Gatekeepers of India - A Zunist Megacampaign

[Killcrazy13]

A Brief History of Zunism

Before the advent of Islam in Afghanistan, people followed different religions, some widely known like Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, while others not so well known but were locally very popular and zealously followed. One such indigenous religion, with a large following in Zabulistan during the 7th to 9th centuries, was the cult of Žun.

Xuanzang, the famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, had visited Zabul in 644, who described, in Da Tang Xiu Jee, the shrine of Suna or Zhuna in some detail, but he neither mentioned its origin nor the identity of its followers:

As a custom of this country, people worship a deity of dubious character. On Mount Congling is its statue called Zhun. The ceremonial institution is extremely gorgeous. The shrine is roofed with both gold and silver plates and paved with silver on the floor. More than one thousand people visit this shrine everyday. In front of the shrine is a back bone of fish. At the center is a hole through which a mounted horseman can pass freely.

According to local tradition, the deity Zhuna first came from far to this mountain desiring to dwell on it, but the original deity of the mountain trembled with anger and shook the valleys. Zhuna said, "As having no wish to live together, you might be thus trembling. If you only entertained me as a guest, I would confer on you great riches and treasure. Now I go to Mount Zhunahira in Zabul. Whenever the king and his ministers may offer me their tributes every year, then you shall stand face to face with me"

There are several dozen 'deva' temples, and the sectarians of various denominations dwell together. Among those counted, the Tirthakas are many in number and very powerful. They follow Zhuna). In the past this deva came from Mount Aruna of Kapisi to live on Mount Zhunahira on the southern border of this country. He showed dignity and gave the people happiness, or perpetrated violence and evil. Those who believed in this deity attained their wishes, whereas those who looked down on him received misfortune. Therefore all people, both from far and near, worshipped him; and all people, both from the upper and lower classes, held him in reverence. People from neighbouring countries and of different manners and customs, kings and courtiers assemble together every year on an auspicious day of that year, and sincerely devote themselves by presenting gold and silver as well as rare treasures, or by competitively dedicating cattle and horses as well as domestic animals. Accordingly, the floors were full of gold and silver, while the valleys were full of sheep and horses. Nobody has any intention to steal them, but solely tries to offer such objects. The heretics who intently serve the deva practice asceticism, and then the deva gives them magical power in return. The heretics effectively perform magic to treat illness, by which many recover completely.

The Coming of Islam

Arab Muslims appeared in Sistan in 652-53CE as part of the last stage of claiming Iran and after the death of Yazdagird III, the last Sassanid king in 651. A year later, the Arab forces advanced against the Hindu Kush and the lands of Zabulistan and Kabulistan. The new Arab Governor of Sistan, 'Abd al-Rahman bin Samurah launched an offensive against these rulers and reduced both kingdoms during 664-65. He surrounded the holy mountain on which the temple of Zun was located. He “went into the temple of Zur (Žun), an idol of gold with two rubies for eyes, he cut off a hand and took out the rubies. Then he said to the Satrap, ‘keep the gold and gems. I only wanted to show that it had no power to harm or help.’”. However, Abd al-Rahman was relieved of his governorship in 666 which led to the loss of these kingdoms as quickly as they had been captured.

Barha Tegin appears in history following the capture of Kabul by the Arabs under Abd al-Rahman circa 665 CE. The ruler of Kabul at that time was Ghar-ilchi of the Nezak Huns. The Arab conquest mortally weakened the Nezak Dynasty. The Shahis under Barha Tegin, who were already ruling in Zabulistan, were then able to take control of Kabulistan. Some authors attribute the rise of Barha Tegin precisely to the weakening of the last Nezak Hun ruler Ghar-ilchi, after the successful Arab invasion under Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura. Around the time the first ruler of the Turk Shahis Barha Tegin died, his dynasty split into two kingdoms. From 680 AD, Tegin Shah became the king of the Turk Shahis, and ruled the area from Kabulistan to Gandhara. His title was "Khorasan Tegin Shah" (meaning "Tegin, King of the East"), and he was known in Chinese sources as Wusan Teqin Sa. His grand title probably refers to his resistance to the peril of the Umayyad caliph from the west.

The ruler of Zabulistan split from his brother, the Shahi of Kabul, and established the Zunbil dynasty. The title Zunbil can be traced back to the Middle-Persian original Zūn-dātbar, 'Zun the Justice-giver'. The geographical name Zamindawar would also reflect this, from Middle Persian 'Zamin-i dātbar' (Land of the Justice-giver). This dynasty, Rutbil or Ratbil in the Arab literature, became famous for their tenacious resistance to the Arab advance towards the east and northwards to Kabul. Both the rulers and their dynasties, which survived for about two centuries, were considered by the Arabs as Turkish. However, the opinion of modern scholars greatly differs with regard to their origin and identity, with some positing them to be of Kidarite or Hepthalite origin.

The petty kingdom of Zabulistan bordered Kabulistan in the northeast and in the south and west it included areas of al-Rukhkhaj, the modern Kandahar region, Zamindawar and area up to Bost on the confluence of Arghandab and Helmand rivers. The Sulaiman Mountains formed the eastern border. Ghazni was the winter capital of the kingdom while Zamindawar was the summer capital and religious and pilgrimage centre devoted to Žun.

