Riding the Eternal Blue Sky
- Thread starter Malta
- Start date
This is one hell of a timeline. Just discovered it yesterday, and I am already all caught up!
With Islam taking more to the seas, wouldn't areas as far as Taiwan be Muslim. I recall a recent discussion somewhere on this forum regarding an Islamic Taiwan. Also, what of Indonesia, Malaya, etc.
How will Sufism develop without the Persian and Turkic elements contributing to it?
I can envision a world, where all of Africa is under Islamic control. Mesopotamia being a fiercely contested battleground. India is divided amongst Islamic and Dinyatist elements akin to OTL Hinduism and Islamic divisions (with Islam taking Hinduisms spot). The Indian Ocean would be firmly in Islamic hands, even Australia being Islamic. Remember that there are theories regarding Muslims reaching Hawaii in OTL. Tengriism and Islam would meet in the Middle-East, India, even in the New World. Further clashes in Europe would be prevented by a stout Christian element in France, Germany and Italy that against all odds survives the heathen onslaught.
Great TL!
With Islam taking more to the seas, wouldn't areas as far as Taiwan be Muslim. I recall a recent discussion somewhere on this forum regarding an Islamic Taiwan. Also, what of Indonesia, Malaya, etc.
How will Sufism develop without the Persian and Turkic elements contributing to it?
I can envision a world, where all of Africa is under Islamic control. Mesopotamia being a fiercely contested battleground. India is divided amongst Islamic and Dinyatist elements akin to OTL Hinduism and Islamic divisions (with Islam taking Hinduisms spot). The Indian Ocean would be firmly in Islamic hands, even Australia being Islamic. Remember that there are theories regarding Muslims reaching Hawaii in OTL. Tengriism and Islam would meet in the Middle-East, India, even in the New World. Further clashes in Europe would be prevented by a stout Christian element in France, Germany and Italy that against all odds survives the heathen onslaught.
Great TL!
Magyars on the Dnieper, Tengri in Europe
Settling on the Dnieper, the Magyars and fellow allied Turkic tribes extended their territory first throughout the Russian Steppe and up the Dnieper River, westward to the Prul river, as east as the Don and the Crimeia after invading a small Khazar holdout on the peninsula. Creating their capital lower on the Dnieper, the Magyars also created a promient Hill-Fortress higher on the Dnieper called Sambat '9Kiev) from which the Magyars would extend their influence. Bringing under their rule the Slavic peoples that lived on the Dnieper, becoming very influencial in the Slave Trade westward. The northern expansion of their dominion, coming into conflict with the Balts as they divided and conqured the lower eastern Slavic tribes and subjugated a alliance of Rus City-States, forming the Rus Khanate as a protectorate to their aims but came into conflict with the Finnic tribes around the area of Muscovy who entering an aliance with the Vola Bulgrs who were a protectorate of the Penchegs east of the Don river.
Moving through the area of eastern east Europe the Magyars patched together their Khanate with Slavic Labor, as the Magyars ruled the Slavs toiled, but also learned as the Magyars turned the Crimeia once again into a prominent area of overseas trade as they dealt with and welcomed trade of all kinds Tengriist, Islamic, and Christian. This brought in ideas of civilization and science, and goods from the east making Sambat convieniently a major center of trade for the Slavic peoples. This new found wealth (concentrated amongst the Slavic Noble and Merchant Classes) would pave way for loyalty of the Slavic tribes and states as wealth was ensured and with this aquired wealth the Slavs became targets for raids from the Balts, Finns, and Volga Bulgars.
The spread of Diyanatism became connected to the wealth, as the well off Slavic nobles would convert to gain better standing and merchants not just from the Slavs but the Balts, Finns, and the emerging Scandinavians, carrying the Tenets of Diyanat back to their homelands. The faith of Tengri would remain from the broader Slavic lower class for sometime, taking a few more centuries of conversion work and ingrainment amongst the traditions of the local people. The Tengriist devotion of large mountains as very Holy Places and centers of worship and commune with Tengri and the spiritual world spread to the Slavic cultivation of certain trees as sacred to the sky, thunder god Perun. While the veneration of such STILL and large natural features reaching high above man toward the high sky remained, for the Tengri Slavs it was the connection of these things to prosperity and magnificance. The god of the underworld and all things earthly, Veles lowered in status, becoming somewhat more akin to Er Kishi, which created a brief violent religious conflict.
Spread of the Will of Tengri to the Scandinavians continued to change the image of Tengri and the faith, especially to the sea and forest orienated people of the Baltic.
