Ottoman response to the crusade
Just before the Crusaders entered Balkans, the Ottoman civil war was on its last leg as Musa gained more and more power in Eastern Anatolia. The testament to his efficiency would be visible in its full glory when he would fight against the Mushashiya ferqa, another rising power in Persia.
As the Safaviyya uprising failed, many Sunni Turkmen fled Persia and settled in Anatolia. Among them was the Mawsulli tribe. Since it was the Domain of Timurid Jahanbeg, himself an Ottoman vassal, the Mushashiya imam Abdullah opted for diplomacy. But this window would soon close with his sudden death. After that, his eldest son Ahmad Bin Abdullah proclaimed himself as Imam. Abdullah was much more aggressive than his father. To punish the rebels, he sent a 10,000 strong army mostly comprised of shia predominant Afshar turks. These nomads had a previous beef with the Mawsulli tribe and now they raced to the Taurus range. They assaulted some isolated caravans of the aforementioned refugees before dividing into smaller groups for raiding. Fazli Ahmed bey defended against this incursion with only 4,000 troops. He was able to defeat two smaller Mushashiya contingents while foiling their raids. Finally his forces were cornered by the numerically superior Afshars in Otlukbeli. Fazli Ahmed didn’t panic and instead built a wagon fortress where he placed his musketmen. In a three day battle which began on 30 Jumada Awwal 896 (10 April 1491), the gunpowder forces of the Ottomans staunchly held the lines against the Horsemen of Mushashiya, foiling numerous attempts at breakthrough. On the final day, reinforcements arrived as 2,000 cavalry troops almost enveloped the tired Afsharid turkemn. The battle was a clear victory and more importantly, won with little cost.
Image: Battle of Otlukbeli
Just after two months, Shehzade Musa was facing against his twin brother Mahmud in the battle of Kayseri. Both sides had roughly 12,000 troops. Due to his access to the capital Konstantiniyye, Mahmud was sporting more cannons than Musa. The battle began with cavalry charge as Musa’s more numerous cavalry was able to outflank Mahmud’s horsemen. The plains of Cappadocia were an ideal ground for cavalry maneuvers. But this was short lived as Mahmud’s gunpowder forces stopped Musa’s cavalry from attacking the more exposed left wing. Now Mahmud’s infantry surged forward and clashed with the enemy. But this time they were thrown off by zamburak, camel gunners employed by Musa which was a first in Ottoman history. Now one wing of Musa’s cavalry enveloped Mahmud’s infantry while his musketmen were overrun by another wing. Mahmud tried to escape but was captured in Aksehir and handed over to the victorious Musa who began a forced march to Konstantiniyye. Most of Mahmud’s janissary loyalists were either killed or fled after the battle but Musa took no chances after proclaiming himself as Sultan. He obtained permission from the Abbasid caliph Usman on executing his brother Mahmud for ‘rebellion’ and also ordered the killing of janissaries loyal to the previous sultan. The second decision almost caused a widespread revolt but intelligence officials were quickly able to apprehend the conspirators. In the end Musa relented and was able put lid on dissent through distribution of culus salary to the janissaries. Mahmud’s family escaped to Cyprus on a Venetian ship.
With the devastating civil war and the expenditure on janissaries, the ottoman treasury was strained to its limit. To mitigate this problem, Sultan Musa increased ‘temporary’ taxes across the empire and started rebuilding the army when he received news of crusader advance in Balkans. This taxation would have immense consequences in the empire particularly in Eastern Anatolia. Musa initially increased the tariffs on Venetian traders which saw the merchant republic adopting the countermeasure of asking allowances for Mahmud’s family in exile lest they release them in the future. This situation forced Musa to negoatiate and roll back some of the increased tax imposed upon Venetians, which in contrast hurt local business prompting resentment. The Venetian threats made Musa formulate the Ottoman ‘fratricide law’. This law would require any Ottoman Shehzade to kill the rest of his siblings once he was proclaimed sultan, so as to avoid the bloody succession the likes of which the new sultan faced.
