Under wings of the Zilant: a Golden horde timeline
- Thread starter Ursogulos
- Start date
POD changed as instead of the OTL musical chair, Khans were more or less stable as Makmut succeded Tini beg. Of course this didn’t change opportunists from taking their chances but they're all either Chingissids themselves ( Toktaymish) or somehow related to one( Qizil Hatun). So Edigey is most likely not prominent ITTL.
Last edited:
Huh, independent Silesia as a buffer between Poland and Bohemia? When did that happen? And what are the two factions in Ireland?
I wonder how long before Castille finally moves to finish Granada...
Apologies, in my rush I kinda forgot to colour them the same as Bohemia but you’ve given me a new route for butterfly. One can assume that they swear fealty to Wittlebasch house after the Luxembourg line became extinct.( Luxembourg instead of Piast)
Independent Irish territories and Lancastrians in exile.
Not until the war of 3 crowns is over, I guess. And Grenada is now a vassal of Hafsids, an ally of Castile Against Portugal. Perhaps you’ve read how moors participated as pro Castilian mercenaries in previous updates.
Last edited:
The Eagle's last flight
La Grande Aquila e Morta!
13 Shaban 894(20 July 1489)
Somewhere in the Aegean sea
Muhammad opened his eyes. The blurred surroundings did nothing to alleviate his concerns about his whereabouts until the gentle rocking motion reminded him that their voyage was still going on.
Oh, Rhodos! The mighty citadel! How it eluded him and his great army, the same army that triumphed in various places across the wider world, from the Tatar steppes to the deserts in Sham, from the mountains of Eflak to the bountiful lands in Italy.
They started their campaign on a rather well footing. The knights were caught off guard after Maghrebi corsairs devastated the surrounding countryside. The unripe wheat harvests that was supposed to feed the population was almost entirely destroyed, The knights however didn’t sally out to meet the attackers as they preferred to sit in their castle stronghold. Perhaps they knew that this corsair raid was just a prelude of things to come.
The siege began on 4 Jumada Sani 894 ( 13 May 1489) as the Ottomans surrounded the Castle. The Harbor behind the citadel was sealed off with a large chain. For days bombardment went on with unclear results as the structure of the wall prevented projectiles from reaching their targets. Any assault had to wait as Ottoman sappers began to dig in. A sort of an assault was attempted on 20 Jumada Sani as Ottoman troops scaled the walls of the Italian section. They were promptly pushed back however. Meanwhile bad luck struck the poor sappers whose tunnels were blown up due to a sophisticated alarm system of animal membrane tied along some false tunnels created to fool any potential besiegers. As bodies began piling up Muhammad thought he committed a great mistake. There would be no further digging below the earth for a while.
But Allah was quite generous once and gave them a chance. A Rhodian cavalry detachment sallied out from the Spanish wall at night and destroyed many siege engines and artillery pieces. By the time the Muslims gathered to crush them, the cavalry retreated to the safety inside the citadel. Muhammad’s fury knew no bounds as he personally wanted to scale the wall and bring destruction to those infidels. The next morning ottomans attempted another scaling attempt near German wall but were thoroughly repulsed. The amount of dead made Muhammad sick to the stomach and he almost considered withdrawing if it weren’t for Grand vizier Shaheen pasha.
His plan was a clever one. To destroy the effectiveness of membrane sensors, the Ottoman drummers started beating their large war drums with such gusto that the ground shook as if an earthquake. Two tunnels were being dug aiming at Provencal and the Nemej section. While the Nemej walls remained intact as the sappers were unable to dig further, the explosives near the Provence walls were detonated which collapsed a large portion of it. Interestingly, some Ottoman ships began sailing near the Italian sea walls and started artillery volleys. An Ottoman assault force under Shaheen Pasha quickly entered the castle through this gap and began hand to hand fighting with the infidels. But the Grandmaster Pierre and his group of English and Italian knights pushed them back. A group of corsairs attempted to climb the Italian walls from their galleys but in vain.
The battle reached its highest point when Shaheen pasha, taking advantage of the momentary lapse in defense by the Italian knights who were busy defending their own section from Ottoman naval assaults, barged inside the castle once more with approximately 7,000 troops. The fight went on as his Janissaries were able to send 4 high ranking knights to Jahannam at the cost of losing Hussein Pasha of Yanya. But all things came to naught when Shaheen pasha was struck by an artillery volley hand had his right side blown off.
He was quickly brought back to the camp as the infidel knights slowly but surely pushed the Ottomans out of the castle. Seeing his grand vizier die an agonizing death after one night quickly dissolved whatever morale Muhammad had. The troops were losing heart too and Ali Pasha Kastrioti, the new grand vizier advised him to withdraw. But in a breach of Islamic war code, Ottomans burned the remaining vegetation down before they left.
Probably this is why he fell sick soon after boarding the ship. The immense emotional pain brought back memories from siege of Belgrade, one of the few defeats in his otherwise stellar military career. The opium made it hard for him to distinguish day dreams from night dreams but many people appeared in front of him, like apparitions from the realm of souls. Little Hashib, enquiring about his elder sister who had been kidnapped by the vile nights on her way to Hajj, the old and wizened Fahir Ali effendi who required of his sons picked off from near Crete. These were living people who suffered from the infidel knights’ activities in the worst way possible.
There were dead people too. Dead Ottoman troops, particularly Grand vizier Shaheen pasha appeared before him, with all their missing limbs and bloodied attire. They’d look sad and kneel before him as they pleaded for his forgiveness which he couldn’t give. No sound in particular escaped his throat. There were also long dead people, like his father Murad and Iskandar pasha.
‘My Sultan, let’s move on now’ There he was again, the son of Kastrioti. When Muhammad saw him, Iskandar seemed to glowing with energy and a newfound youth.
“Iskandar? Allah bless you. Where should I go?”
Muhammad was startled at the clarity of his own voice. Far from the opium dazed gibbering of the past few days, it sounded like a cacophony of the best musical instruments made of glass.
At his query, Iskandar pasha smiled and the Kaiser felt a rush of peace and contentment spread over his senses, like he could never be at more peace and all his worries were whisked away into nothingness.
Muhammad II Osmanoglu had no worries despite not having the chance to choose an heir. That would be his pashas’ job. For now he had all the time to rest until the apocalypse.
(Kaiser I rum by Tariq Fakhruddin, translated by Wilhelm Jager)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 Dhul Hajj 893 ( 9 December 1488)
Somewhere near Peshwar
Suleiman sipped on the tea which was being prepared on a makeshift bonfire which burned with resilience despite the snowfall. All around him Khurasani troops began folding their tents and bedding. The Dilzak Pashtuns and some of the Gurgtug were with him on this adventure into Kashmir. But even in all this hustle and bustle, the dress worn by his wife Gulhan attracted his attention.
“What are you looking at?” Gulhan asked him, a smirk ever present on her face. Without the need to look, she knew his eyes were on her from the moment she started stirring the tea pot.
“This dress, it belonged to Firouze, right?”
“So? She gifted it to me after her ‘current’ condition progressed. And whose fault is that, again?” Gulhan quipped. Despite sounding like an accusation it was meant as a teasing as her smirk turned into a toothy grin. Suleiman was flustered as the remaining tea at the bottom of his cup became interesting to him all of a sudden.
