradually come to overshadow the influence of both the bureaucrats and the Church, while a more commercial and independent-minded attitude in the cities has been growing. Native Coptic merchants are the ones who dominate the trade with India and the Nubian lands, while Greek and Armenian, as well as Italian merchants are only found trading in the Mediterranean. For Kemet it is important once again to have wood, as little if any forests grow in Kemet. Until now, wood was bought from Italian merchants and exchanged for incense and spices; once in possession of the Holy Land, special edicts of the king instructed thousands of trees to be planted, especially in the mountainous Judean Mountains and in Galilee. Should Kemet´s maritime adventure continue, it needs to have more than enough ships.

However, Shenouda seeking to turn the country into a mercantile and feudal realm appears to have upset a lot of representatives of the old order. By the middle of the 14th century a stern opposition of churchmen and bureaucrats has risen against him, and used the valley of the Nile in Upper Egypt as a bastion of their support. The king Shenoudas relation with Pope Peter V has always been rather bad, and it turns out that a conspiracy of high state officials and churchmen agreed in Kashromi to depose the man who had been seeking to undermine their authority.

Some of the mercenary troops in Kemet
The garrison of the barracks in Kashromi – Armenians, Berbers, Beja, Nubians and Arabs all joined this rebellion, and the entirety of Upper Egypt was thus under their firm control. However, a few squadrons of Armenian and Arab cavalry fled to Tamiat, where they informed the king of the revolt. The Arab commander Harith was immediately granted land and titles, as was the Armenian commander Hovhannes. The loyalist forces indeed consisted largely of the Bedouin tribes guarding the Sinai, as well as the largely Coptic, to a lesser extent Armenian force, as well as quickly hired Italian mercenaries, and a few Maronite from Lebanon. Moreover, a number of Palestinians, hastily called to arms was joining the king after landing at Tamiat. Apparently, in the western part of Lower Egypt, the coastal regions including the city of Alexandria supported the king, while the interior declared for the rebels.

The strategies of both opposing forces focused on a rapid takeover of the enemy´s bastion. Thus, unsurprisingly, the opposing forces met in battle halfway between Kashromi a and Tamiat.

While outnumbered, the loyalist forces relied on the highly mobile Arab cavalry and camelry, causing havock in the revolting troops. Many of the mercenary commanders, once the situation looked bleak, laid down weapons and refused to fight further, greatly diminishing the actual strength of the revolting forces. Subsequently, the Berber, Arab and Armenian commanders all joined the loyalist forces.

After the victory king Shenouda marched west and fully seized control of western Lower Egypt, before approaching the city of Kashromi. By this time, responsibility of the city´s defence was passed from hands to hands like a hot potato, and the conspirators were hasty to abandon the city, fleeing to Siout in Upper Egypt. There, finally a man Tadros named assumed firm leadership among the rebels. When Shenouda marched upon the city, it opened its gates and pledged loyalty.

Without much resistance, the royal troops marched upstream, finding only little resistance. Tadros saw that their cause was lost in Kemet. Nevertheless, continued the expedition upstream, gathering all who were sympathetic to his cause. Many bishops and abbots, who spoke up against Shenouda, rallied around him, fearful for the wrath of the king. By the time Tadros reached Shenouda, he had some fifteen thousand men behind him – of them merely four thousand were soldiers.

The First Cataract
Upon reaching the First Cataract, he declared that here is the end of their retreat, and heavily fortified the place. Nobatia was to become their refuge – a rather inhospitable land, with the desert on either side of the narrow fertile stretch of the Nile River.

As the loyalist forces were gradually marching upstream, they found the offices burnt down, apparently by the fleeing bureaucrats. The land offered little resistance, but the entire administrative infrastructure was destroyed. The further south they went, the more destruction they met. Entire villages lay deserted. The king understood the message. They were trying to tell him how important they were, how indispensable. What will you do without us?

King Shenouda hastily summoned the Patriarch and asked for explanation. A third of his kingdom lay in devastation by a retreating army of overlooked petty bureaucrats and priests who feared for the loss of their influence. The Pope appears to have had no involvement in all of this, though most probably did not actively seek to prevent it either. Nevertheless, the Church´s land was fully confiscated and distributed among the nobles. The corrupt bureaucracy was dismembered and declared as it partook in treason.