Settling on the Dnieper, the Magyars and fellow allied Turkic tribes extended their territory first throughout the Russian Steppe and up the Dnieper River, westward to the Prul river, as east as the Don and the Crimeia after invading a small Khazar holdout on the peninsula. Creating their capital lower on the Dnieper, the Magyars also created a promient Hill-Fortress higher on the Dnieper called Sambat '9Kiev) from which the Magyars would extend their influence. Bringing under their rule the Slavic peoples that lived on the Dnieper, becoming very influencial in the Slave Trade westward. The northern expansion of their dominion, coming into conflict with the Balts as they divided and conqured the lower eastern Slavic tribes and subjugated a alliance of Rus City-States, forming the Rus Khanate as a protectorate to their aims but came into conflict with the Finnic tribes around the area of Muscovy who entering an aliance with the Vola Bulgrs who were a protectorate of the Penchegs east of the Don river.
Moving through the area of eastern east Europe the Magyars patched together their Khanate with Slavic Labor, as the Magyars ruled the Slavs toiled, but also learned as the Magyars turned the Crimeia once again into a prominent area of overseas trade as they dealt with and welcomed trade of all kinds Tengriist, Islamic, and Christian. This brought in ideas of civilization and science, and goods from the east making Sambat convieniently a major center of trade for the Slavic peoples. This new found wealth (concentrated amongst the Slavic Noble and Merchant Classes) would pave way for loyalty of the Slavic tribes and states as wealth was ensured and with this aquired wealth the Slavs became targets for raids from the Balts, Finns, and Volga Bulgars.
The spread of Diyanatism became connected to the wealth, as the well off Slavic nobles would convert to gain better standing and merchants not just from the Slavs but the Balts, Finns, and the emerging Scandinavians, carrying the Tenets of Diyanat back to their homelands. The faith of Tengri would remain from the broader Slavic lower class for sometime, taking a few more centuries of conversion work and ingrainment amongst the traditions of the local people. The Tengriist devotion of large mountains as very Holy Places and centers of worship and commune with Tengri and the spiritual world spread to the Slavic cultivation of certain trees as sacred to the sky, thunder god Perun. While the veneration of such STILL and large natural features reaching high above man toward the high sky remained, for the Tengri Slavs it was the connection of these things to prosperity and magnificance. The god of the underworld and all things earthly, Veles lowered in status, becoming somewhat more akin to Er Kishi, which created a brief violent religious conflict.
Spread of the Will of Tengri to the Scandinavians continued to change the image of Tengri and the faith, especially to the sea and forest orienated people of the Baltic.
The beginning of the 9th century began with three events of historic proportion that would set the course for the entire century, though continued to characterize the events of the Migration Period which would last in historic proportion untill well after the rise of the Mongols in the 13th century. Where older empires and kingdoms either wheathered the storm of tribal and nomadic peoples on the move or were crushed by them. Two of these events are of the former trend, with the last of being of the later.
The Bulgar Khanate had become the Bulgar Empire, with the Bulgars sweeping across the Balkans following the collapse of the Byzantines in early th century following the sack of Constantinople and the end of the Greek Roman Empire. The Bulgars would spend the better part of the 700s sending the southern Slavics and many Greek subjects fleeing to the west as they filled the vaccum of power in the Balkans, where they instituted the Turkic Writing system with incorporating some cultural elements into their system but this would lead to a brief unstable period as tensions bewteen traditionalists and hellenic influenced noble families lead to conflict untill the time of Khan Kadram who unified the Bulgars once more following the defeat of the Avars and the solidfication of Dalmatia. As soon as this was done though, the aging Khan perhaps influenced by his champion of battle, Krum, set his eyes on invading Italy. Therefore in 803, the Bulgars invaded Italy, the farthest extent of the Tengriists to this point as they invaded the Po River Valley, with Krum at the lead the Bulgars blazed through the Lombards, untill the Battle of Pavona that is. The force that was Krum and the Bulgars while certainly immpressive was not quite the match for the force of Franks that crossed the Alps to assist the Lombards, lead by Charlemagne nonetheless! With the Slavic Croats, Slovenes, and Serbs rising in revolt against the Bulgars in guerilla warfare to their rear, the Bulgars were forced against the army of the Franks and surrounded, where despite a encirclement the Bulgars lasted long as they took a bloody toll against their enemies, but a forced charge by the infamous armored horsemen of Charlemagne-where some accounts put the aged king killing Krum in single combat, the Bulgars were crushed. Thus saving the center of Europe possibly from domination by the Will of the Blue Heaven.
