Thomas, I really didn't mean to sound judgmental regarding the Kamchachan background. For myself, I assumed similar explanation for these divergences. I mostly brought it up in order to see how much freedom I can allow for myself to use in terms of alternative history and alternative anthropology.
Kashmir
- Thread starter SouthernKing
- Start date
thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
You didn't sound judgemental at all! I was just providing the explanation for the difference!
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Incidently, my Dauran empire is also at least 200 years earlier than it should be historically
I'll call this alternative history, and roll with it
Yours isn't the only case in this game where people are there earlier than they were OTL.
To wit, that sort of thing is perfectly fine with me.
christos200
Never tell me the odds
- Emperor Xiatong
The Taizong Emperor was a weak Emperor. His only care was poetry. The plague ravaged China and left millions of people dead. He did not act. Warlords rose up and challenged the Imperial rule. The Great Sung was in decay. At that time the Minister of Rites, Wang Yang, with the support of General Huang Ming and the Imperial Army as well as with the support of the 'Five Eunuchs', a clique of five all powerful Eunuchs, launched a coup against the incompetent Emperor.
The Eunuchs begged the Emperor to come to the Throne Room so Wang Yang and Huang Ming could 'inform' him of the latest news about the Warlords' uprising. Taizong decided to come to the Throne Room and listen to his Minister and General. The Eunuchs had also called all Ministers and Generals known of being loyal to the throne. As soon as the Emperor and his loyalists came to that room, hundreds of archers fired arrows at them, killing all of them.
Once all of them had been killed, the Eunuchs sent through pigeons orders to their friends in the Provinces to assassinate the loyalists to the throne who were away from the capital. Thousands of loyal officials were killed. General Jiang Ling rose up with an army of 100,000 troops and begun an expedition towards the capital to punish the killers. However, the Eunuchs had spies in the army too. One of them killed the loyalist general while he was sleeping and impaled his head on a large wooden pole. Seeing this, his army swear loyalty to the new regime.
At the same time, Huang Ming, a General with considerable amount of influence among the army and greatly loved by his men, managed to rein all army units and get them to swear allegiance to the new Emperor: a week after the coup, Wang Yang was crowned Emperor Xiatong of the Ming Dynasty (Dynasty of Light, as Ming means light).
Xiatong argued that the Sung, like the Han before them, had lost the Mandate of Heaven and that the plague was a punishment by the Heaven for the immoral rule of the Sung. Just like the Han Dynasty had collapsed and the Sung rose, so now the Sung Dynasty collapsed and the Ming came, heralding a new age of prosperity. The new Emperor immediately promised to lower taxes, abolish them in the most hard hit by the plague areas and protect the peasants from the Warlords.
He also distributed to the people of the capital 2/3 of the gold of the Imperial Palace, thus winning tremendous popular support. Most officials also swear allegiance to the new Emperor, as the incompetent Taizong had enraged almost everyone in the Imperial government.
The Five Eunuchs formed a new Council, the Imperial Council which replaced the Ministries. Their influence became tremendous. Huang Ming was promoted to Generalissimo and send to defeat the Warlords.
Generalissimo Huang Ming
Huang Ming, Generalissimo of the Ming Dynasty, was given orders to campaign across the Empire and restore law and order. He was going to be ruthless and exterminate all of the Warlords. The Emperor gave him orders not to accept prisoners. All captured enemy soldiers would be given to the peasants of the Empire to be mutilated by them, so the peasants could vent their anger.
Huang Ming instilled ruthless discipline to the army. Those who did not follow orders or committed criminal acts would be beaten to death in public by their own comrades. Huang Ming also ordered new banners to be made for the army. The new banners would be yellow with black letters on them: "Army of Heaven". Huang Ming also circulated the rumor that the Heaven was helping the Ming restore light to the Universe and so their victory would be sure. Finally, he promised to his soldiers that the wealth stolen by the Warlords would be distributed among them.
christos200
Never tell me the odds
- Hui Man Keung, Chief Eunuch
Emperor Xiatong rewarded handsomely the 'Five Eunuchs' for their help in his quest to become Emperor. He replaced the Ministries with an Imperial Council, whose members were only the 'Five Eunuchs': Yang Nang, 56 years old, was Secretary of War, Ding Ling, 60 years old, was Secretary of Treasury, Cao Bing, 38 years old, was Secretary of Rites and Yang Lianting, 30 years old, was Secretary of Irrigation. The fifth and most powerful Eunuch was actually the youngest of all of them: Hui Man Keung. He was only 23 and yet he held the title of "Chief Eunuch".
Hui Man Keung came to the Palace at a young age. At the age of 18, he was sent to accompany and serve the Emperor, the Taizong Emperor. Hui gained the Emperor's trust thanks to their mutual love for poetry and Hui's ability to select beautiful women for the Emperor. Hui was also the only one who treated Taizong not as a God Emperor, but as a fellow human being and a friend. Taizong bestowed Hui with immeasurable wealth and only at the age of 20, he had more wealth than other Eunuchs or Officials who had served the Emperor for decades.
This caused much envy among other officials. Hui knew of this and did not keep his newly gained wealth for himself. Instead, he distributed it to other officials and eunuchs. By doing so, he bribed them into submitting to him. At the same time, he organized a clique with the other four more powerful eunuchs of the Empire. In order to persuade them to all join forces, he bribed some officials to publicly denounce the eunuchs as "corrupt" and "power hungry". The other eunuchs became afraid that an anti-Eunuch sentiment would grow among the population, especially since the incompetence of Taizong Emperor had brought Sung to the brink of collapse. The Emperor could shift the blame to them. So, the other four Eunuchs accepted Hui's offer to form a clique of their own. The 'Five Eunuchs' were born.
After this brilliant political move, Hui approached two figures he knew that he could persuade them to bring down the incompetent Emperor: the Minister of Rites, Wang Yang, and General Huang Ming. Wang Yang was an elderly politician who had served the father of Taizong, the Qianlong Emperor. He was extremely furious seeing that the construct of decades of wise rule was heading towards total collapse due to the incompetence of the Emperor. Huang Ming was the strong man in the military. Relative young, in his thirties, and an extremely brave warrior, he was loved by his men and respected by his foes. He could not witness the collapse of the Empire. He had also hostile relations with the other strong man in the army, Jiang Ling. If the coup was a success, he could get rid of him.
With the support of those two officials, Hui launched the coup that brought down the Sung Empire and made Wang Yang Emperor Xiatong of the Great Ming. Now, Hui is the most powerful man in the Empire. But his castration means that he cannot take the throne for himself. Hui hopes to have Wang Yang as a puppet Emperor. But he has a strong political opponent to face, Generalissimo Huang Ming. With absolute control over the army, Huang Ming cannot be underestimated. Wang Yang, now Emperor Taizong, knows of this and hopes to use the two poles of power to his advantage, as the two most powerful men in the Empire cannot unite against him but rather check each other.
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Thanks, welcome! Nope, it's still open, unless someone has taken it without telling me.
edit: update is set for tomorrow, should all go well.
edit: update is set for tomorrow, should all go well.
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Western Europe
Little of note occurred in either Arthfael or, for that matter, the remainder of Ireland. Arthfael continued centralizing its state by confirming the loyalty of a good number of its internal clans, to the point where it can scarcely be called a clan state anymore. But the situation was complicated with the arrival of raider clans from mainland Britain, largely consisting of bands of displaced Germans and Vandals who had not left with the Vandal Evacuation a generation earlier, laying havoc on some of Irelands coastal villages. Though their effect has been limited so far, they have settled the remote islands of parts of Britain, and used them as bases to conduct their raids.
(Irish states: -Stability)
Dal Riata, to a lesser extent, had to endure similar raids at the hands of sea peoples, and Dal Riatan soldiers were at multiple times dispatched to clear the raiders out, to limited success. That news was far outshadowed by the fact that the king of Dal Riata built a sizable palace complex for his own, at a site in the relative center of the country, a village named Cathures. With the construction of this palace, and the resulting marketplace it attracted, it turned into a relatively large town. Many of the outlying clans resist the centralization this implies, but it is nonetheless a large step. To the south, little of note occurred in Bernicia, except the settling down of affairs a generation after the Evacuation.
(Dal Riata: -1 Infantry Company)
There are few recorded major events from southern Britain during this time period. It is known that the uneasy peace between Brython and Cantia almost broke out into war several times, but after a single battle in 642 when the Cantians decisively defeated an invading Brythonic army, the peace prevailed again.
(Brython: -7 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -Stability)
(Cantia: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Army Development)
The conflict, between the Guthlid and Ishfania continued on, with a second war breaking out in the 630s as the Ishfanians. They were supported by the Vandals, whose host continued their movement across the Pyrenians and south, into the region of Gallaecia in northwest Iberia; as well as soldiers sent from Brittany. Brittanys returning soldiers brought with them a number of southern works of literature.
(Brittany: +Army Development, +Culture Development, +Economy Development)
In any case, the numerous invasions across the mountains overwhelmed the Ishfanians. Though the Guthlid weaponry used the past generation was now utterly useless with the Ishfanians having developed methods for countering them, the Ishfanians were also outnumbered. With multiple armies advancing into the heart of Ishfanian territory, they stood little chance to defend, even with the aid of Carthaginian troops. After a succession of decisive defeats at the hands of the Guthlid in 634, Ishfanias army collapsed, and shortly afterwards, so did the government.
