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This is insanely good. Will be keenly following with interest!
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it and look forward to your thoughts as we move forward.
Now we're back to our regularly scheduled update by completing the look at the world.
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Interlude: The World in 667 AD (Part 2)
Interlude: The World in 667 AD (Part 2)
The Rashidun Caliphate
After the death of the prophet Muhammed in 637 AD, there was a civil war or Fitna among Muslims on who should succeed him. Many of the Quraysh, the most powerful tribe, felt that the prophet sought to have the community choose their new leader or Caliph while others especially those who journeyed to Medina with him wanted someone of his bloodline to continue to lead the Muslims. There were those who were with the prophet in his last days and said that he chose Ali, his son-in-law as his successor. They were not involved in the first Fitna but would come back to play a role in the next century.
Muhammed had four sons but the oldest died young and his second son, Husan, was only twelve when the prophet died. The Qurayshi nominated Umar from among themselves as the new Caliph but the supporters of the blood, or Sayyidis as the faction for Husan came to be called, began preparing for war. From 637 AD to 639 AD, the Hejaz saw many battles and running skirmishes as both sides sought to gain the extra hand. The Qurayshi promoted Arab and tribal dominance with the Quraysh at the top of the pyramid while the Sayyidis presented a more egalitarian stance as long as the bloodline of Muhammed ruled. The latter drew more supporters over time as the war expanded to encompass the Himyarite kingdom and the desert interior. When Umar passed in 639 AD and the Qurayshi could not agree on a successor, Husan marched into Medina and reclaimed his father’s city and ended the Fitna.
Husan now old enough to rule on his own set his sights on Mesopotamia. The weak successor states of Parsae were caught by surprise with Kufa, Baghdad and Samarra all falling in short order. From there, the Arab armies captured the Jazira, Pars and Medea within a decade. Most scholars believe infighting among the Persian kings had weakened and distracted them from the surprise threat from the south as they viewed the desert as barbaric and only fit for raiders. They used this thesis for a long time to justify the weakness of Christians and Zoroastrians against the new faith – you can smell the tinge of religious bigotry in their words. Modern scholarship tells us that the Arab armies were well-equipped and that their campaigns were planned acts of conquest, not lucky victories by bandits.
Caliph Husan did not destroy the old order in Persia and Babylonia. He accepted the fealty of many of the old Persian dynasties, such as the Arzunids, Vivanids and Smerdids and did not enforce religious conversion on his new subjects. This perhaps explains why revolts were few and far between in the early decades of the Caliphate as a central authority restored stability in the land wracked by conflict. Only in the West did the Caliph fail in his attempt to take Jerusalem when he met the organised ranks of the Achaemenid army under Orodes III. Despite the failure in Jerusalem, Husan is a capable strategist and a brilliant ruler. He will be known in the history books as The Hawk for his military acumen and far-sighted policies that will see the Caliphate prosper for centuries.
Islam took time to grow beyond Arabia as the Caliphate were content to collect the Jizya taxes to fund further Jihads but a strong core of believers began growing along the Euphrates and Tigris as many came to see the light of the new religion. In the south, the Caliphate had also made some gains in East Africa, establishing the Sultanate of Avalites in Ethiopia and expanding against the pagans of Macrobia and the ancient Kushites, still ruled by the Meroid dynasty.
The Zoroastrian Frontier
In eastern Persia stand the kingdoms of Parthia, Ariana, Amul and Makran. These are the Zoroastrian kings who refused to bend the knee to the Caliph and now hold off his mujahideen from expanding eastward. The apocalyptic nature of the Muslim conquest in the Persian heartlands has traumatised the religion and many prophets and saviours have arisen in these lands promoting their own variations and cults of Zoroastrian worship. It’s said that Shah Datis of Ariana is a believer in one such cult, becoming a Mazdakite. Promoting egalitarian ownership of property and an eternal war against the demons of avarice, wrath and envy, the Mazdakites are rapidly gaining in popularity as a response to oscillating religious fervour and military losses.
India
In 589 AD, the Pandya empire collapsed after a similar tale of succession wars and untimely deaths. Despite this, the Pandyas still held significant holdings along the Western coast of India, including Anupa, Debal, and Gujarat. More interestingly, Pandyan decline saw a resurgence in the ancient Mauryan dynasty. They had initially been forced out of India and into Burma in the 2nd century AD where they had rebuilt their strength. In 632 AD, they struck back against the Pandya usurpers, claiming the rich river delta of the Bay of Bengal and much of the middle Ganges. A new Chandragupta, the conqueror reborn, is eager to establish dominion over the sub-continent but he is reaching the end of his years and his empire will soon be fought over by his two surviving sons.
Through the long centuries of Tamil rules by the Pandya, much of the sub-continent has taken on their cultural aspects creating a vast population that share cultural traits and view each other as kin, similar to Han Chinese. The incredible digestive powers of India has integrated Tibetans, Eranians and Turkic people into the near-monolithic Sinhala-Tamil culture and Vaishnava faith.
The Rashidun Caliphate
After the death of the prophet Muhammed in 637 AD, there was a civil war or Fitna among Muslims on who should succeed him. Many of the Quraysh, the most powerful tribe, felt that the prophet sought to have the community choose their new leader or Caliph while others especially those who journeyed to Medina with him wanted someone of his bloodline to continue to lead the Muslims. There were those who were with the prophet in his last days and said that he chose Ali, his son-in-law as his successor. They were not involved in the first Fitna but would come back to play a role in the next century.
Muhammed had four sons but the oldest died young and his second son, Husan, was only twelve when the prophet died. The Qurayshi nominated Umar from among themselves as the new Caliph but the supporters of the blood, or Sayyidis as the faction for Husan came to be called, began preparing for war. From 637 AD to 639 AD, the Hejaz saw many battles and running skirmishes as both sides sought to gain the extra hand. The Qurayshi promoted Arab and tribal dominance with the Quraysh at the top of the pyramid while the Sayyidis presented a more egalitarian stance as long as the bloodline of Muhammed ruled. The latter drew more supporters over time as the war expanded to encompass the Himyarite kingdom and the desert interior. When Umar passed in 639 AD and the Qurayshi could not agree on a successor, Husan marched into Medina and reclaimed his father’s city and ended the Fitna.
Husan now old enough to rule on his own set his sights on Mesopotamia. The weak successor states of Parsae were caught by surprise with Kufa, Baghdad and Samarra all falling in short order. From there, the Arab armies captured the Jazira, Pars and Medea within a decade. Most scholars believe infighting among the Persian kings had weakened and distracted them from the surprise threat from the south as they viewed the desert as barbaric and only fit for raiders. They used this thesis for a long time to justify the weakness of Christians and Zoroastrians against the new faith – you can smell the tinge of religious bigotry in their words. Modern scholarship tells us that the Arab armies were well-equipped and that their campaigns were planned acts of conquest, not lucky victories by bandits.