Image: Sultan Musa
Balkans was a lawless land after the rebellion of Hersekzade Suleiman pasha. The rebellious pasha immediately submitted to Musa after the latter entered Konstantinyye in triumph following his victory at Kayseri. Now Musa ordered the mobilization of the entire Ottoman army which numbered around 40,000, an impressive amount given the loss of manpower in the recent civil war. Suleiman pasha was instructed to defend Rumelia with whatever troops he had. Bosnia was left to its fate until the main Ottoman forces arrived. Nevertheless, Crusader advance along the Danube caused panic amongst the new Muslim Kristjanis who equated this with the punitive campaigns of the Bosnian king 3 decades ago. With the crusader forces at the doorsteps of Zenica, the nobility and traders gathered around a peculiar Semi-legendary character named Hussein Bajram. According to legend, this man had been the son of a wealthy merchant who was denied inheritance through schemes by his uncles. As retribution, he started a gang of self-righteous men who would force corrupted officials and nobility to concede. He was jailed several times but his popularity rose amongst the peasantry. He was working as a caravan guard when the war broke out. Now with the army of the sultan far away and Sanjakbey of Bosnia not responding to their letters, this very group found themselves looking up to this bandit-mercenary. The crusaders besieged Zenica on Shawwal 896 (August 1491). Hussein Bajram valiantly led the defenders against the army of King Louis II. After 2 weeks, the crusaders were surprised to find another army to their south. This was the army of Sanjakbey Mustafa. Though still outnumbering the ottomans, the presence of this army unnerved the Hungarians enough that they lifted the siege of Zenica and faced what they thought was the vanguard of sultan’s army. The smaller Ottoman force was defeated by the Hungarians in the battle of Laswa (Bosnaik:
Lasva). Meanwhile the citizens of Zenica abandoned their city following the defeat of the Ottoman relief army. Contrarily Louis II refused to move from that place fearing the sudden arrival of the main Ottoman force.
Image: Battle of Laswa
When there was no sign of enemy force after waiting for 4 days, the Hungarian king deiced to take 5000 troops with him and join the forces of Transylvanian Voivode Nicolas Tamasi who had his sights on Venetian possessions in Dalmatia and was already besieging Benkovac following the quick capitulation of the Ottoman held Gracac. He left the young duke of Styria, Phillip at the head of the army inside Bosnia. The Hungarian army started marching towards Saraybosna ( Bosniak:
Sarajevo) and were being harassed by the men of Hussein Bajram. After much difficulty, they reached the Garrison and were able to occupy it after a short siege of 3 days. After crossing the Sava river the Hungarian crusaders encamped in the village of Taslica[1]. Soon news came that a large army under Sultan Musa himself made it across Morava River and was now marching towards Kososvo. He sent messenger to King Louis II of Hungary and opted for staying until he arrived. But the Hungarian palatine Stephan Garai opted for occupying the strategic town of Novibazar so as not to allow the Ottomans entry into Bosnia. But it was dismissed by Phillip since their army was too small to contend with the larger army of sultan Musa. Furthermore, he believed the Ottomans would be forced to fight with them before they made any move towards Bosnia. After a heated argument, Stephan reluctantly accepted the proposal of staying in Taslica and sent a reconnaissance force of 1000 to scout the east. This move would change the course of the crusade as Ottoman Sultan would sent a diversionary force of 5,000 to Kosovo and move the bulk of his army along the bank of West Morava river and secured the towns of Novibazar and Jajak( Serb: Cacak). From there he turned west and marched for the town of Visegrad. By the time the crusader forces were aware of the Ottoman advancement they were already across the Cetina River and encamped in Uzice.