Iberia in 650 is fragmented. In Gallaecia rule the Vandals, at the end of the process, converted largely en masse to the Faith of the Allfather. Massacres of Christians have helped spread the faith, but they have only galvanized the Christians, and not all of them could be killed. In Lusitania has been established the Jewish kingdom of Sepharad, created by Jews accompanying the Guthlids army, who established their capital at. And the Guthlid have established control over roughly the eastern third of the land, corresponding to the old Roman province of Citerior. The Guthlid have inherited the Great Library of Kartuba, and its vast treasure trove of knowledge, intact, as the local Guthlid general was supposedly impressed by its collection and ordered it spared some of its works filtered through to the House of Stars, as did local shipwrights and their knowledge. And in the middle lies a fractious collection of city-states and petty states, praying to the Christian God that they dont get eaten.
(Guthlid: -6 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Navy Development, +Culture Development, -Stability, +Loot)
(Brittany: -1 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company, +Loot)
(Vandalia: -2 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -6 Mercenary Companies, +Loot, -Stability)
(Ishfania: -14 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Carthage: -4 Infantry Companies, -1 Infantry Company)
Meanwhile, Allfather communities mushroomed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean sphere, especially in Italia, and in recently conquered Egypt. Some acolytes have made their way all the way across the continent to India and China, and communities, though insignificantly sized, have found their way there, as well on parts of the Silk Road. It is reported that one Khan of the Tarjans was quite interested in the faith, and hosted a great feast for the acolytes travelling through his realm. So did the king of Kandahar. Other missionaries went south, through Carthage to the lands to the south; there was a meeting between the Daura Emperor and the missionaries that is well-recorded.
Southern Europe
In 635, the Svears launched a campaign into the territory of the Viskervolk. Adept sailors the Viskervolk may have been, but they could not defend themselves against the Svear onslaught that came. The Viskervolk army was decimated, and in just half a decade, most of the Viskervolks holdings inland were taken and added to Svear territory.
(Svearia: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Army Development, +Loot)
(Viskermark: -4 Infantry Companies, -4 Cavalry Companies)
This, of course, pushed a good number of Viskervolk out to sea, and creating a sequence of raids against locales in Italia, Hellas, and elsewhere that continued through the 640s. Various rulers throughout the region have faced increasing and repeated calls to take some sort of action.
(Viskermark: +Loot)
In 627, after a series of protracted political disputes, the Hellenic-controlled city of Antioch was sold to the Babylonians. This was sharply criticized by some commentators, who held pipe-dreams that Antioch was the beginning of a recreation of Alexanders world empire; but the handover was smooth. The Hellenic tyrant, Hemokrates, was replaced in 640 by one Gelo of Thebes, a strong devotee of the cult of Apollo. To that end, Hemokrates patronized the construction of a great Temple of Apollo in the city of Delphi meant to rival the great Temple of Zeus itself, though as of 650, it has not been completed.
Little of note occurred in Bulgaria, though certain Bulgars got the brilliant idea of using their existent, rudimentary navy to raiding parts of the Pontic coast. This resulted in little success the locals easily drove the would-be raiders off but the knowledge the Bulgars have gained on how to sail has been rather invaluable, if not immediately very useful.
(Bulgar Khanate: +Navy Development, -1 Squadron)
Once again, little of note occurred in the Anatolian states. Under relative Hellenic influence, they continued to prosper, but little major happened to cause any major disruptions in any of them. Perhaps it is better for all of them that way? Though it must be said that in Solar Avaria, the Avars proceeded to construct a replica of the once-great Solar Temple in Rome, aided by Solar Orders from around the country complete with great glass dome, and all the satellite rooms of the old one, as it was meant to be as authentic a replica as humanly possible. The finishing piece was erected in 640. The trading and cultural wealth the temple has attracted from across the Mediterranean cannot be underestimated.
(Avaria: +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
Eastern Europe
In 625, Scythia was a powerful empire. In 650, there was little left that could even be called Scythia. A sequence of internal dynastic disputes following the death of a Xsaya began in the 630s, whose details are, quite sadly, poorly and inconsistently recorded and thus hard to discern exactly. But what is known is that these disputes led to a multisided and multifaceted civil war, and a fury of political shifts, migrations, rebellions, and invasions ensued and led to the crumbling of the behemoth empire that had once.
(Scythia: -11 Infantry Companies, -13 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
The collapse of Scythia released a flurry of migrations and invasions in an effort to fill the power vacuum that it left behind. In many cases, the new conquerors were fairly able to co-opt the old systems of Scythian administration and bureaucracy.
One such invasion was that of the Dacians, who crossed the river into Western Scythia and quickly made rapid progress there, too. It was the Dacian capture and sack of Chersonne in 636 that typically is marked as the end of Scythia by contemporary historians. With this, the Dacians have established themselves as the supreme power along the edges of the Pontic Sea, but their grip on this power is unsteady, and it will take adept leadership if Dacia wishes to turn their gains into an empire to stand the centuries.
(Dacia: -4 Infantry Companies, -Stability)
Along the coast, the Samojards, formerly Scythian feudatories, declared independence. In 630, a War of Devotion on Scythia was declared, and Samojard armies poured across the frontier, quickly proceeding east, then south. They met little resistance from the crumbling state as they captured fortification after fortification, and incorporated it into their state, nearly doubling its land size. Neighboring Boimark joined in on the war as well, also invading.
(Samojardia: -Stability, -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Mercenary Company)
(Boimark: -1 Infantry Company, -3 Mercenary Companies)
Following this, Samojardia sent Vestivandalia an ultimatum, demanding that the Vandals submit, or be attacked. These Vandals resisted, and when the Samojards came, they fought hard and long. It would not be enough to turn back the Samojard advance, and within a short few months all of Vestivandalia was under secure Samojard control. The Samojards are at a high point in their expansion a golden age, almost.
(Samojardia: -2 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Culture Development)
(Vestivandalia: -7 Infantry Companies, -Existence)
Meanwhile, though, it was under the rule of King Régesvár V that the Samojards attitude to the Faith of the Allfather changed from outright suspicion to patronizing curiosity. Allfather texts from across Europe were collected, and a new interpretation was constructed Thor and Fatár were the same deity, just the Allfatherists were misled about the truth. To that end, construction began on a grand temple, the Nárrgarde, which combined Fatár and Allfatherist motifs into one, neutral worship ground for both faiths.
To the north, a group of Slavs Ilemnian Slovenes, as they were called, brought to these lands under Scythian rule led by a class of merchants and artisans, growing quite wealthy from their fortunate position on the trade routes between Varangia and the south, who had repeatedly petitioned to create greater autonomy for themselves under the growing multiculturalism of late Scythian rule, used the opportunity to secure full independence. So was born the Ilemanian Veche a Slavic-cultured polity under a rather republican form of government, where governance is drawn from communal gatherings veche of the common people and from a council of merchants and landlords the soviet gospod the latter of which selects a posadnik to oversee the military and administration. So far, the Ilmenians have been able to grow quite prosperous.
Much of the central Scythia fell under the control of Slavic peoples who had Scythianised in the last several centuries, including their adoption of a horse-dominated lifestyle, and the adoption of the Scythian religion. One warlord named Mezamir raised an army and, had, by 640, unified much of central Scythia under him, coopting much of Scythias former administrative functions. In 645, he had himself crowned Xsaya, and now prepares to turn his massive armies south, upon the Dacians, perhaps in order to reclaim Chersonne and reestablish all of Scythia.
(Wendish Empire: -5 Cavalry Companies)
From the east, the Sikesh Khanate, after suffering some defeats in the late 620s and early 630s, swept west, cutting through the increasingly disorganized Scythian forces, who more often than not were fighting each other. Sikesh by 650 has amassed control over a truly impressive area, stretching from the Pontic shore in the west to the gates of Ferghana in the east. In all this, the Sikesh came to appreciate the Scythian cultural legacy the Khan, for instance, chose to make a Scythian step-well monastery his palace of sorts, a resting place for when he isnt roaming the countryside, and he was rather impressed by what lay within issuing a decree proscribing anyone who looted such places with death. Similarly, this style of temple has become quite common in architecture all across Europe.
(Sikesh: -5 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Culture Development)
The Suomi chieftains quietly slipped out from under Scythian rule during the collapse. They did not go beyond their frontiers in taking any sort of military action against their Scythian neighbors, but nonetheless, the establishment of independence and freedom of the Suomi peoples has crystallized the authority of the Suomi high chieftains in the eyes of their subordinates.
(Suomi: +Stability)
In the Caucasus, Scythian control evaporated into an array of warlords and statelets, some ruled by ethnic Armenians, some by Persians, others by remainder Scythians. But all of these were quickly pushed aside in 644 when a new force entered: Antipater of Berenice though whether he was actually from Berenice is very contentious to this day. An African who had migrated to Greece and became a mercenary lord in the employ of various local ship captains, he saw an opportunity and seized it, travelling with his host to Armenia and quickly conquering a land for himself. He captured the city of Artaxata and built his kingdom there. What the new state will do in the future is uncertain and what identity will it take?