The relationship between the two related families of Kabul and Zabul was at times antagonistic, but they fought together against Arab incursions. In 698 Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Bakra, governor of Sijistan and a military commander of the Umayyad Caliphate, led an 'Army of Destruction' against the Zunbils. He was defeated and was forced to offer a large tribute, give hostages including three of his sons, and take an oath not to invade the territory of the Zunbils again.

About 700, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf appointed Ibn al-Ash'ath as commander of a huge Iraqi army, the so-called "Peacock Army", to subdue the troublesome principality of Zabulistan. During the campaign, al-Hajjaj's overbearing behaviour caused Ibn al-Ash'ath and the army to rebel. After patching up an agreement with the Zunbils, the army started on its march back to Iraq. On the way, a mutiny against al-Hajjaj developed into a full-fledged anti-Umayyad rebellion.

The Arabs regularly claimed nominal overlordship over the Zunbils, and in 711 Qutayba ibn Muslim managed to force them to pay tribute. In 725–726, Yazid ibn al-Ghurayf, governor of Sistan failed to do so. The Arabs would not be able to again obtain tribute from the Zunbils until 769 CE, when Ma'n b. Za'ida al-Shaybanl defeated them near Ghazni.

Arabic sources recount that, after the Abbasids came to power in 750, the Zunbils made submissions to the third Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), but these appear to have been nominal acts, and the people of the region continued to resist Muslim rule. The Muslim historian Ya'qubi in his Ta'rikh ("History"), recounts that al-Mahdi asked for, and apparently obtained, the submission of various Central Asian rulers, including that of the Zunbils.

Arab campaigns of destruction are documented around 795 CE, as the Muslim writer Kitāb al-buldān records the destruction of a Šāh Bahār (“Temple of the King”), though to be Tepe Sardar, at that time: he recounts that the Arabs attacked the Šāh Bahār, "in which were idols worshipped by the people. They destroyed and burnt them"

Current Era – 867CE
Zabulistan has been reduced to a rump state after repeated attacks by the Arabs with a distinct Hepthalite identity, though there has been some assimilation with the local Iranian populations. Firoz is the current Zunbil but is facing a grave threat – the ascendant Saffarids and their Amir-e Amiran Ya’qub al-Laith. Already, his cousin Hurmiz has bent the knee and surrendered Bost and Firuz is scrambling to pull together the native tribes of Pamiris, Afghanis and Turco-Hepthalites to defend the old ways against the wave of Islamification.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Firuz Zunbil

The Shahdom of Zamindawar was the last holdout of Zunism after the Samanid attacks. The dynasty of Barha Tegin had fractured between the Shahis of Kabul and the Zunbils of Zabulistan. Even within the house of Zunbil, there were breaks as Hurmiz kurê Jimofuta had opened the gates of Bost after the defeat to Samanids and had been rewarded with the governorship of the province after reciting the Shahadah. Firuz himself had been captured after the death of his father Kabak and the lost of Sistan.

Escaping one night in January 867, he made his way back to the mountains of Zamindawar and rallied what meagre troops he had to resist the next invasion. At 19 years of age and able to call on less than a 1,000 men, all he hoped for was a heroic last stand and that the chroniclers would not forget the brave house of Zunbil. The much feared invasion never came as the Samanids focused on Iranian supremacy against the Tahirids. In turn, the Zunbil, would look Northeast, hoping to move the centre of his power deeper into the Hindu-Kush, pressing his House’s claim on Ghazna and Kabul. The mountain warfare was brutal but over the next decade, he would push the Shahi’s out of the highlands and into the foothills of Gandhara. The vacated fortress of Bālā Hissār (High Fort) would be the new capital, hopefully far out of reach of Muslim invaders.

Bālā Hissār
Bālā Hissār sits to the south of the modern city centre at the tail end of the Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain. The Walls of Kabul, which are 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 12 feet (3.7 m) thick, start at the fortress and follow the mountain ridge in a sweeping curve down to the river. It sports a set of gates for access to the fortress. The Kōh-e Shēr Darwāzah (lion door) mountain is behind the fort. Bala Hissar was originally divided into two parts: The lower fortress, containing the stables, barracks and royal palaces, and the upper fortress (the actual fort with the name Bala Hissar) housing the armory and the dungeon of Kabul, known as the "Black Pit" (the Siyah Chal). When looking at the outer wall of the main fortress, it is possible to see layers of building materials from years of destruction and re-fortification. Much of the hillside is built up on tunnels and underground storage.

Family and Later Reign

Breaking with Zunist tradition, Firuz would not enter into a divine marriage with either of his sisters. Nîsan would be married off to the heir of the throne of Pratihara in the name of an alliance while Xêlîcan would be wedded to a nomad chieftain in return for his service. He himself married a Tibetan noble’s daughter who would bear him three daughters but no sons for the first 12 years of their marriage. Perhaps this contributed to his wandering gaze as he would become infamous for his affairs. His wife kept her silence about his many lovers but the husbands he cuckolded would not take it so easily, causing a blood feud with the lord of Chitral after the birth of a boy, Hormuze, who’s parentage was disputed, as well as other scandals within Firuz’s own court. Chitral owed fealty to Khalas, the Kabulshah, whose home, Bālā Hissār, Firurz had captured. When Firuz went to war to claim his alleged son, Hormuze, both men aimed for revenge but Firuz outmaneuvered them, striking for Khalas’ fort and capturing his family while the nominal Kabulshah’s army marched to Chitral. When they finally met in battle, Firuz would taunt Khalas by parading Khalas’ wife before his army and using her as a footstool to mount his horse. Firuz would triumph and the humiliating peace treaty would see Firuz capture Chitral, have Hormuze raised in his court, have immense amounts of treasure handed over by Khalas for the return of his wife and children and the formal renunciation of Khalas as the Kabulshah.

