Update 3: 1501-1505: Hiatus Ended
Characters:
Nicholas Verner (born 1470) head of the House of Verner
Helene Verner, wife (born 1472)
Jean Claude Vauchamps, Helenes brother (born 1480)
Verner Children: Pietro (b 1492), Jeanine (b 1495), Sarah (b 1497), Johann (b 1501)
Claire ORourke, sweetheart of Jean Claude, (b 1487)
Claires brothers: Ryan, Charles, & Sean (all sailors on English. Irish and Scottish ships)
Wu Kuan, former merchant of Ning-Po, Wokou pirate and now an established trader in the Spice Islands; (born 1470)
The Far East 1499
Batumongke Dayan Khan sat on his carved throne in the great hall of his palace. Behind him his wives gathered and watched in silence. At his feet his son and heir fifteen year old Barsbolad Jinong sat on a low stool and listened as the generals told their stories of the wars in the east. The army had been away for three years campaigning all along the eastern border of the empire subduing the lands at the edge of the steppe. The war raged for over 500 miles along the eastern border and rolled east for a hundred or more miles expanding the empire. The Ongligud and Ojiyed clans bore the brunt of the battles, but received praise and rewards when they were successful. In doing so their loyalty was enhanced as their armies became weaker. The clans and cities of the east were given the choice of submission or destruction. The initial tendency to resist lessened as the tide of destruction increased. The lords of the Ojiyed were dressed in their finest battle gear and surrounded by heaps of plunder as they rounded out the days reporting with the exploits of their most valiant warriors. The Great Khan of the Mongols praised them and gave them gifts and honors and the prettiest of the women captives. He knew that the conquered lands would be unsettled for a while, but was well pleased with his armies. The new recruiting and training policy seemed to be working and he had a steady supply of skilled warriors always at the ready. The feasting continued well into the night.
The Hongzhi Emperor was pleased. His empire was at peace; the roads and canals were laden with goods and the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers had been well behaved for three years. His mandate was firmly aligned heaven. The Wokou had all but disappeared from sight. He attributed it to his now impressive navy which patrolled the coasts with regularity and the semblance of skill. The new Imperial Admiralty was a very busy place as it tried to keep up with all the changes demanded by the Emperor. His loosening of trade restrictions was showing; in fact his agents had noted that small, informal coalitions of merchants were beginning to take shape in several areas: in Fukien the maritime traders were gathering more frequently to discuss common problems and solutions. Similar fledgling groups had been noted in Shansi in the north and among the Tung-ting merchants of Chang te south of the Yangtze in the central provinces. Most recently, the salt traders at the mouth of the Yangtze were showing the same inclination. It was all good. Overseas he had had more success. Bangka Island had stabilized and was showing signs of growth. Its garrison of 5,000 troops was self supporting and more and more spice merchants from the east were bringing their cargo to the Chinese traders there. This good news was further enhanced by news of a new trading fort in Ceylon. The local population had been sufficiently impressed to grant his traders a small plot of land for storehouses and ship repair facilities. The money had probably helped too. King Parakramabahu VIIIs kingdom was in disarray both from internal strife with his nobles and the invasion by the Vijayanagar along the northwestern coast. The southeast coast seemed the safer choice for the fort and besides it was considerably drier than the western side of the island.
Ryukyu
Furaagwa Gaajyan listened behind the heavy curtain that separated him from the royal dais and court that was underway on the other side. He was recording the proceedings unofficially for Kings Sho Shin. A small tear in the tapestry gave him a nice view of who was where, who was whispering and who was smiling as the king presided. King Sho Shin was feeling rather wealthy. His tiny Ryukyu kingdom was growing in prosperity and size. He felt secure on his throne. The king was being magnanimous today and granting many petitions for favors. His lords had seen the opportunities in the newly conquered lands on Formosa and in the colony of Luzon far the south; they sought land and trading rights to further their fortunes. Powerful lords with interests overseas were not a bad thing. As one group of petitioners left and a new group was escorted into the throne room, Furaagwa thought back a few years to the time when the king had maneuvered the leading Wokou pirates into contributing to his royal coffers as they disbanded their troublesome practices or were beheaded. Even Furaagwa had felt the weight of new gold in his pockets and it had come from the hand of the king himself. He smiled as began once again to record all that he saw.