(Artaxata: -2 Infantry Companies)
Africa
In Kyrenmark, the Christian unrest of the last several decades was finally quelled by an edict that allowed Christians to govern themselves at peace, including settling court cases with religious law, and recognizing a degree of authority for Christian clergymen who had been elevated to positions of temporal authority, such as the local diocese. In this case, it was rather successful; without impetus to really oppose the king, Christian dissent evaporated all but overnight. And, at the behest of the Solar advisory councils, the the Kyring monarch paid handsomely to receive Solar Orders from Avaria, who have established themselves as merchants and guildsmen in the urban trading quarters, and provided.
(Kyrenmark: +Stability, +Economy Development)
In West Africa, Daura began consolidating its position as the newfound hegemon of the region. Fortifications were rebuilt, and roads built criss-crossing the newly expanded the empire, leading to an expansion in intercity trade. The crown funded a somewhat large-scale irrigation project along the River Niger, leading to an agricultural boom in the countryside, which was furthered by the beginning of Daura farmers to plant cotton a crop introduced by Ethiopian traders from the east.
(Daura: +Economy Development)
Lastly, Jewish Sao cities were offered protections and economic benefits if they supported Daura military intervention. Some, surrounding Lake Chad, accepted the offer, and thus slipped under Daura protection, as Daura soldiers advanced east and pushed Pel Ma ir out of the region.
(Daura: -1 Infantry Company)
(Sao cities: -Stability, -3 Infantry Companies)
Meanwhile, a number of fraternal wars between rival claimants to the throne devastated Ghana in the 630s, as the countryside was scourged by fighting armies some employing Tuareg soldiers from the north, in similar fashion to the neighboring Daura. By the 640s, the country had recovered some, but not much, and banditry was commonplace.
(Ghana: -8 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)
Further south, Yibram began reaping the benefits of their newfound, almost total dominance of the West Indian Ocean trade routes. The island of Madagascar was entirely colonized by Yibri settlers during this period though not without difficulty. Fighting between Yibri soldiers accompanying the settlers and local tribesmen, some still bearing memories of the, resulted in some bouts of deadly warfare; but for the natives it was a futile gesture, and by 650, the entirety of the island had been pacified. The terrain made establishing homesteads difficult, but it was nonetheless done; especially as many of the settlers were themselves Malagasy.
Closer to home, in Nacala, under the direction of Jakob the Old, a grand structure was built the Ashkir Chamber. This was a grand meeting hall, decorated by exorbitant numbers of gemstones, not only for debate, but for the king to meet his subjects. It now dominates Nacalas skyline, and has seen extensive use and praise by travelers from far around. And, especially under the leadership of Harum Olwa after the election of 644, extensive military reforms were conducted from the lessons of the Arabian conflicts, ramping up training and quality of Yibrams soldiers into what can be said to be a professional force. Amongst the most popular has been that elements of the army leadership are now elected by the soldiery themselves.
(Yibram: -1 Infantry Brigade, +Army Development, +Navy Development, +Culture Development)
Azania, to the north, found itself wracked by rebellions beginning in the 630s, as, in the face of persecution, the Jewish peasantry rose. With promises of Yibri political support, for a time, it seemed that the Jews might overthrew their Christian rulers. But, one wealthy merchant-warlord whose same is sadly forgotten, based from the island of Kilwa off the coast, arranged a force of Christians from across the region and put down the rebellion quite brutally, establishing control of the region in the process. Using his force as leverage, this warlord proceeded to subjugate the northern city-states, a process culminating in 641. It was thus that a unified state in Azania was born Kilwa which threatens to become a proper northern rival to Yibram.
(Azanian states: -Existence)
(Kilwa: -4 Infantry Companies, +Army Development)
The ancient state of Axum had found itself in its death throes by the early seventh century, torn by internal and dynastic strife and an economic crisis, and faced with incursions by Egyptian soldiers and barbarians from all sides. It was in this environment that a great number of Arabs had fled across the sea, following the collapse of their own state, with the annihilation of its army at the hands of Babylon. Amongst those who crossed the sea was a merchant by the name of Muhammad, and a retinue who came with him. These would have been otherwise entirely ordinary folk, if it were not for the fact that Muhammad in 610 had claimed to have conversed with an angel by the name of Gabriel, who had appointed him Gods messenger on Earth. They faced persecution from the local, very orthodox Christian authorities, and so, in 614, migrated to Axum.
It was there that the faith continued spreading, from its Arabic roots to a new wave of not just similar Arab expatriates, but native Axumites too. The Axumite court had quickly taken note of the new movement, especially as it spread amongst the Ethiopian peasantry through the later 610s, harnessing general discontent into an almost revolutionary fervor. The faith also proved popular amongst merchantry, especially after the 617 decree on the behest of one of Muhammads closest aides, Usman bin Affan, that created a series of economic benefits connecting communities of this faith. It was the merchants who would become the backbone of the faith in the years to come.
But in 623, the Axumite court, already beleaguered with its own problems, saw the growing faith as a problem, and attempted to force it out of existence. The persecution ramped up over the next year, try as the Muhammadans might to weather it out. Ultimately, in 624, Muhammad announced that he had received word for god for a jihad a sacred war of self-defense. Immediately, a rebellion sprung up and spread out of control, and by years end, the Aksumite emperor had been ousted replaced by the Rashidun, rightly guided, Caliph, of the Muhammadan faith. Muhammad passed away after this was done, but his successor, Abu Bakr, solidified Rashidun control and institutions, including religious law and a jizya tax and other economic laws to encourage conversion to the faith. Now, in 650, the Rashidun stand strong, ready to face the world and perhaps conquer it.
To most of the rest of the world, it has become known under the name Muhammadan Christianity, as in many aspects, that is what it is but to its own practitioners, it goes under a different name: Islam.
(Axum: -7 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Rashidun Caliphate: -2 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company)
Little of note occurred in either Arthfael or, for that matter, the remainder of Ireland. Arthfael continued centralizing its state by confirming the loyalty of a good number of its internal clans, to the point where it can scarcely be called a clan state anymore. But the situation was complicated with the arrival of raider clans from mainland Britain, largely consisting of bands of displaced Germans and Vandals who had not left with the Vandal Evacuation a generation earlier, laying havoc on some of Irelands coastal villages. Though their effect has been limited so far, they have settled the remote islands of parts of Britain, and used them as bases to conduct their raids.
(Irish states: -Stability)
Dal Riata, to a lesser extent, had to endure similar raids at the hands of sea peoples, and Dal Riatan soldiers were at multiple times dispatched to clear the raiders out, to limited success. That news was far outshadowed by the fact that the king of Dal Riata built a sizable palace complex for his own, at a site in the relative center of the country, a village named Cathures. With the construction of this palace, and the resulting marketplace it attracted, it turned into a relatively large town. Many of the outlying clans resist the centralization this implies, but it is nonetheless a large step. To the south, little of note occurred in Bernicia, except the settling down of affairs a generation after the Evacuation.
(Dal Riata: -1 Infantry Company)
There are few recorded major events from southern Britain during this time period. It is known that the uneasy peace between Brython and Cantia almost broke out into war several times, but after a single battle in 642 when the Cantians decisively defeated an invading Brythonic army, the peace prevailed again.
(Brython: -7 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -Stability)
(Cantia: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Army Development)
The conflict, between the Guthlid and Ishfania continued on, with a second war breaking out in the 630s as the Ishfanians. They were supported by the Vandals, whose host continued their movement across the Pyrenians and south, into the region of Gallaecia in northwest Iberia; as well as soldiers sent from Brittany. Brittanys returning soldiers brought with them a number of southern works of literature.
(Brittany: +Army Development, +Culture Development, +Economy Development)
In any case, the numerous invasions across the mountains overwhelmed the Ishfanians. Though the Guthlid weaponry used the past generation was now utterly useless with the Ishfanians having developed methods for countering them, the Ishfanians were also outnumbered. With multiple armies advancing into the heart of Ishfanian territory, they stood little chance to defend, even with the aid of Carthaginian troops. After a succession of decisive defeats at the hands of the Guthlid in 634, Ishfanias army collapsed, and shortly afterwards, so did the government.
Iberia in 650 is fragmented. In Gallaecia rule the Vandals, at the end of the process, converted largely en masse to the Faith of the Allfather. Massacres of Christians have helped spread the faith, but they have only galvanized the Christians, and not all of them could be killed. In Lusitania has been established the Jewish kingdom of Sepharad, created by Jews accompanying the Guthlids army, who established their capital at. And the Guthlid have established control over roughly the eastern third of the land, corresponding to the old Roman province of Citerior. The Guthlid have inherited the Great Library of Kartuba, and its vast treasure trove of knowledge, intact, as the local Guthlid general was supposedly impressed by its collection and ordered it spared some of its works filtered through to the House of Stars, as did local shipwrights and their knowledge. And in the middle lies a fractious collection of city-states and petty states, praying to the Christian God that they dont get eaten.
(Guthlid: -6 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Navy Development, +Culture Development, -Stability, +Loot)
(Brittany: -1 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company, +Loot)
(Vandalia: -2 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -6 Mercenary Companies, +Loot, -Stability)
(Ishfania: -14 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Carthage: -4 Infantry Companies, -1 Infantry Company)
Meanwhile, Allfather communities mushroomed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean sphere, especially in Italia, and in recently conquered Egypt. Some acolytes have made their way all the way across the continent to India and China, and communities, though insignificantly sized, have found their way there, as well on parts of the Silk Road. It is reported that one Khan of the Tarjans was quite interested in the faith, and hosted a great feast for the acolytes travelling through his realm. So did the king of Kandahar. Other missionaries went south, through Carthage to the lands to the south; there was a meeting between the Daura Emperor and the missionaries that is well-recorded.