This prompted King Louis II to ponder about abandoning the ongoing siege of Zadar and move to counter the Ottomans. The elite Hungarian crimson army stormed the walls of Zadar on Dhul Qadh 896 (September 1491). The city still held against the crusader alliance of various states for a further 2 weeks until the lack of provisions and the promised relief navy never arrived. After negotiating the surrender of the city Louis II decided to spend the winter there. The Ottoman army also would not move until Rabiul Sani of next year (February 1492).
The reason why Venetians were unable to relieve Zadar was simple, the French army was in Milan. Despite the more hostile attitude of the new Ottoman sultan to the serene republic, everyone in the senate knew if French had their way they would lose more than just some Tax waivers. This was in the backdrop of the mobilization of the minor city states of Forli, Faezenna and the duchies of Ferrara and Urbino under direct patronization from William, the Holy Roman emperor. The two heavyweights were carving out their own alliances in the complex political Mosaic of Italy. William’s court in Mirandola housed several anti-French lords who wanted a second go at their luck, including the ageing Ludvico Sfroza. The sparks of war flew as the Holy Roman army complemented by duchy of Ferrara and Forli raided Venetian Ravenna on Shawwal 896 (August 1491). One significant thing observed here was that the armies of the smaller states carried the flag of Holy Roman Empire besides their own standards. This signified their vassal status to William.
Image: Raid on Ravenna by crusader alliance
William was also contacted by Louis of Orleans as the latter detested his nephew for increasing his grip on the nobility, though he was the one on the longest leash. But Charles VIII was able to placate him by promising him the western half Venice, namely Bergamo, Brescia and Verona. But he promised Basilicata of the former Neapolitan kingdom to his own nephew, Jaques of Bourbon. It seemed as if Charles was trying to set both of his elders against each other in Italy. Despite the apparent rivalry, the French camp was steadfast in reaching its goal, recovering kingdom of Naples. So on Dhul Qadh 896 (September 1491), a force of 10,000 started for Naples under Charles VIII. En route he would receive homage from various pro-French states. An additional force of 4000 transported by ships and escorted by Genoese navy was supposed to make landfall in Naples. As Naples was the capital of duchy of Campania instead of being directly being ruled by Ottomans, the crusaders expected lesser resistance. They were also in contact with Fabio Batista, younger brother of the Ottoman appointed duke Giovanni Batista. But the Ottomans were not without reinforcements either. Of the 40,000 troops assembled in Konstantiniyye, 10,000 were bound for Italy. Talat Mahmud pasha also sent messages to Barbary corsairs of Mediterranean. The most notorious clique of corsairs who called Tlemcen their home would participate in the coming conflict along with minor corsair groups and a naval contingent from Emirate of Fas. All these developments would mean that the conflict won’t be restricted to Italy or Balkans.
( from ‘
History of Ottoman empire’ by Hayat Arghiros)
[1] Pljevlja
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Vasylko and the rebellion of 1492( 897 AH)
The history of Russia is full of semi-legendary figures whose existence is cemented in written annals but their actions were intriguing enough to be misunderstood. One such man is Vasylko Yarosalvich, a man who began his life as a brigand but went on to become the voice of the traders who were often oppressed by the Prince and the nobility. His rise would coincide with a tumultuous event in Russian history as 15th century AD came to a close.
Following the ‘Novgorod covenant’, the independent Rus city states of Novgorod and Torzhok as well as the newly created Pskov ‘principality’ were a nexus of Baltic-Volga trade route and to a lesser extent Baltic-Dniester trade route. As Muscovy couldn’t extract taxes from them, they became extremely rich and often bribed the Muscovite instilled boyars to implement favorable policies. This also meant that North and East of Muscovy became richer and more populated as peasants migrated. Desperate lords adopted various measures to prevent the populace from leaving which backfired spectacularly as more serfs fled south to old land of Kievan Rus. Near the border with Golden horde, there was some prosperity but also smugglers and bandits looking for ways to make a quick money. Particularly notorious were the river pirates called Ushkuynuks who raided towns and trade settlements in the Dneiper-Dniester basin. Like the Vikings of bygone age, they ventured out from the relatively poorer regions in search of fortune.