Japan
Imperial Waka:
血の如く
緑雨が降れど
また出でて
入る船の者
準備を込むを
Even though
the summer rain
falls like blood,
the men on the coming and going ships
continue their preparations!
Maeda Tsuyoshi and his command of samurai had just returned from west and the beheading war against the last of the Wokou. The campaign had gone well in spite of the presence of the dog-faced Chinese who had to rely on Japanese ships to be of any use at all. He was glad to see them departing Osaka as he and his men sorted out their gear on the quay. Orders were taking them east to bring rebellious lords in Mutsu province under control of the Shogun. Some of the lesser daimyo had been bribed to swear loyalty to the shogunate; others had to be fought into submission. Maeda supported the restoration of central authority since he was on what appeared to be the winning side in the struggle and each victory gave him additional prestige and perhaps recognition from Ashikaga Yoshizumi himself. The march east would position his troops for a campaign in the fall if all went well. If things turned against the shogun, then it seemed likely that the warlords of Hojo, Mori or Omura would attempt to break away.
Malacca
Abu Jabar captained 10 ships when he sailed from Malacca in 1504. Their course took them south east to Borneo and then south through the straits at the west end of Java. From there it was all open-ocean sailing on light westerlies that carried them southeast for 10 days.
Their first land fall was a small rocky island whose destiny seemed to be the eternal depository for bird guano. Sea birds of every kind were in abundance, in the air, on the crags and in the water. What water they found was fouled and so they sailed on after only a brief stop. Within a few days a long low coastline rose over the horizon. It was not unlike eastern Java, but wild and untamed by civilization. Abu Jabar sailed west along the coast and watched the land dry out. The equatorial lushness turned to dry steppe lands as they entered a great bay. Coming out of the bay on a northerly tack brought them to a wet tropical headland which they followed west and then south once again. The steppe lands returned and it wasnt until after the y bypassed an eastward break in the coast that the weather turned cooler, balmier and quite unlike anything they had ever experienced. Further south the coast turned to the east and the winds become stronger and the sailing more treacherous if stormy. They found no cities or towns or even villages. There was no trace of people at all. They fed themselves on sea birds and fish for there was no sign of game other than snakes, lizards, ground birds and small beasts of an undetermined nature.
India
King Raya of Vijayanagar was ambitious and laid his plans carefully. The great sub continent of India was ripe for conquest if the right king made the right moves. In the north Delhi lords squabbled over their petty interests; In Gujarat King xxxx had squandered his success against Rajput through the overly harsh treatment of Hindus. Over the past ten years Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Bidar had all broken free from Bahmani rule and Mohammed Shah IV was ineffective in reuniting them. His rump kingdom was centered around his capital of Golkanda and the lands to the east. To the south the Kotte Kingdom had lost control and local Sinhalese lords wrestled for control of the lucrative trade in pearls and ivory. So Krishna Deva Raya was going to war. His first campaign was to the south to conquer the Ceylon and he successfully brought much of the northwestern part of the island under his control. Losses were light for the gains made. In 1503 Raya turned his armies north towards Golkanda. 12,000 men and siege equipment brought the city under siege early in the year before the onset of the monsoon rains. Mohammed Shah rallied what support he could and the city held out for six weeks before capitulating. With its collapse and the beheading of Mohammed Shah, the Muslim lords were quickly persuaded to accept the Hindu rule of King Raya. The Hindu populace rejoiced.
Prahladas job was to prepare the palace bonfires for the festival of Holi. It was only a few days away and everyone was busy with preparations for this sacred celebration of the burning of the demoness Holika and the devotion of his ancient namesake to Vishnu. Busy as they all were though, there was other news afoot in the palace. Diplomats sent the year before to Egypt had returned. Their stories of that fabled and far off land had been making their way from the court to the rest of the palace staff through whispered conversations and staccato hallway chatter as time permitted. Prahlada could not believe the tales he heard of giant mountains of stone blocks and the river that was called the Nile. But he fully understood what was said about war and the weapons of war and new ways of destroying ones enemies. The royal armory was already inspecting what had been brought back with plans to make copies. He hoped to sneak a peek at the mysterious objects as soon as the festival was over. His wifes cousin had a friend who was a blacksmith in the royal stables and he might have friends in the armory itself. Prahlada had daydreamed of traveling to such distant places and seeing the strange people of far off lands, but such things were not likely to come his way so he reveled in the tales of others. Cairo itself was now ruled by the Ottoman Sultan and the Vijayanagar diplomats had met the new governor of Egypt and presented the greetings of Krishna Deva Raya to him. Besides the news, there was the gossip. If the rumors were true, Prince Tirumalai had been smitten with love for a princess of Berar. Surely this was a surer path of conquest than that of armies.