“Well, now you can grab those Kashmiri Shawls you so craved for. Though I’m not sure whether selling them to our noblewomen is a good idea. Very few women are as easily sated as you, they will quickly gain a taste for other things eventually.” Suleiman spoke as he finished his tea.
“Jazakallah, Muhkam. It means a lot to me coming from someone who said I was an insatiable wench.” Gulhan was on the verge of laughter as she continued with her teasing.
The pale skin on Suleiman’s skin flushed a bright pink as he averted his gaze. Though this time, he decided to be silent.
Interrupting the teenage banter of the old couple in their 50s, a messenger arrived on horseback. He was soon surrounded by inquisitive people before he could even dismount.
“Honorable Muhkam, I bring grave news from Persia! The heretic Mushashiya have taken the city of Nishapur!” the messenger declared in a booming voice that shattered the silence and soon murmurs rang amongst the crowd.
“What of Ahmad? He’s alive isn’t he?” Gulhan quickly asked. At her question the messenger bowed his head and almost whispered:
“Forgive me Khatun, he was martyred. The entire garrison was wiped out.”
“Then what are the Shaybanids doing? They were supposed to aid us for Allah’s sake!” Suleiman was now fuming with anger.
But for Gulhan, all sounds were fading as she tried to comprehend what she just heard. Her stepson, her student in archery and her teacher in gunpowder, Ahmed was dead?
A loud scream brought Gulhan into reality as she quickly looked over to see Firouze collapsed on the ground and writhing in despair. The sobbing pregnant woman was quickly being attended by various women including Gulhan.
“MY SON, MY AHMED! WHY DIDN’T ANY MESSAGE COME REQUESTING REINFORCEMENTS?” Firouze wailed like a banshee.
“My Khatun, the fort was surrounded from all sides and I’m one of the survivors.” The messenger replied as if he was ashamed.
This caused Firouze to give another loud shriek quickly faint afterwards. Gulhan quickly grabbed her with some of other women who gathered. As she was struggling to pull the unconscious woman onto a litter, her hand felt wet.
Gulhan was greeted with the sight of blood as she held it in her face. It was as if the lower garments of Firouze were being dyed with the colour red.
“QUICK! PITCH A TENT AND WHICH ONE OF YOU KNOWS MIDWIFERY?” The woman shouted at the top of her lungs at the gathered females as she felt the pulse of her sister-wife get weaker with each passing moment. When no one replied to her query she gritted her teeth as she contemplated her options. She was on her own in this battle.
Meanwhile, the entire Kashmir expedition was now in jeopardy. Suleiman quickly called a meeting of his subordinates. This time they didn’t bother pitching a tent.
“Shams, you’ll take 3000 troops and see what the Shaybanids are up to. If possible you must accompany your cousin Khurshid whether he’s married or not.”
“Understand, Muhkam. But what of Mu-Sultan Mustafa?” Shams quickly corrected himself. Mustafa was no longer his younger playmate, he was now the Sultan of Khurasan.
“I’ll send a message to him to stay put in Multan until further reinforcements can arrive. We will be stretched thin if Shaybanids betray us and those heretics attack Herat, which I believe they definitely will.” Suleiman replied in a grim voice. His inside was being shattered by a storm of grief which he didn’t dare manifest outside with emotions. Now was the time to act quickly.
“So you will secure Herat?” another Mirza asked and Suleiman nodded.
“Even if all goes well, we have to gather our forces in Kabul before any eastward foray.” Suleiman finished as he looked at the snowcapped tops of the mountains surrounding them. He began distributing responsibilities to different emirs and mirzas who gathered.
It was a dark time indeed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mushashiya tide and the disturbance in Ming empire
The Mushashiya were a considerable force by the end of the 9th century AH. From an obscure Shia ferqa in the southern Iraq, they became the most powerful polity in greater Persia region. Their success was attributed to two things, their usage of gunpowder weapons more excessively then other nearby polities and the skill of their preachers. Indeed, it was the Day’is of this twelver sect which opened the gates of Baghdad and Shiraz to the Muthaqi under Abdullah Bin Haris without much bloodshed. In Rabiul Awwal 893 (March 1488) Mushashiya captured Kerman after two pitched battles. Another secondary force under Abdullah’s son Ahmad Al Ishaq was besieging Nishapur after their capture of Mashhad. The Khurasani emir Ahmad Bin Suleiman led a stiff resistance but as Nishapur was cut off from the rest of the world this valor proved insufficient. The entire garrison was killed as Muthaqi engaged in atrocities against the local Sunni residents after the city was breached on 19 Rajab 893 (7 July 1488). Ahmad perished in the fighting along with others of his retinue.
Image: Siege of Nishapur
Meanwhile the day’is of Mushashiya were spread across regions from Mwerunnahr to even Hind. The ruler of Kashmir, Bahram khan was converted to Shiite sect by the renowned scholar sufi Tarif Al Din shirazi. But not everywhere they received grand ovation. In Samarqand, two such Mushashiya day’is were hanged by sanjakbeg Datu on the instigation by his insafiyya adherent spiritual leader Musa Al Gharni. This would ultimately play a role in worsening relationship between Tatars and the Twelver messianic cult.
After the capture of Nishapur, the Khurasani sultanate plunged into a chaos. They were supposed to attack Kashmir in support of Hayat Khan, the brother of the new shia Bahram Khan. But with the next Muhkam dead, Suleiman had no other choice but to abort this expedition and moved west to secure Herat against further attacks. Another campaign was a raid against the Delhi sultanate which was being led by the 17 year old sultan Mustafa himself. He was told to stay put in Multan until further reinforcements arrive by his father. But Being the Sultan, Mustafa had every authority to deny his advice. Burning with the fervor of a ghildam[1] filled teenager, his 12,000 forces inched forward towards Delhi sultanate. Time was of the essence as news that came both angered and tempted the young man.
Delhi sultanate had only recently emerged from a brief succession crisis after death of Sultan Ismail. Qutub Majid, the vizier of finance supported the well-educated but weak willed daughter of Ismail named Rowshan Ara. But a Delhi noble Ali Shahnewaz, relative of the previous grand vizer Mustakim khan supported Mansur Ad Dawla, the estranged son of Ismail. When the faction of Ali found themselves in dire waters, they called in the rajputs under Udai Singh. Eager to expand north, Udai singh and his army of 50,000 quickly marched towards Delhi. Qutub Majid responded by moving south with Delhi troops. Due to mistrust and the generally hostile political environment of Delhi, Qutub only chose his trusted commanders. Both forces met near the village of Gurgam on 29 Shawwal 893 (14 October 1488). The Delhi forces slightly outnumbered the Rajputs. As the battle began, Delhi elephant forces wreaked havoc on Rajput lines, pushing the infantry and scattering the cavalry. But when Salman Mir, a commander who secretly kept in touch with rajputs prior to the battle retreated and allowed Rajput cavalry to flank the exposed Delhi infantry, the battle swung on the opposite. The Delhi forces were defeated with Qutub Majid being killed.
