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CK2 - Dev Diary #126 - Muslim Rulers in The Iron Century

Welcome to another Dev Diary! Today we are going to take a look at some of the Muslim rulers you can find in the Iron Century bookmark. (And like yesterday, keep in mind several of these rulers have randomized traits/stats)

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A look at the Muslim world at large.

al-Ikhshid of the Ikhshidid Dynasty: In our bookmark, Al-Ikhshid has recently been granted the governorship of Egypt. Though he wasn’t really supposed to have his title until the year 938, we chose to call him Al-Ikhshid as his dynasty is known as the Ikhshidid dynasty, and that is what he is generally known as. Functionally speaking, he is set up as a Sunni Sultan holding Egypt and huge parts of Syria, with tributaries to his north, south-east and south. He is bordering the Fatimids in the west, and the Jannabid Qarmatians to the east. In many ways, Al-Ikhshid and his dynasty is one of the powerhouses in the bookmark, and will most likely play an important role.

Historically speaking the Ikhshidid dynasty held Egypt for about 35 years, until they were invaded by the Fatimids who made it the capital of their newly founded Caliphate.

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Caliph Ar-Radi of the Abbasid Caliphate: In our two earliest bookmarks (769 and 867), the Abbasid Caliphate is an impenetrable powerhouse, but in 936 they have fallen apart to infighting and lost almost all their importance. As they are barely holding on to their old core lands around Baghdad, they are surrounded by threats who want to take control of the Caliphate and its lands. Ar-Radi is often seen as the last of the real Caliphs, but even his rule was cut short at the age of 31 in the year 940.

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al-Hasan of the Hamdanid dynasty: Both al-Hasan and his brother Ali hold lands in the Al-Jazira region north of the Abbasid Caliphate. They are both Shia rulers, Ali holding the western lands under his brother’s overlordship. Historically speaking al-Hasan played an important role in the politics of the Abbasid Caliphate, while his brother was essential in holding back the Byzantine attacks across the Al-’Awasim in Cilicia. They later received the titles Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla, under which they are better known.

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The Buyid Dynasty: The three Shia brothers of the Buyid dynasty are all playable in the 936 bookmark. Ali holds the Satrapy of Fars, Hasan holds the Satrapy of Jibal while Ahmad holds lands under Ali.


As the first of importance in the dynasty, Ali was a governor and commander under the Ziyarid ruler Mardavij (better known as the last Zoroastrian ruler). After finding out his lord was planning to eliminate him, he took his troops and established the Satrapy of Fars. After Mardavij was assassinated by his own slave troops, the Buyid dynasty was bolstered with troops and started expanding north and eastwards. Later on Ahmad would go on to become a leading figure in the Abbasid Caliphate, and start the Buyid’s century long control of the Caliphate, until they were pushed out by the Seljuks about a hundred years later.

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Vushmgir of the Ziyarid dynasty: Vushmgir is the Sunni brother of Mardavij, better known as the last major Zoroastrian ruler. Vushmgir would go on to embrace Islam, and bring his people properly into the fold. In our start he has inherited the remains of his brother's shortlived kingdom. He has several Zoroastrian vassals, and he is surrounded by greater Muslim nations at all sides. Who's to say you couldn't pick up your brother's legacy properly though, and put an end to the Muslim incursions into Zoroastrian lands.

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Caliph Abd-al-Rahman of the Umayyad dynasty: In far flung Iberia, far from the diminishing authority of the pathetic Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad, Abd-al-Rahman has established his own Caliphate. Centered around Cordoba, the Iberian Caliph is ready to challenge the Fatimids in Ifriqiya as well the French and León to the north. He would go on to create the The Caliphate of Cordoba would continue for almost a century before it shattered into lots of Taifa Successor kingdoms, which were so well known during the tumultuous times of the Reconquista.

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Hopefully you found this small little look into some of the major Muslim rulers of the bookmark interesting. Tomorrow we will take a look at some of the Pagans rulers that will play an interesting role in the bookmark.

And like always, here's a link to the ongoing AAR: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...century-mini-aar.1179523/page-2#post-25482390
 
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At the risk of being a Cyprus fanboy, it could use another province.

I get that the super rich part of Cyprus' history might have been later in the period. But the just two provinces really doesn't simulate it.
 
Two Sunni caliphs, interesting, perhaps the caliph title is now tied to the Emperor-tier?

I have a feeling the Caliphate of Cordoba is just a titular title given to the Umayyads to simulate their historical title, and it's not the actual Sunni Caliph title which is held by the Abbassids still.
 
Damnit! Seeing governors being called "Sultans" still grinds my gears! But everything else looks promising, so that's good!

Shouldn't the Abbasids in 867 and 936 start with high decadence, like the Fatimids do in 1066?
 
Unfortunately, this does guarantee that this patch will not be save-compatible with 3.1.1, no?

Saves I have opened in 3.2 have opened and worked, but ... There's always a certain amount of oddities with map reworks. If anyone is in the process of playing through a large game, I would definitely recommend waiting with an update until they've finished.
 
It"s just a titular empire that doesn't give de jure CBs, and they won't exactly be able to diplo-vassalize Christians to the north. The Reconquista and crusade mechanics should unlock shortly after 936.

It's not the dejure things that empires get, it's that it allows vassal kings.

And the historical back and forth doesnt seem to happen now, let alone with an even more powerful Umayyablob
 
Ali of Buyids had his heir, Panah Khosrow become a brilliant military leader and he took over Iraq, al jazira, and Daylam. Any chance be could be written in as a child of destiny with those claims?

Lastly, any chance the cultural retinue of the Persians be changed to cataphracts? The Byzantines copied the Sassanians afterall
 
It's not the dejure things that empires get, it's that it allows vassal kings.

And the historical back and forth doesnt seem to happen now, let alone with an even more powerful Umayyablob

Disagree. Umayyads in 769 and 867 can get destroyed by a well-used Reconquista early on, while in 935 they should be at the height of their power.
 
Is that westernmost province the only clay Abbasids have in their de-June empire?
 
@Snow Crystal I have a slight concern when looking at the AAR. In the decision to split Germany into all the separate 'tribes' you see Swabia, Thuringia, Franconia, Bavaria, and Saxony all gain independence. Why not Frisia? If you're going with splitting the kingdom into the separate tribal identities, then surely Frisia would still have their identity, as they were conquered shortly before the Saxons.

Also, what's with the duchies of East and West Frisia, are they dejure, titular, or just cultural names of old duchies?
 
Also, how will the Hajj work with the Kabba being held captive in another city?

The Kaaba was still in Mecca. The Qarmatians had the Black Stone (which is something contained within the Kaaba). I believe they wanted to redirect/end Hajj, but the Hajj continued unabated to Mecca. Maybe it would make sense for the rest of Islam to have a small Moral Authority malus to signify the stone being held by the Qarmatians?

Now, if there were options to redirect/end Hajj if if the Moral Authority of Sunni/Shia is low and the Qarmatian Moral Authority was high... That could be an interesting idea.