Southern Europe
In 635, the Svears launched a campaign into the territory of the Viskervolk. Adept sailors the Viskervolk may have been, but they could not defend themselves against the Svear onslaught that came. The Viskervolk army was decimated, and in just half a decade, most of the Viskervolks holdings inland were taken and added to Svear territory.
(Svearia: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Army Development, +Loot)
(Viskermark: -4 Infantry Companies, -4 Cavalry Companies)
This, of course, pushed a good number of Viskervolk out to sea, and creating a sequence of raids against locales in Italia, Hellas, and elsewhere that continued through the 640s. Various rulers throughout the region have faced increasing and repeated calls to take some sort of action.
(Viskermark: +Loot)
In 627, after a series of protracted political disputes, the Hellenic-controlled city of Antioch was sold to the Babylonians. This was sharply criticized by some commentators, who held pipe-dreams that Antioch was the beginning of a recreation of Alexanders world empire; but the handover was smooth. The Hellenic tyrant, Hemokrates, was replaced in 640 by one Gelo of Thebes, a strong devotee of the cult of Apollo. To that end, Hemokrates patronized the construction of a great Temple of Apollo in the city of Delphi meant to rival the great Temple of Zeus itself, though as of 650, it has not been completed.
Little of note occurred in Bulgaria, though certain Bulgars got the brilliant idea of using their existent, rudimentary navy to raiding parts of the Pontic coast. This resulted in little success the locals easily drove the would-be raiders off but the knowledge the Bulgars have gained on how to sail has been rather invaluable, if not immediately very useful.
(Bulgar Khanate: +Navy Development, -1 Squadron)
Once again, little of note occurred in the Anatolian states. Under relative Hellenic influence, they continued to prosper, but little major happened to cause any major disruptions in any of them. Perhaps it is better for all of them that way? Though it must be said that in Solar Avaria, the Avars proceeded to construct a replica of the once-great Solar Temple in Rome, aided by Solar Orders from around the country complete with great glass dome, and all the satellite rooms of the old one, as it was meant to be as authentic a replica as humanly possible. The finishing piece was erected in 640. The trading and cultural wealth the temple has attracted from across the Mediterranean cannot be underestimated.
(Avaria: +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
Eastern Europe
In 625, Scythia was a powerful empire. In 650, there was little left that could even be called Scythia. A sequence of internal dynastic disputes following the death of a Xsaya began in the 630s, whose details are, quite sadly, poorly and inconsistently recorded and thus hard to discern exactly. But what is known is that these disputes led to a multisided and multifaceted civil war, and a fury of political shifts, migrations, rebellions, and invasions ensued and led to the crumbling of the behemoth empire that had once.
(Scythia: -11 Infantry Companies, -13 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
The collapse of Scythia released a flurry of migrations and invasions in an effort to fill the power vacuum that it left behind. In many cases, the new conquerors were fairly able to co-opt the old systems of Scythian administration and bureaucracy.
One such invasion was that of the Dacians, who crossed the river into Western Scythia and quickly made rapid progress there, too. It was the Dacian capture and sack of Chersonne in 636 that typically is marked as the end of Scythia by contemporary historians. With this, the Dacians have established themselves as the supreme power along the edges of the Pontic Sea, but their grip on this power is unsteady, and it will take adept leadership if Dacia wishes to turn their gains into an empire to stand the centuries.
(Dacia: -4 Infantry Companies, -Stability)
Along the coast, the Samojards, formerly Scythian feudatories, declared independence. In 630, a War of Devotion on Scythia was declared, and Samojard armies poured across the frontier, quickly proceeding east, then south. They met little resistance from the crumbling state as they captured fortification after fortification, and incorporated it into their state, nearly doubling its land size. Neighboring Boimark joined in on the war as well, also invading.
(Samojardia: -Stability, -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Mercenary Company)
(Boimark: -1 Infantry Company, -3 Mercenary Companies)
Following this, Samojardia sent Vestivandalia an ultimatum, demanding that the Vandals submit, or be attacked. These Vandals resisted, and when the Samojards came, they fought hard and long. It would not be enough to turn back the Samojard advance, and within a short few months all of Vestivandalia was under secure Samojard control. The Samojards are at a high point in their expansion a golden age, almost.
(Samojardia: -2 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Culture Development)
(Vestivandalia: -7 Infantry Companies, -Existence)
Meanwhile, though, it was under the rule of King Régesvár V that the Samojards attitude to the Faith of the Allfather changed from outright suspicion to patronizing curiosity. Allfather texts from across Europe were collected, and a new interpretation was constructed Thor and Fatár were the same deity, just the Allfatherists were misled about the truth. To that end, construction began on a grand temple, the Nárrgarde, which combined Fatár and Allfatherist motifs into one, neutral worship ground for both faiths.
To the north, a group of Slavs Ilemnian Slovenes, as they were called, brought to these lands under Scythian rule led by a class of merchants and artisans, growing quite wealthy from their fortunate position on the trade routes between Varangia and the south, who had repeatedly petitioned to create greater autonomy for themselves under the growing multiculturalism of late Scythian rule, used the opportunity to secure full independence. So was born the Ilemanian Veche a Slavic-cultured polity under a rather republican form of government, where governance is drawn from communal gatherings veche of the common people and from a council of merchants and landlords the soviet gospod the latter of which selects a posadnik to oversee the military and administration. So far, the Ilmenians have been able to grow quite prosperous.
Much of the central Scythia fell under the control of Slavic peoples who had Scythianised in the last several centuries, including their adoption of a horse-dominated lifestyle, and the adoption of the Scythian religion. One warlord named Mezamir raised an army and, had, by 640, unified much of central Scythia under him, coopting much of Scythias former administrative functions. In 645, he had himself crowned Xsaya, and now prepares to turn his massive armies south, upon the Dacians, perhaps in order to reclaim Chersonne and reestablish all of Scythia.
(Wendish Empire: -5 Cavalry Companies)
From the east, the Sikesh Khanate, after suffering some defeats in the late 620s and early 630s, swept west, cutting through the increasingly disorganized Scythian forces, who more often than not were fighting each other. Sikesh by 650 has amassed control over a truly impressive area, stretching from the Pontic shore in the west to the gates of Ferghana in the east. In all this, the Sikesh came to appreciate the Scythian cultural legacy the Khan, for instance, chose to make a Scythian step-well monastery his palace of sorts, a resting place for when he isnt roaming the countryside, and he was rather impressed by what lay within issuing a decree proscribing anyone who looted such places with death. Similarly, this style of temple has become quite common in architecture all across Europe.
(Sikesh: -5 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Culture Development)
The Suomi chieftains quietly slipped out from under Scythian rule during the collapse. They did not go beyond their frontiers in taking any sort of military action against their Scythian neighbors, but nonetheless, the establishment of independence and freedom of the Suomi peoples has crystallized the authority of the Suomi high chieftains in the eyes of their subordinates.
(Suomi: +Stability)
In the Caucasus, Scythian control evaporated into an array of warlords and statelets, some ruled by ethnic Armenians, some by Persians, others by remainder Scythians. But all of these were quickly pushed aside in 644 when a new force entered: Antipater of Berenice though whether he was actually from Berenice is very contentious to this day. An African who had migrated to Greece and became a mercenary lord in the employ of various local ship captains, he saw an opportunity and seized it, travelling with his host to Armenia and quickly conquering a land for himself. He captured the city of Artaxata and built his kingdom there. What the new state will do in the future is uncertain and what identity will it take?
(Artaxata: -2 Infantry Companies)
Africa
In Kyrenmark, the Christian unrest of the last several decades was finally quelled by an edict that allowed Christians to govern themselves at peace, including settling court cases with religious law, and recognizing a degree of authority for Christian clergymen who had been elevated to positions of temporal authority, such as the local diocese. In this case, it was rather successful; without impetus to really oppose the king, Christian dissent evaporated all but overnight. And, at the behest of the Solar advisory councils, the the Kyring monarch paid handsomely to receive Solar Orders from Avaria, who have established themselves as merchants and guildsmen in the urban trading quarters, and provided.
(Kyrenmark: +Stability, +Economy Development)
In West Africa, Daura began consolidating its position as the newfound hegemon of the region. Fortifications were rebuilt, and roads built criss-crossing the newly expanded the empire, leading to an expansion in intercity trade. The crown funded a somewhat large-scale irrigation project along the River Niger, leading to an agricultural boom in the countryside, which was furthered by the beginning of Daura farmers to plant cotton a crop introduced by Ethiopian traders from the east.
(Daura: +Economy Development)
Lastly, Jewish Sao cities were offered protections and economic benefits if they supported Daura military intervention. Some, surrounding Lake Chad, accepted the offer, and thus slipped under Daura protection, as Daura soldiers advanced east and pushed Pel Ma ir out of the region.
(Daura: -1 Infantry Company)
(Sao cities: -Stability, -3 Infantry Companies)
Meanwhile, a number of fraternal wars between rival claimants to the throne devastated Ghana in the 630s, as the countryside was scourged by fighting armies some employing Tuareg soldiers from the north, in similar fashion to the neighboring Daura. By the 640s, the country had recovered some, but not much, and banditry was commonplace.
