The Golden Age of Sassanid Persia came to a catastrophic end with the Last Rhoman-Sassanid War. Despite there ultimately being no territorial changes, the Sassanid offensives all failed, and it put so much into this war, but it ultimately was for naught. The Sassanid Empire was plunged into civil war and chaos, and the once great empire was now weak. A great trend towards decentralization and feudalism affixed the nation, with many lords and vassals separating themselves somewhat from the kingship and earning power of their own. By the end of the Sassanids, the Shahanshah was dependent on his lords for troops and resources, following the trends that were later followed by many other European states. Though the ancillary deities were purged from the Zoroastrian fold and Zoroastrianism reformed permanently, it wasn't enough to save the Sassanids
In 652 AD, the Sassanids fell afoul of the allied House of Mihran, resulting in a coup d'etat which made the Mihranid Dynasty the rulers of Persia. Yet, even they could not stop feudalism, nor the receding power of the central government. In the Semitic western lands, several Christian lords seceded from the central state, but though most of them were ultimately crushed and pliant vassals were elevated to lords, some of them accepted the protection of the resurgent Rhomans and were permanently out of the Persian sphere of influence. Over the course of the next few centuries, this process continued, ending with the loss of much of the Mesopotamia region. Furthermore, Rhomania did not see this process occur to anywhere near the same extent, and was able to capitalize on this opportunity by sending in missionaries to the pagans of the Arabian Peninsula, and after the split between the Eastern and Western Chaldeconian Churches, they were able to directly bring them into the influence of the Pope in Constantinople and thus spread influence to the converted Saracen tribes. Nestorian Christianity, seen as a uniquely Persian form of Christianity, also saw a decline in the area; though it remains strong in Persia, it has been greatly reduced outside of it. Even the Curds were brought into the Chaldeconian fold and thus were firmly separated from the Persian sphere of influence.
Yet, amidst this decline in power, the Mihranids saw a golden age of their own in the 900s and 1000s. Their unique position between the east and west, as well as their immense religious and cultural tolerance, led to several scientific and cultural achievements. From the Indian states, the Persians got their number system, calling it "Hindu numerals". These numbers were further imported into the west, where they were and are still called "Persian numerals". They also got much of modern trigonometry from India and sent it to the west, and today we use the trigonometric ratios of zia, cotzia, and utzia[1], directly sent through Persia. Furthermore, the Shahnameh, or the "Book of Kings", was created by famous author Pirdawsi, which compiled the legends and history of the kings of Persia from the Achaemenids to the early Mihranids into a single history; its cultural impact has been compared to works such as the Ramayana and the Illiad, and it is seen as holy by Zoroastrians across Persia. Kurosh-e-Khwarezmi, usually Latinized as "Cyrus of Chorasmia", made great strides in math and is considered one of the pioneers of rechta mathematics[2]. His discoveries are so great that chorasmians[3] are named in his honour.
However, even in this time, there was much wrong with Persia. The Turkish Khanate in Central Asia collapsed, and Turkish tribes migrated south. Though the majority of them migrated to the Indian states, setting up various khanates and gradually converting from their many religions to Shaivite Astikism[4], many of them moved to the Persian hinterlands, leading to its permanent loss of it. Lords remained aloof from the central authority. Saracen tribes, allied with the Rhomans, moved north and took part in many skirmishes with Persia. Despite all of this, it continued to prosper, and the court became increasingly wealthy.