Image: Udai singh in battle of Gurgam
The Rajputs and their allied faction soon besieged Delhi, a first since the Mongol invasions of 7th century AH. Rowshan Ara escaped to Kangra kingdom with a handful of her trusted companions. Soon Ali Shahnewaz and Udai singh entered Delhi with Mansur becoming the new sultan. Jaisalmeer was now incorporated into the growing Rajput confederacy as Udai Singh put Delhi firmly under his thumb. The rift was clear when sultan Mansur appointed Khijir Ahsan, a pro Rajput noble as grand vizier instead of Ali. He secretly wrote a letter to Khurasan which reached Mustafa as he was preparing to leave Multan. He also received another letter from Rowshan Ara requesting him to rid Delhi of ‘pagan filth’. This played no small part in continuing the Khurasani advancement. But there was the danger of western front being threatened by Mushashiya. Already beset by the messianic ferqa, Shaybanids approached Suleiman with the proposal of a marriage alliance. Khurshid, a brother of the deceased Ahmad was sent to Merv to cement this alliance. Bt his bride to be, Shaybanid princess Dilshad Banu was already in a premarital affair with Suygundar Buga, a mirza. The couple fled Merv in disguise on the night before Dilshad’s marriage. This caused panic in the royal court as nobles and the Khan Mahmud Shaybani scrambled for a solution. This would explain the Shaybanid inactivity during the Mushashiya foray into Khurasan plateu. Finally, Khurshid was married to Bilqis, a niece of Khan Mahmud. But where did they eloped lovers go?
They ended up in Tarim basin, in the city of Ferghana. It was being approached by a seemingly Chinese backed invasion force. They had taken over Turfan khanate a few months ago, without much bloodshed. The already weakened Tarim khanates had no force remaining after the onslaught by Balgan Khan, more so if the leader of this force claimed himself as a Timurid descent with his father Nafeez at the forefront as proof. When this man approached Ferghana, the local garrison sallied out in the morning. To control the situation, he is said to have emerged from the fog on horseback and shouted in Chagtai :“Why are you fighting against me? Wasn’t my mother a respected lady in the court of the Aqbars khan?” at the enemy troops amassed. This man, Alauddin Muhammad (Chinese: Lading Ma) entered Ferghana without any bloodshed too.
Image: Alauddin trying to convince his enemies.
The Shaybanid Suygundar soon joined the ever growing Turko-Persian retinue of Alauddin. He needed a new force as he was skeptical about the loyalty of his Uighur mercenaries and the Ming troops were good as any other occupation force. He was playing a dangerous game with the court in Nanjing, along with his uncle Ha Yui. The duo presented the swift conquest of Tarim Khanates as their success and Alauddin was now the new ruler of this vassal kingdom under the heaven. The flow of tributes started immediately in Rabiul Sani 894 (March 1489) once Alauddin erected his flag in Ferghana which was the de facto capital of this ‘neo Chagtai khanate’. But his ruse would be put to test when Bartuk noyan arrived with 20,000 Tatars from Mwerunnahr to relieve the Kashgar garrison from the ‘Chinese’. Alauddin didn’t stop the Tatars from entering his realm and gave them a warm welcome outside Ferghana. He arranged tents for his soldiers to dwell in and invited Bartuk to live inside his own palace. The Tatar troops would enter and exit the city as they pleased. When the Ming magistrate Zhou Hwen asked about these soldiers, Alauddin convinced him that they were mercenaries brought as a protection from Northern Yuan. He even hosted a party in his palace where he introduced Zhou to Bartuk as an ‘emissary from the Ming’. Of course there were a lot of skipped words and titles involved since Bartuk didn’t know Chinese and Zhou didn’t know Chagtai or Persian, for that matter.
Image: Bartuk noyan in Ferghana
To secure his double game, Alauddin had numerous spies, mostly females stationed as maids in his guests’ abodes. He even altered the letters sent by magistrate Zhou with the help of his wife Junan who had enough knowledge of the Ming royal court to change certain words. This practice wouldn’t go on forever as Zhou soon sent a secret messenger to Ming court along with a copy tucked away in his residence to detect any tempering with his original message. Alauddin’s scheme would have been caught were it not for the sudden death of the Ming emperor Yongong[2] and the ensuing succession crisis. As the emperor had no surviving sons, his cousin Youkang was proclaimed as the Zhuangzhi emperor. Despite not being a part of the power politics, Alauddin couldn’t keep himself from this conflict as his uncle Ha Yui, sensed an opportunity and tried to enthrone Jiao, a teenage boy who was allegedly the surviving son of Yongong after all of his male heirs were killed in their infancy by the dead emperor’s eldest consort Zhaodi out of jealousy. He was brought up amongst the multi ethnic community of Xian and looked up on Alauddin as a father figure due to his marriage with his adoptive mother Junan.
The forces Yui tore through northern China using the reserve forces meant to combat Northern Yuan invasion. They advanced swiftly across the eastern bank of Huang He river and conquered city after city. By Shaban 894 ( July 1489), They were in the vicinity of Nanjing and besieged Suichou to cut off the capital. Ha Yui sent frantic calls for his nephew to join him but Alauddin refused saying Tatars invaded Tarim basin. Ha Yui’s messengers in Tarim also sent back reports about a large Tatar host marching around Ferghana, stating that Alauddin might have been taken prisoner. So he was on his own and fought tooth and nail to accomplish this once in a lifetime opportunity. However, Yui’s dreams of becoming the kingmaker in China was dashed after the Hengchou noble Hu Jiasheng and his daughter Chen Mei broke the ‘Huihui’ besiegers in Suichou and allowed an imperial reinforcement to envelop the usurpers. Ha Yui would die in battle and the new Zhuangzhi emperor was so grateful to Jiasheng that he included Chen Mei as one of his body guards and gave her in marriage to his favorite scholar-bureaucrat Gao Lin, the future minister of revenue. Jiao was able to escape but on his way to west he was captured by the northern Yuan. His story was far from over.
Image: Hu Jiasheng and Chen Mei during the siege of Suichou.
With the rise of Wokou in 895 (1490) through the ‘Great raid’, Chinese merchants began to adapt to the new ‘not so closed down anymore’ market. The imperial countermeasure was simple, to ban the transport of several commodities such as salt and silver to coastal city. The new open economy saw the merchants in Ming empire resort to unique ways to survive this harshly competitive environment. A clique in Yufuzhou saw around this by using boats to ferry around commodities of other merchants. This would in turn be paid in silver by the said merchants who took service from them. The most important part was that the merchants had to pay a portion of their profit to the boat clique in gold to ensure the future usage of this very same service. There were lot of boat traders and servicemen in China but few resorted to the intriguing economic aspect used by the ‘Su clan’. This not only earned them a steady amount of trade volume but also awarded them with a trusted customer base that would continue to grow. The economic power and splendour of Su clan would continue to rise even after the Chinese would defeat the wokou and put an end to the open market later on. That would be a defining moment not only for the Su clan but also in the history of entire China.
Image: Su clan merchants
[1] ITTL word for hormone derived from Arabic
[2] my OC
( From ‘Tarikh Ul Fars Wal Mashreq’ by Ali Adnani)
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Well guys, here is another info dump on east. My 1 year long internship programme starts soon so updates would be sporadic for a long while. If anything, expect more snippets and oneshots.
So Muhammad II is finally dead and Rhodes remains in the hands of the Knights. Gulhan receives some of her punishment in this world( poor Firouze though😓) but what the hell is wrong with Persia? No one seems to be able to hold it for long. Anyway tell me your opinions on my alternate Safavids, the Mushashiya.
Alauddin plays such a game with Golden horde and China and he pulls it off without a hitch, for now. His future depends on more diplomatic acrobatics and how the reinvigorated northern Yuan will react. China is in crisis for a while and we are close to the time when the Wokou jihad finally begins (remember the king and generals type update from a while ago?). How will the merchants survive in this harsh realm full of isolationist monarchies and free loading pirates?