(Ghana: -8 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)
Further south, Yibram began reaping the benefits of their newfound, almost total dominance of the West Indian Ocean trade routes. The island of Madagascar was entirely colonized by Yibri settlers during this period though not without difficulty. Fighting between Yibri soldiers accompanying the settlers and local tribesmen, some still bearing memories of the, resulted in some bouts of deadly warfare; but for the natives it was a futile gesture, and by 650, the entirety of the island had been pacified. The terrain made establishing homesteads difficult, but it was nonetheless done; especially as many of the settlers were themselves Malagasy.
Closer to home, in Nacala, under the direction of Jakob the Old, a grand structure was built the Ashkir Chamber. This was a grand meeting hall, decorated by exorbitant numbers of gemstones, not only for debate, but for the king to meet his subjects. It now dominates Nacalas skyline, and has seen extensive use and praise by travelers from far around. And, especially under the leadership of Harum Olwa after the election of 644, extensive military reforms were conducted from the lessons of the Arabian conflicts, ramping up training and quality of Yibrams soldiers into what can be said to be a professional force. Amongst the most popular has been that elements of the army leadership are now elected by the soldiery themselves.
(Yibram: -1 Infantry Brigade, +Army Development, +Navy Development, +Culture Development)
Azania, to the north, found itself wracked by rebellions beginning in the 630s, as, in the face of persecution, the Jewish peasantry rose. With promises of Yibri political support, for a time, it seemed that the Jews might overthrew their Christian rulers. But, one wealthy merchant-warlord whose same is sadly forgotten, based from the island of Kilwa off the coast, arranged a force of Christians from across the region and put down the rebellion quite brutally, establishing control of the region in the process. Using his force as leverage, this warlord proceeded to subjugate the northern city-states, a process culminating in 641. It was thus that a unified state in Azania was born Kilwa which threatens to become a proper northern rival to Yibram.
(Azanian states: -Existence)
(Kilwa: -4 Infantry Companies, +Army Development)
The ancient state of Axum had found itself in its death throes by the early seventh century, torn by internal and dynastic strife and an economic crisis, and faced with incursions by Egyptian soldiers and barbarians from all sides. It was in this environment that a great number of Arabs had fled across the sea, following the collapse of their own state, with the annihilation of its army at the hands of Babylon. Amongst those who crossed the sea was a merchant by the name of Muhammad, and a retinue who came with him. These would have been otherwise entirely ordinary folk, if it were not for the fact that Muhammad in 610 had claimed to have conversed with an angel by the name of Gabriel, who had appointed him Gods messenger on Earth. They faced persecution from the local, very orthodox Christian authorities, and so, in 614, migrated to Axum.
It was there that the faith continued spreading, from its Arabic roots to a new wave of not just similar Arab expatriates, but native Axumites too. The Axumite court had quickly taken note of the new movement, especially as it spread amongst the Ethiopian peasantry through the later 610s, harnessing general discontent into an almost revolutionary fervor. The faith also proved popular amongst merchantry, especially after the 617 decree on the behest of one of Muhammads closest aides, Usman bin Affan, that created a series of economic benefits connecting communities of this faith. It was the merchants who would become the backbone of the faith in the years to come.
But in 623, the Axumite court, already beleaguered with its own problems, saw the growing faith as a problem, and attempted to force it out of existence. The persecution ramped up over the next year, try as the Muhammadans might to weather it out. Ultimately, in 624, Muhammad announced that he had received word for god for a jihad a sacred war of self-defense. Immediately, a rebellion sprung up and spread out of control, and by years end, the Aksumite emperor had been ousted replaced by the Rashidun, rightly guided, Caliph, of the Muhammadan faith. Muhammad passed away after this was done, but his successor, Abu Bakr, solidified Rashidun control and institutions, including religious law and a jizya tax and other economic laws to encourage conversion to the faith. Now, in 650, the Rashidun stand strong, ready to face the world and perhaps conquer it.
To most of the rest of the world, it has become known under the name Muhammadan Christianity, as in many aspects, that is what it is but to its own practitioners, it goes under a different name: Islam.
(Axum: -7 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Rashidun Caliphate: -2 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company)
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Middle East
The newborn Caliphate proceeded to look east, across the sea, to their Arabian homelands. In 627, with Abu Bakr’ seeking to reclaim Mecca in the name of Muhammad, Rashidun soldiers crossed the sea. In the fractured political environemnt. But the Arabian campaign was never anything more than a sideshow for the Rashidun caliphate.
(Rashidun Caliphate: -1 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company)
To the north, Egypt looked on, slightly worried at this sequence of new developments. But they had different problems, problems of their own – as the Babylonians in 629 promptly launched a campaign into the heart of the Egyptian country, aided by the armies of Carthage and Kyrenmark arriving from the west and the sea.
The fighting was quick. The Egyptians were outnumbered. By the end of the year, Alexandria had fallen, and with it, the Babylonians found themselves in firm control of the Nile delta. Within two short years, and a good deal of marching upriver, all of Egypt downriver of the First Cataract had been conquered. The allied forces continued their progress into Nubia; Carthage was granted the coastal lands west of Alexandria, and Kyrenmark expanded their control into Egypt.
It was then – in 632 – that the situation changed, drastically. Another Rashidun army marched north into Nubia, while, simultaneously, Rashidun forces sailed up the Red Sea and landed near the port city of Berenice, managing to land to the south of the reach of the Babylonian navy’s blockade. When the Babylonians attempted to engage the Rashidun forces approaching downriver, they found themselves attacked by the second army coming from the east, and forced to retreat back downriver. The Rashidun continued their inexorable advance.
But, just north of Thebes, the Babylonian armies regrouped and scored a victory just north of Thebes, causing the Rashidun forces to retreat to the city, which has become a border town. So, by the end of the 630s, the situation had stabilized. Lower Egypt has, since then, remained under Babylonian (and Carthaginian) control, while the Rashidun reconsolidate their gains.
Regardless, defeated from two sides, the brief glory that was Egypt under the Gondopharids is, sadly for the world, now lost.
Meanwhile, despite the addition of parts of Egypt, Babylon continued to stabilize. Instead of persecuting Christians and other religious minorities, Zoroastrianism was promoted. A number of Christians began to see Alexander, both the original and the general who saved Babylon from certain destruction, as a divine figure. And fortresses were constructed throughout the realm, especially along the Persian border, which allowed for greater control.
(Babylon: -6 Infantry Companies, -14 Mercenary Companies, +Stability, +Loot)
(Carthage: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Loot)
(Kyrenmark: -1 Infantry Company, +Loot)
(Rashidun Caliphate: -8 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies)
(Egypt: -16 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies, -2 Siege Trains, -Existence)
For that matter, Muhammadan Christianity had begun to spread to neighboring territories, such as Qataban, where a trading community had established itself in a number of cities along the incense route. In the 630s and 640s the faith spread rapidly through some quarters of the country. The very Christian elite of Qataban have looked at these upstarts with great distrust, especially considering the increasing militancy of those in the Rashidun Caliphate not very far away. A similar community has emerged in the cities of Oman; it is nowhere near as large, but street riots between the Muhammadans and the more orthodox Christians are commonplace in the 640s, and the destabilizing factor cannot be understated. Similar communities have cropped in trading ports as far afield as India.
(Qataban, Oman: -Stability)
And at home, the Rashidun Caliphate quickly set about transforming society in its conquered lands. Instead of being home to looting and destruction, conquered cities, such as Berenice, were specifically made to have their infrastructure left intact. In addition, converts to Muhammadan Christianity were specifically granted economic protection and political security, or end up facing confiscation of property. In Arabia, local tribal leaders were offered the chance to retain their power through conversion, or face extermination. These policies spurred a wave of conversions, especially in Egypt, where Christianity was less culturally embedded; but in Arabia, devoutly Syrian tribes simply refused to cooperate and continued fighting sporadic wars against the “infidel usurper” Caliphate.
In addition, the At-Tanaw’a Edict, an extremely forward-thinking and bold move for its time, decreed that all men were equal in the eyes of Allah, and established the Rashidun Caliphate as a multicultural state above either Arab or Ethiopian culture. The At-Takamul system was an attempt to accommodate other Abrahamic faiths into the new Muhammadan one, declaring all churches waqf or public property and steering their doctrines to embrace Muhammad’s teachings – though this has seen little effect thus far, as many Syrian churches, especially in Arabia, have simply gone underground. And finally was the initiation of the Bayt al-Mal, a ministry responsible for managing the Caliphate’s economy, including the zakat system of requisite charity paid by every good Muslim, which was redistributed to the destitute and needy.
(Rashidun Caliphate: +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
Lastly, Abu Bakr’ sent letters to a number of neighboring nations, including Yibram, Qataban, and Oman. Oman rejected politely, while Qataban seemed to be interested in obtaining further contacts with the Caliph. The envoy to Yibram disappeared somewhere after departing, never reaching Salalah, never heard from again.
India
Within long, the remnants of the Sundara Empire were finally put out of its decaying misery by a Gurjara mercenary-cum-warlord named Harihara Parmara, who captured the city of Kannauj in 630. From there, he swiftly captured Indraprastha, and marched east to the capital at Pataliputra. Led by the weak teenage emperor Ram Sundara VI and too deeply torn by the infighting of the competing machinations of his generals, he could do little as the Parmara forces occupied all of Magadha and his empire was ended by 635. The newly founded Parmara Empire quickly spread its wings. Further campaigns saw the empire eat away at the Chalukya dominions directly to the south of Magadha, managing to remove them and their Malwan vassals from the banks of the Ganga. Harihara did little campaigning aside form that, preferring to consolidate his newfound gains. But to the west, the Himajana are still an ever-present threat that has yet to be firmly dealt with.