But with prosperity comes extravagance, and the Mihranid courts became increasingly hated and resented by many Persians. The House of Suran, forced to flee from Turkish tribes in Sakastan, toppled the Mihranids in 1102 AD with the support of Magi priets. Despite the rise of the Suranids, scientific discovery and prosperity continued, though both made a marked decrease with the fall of the Mihranids. Persia at this time was effectively surrounded, with Rhome-allied Eastern Chaldeconian Christians to the west and Indic Astikists to the east. The Zoroastrian and Nestorian Christian Persian people were increasingly surrounded. Yet, in both the east and west, several reformist movements grew. In the Indian states, the Bhakti movement spread. In the Indian rajyas bordering Persia, this took the shape of devotion to the Buddha, ninth avatar of Vishnu. Buddhist Bhaktism allowed for the devotion of anyone to God, even non-Brahmins, which led to a crisis among the Brahmanical forms of Astikism practiced in the kingdoms near Persia. Ultimately, these Bhakti movements were successful in reforming Astikism; today Bhakti hymns are reciting across Astikist temples. But in the short term, it caused a religious crisis. In Rhomania and the Semitic areas, it took the form of Mehbooballahi [Beloved God] Christianity, which sprung up among the Saracen tribes. This was a revival of Gnosticism, and was a dualistic form of Christianity. Its rise led to several Saracen tribes attacking Rhoman territory, which in turn led to several rebellious Exarchs seceding from the authority of the Basileus in Constantinople. This marked the beginning of the Crisis of the Twelfth Century. Though most Exarchates were ultimately reabsorbed, the Exarch of Carthage was able to successfully secede entirely, and this war weakened the Rhomans tremendously.
Naturally, the Suranids saw the opportunity, and decided to act. They sent several Nestorian missionaries to convert Eastern Chaldeconian tribes to convert them to Nestorian Christianity, and this goal was successful. By the time Egypt was reconquered by the Rhomans in 1252, much ground was lost to the Nestorians by the Chaldeconians in the contested areas, and numerous Saracen tribes were converted to Mehbooballahi Christianity, to the point that many Saracens are Mehbooballahist today. In this era, the Magi, fearing their religion was decling, decided they needed to grow somewhere. Turkestan was and still is to an extent a very multi-religious place, but that was one place where Zoroastrianism could grow. Tengrism was in decline at this point, and worship of the Sky Father no longer had the enthusiasm it once did. The Magi, with the full resources of the Shahanshah, sent missionaries as far as the area to the north of China[5], where Turkish tribes were still very much Tengrist. These efforts proved successful, and the modern state of Turkestan is two-thirds Zoroastrian - about the same as Persia. Yet, the Turks being Zoroastrian did not necessarily make them any more peaceful, and led by their eponymous hero Temur Yalig, the Temurids invaded northern Persia in 1217. By 1242, the capital of Mahuza fell to the powerful Temurid Empire, making Persia a Turkish-ruled state, ruled by a Khagan.
Under the Temurids, cultural progress in Persia stalled completely. They were more interested in raiding than in high culture, and the cities of Persia and Mesopotamia were increasingly depopulated due to these raids. They launched several invasions into the Caucasus, occupying nearly all of it. Yet, their doom came when they invaded fire temples and churches in cities. Despite being Zoroastrian, fire temples were not a fixture among the nomadic Turkish peoples, who did and still do have "moving fire temples", where "holy torches" are commonly lit and moved throughout communities, and very few Temurid Turks were Christian and thus they had no respect for churches. In reaction, several Nestorian lords decided that they needed to rebel against the Temurids, and under Israil, in 1336, the rebellion began. Israil was able to quickly conquer Mahuza and the other Nestorian lands relatively easy, resulting in the Temurids relocating their capital to Spahan[6]. The resulting war took a long time, and in 1378, in the Battle of Amol, the Temurids were thrust from Persia proper, and a remnant would exist in Khorasan for a few centuries before disappearing.