Until next time, keep me in your prayers, Salam.
Last edited:
Both ways. northern Yuan is no for now but trade with Golden horde continued with now defunct Aqbars khanate as intermediary.
Just out of interest, why would the Min do that? OTL they literally banned trade with the steppe completely, which led to the war between the Golden Horde and Timur. You can still understand the variation of events here, but why would the Min continue to trade with the Golden Horde? It's just more logical for them to pay the tribes inside the Northern Yuan or the Golden Horde to weaken both (standard tactic of Chinese fighting nomads).
It's not them but the Hui lords who maintain a sort of trade with the steppe. Where do you think Ha Yui got his power and influence to kill a Nanjing appointed commander? They have been downplaying Imperial orders for a while now.
But again, if you have read back on the collapse of Aqbars khanate and the brief resurgence of Omur Mengu, you’ll notice telltale signs of initial Chinese involvement to weaken the steppe polities. Not that it was much successful as it caused Golden horde to enter Mwerunnahr and vassalize Tarim basin.
Looking good so far. Can't underestimate the workings of private merchants and their goings-on. This is an area of history that ought to be explored more!
If you think Chinese merchants are interesting enough, go back a few pages and see what I've done with Oman😎
Surging Tempest
Last days of Aslan Batyr’s reign
Following a rather successful campaign against Lithuania, Aslan devoted himself to internal affairs concerning the administration and economy. In Rabiul Awwal 1485, he finalized the administrative reforms where he changed the organogram of the state apparatuses, both civil and military. A far cry from the archaic 7th century proto bureaucracy of Berke Khan, the new horde administration was closely modeled after the Ottomans, a state which was instrumental in Aslan’s rise to power. The Military was also reformed with Noyans being stripped of their administrative duties, which was instead granted to a new rank called ‘Mirza noyan’. The Ahansir infantry was abolished along with Negahben renamed to Tufaangdars, though the musket would not be their only weapon. The horde infantry was reduced to half of its original number with Onchin apparatus supplying a large number of Christian kids to be included into the expanding Tufaangdars. A new infantry force named ‘jayawar’ was created and to cope with the financial burden, sanjakbegs were instructed to send their bitimgerler to take up this role. Now the sanjakbegs could recruit an unspecified number of Muslims for their provincial armies. Despite their quantity, this new infantry force would be mostly relegated to logistic duties and would be used as cannon fodders. With the abolishment of Ahansir a large amount of land was preserved from becoming feudal plots. Instead the central government encouraged people from other regions to take up their residency in those places. The foundation for the cities of Tukinbad[1] and Mulaqsarai[2] were laid during this period.
Image: city of Mulaqsarai
The cavalry force underwent very little change except for the introduction of a new camel corps named ‘Tuya Kuch’. As for the administration, the age old post of Beklar beg was abolished in favour of Ottoman style Grand vizier. Qadhis were to be enrolled separately from the civil administration which was overseen by the Khan, the Grand vizier and the new central religious post of Grand mufti. The reforms and post readjustments were only done at the top level with the bottom ranks mostly being the same, run by thousands of Mirzas. But Mirzas who served a qadhi were given distinction in the new administration.
As a new warlord arose in Mongol steppes to the east, a lot of new people began retreating either west or north to escape the conflicts. The Telengits and Tuvans were being oppressed by the Buryats who were one of the beneficiaries of Balgan Khan’s rise to power. Though Aslan Khan wanted to send an army east once more, the assassination of Telebugha in 892 (1487), the puppet khan of Moghulistan instilled by Balgan doused some water over the excitement of the war hawks in Sarai. Despite the deeming the conflict in the east as not being a concern, the Khan wouldn’t be able to escape its consequences. And the problem would manifest in the far flung region of Sibir where the newly arrived Telngits and Tuvans would clash with the small Uighur upper class and their Selkup peasants. In the small town of Abqansehr[3], a clash erupted between the refugees and the local residents which forced the sanjakbeg Yangisar to send Nayzagay troops, a special type of bitimgerler militia. This was under the leadership of a Bashkir named Firouz Uzan. His opponents were not just the Tuvan and Telengit refugees but also a Uighur Mirza named Qandar Buga. He undermined the efforts of Firouz and appeared as a sort of guardian to the refugees. Qandar went so far as to write letters to Shaykh Musa Al Gharni, pleading him to establish ‘insaf’ in regards to the helpless refugees. Finally he proposed a peaceful solution to the sanjakbeg where the new arrivals would populate the west bank of Baikal Lake. But in reality his intention was to create a powerbase of his own away from central authority of both the sanjakbeg and the Khan. So Tuvans and Telengits migrated eastwards before settling in the plateau with the Torghut Oirats already present there.
Image: Migration of Tuvans and Telengits to Baikal plateau
This prompted the Khan to formulate a legislature for settlers in Sibir with the help of Bektamir, the deputy of grand vizier Ayaz. The new laws required that each settlement out of the original border of Sibir had to have a darugachi and a qadhi at least. However to prevent a darugachi from becoming king in all but name, a failsafe mechanism of personal attendance in Sarai during Hajj period was devised. Regardless of his own travelling to Makkah for piligrimage, the darugachi had to accompany whichever person from his realm wanted to take the trip. It was more of an administrative maneuver than a religious binding as no incumbent Khan of the golden horde ever took a journey to Hejaz. But his heir apparent, Prince Ildar Hakimedin was rather interested in journeying not just to Hejaz but to Ottoman Empire as a whole. He proposed a rather radical theory of connecting the Ital and Tunais rivers [4] through construction of a canal that will ease dependence upon the Persian route and would allow for saving time of pilgrims from Mwerunnahr. Though it was a pipe dream, the rise of hostile Mushashiya order was of a concern to all Sunni ulema of Central Asia as individual reports of forced conversions began to emerge. But there had been no official policy of the Shia state to persecute Sunnis as of then. The volatile political situation in Persia persisting since Shahrukh’s demise sealed the end of this portion of silk route. So now, only the northern steppe route remained viable. That is not to say that newer routes from south didn’t emerge. Since the recent Kafkas expansion of Golden horde, a shorter route from Anatolia to Golden horde through Georgia was slowly expanding. With Azerbaijan in the Georgian fold, there was chance of a revival of at least part of the Persian route. But all would depend upon the goodwill of Ottomans.
Image; Trade caravans in Kafkas
Aslan’s final accomplishment was achieving a sort of status quo with the Ottomans in Moldavia. Following a brief ottoman incursion which was defeated by the upstart Rodan Pastori, the two great powers decided to preserve the principality as a buffer in the treaty of Keffe signed on Rabiul Awwal 893 ( March 1488). This was a political victory for Golden horde as they ensured that Ottomans wouldn’t meddle in the Carpathians for quite some time. The storied leader would die a month later on 20 Rabiul Sani 893 (11 April 1488). His legacy saw golden horde reaching new heights in terms of territory, culture and influence since the golden age of Batu and Berke.