The second event, was in 806 on the other side of the world where the Chinese Nan Dynasty would find its destiny. Wang Peng, Emperor of the Nan, united the area south of the Yangtze and east of Chengdu following the invasion of the Tibetans and Khitans in respectivly western and northern China leading to the end of the 10 Kingdoms Period and what would be a Golden Age for China. Wang Peng, the leader of the small Kingdom focused around the city of Lin'an, through marriage and military expertise would absorb the other kingdoms south of the Yangtze following the invasion of the northern China and would be most successful in applying the refugees streaming from the west and north, making use as either soldiers or agitators or using their connections in overrun territroies to his advantge as well as forming a paramilitary force from which he could flexibly use to control rebellious subjects. 806 saw the major defeat of a major Khitan army as they attempted to cross the Yangtze, with the enemy army literally being washed away as their advance faltered in the river. The policy of Wang was forseeing that for the forseeable future, his dynasty neither had the energy or capacity or finanaces to retake the west or the north. With the lack of experiance of sea warfare or trade by the Tibetans and Khitans who focused on overland routes Wang turned to an extensive river navy to defend and supply against advances from the north and west as well as expand commercially unlike his enemies. With the creation of the "Great Fleet", Chinese influence would spread throughout the western Pacific and down to South-East Asia, from influencing the Filippino tribes and kingdoms to battling the Muslims for the luxury trade sea routes.
The last event, or more so a series of events, would be the Great Viking Age, which would cultivate a new age of development in the North Sea and in Europe. This new age of Norse energy formed in both trading and vikinging. Forming a northern trade route, Norse traders form a set of linkages with the eastern Tengriists to the western Christians as they acted as middle men in comparision to the southern based Muslims giving dark age Europeans greater access to the goods of the East, as well as bringing back ideas and goods to the Norse, Finnic, and Norse soceities. The Vikings would invade the English Isles on several occasions raiding the coastlines and setting up several small settlements, in the latter quarters of the century would they set up their own Kingdoms. Attempts would later be made to move into the Slavic and Finnic regions of the Dnieper and the Volga, where their attempts at overruning these areas would be constantly rebuffed by the Magyars and their Slavic allies, and the Volga Bulgars and their Finnic allies, leading to a consolidation of major Finnic state at the mouth of the Neva river. One successful invasion of great renown, known as the Epic of Dagra the Khan, would be the invasion of the Frisians by the Tengriist Norsemen Dagra known as the Khan. Sources put Dagra as a prominent village Cheiftan from the Juteland of Denmark, who in 809 would travel eastward as far as the Magyar major city of Sambat on the Dnieper. Converting to the Tenets of Diyanat, Dagra would return to the Juteland, and for the next decade he would go about one way or another converting his people there to Tengriism which would provoke his outcasting by his neighbors, leading many of his people westward, where he and his people would settle in the Kingdom of the Frisians, eventually inviting likeminded Norse to migrate to the area and overthrow the Frisian Kingdom in 822. Setting up western Europe's first and only Tengriist state.
The Bulgar Khanate had become the Bulgar Empire, with the Bulgars sweeping across the Balkans following the collapse of the Byzantines in early th century following the sack of Constantinople and the end of the Greek Roman Empire. The Bulgars would spend the better part of the 700s sending the southern Slavics and many Greek subjects fleeing to the west as they filled the vaccum of power in the Balkans, where they instituted the Turkic Writing system with incorporating some cultural elements into their system but this would lead to a brief unstable period as tensions bewteen traditionalists and hellenic influenced noble families lead to conflict untill the time of Khan Kadram who unified the Bulgars once more following the defeat of the Avars and the solidfication of Dalmatia. As soon as this was done though, the aging Khan perhaps influenced by his champion of battle, Krum, set his eyes on invading Italy. Therefore in 803, the Bulgars invaded Italy, the farthest extent of the Tengriists to this point as they invaded the Po River Valley, with Krum at the lead the Bulgars blazed through the Lombards, untill the Battle of Pavona that is. The force that was Krum and the Bulgars while certainly immpressive was not quite the match for the force of Franks that crossed the Alps to assist the Lombards, lead by Charlemagne nonetheless! With the Slavic Croats, Slovenes, and Serbs rising in revolt against the Bulgars in guerilla warfare to their rear, the Bulgars were forced against the army of the Franks and surrounded, where despite a encirclement the Bulgars lasted long as they took a bloody toll against their enemies, but a forced charge by the infamous armored horsemen of Charlemagne-where some accounts put the aged king killing Krum in single combat, the Bulgars were crushed. Thus saving the center of Europe possibly from domination by the Will of the Blue Heaven.