Image: Ushkuynuk pirates
It was in one such Town called Starodub where Vasylko was born. Losing his father early in life, his mother moved in with his Grandfather who was a bishop. As his mother was busy with being a nun, Vasylko had a rough childhood. His group of friends was involved with smuggling goods to Ushkuynuks. His grandfather tried to interest him in priesthood but the rowdy boy was having none of it. One day Vasylko joined a local Ushkuynuk party with one of his friends. They went on several successful raids where Vasylko began to make a name for himself. Things were going fine until he was captured by a merchant of Torzhok. Vasylko was able to escape from captivity only to be nabbed by authorities in Ryzhev. This time, the same merchant became his guarantor as he was impressed with how he conducted his escape. He offered the young man a job, of looking after his trading outpost in the far flung region of Vychgeda Perm. Vasylko became part of the guardsmen of the fur trade route. He visited the border city of Perm which had been frequented by traders from Tatar realm. The Finno-Ugric Komi people who inhabited the land were still mostly pagan though proselytization of Orthodox Christianity was done slowly yet gradually. The Urdmuts, another Ugric group also inhabiting the same area often clashed with the missionary activity due to the former being Muslims. Adding the Karul Khanate to the mixture would mean giving kindling to the flame. Vasylko was a participant in the battle against the Karulians when the latter invaded Vychgeda in 893(1488). The town of Ustyug was sacked and Karulians captured loot and some prisoners, including the daughter of the residential boyar Yury. Like a prince charming described in the fairy tales, Vasylko led a rescue force and was able to retrieve all the hostages including the aforementioned girl. This earned him the praise of all citizens of Ustyug and the boyar was so grateful that he gave his daughter Olga in marriage to the famed man.
Image: Vasylko and Olga escaping the Karulians.
Vasylko was faced with another challenge in the late winter of 897 (1492) when the Muscovite bishop sent to preach Orthodoxy was murdered by unknown assailants. The investigation became a heated argument between Yury and the Muscovite detachment. The former blamed the muslim Urdmuts while the latter blamed Komi upon whom the bishop was appointed. The Muscovites also were skeptical of the Komi letters invented by Saint Stephan a century ago and demanded that the clergy use Greek or Latin to evangelize. Yury was most likely trying to protect his business as Komi were the prime suppliers and knew the lands further north very well. There was also the case of increased taxes by the Prince which was an additional burden to the low populated (in terms of Rus population) greater Perm region. This downplaying of the situation didn’t go well with the Muscovite retinue and they left only to return after two weeks with a Druzhina of 600 which arrested Yury and began subjugation of the Komi people. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back as the Komi rose up followed by a counterattack which saw Muscovites expelled from Vychgeda Perm. Though they left, 40 amongst the local nobility were murdered which included Yury, father in law of Vasylko.
The remainder of nobility unanimously vouched for Vasylko to take the mantle as the head of Ustyug, including his own brother in law Boris. Burning with the fervor of vengeance, Vasylko declared the principality of Perm which included the namesake border trade city.
Meanwhile to the east, Grand duke of Lithuania Sigismund was going through his preparations for the last time as his multifactorial plan would soon come to fruition. His goal was to occupy the principality of Pskov. Though some historians disagree with this since he had a puppet Ruruikid named Igor at his court and conquest of Muscovy was out of question. He contacted duke Eric of Estonia promising him land east of Lake Peipus. As for Muscovites, the news of the so called ‘Perm rebellion’ spread rather quickly since Fur shipments decreased suddenly. So he considered them preoccupied at the moment. His biggest gamble would be to set the Qozaks against Golden horde. They were supposed to capture land as much as possible to keep the horde’s sentinel of the west, the Qimir sanjak busy enough. He promised them aid if they faced difficulty though it was depemndent upon the quick subjugation of Pskov. On Ramadan 897 (July 1492), the Qozaks assaulted and occupied the border town of Cheriniw. Following this raid, Qozaks spread around and advanced in two directions. One was along the Dnieper east bank and the other was the Dniester. The Qozaks under their ataman Ivan Boroshenko wanted to carve a autonomous state of their own near the black sea coast. This, again was inconsistent with the plan of Sigismund as he didn’t want the peasant militia to become too powerful to handle. Nevertheless, the Qozaks saw success as they defeated Tatars twice, once near Humman(Uman) and another retinue trying to relieve the siege of Kiev.