(From ‘Empire of the steppes’ by Mahmud Sakafi)
[1] OTL Novoshaktinsk
[2]OTL Volgodonsk
[3] OTL Barnaul
[4] Don-Volga rivers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barawee war and the Somali taifas of Hind ocean
The geopolitical scenario of the Hind Ocean was rapidly changing by the end of 9th century AH. The Omani Arbay’a were finally able to push the forces of Imam Qasim Bin Suhail out of Akhdar mountains. The Omani also captured the Nahbani puppet sultan Umar Bin Muhammad through assistance from the Bani Yas. He was brought into the capital Bahla and was publicly beheaded, ending the rule of Nahbani dynasty. Now the Ibadi people of the interior gathered under the leadership of Imam Qasim and continued their struggle. By now Omani emirs mostly relied upon other Arab tribes like the Rashidis or Bani Yas to counter the ‘Khawariji insolence’. The Qasimi imamate of central Oman sought to expand in other directions so they captured Dhofar region from the Kathirids of Yemen in Rabiul Sani 896 (February 1491). The esteemed Imam would die in 898 (1493) from his battle wounds following a clash with Bani Yas tribe. The Bani Yas would subjugate most other tribes in the area and create the ‘Hadarmaut confederation’ under Emir Abu Laith. They assaulted the weakened Jarwanid emirate[1] in 900(1495), prompting the Shia ruler Muqis Bin Salman to flee for Persia. This would create a huge effect in Persian history but that is another story. Emir Abu Laith is credited with the foundation of large kingdoms in the peninsula.
Image: Emir Abu Laith of Bani Yas
In the Swahili coast, the political situation was going from bad to worse as Somali corsairs preyed upon Omani ships. They quickly dispersed amongst allied Somali and Swahili sailors thus making their hunting difficult. To combat this, Omani emirates began to issue a special document for their allied corsairs called ‘khalas’(clearance). Any ship without Khalas documents veering too close to any Omani ship or settlement was to be apprehended. This measure reduced the attack only somewhat as people still needed to get on board any ship to either show or check the perceived documents. Omani complaints to Adal sultanate were ignored by the latter as they rejected any liability for renegade Somalis who were not a part of their navy. But Oman wasn’t totally wrong in this regard as some sections of the Adal navy engaged in what they called ‘oceanic mercenary’ activities. Oman again tried solving the problem to some extent by building bases on the islands of Juzal Dubur [2] and A’beer [3]. Some other ingenuous methods taken by the mercantile state was the introduction of ‘nitaq’(zones) which determined at what distance from the port can any independent merchant vessels request for escort. Fireworks were proposed as a signal for ships attacked at night. This measure pushed the Somali corsairs from their usual establishment and venture further east. But the problems for Oman were only beginning.
In Rabiul Awwal 895 (February 1490), the township of Barawee was in a succession crisis as the local Ashraf clan leader Ahmad Qais died without an heir. The city became a center point for an already intense inter-clan rivalry that was taking place in the nearby Adal Sultanate. Two sub clans of the Hawiye clan, Abgaal and Habar Gidir came to blows on determining the next emir. The Abgaal candidate Hassan Muhammad called upon his kinsmen who were a part of the nascent Adal navy. In Rabiul Sani 895 (March 1490), the Somali corsairs arrived in Barawee and helped install Hassan. But his rival alerted the nearby Omani flotilla about them. Suspecting the strangers as pirates, port was blockaded and the Adalites were forced to surrender. When their true identity was discovered, Oman declared war against Adal for breach of ‘impersonation and raiding’. The Adal sultanate responded by invading the Qorbuj emirate and finally annexing it in Jumada Sani 895 (April 1490). The navies of the two states met near Ras Haafun on Rajab 895 (June 1490). The Adal navy used bronze cannons mounted on their dhows for the first time. Despite being outnumbered 2 to1 in terms of ships, the Adal sultanate was able deal a decisive blow to the Omani vessels with the strategic use of the sand pit. But in the end, The Adal navy was forced to retreat due to running out of gunpowder.
Image: bronze cannon mounted on an Adal ship.
Though the war ended in a stalemate, this ignited a tendency amongst Adal sultanate to oppose Oman wherever it could. Though an intervention in the Maldweep succession crisis in 897 (1492) would fail, the Adal soon found a lucrative target to disrupt the Omani trade.
In island of Lanka, the Kingdom of Kotte under Algakkonara dynasty[4] was an ally of Oman. But the expanding Jaffna kingdom to the north sought to curb their power. The incumbent Kotte monarch was Kumara Parakrambahu who was getting rather weak due to court intrigues. The king of Jaffna Ranaatunga Cinkinarayan employed Janjira Siddis in his invasion of Kotte. The janjira Siddis were further complemented by a cavalry of 500 from Adal with a dozen dhows. The Kotte-Jaffna war of 897(1492) ended in Jaffna victory where the Somalis played a crucial role. This weakened the largest Lankan kingdom and changed the geopolitics of the island for the next few centuries. But Adal wasn’t sated with just the booty. They established a garrison port called Tel Ammar[5] in Mannar Island. From there the Janjira corsairs and their Adal allies would assault various cities of Vijaynagar Empire. This would explain the naval inclination of the Vijaynagara kingdom during the reign of Deva Raya II. They also raided the Gajapati kingdom and since this state lacked the naval expertise of Vijaynagara, they became the hot favourites for plunder. In 899 (1494), a large army of Siddis invaded and sacked the city of Puri, looting and destroying precious religious artifacts including the age old Jagannath temple. This temple had been attacked numerous times due to its close proximity to the Hind Ocean and the relatively lax security. Jagannath temple was sacked 3 times in the year 901 (1496) alone.
Image: Somali corsairs sack Puri
There had been 12 recorded raids by the Siddis which ravaged the coastal establishments of Gajapati. In the words of Portuguese explorer Dom Manuel, he attributed the desolation of coastline settlements to the Siddi raids.
‘The coastline from Vezog(Vishakapatnam) to Menadi(Mahanadi) river were mostly devoid of any central authority. Fishing villages dotted everywhere, the rest of it gone to wild animals. The great city of Porin(Puri) lays in ruins as a few hundred people go about their daily business. The Pagans have relocated their idols to an inland temple where the Adalites couldn’t reach.’
Further east, the Bengal sultanate was making considerable gains as it launched a third invasion of Nepal. The two kingdoms period of Malla dynasty were an opportunity which would not be given up by sultan Shamsuddin Mahmud Shah. The Invasion began in Jumada Awwal 896 (April 1491) as the sultan concluded an alliance with the king Pratap Malla of Khowpa against his cousin Bira Malla of Kathmandu. The Bengal sultanate army showed exceptional prowess in traversing the hostile snowy mountains before their clash with the Hardened Mall troops in the battle of Banepa. The usage of artillery triggered several avalanches which dealt losses to both sides. The Bengal sultanate was able to achieve a pyrrhic victory which resulted in the reunified Malla kingdom under Pratap to be therei vassal. But the Gorkha troops, most of whom were supporters of Bira Malla continued their fight and would eventually carve out their own domain under the Annapurna dynasty further west. This was the last Bengal invasion of Nepal and proved that Bengal was still a regional power to be reckoned with. Despite precautions, the return to Pandua was marked with the onset of an early winter in which a few hundred soldiers died and the Sultan fell ill due to repeated use of cold water for ablution before prayer.
Image: Bengal sultanate cavalry in the mountains of Nepal.
Sultan Shamsuddin would die on 30 Muharram 892 (27 December 1491). Without any surviving sons, this would mark the end of the Ganesha dynasty as nobles elected his son in law, the Uzbek Jamshid as the next sultan of Bengal. Jamshid would take on the name of ‘Izzaddin Bahram Shah’ upon his ascvension to the throne.