Caliph Husan did not destroy the old order in Persia and Babylonia. He accepted the fealty of many of the old Persian dynasties, such as the Arzunids, Vivanids and Smerdids and did not enforce religious conversion on his new subjects. This perhaps explains why revolts were few and far between in the early decades of the Caliphate as a central authority restored stability in the land wracked by conflict. Only in the West did the Caliph fail in his attempt to take Jerusalem when he met the organised ranks of the Achaemenid army under Orodes III. Despite the failure in Jerusalem, Husan is a capable strategist and a brilliant ruler. He will be known in the history books as The Hawk for his military acumen and far-sighted policies that will see the Caliphate prosper for centuries.
Islam took time to grow beyond Arabia as the Caliphate were content to collect the Jizya taxes to fund further Jihads but a strong core of believers began growing along the Euphrates and Tigris as many came to see the light of the new religion. In the south, the Caliphate had also made some gains in East Africa, establishing the Sultanate of Avalites in Ethiopia and expanding against the pagans of Macrobia and the ancient Kushites, still ruled by the Meroid dynasty.
The Zoroastrian Frontier
India
In 589 AD, the Pandya empire collapsed after a similar tale of succession wars and untimely deaths. Despite this, the Pandyas still held significant holdings along the Western coast of India, including Anupa, Debal, and Gujarat. More interestingly, Pandyan decline saw a resurgence in the ancient Mauryan dynasty. They had initially been forced out of India and into Burma in the 2nd century AD where they had rebuilt their strength. In 632 AD, they struck back against the Pandya usurpers, claiming the rich river delta of the Bay of Bengal and much of the middle Ganges. A new Chandragupta, the conqueror reborn, is eager to establish dominion over the sub-continent but he is reaching the end of his years and his empire will soon be fought over by his two surviving sons.
Through the long centuries of Tamil rules by the Pandya, much of the sub-continent has taken on their cultural aspects creating a vast population that share cultural traits and view each other as kin, similar to Han Chinese. The incredible digestive powers of India has integrated Tibetans, Eranians and Turkic people into the near-monolithic Sinhala-Tamil culture and Vaishnava faith.
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Islam certainly's got a whole different early history in this timeline. Wonder how it will continue.
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The Muslim Conquests & The Brothers’ War (677 AD – 708 AD)
The Muslim Conquests & The Brothers’ War (677 AD – 708 AD)
A Short History of Achaemenid Rome
With the passing of the Silver Prince, the empire was divided among his three sons. The middle son, Artabanus, took Rome and Italy for himself intending to carve his own independent domain in the old Roman Empire. While his reign initially promised to restore prosperity to the peninsular, he would get bogged down into the dynastic politics of the Romans as the various offshoots of the old Imperial House of Ulpius challenged his control and sought to increase their own influence. Despite these challenges, he did bring Magna Graecia into the fold of the empire, subjugating Rex Leo Ulpius-Panormus and perhaps given enough time, he might have established a strong dynasty in Rome.
Artabanus’ issue was a lack of heirs. He had three daughters with his lawful wife, a noblewoman from Caucasian Albania and no sons. When he produced a bastard son of unknown provenance in 680 AD, the rumour mill went into overdrive – that he was not a true Achaemenid but adopted from gutter. With his daughters married off into the Houses of the Ulpians, this boy Raksh was designated Artabanus’ successor and it was just in time. Continued intrigue would plague Achaemenid-Rome and Artabanus was assassinated in 688 AD. Raksh was now the Imperator under the regency of his stepmom, Azadeh who despised the boy for superceding her trueborn children. Raksh would grow into a committed but indecisive ruler. The lack of a father figure and a poor understanding of the politics of Italy meant that his 17 years of rule was never as effective as it could be before his own assassination in 706 AD, dying without issue. Rome would pass to his vizier, Ahura Bagratid and Rome would once again fall back into civil war and infighting.
A side note – these Bagratids are the descendants of the Bagratids that overthrew the Argeads in the late 5th century. They had lost most of their influence in the Achaemenid Empire but survived in isolated holdings in the Levant and Italy, becoming famed as scholars and often becoming part of the Orthodox Church hierarchy. Many of the original Great Houses of Old Achaemania survived through the ages and we’ll see the Vivanids, Metillius and Arzunids pop up continuously in the narrative.
Shahanshah Orodes IV & Shah Daeva
While Orodes IV, the oldest one of the Silver Prince, was being crowned in Achaemeniyya, his brother, Daeva, took the seat of Jerusalem as his own. Orodes was pious, brave and loyal to his family and friends. He was later beatified for his devotion to the Church, his valiant defence against the Muslims and his Christ-like sense of empathy. Daeva on the other hand was ambitious and bitter that he was a mere king when his brothers were emperors. He was also brilliant in ways that his older brothers were not that fed into his own sense of injustice in the inheritance.
Daeva would also become known as an incorrigible sinner. He took his own sister, Anahita, as a lover and together, they sired three sons. He would never marry but had her sit beside him in his court like a queen. Orodes IV while disgusted with such perversion never condemned his brother or sister and even legitimised their oldest child, Darius, as a token of brotherly love. In this action and in the vindictiveness of the line of Daeva, the seeds of familial conflict would grow between Houses of Achaemenid and Daeva’s bastards.
Immediately upon taking the throne, Orodes IV was comfortable in the defences established by his father against the Caliphate. He tasked Daeva with building a field army for the Southern defences while he focused on the increasingly problematic Dacian provinces. Daeva would take advantage of the imperial funding to build a new professional army and augment it with auxiliaries from the local provinces to create a formidable fighting force. Jerusalem became an increasingly militarised city with a standing army of 12,000 men and able to bring to bear almost 20,000 soldiers if needed. Daeva would also increase taxation on pilgrims and increase the amount of productive land being worked on in his domains. Over the next decade, Daeva would become one of the richest magnates in the realm and have enough independent resources to rival Orodes IV in Achaemeniyya.
The Caliphate Strikes
Daeva sought to subjugate the East under his own rule and had already made inroads in Syria, capturing Damascus and Beirut. The Caliphate had been quiescent for more than a decade and the Achaemenids calculated that the Muslims would continue to look East for easier conquests. When Caliph Husam died under mysterious circumstances, his son Muhammed II succeeded him and immediately called for a Jihad for Syria to legitimise his rule. The boy was 11 and eager to outdo his father who had captured the ‘soft’ Middle East.
Syria was relatively undefended compared to Jerusalem. Achaemenid strategic thinking was that the mujahideen would strike for the city first in holy crusade. Daeva’s armies were already active in Syria subjugating the local lords but he refused the call by Orodes to defend the province. Retreating to Damascus, he only offered token resistance against the Muslim invaders while he awaited to see how Orodes’ armies performed. The Shahanshah would arrive six months later with a large host but struggled to outmanoeuvre around the Jihadis. In several stinging defeats, the great Achaemenid army lost thousands of men as the desert warriors refused to offer pitched battle but instead struck in night raids and constant harassment.
The Arabs, sensing weakness would begin to range farther in search of Achaemenid armies to fight. When 40,000 men marched south, Daeva, abandoned Damascus and retreated to his citadel city. The Arab armies finally caught up with him at Hebron but he had established a trap there, cleanly defeating the overextended enemy. It was the smallest of victory in the larger scheme of things. For his refusal to support his brother, Daeva lost his holdings in Damascus and Beirut while all of Syria was lost to the Achaemenids. The empire was now split in the middle and Byzantine army was shown that it faced an enemy where no easy victory could be won.
Daeva, Champion of the Coptic Church
Egypt, Syria and Jerusalem had always supported large numbers of Monophysite Copts and Syriac Church followers. According to Chalcedon, they were schismatics and bordered on heretics. With Syria now lost and Egypt and Jerusalem only accessible by Sea, Daeva took this opportunity to gain the favour of the population by supporting their faith. He denounced the Orthodox Patriarch in Achameniyya and replaced the Patriarch of Jerusalem with a Monophysite bishop. Orodes IV wrote angry recriminations to his brother on this travesty and for overstepping his secular authority but the Shahanshah could do little with his armies mauled and the distance from the throne.
In Achaemeniyya, the Ecumenical Patriarch Vishtasp II advised Orodes to establish a monastic military order to fight against the new upstart religion. He said that men who fought for coin would never fight as strongly as those who fought for God. Thus the first holy order, The Order of the Holy Sepulchre was established to support the rightful Orthodox Emperor against heathens and heresies. Daeva used this as propaganda telling the Coptics of the South that their Shahanshah planned to murder their babies in an ‘unholy crusade’ against the true followers of Christ.
There are apocryphal tales that Daeva’s switch to Coptic support was due to an embarrassing meeting with Patriarch Vishtasp who chastised him for failing to support his brother and faith in Syria.
Daeva Takes His Own Empire
Having to bow to his brother always angered Daeva. Orodes aspired for mediocrity when greatness was within reach for an emperor with the wit to grasp it. Now separated from the imperial heartlands and a truce with the Muslims in place, Daeva began to look East at his uncle, Aaron the Strong of the Empire of Hadrametum. Aaron was engaged in defending Upper Egypt from a new Jihad called by Muhammed II and Daeva sensed opportunity. Daeva’s claim to the Empire was from his mother, sister to Aaron, considered a weak one but it was enough for the ambitious man. Daeva sailed his armies to Cyrenaica and Aaron’s capital. With the armies away, the city fell quickly and he had Aaron’s wife and children held hostage. Aaron returned home and was forced to bend the knee, hand over his crown and pledge allegiance to Emperor Daeva. In one fell swoop, Daeva had his own empire that spanned most of the southern coast of the Mediterranean and holdings down along the Arabian Gulf – the old Punic Empire of Hadrametum was now under the control of an Achaemenid once again.
Aware that his empire was not contiguous and having witnessed the weakness it inflicted on his uncle, he declared war on his brother Emperor Orodes to take Lower Egypt. The response from Achaemeniyya was slow and disorganised. Orodes was aware of his brother’s ambition but never imagined that he would attack his own people or brother.
The worst fighting was seen along the Nile Delta in Tandata and Damietta. Achaemenid troops struggled to land in the muddy banks and were often caught by Jerusalemite forces before they could establish a proper beachhead. With the defeat of Exarch Shirin, the ruler of Egypt and her local troops in the Egyptian interior, the matter became a fait accompli and just required Orodes to acknowledge it. In 695 AD, the Shahanshah formally surrendered Egypt to his brother. Pressing issues in Anatolia and Dacia required his attention and he didn’t want to spend any more men on a lost cause.
Daeva would die of fatal apoplexy in 696 AD, just a year after the conquest of Egypt. Never a restful character, the anger within him never subsided and finally contributed to his end. The Empire of Hadrametum and the holdings of Egypt and Jerusalem now passed to his only legitimised son, Darius.
Retreating Frontiers
In parallel with the Egyptian War, Dacia rose up in independence along with Dioskourias (Wallachia and Moldavia). As Orodes IV marched his armies north, news reached him that the Caliph Mohammed II had crossed into Cilicia and his armies were laying siege to Tarsus. Forced to make a hard choice, he abandoned the campaign against the North and gave them their independence.
The Cilician Gates were the key to the Anatolian heartlands and if they fell, he knew it was a matter of time before Arab armies marched on his capital. Despite a valiant fightback, the exhausted Achaemenid armies, demoralised by repeated defeats in Syria and Egypt could not hold back the mujahideen. The famed Ghobadan family, Exarchs of Cilicia, scions of Faramarz Strongarm finally failed in their duty and the path to invasion lay open for the Arabs. Orodes sought to build up new border fortresses in Anatolia and increase naval patrols along Cilicia to harry Muslim efforts but he would not live to see the outcome of these rearguard actions after losing Cilicia.
St Orodes was martyred in 708 AD struck down by assassins hired by Darius, son of Daeva. The three sons failed to meet peaceful ends just like their father and the Achaemenid Empire would continue to suffer for their rivalries long past their deaths.
The Achaemenid Empire and the independent Hadrametum Empire in in 708 AD.
A Short History of Achaemenid Rome
With the passing of the Silver Prince, the empire was divided among his three sons. The middle son, Artabanus, took Rome and Italy for himself intending to carve his own independent domain in the old Roman Empire. While his reign initially promised to restore prosperity to the peninsular, he would get bogged down into the dynastic politics of the Romans as the various offshoots of the old Imperial House of Ulpius challenged his control and sought to increase their own influence. Despite these challenges, he did bring Magna Graecia into the fold of the empire, subjugating Rex Leo Ulpius-Panormus and perhaps given enough time, he might have established a strong dynasty in Rome.
Artabanus’ issue was a lack of heirs. He had three daughters with his lawful wife, a noblewoman from Caucasian Albania and no sons. When he produced a bastard son of unknown provenance in 680 AD, the rumour mill went into overdrive – that he was not a true Achaemenid but adopted from gutter. With his daughters married off into the Houses of the Ulpians, this boy Raksh was designated Artabanus’ successor and it was just in time. Continued intrigue would plague Achaemenid-Rome and Artabanus was assassinated in 688 AD. Raksh was now the Imperator under the regency of his stepmom, Azadeh who despised the boy for superceding her trueborn children. Raksh would grow into a committed but indecisive ruler. The lack of a father figure and a poor understanding of the politics of Italy meant that his 17 years of rule was never as effective as it could be before his own assassination in 706 AD, dying without issue. Rome would pass to his vizier, Ahura Bagratid and Rome would once again fall back into civil war and infighting.
A side note – these Bagratids are the descendants of the Bagratids that overthrew the Argeads in the late 5th century. They had lost most of their influence in the Achaemenid Empire but survived in isolated holdings in the Levant and Italy, becoming famed as scholars and often becoming part of the Orthodox Church hierarchy. Many of the original Great Houses of Old Achaemania survived through the ages and we’ll see the Vivanids, Metillius and Arzunids pop up continuously in the narrative.
Shahanshah Orodes IV & Shah Daeva
While Orodes IV, the oldest one of the Silver Prince, was being crowned in Achaemeniyya, his brother, Daeva, took the seat of Jerusalem as his own. Orodes was pious, brave and loyal to his family and friends. He was later beatified for his devotion to the Church, his valiant defence against the Muslims and his Christ-like sense of empathy. Daeva on the other hand was ambitious and bitter that he was a mere king when his brothers were emperors. He was also brilliant in ways that his older brothers were not that fed into his own sense of injustice in the inheritance.
Immediately upon taking the throne, Orodes IV was comfortable in the defences established by his father against the Caliphate. He tasked Daeva with building a field army for the Southern defences while he focused on the increasingly problematic Dacian provinces. Daeva would take advantage of the imperial funding to build a new professional army and augment it with auxiliaries from the local provinces to create a formidable fighting force. Jerusalem became an increasingly militarised city with a standing army of 12,000 men and able to bring to bear almost 20,000 soldiers if needed. Daeva would also increase taxation on pilgrims and increase the amount of productive land being worked on in his domains. Over the next decade, Daeva would become one of the richest magnates in the realm and have enough independent resources to rival Orodes IV in Achaemeniyya.
The Caliphate Strikes
Daeva sought to subjugate the East under his own rule and had already made inroads in Syria, capturing Damascus and Beirut. The Caliphate had been quiescent for more than a decade and the Achaemenids calculated that the Muslims would continue to look East for easier conquests. When Caliph Husam died under mysterious circumstances, his son Muhammed II succeeded him and immediately called for a Jihad for Syria to legitimise his rule. The boy was 11 and eager to outdo his father who had captured the ‘soft’ Middle East.
Syria was relatively undefended compared to Jerusalem. Achaemenid strategic thinking was that the mujahideen would strike for the city first in holy crusade. Daeva’s armies were already active in Syria subjugating the local lords but he refused the call by Orodes to defend the province. Retreating to Damascus, he only offered token resistance against the Muslim invaders while he awaited to see how Orodes’ armies performed. The Shahanshah would arrive six months later with a large host but struggled to outmanoeuvre around the Jihadis. In several stinging defeats, the great Achaemenid army lost thousands of men as the desert warriors refused to offer pitched battle but instead struck in night raids and constant harassment.
The Arabs, sensing weakness would begin to range farther in search of Achaemenid armies to fight. When 40,000 men marched south, Daeva, abandoned Damascus and retreated to his citadel city. The Arab armies finally caught up with him at Hebron but he had established a trap there, cleanly defeating the overextended enemy. It was the smallest of victory in the larger scheme of things. For his refusal to support his brother, Daeva lost his holdings in Damascus and Beirut while all of Syria was lost to the Achaemenids. The empire was now split in the middle and Byzantine army was shown that it faced an enemy where no easy victory could be won.
Daeva, Champion of the Coptic Church
Egypt, Syria and Jerusalem had always supported large numbers of Monophysite Copts and Syriac Church followers. According to Chalcedon, they were schismatics and bordered on heretics. With Syria now lost and Egypt and Jerusalem only accessible by Sea, Daeva took this opportunity to gain the favour of the population by supporting their faith. He denounced the Orthodox Patriarch in Achameniyya and replaced the Patriarch of Jerusalem with a Monophysite bishop. Orodes IV wrote angry recriminations to his brother on this travesty and for overstepping his secular authority but the Shahanshah could do little with his armies mauled and the distance from the throne.
In Achaemeniyya, the Ecumenical Patriarch Vishtasp II advised Orodes to establish a monastic military order to fight against the new upstart religion. He said that men who fought for coin would never fight as strongly as those who fought for God. Thus the first holy order, The Order of the Holy Sepulchre was established to support the rightful Orthodox Emperor against heathens and heresies. Daeva used this as propaganda telling the Coptics of the South that their Shahanshah planned to murder their babies in an ‘unholy crusade’ against the true followers of Christ.
There are apocryphal tales that Daeva’s switch to Coptic support was due to an embarrassing meeting with Patriarch Vishtasp who chastised him for failing to support his brother and faith in Syria.
Daeva Takes His Own Empire
Having to bow to his brother always angered Daeva. Orodes aspired for mediocrity when greatness was within reach for an emperor with the wit to grasp it. Now separated from the imperial heartlands and a truce with the Muslims in place, Daeva began to look East at his uncle, Aaron the Strong of the Empire of Hadrametum. Aaron was engaged in defending Upper Egypt from a new Jihad called by Muhammed II and Daeva sensed opportunity. Daeva’s claim to the Empire was from his mother, sister to Aaron, considered a weak one but it was enough for the ambitious man. Daeva sailed his armies to Cyrenaica and Aaron’s capital. With the armies away, the city fell quickly and he had Aaron’s wife and children held hostage. Aaron returned home and was forced to bend the knee, hand over his crown and pledge allegiance to Emperor Daeva. In one fell swoop, Daeva had his own empire that spanned most of the southern coast of the Mediterranean and holdings down along the Arabian Gulf – the old Punic Empire of Hadrametum was now under the control of an Achaemenid once again.
Aware that his empire was not contiguous and having witnessed the weakness it inflicted on his uncle, he declared war on his brother Emperor Orodes to take Lower Egypt. The response from Achaemeniyya was slow and disorganised. Orodes was aware of his brother’s ambition but never imagined that he would attack his own people or brother.
The worst fighting was seen along the Nile Delta in Tandata and Damietta. Achaemenid troops struggled to land in the muddy banks and were often caught by Jerusalemite forces before they could establish a proper beachhead. With the defeat of Exarch Shirin, the ruler of Egypt and her local troops in the Egyptian interior, the matter became a fait accompli and just required Orodes to acknowledge it. In 695 AD, the Shahanshah formally surrendered Egypt to his brother. Pressing issues in Anatolia and Dacia required his attention and he didn’t want to spend any more men on a lost cause.
Daeva would die of fatal apoplexy in 696 AD, just a year after the conquest of Egypt. Never a restful character, the anger within him never subsided and finally contributed to his end. The Empire of Hadrametum and the holdings of Egypt and Jerusalem now passed to his only legitimised son, Darius.
Retreating Frontiers
In parallel with the Egyptian War, Dacia rose up in independence along with Dioskourias (Wallachia and Moldavia). As Orodes IV marched his armies north, news reached him that the Caliph Mohammed II had crossed into Cilicia and his armies were laying siege to Tarsus. Forced to make a hard choice, he abandoned the campaign against the North and gave them their independence.
The Cilician Gates were the key to the Anatolian heartlands and if they fell, he knew it was a matter of time before Arab armies marched on his capital. Despite a valiant fightback, the exhausted Achaemenid armies, demoralised by repeated defeats in Syria and Egypt could not hold back the mujahideen. The famed Ghobadan family, Exarchs of Cilicia, scions of Faramarz Strongarm finally failed in their duty and the path to invasion lay open for the Arabs. Orodes sought to build up new border fortresses in Anatolia and increase naval patrols along Cilicia to harry Muslim efforts but he would not live to see the outcome of these rearguard actions after losing Cilicia.
St Orodes was martyred in 708 AD struck down by assassins hired by Darius, son of Daeva. The three sons failed to meet peaceful ends just like their father and the Achaemenid Empire would continue to suffer for their rivalries long past their deaths.
The Achaemenid Empire and the independent Hadrametum Empire in in 708 AD.
Attachments
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Brotherly Love was not a strong suit of Daeva, but sisterly love was another topic entirely. Thanks
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The Achaemenids' fall was, after all, not due to Islam, but due to dynastic infighting. Sad.
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It'll be somewhat familiar though expansion will go in different direction. The change in succession was to fix some issues with the Jihad mechanics as they were not triggering normally initially. It also makes sense in this timeline as Muhammed had sons unlike the OTL
THe Houses of Daeva and Mihran as his descendants are known will be accursed by faithful Orthodox. His name has ancient origins referring to the demons or gods that are accursed in the ancient Zoroastrian Avestan text and his affair with his sister symbolised his godlessness and sinful nature to most Orthodox.
In the 15th century Bulgar-Byzantine text, The Apokatastasis of Shaitan (author unknown), the writer posits that Daeva was the Devil himself sent to test Orodes and rightful Christians. By being in opposition, St Orodes could light the way for the faithful and weather the storm against the tribulations they would face. Make of it what you will.
The Achaemenids' fall was, after all, not due to Islam, but due to dynastic infighting. Sad.
That's an easy take many contemporaries accepted but the Muslims were prepared for war and their capture of more territories will emphasise their skill at battle. The Achaemenid Empire at the end of Orodes IV's life was still mighty and the more compact border might stand a chance against a lesser foe.
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The bonds of kinship have divided, instead of united, the empire at a crucial moment. And it seems these rivalries will continue for a while.
Also, congratulations on being nominated Writer of the Week!
Also, congratulations on being nominated Writer of the Week!
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Thank you both for the congratulations. Your readership has kept me going when I was burning out on this AAR a few weeks ago and I really appreciate it.
It's also a good chance to ask for feedback on things you would like to see more of. I've rarely talked about the game mechanics but if that's of interest, I can add the commentary to help explain how things came about. As a side note, I've played out to 1170 AD - the Mongols are on the horizon - and I'm glad I was not hit by game bugs in the 11th century that plagued my last two AARs.
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Collapse in the East and the Fall of Achaemeniyya (708 AD – 762 AD)
Collapse in the East and the Fall of Achaemeniyya (708 AD – 762 AD)
Losing Anatolia
After the passing of the three brother Emperors, there were now two Darius eager to fight for dominance over the Achaemenid inheritance. Darius Achaemenid, son of Orodes, commanded the empire from Achaemeniyya while Darius Daevas, son of Daeva ruled in Jerusalem and much of the North African coast.
However, before either could continue their family feud, the Muslims struck again. With Cilicia in Muslim hands, the way into Anatolia was open for invasion and 80,000 Jihadis crossed the Taurus Mountains to raid Cappadocia and capture the ancient cities of Anatolia. Darius IV Achaemenid continued the valiant example of his father to stop the invasion but once again the Achaemenid army was outmatched. Cappadocia was lost and just a year later, so was the Shahanshah. His passing came suddenly. The records at this time are more scattered due to the continual chaos of war and intrigue but it’s assumed he was poisoned. He was only 48 years old.
His 19-year-old son, Orodes V, took the throne and was similarly ill-prepared for the Arab crisis. The Provinces of Asia and Nicaea would fall during his tenure and his nobles were growing increasingly dispirited with the weak leadership from Achaemeniyya. Even worse, Orodes V was captured at the Battle of Cappadocia in 713 AD and was forced to ‘revert’ to Islam as a condition for his release. Though the Caliph Mahmud who demanded it knew it was only superficial, the humiliation of a Shahanshah to renounce Christ would forever damage his legitimacy among his own people. Combined with the loss of almost all of Anatolia, Orodes V struggled to gain the support of his nobles or the larger population.
The only thing between the Byzantines and further invasion was the Bosphorus and many spread rumours that the Shahanshah was a secret Muslim after his audience with the Caliph despite his denials. After the death of the Silver Prince, Orodes III, his son, grandson and great-grandson had all been more focused on scholarship and learning. Perhaps the comforts of Achaemeniyya had meant that none had felt the urgency to develop their battlefield or governance skills like the three Steward Kings preceding them. A bookish but not particularly gifted scholar, Orodes V epitomised weakness to his people. So it came without surprise that the Great Houses would clamour for a new Shahanshah, a new Orodes the Great.
St Dastan the Hawk
They would choose Dastan, a grandson of Orodes IV, born to the Orodes’ third son, Darayava. Darayava’s family had been given Alania and the surrounding territories to rule and protect the empire against steppe raiders and mountain tribes in the Ciscaucasian region. They had performed their duties admirably. Darayava himself had died in battle defending Cappadocia and his son, Dastan took up his father’s sword in the war against the infidels. When the Great Houses presented their demands to Orodes V in 726 AD, the Shahanshah voluntarily stepped down instead of tearing apart his realm.
St Dastan the Hawk would do much to stem the bleeding of the empire. He would rebuild the army, moving away from the heavy cavalry components of Orodes the Great to larger infantry contingents that were better suited to defence. Anatolia was lost and he knew the Achaemenids did not have the strength to take the offensive against the Caliphate. He only had to look at the example of Jerusalem and the Mihranids to see the result of that – decades of ruinous tribute and expensive ceasefires to hold their lands. The thirty-year reign of St Dastan would allow the restructuring of the empire’s systems. Without the manpower of Anatolia, he would require conscription and forced levies from the European provinces for defence. Each town was expected to provide a certain amount of manpower based on an assessor’s stipulations and to provide the arms and equipment required to keep the man in the field.
The New Kava system would be a lifeline for the moribund empire as it allowed it establish a new defensive system of field armies that could be raised quickly and in the territories where they were needed. The Imperial Armies including the ancient and famed Immortals were stationed in the capital – half were infantry to stand guard against invasion while the cataphracts and hippo-toxotai or horse archers were deployed as quick reaction forces for attacks from across the Danube or West from Italy. The New Kava system gave more control to the local Satraps and rulers and required the skill of an able and diplomatic ruler like Dastan to ensure everyone pulled in the same direction.
Al-Anatolia, The Islamic Paradise
Many of the Houses that ruled in Anatolia found accommodation with their new Muslim overlords. Initially most were allowed to preserve and practice their Orthodox religion but over time, many converted to Islam for a variety of reasons – both practical and spiritual in nature. Notably the Houses of Beth Narayan controlled Nicaea and its region, and the old Vivanid dynasty would see the cadet houses of Farro and Nowzarid control Eastern and Central Anatolia. Many Arabs and other Muslim reverts migrated to the heartlands of ancient Achaemenia to savour the riches of empire. Armenians, Turks, Persians and Parthians would add to the diversity of the region. Al-Anatolia was revitalised as a dazzling mosaic of cultures, a beacon of intellectual and artistic brilliance. This Islamic state, part of the greater Caliphate, was a time of extraordinary coexistence between Muslims and Christians.
Ikonion, its capital, was a metropolis renowned for its grandeur. Its Great Mosque, a marvel of architecture, stood as a testament to the sophistication and wealth of the realm. Beyond the mosque, the city pulsated with life: bustling markets, exquisite gardens, and renowned libraries adorned its landscape. Al-Anatolia was a centre of learning. Scholars from across the Islamic world flocked to its universities, translating classical Greek texts and making groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and astronomy. The works of Aristotle, Plato, and Euclid found new life in the Arabic & Persian language, paving the way for the European Renaissance centuries later.
The arts flourished in this fertile ground. Music, poetry, and architecture reached unprecedented heights. The intricate designs of Syriac art, with their arabesque patterns and geometric precision, are still admired today. Anatolian cuisine, a fusion of flavours from the East and West, delighted palates and became a hallmark of the region. Beyond the intellectual and artistic pursuits, Al-Anatolia was a prosperous land. Agriculture thrived, with advanced irrigation systems turning the arid plateau into fertile fields. Trade flourished, acting as the intersection of trade between Europe, India and Arabia. The economy was robust, fostering a rich and diverse society.
This paradise would last for more than 300 years, well into the 11th century, surviving the collapse of the Caliphate and resisting invasion from the Bulgarian Achaemenids until a succession crisis in Al-Anatolia allowed the Achaemenids a way to break Islamic power in the region and usher in a new series of upheavals and conflict that would steal away the famous riches and culture of this beacon of civilisation during the Achaemenid Dark Age.
The Mihranids Continue the Daevan Blood Feud
Dastan’s reign had stopped the Muslim advancement into Europe. Instead, the Caliphate looked North and expanded past the Caucasus mountains into the Great Steppe and the lands of the Sarmatians. The invasions had stopped but peace did not come to the empire. There were still annual raids from mujahideen eager to prove their ghazi status and the persistent threat from the Mihranids, the bastard house of Daeva. They had overthrown the Daevas as rulers of Lower Egypt after Darius Daevas died suddenly of illness. Darius’ son, Rostam still ruled Jerusalem and the rest of the North African coast and their feuds were legendary but suited for another book. The founder of the house, Mihran was a wily commander and made sure the Arabs paid dearly in any conflict within the Nile, preventing the region from falling.
The Daevas would over time become friendlier with the Muslims. Accommodation was reached with the Caliphate and Jerusalem was open to Muslim pilgrims to visit the holy city on their way to Mecca. As Rostam and his heirs became friendlier with their neighbours, they found less and less reason to remain Christian, eventually converting to the faith in 764 AD to head off an invasion by a less tolerant Caliph. This gave further flame to the zealotry of the Mihranids who saw themselves as the last true Christians in the region. Many exiles from Dastan’s reign would flee to Alexandria, seeking Mihran the Wolf’s support to claim back their lost holdings and pledge them to the Christian cause in Egypt.
Once again, Dastan had to raise his banners against family (though increasingly distant) but the well-trained Egyptian forces under Mihran, Zarthosht and Eustratios would nibble away at increasingly larger and larger pieces of the empire, primarily in Greece and Thessaly. Dastan would eventually succumb to Typhus in 756 AD trusting his son, Gelon, to continue the defence of the empire. Gelon would sit on the throne for slightly over a year before he was found dead in his bed with a snake bite.
Once again, a young prince, Gelon’s oldest son, was thrust into rulership. Though young, the new Shahanshah Haftvad had been trained in the arts of war for all his life. The reigning Caliph Jalil I was fresh off his campaign to subjugate the Berber tribes of Waddan and was eager to see if the grandson was made of the same mettle as Dastan.
The Fall of Achaemeniyya
The Caliph assembled the largest Muslim host yet seen for the siege. 200,000 men led by his senior general and brother, Ya’qub, and the siege was conducted with unprecedented ferocity. Achaemeniyya was encircled both by land and sea. The Arabs employed various siege engines, including catapults and battering rams, to breach the city walls and often used psychological tactics, spreading rumours of impending doom and promising lenient terms of surrender to demoralize the defenders.
On January 1st, 762 AD, the sea walls were breached and the Muslims poured in, sacking the city. When Achaemeniyya’s gates finally yielded, the city was subjected to a horrifying ordeal. For three days, the mujahideen unleashed a torrent of violence and plunder. Churches were desecrated, priceless relics and artworks were stolen or destroyed, and the city's wealth was systematically stripped. The once-magnificent metropolis was reduced to a shadow of its former self. The loss of their capital, a city that served as the linchpin of Achaemenid power and prestige, was catastrophic for Byzantine morale and strategy
The immediate consequences were apparent for both sides. The strategic Bosporus Strait, vital for trade and naval control, passed into Muslim hands. The economic implications for the Caliphate were profound. The influx of wealth, coupled with the control of this crucial waterway, solidified the Hashimid dynasty's position as a dominant force in the Mediterranean. The Achaemenids fell into disarray as Haftvad retreated to Cyprus to regroup his forces while facing the twin threats of Mihranid aggression in Greece and Arab invasions from Anatolia. Now only left with Macedonia and parts of Illyria and Greece, the Empire was a rump state and the Balkans would become a battleground to the new powers of Mihran and Hashimid with the Achaemenids a chew toy between them.
It seemed that the end times had come for Christians like this moving lament penned by Lazlara, sister to Haftvad, after they had evacuated from the city and their palace:
Oh City, fortified City of the King of Kings,
Tabernacle of the most high, Praise and song of His servants and beloved refuge for strangers.
Queen of the Queen of Cities, Song of songs and splendour, of splendours and the rarest vision of the rare wonders of the world.
Who is it that has torn us away from you like darling children from their adoring mother? What shall become of us? Where shall we go?
What consolation shall we find in our nakedness torn from your bosom as from a mother's womb? When shall we look on you not as you now are?
A plane of desolation and a valley of weeping, trampled by armies and despised and rejected, but exalted and restored, revered by those who humbled you and provoked you. As we left the city behind, I threw myself just as I was on the ground and reproached the walls. If what you were built to protect is no more, for what purpose do you still stand?
We went forth weeping and casting our lamentations like seeds.
Losing Anatolia
After the passing of the three brother Emperors, there were now two Darius eager to fight for dominance over the Achaemenid inheritance. Darius Achaemenid, son of Orodes, commanded the empire from Achaemeniyya while Darius Daevas, son of Daeva ruled in Jerusalem and much of the North African coast.
However, before either could continue their family feud, the Muslims struck again. With Cilicia in Muslim hands, the way into Anatolia was open for invasion and 80,000 Jihadis crossed the Taurus Mountains to raid Cappadocia and capture the ancient cities of Anatolia. Darius IV Achaemenid continued the valiant example of his father to stop the invasion but once again the Achaemenid army was outmatched. Cappadocia was lost and just a year later, so was the Shahanshah. His passing came suddenly. The records at this time are more scattered due to the continual chaos of war and intrigue but it’s assumed he was poisoned. He was only 48 years old.
His 19-year-old son, Orodes V, took the throne and was similarly ill-prepared for the Arab crisis. The Provinces of Asia and Nicaea would fall during his tenure and his nobles were growing increasingly dispirited with the weak leadership from Achaemeniyya. Even worse, Orodes V was captured at the Battle of Cappadocia in 713 AD and was forced to ‘revert’ to Islam as a condition for his release. Though the Caliph Mahmud who demanded it knew it was only superficial, the humiliation of a Shahanshah to renounce Christ would forever damage his legitimacy among his own people. Combined with the loss of almost all of Anatolia, Orodes V struggled to gain the support of his nobles or the larger population.
The only thing between the Byzantines and further invasion was the Bosphorus and many spread rumours that the Shahanshah was a secret Muslim after his audience with the Caliph despite his denials. After the death of the Silver Prince, Orodes III, his son, grandson and great-grandson had all been more focused on scholarship and learning. Perhaps the comforts of Achaemeniyya had meant that none had felt the urgency to develop their battlefield or governance skills like the three Steward Kings preceding them. A bookish but not particularly gifted scholar, Orodes V epitomised weakness to his people. So it came without surprise that the Great Houses would clamour for a new Shahanshah, a new Orodes the Great.
St Dastan the Hawk
They would choose Dastan, a grandson of Orodes IV, born to the Orodes’ third son, Darayava. Darayava’s family had been given Alania and the surrounding territories to rule and protect the empire against steppe raiders and mountain tribes in the Ciscaucasian region. They had performed their duties admirably. Darayava himself had died in battle defending Cappadocia and his son, Dastan took up his father’s sword in the war against the infidels. When the Great Houses presented their demands to Orodes V in 726 AD, the Shahanshah voluntarily stepped down instead of tearing apart his realm.
St Dastan the Hawk would do much to stem the bleeding of the empire. He would rebuild the army, moving away from the heavy cavalry components of Orodes the Great to larger infantry contingents that were better suited to defence. Anatolia was lost and he knew the Achaemenids did not have the strength to take the offensive against the Caliphate. He only had to look at the example of Jerusalem and the Mihranids to see the result of that – decades of ruinous tribute and expensive ceasefires to hold their lands. The thirty-year reign of St Dastan would allow the restructuring of the empire’s systems. Without the manpower of Anatolia, he would require conscription and forced levies from the European provinces for defence. Each town was expected to provide a certain amount of manpower based on an assessor’s stipulations and to provide the arms and equipment required to keep the man in the field.
The New Kava system would be a lifeline for the moribund empire as it allowed it establish a new defensive system of field armies that could be raised quickly and in the territories where they were needed. The Imperial Armies including the ancient and famed Immortals were stationed in the capital – half were infantry to stand guard against invasion while the cataphracts and hippo-toxotai or horse archers were deployed as quick reaction forces for attacks from across the Danube or West from Italy. The New Kava system gave more control to the local Satraps and rulers and required the skill of an able and diplomatic ruler like Dastan to ensure everyone pulled in the same direction.
Al-Anatolia, The Islamic Paradise
Many of the Houses that ruled in Anatolia found accommodation with their new Muslim overlords. Initially most were allowed to preserve and practice their Orthodox religion but over time, many converted to Islam for a variety of reasons – both practical and spiritual in nature. Notably the Houses of Beth Narayan controlled Nicaea and its region, and the old Vivanid dynasty would see the cadet houses of Farro and Nowzarid control Eastern and Central Anatolia. Many Arabs and other Muslim reverts migrated to the heartlands of ancient Achaemenia to savour the riches of empire. Armenians, Turks, Persians and Parthians would add to the diversity of the region. Al-Anatolia was revitalised as a dazzling mosaic of cultures, a beacon of intellectual and artistic brilliance. This Islamic state, part of the greater Caliphate, was a time of extraordinary coexistence between Muslims and Christians.
Ikonion, its capital, was a metropolis renowned for its grandeur. Its Great Mosque, a marvel of architecture, stood as a testament to the sophistication and wealth of the realm. Beyond the mosque, the city pulsated with life: bustling markets, exquisite gardens, and renowned libraries adorned its landscape. Al-Anatolia was a centre of learning. Scholars from across the Islamic world flocked to its universities, translating classical Greek texts and making groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and astronomy. The works of Aristotle, Plato, and Euclid found new life in the Arabic & Persian language, paving the way for the European Renaissance centuries later.
The arts flourished in this fertile ground. Music, poetry, and architecture reached unprecedented heights. The intricate designs of Syriac art, with their arabesque patterns and geometric precision, are still admired today. Anatolian cuisine, a fusion of flavours from the East and West, delighted palates and became a hallmark of the region. Beyond the intellectual and artistic pursuits, Al-Anatolia was a prosperous land. Agriculture thrived, with advanced irrigation systems turning the arid plateau into fertile fields. Trade flourished, acting as the intersection of trade between Europe, India and Arabia. The economy was robust, fostering a rich and diverse society.
This paradise would last for more than 300 years, well into the 11th century, surviving the collapse of the Caliphate and resisting invasion from the Bulgarian Achaemenids until a succession crisis in Al-Anatolia allowed the Achaemenids a way to break Islamic power in the region and usher in a new series of upheavals and conflict that would steal away the famous riches and culture of this beacon of civilisation during the Achaemenid Dark Age.
The Mihranids Continue the Daevan Blood Feud
Dastan’s reign had stopped the Muslim advancement into Europe. Instead, the Caliphate looked North and expanded past the Caucasus mountains into the Great Steppe and the lands of the Sarmatians. The invasions had stopped but peace did not come to the empire. There were still annual raids from mujahideen eager to prove their ghazi status and the persistent threat from the Mihranids, the bastard house of Daeva. They had overthrown the Daevas as rulers of Lower Egypt after Darius Daevas died suddenly of illness. Darius’ son, Rostam still ruled Jerusalem and the rest of the North African coast and their feuds were legendary but suited for another book. The founder of the house, Mihran was a wily commander and made sure the Arabs paid dearly in any conflict within the Nile, preventing the region from falling.
The Daevas would over time become friendlier with the Muslims. Accommodation was reached with the Caliphate and Jerusalem was open to Muslim pilgrims to visit the holy city on their way to Mecca. As Rostam and his heirs became friendlier with their neighbours, they found less and less reason to remain Christian, eventually converting to the faith in 764 AD to head off an invasion by a less tolerant Caliph. This gave further flame to the zealotry of the Mihranids who saw themselves as the last true Christians in the region. Many exiles from Dastan’s reign would flee to Alexandria, seeking Mihran the Wolf’s support to claim back their lost holdings and pledge them to the Christian cause in Egypt.
Once again, Dastan had to raise his banners against family (though increasingly distant) but the well-trained Egyptian forces under Mihran, Zarthosht and Eustratios would nibble away at increasingly larger and larger pieces of the empire, primarily in Greece and Thessaly. Dastan would eventually succumb to Typhus in 756 AD trusting his son, Gelon, to continue the defence of the empire. Gelon would sit on the throne for slightly over a year before he was found dead in his bed with a snake bite.
Once again, a young prince, Gelon’s oldest son, was thrust into rulership. Though young, the new Shahanshah Haftvad had been trained in the arts of war for all his life. The reigning Caliph Jalil I was fresh off his campaign to subjugate the Berber tribes of Waddan and was eager to see if the grandson was made of the same mettle as Dastan.
The Fall of Achaemeniyya
On January 1st, 762 AD, the sea walls were breached and the Muslims poured in, sacking the city. When Achaemeniyya’s gates finally yielded, the city was subjected to a horrifying ordeal. For three days, the mujahideen unleashed a torrent of violence and plunder. Churches were desecrated, priceless relics and artworks were stolen or destroyed, and the city's wealth was systematically stripped. The once-magnificent metropolis was reduced to a shadow of its former self. The loss of their capital, a city that served as the linchpin of Achaemenid power and prestige, was catastrophic for Byzantine morale and strategy
The immediate consequences were apparent for both sides. The strategic Bosporus Strait, vital for trade and naval control, passed into Muslim hands. The economic implications for the Caliphate were profound. The influx of wealth, coupled with the control of this crucial waterway, solidified the Hashimid dynasty's position as a dominant force in the Mediterranean. The Achaemenids fell into disarray as Haftvad retreated to Cyprus to regroup his forces while facing the twin threats of Mihranid aggression in Greece and Arab invasions from Anatolia. Now only left with Macedonia and parts of Illyria and Greece, the Empire was a rump state and the Balkans would become a battleground to the new powers of Mihran and Hashimid with the Achaemenids a chew toy between them.
It seemed that the end times had come for Christians like this moving lament penned by Lazlara, sister to Haftvad, after they had evacuated from the city and their palace:
Oh City, fortified City of the King of Kings,
Tabernacle of the most high, Praise and song of His servants and beloved refuge for strangers.
Queen of the Queen of Cities, Song of songs and splendour, of splendours and the rarest vision of the rare wonders of the world.
Who is it that has torn us away from you like darling children from their adoring mother? What shall become of us? Where shall we go?
What consolation shall we find in our nakedness torn from your bosom as from a mother's womb? When shall we look on you not as you now are?
A plane of desolation and a valley of weeping, trampled by armies and despised and rejected, but exalted and restored, revered by those who humbled you and provoked you. As we left the city behind, I threw myself just as I was on the ground and reproached the walls. If what you were built to protect is no more, for what purpose do you still stand?
We went forth weeping and casting our lamentations like seeds.
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What a tragedy. Is any Achamenids who are Christian left in charge anywhere by this point?
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Things are getting exceedingly worse for the Achaemenids. Cyprus is a long way from the Bulgarian Steppe.
How did the Catholic kingdoms react to Achaemeniyya's fall? Are we about to see a time of Crusades?
How did the Catholic kingdoms react to Achaemeniyya's fall? Are we about to see a time of Crusades?
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Grim but like a phoenix, but we know they get reborn as Bulgars in the future.
I see you don't count the Mihranids as true Achaemenids
There are still scattered offshoots of the royal line scattered throughout the Achaemenid Empire. We've focused on the direct line of kings but they've had brothers and sisters who have been gifted lesser holdings, especially in freshly conquered territories like Dacia and Illyria or acquired lands in Macedonian after local leaders had their titles revoked for rebelling. The entire geo-strategic situation for the Achaemenids is a mess right now.
Catholic Italy is dealing with a series of Coptic kings trying to impress their religion on the people and Roman Italy is facing Muslim invasions of their own in the North African territories they own. The 8th century is a testing time for European Christianity but out of this crucible we will see a revitalisation of the Christian denominations in the 10th century as they give birth to new ideas such as the crusading movements, the primacy of the Papacy in Western hierarchies and of course the Khodan revivalist church in Bulgaria.
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Muslims are overpowered in this mod, as always a pleasure to read. One of the few ARRs I have time for. I wanted to ask about this for some time you will continue the campaign on EU4.
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Muslims are near impossible to fight in TFE. Looking forward to seeing how they do in the world of Taurica.
I plan to convert to EU4, just deciding on when exactly as I'm not finding the late game very fun after 750 years of playtime (I'm at 1260 AD approximately). The mongols are around but taking forever to reach my lands. Might either switch at 1300 or 1350. Dont think I can bear another century of CK3 with nothing to play for.
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I really like the Achaemenes Persian Empires because they were diverse, religiously tolerant and very well organised and led for the most part. So it would be good for that to carry on into the medieval ages...as difficult as that is under monotheism. But various Islamic and Christian realms have demonstrated how you might adapt that tolerance in a somewhat realistic way.
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Thank you for commenting. The original Achaemenid empire was very interesting with its acceptance of others and integration efforts. The greek propaganda tarnished it in the eyes of most of Europe but hopefully that changes over time.
The Byzantine Achaemenids in this AAR initially carried on as inheritors of that legacy but struggles in early centuries of the Current Era forced them to peel back those privileges (you can read about it in Part 1) and then the monotheism of Christianity put the zealots in charge. However, we'll come to an interesting new status quo as the world settles into a more multipolar dynamic in the aftermath of the Muslim Conquests. It'll never be as idealistic as I would like but thats partly the game design's fault that forces all these Crusader Kings into bigotry and religious intolerance.
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