Image: Battle of Humman
As for Sigismund’s invasion of Pskov, he ran into several difficulties as two nobles who were supposed to arrive retracted at the last moment citing health issues. In reality they were bribed by King of Poland John I. With a force of 20,000 the Lithuanian force started east. Dryssa was captured and Polock was besieged for a week until the troops surrendered. Pskov nobility was mostly merchants while the rest of the principality was ruled by feudal lords most of who were under Lithuanian rule a decade prior. As they were eager to save their property and rights they didn’t oppose the advancing army of Sigismund. Within a month, the Lithuanians captured half of Pskov south of the Welikiya River. The prince of Pskov Khuril mobilized a force of 10,000 most of which were mercenaries. However they were defeated by the Lithuanians in the battle of Wielkie Luki. The disparate nature of the assembled army and the untimely charge of the Rus dominated cavalry force was the reason of their demise. Now with no visible enemy force, Sigismund divided his forces into two. A larger portion kept moving north towards Pskov while a smaller portion was sent eastwards to catch a glimpse of any Muscovite reinforcement and if possible, hold them off for a while.
Back in the east, The Muscovites prepared a large force of 24,000 to put down the rebellion. But before they can move city of Tver rose up in rebellion against the recent increased taxes. Though historians are divided on Vasylko’s revolt being a ploy by the Lithuanians, they agreed upon the Tver rebellion being orchestrated by Sigismund’s agents inside the city. It had been quite sometime after the much awaited land taxes had been imposed by Prince Ivan III and the subsequent ‘revolt of the free cities’ saw the cities famously termed as ‘the Triad’ by historians, Novgorod, Torzhok and Tver reject Muscovite authority. For saving time and resources, Muscovite acquiesced to the demands also being pressured by the Khan so that the joint Rus-Tatar army could attack Lithuania. But Tver had been the unlucky one to be subjugated before the Khan decided that he had enough. This rebellion was just the reigniting of a cinder. Nevertheless, the Muscovites were now torn between the west and the east. Following the muscovite conquest of Tver in mid-9th century AH, the previous nobility were purged. Some went to the horde while majority picked up trading. The trade friendly policy of Polish-Lithuanian union was more amicable to the residents of Tver than the harsh Feudalistic Muscovy. Though PLU was still feudalistic, the traders were given more slack and the opportunities increased since Hanseatic influence increased in the region post Vladimir crusade.
The lightning advance of Sigismund’s army slowed down once nearing their target. The town of Ostrov was a hard nut to crack as the Lithuanians realized after a siege of 20 days. Time was of the essence as the Tatars could arrive anytime. If Sigismund knew that his Qozak allies achieved stunning victories in the south perhaps then he’d be more relaxed.
Image: Rus troops defending Ostrov during the siege.
Finally after a month, Ostrov fell on 19 Jumada Sani 897(18 April 1492). Now was the time to rejoice since only Pskov remained. But two news from north and south caused Sigismund to halt his advance, The Qozaks to the south were extremely successful and were now besieging the Southern Tatar city of Balaban
[1] after capturing Kiev and Kanev
. He never thought that this peasant rabble would be so overpowered in terms of military. The other news which actually stopped him in his tracks was the arrival of Karul Tatars in support of Pskov. This was one army he didn’t take into account, but it should have been obvious since rulers of both states were of Muslim Rurikid descent. The presence of the Khan Albag among the 20,000 strong Tatar retinue was enough to denote the importance of this campaign. But he was counting on his ally Eric, the duke of Estonia to counter this menace. Whatever the outcome might be, Sigismund couldn’t yet comprehend the scale of the conflict which he started.