The Israilids were a radical departure from any of the previous Persian dynasties, for they were not Zoroastrian and thus held little connection to the Magi. Though the Nestorian clergy were uplifted to hold similar power to the Magi in the imperial court, their bureaucracy could not be more different, for they were more rooted in the Chaldeconian tradition than that of the Zoroastrians. Yet, the Magi remained a powerful influence in Persia, and were intent on blocking any attempt by the Nestorian clergy to make Persia any more Christian. In this goal, they proved successful, for Zoroastrianism grew so connected, and the religion was so successfully reformed by past dynasties, that all attempts by the Nestorian clergymen to convert Persia were either stopped by the Israilids who feared upsetting the Zoroastrians of Persia, or by the fact that few Zoroastrians wanted to convert in the first place. Religion remained largely stable, save for Christianity making a little leeway among some peoples. Not even a Christian dynasty could make Persia a Christian-majority state. And indeed, Peroz, son of Mikail the Israilid Shahanshah grew interested in Zoroastrianism and was so enamoured by the legacy of kings like Cyrus the Great that he decided to go so far as to convert to Zoroastrianism. In reaction to this, Mikail cast off Peroz in 1479. But Peroz was not one to merely lie down and accept defeat, for he rebelled against his father, deposing him in 1491. Now, Persia was Zoroastrian once more.
Peroz was a strong king, and thus began a series of military campaigns in the Arabian peninsula. He went so far as to adopt the printing press from Europe in order to push propaganda. With it being solidly Christian, he decided against the idea of converting it. Instead, he simply desired conquest, and in a series of rapid campaigns, conquered Omania and Southern Arabia, crushing any and all resistance to him. But these campaigns were stopped when Vikramaditya, an Indian king who successfully united the north Indian states, launched a campaign into Persia in 1507. The war between the famed conquerers and kings was terrifying, resulting in destruction and chaos in Sakastan and Paratan. The war came to an end when Peroz died. His weak son signed a peace treaty quickly, ending the war with an Indian victory as Vikramaditya turned his focus south, and saw his father's empire crumble quickly. The Caucasian kingdoms all seceded from the Persian state, while several Semitic uprisings even occurred in Mahuza. It was the twilight of the once-powerful Persian state. Yet, the Rhomans failed to utilize this destruction properly, for Syria, Judea, and Egypt seceded from the main state, this time permanently, while the many denominations of the now-fractured Christian religion rebelled against the main authorities, resulting in much bloodletting. The unified Indian empire did not get to enjoy its newfound prosperity either, for when Vikramaditya died, it collapsed too.
In this "interregnum", many Persian states existed, and while some did claim to be Persian, others did not claim to be so at all. Peroz's campaigns hadn't strengthened Persia at all, for consolidation was little. In this period of chaos, the Turks reunified into a single khanate, invading both India and Persia. It was this invasion that led to the reunification of Persia, for several monarchs were killed by the invading Turks, and under Khosrau, king in Amol, Persia set up a front against these Turks, forcing them to invade other lands. In this goal, they were successful, invading Sibiristan and uniting with the Turks north of China. By 1562, Khosrau's son was finally successful in capturing Mahuza, which marks the end of the Interregnum. After annexing the various Caucasian kingdoms, Persia took to stopping its great pattern of conquest, instead choosing to expand its various trade networks. This period saw the Rhomans and the Persians making several rapprochements, though the two still competed with one another in terms of influence. Persian goods travelled across the world. In New Kashmir, for instance, goods have been found, dating not long after the foundation of the first Chola colonies there, while they have also been found among the Swahili city-states, in both the Astikist and the Christian ones. Persia once more saw its culture bloom. Yet, nations across the world were more powerful than Persia. Aquitaine, for instance, discovered new continents, which Chola voyages later confirmed, and the war between the Chola and the Aquitanians over the riches of the Tavantinsuyu Kingdom ended with much of the silver mountains falling into Aquitanian hands while the rest of the Tavantinsuyu fell unde the control of the Chola. Here, too Persian goods have been found, proof of the great extent of Persian networks. Yet, the result of Aquitaine introducing massive amounts of silver into the world was a massive reduction in the value of silver; like many other nations, much of Persian currency was based on silver, resulting in the loss of much wealth. In this time, silver coinage was replaced by gold, for the times required it, and in some circumstances, tally sticks needed to be used due to the unstable value of silver. This caused rebellions that ended this golden age for Persia, and in 1702, the weakened Khosrids fell to Shapur, a lord in the hinterland of Sakastan.
