Danger Bird
gravity's angel
IX. The Timurids and the Eastern War
Court record of proceedings at the Supreme Military Tribunal, 20 Farvardin 1212 (1397 AD)
1396-1409 Timur Gurkani
The death of the ruler immediately following the treaty with Arabia caused much confusion in the ranks of the military, still making its way back from the borderlands in the south. The exact events are unclear, but records suggest that some regiments continued their attacks southwards into the territory of the independent principality of Chittagong. Whether the intention was merely looting or, as the new regime claimed, collusion with the Chinese and an Indian revolt, remains unknown. (It is known that the new Timurid regime, as their ancestral lands in Oxiana were under increasing Chinese influence, were looking for a casus belli on China, and that the Chinese did capture Chittagong in the following decades.) The commander Nasir Tughluq was executed in Parsa, the Indian regiments were moved to the north where they could be better observed.
The Chittagong Incident
Timur Gurkani consolidated his control in 1396, when his son, Miran Shah, invited the remaining princes of the Kartid dynasty to a banquet, ostensibly to seek a power-sharing agreement, and slew them when they had gathered in the room. No other clans or regional rulers questioned the Timurids rule therafter.
By 1400, the plague had spread to Parsa, but it was eradicated there and in Ectabana only five years later and did not spread further save for an outbreak in Armuza from 1405 to 1415, thanks to the Persian civilisation's advances in medicine, carried out by apothecaries across the land.
Trade continued to expand with the Satrapy of Russia, in spite of the Russians unease about the recent coup in Parsa. Horses were driven northwards in return for silver, deer, fur, and a regular tribute of 2 toman (20,000 dinar). The trade was expanded further in 1425: pig for greater imports of fur and deer. Persia was now monopolising the trade with Russia, partly due to the fact that Russia's other neighbours, the Germans and Mongols, were deeply hostile to the Persian empire.
Russian trade expansion
1409-1449 Mirza Taregh (also known as Ulugh Beg)
Mirza Taregh, although a steely warrior, was also a scientifically curious and an advocate of public learning. Taking advantage of recent advances in education, he directed that a university be opened in Armuza, and also that the empire's scientists work towards advances in optics so that an observatory might eventually be built. He also encouraged the sharing of learning with Japan, where presses had been developed that could reproduce the written word in large volume. The word of these advances travelled throughout the world, and in 1435, an Arabian diplomat demanded, unsuccessfully, that a Persian delegation travel back to Arabia to help establish schools of higher learning there, in return for the moneys they were already paying yearly to the Persian treasury.
Academic exchanges with Japan
In 1425, scouts reported that a Chinese army had landed to the south, and was laying siege to Chittagong. The Military Council argued strongly that this was the time to strike the Chinese empire, as the ravages of plague had reduced their garrisons. Taregh took their advice and fulfilled his father's ambition to go to war with the the empire to the east. The ever-threatening Mongols declared war soon after they heard of the war to their south, sensing that Persia would be at its most vulnerable.
The declaration of war on China
As the declaration of war was made without having prepared adequate siege engines, the first regiments of horsemen pillaged the countryside and enslaved its workers. However, as it appeared the plague had left the city of Luoyang, the generals made a bold decision to attack the city directly with horsemen, by circling the city, confusing the defenders, and then battering their way through a temporarily undefended gate with an improvised ram. This resulted in the almost total loss of two famed regiments, the 1st Khwarezmians and the Lorestanis. The Shiraz Horsemen, however, on a third attempt, entered the city and subdued the defenders. Meanwhile, the Fakhru Mirza Horsemen defeated the Mongolian Keshiks on the plains to the north.
The Battle of Luoyang
Skirmishes with the Mongolian Keshiks
The rush to take Luoyang had been successful, but its defense was anything but certain. In 1430, the Persian armies were in a precarious situation, with a garrison in Luoyang only starting to dig in, and single regiments rushing through the surrounding Chinese country to their aid. It was hoped that the Chinese forces had not yet rebounded from the plague.
The China Campaign - 1430 (a precarious situation)
By 1430, Christianity had spread in Dilli, and it was hoped that this, and the once-again solid stability of the Persian empire, would help to quell any aspirations to Indian independence. Missionaries were still being frustrated in the north, however, unable to bring Christianty to the last Russian holdout, Taoist Kiev.
Of course, with no navy but a single fleet of galleys sheltering in Armuza harbour, Persia was at the mercy of whatever China might try to do by sea. The Chinese Navy terrorised the Dilli fishing fleet, forcing them to give up their plentiful fishing banks. (This did not lead the Indian and Arabian residents of the city to look favourably on the Timurid regime.)
Chinese navy off Dilli
The Mongol declaration of war had sent fear through the populace, but sightings of Keshik raiders had been thankfully few, and they were easily dispatched with the troops stationed in the northern cities.
