By a Single Decision (Alternate History)

[das]

OOC: That's the point of threatening them, ain't it?

*detonates a small nuclear device in between the mob*

IC:

Chapter Fifty Four.

Ce Mool Hapiltzin Mixcoatl was one of the geniuses of warfare and politics, a great ruler - a wise and cunning one. When Halid ibn-Salam and his Tatonac allies begun marching towards Tollan in 961 AD, Hapiltzin was already an old man, but still cunning and energetic. Upon hearing of the coming Muslims, he sent out troops to prepare to surround them, while Coyote Warriors prepared in ambushes.

The main army, meanwhile, prepared itself at the capital. Hapiltzin himself and his guards went to greet ibn-Salam, who, along with his force, separated himself from the Tatonacs for the moment to show that he “came in peace”. Halid was glad to meet “such a great ruler”, and proposed to him trade, alliance against the Tatonacs, even the Muslim “arcane secrets” - in exchange for two conditions: Hapiltzin converts to Islam and promises to send tribute to the Caliph. Obviously, Hapiltzin was expected to refuse. He, however, chose to buy time. So the Muslims made camp, alongside the Toltec ruler and his guards.

On the next day, the camp was safely surrounded, and the Muslims were promptly captured. Their fate was not a good one. Some of them were sacrificed outright; others were interrogated painfully and forced to reveal... a lot. Secrets of iron and the Tatonacs alike fell into Hopiltzin’s hands. And then, those who spoke were sacrificed as well.

The Toltecs were now firmly on the rise.

 

[Gelion]

*shouts*
das! das! das! das!

Good job mate keep it flowing

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Good update!

The radioactive pile of ash that used to be me wants more!

 

[jalapeno_dude]

More, more, more!

 

[Princeps]

ahem, more please...

 

[das]

OOC: I was considering abandoning this, but recently got reinspired. This chapter is short, but I have a much better one soon-to-be-finished!

IC:

Chapter Fifty Five.

970 AD. What do we have in Tolteca you already know. What do we have elsewhere in the Arab colonies and Central American territories?

First of all, we have the Mayans. Recently, Muslim trade and Muslim influence increased even further. In fact, in 969 AD, a Muslim ruler came to power in Chichen Itza, named Mohammed ibn-Kiniquopa. Maya lands have recovered from the “Ocean Plague”, and those who survived converted to Islam, in the north at least. The faith was strengthened by the “plague” somewhat dying out soon after the mass conversions.

Muslim colonies were already numerous, as Eravistan (OTL Cuba) was successfully colonized, though a native ruler (a minor tribal chieftain really) remained in power as the Emir of West Aravistan. Many smaller islands were picked up as well, and first colonies were being established on Nafar (OTL Florida peninsula).

The Western Caliphate’s control over those territories was increasingly nominal.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

It keeps going... yay!

 

[ThomAnder]

really cool story, don't let it stop ^_^

 

[blackheart]

Update Das, or the polar bears die!

 

[das]

Chapter Fifty Six.

As was mentioned before, the Western Caliphate was throughout the later half of 10th Century occupied with a war with a certain “ascendant Ghana Empire across the Sahara”. I think some more light should be shed on the subject.

Early kingdoms in the region of Ghana - a sub-Saharan West African kingdom directly to the south of Sahara - appeared as long ago as circa 300 AD. In roughly 700, the Soninke clans in the area first united to form the kingdom they called “Wagadu” and which was better known by the Arabs as “Ghana”, called so for the ruler title.

As time went by, the Ghanese expanded. They built a comparatively large empire, and prospered through trade via Sahara, on the harsh yet profitable routes. Their capital, Koumbi Saleh, was without doubt the largest Sub-Saharan city at the time.

West of the then-landlocked Ghana - as of 936 - there was the young state of Takrur. It occasionally suffered from Ghanese raids, and profited from trade with them. In 936, Khalid established oversea contact with Takrur. At that point, Muslim influence was already strong with Ghana, and from there it spilled on Takrur occasionally. Takrur, however, did not take well to that idea and tried to resist. At that point, the Berbers back at home in Western Caliphate realized that there weren’t many easy AND juicy targets left back in the Mediterranean. They solved this problem quickly and determinedly, as always, by converting to khalid ships, oceanic piracy and raiding Central America and West Africa.

Shortly, Takrur was devastated by the raids. Finally, a Berber called Isil led his “friends” and a group of mercenaries down along the cost to seize power in the devastated Takrur. That they did, and it (or rather their refusal to pay tribute to the ghana of Ghana) irritated the Ghanese to no end.

 

[blackheart]

Are we going to have something about North America soon?

 

[das]

No, not yet. I need to explore some parts here that weren't previously mentioned: namely, Africa and after a mention of Nazarean Wars Central Asia.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

I'm back, and I want MORE!

 

[alex994]

das... i demand more knowledge...

 

[das]

Chapter Fifty Seven.