However, Firuz would not formally adopt Hormuze as a Zunbil. The boy was now five years old and in that intervening period, Firuz had taken a second wife, a hostage taken from a raid, who bore him a boy and his first wife had finally delivered a son. Assured the succession was safe, Firuz saw no need to allow another to dilute the inheritance but he ensured Hormuze was brought up alongside the other princes and enjoyed an equal education.

The next few years would see Firuz consolidate his control of the realm that now covered the entire Hindu-Kush and dip into the Punjab lowlands of Ghandara while fending off assassination attempts from Khalas and other angry lords he had displaced in his conquests of the mountains. Most troubling of all was finding out his sister Nîsan, the now Queen of Pratihara, was behind one of the assassination attempts. Aware of how tenuous his grip on power was, Firuz would militarize his land, instituting a requirement for all settlements to be fortified, these Kalas or Qalas could be quickly reinforced in times of foreign invasions. In court, he would place spies among his courtiers to discover threats to him and his family.

However, there was one enemy he could not defend against – disease. Smallpox had been making its deadly way across the Indian subcontinent ravaging poor and rich alike. It even struck down Nîsan in Delhi, putting to rest one of the many threats to Firuz. When it finally reached Kabul, the disease would decimate the commoners and nobles alike. Kabul became a ghost town as the population dropped from 10,000 to slightly more than 6,000. In Bālā Hissār, Firuz would witness the death of his first-born son, Amur, his ‘adopted son’ Hormuze, and the spouse of his eldest daughter, Mand among the many casualties. Mand was married to the son of the Chieftain of Zend, and this would trigger another blood feud as the Chieftain blamed the Zunbil for taking inadequate precautions. By the time the disease had completed its destruction, Firuz had lost two sons and his youngest daughter alongside many faris and ladies of court.

His only surviving son, Yeshouah, would be sole heir to the throne of Zunbil. He would not have to wait long, four years after the plague and shortly after Jouiskah attained manhood, Firuz would strike out into remaining free Damas of Ghandara, intent on solidifying his control of the region and more importantly repopulating his empty lands with new serfs – he was already straining the limits of his land’s manpower and taxation to maintain his modest army and forts. The capture of Bannu went smoothly but on campaign in Udaphanda, he would fall ill after drinking poisoned mead and pass on within the night. So ended the reign of Firuz Zunbil, the great preserver of Zunism.

 

[Killcrazy13]

The Iranian Intermezzo and the Zunbil


The term Iranian Intermezzo, or Persian Renaissance, represents a period in history which saw the rise of various native Iranian Muslim dynasties in the Iranian Plateau after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Iran and the fall of Sasanian Empire. The term is noteworthy since it was an interlude between the decline of Abbāsid rule and power by Arabs and the "Sunni Revival" with the 11th-century emergence of the Seljuq Turks. The Iranian revival consisted of Iranian support based on Iranian territory and most significantly a revived Iranian national spirit and culture in an Islamic form. The Iranian dynasties and entities which comprise the Iranian Intermezzo are the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Ziyarids.

Statue of Amir e-Amiran Ya'qub in Zabol, Iran

The Saffarids were the main threat to the Zunbil, having broken the power of Zabulistan in the 860s. Their founder, Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, an Ayyar, literally vagabond warrior, under Salih ibn al-Nadr in opposition to Abbasid power. Known for his ascetic lifestyle due to his humble origins as a saffar or coppersmith. In 867 he sent a poem written by himself to the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tazz. The poem said: "With me is the Derafsh Kaviani, through which I hope to rule the nations." The Derafsh Kaviani is the legendary royal standard of Iran and the old Sassanian Empire. The poem laid bare his ambitions and the Zunbils were fortunate that the Hindu-Kush was considered a backwater of Iran. His armies would be marching westward. The other important factor in the survival of Zunism was the splintering of Islam in Persia. Amir e-Amiran Ya’qub was said to be an adherent of the party of A’li and the Ismaili sect and his enemies were the Sunni Tahirids and Arabs of Baghdad.

The other great power was the Maturidi Samanids of Transoxiana and in between, Khorasani Tahirid. Caliphal power would collapse in 879 and Iran would be divided up among the warlords. Doctrinal differences between the three factions would see them focus on each other and abandoning the Habbari Sultanate of Sindh to the mercy of the Hindu Kings.

The Zunbils were still too weak to capitalize on this respite, as their domain was riven by internal dissent and still vulnerable to Muslim raiders. While the Shahdom would pass on intact to Jouiskah, his noble were restless and fiesty. Amidst these internal tensions, Jouiskah was also unsure of who to trust. His father's murderer was still at large and he struggled to command the loyalty of his soldiers like his father had. The one blessing was the end of the other line of Zunbil in Bost. Smallpox had struck the land hard and both his uncle and cousin would pass on. The people of Bost still held to the faith of Zunism and invited Yeshouah to take charge of the city. He would post his father's most loyal faris, Shabur, as governor of the region and guard against Saffarid attacks.