Tadros in Nobatia turned his eye southwards. The previously united kingdoms of Makouria and Alodia have since been split for half a century, during a crisis of dynastic succession, and the two rival kings would thus come to rule the two kingdoms of Alodia and Makouria, respectively. Alodia has allied itself with Ethiopia, while Makouria appears to have been largely devoid of allies.

However, Tadros decides not to waste his men on a risky adventure to attack Makuria. Rather, he builds up his position and waits. Upper Egypt is split among loyal noble families and the entire region ends up split between feudal domains. What happens is that tax revenues gradually fall, as the local barons largely keep their income. And of course, as one travelled up the Nile, royal control would get weaker. King Shenouda sees that the feudal lords are even less effective than the bureaucrats and churchmen he banished but he did not acknowledge his mistake.

Rather, he merely appointed his nephew Markos to Siout to bring the lords of Upper Egypt to reason and make them fulfil their duties. Markos did in fact manage to greatly change the situation, gradually consolidating his rule. He offered pardon to some of the former bureaucrats and restored the influence of the church.

After Shenouda died, it was Markos who managed to seize the throne with the help of his southern lords. Markos was quick to offer pardon to the bureaucrats and the Coptic Church and greatly compensated them. Indeed, he summoned Tadros back from Nobatia and named him his chief advisor.

In 1379, an excellent opportunity for Kemet presented itself. The Rhomaic Empire was fighting a four-sided civil war. Now was the time to strike and seize Cyrenaica, the western borderland of Kemet. While not Kemetic, but Greek in culture, the region has been Kemet´s western march since, well, the Ptolemaic period.

The incorporation of Cyrenaica into Kemet saw an increase of the Greek Orthodox population. The previous compromise, where Alexandria became the seat of the “Bishop of the Greeks in Brucheum and Canopus“ was no longer feasible. The Greek Patriarch of Alexandria, residening in exile in Cyrene, once again found himself within the domains of Kemet.

Political map of Kemet and its neighbours. Beige is Kemet. In Arabia, green is Shammar and orange is Yamama
Attitude towards the Greeks was highly unfavourable. Be they Cyrenaic or Alexandrian Greeks, they were viewed as agents of the Rhomaic Empire and a fifth column. Therefore the autonomy of the Greek Church of Alexandria was decided to be cracked upon. It was to be merged with the Coptic Church. The “Bishop of the Greeks in Brucheum and Canopus” was demoted to being a vicar bishop, responsible for the Greek churches in the city of Alexandria; Cyrenaica was made into one archbishopric and was allowed to use Greek as liturgical language (at least for the time being).

However, some of the Cyrenaic and Alexandrian Greeks, especially the clergy fled to Crete, where they set-up a church-in-exile, if that term exists.

In the Levant, however, things were not as easy. The majority of the people of Palestine were under the authority of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who declared his church to follow the principles of the Council of Chalcedon, though did not lean to neither Constantinople nor Rome in the latest schism. Rather, he claimed to continue to be in communion with both.

Religion in Kemet. You can clearly see the dominance of the Monophysite church in Egypt.
What was also understood was that enforcing the Monophysite Church in Palestine was unfeasible. Rather, Markos sought to have a nice proper buffer in Palestine, with revolt risk as low as possible. By royal decree, large parts of the country were declared to be royal forests, and cutting down wood was strictly prohibited. The establishment of royal forests meant that there was less agricultural land, and people were rather encouraged to settle in cities, where they were to work as artisans and merchants. Egyptians also promoted the spread of vineyards and olive orchards, more valued luxurious commodities, which were more desired on the Kemetic market than the standard staple crops.

The largest cities were without doubt Acre, followed by Gaza, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Tiberias and Nazareth. The Gersaumians(1), the descendants of Frankish Crusaders, who lived along the coast, had by now become a minority even in the coastal strip, as the Aramaic-speaking peasants flocked in great number to the coastal cities. The Gersaumians spoke a dialect, based upon the mixture of Lengadocian, Neustrian and various Italian dialects, with the local Palestinian Aramaic and Greek. In the cities, the Gersaumian language was indeed on the retreat, and Gersaumian communities continued to be located mainly along the Mediterranean coast and around Lake Galilee.

