By a Single Decision (Alternate History)

[das]

Chapter Seventy Five.

The Western Caliphate endured the fiery year of 1005. It struggled on through 1006, as Byzantine and Lombard armies slugged in Egypt and Andalusia (meaning all of Iberia). Al-Iksandriyah eventually fell to the Byzantines, but they only controlled the coastal region of Egypt - the other regions were under the control of Goptans, now led by Patriarch Peter Ithakos, a fierce follower of Ambrosius, but somewhat more subtle. The Lombards controlled Catalonia, but further advance inland proved to be impossible, and the Lombards seized the various Mediterranean islands instead, and raided the North African coastline. And the Viking piracy began to intensify, making contact with the western colonies virtually impossible.

And finally, the Berber raiders did something they never did before - having taken the city of Agadir in the center of the Moroccan coast, they did not simply pillage it and go back home, but instead claimed it in the name of their ruler, Mahmud Shabbid. The Berbers realized the Caliphate was going to fall, and decided to name themselves a heir to at least some of their lands.

The Western Caliphate survived into the year of 1007... but not beyond it. In the colonies, local governors became de facto independant rulers. Peasant risings threw the Caliphate out of the northern half of Morocco (OOC: note that "Morocco" includes OTL Rio de Oro as well); Berbers seized the south half. The Caliph disappeared one day, simply disappeared. The Caliphate has fallen, but, ofcourse, it was not the end of Islam, not even in North Africa, as the Lombards and the Byzantines were exhausted. The Lombards held on to Catalonia and the Caliphal Mediterranean islands, the Byzantines seized Egypt (though they still needed to fight the EGYPTIANS - well, the Goptan elements amongst the Egyptians, anyway).

 

[Symphony D.]

Very captivating read. Please continue.

 

[das]

Chapter Seventy Six.

After the fall of the Western Caliphate, there was chaos, though not as lasting as with the Eastern Caliphate. As already mentioned, the Byzantines were fighting the Goptans, and not very succesfully - the attempt to take al-Qahirah (Cairo) has failed, and the Goptan forces were threatening Byzantine supply lines. Also, Viking raiders struck at North Africa, while the northern Berbers too resumed piracy in the Mediterranean (resumed? Well, more like intensified actually). The Lombard advance was limited to Catalonia, but even that was (correctly) disturbing to Francians, who decided to return their army back home - the Wislians weren't giving up at all.

But in the colonies, in Andalusia and in remaining North Africa, it was much more chaotic then that. West Aravistan immediately consumed the eastern one; in the other colonies, numerous groups struggled for supremacy, and eventually, by 1010 every island and mainland colony was independant. For how long it would remain thusly was the question, and the answer was "not much". Andalusia was also aflame - Basques declared independance, local governors querreled and only the Lombard threat caused them to form the League of Cordova. Again, for how long would Andalusia be broken up remained unknown. And North Africa... local governors, emirs, generals, fanatics - all fought for supremacy on local-level, and peasant rebel armies joined into the fray. The "Most Enlightened Moroccan Republic" was eventually declared by the peasants and the local citizens as well as parts of the nobility that sided up with them, but elsewhere the peasant rebellion was not as strong. When the dust settled, in 1010 five other unstable states emerged in North Africa - Algeria, Orania, Tunisia, Tripolitania and Cyreneica.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Yay! It lives!

 

[Dachs]

Huzzah!

tentententententen

 

[blackheart]

Hurrah!!!!

 

[das]

Chapter Seventy Seven.

Peter Ithakos by 1010 already commanded not a mere GOPTAN rebellion - rather, he raised all the Coptics to the battle with the Byzantines, he also secured support in exchange of relative tolerance from the Muslisms and the Jews. Indeed, much of the Egyptian population was behind him as he fought the Byzantine armies.

He was determined to gain Egypt and not to lose it to ANYONE, he reasoned it was time for the true Egyptian destiny to be played out, the destiny of Egypt as a state... as an empire? Perhaps. For this purpose, he created the Order of St. Ambrosius and an army of zealots, the Ambrosites.

The Byzantine forces took al-Qahirah in 1011, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. The yellow banner of Egypt was meanwhile raised just outside of al-Iksandriyah. The Goptan - or, indeed, the Egyptian - armies threatened the Byzantine supply lines. Irene II finally realized, as the Byzantine forces only barely succeeded to fight their way out of encirclement, that Egypt might never be conquered, or, at least, not in her reign...

 

[jalapeno_dude]

more, More, MORE!

 

[Dachs]

Maybe the Byzantines will fight an American Revolution-type war with Egypt, and then become allies with them, like Britain and America OTL 1800s?

 

[das]

Chapter Seventy Eight.

Time has come to say something about India in the very early 11th century.

India was in a most unusual state for it at the time - it was united. Ruled by the Chandallian dynasty from Khajuraho, it was, indeed, an empire for the first time since the Gupta, was just as mighty as the Mauryans, and finally, controlled the entire subcontinent. Many historians would wonder why did it manage to do so. Firstly, the Muslims and then the Turks have created a common threat, a threat that united the diversity of Indian religions, cultures, peoples and nations in an unwritten alliance - the best manifestation of this, apart from the coalitions, was the epic poem Marathambhor. Secondly, after the Turkic defeat, the Chandallian army, which undergone succesful reforms and adopted foreign ideas, ended up as the strongest army in India - it had competition, but insufficient one.

Thirdly, there were the ambitions of their rulers, spurred by a victory like none before in India. Fourthly, the Chandallian advisors were greedy, and thus willing to pull many strings, etc, etc, to gain control over the southern, Dravidian, port cities, which were at the time flourishing greatly due to the Chinese trade from the east and the Hadramautean trade from the west - and to gain that control, the Dravidian territory had to be conquered. Fiftly, Chandalla was considered (rightfully) by many of the northern, Vedic, Indians to be their saviour - some north Indian rulers surrendered without a battle, and in the lands of others, the peasants and the citizens alike often enough assisted the Chandallian army!

And so, India was united. It was still diverse, there were still religions from Hindu to Muslim separating them, and the divisions between the Vedics and the Dravidians still existed, and the petty cultural differences were hardly changed or removed, and neither were the castes, but politically, it was united. Ruled from the magnificent fortress and temple complex of Khajuraho, India was united, and began flourishing from trade. Sea trade, as the land routes were hardly safe...

 

[das]

Maybe the Byzantines will fight an American Revolution-type war with Egypt, and then become allies with them, like Britain and America OTL 1800s?

Unlikely, IMHO. Religious differences and all that...

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Keep going.........

 

[das]

OOC: I now have some chapters on Central Asia, and after that, a chapter on the Carribbean Sea. What do you think should I do next? Thanks.

IC:

Chapter Seventy Nine.

Ofcourse, the death of the Khazarian nasich in the year of 986 did not end the Khazarian-Khorasanian war in Central Asia. But a sort of detente came, and lasted until Solomonos' death in the year 1000. The new ruler was kezar Saulos II. Ofcourse, even in the last years of Solomonos' reign, mutual raiding took place. But Saulos intended to "punish" Mustafa. Another great Khazar army was assembled and, with kezar in charge, crossed Amu Darya at night of July 10th 1002. Only one Khorasani patrolling horseman escaped... not for long, as he died from wounds before he could inform Mustafa of the invasion.

It is very ironic to add that he would not have found Mustafa in his palace anyway at the time - the sultan was campaigning against the Khazars in the west, having broken through to the Caspian Sea. Only when the Khazar armies were already besieging Balkh did he find out of it.

He sent a small force to harass the Khazars, to prevent them from taking the fortress easily. To tie them down there, whilst himself, with his well-trained warriors, fit for survival in the harsh conditions of Central Asia, he marched north, to the Aral Sea...

 

[jalapeno_dude]

You should do Malaysia next...

 

[Vanadorn]

I don't have a specific preference what exactly comes next, just that you continue the story along its current track and trail.

If interested in specific parts: the British Isles, the far east (vietnam/korea/japan), or perhaps the scrapped remnants of who/what makes up western christendom in Europe.

I am stroking your ego, write, write, write. Write!!

V

 

[das]

Chapter Eighty.

The war in the steppes was that of cavalry. This was the tradition, and Saulos understood it well, and Mustafa, the old Khorasanian, even better.

And with cavalry, especially with steppe cavalry, there always was place for maneuvers. Maneuvers to strike enemy flank and rear, to intercept an enemy maneuver, to... attack his supply lines. The latter was what, in a way, Mustafa did when besieged Bukkhara in 1005 and incited a rebellion in it, takign control over all the paths to the south, paths along which supplies for the Khazar army were no longer coming.

The Khazarian garrisons in the Central Asian cities always gave strong resistance, but they were too few, those who survived the attacks of the Muslim mobs fell to the Khorasani armies. Mustafa expected Saulos to retreat.

He underestimated Saulos' stubborness. For while Bukkhara was being taken in the north, in the south, the Khazars took Herat. Mustafa now lost much of his nation to Saulos, even if Saulos himself was cut off and stranded, for the moment at least, in a hostile land.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

More, more, more!

 

[das]

Chapter Eighty One.

As both Turkic armies succesfully cut off each other from the supplies, Mustafa definitely was better off then his enemy, as the grateful Bukkharans, initially at least, did give provision to the Khorasanians, while the Khazarians had encountered much more problems in the south, where local nomads harassed their forces.

However, Saulos too had an ace up his sleeve. He was stubborn, yes, fanatical, yes, but not stupid. Nasich Aaronos had another, smaller, force ready in Mebron, to the east from the Caspian Sea. As soon as news of the confusing Central Asian situation reached Aaronos, he struck south, to Bukkhara, and in a pitched battle forced back the Khorasanians. But, he besieged Bukkhara rather then advance further. Mustafa and his army maneuvered south, yet by then, they were exhausted. As were Saulos' men, ofcourse.

Under the burning sun, at the small village of Erat, somewhere on the Amu Darya, the two exhausted, tired, thirsty armies clashed. Saulos sent hundred after hundred of his forces at the Khorasanians, yet they pressed on. But that was Saulos' plan.

The tired Khorasanian army was attacked head-on by the Khazar Baghators, and was overran by them. Mustafa himself died that day. But the end of the Khorasanian army was not yet the end of Khorasan. No, resistance lingered on, and the newly-conquered provinces will be in almost-constant rebellion for quite some time.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Yay, it lives!

 

[Dachs]

lurker's comment: Still watching and still interested. Khazars rule!