(Parmara Empire: -5 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies)
(Sundara Empire: -12 Infantry Companies, -11 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Karnataka: -4 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)
(Malwa: -5 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies)
Speaking of the Himajana, for whatever peculiar reason, instead of advancing east to Delhi, Lhatsang decided to stay in its gained lands. But that did not stop one group of the Himajana – led by a minor princeling of the Lhatsang ruling family, whose name is recorded in India as Dunsurya – from launching his own campaign in the 630s. First, he assaulted Dvaraka, and in 637 took the city itself. Spending the next several years consolidating his rule, he then proceeded east, to overwhelm Malwa and conquer it swiftly, before their Kannadiga masters could respond; he defeated them, too, in battle in 644. Now, as of 650, he would threaten Karnataka itself – but the Vindhyas, not for the first time, have likely spared South India from nomadic invasion, and Dunsurya turned back rather than attack. He has established his capital at Ujjain, the former Malwan capital, having brought that country’s cultural golden age to its knees.
(Yujayan: -4 Infantry Companies, -5 Cavalry Companies)
(Malwa: -10 Infantry Companies, -11 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Dvaraka: -4 Infantry Companies, -9 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Karnataka: -4 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Stability
East India was remarkably quiet through this whole sequence of affairs. Vesali and Kamarupa, after fighting a number of wars in the previous years, maintained a peace along their borders. Relations warmed to the point where fact, in 640, signed an alliance – securing the future of both countries. Kamarupa, however, spared no expense building a line of fortresses along its western border. There is no telling when the next western invasion will come.
(Vesali, Kamarupa: +Stability)
East Asia
The Kamchachans, after their failed Korean campaign a generation ago, turned inwards. They outfitted their army with entirely new equipment, and the khal funded from his pocket some internal land developments, which resulted in the mushrooming of a good number of towns throughout the Khaldom, acting as market nexuses.
(Kamchachans: +Army Development, +Economy Development)
The Rouran Khanate entered a period of debilitating civil war after 631, when Gur Khaan V passed away. His two twin sons both claimed the throne, each supported by various commanders and nobles. After a peaceful deliberation and a vote failed, the one brother, with the largest number of supporters present, physically forced the other out of Karakorum. The ensuing fraternal violence boiled over into a massive war for the throne that encompassed all the Khanate. Eventually, by 635 after several years of indecisive fighting, the one who had forced his brother out scored a decisive victory, capturing his brother. In prison, the defeated party was forced to recognize the victor as Gur Khaan VI. Stability has returned, and Gur Khaan VI has proven himself a more than capable leader, but it was a bloody time, not helped by the rise in banditry and the famines that struck the land during that time.
(Rouran Khanate: -6 Infantry Companies, -15 Cavalry Companies, -Stability)
As with much of rest of the world, there is little of note that is known to have occurred in Korea or Japan during the second quarter of the seventh century. Certainly, neither country’s leaders had any real interest in militaristic expansion – we know that much, as Baekje engaged in little of the sort save for the construction of a great defensive wall along its northern border. Wa cultural influences continued spreading at a rapid pace in Baekje, including elements of the Wa religion, which grew ever more popular, especially amongst Korean literary circles, who saw it as the perfect for a growing trend of naturalism in period Korean literature.
But it was in China that the greatest, most influential series of events occurred. The Taizong Emperor had overseen China’s suffering under the plague, and done nothing. He had seen his control over the countryside fade away into exploitation, warlordism, and banditry, and done nothing. He had seen all China fall into decay, and done nothing.
A powerful court clique of Five Eunuchs decided enough was enough. Along with Wang Yang, Imperial Minister of Rites, and General Huang Ming, they invited the Emperor into the throne room for a supposedly important meeting, whereupon the Emperor was promptly met with hundreds of arrows. The last Emperor of the Sung Dynasty quickly passed away. In the chaos that ensued, a purge of Sung loyalists began; a brief rebellion at the hands of loyalist general Jiang Ling ended quickly when a spy in the army killed Jiang with a wooden pole. And Huang Ming was quickly elevated to the Emperorship, and, to gain popular support, distributed two-thirds of the palace’s stocks of gold directly to the people.
The new Ming – “bright” – Dynasty quickly set about consolidating its rule. Brutal military campaigns throughout the countryside – by the so-called Army of Heaven – brought the warlords back in line. And a program of hospital building in the cities was initiated. Sung-era pensions for the lower classes were continued, such that. But, whatever the case, it is clear that the eunuchs are solidly in power in this new dynasty – the Five Eunuchs quickly assumed the role of an Imperial Council which replaced the Sung-era Ministries.
(Great Sung: -Existence)
(Great Ming: -18 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Stability)
Southeast Asia
Burma saw the outbreak of protracted war between the two major powers in the region, Beikthano and Halin. At first, in the 630s, it appeared that Beikthano would emerge victorious, as they won battle after battle and threatened to siege Halin itself, bringing the state to its knees. But in a beautiful act of trickery, the King of Halin, a man recorded in Indian sources as Ramachandra Jaya, reportedly had the city evacuated, including its defenses. So when Beikthano’s forces arrived, they marched right into to the empty city – completely unprepared for when Halin’s soldiers attacked from all sides, annihilating the Beikthano army, and capturing the king. With this, Halin quickly marched south and captured Beikthano in 638. The Halin Empire has thus been born, and the Pyu people are united under a single, powerful state for the first time in their history. Only time will tell what Halin can accomplish now.
(Beikthano: -Existence, -8 Infantry Companies, -7 Cavalry Companies)
(Halin: -3 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Culture Development)
Following the great disasters of the previous quarter-century, Dvaravati reconsolidated what little it had left. Thanks to able leadership, the borders were reconsolidated, and the countryside and cities began to grow wealthy again with steady peace and prosperity. In addition, the kings of Dvaravati – Ramachandra II and Ramachandra III, as the contemporary ones would be chronicled as – brought scholars and philosophers to his court from India with handsome payments, and with their influences, started to spur the development of a truly Mon, Hindu literary and philosophical tradition. The 650s and 660s are recorded as a literary golden age for this culture.
(Dvaravati: +Stability, +Culture Development)
It was fortunate for the Mon that the neighboring Cham Empire, who could have easily, got the venerable Jaya Indravaraman as her rajadhiraja in 626. Jaya Indravaraman had served in his predecessors’ military campaigns as a prince, and had been a typical, bloodthirsty soldier. Then, according to the epic poem from where most of our information on his life comes from, he had fallen in love with a peasant girl, who was promptly senselessly slain by a fellow soldier. He grew so distrustful of war that he did not pursue it at all during his reign, instead – after sidelining the military with his daft politicking – opting to internally paint his realm in strokes of gold. And that he did – the Cham Empire entered a phase of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, as roads and marketplaces and docks were built across the realm. Jaya Indravaraman was a voracious reader and himself an illustrious poet, who contributed greatly to his culture’s legacy through patronage and his own contributions. He toured far and wide, visiting almost every last village, and, when he died prematurely in 648, reportedly, a lakh of weeping subjects followed his ashes down to the banks of the Mekong, and some even threw themselves in.
(Cham Empire: +Stability, +Navy Development, +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
After several decades of further decline, Tarumangara outright collapsed by the middle of the seventh century, in the face of rural rebellions in the state’s West Javanese heartland in the late 620s which brought the last generation of Tarumangaran leadership to their knees. Most of the outlying areas completely collapsed into various tribal states or city-states with virtually no central unity whatsoever, and much of Tarumangara’s trade volume has shifted to the ports of nearby Langkasuka, much to their delight.
(Tarumangara: -Existence)
(Langkasuka: +Stability, +Economy Development)
Most of southern Sumatra, south of the domains of Pasai, came under the control of the upstart kingdom of the state of Kantoli, whose expansion was fairly bloodless – a priestess-queen who had arisen to power there around 630 used a mixture of carrot-and-stick politicking to bring the surrounding areas, including the Sumateran highlands, under her control. She has inherited the Tarumangaran bureaucratic and theological structures largely wholesale.
Similarly, two Javanese states found themselves inheriting the Tarumangaran legacy and political systems. These were Sunda in the west, and Mataram in the east – the latter of which has retained trade links with the eastern islands, and with the Rondanese. Sunda, meanwhile, has come under the control of a group of priestesses who appear to have been granted the strongest warriors in all Nusantara – when border wars between Sunda and Mataram ensued in the late 630s, Sunda won decisively, enabling it to push the frontier back quite a bit.
(Sunda: -1 Infantry Company)
(Mataram: -3 Infantry Companies)
On Pasai itself, Nasrani Christian missionaries accompanying Keralite and Tamil traders from India introduced Nasrani Christianity to the state sometime in the 640s. In the port cities, a number of missions were established, as was a single monastery in the highlands near the kingdom’s southern frontier. While the numbers of Christians in Pasai remain rather small in comparison to the followers of the state-intertwined Kejawen priestesses, they have quickly established themselves as the largest religious minority in the state.