Under Shapur, the currency situation stabilized, ending the nation's instability, and prosperity made a comeback, though it was not as great as what came before. Several Turkish invasions took place, which were all blocked by the effective and stable military of the era. Shapur is remembered as a good king. But under his successors, Persia's status fell. The Western Chaldeconian states industrialized immensely, and began to increase their own influence in relation to other countries. However, Persia's energy resources came in the form of oil, and several attempts by the Persian government to attempt to use oil in combustion engines all proved to be more inefficient than the coal equivalents. As European states established trade networks across Persia, little could be done to combat them, for the corporations that managed these trading posts grew strong and powerful. In 1803, a rebellion against these trading posts quickly became a revolution against the Shapurid dynasty, and they were replaced by Peroz, lord of an estate in Media who claimed to be the descendant of Shahanshah Peroz from centuries ago.
This "Second Perozid Dynasty" saw an increase in Persian power, banning many European corporations. Under the first few Perozid Shahanshahs, Persia saw a renaissance of sorts. Despite trade routes now skipping over Persia, these years saw its powers swell, and its influence expanded across the Caucasus. However, these years of expanding optimism were put to an end when Turkestan, now having largely conquered Sibiristan and having gone as far as to conquer the far northern tribes of North Atlantis, turned its eye west, conquering much of the kingdoms in the upper Caucasus and conquering a number of the Russian states. Though Crimea was conquered by the Rhomans after the fall of Kiev, nearly all of Russia was under the rule of the Khagans of Bukhara. Though the Eastern Chaldeconian Pope declared a crusade against the Turks, the power of the Eastern Pope was effectively dead, and save for Novogorod, which fell under the influence of the Scandinavian states, all of Russia was under Turkestani rule. After conquering the Russias, the Khagan declared war on the Persians, intent on conquering the Caucasus and other hinterlands of Persia. In this goal, he succeeded tremendously, for the Turkestani Khaganate was immensely powerful. A hasty peace treaty signed in 1871 proved immensely unpopular, and led to many riots which ultimately led to the fall of the Perozids to Mithra, a Zoroastrian lord in Gorgan.
Shahanshah Mithra attempted to strengthen Persia, but this proved difficult with the massive Turkestani Khaganate blocking them at every opportunity. Instead, he decided to take to increasing trade with other nations, creating corporations to trade with Indian and Semitic states. He even copied the European innovation of public corporations, creating numerous fronts for trade. Persia regained some of its prosperity in this period, and Mithra died a hero. Under his descendants, Persia regained most of the territory lost to the Turks, but could not expand much further. However, ultimately the attempts of Mithra to keep foreign influence out were shown to be a failure, when throughout the twentieth century, foreign influence grew at a tremendous pace, with Europe having every advantage imaginable. In 1950, the Persian-ruled island of Tula was leased to Francia for sixty years; it has recently fallen back under Persian rule.
As the energy needs of Europe turned from coal to oil, Persia, Syria, and other states in the Near East grew tremendously in importance. Oil became highly important, and to this end, many Western nations negotiated monopolies with Near Eastern states in the 1960s. It is necessary to have oil, as no other way to power increasingly-common locobles is as efficient. However, Persia took to playing countries off of one another for its oil, a strategy that is largely successful. It has preserved its independence. As more powerful cars became commonplace, oil needs in the western countries grew, and the Near East has followed these needs as necessary for its wealth.
Today, Persia is a fiercely independent nation, with the very Persian religion of Zoroastrianism as well as the very Persian Christian denomination of Nestorianism shaping its identity, and the House of Mithra rules from the historic city of Mahuza, watching its neighbours intently for threats. Though its cultural influence is smaller than it once was, Turkestan is very much the product of Persian and Indian influences combining with its own. Its language of Persian, known by its speakers as Parsi, is highly influential owing to the enormous influence of Persia in previous days. Today, with colour telorama growing commonplace, and energy needs grow larger with locobles, the world needs Persian oil - and Persia can name its price.