The linguistic expansion of Coptic. The retreat of a large number of Coptic bureaucrats and clergy into Nobatia have effectively Copticised it. In the vicinity of Alexandria, Coptic language also spread slightly, as it did in Jedda. In Palestine, the Latinate language is largely replaced by Aramaic once more.
Regarding the holy sites of Christianity, they were transferred by royal decree to a new Coptic bishop, and it was decreed that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was to be Coptic on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Orthodox on Mondays and Saturdays, Armenian on Tuesdays and Nestorian on Thursdays. This breakdown of the week, with fixed days when service was to be done in which denomination, was also extended to all Biblical sites, with later allowance of Wednesdays to be days of Syriac Jacobite liturgy.

What we can see over here is that Greek as the most common script gradually retreats in Palestine in favour of Aramaic
To be sure that everything went smoothly, king Markos appointed a Jewish family (2) in Jerusalem to be caretakers of this timetable and entrusted them the keys to the temple. Why a Jewish family, you may ask? Well, Markos did want that the timetable be respected, and giving it to the Coptic bishop may have led to sectarian tensions. Therefore he chose the Jews, as they were neutral in the disputes amongst Christians themselves, and were thus uninterested. The decision was also officially presented as symbolic, as Jesus and Peter and the Apostles were Jews themselves.

The city of Jerusalem itself was divided into four quarters: The Armenian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, the Melkite Quarter and the Coptic Quarter (3). While Jewish presence at this time in Palestine is noticeable mainly in cities such Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron, where they make between a quarter and third of the population, there are few if any in the coastal cities or the countryside. This is in contrast with the Samaritans, who are endemic ethno-religious community in the vicinity of Mount Gerizim. Markos did not want trouble and confirmed the hereditary position of the Samaritan chieftain, clarified the boundaries of his domain, confirmed the freedom to practice the Samaritan religion in the area granted and fixed the tribute of the Samaritans (4).

During the 14th century, Kemetic control also extends into Hejaz. Previous arrangements of tributary allegiance were replaced by a more direct form of control. Still though, the importance of the local Arab tribes remains, in guarding the caravan routes from any incursion by the nomadic tribes of Yamanah and Najd.

Originally, Kemet sought to control the area as a means of securing the Red Sea, and by extension, Indian Ocean trade. For Kemet, of key importance were the cities along the coast on the plain of Tihamah – namely Yanbu and Jedda. These cities soon became cosmopolitan - with a large number of Arabic, Ethiopian and Tamil traders, as well as the Copts. It was nevertheless the Arabs from the hinterland that formed the bulk of the populations of these cities – although a mostly forming the lower classes of the cities´ population.

A map of major forms of society organization. Notice the large urbanization and feudalization in both Kemet itself and Palestine, and the retreat of theocratic and hierocratic areas.

Mecca continues to be a major cultural centre in the interior of Hejaz, as being the seat an archbishopric. However, by this time, it is already overshadowed by the coastal cities.

To mention briefly the interior regions of Arabia, two major tribal confederations appear: Yamama in the south and Shammar in the north. Due to constraints of the climate, inhabitants of these regions continue to live either as nomadic herdsmen or are settled in the oases.

1. A hypothetical evolution from Medieval French Jérusalemien
2. See the Muslim family that has the keys to Church of holy sepulchre in OTL
3. The Melkite Quarter is the Christian quarter of Old Town Jerusalem; the Coptic Quarter is OTL Muslim Quarter.
4. This included maintenance of roads, a fixed number of levies, maintenance of the royal forests , and also a number of barrels of wine.

 

[Zireael]

A hypothetical evolution from Medieval French Jérusalemien

Nitpick: The Crusaders used Outremer more often than Jerusalem. What would be the name for the people of Outremer in French? Outremerien? Something like that.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

If so then I would adjust the French Outremer back to Aramaic pronunciation. This would bring me WuTeĞaMaRI (The ğ in Syriac is very similar to the French rhotic). This would be Latinised back as Outhamarie -adjective .
Alternatively we could have it dropped all along, becoming simply Outamarie.

 

[Zireael]

If so then I would adjust the French Outremer back to Aramaic pronunciation.

I had no idea Outremer had anything to do with Aramaic, I thought it was something like 'beyond the sea', since the sea is 'le mer' in French...