As a child, Jouiskah was educated in the classics of Persian history, and he would wrap these stories around his rule and actions – primarily Kāveh the Blacksmith. Kāveh was, according to ancient legends, a blacksmith who launched a national uprising against the evil foreign tyrant Zahāk, after losing two of his children to serpents of Zahāk. Kāveh expelled the foreigners and re-established the rule of Iranians. Chroniclers in Jouiskah's court would write of how his uncle, the Satrap of Bost was struck down by Zun and the Bostian people called out for the return of the Zunbil, uniting the Zabulistan of his grandfather’s day. His father's many wars had forged his small army into an elite force, specialized in mountain warfare and the Hindu-Kush became an area of dread for foreign armies for the immediate future, giving the young Kabulshah time to plan his future moves out.

Petroglyphs

One of Yeshouah’s hobbies was to explore the mountains of his realm and he would collect etching of the many petroglyphs found on rocks and in caves. The carvings were left by invaders, traders, and pilgrims who passed along the trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and 1000 BCE, showing single animals, triangular men and hunting scenes in which the animals are larger than the hunters. These carvings were pecked into the rock with stone tools and are covered with a thick patina that proves their age.

 

[Killcrazy13]

A Portrait of the Hindu-Kush

The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range. To the north, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains while the eastern end of the Hindu Kush in the north merges with the Karakoram Range. Towards its southern end, it connects with the White Mountains near the Kabul River. It divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. The range has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 metres.

Modern era Pamirites celebrating Chaumos. There are only a few thousand of them left, mostly in the province of Chitral and they have held on to many practices of what we call Old Zunism. The most important Pamiri festival is the Chaumos, which is celebrated for two weeks at winter solstice (c. 7–22 December), at the beginning of the month chawmos mastruk. It marks the end of the year's fieldwork and harvest and the time of rest for Zun. It involves much music, dancing, and goats killed for consumption as food. At Chaumos, impure and uninitiated persons are not admitted; they must be purified by waving a fire brand over women and children and by a special fire ritual for men, involving a priest waving juniper brands over the men.

The geology of the area played a part in the shaping of local culture. The Turco-Hephtalites were dominant among the tribes but there were significant communities of Afghanis of Iranian descent and Punjabis who were forced out of the riverlands by invaders. Mixed in were Pamiri herdsmen who moved between the mountain passes as the seasons changed and as their flocks needed fresh pastures. Geographically isolated tribes would live much of their lives with little contact with the outside world beyond the villages in neighbouring valleys. It did allow Zunism to survive but it also meant that there was little standardisation of the Zunist faith as each village venerated local animist spirits alongside the great Zun high in the sky in Zamindawar. Mixed into this cultural melting pot were strains of Hindu and Buddhist believers and a few scattered resented Muslim clans.

Cattle raids were common occurrences in summer months and would escalate to persistent family feuds between neighbors that could last generations. Certain peculiarities of this clannish culture shaped the practice of Zunism – the tribal wars would require large families to replace lost members and the insular culture bred a preference for marrying within the clan or family.

Jouiskah was brought up with a fervent regard for Zun and he would attempt to tie together these many divergent strands into a unified people and reforming the faith into what we recognize as medieval Zunism, locking in many tenets still practiced to this day.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Shah Jouishka and the Zunist Reformation

Shah Jouishka was a product of his father’s court. Growing up paranoid facing all the threats to his father and their faith, he was slow to trust and quick to anger when. The importance of protecting the faith was ingrained into him by his teachers and it led to a streak of zealotry bordering on obsession. These traits would lead to maintaining a small inner circle, mostly made up of family members and him being on guard against his vassals.

The first thing he did was dig into the identity of his father’s murderer, eventually one of the captured assassins gave up the name of Jend, his sister’s father-in-law. His sister’s husband had died of smallpox in the court of Firuz and that seemed to be the inciting incident for the blood feud. Jouishka would hatch his own scheme to remove this threat. His assassins crossed Transoxiana and struck down the distant chieftain but were caught before they could make the escape. Now known as a murderer, Jouishka’s reputation fell even lower among his vassals. But he had avenged his father and as a knock-on effect, his nephew inherited half of Jend.

From left to right:
Marzoban Andez - Spymaster
Marzoban Zymt – Steward
The Zunbil, Jouishka
Marzoban Marulaganga – Chancellor
Marzoban Shabur – Marshal

His most powerful vassals were all his father’s men and they were a motley crew of upjumped sellswords and exiled nobles from Sogdia, India and Persia whose faithfulness to Zun was questionable at best. They were also growing increasingly rich, with most of them holding newly conquered territory in the Punjab or Bost. The Zunbil would squeeze them for taxation as much as possible with the goal to keep them weak while ensuring his soldiers were paid. Of course, this would breed much resentment and simmering rebellion would always be a threat to Jouishka and he never had his armies too far away while he encouraged his vassals to vent their anger on their foreign adventures – Shabur, Marzoban of Bost would be the most eager to conquer, pushing into Ghur and extending his domain significantly over a decade.