[1] Sine, cosine, and tangent, respectively.
[2] Algebra.
[3] Algorithms.
[4] Hinduism.
[5] i.e. Mongolia.
[6] Isfahan.
In 652 AD, the Sassanids fell afoul of the allied House of Mihran, resulting in a coup d'etat which made the Mihranid Dynasty the rulers of Persia. Yet, even they could not stop feudalism, nor the receding power of the central government. In the Semitic western lands, several Christian lords seceded from the central state, but though most of them were ultimately crushed and pliant vassals were elevated to lords, some of them accepted the protection of the resurgent Rhomans and were permanently out of the Persian sphere of influence. Over the course of the next few centuries, this process continued, ending with the loss of much of the Mesopotamia region. Furthermore, Rhomania did not see this process occur to anywhere near the same extent, and was able to capitalize on this opportunity by sending in missionaries to the pagans of the Arabian Peninsula, and after the split between the Eastern and Western Chaldeconian Churches, they were able to directly bring them into the influence of the Pope in Constantinople and thus spread influence to the converted Saracen tribes. Nestorian Christianity, seen as a uniquely Persian form of Christianity, also saw a decline in the area; though it remains strong in Persia, it has been greatly reduced outside of it. Even the Curds were brought into the Chaldeconian fold and thus were firmly separated from the Persian sphere of influence.
Yet, amidst this decline in power, the Mihranids saw a golden age of their own in the 900s and 1000s. Their unique position between the east and west, as well as their immense religious and cultural tolerance, led to several scientific and cultural achievements. From the Indian states, the Persians got their number system, calling it "Hindu numerals". These numbers were further imported into the west, where they were and are still called "Persian numerals". They also got much of modern trigonometry from India and sent it to the west, and today we use the trigonometric ratios of zia, cotzia, and utzia[1], directly sent through Persia. Furthermore, the Shahnameh, or the "Book of Kings", was created by famous author Pirdawsi, which compiled the legends and history of the kings of Persia from the Achaemenids to the early Mihranids into a single history; its cultural impact has been compared to works such as the Ramayana and the Illiad, and it is seen as holy by Zoroastrians across Persia. Kurosh-e-Khwarezmi, usually Latinized as "Cyrus of Chorasmia", made great strides in math and is considered one of the pioneers of rechta mathematics[2]. His discoveries are so great that chorasmians[3] are named in his honour.
However, even in this time, there was much wrong with Persia. The Turkish Khanate in Central Asia collapsed, and Turkish tribes migrated south. Though the majority of them migrated to the Indian states, setting up various khanates and gradually converting from their many religions to Shaivite Astikism[4], many of them moved to the Persian hinterlands, leading to its permanent loss of it. Lords remained aloof from the central authority. Saracen tribes, allied with the Rhomans, moved north and took part in many skirmishes with Persia. Despite all of this, it continued to prosper, and the court became increasingly wealthy.
But with prosperity comes extravagance, and the Mihranid courts became increasingly hated and resented by many Persians. The House of Suran, forced to flee from Turkish tribes in Sakastan, toppled the Mihranids in 1102 AD with the support of Magi priets. Despite the rise of the Suranids, scientific discovery and prosperity continued, though both made a marked decrease with the fall of the Mihranids. Persia at this time was effectively surrounded, with Rhome-allied Eastern Chaldeconian Christians to the west and Indic Astikists to the east. The Zoroastrian and Nestorian Christian Persian people were increasingly surrounded. Yet, in both the east and west, several reformist movements grew. In the Indian states, the Bhakti movement spread. In the Indian rajyas bordering Persia, this took the shape of devotion to the Buddha, ninth avatar of Vishnu. Buddhist Bhaktism allowed for the devotion of anyone to God, even non-Brahmins, which led to a crisis among the Brahmanical forms of Astikism practiced in the kingdoms near Persia. Ultimately, these Bhakti movements were successful in reforming Astikism; today Bhakti hymns are reciting across Astikist temples. But in the short term, it caused a religious crisis. In Rhomania and the Semitic areas, it took the form of Mehbooballahi [Beloved God] Christianity, which sprung up among the Saracen tribes. This was a revival of Gnosticism, and was a dualistic form of Christianity. Its rise led to several Saracen tribes attacking Rhoman territory, which in turn led to several rebellious Exarchs seceding from the authority of the Basileus in Constantinople. This marked the beginning of the Crisis of the Twelfth Century. Though most Exarchates were ultimately reabsorbed, the Exarch of Carthage was able to successfully secede entirely, and this war weakened the Rhomans tremendously.