Rondan
However, the Nusantaran colonies on Rondan did not just fade away. Though life was hard and had always been so, and was largely dependent on the trade routes, the Rondanese perservered, and decided to stake it on their own as a state. The colonies broke off and formed something that could be recognizable to a Hellene or a Roman as a republic – a system was established, based on the existing methods of governance, wherein town and village councils of elders and Kejawen priestesses sent representatives to a central location for a semiannual meeting. The Rondanese have so far been able to
To the south, the Gurri built a number of schools to spread literacy, through their translations of Buddhist texts brought in from the mysterious northern realms only the most ardent of travelers speak of in anything but hushed tones, throughout their people. Scripts were amassed in great quantities in the palace at Maka, and stone tablets were erected in every settlement, wherein the royal palace’s orders were inscribed every so often. All this has had the effect of significant increases both in Buddhist pervasiveness and literacy in Gurri culture.
(Gurri: +Culture Development)
OOC
Reus: I’m going to call your faith Muhammadan Christianity as opposed to Islam, just to highlight the differences.
Map:
Stats: posted
The newborn Caliphate proceeded to look east, across the sea, to their Arabian homelands. In 627, with Abu Bakr’ seeking to reclaim Mecca in the name of Muhammad, Rashidun soldiers crossed the sea. In the fractured political environemnt. But the Arabian campaign was never anything more than a sideshow for the Rashidun caliphate.
(Rashidun Caliphate: -1 Infantry Company, -1 Cavalry Company)
To the north, Egypt looked on, slightly worried at this sequence of new developments. But they had different problems, problems of their own – as the Babylonians in 629 promptly launched a campaign into the heart of the Egyptian country, aided by the armies of Carthage and Kyrenmark arriving from the west and the sea.
The fighting was quick. The Egyptians were outnumbered. By the end of the year, Alexandria had fallen, and with it, the Babylonians found themselves in firm control of the Nile delta. Within two short years, and a good deal of marching upriver, all of Egypt downriver of the First Cataract had been conquered. The allied forces continued their progress into Nubia; Carthage was granted the coastal lands west of Alexandria, and Kyrenmark expanded their control into Egypt.
It was then – in 632 – that the situation changed, drastically. Another Rashidun army marched north into Nubia, while, simultaneously, Rashidun forces sailed up the Red Sea and landed near the port city of Berenice, managing to land to the south of the reach of the Babylonian navy’s blockade. When the Babylonians attempted to engage the Rashidun forces approaching downriver, they found themselves attacked by the second army coming from the east, and forced to retreat back downriver. The Rashidun continued their inexorable advance.
But, just north of Thebes, the Babylonian armies regrouped and scored a victory just north of Thebes, causing the Rashidun forces to retreat to the city, which has become a border town. So, by the end of the 630s, the situation had stabilized. Lower Egypt has, since then, remained under Babylonian (and Carthaginian) control, while the Rashidun reconsolidate their gains.
Regardless, defeated from two sides, the brief glory that was Egypt under the Gondopharids is, sadly for the world, now lost.
Meanwhile, despite the addition of parts of Egypt, Babylon continued to stabilize. Instead of persecuting Christians and other religious minorities, Zoroastrianism was promoted. A number of Christians began to see Alexander, both the original and the general who saved Babylon from certain destruction, as a divine figure. And fortresses were constructed throughout the realm, especially along the Persian border, which allowed for greater control.
(Babylon: -6 Infantry Companies, -14 Mercenary Companies, +Stability, +Loot)
(Carthage: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Loot)
(Kyrenmark: -1 Infantry Company, +Loot)
(Rashidun Caliphate: -8 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies)
(Egypt: -16 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies, -2 Siege Trains, -Existence)
For that matter, Muhammadan Christianity had begun to spread to neighboring territories, such as Qataban, where a trading community had established itself in a number of cities along the incense route. In the 630s and 640s the faith spread rapidly through some quarters of the country. The very Christian elite of Qataban have looked at these upstarts with great distrust, especially considering the increasing militancy of those in the Rashidun Caliphate not very far away. A similar community has emerged in the cities of Oman; it is nowhere near as large, but street riots between the Muhammadans and the more orthodox Christians are commonplace in the 640s, and the destabilizing factor cannot be understated. Similar communities have cropped in trading ports as far afield as India.
(Qataban, Oman: -Stability)
And at home, the Rashidun Caliphate quickly set about transforming society in its conquered lands. Instead of being home to looting and destruction, conquered cities, such as Berenice, were specifically made to have their infrastructure left intact. In addition, converts to Muhammadan Christianity were specifically granted economic protection and political security, or end up facing confiscation of property. In Arabia, local tribal leaders were offered the chance to retain their power through conversion, or face extermination. These policies spurred a wave of conversions, especially in Egypt, where Christianity was less culturally embedded; but in Arabia, devoutly Syrian tribes simply refused to cooperate and continued fighting sporadic wars against the “infidel usurper” Caliphate.
In addition, the At-Tanaw’a Edict, an extremely forward-thinking and bold move for its time, decreed that all men were equal in the eyes of Allah, and established the Rashidun Caliphate as a multicultural state above either Arab or Ethiopian culture. The At-Takamul system was an attempt to accommodate other Abrahamic faiths into the new Muhammadan one, declaring all churches waqf or public property and steering their doctrines to embrace Muhammad’s teachings – though this has seen little effect thus far, as many Syrian churches, especially in Arabia, have simply gone underground. And finally was the initiation of the Bayt al-Mal, a ministry responsible for managing the Caliphate’s economy, including the zakat system of requisite charity paid by every good Muslim, which was redistributed to the destitute and needy.
(Rashidun Caliphate: +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
Lastly, Abu Bakr’ sent letters to a number of neighboring nations, including Yibram, Qataban, and Oman. Oman rejected politely, while Qataban seemed to be interested in obtaining further contacts with the Caliph. The envoy to Yibram disappeared somewhere after departing, never reaching Salalah, never heard from again.
India
Within long, the remnants of the Sundara Empire were finally put out of its decaying misery by a Gurjara mercenary-cum-warlord named Harihara Parmara, who captured the city of Kannauj in 630. From there, he swiftly captured Indraprastha, and marched east to the capital at Pataliputra. Led by the weak teenage emperor Ram Sundara VI and too deeply torn by the infighting of the competing machinations of his generals, he could do little as the Parmara forces occupied all of Magadha and his empire was ended by 635. The newly founded Parmara Empire quickly spread its wings. Further campaigns saw the empire eat away at the Chalukya dominions directly to the south of Magadha, managing to remove them and their Malwan vassals from the banks of the Ganga. Harihara did little campaigning aside form that, preferring to consolidate his newfound gains. But to the west, the Himajana are still an ever-present threat that has yet to be firmly dealt with.
(Parmara Empire: -5 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies)
(Sundara Empire: -12 Infantry Companies, -11 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Karnataka: -4 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)
(Malwa: -5 Infantry Companies, -6 Cavalry Companies)
Speaking of the Himajana, for whatever peculiar reason, instead of advancing east to Delhi, Lhatsang decided to stay in its gained lands. But that did not stop one group of the Himajana – led by a minor princeling of the Lhatsang ruling family, whose name is recorded in India as Dunsurya – from launching his own campaign in the 630s. First, he assaulted Dvaraka, and in 637 took the city itself. Spending the next several years consolidating his rule, he then proceeded east, to overwhelm Malwa and conquer it swiftly, before their Kannadiga masters could respond; he defeated them, too, in battle in 644. Now, as of 650, he would threaten Karnataka itself – but the Vindhyas, not for the first time, have likely spared South India from nomadic invasion, and Dunsurya turned back rather than attack. He has established his capital at Ujjain, the former Malwan capital, having brought that country’s cultural golden age to its knees.
(Yujayan: -4 Infantry Companies, -5 Cavalry Companies)
(Malwa: -10 Infantry Companies, -11 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Dvaraka: -4 Infantry Companies, -9 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Karnataka: -4 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Stability
East India was remarkably quiet through this whole sequence of affairs. Vesali and Kamarupa, after fighting a number of wars in the previous years, maintained a peace along their borders. Relations warmed to the point where fact, in 640, signed an alliance – securing the future of both countries. Kamarupa, however, spared no expense building a line of fortresses along its western border. There is no telling when the next western invasion will come.
(Vesali, Kamarupa: +Stability)
East Asia
The Kamchachans, after their failed Korean campaign a generation ago, turned inwards. They outfitted their army with entirely new equipment, and the khal funded from his pocket some internal land developments, which resulted in the mushrooming of a good number of towns throughout the Khaldom, acting as market nexuses.
(Kamchachans: +Army Development, +Economy Development)
The Rouran Khanate entered a period of debilitating civil war after 631, when Gur Khaan V passed away. His two twin sons both claimed the throne, each supported by various commanders and nobles. After a peaceful deliberation and a vote failed, the one brother, with the largest number of supporters present, physically forced the other out of Karakorum. The ensuing fraternal violence boiled over into a massive war for the throne that encompassed all the Khanate. Eventually, by 635 after several years of indecisive fighting, the one who had forced his brother out scored a decisive victory, capturing his brother. In prison, the defeated party was forced to recognize the victor as Gur Khaan VI. Stability has returned, and Gur Khaan VI has proven himself a more than capable leader, but it was a bloody time, not helped by the rise in banditry and the famines that struck the land during that time.