In the Strait of Malacca, situation was getting interesting as the rise of Pedi sultanate in the island of Sumadra challenged the hegemony held by Malacca sultanate. Things were generally peaceful as Pedi sultanate didn’t interrupt flow of traffic through the straits. What they did however was to put pressure on the spice trade by managing to coerce the merchants to pay more taxes. Already having to pay taxes to Malacca, this would put further burden on the spice merchants and affect the trade negatively. The Omani taifas were soon embroiled in a heated discussion over the course of action against Pedi sultanate. The location meant if war happened the flow of nutmeg and mace would all but stop. Finally a solution was reached which included the incorporation of pedi sultanate in the Omani Khasab system. In return the Pedi sultanate lowered the imposed taxes. But this would be met with blatant opposition from Malacca, the longtime ally of Oman in the region. They demanded more portions of the Khasab than the usual portion allotted to them. But this wouldn’t be possible. So to provide a distraction, Omani emirs settled on a plan of conquest. Their target was the Maluku islands. They managed to convince Malacca that unidirectional flow of spice would increase profit and would negate the Khasab deficit. The new sultan Muzaffar shah II finally ordered an expedition to Maluku islands in Rajab 898 (April 1493). Malacca was not alone in this expedition as Palembang and a few Somali mercenaries also participated. This expedition, named ‘Belaya ke timor’( Sail to the east) in the Malay chronicles of ‘Hikayat jung’ was the first occasion when Malays used a proper ocean going vessel named ‘Ghurab’. There were about 4 ghurabs in this fleet and the largest of them was named Adiputeri, after Muhammad Shah II’s younger sister.
Image: Malaccan Ghurab near Maluku.
The expedition would run into several problems such as becoming embroiled in a regional conflict between two states of Gowa and Tallo. The Malacca fleet assisted the kingdom of Tallo in beating back a Gowa incursion in exchange for recognizing Malacca overlordship and establishment of an Omani outpost. This was important for Omani operations in the Jawa sea as recently their allies were evicted from Jawa Island by the resurgent Hindu Majapahit kingdom after the fall of Banten. However this outpost too would be threatened by Luwu kingdom a decade later. Onto the story of expedition, the fleet finally reached Maluku islands in Rajab 898 ( May 1493). After intense negotiations, Tidore and Jalilo sultanate opted out of the trade monopoly proposal brought by Malaccan officials. This would result in a standoff between the quartet sultanates of Maluku with Ternate and Caban on the Omani side. The nearby power Brueni was quick to act on this recent expedition and hired the infamous wokou pirates as mercenaries. There was no allusion to the fact that this was a display by Oman and Malacca against their regional rival Brunei which was on the verge of conquering the entire Kelamantan Island [6].
But this was a bad time to sow distrust and chaos in a diverse trade network over petty profiteering. As worrying reports from Sofala about strange ships and men emerge, things would take a turn for the worst for the native powers of Hind ocean.
[1] they survived ITTL, no Jabrid usurpation
[2] Seychelles, ‘islands of the butt’ in Arabic due to presence of double seed coconuts that look like cleft of female bum
[3] Comoros, known as ‘perfume island’
[4] If you guys remember, Ming treasure fleet ITTL accepted Algakkonara rule instead of OTL Zheng He capturing the king.
[5] OTL Talaimanar
[6] Borneo
(From ‘Masala wars’ by Pinaki Bhattacharja)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Shawwal 1489(16 September, 1489)
Somewhere near Ambal
The dark mist, engulfing his vision, Jalaluddin ran to save himself from sure demise. But no matter where he went, the dark mist followed like a predator smelling a weakened prey. His lungs burned but dared not look behind until he heard footsteps. As if drawn by some unnatural force, Jalaluddin looked back and saw a foreboding sight. From the inky mist, a pair of red glowing eyes watched him. Soon a figure materialized as the owner of those glowing orbs strode forward, a white wolf. Jalaluddin was glued to his place despite his mind screaming at him to run. The wolf continued forward in leisure, as if sure of its precision abilities if Jalaluddin tried to flee. As the beast neared, Jalauddin winced and his breath was caught in his throat as he saw the dagger like teeth. The wolf was snarling as the ink black mist continued to flow around it. There was no escape~
The sound of women shouting roused Jalaluddin Shiku Yusufzai from his nightmare infused sleep. He groaned as the rays of sun penetrated his makeshift shelter. He got up quickly but saw no sign of haste in the camp, so the shouting match was not caused by any trouble. But irritation seeped in his mind when he recognized to whom the voices belonged to.
“You dare drink from the same glass as a rajput, you damned bandit wench [1]!” yelled Naharbanu aka Vandana.
“My father is a Muslim unlike yours so shut the trap, princess. You are just jealous because you won’t be able to sleep with emir for a while because of that.” The other woman, Zohra begum pointed at the growing bulge in Naharbanu’s abdomen.
“WHY YOU INGRATE! I’M GONNA-“ both of them stopped as they saw Jalaluddin stepping forward.
“We are running from the Sultan and that damned Rajput king and you guys are bickering over your nonsense pride! ENOUGH OF THIS QUARRELING, BOTH OF YOU!”Jalaulddin shouted.
Naharbanu plopped down on the floor sobbing. Perhaps pregnancy was messing with her mind. Jalaluddin gazed sympathetically at her as he approached her. This stirred up jealousy inside Zohra even though she was the one that regularly warmed the Yusufzai Pashtun’s bed in recent times.
“So she starts the fight and she gets the slack, just because she’s pregnant? I’m out of here!” Zohra stormed out of the area. Jalaluddin sighed as he helped Naharbanu stand up.
“Do you realize how stupid it is to argue over a water vessel when you both are married to me?” Jalaluddin softly spoke as he neared her face. The Rajput woman said nothing.
Jalaluddin left Naharbanu at the care of a servant girl as he walked towards the front of the caravan. Their group of 200 which included Ali Shahnewaz was fleeing towards Kangra kingdom where the exiled princess Rowshan Ara was staying. Their goal was to buy time and gather enough sympathetic nobles and allies in a bid to retake Delhi from the Rajput puppet Mansur. But with the passage of time and the backing away of many of their allies, Shiku was looking forward to his permanent stay in the northern kingdom. At least he’ll see some snowfall. It had been many years since the soft white downpour graced his skin. Since those vile Nogais chased him from Multan.
“About time you have come, Jalaluddin. We have already sent a scouting force ahead of us. Let’s hope they bring something good. This trip is becoming more dangerous. Do you know that there have been reports of a large army on the other bank of Sutlej?” it was Ali Shahnewaz.
“Let’s hope they are not a hostile force.” Jalaluddin replied as he sat down on the carpet.
“With you here, I wouldn’t be worried.” Shahnewaz replied in a smooth tone.
Jalaludin stopped himself from chuckling. Time to plunder this man’s good night sleep.
“My Emir, according to the contract my service ended last week. I’m only accompanying you to Kangra because I’ll be looking for a new job up north.” The Yusufzai replied with a grin. He was certainly enjoying the look of horror on Ali’s face.
“What in the name of Mawla Ali are you talking about?” the older nobleman sputtered. Before Jalaluddin could answer, they heard commotion outside. Both of them exited their tent to see what the matter was. The next scene dried up Jalaluddin’s throat.