Naturally, the Suranids saw the opportunity, and decided to act. They sent several Nestorian missionaries to convert Eastern Chaldeconian tribes to convert them to Nestorian Christianity, and this goal was successful. By the time Egypt was reconquered by the Rhomans in 1252, much ground was lost to the Nestorians by the Chaldeconians in the contested areas, and numerous Saracen tribes were converted to Mehbooballahi Christianity, to the point that many Saracens are Mehbooballahist today. In this era, the Magi, fearing their religion was decling, decided they needed to grow somewhere. Turkestan was and still is to an extent a very multi-religious place, but that was one place where Zoroastrianism could grow. Tengrism was in decline at this point, and worship of the Sky Father no longer had the enthusiasm it once did. The Magi, with the full resources of the Shahanshah, sent missionaries as far as the area to the north of China[5], where Turkish tribes were still very much Tengrist. These efforts proved successful, and the modern state of Turkestan is two-thirds Zoroastrian - about the same as Persia. Yet, the Turks being Zoroastrian did not necessarily make them any more peaceful, and led by their eponymous hero Temur Yalig, the Temurids invaded northern Persia in 1217. By 1242, the capital of Mahuza fell to the powerful Temurid Empire, making Persia a Turkish-ruled state, ruled by a Khagan.
Under the Temurids, cultural progress in Persia stalled completely. They were more interested in raiding than in high culture, and the cities of Persia and Mesopotamia were increasingly depopulated due to these raids. They launched several invasions into the Caucasus, occupying nearly all of it. Yet, their doom came when they invaded fire temples and churches in cities. Despite being Zoroastrian, fire temples were not a fixture among the nomadic Turkish peoples, who did and still do have "moving fire temples", where "holy torches" are commonly lit and moved throughout communities, and very few Temurid Turks were Christian and thus they had no respect for churches. In reaction, several Nestorian lords decided that they needed to rebel against the Temurids, and under Israil, in 1336, the rebellion began. Israil was able to quickly conquer Mahuza and the other Nestorian lands relatively easy, resulting in the Temurids relocating their capital to Spahan[6]. The resulting war took a long time, and in 1378, in the Battle of Amol, the Temurids were thrust from Persia proper, and a remnant would exist in Khorasan for a few centuries before disappearing.
The Israilids were a radical departure from any of the previous Persian dynasties, for they were not Zoroastrian and thus held little connection to the Magi. Though the Nestorian clergy were uplifted to hold similar power to the Magi in the imperial court, their bureaucracy could not be more different, for they were more rooted in the Chaldeconian tradition than that of the Zoroastrians. Yet, the Magi remained a powerful influence in Persia, and were intent on blocking any attempt by the Nestorian clergy to make Persia any more Christian. In this goal, they proved successful, for Zoroastrianism grew so connected, and the religion was so successfully reformed by past dynasties, that all attempts by the Nestorian clergymen to convert Persia were either stopped by the Israilids who feared upsetting the Zoroastrians of Persia, or by the fact that few Zoroastrians wanted to convert in the first place. Religion remained largely stable, save for Christianity making a little leeway among some peoples. Not even a Christian dynasty could make Persia a Christian-majority state. And indeed, Peroz, son of Mikail the Israilid Shahanshah grew interested in Zoroastrianism and was so enamoured by the legacy of kings like Cyrus the Great that he decided to go so far as to convert to Zoroastrianism. In reaction to this, Mikail cast off Peroz in 1479. But Peroz was not one to merely lie down and accept defeat, for he rebelled against his father, deposing him in 1491. Now, Persia was Zoroastrian once more.