The Land Between the Rivers
Atop the Battlements The Beginning of Spring, Ardabil, 1501
Ismail stood with at the top of the battlements around the city walls, where he lifted his sword and caught the glint of the sun with the flawless steel. As he lifted the weapon and pointed it westward toward Tabriz, the Qizilbashi roared their approval in the march for war.
And so Ismail went to war and his legions followed. The disunity among the Aq Qoyunlu was evident from the start. Warlords and princes fled to their cities in fear, leaving each to its own fate before the advancing warriors of Allah. The veterans of the Ottoman campaign against the Mameluks formed the core of Ismails army and the wagon laager its planned tactic. At Trabiz Alwand Mirza hid behind the citys walls as they were pounded to nothing. The great gate was left standing and it was there that the heads of the fallen Aq Qoyunlu leaders were spiked for flies and ravens to devour. The people rejoiced at the glory of young Ismail and his promises of peace. They bowed before him and he was generous and forgiving.
King of Kings
In some ways, it was only a word, and it meant nothing. The shahanshah of Iran was, after all, a self-appointed title and bestowed upon Ismail no land, no wealth, no power, not directly.
But in other ways, as Ismail knew, it meant everything in the world. As he lifted the crown of the title over his title, to the raucous cheers of his troops and the liberated people of Tabriz, aware that they were witnessing a momentous turn in history, he felt a surge in his own hand. The respect of the people clearly expectant of a true ruler after decades of chaos, the submission of the marginalized Kurdish and Turkic nobles, the heed of his men to serve a king. This was the divine right that Allah had bestowed upon him, the right that he had earned by rallying his men to conquest and liberation. Allahs will that he was now King of Kings, Shahanshah, Emperor of Iran and Azerbaijan.
No longer would he dominated by the shadow of his father, Heydar, who had first united Qizilbash. No longer would he be seen as only a boy figurehead leader, with the real authority emanating from the military or the nobility. When they had entered Tabriz after the siege, Altan had commandeered the far right flank of the cavalry, riding in the place of highest honor for any emir. But Ismail rode in the center, the place of an emperor. And it was he who entered the gates and thus seized the mantle of the King of Kings.
The spring turned to summer and the army of Allah moved south towards Baghdad and the coalescing army of Murad Beg. Garrisons along the road collapsed as Ismail and Altan approached the cities and towns scattered along the river road. Typically, the Aq Qoyunlu commanders were executed, the soldiers sent home and the lost sheep of region brought into the fold of Shah Ismail. It was in one of these nameless towns that Allah reached out and wrote Neya across the heart of Ismail and for a while the war stopped. Allahs messenger, the King of Kings was rapturously besotted by love. But once their stories had been told, their hands held by one another and their future together set aside for the call of kingship, the young ruler again took up his march upon Baghdad. Murad Beg staked his life on a pitched battle on the outskirts of the city. He outnumbered the Safavids but many of his troops were levies of recent recruit and wavering loyalty. Ismail and Altan watched dispassionately as Murad Begs army threw themselves, much like the Mameluks had, against the wagon laager. Those that survived were swept away by the red-turbaned Qizilbashi.
Before the day was out, the spirited horsemen had caught the fleeing Murad Beg and dragged him before Ismail and his council of generals. The decapitation was swift and personal by Ismail himself who then lifted the head for all to see. Altan walked by Ismails side carrying the newly spiked head as they entered the city. The city was theirs. The heart of the Aq Qoyunlu was now headless and it was only time and distance that stood in the way of complete conquest. By fall they were in Basra and before the full heat of the following summer (1502), Ismail and Altan were admiring the harbor at Hormuz and dreaming of the cool highlands of Ardabil. While in Hormuz, Ismail heard word of his embassy to the Turks of Constantinople and the success of Savas al-Ardadil. Hormuz might prove useful after all. For two more years the armies of the Shah marched and countermarched across Persia. One by one the strongholds of local lords either chose the path of peace and fealty or succumbed to the cannon and swords of the Safavids. In 1505 as the stars aligned themselves in harmonious order, Ismail, King of Kings, lord of Persia and the hand of Allah, married Neya, the holder of his heart.
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