A group of more than 40 horsemen were trotting through their makeshift campsite, at their forefront rode a boy barely out of his teens as he conversed with what he presumed were two scouts sent earlier. The boy looked so sure of himself that he was sitting on the horse with arms crossed, not bothering with the bridles. But what stood out most was the two flags fluttering. One was black with a white octagram star. The other was the flag which still haunted him to this day, the black Gurgtug banner with a red eyed white wolf’s head.
He was so engrossed in trying to interpret the Gurgtug’s visit that he scarcely noticed the boy had dismounted and looked between both of them with narrowed eyes.
“You are Emir Ali Shahnewaz?” his voice though gruff still carried some semblance of his bygone childhood. It was like when a child tried to imitate adults.
“I am, who are you and what’s your business?”
“I am sultan Mustafa Bin Khaydar, descent of Jochi Khan. You wrote to the Muhkam of Khurasan, my father for reinforcements.” The boy replied.
“So how many-“Ali was cut off as the boy named Mustafa now looked at Jalaluddin.
“And you must be…”
“I’m Jalaluddin Shiku, of the Yusufzai.”
“Ah yes, I remember Rowshan describing your exploits. My father also described the tough fight you guys gave us in Multan. Though those days are now behind us. I’m looking for a fresh start.”
“We are heading towards Kangra now-“Ali was again cut off by the young sultan. How this boy didn’t piss off his subordinates was becoming a wonder to Shiku.
“There would be a change in plans. Rowshan is coming to Karnal where we’ll meet her retinue. If not for her I would have been at the gates of Delhi before Ramadan.”
“So we’ll go south?” Ali Shahnewaz inquired as a smile was plastered on Mustafa’s face.
“You, Ali Shahnewaz would go to Multan, along with all the women and children. This man and his followers should be enough as my guides for Delhi.” The young sultan’s voice became gruffer at the attempt of sounding more intimidating.
“WHAT THE- YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” shouted Ali as two of Mustafa’s guards appeared beside him. He was quickly restrained and forced to kneel on the ground as the young sultan approached him with leisurely steps.
“Remember, the throne of Delhi is under the thumb of Rajputs because of your greed and decadence, filthy rawafidha!” Mustafa spat out the last word. With that he walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Shiku and a fuming Shahnewaz
As the camp exploded into a flurry of activity, Jalaluddin felt a tug at his hand. He smiled when he saw the perpetrator. It was his son, Daud. He was lifted him up and hugged him. But the short and sweet moment between father and son would be interrupted by a stern female voice.
“Daud!” Zohra called out. Jalaluddin sighed and put the boy down on the ground. But as soon as Daud’s feet touched the ground, he was yanked away onto Zohra’s lap. At first Jalaluddin frowned but then he remembered the earlier incident. He sighed, women were such emotional creatures. Zohra was still holding out on him for the incident this morning.
“Zohra!” Jalaluddin called out as she was mounting a horse. She looked back with a steeled gaze at him, Daud still clutched on her lap.
“Please take care of him.” At this solemn request Zohra’s gaze softened a bit and she nodded. But that was all he could see for now as she lashed out her whip at the horse, prompting the animal to gallop away, their silhouette becoming smaller until being blocked by other riders of the caravan. It was as if she was hurrying to deny him the spectacle of his son.
He sighed once again but hearing footsteps behind he glanced seeing a Tatar man walking towards him.
“As salamu aleikum. Jalaluddin of Yusufzai? I’m Arghun.” The man extended his hand
“walikum Salam, that’s me alright.” Jalaluddin replied as he completed the handshake.
If he couldn’t defeat the wolves, why not join them?
[1] Zohra is from Koli clan who had the ill reputation of being marauders and bandits.
********************************************************************
So here is another update.
Golden horde is expanding into Siberia, the Somali Omani conflict reaches its zenith and a trade monopoly attempt doesn’t go well for Malacca. And Moghuls/ Nogais/Tatars are attempting a shot at Delhi throne as Shiku reconciles with his former enemies. Will Mustafa be able to emulate Babur of OTL with a larger base of manpower ?
Thoughts and comments?
Last edited:
Interesting. So, this may be a stupid question (forgive my lack of knowledge of this part of the world's history), but do Cossacks exist yet? Who is populating Southern Russia (modern day Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais, etc)? Do the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Taganrog, Sochi, Gelendzhik, etc, exist yet?
Have you read the info dump on Europe? One before the Europe mapdate? You can find info about ruthenia and Qozaks over there.
Southern Russia is now sparsely populated compared to nearby regions but as GH expands into Kafkas /caucasus we can assume that it's gonna change. Rostov on Don is one of the newer cities. Sochi and Tagnarog don't exist as of yet.
Last edited:
This is honestly one of the best updates I've been looking forward to so far tbh
Can't wait to see the map for the greater world map or atleast the Asia/Africa part of it (I can imagine it's going to be a hassle
So where do we start
Firstly
The development the golden horde has made so far is honestly amazing
You can almost feel the change the state has steadily moved from simple imperial nomadic structure to a persianized islamic governing body with a better established bureaucracy to enable long term administration of a steadily growing empire
I really love getting into the nitty gritty parts of the governance positions and all the administration and how it's broken down, the part about the steady settlement across the upper regions of the uninhabited parts of Siberia is absolutely perfect since nomadic settlement is the norm in this region and it took the Europeans far longer with much more blood to settle this part of the world
The tatars could honestly do it with far less hassle as large tribal migrations could simply be used to settle further outposts with central administration simply sending more government workers to help the settlers assimilate into the states eco-system of taxes and trade while steady spreading the faith through Islamic legal jurisprudence and traveling Shuyukh who give dawah to the pagan people's
The point about the army and the reworking of the state weaponry to overhaul certain systems of use to better compete with existing powers like the ottomans is a good way of keeping the Golden horde militarily and technological ahead of many states
As the ottomans were milestone for future gunpowder empires
Secondly
Love how you mentioned the dhow and use of Bronse Cannons in sea warfare
I'll be honest i get quite excited when it comes to indian ocean sea battles during this period
Somali Omani cold war is going to be absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see more of it
So far somali have managed to steadily built quite alot of influence in east Africa as it is their backyard
Privateer and corsair cold war against the Omani might lead go technological development and proliferation between the two sea powers
Already the Somali traders must've already built trading outposts in Madagascar (that already existed otl) and in sofala
Loved the part about the battles in Sri Lanka and the raids across India
I've honestly thought about he siddi slowly turning into the viking to india
equivalent
With many siddi Somali/Omani privateers carving out large parts of coastal southern india for both these respective powers
Moving to the bengal sultanate
We could see them manage to stay in power long enough to see the next century but I have the nagging feeling that whatever is happening in Delhi soon might change all over it
Mallaca seems very shaky tbh
They've been quite reliant on the Omani for tribe for a while and though that relationship could change depending on the future
For now the steadily rising Brunei could threaten stability for the sultan in the Malay region
Lastly the greatest threat to possibly cross the cape has finally reared its head
It seems the Europeans have arrived
I now I've long thought seeing what the protugese had been able to do OTL that they possibly could steal roll everyone and simply take over
But not only is that not even possible with both Somali Omani states alone vying for Power and trade
But combine them both while forming naval coalitions across the indian ocean with fellow Muslim states and you've got a nightmare sea for the portugese to conquer all on there own
Especially when you take into consideration the ottomans
For now I see the protugese simply stumbling there way through like sea mongols before they adjust there Postion in the food chain
A couple battles in the western Indian Ocean somewhere in kilwa
Either they attack Omani forces unknowingly and later drag the somali in or vice versa