(Rouran Khanate: -6 Infantry Companies, -15 Cavalry Companies, -Stability)
As with much of rest of the world, there is little of note that is known to have occurred in Korea or Japan during the second quarter of the seventh century. Certainly, neither country’s leaders had any real interest in militaristic expansion – we know that much, as Baekje engaged in little of the sort save for the construction of a great defensive wall along its northern border. Wa cultural influences continued spreading at a rapid pace in Baekje, including elements of the Wa religion, which grew ever more popular, especially amongst Korean literary circles, who saw it as the perfect for a growing trend of naturalism in period Korean literature.
But it was in China that the greatest, most influential series of events occurred. The Taizong Emperor had overseen China’s suffering under the plague, and done nothing. He had seen his control over the countryside fade away into exploitation, warlordism, and banditry, and done nothing. He had seen all China fall into decay, and done nothing.
A powerful court clique of Five Eunuchs decided enough was enough. Along with Wang Yang, Imperial Minister of Rites, and General Huang Ming, they invited the Emperor into the throne room for a supposedly important meeting, whereupon the Emperor was promptly met with hundreds of arrows. The last Emperor of the Sung Dynasty quickly passed away. In the chaos that ensued, a purge of Sung loyalists began; a brief rebellion at the hands of loyalist general Jiang Ling ended quickly when a spy in the army killed Jiang with a wooden pole. And Huang Ming was quickly elevated to the Emperorship, and, to gain popular support, distributed two-thirds of the palace’s stocks of gold directly to the people.
The new Ming – “bright” – Dynasty quickly set about consolidating its rule. Brutal military campaigns throughout the countryside – by the so-called Army of Heaven – brought the warlords back in line. And a program of hospital building in the cities was initiated. Sung-era pensions for the lower classes were continued, such that. But, whatever the case, it is clear that the eunuchs are solidly in power in this new dynasty – the Five Eunuchs quickly assumed the role of an Imperial Council which replaced the Sung-era Ministries.
(Great Sung: -Existence)
(Great Ming: -18 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Stability)
Southeast Asia
Burma saw the outbreak of protracted war between the two major powers in the region, Beikthano and Halin. At first, in the 630s, it appeared that Beikthano would emerge victorious, as they won battle after battle and threatened to siege Halin itself, bringing the state to its knees. But in a beautiful act of trickery, the King of Halin, a man recorded in Indian sources as Ramachandra Jaya, reportedly had the city evacuated, including its defenses. So when Beikthano’s forces arrived, they marched right into to the empty city – completely unprepared for when Halin’s soldiers attacked from all sides, annihilating the Beikthano army, and capturing the king. With this, Halin quickly marched south and captured Beikthano in 638. The Halin Empire has thus been born, and the Pyu people are united under a single, powerful state for the first time in their history. Only time will tell what Halin can accomplish now.
(Beikthano: -Existence, -8 Infantry Companies, -7 Cavalry Companies)
(Halin: -3 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, +Army Development, +Culture Development)
Following the great disasters of the previous quarter-century, Dvaravati reconsolidated what little it had left. Thanks to able leadership, the borders were reconsolidated, and the countryside and cities began to grow wealthy again with steady peace and prosperity. In addition, the kings of Dvaravati – Ramachandra II and Ramachandra III, as the contemporary ones would be chronicled as – brought scholars and philosophers to his court from India with handsome payments, and with their influences, started to spur the development of a truly Mon, Hindu literary and philosophical tradition. The 650s and 660s are recorded as a literary golden age for this culture.
(Dvaravati: +Stability, +Culture Development)
It was fortunate for the Mon that the neighboring Cham Empire, who could have easily, got the venerable Jaya Indravaraman as her rajadhiraja in 626. Jaya Indravaraman had served in his predecessors’ military campaigns as a prince, and had been a typical, bloodthirsty soldier. Then, according to the epic poem from where most of our information on his life comes from, he had fallen in love with a peasant girl, who was promptly senselessly slain by a fellow soldier. He grew so distrustful of war that he did not pursue it at all during his reign, instead – after sidelining the military with his daft politicking – opting to internally paint his realm in strokes of gold. And that he did – the Cham Empire entered a phase of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, as roads and marketplaces and docks were built across the realm. Jaya Indravaraman was a voracious reader and himself an illustrious poet, who contributed greatly to his culture’s legacy through patronage and his own contributions. He toured far and wide, visiting almost every last village, and, when he died prematurely in 648, reportedly, a lakh of weeping subjects followed his ashes down to the banks of the Mekong, and some even threw themselves in.
(Cham Empire: +Stability, +Navy Development, +Economy Development, +Culture Development)
After several decades of further decline, Tarumangara outright collapsed by the middle of the seventh century, in the face of rural rebellions in the state’s West Javanese heartland in the late 620s which brought the last generation of Tarumangaran leadership to their knees. Most of the outlying areas completely collapsed into various tribal states or city-states with virtually no central unity whatsoever, and much of Tarumangara’s trade volume has shifted to the ports of nearby Langkasuka, much to their delight.
(Tarumangara: -Existence)
(Langkasuka: +Stability, +Economy Development)
Most of southern Sumatra, south of the domains of Pasai, came under the control of the upstart kingdom of the state of Kantoli, whose expansion was fairly bloodless – a priestess-queen who had arisen to power there around 630 used a mixture of carrot-and-stick politicking to bring the surrounding areas, including the Sumateran highlands, under her control. She has inherited the Tarumangaran bureaucratic and theological structures largely wholesale.
Similarly, two Javanese states found themselves inheriting the Tarumangaran legacy and political systems. These were Sunda in the west, and Mataram in the east – the latter of which has retained trade links with the eastern islands, and with the Rondanese. Sunda, meanwhile, has come under the control of a group of priestesses who appear to have been granted the strongest warriors in all Nusantara – when border wars between Sunda and Mataram ensued in the late 630s, Sunda won decisively, enabling it to push the frontier back quite a bit.
(Sunda: -1 Infantry Company)
(Mataram: -3 Infantry Companies)
On Pasai itself, Nasrani Christian missionaries accompanying Keralite and Tamil traders from India introduced Nasrani Christianity to the state sometime in the 640s. In the port cities, a number of missions were established, as was a single monastery in the highlands near the kingdom’s southern frontier. While the numbers of Christians in Pasai remain rather small in comparison to the followers of the state-intertwined Kejawen priestesses, they have quickly established themselves as the largest religious minority in the state.
Rondan
However, the Nusantaran colonies on Rondan did not just fade away. Though life was hard and had always been so, and was largely dependent on the trade routes, the Rondanese perservered, and decided to stake it on their own as a state. The colonies broke off and formed something that could be recognizable to a Hellene or a Roman as a republic – a system was established, based on the existing methods of governance, wherein town and village councils of elders and Kejawen priestesses sent representatives to a central location for a semiannual meeting. The Rondanese have so far been able to
To the south, the Gurri built a number of schools to spread literacy, through their translations of Buddhist texts brought in from the mysterious northern realms only the most ardent of travelers speak of in anything but hushed tones, throughout their people. Scripts were amassed in great quantities in the palace at Maka, and stone tablets were erected in every settlement, wherein the royal palace’s orders were inscribed every so often. All this has had the effect of significant increases both in Buddhist pervasiveness and literacy in Gurri culture.
(Gurri: +Culture Development)
OOC
Reus: I’m going to call your faith Muhammadan Christianity as opposed to Islam, just to highlight the differences.
Map:
Spoiler :
Stats: posted
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Spoiler Western Europe :
Spoiler Eastern Europe :
Spoiler Southern Europe :
Spoiler North Africa :
Spoiler Middle East :
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Spoiler Sub-Saharan Africa :
Spoiler Central Asia :
Spoiler India :
Spoiler Southeast Asia :
Spoiler East Asia :
Lokki242
Emperor
To: The Nation of Kilwa
From: The Kingdom of Yibram
You're actions against the Jewish populace in Azania is horrific and uncalled for. Surrender your crown to us or a state of war shall now exist between us.
From: The Kingdom of Yibram
You're actions against the Jewish populace in Azania is horrific and uncalled for. Surrender your crown to us or a state of war shall now exist between us.
Bair_the_Normal
転輪聖王
Should that be the case then I'll be returning to my old abode of Hirajima.
Grandkhan
Telvanni Master Wizard
Excellent update SK.
Islam is inevitable I guess
Islam is inevitable I guess
Civ'ed
I ain't gotta explain a thing
to answer the terms of the khaldom, which I'm reclaiming, because lel
Khal is a term that refers to a clan in... Koryak, I believe? It's been a while
So yeah. Not a corruption of Khan. Not a GOT reference (I don't beat dead horses THAT much). Actual language thing.
Khal is a term that refers to a clan in... Koryak, I believe? It's been a while
So yeah. Not a corruption of Khan. Not a GOT reference (I don't beat dead horses THAT much). Actual language thing.
Arrow Gamer
America's Dictator
The New Persian Empire of Babylon hereby announces a pact of peace for the duration of 50 years with the Rashidun Caliphate. May there be no war in our time.
I'm not a puritan when it comes to alt-history, and I don't want to start an argument, but a word for "Prince/King" in all languages of Tungus linguistic family is "toyon," and the word for "clan" or "union of families" is "nym."to answer the terms of the khaldom, which I'm reclaiming, because lel
Khal is a term that refers to a clan in... Koryak, I believe? It's been a while
It's okay, "khaldom" doesn't need to be defended. History of nations can alter their language developments, so "khal" is completely fine by me.
Meanwhile, great update, SouthernKing! Empires rise, empires fall.
