The flag of the Ilkhanate consisted of a red square in a golden field. Very original
The southwestern successor state of the Naiman Empire was the Ilkhanate, with its capital at Maragheh, on the Adarbaidagan Plateau to the east of Lake Urmia. Geopolitically, it was almost a copy of the realm it had conquered – the Seljuks Empire in Persia. The Ilkhanate is not bound by the Euphrates in the west and has challenged the Rhomaic Empire. The result was an utter defeat of the Rhomaic army at Kelezene (1), opening up the almost the entire Anatolian plateau for the armies of the Ilkhan, except for the coastal strips, as the Rhomaic Empire does have a strong fleet and manages to supply the fortresses from the sea.
The Ilkhanate has also pushed southwards into Syria, where they seized Damascus. One of their later campaigns targets also Jerusalem, whose army was utterly defeated in the Golan. In this campaign, the vast majority of the forces were of Mesopotamian and Persian descent, to a smaller extent also some Syrians. The direct result is the final end of the Wars of the Holy Sepulchre, with control over the sacred Christian sites in the hands of the Nestorian Church.
This fact, dim as it may be, is difficult to digest for the Catholics and Orthodox alike, but not that they are in a position to do something about it. The Orthodox lands except the Aegean Sea basin and Thrace were already ravaged by the Naiman hordes; the Catholics are not feeling like crossing the entire Mediterranean to fight a force that conquered China and Persia in a whim.
A map of the Ilkhanate
However, much as the Ilkhans like to look at the map to see the vast empire that belongs to them, is rather depopulated. It was chiefly the cities along the Silk Road, from Nehavend to Semnan, to include Rayy as well, that have suffered disproportionally much. Especially the Iranian Plateau has become much more rural, with many people living in the valleys of the Zagros or the Elborz Mountains. The Ilkhans have organized their realm into a feudal system of appanages, each ruled by individual clans. The Donation of Toghrul in central Mesopotamia remains as it was; other than that, however, all lands are held by individual landlords, or clans, respctively. The Ilkhanate has become dependent especially on the Turkic, the Lur and Armenian clans in raising their levies.
The Armenians, living in the Highlands have moved in westwards, into the Anatolian Plateau, into regions previously depopulated by Rhomanians. Along with them a few Turkic tribes settle as well. The westward migration of Armenians seems to be one of the final blows to the surviving Anatolian language, which has been enduring long enough.
The Fertile Crescent as well sees some changes. All Greeks have fled by this time to the narrow coastal strip, while Arabic tribes from the Syrian Desert settle, the lands bordering the Deserth, especially the central Euphrates Valley, as well as the eastern bank of the Jordan Valley. The Aramaic languages, while on the retreat at this point, however remain dominant, and in use, as they are of high importance as liturgical languages (in the Jacobite and especially the Nestorian Church).
Languages of the Ilkhanate. Note: Egypt may be subject to some changes
Regarding the dialects of Aramaic, at this point, we can distinguish a number of them, from west to east. The Palestinian Aramaic is spoken in, well, Palestine, and has a Hebrew substrate, as well as layers of Greek, Arabic and most recently also Romance languages. Its distinct varieties belong to different religions, especially noted from written documentiation is the variety used by the Samaritans and the Chalcedonian Christians.
Further northwards, there are the Lebanese and Damascene varieties, with Damascene having had a heavy Arabic influence, to a smaller extent also some Greek and Oghuz Turkic influences as well.
In the places where the Fertile Crescent turns into an east-west direction, we can witness the Turabdin dialect. This dialect can be distinguished by a substantially large written corpus, as it has become the standard dialect of the Jacobite Syriac Church (West Syrian, Miaphysite). The majority of their faithful are now located here, and the seat of the Patriarch has been transferred once again to the town of Mardin.
Further eastwards is the Assyrian dialect, centred on Nineweh and Arbela and the upper Tigris and the Zab rivers. Although this dialect is evidenced from a few secular documents, and appears to have taken a few influences from neighbouring Kurdish.
The dialect of Qtespon has however been influenced by literary Syriac and vice-versa. This dialect of central Mesopotamia has also taken up influence from Persian and Turkic, as well as Arabic. The linguistic changes in the region can be document by the evolution of the dialect spoken by the Jewish community in the area.
The Lower Mesopotamian dialect exhibits significant Persian and to some extent also Arabic influences. Lower Mesopotamia remains home still to a considerable Mandean community.
The Zagros Mountains
The Iranian Plateau can be culture-wise divided into four major regions. Firstly, the Zagros Mountains, forming a natural border between the Iranian Plateau and the Mesopotamian lowlands. These areas had been inhabited by Lurish mountaineers, who are now migrating northwards and southwards along these mountain ranges, a repopulating any deserted valleys. The Lurs are living mostly as shepherds in a clan-based society, rather than being farmers. The Lurs are believed to have descended from Elamites mixed with the Kassites and Gutians. During the 13th century, they have all become Nestorian Christians, at least that is what they say, although a degree of original Zoroastrian-related beliefs can be evident within their religion.
The plains of Maragheh east of Lake Urmia are now the site of the capital of the Ilkhanate. The area is settle by a large number of Turkic peoples, among whom the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages prevail (2). The area has a steppe environment, and a large number of horses can be raised in the area. The court of the Ilkhan has accepted many Persian customs, such as celebrating the Nowruz and such, however he is still perceived by most of his subjects as being a foreign ruler, who is not the rightful ruler of the land.
The southern coast of the Caspian Sea, known as Tabarestan or Mazandaran, is home to a number of different tribes, which are however strongly united in their zeal for the Zorastrian religion. The area has been a bastion of faith for centuries, and will remain as such long after the Ilkhans will die out. At least this is what the popular attitude is like in this narrow strip squeezed between the Caspian Sea and the Elborz Mountains. To their south lies the Silk Road, home to a number of cities such as Semnan and Ray. While many of these cities lay depopulated, they nevertheless rise to prosperity once more. A separate identity evolves, and a new language called Rajji develops, from the mixture of the Persian, Khorasani, Turkic and Aramaic languages. The divergence of the predominantly Nestorian Silk Road cities from the Zoroastrian hinterlands of southern Persia has already begun under the Seljuks to a large extent, but the two cultures can be described as having substantially diverged only during the 13th century.
Religion in the Ilkhanate. Notice the high religious diversity in the west
The regions of Spahan, Pars, and Kerman are now the heartland of the Zoroastrian Persians. These areas are much more arid, as the green Zagros or the Mazandarani coast, and the Naiman rulers have no real incentive to reach into the area anyway. The hinterland of Hormozgan had become flooded by refugees from the countryside. Ormus has accepted the suzerainty of the Ilkhans and has become the chief port of the Ilkhans, although maintaining a degree of autonomy. With the subjugation of Ormus, the remnants of Qatriye are subdued as well, and all shores of the Persian Gulf are, well under the control of the Ilkhanate.
The fortress of Bam (source: http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/kerman/index.htm)
The Zoroastrians of southern Persia are tired of time and again being subdued by the Steppe Raiders, and have had enough. A movement of resistance is underway, especially in the regions of Yazd and Kerman, operating in secret. This movement of resistance operates in secret, and the
Guardians of the Fire are gaining popularity among the Persians. They are not prepared to fight an open rebellion, rather becoming a secretive guerrilla, ambushing a guard here, or killing an important notable there (6).
The inhospitabel Dasht-e-Kevir
The eastern parts of the Iranian Plateau (3) are separated from the west by the Dash-e-Kevir and Dasht-e-Lut Deserts. The eastern half of the Plateau does share a common linguistic family, but is religiously distinct from the west. In the east, apart from a small Christian presence in places like Herat, which is also mostly limited to urban centres and thus also recovering from plundering and sieges, we happen to encounter a mixed Buddhist and Manichean population.
The cities of Khorasan (4) have been especially hard-hit by the invading armies, and have been repopulated by Manichean village-folk. Similarly Segestan and Zabulistan are now bastions of the Manichean faith, while the highlands of the Hindukush Mountains are home to a large number of Buddhists. The people of Segestan and Zabulistan are called Pakhtun (5) and are a proud warrior-people organized into a multitude of clans. Apart from adhering to Manichean doctrine, the Pakhtun have also their own code of honour, called Pakhtunwali. This tribal code of honour dictates much of how the Pakhtun ought to behave, although it has often resulted in vendetta wars, in the thirteenth century again, Segestan and Zabulistan become unruly provinces.
The organization of the Nestorian Church in the Middle East. A new Metropolitan province was set in Konya, another one in Jerusalem and the third one in Maragheh
Before closing this chapter, I would like to spare a few sentences about two monks Rabban Bar Sawma and Rabban Markos. The two were Nestorian monks of Turkic descent originating in northern China, perhaps near the Ordos Desert, and they have travelled the entire length of of the Silk Road. The younger Rabban Markos would become the Catholicos Yahballah III of the Church of the East; the older Rabban bar Sawma would be consecrated as Archbishop of Jerusalem.
- Erzincan, Turkey
- So perhaps we are having an Azerbaijani language based around Tabriz after all.
- Speaking of mainly Afghanistan and Balochistan over here
- Northeastern Iran
- Pashtun
- The Hashashin, anyone