Peroz was a strong king, and thus began a series of military campaigns in the Arabian peninsula. He went so far as to adopt the printing press from Europe in order to push propaganda. With it being solidly Christian, he decided against the idea of converting it. Instead, he simply desired conquest, and in a series of rapid campaigns, conquered Omania and Southern Arabia, crushing any and all resistance to him. But these campaigns were stopped when Vikramaditya, an Indian king who successfully united the north Indian states, launched a campaign into Persia in 1507. The war between the famed conquerers and kings was terrifying, resulting in destruction and chaos in Sakastan and Paratan. The war came to an end when Peroz died. His weak son signed a peace treaty quickly, ending the war with an Indian victory as Vikramaditya turned his focus south, and saw his father's empire crumble quickly. The Caucasian kingdoms all seceded from the Persian state, while several Semitic uprisings even occurred in Mahuza. It was the twilight of the once-powerful Persian state. Yet, the Rhomans failed to utilize this destruction properly, for Syria, Judea, and Egypt seceded from the main state, this time permanently, while the many denominations of the now-fractured Christian religion rebelled against the main authorities, resulting in much bloodletting. The unified Indian empire did not get to enjoy its newfound prosperity either, for when Vikramaditya died, it collapsed too.
In this "interregnum", many Persian states existed, and while some did claim to be Persian, others did not claim to be so at all. Peroz's campaigns hadn't strengthened Persia at all, for consolidation was little. In this period of chaos, the Turks reunified into a single khanate, invading both India and Persia. It was this invasion that led to the reunification of Persia, for several monarchs were killed by the invading Turks, and under Khosrau, king in Amol, Persia set up a front against these Turks, forcing them to invade other lands. In this goal, they were successful, invading Sibiristan and uniting with the Turks north of China. By 1562, Khosrau's son was finally successful in capturing Mahuza, which marks the end of the Interregnum. After annexing the various Caucasian kingdoms, Persia took to stopping its great pattern of conquest, instead choosing to expand its various trade networks. This period saw the Rhomans and the Persians making several rapprochements, though the two still competed with one another in terms of influence. Persian goods travelled across the world. In New Kashmir, for instance, goods have been found, dating not long after the foundation of the first Chola colonies there, while they have also been found among the Swahili city-states, in both the Astikist and the Christian ones. Persia once more saw its culture bloom. Yet, nations across the world were more powerful than Persia. Aquitaine, for instance, discovered new continents, which Chola voyages later confirmed, and the war between the Chola and the Aquitanians over the riches of the Tavantinsuyu Kingdom ended with much of the silver mountains falling into Aquitanian hands while the rest of the Tavantinsuyu fell unde the control of the Chola. Here, too Persian goods have been found, proof of the great extent of Persian networks. Yet, the result of Aquitaine introducing massive amounts of silver into the world was a massive reduction in the value of silver; like many other nations, much of Persian currency was based on silver, resulting in the loss of much wealth. In this time, silver coinage was replaced by gold, for the times required it, and in some circumstances, tally sticks needed to be used due to the unstable value of silver. This caused rebellions that ended this golden age for Persia, and in 1702, the weakened Khosrids fell to Shapur, a lord in the hinterland of Sakastan.