Victory in skirmishes north of Samarkand
With the completion of a grand Christian cathedral in Pathragada, and the university in Armuza, in 1435, the sophistication of the empire could be seen in wartime; it was hoped that the people of the border regions outside the Great Wall would eventually transfer their loyalty back to Persia. Other nations were also enjoying prestigious accomplishments, however. The Arabians reported in 1440 that they had drawn maps of the entire circumference of the earth, and on the Arabian diplomat's next visit to the royal court in Parsa, he brought an emissary from a far-off kingdom (now vassals of Arabia) named Azteca.
As the Chinese war entered its second decade, the defenses at Luoyang were more secure, but its people still in revolt. Meanwhile, a siege was being prepared at Xi'an.
The China Campaign - 1440 (preparing siege of Xi'an)
1449-1469 Abu Said
The third Timurid ruler was, remarkably, of Arabian parentage. Abu Said was a native of Dilli who had proved himself to Taregh in his service in the Shiraz Horsemen. He had been one of the key planners in the masterful entry into the gates of Luoyang 20 years before, displayed great bravery, and further, great scientific curiousity, and had thus been adopted by Taregh as a son.
Abu Said realised that the war in China could not be allowed to drag, as the Chinese would only get stronger, and their cannons and horsemen with guns would be unstoppable for even the most valorous warrior. His first step had been to pillage the pastures south of Xi'an, but soon he would have to ask his commanders their honest opinion of whether the conquest of Xi'an was possible, as he suspected it was not. He also had the worry of the Chinese cannons from the south that were already sieging his native Dilli.
The China Campaign - 1450 (destroying horse pastures)
The defense of Dilli
When in the next few months word came of an Apostolic Palace resolution to end the war, Abu Said immediately publicly sent a messenger to Beijing with a vote of 'no', but also secretly sent an assassin after the messenger and then sent a secret envoy to Beijing agreeing to the resolution, but telling him to travel slowly. Then he sent a third envoy to the Chinese emperor to demand a peace, knowing that this was his last chance to force the Chinese to pay to end the war. The plan succeeded, as the Chinese paid 155 toman (1,550,000 dinars), making the Taoists' resolution obsolete.
The Apostolic Palace vote and peace treaty with China
There was one unforeseen flaw in Abu Said's plan. The Chinese, agreeing to the peace, forced the Persian army outside Xi'an to retreat to the city of Luoyang, rather than to Persia proper. The bulk of the army was thus trapped, while a state of war still existd with Mongolia.
The army trapped in Luoyang
Luoyang had been transferred into Persian hands, Persia had won a war against the greatest empire in the world, but all knew that the history between these two empires was not written yet.
Court record of proceedings at the Supreme Military Tribunal, 20 Farvardin 1212 (1397 AD)
Spoiler :
1396-1409 Timur Gurkani
The death of the ruler immediately following the treaty with Arabia caused much confusion in the ranks of the military, still making its way back from the borderlands in the south. The exact events are unclear, but records suggest that some regiments continued their attacks southwards into the territory of the independent principality of Chittagong. Whether the intention was merely looting or, as the new regime claimed, collusion with the Chinese and an Indian revolt, remains unknown. (It is known that the new Timurid regime, as their ancestral lands in Oxiana were under increasing Chinese influence, were looking for a casus belli on China, and that the Chinese did capture Chittagong in the following decades.) The commander Nasir Tughluq was executed in Parsa, the Indian regiments were moved to the north where they could be better observed.
The Chittagong Incident
Timur Gurkani consolidated his control in 1396, when his son, Miran Shah, invited the remaining princes of the Kartid dynasty to a banquet, ostensibly to seek a power-sharing agreement, and slew them when they had gathered in the room. No other clans or regional rulers questioned the Timurids rule therafter.
By 1400, the plague had spread to Parsa, but it was eradicated there and in Ectabana only five years later and did not spread further save for an outbreak in Armuza from 1405 to 1415, thanks to the Persian civilisation's advances in medicine, carried out by apothecaries across the land.
Trade continued to expand with the Satrapy of Russia, in spite of the Russians unease about the recent coup in Parsa. Horses were driven northwards in return for silver, deer, fur, and a regular tribute of 2 toman (20,000 dinar). The trade was expanded further in 1425: pig for greater imports of fur and deer. Persia was now monopolising the trade with Russia, partly due to the fact that Russia's other neighbours, the Germans and Mongols, were deeply hostile to the Persian empire.
Russian trade expansion
Spoiler :
1409-1449 Mirza Taregh (also known as Ulugh Beg)
Mirza Taregh, although a steely warrior, was also a scientifically curious and an advocate of public learning. Taking advantage of recent advances in education, he directed that a university be opened in Armuza, and also that the empire's scientists work towards advances in optics so that an observatory might eventually be built. He also encouraged the sharing of learning with Japan, where presses had been developed that could reproduce the written word in large volume. The word of these advances travelled throughout the world, and in 1435, an Arabian diplomat demanded, unsuccessfully, that a Persian delegation travel back to Arabia to help establish schools of higher learning there, in return for the moneys they were already paying yearly to the Persian treasury.