The one major military campaign he engaged in was the conquest of rich and prosperous Multan. Jouishka eyed it as his preferred capital, far away from Muslim Iran and the holy site where Toramana of the old Hepthalite Kishan Empire had consecrated a temple to Zun (demolished by the Muslims in the 700s) and the supposed birthplace of the first Zunbil’s, Barha Tegin, first wife, Roxana. The Amir of Multan was a young boy of 17, facing pressure from Hindu Rajputs from the East and rebellious vassals. It meant the war was short and smooth for the Zunbil, and the Indian Rajputs were quick to make peace when they realized they had to face the tough mountain tribes, instead of a green boy.

Jouishka used the wealth captured from Multan to refurbish the statues of Zun in Zamindawar and Kabul and the irony of using Muslim wealth to restore the symbols of faith after the sacks a century ago was not lost on him. He also sponsored massive works in Zamindawar, Rukhaj and Kabul, literally moving statues and much finery to furnish the sun temples and shrines in the temples.

In 908 CE, he gathered his vassals, flamen (Zunist priests) and other notables to hear his vision of a reformed Zunism. A new head of faith would act as the earthly representative of Zun. This role would be taken up by one of the most notable flamens, Kalan. However, this new High Diviner would not exercise any temporal power. As a bone to his vassals who resisted conversion, he would give them the ability to manage the temples in their domains and tax the priesthood. On matters of theology, the flamen pushed for the purging of Vedic practices from Zunist beliefs. Moving forward Zunism would be One True Faith, unsullied by external ideas. The two most important tenets of Zunism were matters of great debate at this Council of Kabul (Kabul would be the home of all future religious councils).

Firstly, marriage would adopt Zoroastrian mores. Many of the flamens were exiles from Zoroastrian Iran and they had expanded on the scant literature of the Zunist faith. Kings or Shahs would be expected to practice Divine Marriage, their first marriage was to Zun who would bless their bloodline but their second marriage partner should be someone of close-kin, ideally a sister or brother to maintain the purity of Zun’s blessing. As part of the council, the Zunbil was anointed as Defender of the Faith and his bloodline recognized as divinely blessed. This principle of Xwedodah would become a point of contention in next few centuries but all at the Council accepted it as sun-blessed. The second was the institution of sacrifice. Zun was the final arbiter in Turco-Hephtalite culture with the practice of Sun-trials to judge the guilty. Jouishka personally pushed for this practice to be extended to the presentation of non-believers to Zun who would demand their conversion or extinguish their lives. Exposed to the glory of the sun, he believed most would recant their false faith and revert to the true solar faith.

Despite the haranguing from Jouishka and the flamens, the Zunbil’s vassals were resistant to conversion and it would be a slow process of bargaining and threats over the next few years to create the purified nation of Jouishka’s dreams. One notable incident was a riot among the Muslims of Multan who hung Chancellor Firyid to a tree for her faith. The Zunbil would put this mob down viciously and he clamped down on dissent across his realm in pursuit of his singular vision of the Church of Zun.

 

[Killcrazy13]

The Making of a Maharaja

The Miracle of Kalot, stone representation of the Zunbil protected by Zun's messengers. Found in lost temple near Locil in Kalot province.

Jouishka was the great nation builder of Zunism. After uniting the church, he worked towards uniting his people. After gaining complete control of the Hindu Kush alongside Ghandhara and Multan, he would found a new Zunist state from his seat in Multan, inspired by the old Kidarite kingdom.

With the shift of seat of power into lowland India, there was a splintering of culture between the mountain dwelling tribes and the new lowland Zunist converts of India. Jouishka would attempt to heal the split but over the next few decades the lowlanders would identify as Hindustanis while the mountain folk would refer to themselves as Pashtunis or Pashtuns. The lowlanders would identify strongly with the Indian cultures around them while the Pashtuns would hold on to their East-Iranian cultures. The Zunbils would style themselves Maharaja of their new kingdoms moving forward.

The Kidarite Kingdom

The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna. The Kidarites consolidated their power in Northern Afghanistan before conquering Peshawar and parts of northwest India including Gandhara probably sometime between 390 and 410, around the end of the rule of Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II or beginning of the rule of Kumaragupta I. It is probably the rise of the Hephthalites and the defeats against the Sasanians which pushed the Kidarites into northern India. They would rule Bactria, Kabulistan and Punjab until they were exhausted by the imperial conflicts with the Gupta and Persian Empires in the late 5th century.

The First Grand Sacrifice

Jouishka did not rush to implement the more brutal aspects of Zun worship upon his newly conquered people. Instead, he would focus on opening religious schools across Multan, indoctrinating the people into the creed and practices of Zun. It was fortunate that the Persians dynasties were still busy with their own feuds and the Zunbil enjoyed a near decade of peace to instil in his people the necessary piety and devotion to the one true god, Zun.

In 934 CE, he would call for the first grand sacrifice with all in Satrapy of Multan invited. He had a grand ziggurat built in the middle of a field and had many of his prisoners from past wars marched up the pyramid. Each would have their hearts carved out and be ritualistically disemboweled as the High Diviner offered their lives to Zun and seek his forgiveness for their sins and ask for his blessing. Many attendees stood numbly through the event but when the ground shook at the end of the ritual, many took it as sign of Zun’s favor and several cut themselves to offer their own blood to this deity who was evidently present.