[1] Mykolayev
(‘From Vikings to Tsars: early Russian history’ by Vasiley Simkus)
21 Shaban 897 (18 April 1492)
Ningxia, Ming empire
The summer breeze tickled the long braids of Bolad as he rode with his companions to the rather imposing structure. It looked a bit out of place in a desolate plain like this. Nevertheless, he was not here for sight-seeing.
Following conversation with an official in one of the rooms of the huge citadel, he frowned while reading the paper.
“What? Can’t you extend it until Chunjie[1]?” Dayan asked a bored looking official.
“No can’t do, mister. The imperial house has been clamping down on trade since those wokou have been messing things down south.” The official replied and was about to turn back until Dayan grabbed him by the wrist.
“Now you listen to me!”
“I think you should retract your filthy paw before things get ugly, steppe Barbarian.”
“If it weren’t for these steppe barbarians, Timur would have blown you to pieces…..” Dayan sort of whispered and snarled at the same time.
The official didn’t reply, instead an expression danced on his face as if he found the resolution. Dayan cursed himself as he understood the reason why the expression changed as a strong gauntlet wearing hand grabbed both of his arms. Gently yet frimly, they removed the stranglehold he maintained on the fabric of the uptight official.
He now came face to face with the man who stopped him. Tall by Chinese standards, he commanded an aura of respect as he looked the Mongol down.
“East banner?”
“I’m the envoy of Khagan Balgan of Yuan.”
“I’m Ju Kong, commander of this fort. If you have any grievances over the imperial decree, can you care enough to discuss like the civilized men?” the man named Ju spread his hands out as if an invitation to hug him.
Inside a room, the smell of green tea boiling was new to Dayan yet he was very uncomfortable. His uncle’s directions were clear, to obtain permit-
“Why do you want and extension of the trade permit?” his thoughts were cut off by the sudden question asked by Ju.
“Because it’s dangerous! Your ‘majesty’ has already stopped tribute flow to HuiHui(Mwerunnehr). The Tatars who have had a taste of your products won’t stop until they get it. And that means we are next in their target. We sent a letter to their Khan for the recognition of our Khagan yet our messenger was probably killed. We know after my uncle razed their cities in Tarim that they will come for us. But we are not prepared enough.” Rambled Dayn. Ju had nonchalant look.
“So, that’s all? You are asking for our help?”
“If you keep up the tribute mission and extend the trade permit for only 2 more months, we can hope to gather enough money to gather a force large enough to defeat them. That Alauddin guy is not gonna give up.”
“Then why are you, the Khan’s nephew here instead of the Khan himself? If things are bad as you say why hasn’t he made any journey to the son of the heaven , groveling at his feet so that he might receive protection from the vile western Barbarians? Moreso, if we stop our goods from going to Samarqand, why would they go to Karakorrum?”
“Because my uncle has become complacent after his repeated victories and spends time hunting or frolicking with his Jurchen concubine. Also his two sons are not cut out to be leaders. The eldest is cut in the same clothes as his father, a drunken slob that goes after women and the younger one is smitten with a muslim slavegirl so much that he now goes by the alias ‘Abu Bakr’ and started praying five times.”
“So your point is if you don’t handle the financial matters and become the Khan yourself, the Yuan will cease to exist?”
“NO! I can’t become the Khan as only my mother’s side is of Chingissid descent. I only want my state to survive.” Dayan exclaimed as his cheeks reddened from embarrassment.
“You think you can generate enough money in the next 8 months to buy mercenaries from the ranks of Khalkha? No, you’re out of time. My spies informed me that right now in Samarqand, there is an alliance of muslim states brewing against you. Alauddin, his neighbor the Farsi, the Hind and of course their patron, the Jochids, all will make a move against you give or take two months. Guess your uncle sacking their cities and enslaving the population pissed them off that much that they are willing to put aside their differences for this task.” Ju said matter-of-factly.