Either way alone I expect the protugese to have overall better shipping skills due to European proficiency with crazy waves in there archipelago
However alot of the major factors become sidelined due to similar or if not at times superior technology of some ships among thr muslims in this timeline to even the odds of naval combat and the obvious advantage of muslims fighting in waters they are familiar with while the enemy is not
This should easily even the ground against the deadly protugese who could try to initiate hit and run tactics
I expect the Portuguese to lick there wounds after a humiliating loss while skulking back to the cape and maybe establishing a stronger presence in western South Africa for fear of more muslim probing attacks for regions beyond the cape
Can't wait to see the map for the greater world map or atleast the Asia/Africa part of it (I can imagine it's going to be a hassle
So where do we start
Firstly
The development the golden horde has made so far is honestly amazing
You can almost feel the change the state has steadily moved from simple imperial nomadic structure to a persianized islamic governing body with a better established bureaucracy to enable long term administration of a steadily growing empire
I really love getting into the nitty gritty parts of the governance positions and all the administration and how it's broken down, the part about the steady settlement across the upper regions of the uninhabited parts of Siberia is absolutely perfect since nomadic settlement is the norm in this region and it took the Europeans far longer with much more blood to settle this part of the world
The tatars could honestly do it with far less hassle as large tribal migrations could simply be used to settle further outposts with central administration simply sending more government workers to help the settlers assimilate into the states eco-system of taxes and trade while steady spreading the faith through Islamic legal jurisprudence and traveling Shuyukh who give dawah to the pagan people's
The point about the army and the reworking of the state weaponry to overhaul certain systems of use to better compete with existing powers like the ottomans is a good way of keeping the Golden horde militarily and technological ahead of many states
As the ottomans were milestone for future gunpowder empires
Secondly
Love how you mentioned the dhow and use of Bronse Cannons in sea warfare
I'll be honest i get quite excited when it comes to indian ocean sea battles during this period
Somali Omani cold war is going to be absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see more of it
So far somali have managed to steadily built quite alot of influence in east Africa as it is their backyard
Privateer and corsair cold war against the Omani might lead go technological development and proliferation between the two sea powers
Already the Somali traders must've already built trading outposts in Madagascar (that already existed otl) and in sofala
Loved the part about the battles in Sri Lanka and the raids across India
I've honestly thought about he siddi slowly turning into the viking to india
equivalent
With many siddi Somali/Omani privateers carving out large parts of coastal southern india for both these respective powers
Moving to the bengal sultanate
We could see them manage to stay in power long enough to see the next century but I have the nagging feeling that whatever is happening in Delhi soon might change all over it
Mallaca seems very shaky tbh
They've been quite reliant on the Omani for tribe for a while and though that relationship could change depending on the future
For now the steadily rising Brunei could threaten stability for the sultan in the Malay region
Lastly the greatest threat to possibly cross the cape has finally reared its head
It seems the Europeans have arrived
I now I've long thought seeing what the protugese had been able to do OTL that they possibly could steal roll everyone and simply take over
But not only is that not even possible with both Somali Omani states alone vying for Power and trade
But combine them both while forming naval coalitions across the indian ocean with fellow Muslim states and you've got a nightmare sea for the portugese to conquer all on there own
Especially when you take into consideration the ottomans
For now I see the protugese simply stumbling there way through like sea mongols before they adjust there Postion in the food chain
A couple battles in the western Indian Ocean somewhere in kilwa
Either they attack Omani forces unknowingly and later drag the somali in or vice versa
Either way alone I expect the protugese to have overall better shipping skills due to European proficiency with crazy waves in there archipelago
However alot of the major factors become sidelined due to similar or if not at times superior technology of some ships among thr muslims in this timeline to even the odds of naval combat and the obvious advantage of muslims fighting in waters they are familiar with while the enemy is not
This should easily even the ground against the deadly protugese who could try to initiate hit and run tactics
I expect the Portuguese to lick there wounds after a humiliating loss while skulking back to the cape and maybe establishing a stronger presence in western South Africa for fear of more muslim probing attacks for regions beyond the cape
yes, have you seen the map of Europe btw?
Persian people and language has been a part of Golden horde administration since the days of Makmut. We can draw parallel between Persian and French as being the language of prestige in their respective realms.
Well until centralisation of late 17th century expect multiple States to pop up between Baikal and Kamchatka. And the impetus for further horde expansion east would be a new competitor in the Mongol steppes, can you guess who?
Well it was bound to happen since Aslan was raised in Ottoman empire and his mother was the Ottoman princess Iladi. The brief Ottoman Tatar wars which resulted in Aslan getting the throne sealed the Ottoman supremacy in the minds of the Khan who would leave no stones unturned to emulate them.
Well it is not cold anymore but hot. And yes, a lot of Somali are in Swahili coast but they are mostly loyal to Oman. One must distinguish between Somali and Adal here. And i hoped the clan conflict over a city state spiralling into a war between the regional powers was worth it. Both empires are multi ethnic.
What's your take on the arab Confederation in Nejd?
There is, the Seychelles and Comoros island bases of Oman are run by Somalis.
Yep, and things in south are gonna be messy for a while. How would the local powers like Vijaynagara react to this will set the future of these conquests. But I have some ideas regarding it. And Somali corsairs being Viking analogue for india is😋.
Yes but It'll be a while until the dust settles down in Delhi. Despite having a far larger power base than OTL Mughals things will still be difficult with Mushahiya in the west. our young Sultan Mustafa is actually defying the warning of his albino father about marching straight onto Delhi. For now Bengal is secured as the Paramount power in Eastern indian floodplains.
If you remember the wokou kings and generals update there will be prominent figures serving the Brunei against the Omani Malay axis in Nusantara. And with a southern focused Ayutthaya for now, things indeed look bleak for Malaya.
Yes, also remember that the war of 3 crowns is still raging on and it doesn’t look like Portugal may win. However I'm skeptical about Oman and Adal suddenly forgetting their differences to fight the Europeans. Even if they do, It'll be a rather shaky alliance with conflicting interests. So in any battle the pendulum will swing to the portuguese.
Another thing is losing many territories initially to understand the gravity of this new threat. This is not a power that wants its stake in the trade route. This power wants to disrupt the trade and build their own trade routes. And by the time they band together Portugal would already have large parts of Hind ocean. trade route
unless they cajole and threaten Oman and Adal to sit together against their common enemy the alliance will be late.That Won't happen anytime soon. Because Ottomans will be rather busy in 1490s. Why? Check the update before Europe mapdate.
That's what is gonna happen initially. East coast Africa will be good as gone. But probably Portugal will not be able to conquer much in western ghats because continental affairs would force them to withdraw.
Yes, that is why Portugal will be a bit nerfed in Hind ocean ITTL but I think reading about the initial blitzkrieg will leave you and some other readers frustrated 😁. You should also remember that Somali intra and inter clan rivalry would also insinuate Portuguese dominance in the conflicts.
I can also see a lot of Somali going to western ghats and far east of the Hind ocean if Portugal steamrolls over Swahili coast. The Portuguese will still want to join with Axumite prester 'Yohan'. So India will likely be a latter priority.