Academic exchanges with Japan
Spoiler :
In 1425, scouts reported that a Chinese army had landed to the south, and was laying siege to Chittagong. The Military Council argued strongly that this was the time to strike the Chinese empire, as the ravages of plague had reduced their garrisons. Taregh took their advice and fulfilled his father's ambition to go to war with the the empire to the east. The ever-threatening Mongols declared war soon after they heard of the war to their south, sensing that Persia would be at its most vulnerable.
The declaration of war on China
As the declaration of war was made without having prepared adequate siege engines, the first regiments of horsemen pillaged the countryside and enslaved its workers. However, as it appeared the plague had left the city of Luoyang, the generals made a bold decision to attack the city directly with horsemen, by circling the city, confusing the defenders, and then battering their way through a temporarily undefended gate with an improvised ram. This resulted in the almost total loss of two famed regiments, the 1st Khwarezmians and the Lorestanis. The Shiraz Horsemen, however, on a third attempt, entered the city and subdued the defenders. Meanwhile, the Fakhru Mirza Horsemen defeated the Mongolian Keshiks on the plains to the north.
The Battle of Luoyang
Skirmishes with the Mongolian Keshiks
The rush to take Luoyang had been successful, but its defense was anything but certain. In 1430, the Persian armies were in a precarious situation, with a garrison in Luoyang only starting to dig in, and single regiments rushing through the surrounding Chinese country to their aid. It was hoped that the Chinese forces had not yet rebounded from the plague.
The China Campaign - 1430 (a precarious situation)
By 1430, Christianity had spread in Dilli, and it was hoped that this, and the once-again solid stability of the Persian empire, would help to quell any aspirations to Indian independence. Missionaries were still being frustrated in the north, however, unable to bring Christianty to the last Russian holdout, Taoist Kiev.
Of course, with no navy but a single fleet of galleys sheltering in Armuza harbour, Persia was at the mercy of whatever China might try to do by sea. The Chinese Navy terrorised the Dilli fishing fleet, forcing them to give up their plentiful fishing banks. (This did not lead the Indian and Arabian residents of the city to look favourably on the Timurid regime.)
Chinese navy off Dilli
The Mongol declaration of war had sent fear through the populace, but sightings of Keshik raiders had been thankfully few, and they were easily dispatched with the troops stationed in the northern cities.
Victory in skirmishes north of Samarkand
With the completion of a grand Christian cathedral in Pathragada, and the university in Armuza, in 1435, the sophistication of the empire could be seen in wartime; it was hoped that the people of the border regions outside the Great Wall would eventually transfer their loyalty back to Persia. Other nations were also enjoying prestigious accomplishments, however. The Arabians reported in 1440 that they had drawn maps of the entire circumference of the earth, and on the Arabian diplomat's next visit to the royal court in Parsa, he brought an emissary from a far-off kingdom (now vassals of Arabia) named Azteca.
As the Chinese war entered its second decade, the defenses at Luoyang were more secure, but its people still in revolt. Meanwhile, a siege was being prepared at Xi'an.
The China Campaign - 1440 (preparing siege of Xi'an)
1449-1469 Abu Said
The third Timurid ruler was, remarkably, of Arabian parentage. Abu Said was a native of Dilli who had proved himself to Taregh in his service in the Shiraz Horsemen. He had been one of the key planners in the masterful entry into the gates of Luoyang 20 years before, displayed great bravery, and further, great scientific curiousity, and had thus been adopted by Taregh as a son.
Abu Said realised that the war in China could not be allowed to drag, as the Chinese would only get stronger, and their cannons and horsemen with guns would be unstoppable for even the most valorous warrior. His first step had been to pillage the pastures south of Xi'an, but soon he would have to ask his commanders their honest opinion of whether the conquest of Xi'an was possible, as he suspected it was not. He also had the worry of the Chinese cannons from the south that were already sieging his native Dilli.
The China Campaign - 1450 (destroying horse pastures)
The defense of Dilli
When in the next few months word came of an Apostolic Palace resolution to end the war, Abu Said immediately publicly sent a messenger to Beijing with a vote of 'no', but also secretly sent an assassin after the messenger and then sent a secret envoy to Beijing agreeing to the resolution, but telling him to travel slowly. Then he sent a third envoy to the Chinese emperor to demand a peace, knowing that this was his last chance to force the Chinese to pay to end the war. The plan succeeded, as the Chinese paid 155 toman (1,550,000 dinars), making the Taoists' resolution obsolete.
The Apostolic Palace vote and peace treaty with China
There was one unforeseen flaw in Abu Said's plan. The Chinese, agreeing to the peace, forced the Persian army outside Xi'an to retreat to the city of Luoyang, rather than to Persia proper. The bulk of the army was thus trapped, while a state of war still existd with Mongolia.
The army trapped in Luoyang
Luoyang had been transferred into Persian hands, Persia had won a war against the greatest empire in the world, but all knew that the history between these two empires was not written yet.