Dayan’s eyeballs widened as he put down his half-finished cup of green tea. No, it couldn’t be. That man was surely lying!
“And Khagan Balgan is wasting his arrows by chasing after those pesky Telenghits up north! I must warn him-“ Dayan quickly got up but found the exit being blocked by not one but 5 heavy caliber Mongol guards. The sound of scuffle from afar meant his own retinue was likely being detained as of now.
“You have gained valuable information from me. But as the wise saying goes, knowledge has a price. I have something to know as well” Ju began speaking in a dramatic tone as he approached the flabbergasted Dayan until the latter could feel his breath on his ear.
“Tell me,” he whispered,
“where is prince Jiao?”
Samarqand, Khanate of the Golden horde
“NEWS FROM SARAI! IMPORTANT!” a boy barely into his puberty screamed at the top of his lungs as he rode into the courtyard of Samarqand’s ‘Altansarai’.
“Calm down, what’s gotten you so worked up?” spoke a guard while holding the messenger’s horse as he dismounted and ran to the staircase.
The boy abruptly stopped as he almost collided with three men descending from the stairs.
“A frantic messenger? Must be something big…” a blond man among the trio spoke in perfect Persian, belying his origin.
“Speak up, boy. What’s gotten you so worked up?”another man wearing a deep green robe spoke.
“I must deliver a message to the Sanjakbeg.” The boy said between heavy breaths as he tried to maintain his composure in front of what was no doubt, high ranking officials.
“Well then, come inside. Let’s get you properly speak to him.” Said the last man who was giving off a sinister aura as they led the boy inside the palace.
Sometime later
“You can’t do that!” a frantic Alauddin shouted while an exasperated looking Datu sat across from him. In the middle sat a bored looking Suygundar who was toying with the cuffs of his green robe and a stoic Alberat al Firanji (the Frank).
“You must realize by now that this is something beyond my capability? Those bloody Nazarenes from Lithuania have launched a multi-pronged attack, this is even bigger than that so called crusade of some decades earlier.The Khan demands that Bartuk noyan leave with his troops to the west.” Datu beg replied.
“This means Tarim basin will be occupied by that infidel Yuan Khan.” Alauddin shot back.
“You think he’s so free to launch his assault in every direction? The Tuvans and Telenghits have occupied his force in the north now.”
“But what if he wins against them and returns to sack Ferghana?” How will I defend it? You know what? Forget about it. I’ll spend the last of my money to recruit mercenaries.”
“You are behaving as if I didn’t arrange the procurement of cannons and muskets for your army.” Datu replied in a harsh tone.
“You don’t get it, do you? Money matters, money! Now that those damn Chinese will cease their trade in a few months’ time, your bustling city will become a backwater. Now think what will become of Ferghana” Alauddin retorted.
“While I believe that Emir Alauddin is exaggerating, I also find it concerning that the biggest sale in the last week was to the Yuan Mongols which consisted of several religious books, two prayer mats and some kaftan. The trade drying up is an issue which can doom any city or state. So far our approach is to take over the trade route itself. But for now, I guess we need to have our priorities straight.” Alberat spoke.
“Northern mongols buying prayer mats and religious books? Guess if we can’t beat them, we can get them to join our side.” Suygundar remarked.
“From what I heard it was just one customer, so no. But he paid a hefty price for it, likely out of generosity that is found in all new converts” Alberat replied nonchalantly.
“I guess we gotta set a new goal. Instead of defeating the Yuan, how about we approach them diplomatically for a while? At least until the problem in the west is solved?” Datu suggested but Alauddin quickly cut him off.
“Honorable Sanjakbeg, we are running out of time here. In 3 months the trade stops. The next 6 or 7 months can go by some means but after that nomadic states in eastern steppe would have no option left but to raid each other.” Alauddin stated as Alberat sighed.