In fact, by 940, the Ghanese were so mad with the “Takrur Berbers” that they decided to prepare to grab Takrur from under the Berber feet. The ghana hired mercenaries from amongst the Saharan (Sanhaja) Berbers and struck The Ghanese were largely up to date in technology, had the superior numbers and the fact that the Berber raiders irritated the natives to no end as well. Soon, Isil begun to lose ground rapidly. Desperate, he declared his “Emirate of Takrur” to be a part of the Western Caliphate. The Caliph was not amused, but, on the other hand, had to keep his prestige up. Thus, when Takrur finally fell in early 942, the Western Caliphate was, de jure at least, at war with Ghana.

At first, the Ghanese did not do much. But when the new Caliph, Amin IV, completely forbid the trade with the “infidels of Ghanistan” in 944 the Ghanese were very enraged. The trade was mutually profitable. Ghana did not have much of an alternative to it. Sure, the trade could go on with Sanhaja Berbers and with tribes and protostates further inland. But trade with the Arabs made up much of the income.

The Ghanese could not forgive this. They left themselves with no choice but to fight. And fight they did.

 

[das]

Chapter Fifty Eight.

The war was, from the beginning, very awkward indeed. The Ghanese had no fleet, nor means or experience of build one. The Arabs could simply not afford, and did not care to, land troops in Ghana. Thus, the war could only be fought in Sahara.

The Ghanese were very quick to find a way to do just that. Traditionally, they had good relations with Sanhaja Berbers (who lived outside of Western Caliphate territory). So they used the Berber tribes as mercenaries in raids on Caliphate territory. At first, those were barely noticeable. Later, though, the Ghanese hired more and more raiders, and eventually even helped the Berbers form a tribal confederation and to send troops of its own to help it. In 951, the Muslim forces marched to stop the Ghanese-Sanhaja raids in Morocco. In the famous (in Ghana) battle of Agadir, the Muslim forces were routed and the port town (Agadir, ofcourse) was plundered. Later on, a raid ravaged Marrakech, a major city. The war was on.

In 958, the Caliphate punitive expedition invaded Sanhaja realm. It advanced almost as far as Tindouf, the Sanhaja capital. Caliphate forces prepared well - they conscripted Bedouin tribes and found traitors within Sanhaja ranks. However, in the end, they simply got lost in the desert. By the time they found the caravan trails again, they lost a lot of time and men to the heat. The numerically-superior Ghanese-Sanhaja forces attacked, but faced determined resistance from the Arabs as the Ghanese forces barred the path towards an oasis. A life-saving oasis. However, the Arabs were stopped and massacred.

In 961, though, the Berber-Ghanese raids into Morocco suffered a defeat of their own. A large horde was rampaging on the path to Fez. However, it was stopped dead in its tracks at Gelila, cut off and crushed. That put a temporary end to the raids and allowed the Western Caliphate to participate in the Nazarean War.

In 964, the raids begun anew. Not as daring as before, not as massive, not as damaging. But much more numerous and brooding.

 

[Vanadorn]

Nice of you to come back to this. Keep on writing.

V

 

[jalapeno_dude]

I agree. Keep going!

 

[das]

Chapter Fifty Nine.

As time went by, the Nazarean War was clearly not getting anywhere. Amin IV died in 975, his successor signed truce with the Byzantines leaving them with the Holy Land so that he can deal with the Bedouin rebels and Berber raiders. In 978, the Caliphate forces reinvaded the Holy Land and besieged Jerusalem; they were later fought back. The Byzantines advanced towards the Nile, but suffered large casualties and barely escaped envelopment.

Caliph Hassan could not exploit this victory, though - the Goptans rebelled. They used what seemed like a momentary weakness (the Berber-Bedouin forces linking up and destroying a Caliphal army in Algeria) to put Egypt aflame. They were no allies of the Byzantines, but their radical yet charismatic leader, Ambrosius Tethacos, saw it unfit to be forced to live under the “heathen” rule. The rebellion gained strength in the northern parts of Egypt, where Ambrosius had the support of Christian merchants - the Caliphal fleet so far failed to put an end to piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and Ambrosius, a great propagandist, used it to his advantage.

The rebellion lasted for three years. During those, al-Iksandriyah was taken. Mosques were burned down. Muslims were not really “massacred”, as later claimed, but those that resisted were slaughtered indeed. The Caliph barely escaped to Cairo. The Goptans, however, proved simply unable to succeed against the Muslims because of Ambrosius’ arrogance. He did not want to have anything to do with the Byzantines or the Lombards. He hoped for a miracle, but none came and he died in the final Muslim assault on al-Iksandriyah. This rebellion was, nevertheless, a turning point. It radically divided the Coptic and Maronite communities between radicals, such as Ambrosius, and others. The former declared Ambrosius a saint. In his name, many other rebellions would start. Rather unexpectedly, the latter group, which declared Ambrosius, quite bluntly, an idiot, was in (however narrow) minority.

Thus, the war raged on, if often only either de jure, either de facto. By 983, at the end of the First Goptan Rebellion, nothing really changed in the war. Both sides were weakened equally. Byzantines held on to the Holy Land, Arabs held on to Hedjaz and Egypt.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Yay! Another chapter!