The Sacrifice Ritual
The Zunist sacrificial rituals took more than two people to perform. In the usual procedure of the ritual, the sacrifice would be taken to the top of the temporary ziggurat. The sacrifice would then be laid on a stone slab, a chacmool, by four flamen, and their abdomen would be sliced open by a fifth flamen with a ceremonial knife. The Zunists believed that the heart (tona) was both the seat of the individual and a fragment of the Sun's heat (istli). The chacmool was a very important religious tool used during sacrifices. The cut was made in the abdomen and went through the diaphragm. The flamen would grab the heart which would be placed in a bowl held by a statue of honored Zun, and the body would then be thrown down the ziggurat’s stairs.

Later Reign of Maharaj Jouishka

The Zunbil would take only two wives, Mrigavati of the house of Utpala and rulers of Kashmir and Nestokhot, a Zunist commoner. Maharani Mrigavati would bear him three sons and two daughters while Maharani Nestokhot would only gift him a daughter. Despite only gifting him one child, he would favor Nestokhot and would even make her his primary wife, much to the chagrin of the royal Mrigavati. All his children would live to adulthood but his twin younger sons would pass on soon after. Rajkumar Katana would be struck down by cancer at 27 while Jouishka II would see another three more years but indulged in heavy drinking in that time, to help him manage his grief and the paranoia that his father had incalculated into him. His only surviving son was Jouishka’s least favourite, a layabout who focused more on love affairs then on realm management. He refused all marriage proposals and bore no children even as he entered his 40s, fully expecting his younger brothers to be gifted his father’s throne.

The Maharaj would fight one last great war during his waning days as the mighty Chola Empire declared a holy war to expunge the so-called bloodthirsty Zunists from India. This war would drag on for four years and ravage eastern Multan before the Cholas surrendered.

His final decade of life would see Jouishka mellow out on some of his more hardline view. The stress of kingship, his innate paranoia and the lost of his favourite son, Katana would see the Zunbil explore ideas from other religions as well as slide into a kind of depression, refusing to partake of food. Combined with his other practice of self-flagellation, it drove him into ill health as the realm debated between the merits of the dilettante Prince Shania and marshal Prince Youishka, now a man grown deep into his cups and reputed frequent visitor to the whorehouses.

Jouishka would finally ascend to Zun in 947, a man exhausted by his labours and praying to the sun that his realm would survive the incompetence of his son.

 

[Killcrazy13]

India and Persia in 947 CE

By the end of Jouishka’s reign, the Kingdom of Zunbil had made significant inroads into both Ghur and Makran, thanks to the able generalship of the Houses of Shapur in Bost and a cadet Zunbil house in Zabulistan. Both had taken it on themselves to expand the kingdom’s borders and to create a buffer between the Muslim infidels and the heartlands of the Pashtuni Hindu-Kush.

The Persians were still in the middle of fighting each other and Saffarids were the victum of Zunist opportunism, after decades of war exhaustion. At the southern end of Caspia, in Daylam, there is a last gasp revival of Zoroastrianism (with many “Zunist” flamen abandoning Zunbil for their former faith). The outcome of this rebellion would play out during the reign of Maharaja Shania.

In the East, Indian marriage and inheritance laws had rendered the land into a hodgepodge of messy petty kingdoms with lords owing fealty not on geographical proximity but to ancestral promises and religious alignment. The mightiest of these kingdoms were the Pratiharas of Delhi, Tejapalids of central Rajasthan, the Ratta who’s heir was married to Jouishka’s daughter and the Cholas of Tamilakam in the far south of the Deccan plateau.

The Doolani of Sindh were the last remaining Muslim kingdom in India and Jouishka had attempted to convince them to abandon Allah for Zun in his final years to little avail. For now, they still held strong as the HIndus fought to consolidate power among themselves.

Little news passed on from the North as the Himalayas and the Hindu-Kush formed a formidable barrier to invaders and trade, and the Zunists controlled Bamian, the one major pass from Bactria into the Kush mountains and India.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Maharaja Shania the Crownless

Shania, oldest child and only surviving son of Jouishka, came to power at 43, and immediately took three wives. The first was his half-sister Puun, the second his brother’s widow Rajamati, a princess of the house of Pratihara and lastly Maharani Karmavati, the ruler of Gujarat. From these marriages, he would have seven children – six boys and one daughter but only five would live to adulthood.

The Maharaja and his three Maharanis - Rajamati, Puun and Kamavati

Shania was a contrast to his father where his father was an ambitious kingdom builder, Shania preferred celebrations and maintaining the peace. As such, he forged a web of alliances within his own domain and beyond. His other sister, Firg, was bethrothed to the heir of the Ratta Kingdom on the Deccan plateau by his father Jouishka and Shania would renew that alliance, even befriending him and making him see the light of Zun. Before he and Firg took the throne of Ratta, he was even entrusted with the guardianship of one of Zun’s temples in Ghandhara. When the Rajput finally became Maharaja Amoghavarasha II , he would proselytize among his own people. This attempt would be met with great resistance with many lords rising up in rebellion against this strange new religion. Shania would march his armies in support of his brother-in-law, helping to put down multiple insurrections in Ratta in the next decade.

Shania’s other great alliance was with his bride, Maharani Karmavati of Gujarat. Again, he would spend much Hindustani blood on her campaigns of conquests against the faltering Doolani of Sindh and scattered holdings of Pratihara in Southern Rajasthan. With this, he showed his devotion to his wife and eventually converted her to the path of Zun.

Within his own realm, he would adopt the orphans of his deceased brothers and sisters, raising them in court and eventually granting them influential court positions until he found an opportunity to make a new alliance. Through this, the Shapurid (Sistan) and Udabhandid (Ghandhara) Rajs were kept quiescent. He was also generous with his money, embarking in great temple building projects in Bost and the newly acquired Shapurid holding of Nishanpur both holy sites of Zun. Multan Fort itself flowered through his beneficence as he build many new vineyards, farms and manors. By only pursuing wars fought outside the Zunbil Kingdom in the name of alliances, he kept his own lands peaceful and prosperous. The Shapurids of Sistan were the major exception to this time of peace, aggressively expanding their holdings at the expense of the Muslims of Persia. We’ve already mentioned their capture of Nishanpur but they also captured Sanij and Panjigur from the Saffarids, controlling a domain as large as the rest of Zunbil combined. Shania was content to let them vent their aggression westward but the power of Shapurid would be something all later Maharajas would have to bear in mind.

The wars, feasts, favour trading and building projects placed great pressure on Zunbil’s treasury and the Zunbil himself even had to melt his own crown down to pay his soldiers and workers. Though Shania never went on campaign with his men, he ordered his generals to sack the cities they captured on behalf of Shania’s alliances. These sacks ravaged the Eastern half of Ratta and much of Sindh, making it difficult for his allies to maintain control but Shania was callous about it, knowing he had fulfilled his portion of the bargain to offer aid. The plunder acquired kept his men placid and allowed Shania to maintain his court in Multan.

Maharaja Shania would rule for 22 years, holding the realm together and spreading the faith to new lands in central India. At first glance, his reign would be considered a success but it hid the deep divisions within the Holy Land of Zun. Increasingly, the Shapurids and the other Pashtuni Rajs of the Hindu-Kush felt disassociated from the lowland Hindustani culture of Multan while the finances were broken by his generosity. Ruling through glad-handing and personal relationships meant little would carry over to his successor who would face an incredibly stressful time after ascending to the seat of Zunbil.

In 969 CE, Shania would be struck down by consumption and pass on soon after and his oldest son, Nuhunzuk would succeed him.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Maharaja Nukunzuk

The Zunist faith enshrined honesty, justice and bravery as the most important virtues of his people. Nukunzuk would champion these traits throughout his long reign. Within his realm, he was known for his piety, holding many great sacrifices to Zun and inviting all the low and great to attend. For nobles accused of crimes, he would defer to Zun’s judgement – placing them on a great flat rock to endure the sun for three days without food or water. If they survived the ordeal from the Most High One, they would be proclaimed innocent in the eyes of king and god.

His initial years of rule would be trying, placing incredible stress upon the young Maharaja as he attempted to live up to the ideals of Zunism, the expectations of a king and maintain the diplomatic ties his father had built up inside and outside his realm. Within his realm, Nukunzuk had two major issues to contend with – the Shapurids of Bost and Sistan, and the recently acquired territories of Kashmir, acquired late in his father’s reign. Kashmir was supposed to be the inheritance of Nukunzuk’s brother Wagra but he died young before siring any children and the land returned to the crown. Along with Kashmir, he inherited the restive vassals of the land who refused to kneel before Zun, holding strong to their Vajrayana faith. Led by Satish Utpala, last remaining scion of that famed dynasty, they would prove a stumbling block to the reforms that Nukunzuk sought for the throne of Zunbil. Learning from the playbook from his father, he would offer generous terms to Thakur Satish, reducing his feudal duties and granting gifts of gold in return for loyalty. Similar measures were taken to bring the Shapurids on-side including a promise of a royal marriage to one of Nukunzuk’s children.

The lands of Zunbil in 981 showing the domains of each of the Great Houses

The other Great Houses of Zunbil would also be made to swear new oaths of loyalty in return for promises of gold and reductions of their military obligations. Kabulistan was now ruled by his brother Piduk who would form the cadet house Pidukid which he would extend his protection to against the covetous eyes of the Udabhandid of Ghandhara while he consolidated control of Kashmir through a fortunate claimant, the Lady Dhruradevi of house Shagari, arriving in Multan seeking his aid to restore her to the Raj of Pamiri. The war for her claim was over quickly as the Maharaja’s Mountaineers proved decisive and converted to Zunism in gratitude. Lastly the house of Huspasin ruled Zabulistan and Ghur. The Huspasin was another cadet house of Zunbil, descended from the great Firuz through his daughter Man. Content with their mountain realm, they would rarely get themselves involved in realm politics.

When the stresses of realm management and vassal politics grew too much for Nukunzuk, he would often indulge in his pastimes of wrestling or foot races through the mountain, often challenging his courtiers to competitions. He was also known to confide in his sister, wife and lover, Rajpuri Nana.

Maharaja Nukunzuk would prove to be a great lawmaker instituting several great reforms to centralize control of the realm. In his reign, it would become forbidden for external claimants to inherit Zunbil lands. He would also reduce the taxation and levies demands within his domain, spurring economic growth and professionalising the army to a greater degree. By the end of his reign, there was a 3,000 men professional army based in Multan and loyal only to the Maharaja. But his greatest goal was the creation of a more egalitarian society. He pushed through equal inheritance laws and allow women to serve in the military. Though he was later forced to walk back the inheritance laws near the end of his reign by pressure from his sons supported by the traditionalist Zunist clergy, the precedent had been set and would come back into play in the later centuries.

The Zunbil would spend the later half of his reign significantly expanding his realm, completing the conquest of Punjab, Makran and Kashmir. Combined with the slow but growing presence of Zunism in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the faith had expanded wider than any flamen of Firuz’s day had hoped or dreamt of. With the later conversions of the Emir of Jubal Kufs and the Maharaja of Delhi, Multan was situated in the middle of a continually expanding Zunist lake.

Nukunzuk was a great king, renowned for his fairness and he would rule for 38 years and his four sons would enjoy that bounty of fairness. His oldest, Shania, would take the seat of Zunbil but his other sons would also all be raised as kings. Kur would take the throne of Punjab, Kalan would be the Maharaja of Kashmir and his children would become Kings of Kashmir and Delhi through a well planned marriage and his youngest Gatfar would be the Maharaja of Makran. Fulfilling his promise to the Shapurids, Gatfur was also betrothed to Alow, the ruler of Sistan and their children would be Shapurids, not Zunbils.

In 1007, the reformer Maharaj Nukunzuk would die of heart failure and the single unified realm of Zunbil was no more. He stated that his goal with such a succession was to ensure that Zunism would no longer be dependent on a single ruler but that each Maharaja would be entrusted to spread the faith and keep his fellows on the path of righteousness.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Maharaja Shania II the Spawn of Darkness

Shania II ascended to the throne of Multan in 1007 CE, aged 37. He had been trained for war his whole life and even took the seat on his father’s council as the Zunbil’s Warmaster. While much of this history has focused on Zunism, there’s also the cultural roots of the Zunbils. Descended from Hephthalites or Sveta-huna in Sanskrit, this nomadic people’s stronghold was always Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, in ancient Bactria. The Hephthalites may have originally migrated from the East, through the Pamir Mountains, possibly from the area of Badakhshan. Alternatively, they may have migrated from the Altai region, among the waves of invading Huns. What mattered to Nukunzuk was the eventual reclamation of the Hepthalite heartlands, a mission he would task his son with.

He enjoyed a good relationship with his brothers, being the senior by at least 10 years over any of them. Kalan, Kur and Gatfar would accept the primacy of the throne of Zunbil and were content with their own kingdoms, allowing Shania free reign to focus on his Zun-sent mission. Already, he had a toe-hold in the region, when his grandfather Shania I had captured East Tokherestan on behalf of a petitioner to his court, Aurang Samanjan. He raised his armies and aimed to test the defences of the Khudids, the rulers of all Transoxiana by taking Balkh.

The Khudids were originally from Khorasan and had supplanted the original Samanids for control of the Grand Amirate after they pressed their claim to the throne. The Samanids were relegated to the holdings Shania II eyed – the Amirates of Balkh and Khuttal. The campaign went as planned with Shania leading his armies in person against the Amir-e Amiran Turaj Samzde. At the Battle of Andkhud, he would break the core of the Khudid’s army, slaughtering 9,000 of the Maturidi defenders. Peace was quickly secured and Balkh would be transferred to the Zunbil’s control as part of the resulting peace treaty.

Riding high on this victory, Shania would continue his wars of aggression against the Tahirids of Khorasan, capturing Herat, and seizing all of Northern Sindh from the faltering Doolani. It seemed to promise much for the rest of his reign. Unfortunately, further campaigning would be cut short in 1014 with the return of the pox. It had last afflicted Multan during the time of Jouishka, ravaging noble and poor alike. This time was no different and even the precaution of secluding the court was no defence. It would kill about a quarter of Multan’s citizens and as the Maharaja sought ever more desperate wards and cures for his people, a dark rumor arose among pious Zunists that Shania had made pacts with the Darkness, the anathema of the great sun lord.

Prior to the plague of the pox, Shania was known to dabble in fertility rituals of suspicious provenance to overcome his inability to sire an heir. He married his sister Arduksh as per Zunist tradition but took on another bride, Mapressey Afrigan, supposedly chosen for her fertility but no child would be born of these marriages. Suspiciously though in 1011 CE, a child was presented to the court as the daughter of Shania and Arduksh. Court officials did not report any pregnancy and the child, Rajkumari Man, did not seem to take after either parent. The common folk whispered that it was a Child of Darkness and that the Maharaja had made deals with the Shadow to keep his line going.

The plague was said to be Zun’s vengeance for this blasphemy and Shania would be struck down in 1017, first taking his handsome features and then taking his soul. Man would be the first female Zunbil and the first child to take the throne, aged six.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Hi everyone, unfortunately I've run into a campaign ending mod-clash/bug state. I use a mod to make the Black Death have a random start date and it triggered inside Man's reign. Combined with the disease effects of the mods Unpredictable Character Stories and Sinews of War, it has proceeded to wipe out almost every character in the game. I've been trying a few different fixes but to no avail and I can't keep characters alive without heavily boosting their health. It's persisted for 20+ years in-game and does not seem to be going away so I have to call an end to the AAR.

Thank you everyone for reading and for sharing your comments, and I'll learn from this so hopefully the next AAR will not fall apart.