The second event, was in 806 on the other side of the world where the Chinese Nan Dynasty would find its destiny. Wang Peng, Emperor of the Nan, united the area south of the Yangtze and east of Chengdu following the invasion of the Tibetans and Khitans in respectivly western and northern China leading to the end of the 10 Kingdoms Period and what would be a Golden Age for China. Wang Peng, the leader of the small Kingdom focused around the city of Lin'an, through marriage and military expertise would absorb the other kingdoms south of the Yangtze following the invasion of the northern China and would be most successful in applying the refugees streaming from the west and north, making use as either soldiers or agitators or using their connections in overrun territroies to his advantge as well as forming a paramilitary force from which he could flexibly use to control rebellious subjects. 806 saw the major defeat of a major Khitan army as they attempted to cross the Yangtze, with the enemy army literally being washed away as their advance faltered in the river. The policy of Wang was forseeing that for the forseeable future, his dynasty neither had the energy or capacity or finanaces to retake the west or the north. With the lack of experiance of sea warfare or trade by the Tibetans and Khitans who focused on overland routes Wang turned to an extensive river navy to defend and supply against advances from the north and west as well as expand commercially unlike his enemies. With the creation of the "Great Fleet", Chinese influence would spread throughout the western Pacific and down to South-East Asia, from influencing the Filippino tribes and kingdoms to battling the Muslims for the luxury trade sea routes.
The last event, or more so a series of events, would be the Great Viking Age, which would cultivate a new age of development in the North Sea and in Europe. This new age of Norse energy formed in both trading and vikinging. Forming a northern trade route, Norse traders form a set of linkages with the eastern Tengriists to the western Christians as they acted as middle men in comparision to the southern based Muslims giving dark age Europeans greater access to the goods of the East, as well as bringing back ideas and goods to the Norse, Finnic, and Norse soceities. The Vikings would invade the English Isles on several occasions raiding the coastlines and setting up several small settlements, in the latter quarters of the century would they set up their own Kingdoms. Attempts would later be made to move into the Slavic and Finnic regions of the Dnieper and the Volga, where their attempts at overruning these areas would be constantly rebuffed by the Magyars and their Slavic allies, and the Volga Bulgars and their Finnic allies, leading to a consolidation of major Finnic state at the mouth of the Neva river. One successful invasion of great renown, known as the Epic of Dagra the Khan, would be the invasion of the Frisians by the Tengriist Norsemen Dagra known as the Khan. Sources put Dagra as a prominent village Cheiftan from the Juteland of Denmark, who in 809 would travel eastward as far as the Magyar major city of Sambat on the Dnieper. Converting to the Tenets of Diyanat, Dagra would return to the Juteland, and for the next decade he would go about one way or another converting his people there to Tengriism which would provoke his outcasting by his neighbors, leading many of his people westward, where he and his people would settle in the Kingdom of the Frisians, eventually inviting likeminded Norse to migrate to the area and overthrow the Frisian Kingdom in 822. Setting up western Europe's first and only Tengriist state.
Tehran, Qadjar Khanate, 892 AD
"Do you know what Age we live in Kadvah?" the Court-Philisopher, Balash asked of the young Persian noble as both walked the streets of Tehran. The Noon sun beat down on the streets, from the constant yammer of the merchant bazaarians to the clop of the hooves of the Qadjar Princes as they surveyed the people of their dominion. Kadvah already was inwonderment why Balash had asked him on this walk, but was even more bewildered by question the much, much, much older Persian presented.
"We live in the 27 year past the Revelation of the Tenets of Diyanat. Praise be the WIll of Heaven."
"Praise be Diyanat and Tengri, Harmony does smie on us...on the people of Persia"
Kadvah raised a brow at the way, te older man phrased his words...was he hinting something?
"Correct, but their is more....we live in the Age of the Turk!" Spitting out the last word with contempt that alarmed Kadvah, making him look around worried to the armed Turkic guards that patrolld the streets. One outburst agaanst the Khan never ended well...still he was....intrigued.
"Yes, this era in history could be called that. The Turks dominate the lands from the Far Ocean of the East to the Meditteranian to the west. Such is providence granted to them by Tengri?"
Balash nodded in agreement "Yes this is so, their victories in the past, even over our own noble people was granted to them no doubt by the Will of Tengri, but is it a wonder that Tengri's Will may change?"
"Change you say?"
"Yes, the Khan has not had victories in late, from the last century with the failed invasion of the Levent, to the failures during the War of the Three Yurts against his fellow faithful! