The rise of Sakia: a story of four clans

[IsaacCAT]

This is the story of the Tripuskar, Gank, Iksvaku and Kausal clans that transformed the Scythian regional power of Sakia from the year 450 onwards.

It all began in the plains of Schythia Magna and Scythia Ultima. The four chief clans were determined to work together to unite the Dahae against the invaders from the West. Two generations ago, the Sakans in Scythia saw how the Macedonians led by a young king invaded the Persians and settled in the plains of Bactria. Now, the Bactrian kingdom in the East and the Seleukid Empire in the south have replaced the Achaemenid Empire of old.

The clans do not want to follow the same fate and uniting they want to spread their tribal customs to the lands on the east and south of Sakia. They know this is a very difficult task as many others before them were defeated and they are a migratory tribe and the clans have only their steppe heritage and military traditions. But they are determined to make their weakness their strength and to use all their tribesmen to levy a huge army to defeat their foes and conquer many lands for the clan chiefs. Because the task is monumental, they know they will need more than one generation, but this is not a problem as the clans are strong like a big family, even if sometimes they have some quarrels.

They have decided to give Punaiyse from the Iksvaku clan the leadership of the tribe until he dies in honourable death. The other clan chiefs are Jnanakame from the Kausal clan, Silarakite from the Gank Clan and Naradeve from the Tripuskar clan:

Each clan is a family and the members of each family are important to the task as they serve Sakia in different positions. All clans start with the same prestige but this will change with how many members of the clan are holding office giving prestige. The future of the mission depends on all clans being equal on prestige so the tribe is not broken by one clan trying to dominate the others.

But enough talking about politics and let the story begin with the first steps of the four tribal chiefs to dominate the lands in the Scythia region.​

To be continued in the next episode.

 

[HistoryDude]

Nice to see this concept continue!

Scythia has a long way to go, but I'm confident that they'll become an empire eventually. What direction will they expand in first?

 

[IsaacCAT]

The war council was summoned in Gran, the tents were set up near the shore of the Aral sea on the desert plateau to be able to see any movement in the long distance. The Council was not worried about an invasion for the desert lands of Sakia but to avoid any spy knowing about the plans that were going to be discussed there.
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The four men involved had a solid backing from their clans and they were in the age of being strong. Jnanakame and Naradeve were the older members with 33 years old and Punaiyse with 17 and Silarakite with 25 the youngers. The first matter to discuss was the marriage of Punaiyse. He was chosen by the group to be the tribal chief because his martial might but also because he was very young and they realized that the task at hand will take many years if not generations to be fulfilled. And to guarantee the next generation, Punaiyse had to marry a fertile woman from one of the powerful clans.

However, all women in the age to marry Punaiyse were already engaged. Naradeve offered Vasisthe from his Tripuskar clan to marry Punaiyse, she was coming of age next year and he was eager to settle the engagement that day. This enfuriated Jnanakame because Tisye from his Kausal clan was also coming of age next year. Both elders wanted to marry their women to the tribal chief. However, Punaiyse had other plans, he had feelings for Sthulananda of his own clan. She was also too young to marry him but they had been having an affair since they were very young. Punaiyse was shrewd enough to let both clan chiefs bicker about his future wife, but when the moment came, he expected to have gathered enough power to enforce Sthulananda as his future wife.

The discussion went nowhere and the matter was postponed to the next year council when the girls came of age. The next matter was to decide the good direction for their next conquest. This is an excerpt of the discussion that happened that night:​

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The decision was not easy and the discussion was dragged for hours. Silarakite was right that the lands of Kharaesmia were much better than those of Zanthi, the river Amu Darya transforms the desert in plains along its course, making the lands fertile and most productive. However, the sakan were a migratory tribe, they were not going to settle in those plains to work the land and the Kharesmian people were also migratory. On the other hand, Zanthia comprised territories in the regions of Scythia and Parthia, giving Sakia a foothold to the nations south of Scythia. At the end, the Council favoured Jnanakame and Naradeve, the olders chiefs and proclaimed their claims for Zanthia.

The matter of Scythia was a delicate one, the conquest of Zanthia had to be done with the fewer casualties as possible or else the whole expansion of Sakia would be in danger. The army of the Dahae people wouldn't surrender easily and the fortress of Yatsha had to be taken before Punaiyse and the other clan chiefs could hold the land. This was not going to be an easy war, but the preparations for it will be part of the next episode, where the levy of tribesmen, mercenaries, their organization, numbers and generals will be explained in great detail before the invasion of Zanthia is even declared.​

 

[HistoryDude]

This war should tell us a lot about Sakia.

Also, that marriage situation isn't great. No matter what you do, someone is going to be pissed off - but angering both clans is the worst option possible.