“Then why don’t all nomadic tribes get together and raid China instead? The Jurchens, the Yuan, you guys..” Datu spoke while his gaze was downcast as if not too sure about the correctness of his own idea.
“If that was the case then Mongols would still rule China from Dadu[2]. No, do you think they wouldn’t have thought about that? These are shrewd people and I know that firsthand. They’ll pay nomads to attack each other. For now I have ample reasons to believe that they’ll pay the Yuan to fight us. I need all the money I can to fortify Ferghana. Suygundar, you said Shaybanids were in need of gunpowder? Well I’ll sell half of my depot and an extra 20 tufaangs for a sum of 1,00,000 altyn [3].”
“I should tell you that I’m in your rank now, not in the ranks of Shaybanids. After all, I eloped with their princess, hehe.” Suygundar replied with a cackle as if laughing at his own joke. Alberat winced, though whether he was cringed at the wild proposal of the Emir of Ferghana or at the raucous laughter of Suygundar can be left for interpretation.
“Seriously? You’re gonna sell the gift of the Khan like that? Do you have no honour?” Datu beg asked in an infuriating voice.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, my beg. If debt can be paid like this, why can’t I strive to save our lives through the same means as well?” Alauddin replied.
“But 100,000 is a bit too much.” Suygundar muttered. When Alauddin looked at him, he looked the other way as if he never spoke a word.
“Very well, I guess you know the Chinese better than me to deal with them. I’m out of here now.” Datu spoke rather harshly as he left the room, leaving an uncomfortable silence between the other three.
“I guess we have no choice but to rely on espionage, for now. Say Alberat effendi, that customer who brought a religious books and prayer mats for a large sum, he must be someone important in the ranks of those Yuan mongols. How much did he give?” Alauddin spoke as if he was unaffected by the absence of the Sanjakbeg.
“Um, I would have to look into the sales catalogue again. Thanks to Datu beg’s harsh insistence on merchants’ maintaining a sales catalogue, we can hopefully find our man. What are you planning to do, Emir?” Alberat asked in a skeptical tone.
“You just wait and see. And Suygundar?” he asked the green robed man beside him.
“Get me into contact with that Khurasani prince Khurshid. He must know if his in-law Shaybanids require gunpowder. Or if his brother's Pashtun mercenary force is up for hiring”
“I’ll try my best, emir. but I don’t know if I’ll be able to extract him from between the thighs of ‘Bilkis the tigress.’ But it’s about time the young man becomes useful for something other than being a bed warmer-hey, where is everybody?” Only now Suygundar found that the room was empty as Alauddin and Alberat had already left.
“Never mind, what a slick fellow though.” Suygundar was pondering to himself as he left the room as well.
[1] Chinese New Year
[2] Yuan name for Beijing
[3] Currency of golden horde, equal to dinar(gold coin)
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So here it is, the update that was long due. Work is piling up both at hospital and home so had to micro-manage stuff.
The Ottomans are about to faceoff against the main crusader army in the Balkans while crusader unity in Italy is about to shatter, still Venice can’t catch a break. Also, Musa is the one to formulate the fratricide law ITTL as the short but bloody civil war almost shook the Ottomans.
The example of mercantile city-states in Russia has created a bad example where boyars demand more autonomy and if the Grand prince refuses, they’ll revolt with a bit of instigation from their Slavic brethren to the west. Also Qozaks/Cossacks wreak havoc upon the wild plains. Will they be able to carve out their own state in the chaotic political environment of Eastern Europe or will they be snuffed out by the big powers?
Things in the steppes are getting interesting as Ming empire is clamping down on external trade. If you guys have read the Wokou update, this period corresponds to the climax in Wokou jihad. What will Golden horde do now to keep the northern silk route alive? They seem to have a lot on their plates now...
Salam until next time, keep me in your prayers since it is very cold and my rhinitis and congenital deviated nasal septum isn’t doing my health any good.