Under Shapur, the currency situation stabilized, ending the nation's instability, and prosperity made a comeback, though it was not as great as what came before. Several Turkish invasions took place, which were all blocked by the effective and stable military of the era. Shapur is remembered as a good king. But under his successors, Persia's status fell. The Western Chaldeconian states industrialized immensely, and began to increase their own influence in relation to other countries. However, Persia's energy resources came in the form of oil, and several attempts by the Persian government to attempt to use oil in combustion engines all proved to be more inefficient than the coal equivalents. As European states established trade networks across Persia, little could be done to combat them, for the corporations that managed these trading posts grew strong and powerful. In 1803, a rebellion against these trading posts quickly became a revolution against the Shapurid dynasty, and they were replaced by Peroz, lord of an estate in Media who claimed to be the descendant of Shahanshah Peroz from centuries ago.
This "Second Perozid Dynasty" saw an increase in Persian power, banning many European corporations. Under the first few Perozid Shahanshahs, Persia saw a renaissance of sorts. Despite trade routes now skipping over Persia, these years saw its powers swell, and its influence expanded across the Caucasus. However, these years of expanding optimism were put to an end when Turkestan, now having largely conquered Sibiristan and having gone as far as to conquer the far northern tribes of North Atlantis, turned its eye west, conquering much of the kingdoms in the upper Caucasus and conquering a number of the Russian states. Though Crimea was conquered by the Rhomans after the fall of Kiev, nearly all of Russia was under the rule of the Khagans of Bukhara. Though the Eastern Chaldeconian Pope declared a crusade against the Turks, the power of the Eastern Pope was effectively dead, and save for Novogorod, which fell under the influence of the Scandinavian states, all of Russia was under Turkestani rule. After conquering the Russias, the Khagan declared war on the Persians, intent on conquering the Caucasus and other hinterlands of Persia. In this goal, he succeeded tremendously, for the Turkestani Khaganate was immensely powerful. A hasty peace treaty signed in 1871 proved immensely unpopular, and led to many riots which ultimately led to the fall of the Perozids to Mithra, a Zoroastrian lord in Gorgan.
Shahanshah Mithra attempted to strengthen Persia, but this proved difficult with the massive Turkestani Khaganate blocking them at every opportunity. Instead, he decided to take to increasing trade with other nations, creating corporations to trade with Indian and Semitic states. He even copied the European innovation of public corporations, creating numerous fronts for trade. Persia regained some of its prosperity in this period, and Mithra died a hero. Under his descendants, Persia regained most of the territory lost to the Turks, but could not expand much further. However, ultimately the attempts of Mithra to keep foreign influence out were shown to be a failure, when throughout the twentieth century, foreign influence grew at a tremendous pace, with Europe having every advantage imaginable. In 1950, the Persian-ruled island of Tula was leased to Francia for sixty years; it has recently fallen back under Persian rule.
As the energy needs of Europe turned from coal to oil, Persia, Syria, and other states in the Near East grew tremendously in importance. Oil became highly important, and to this end, many Western nations negotiated monopolies with Near Eastern states in the 1960s. It is necessary to have oil, as no other way to power increasingly-common locobles is as efficient. However, Persia took to playing countries off of one another for its oil, a strategy that is largely successful. It has preserved its independence. As more powerful cars became commonplace, oil needs in the western countries grew, and the Near East has followed these needs as necessary for its wealth.
Today, Persia is a fiercely independent nation, with the very Persian religion of Zoroastrianism as well as the very Persian Christian denomination of Nestorianism shaping its identity, and the House of Mithra rules from the historic city of Mahuza, watching its neighbours intently for threats. Though its cultural influence is smaller than it once was, Turkestan is very much the product of Persian and Indian influences combining with its own. Its language of Persian, known by its speakers as Parsi, is highly influential owing to the enormous influence of Persia in previous days. Today, with colour telorama growing commonplace, and energy needs grow larger with locobles, the world needs Persian oil - and Persia can name its price.
[1] Sine, cosine, and tangent, respectively.
[2] Algebra.
[3] Algorithms.
[4] Hinduism.
[5] i.e. Mongolia.
[6] Isfahan.
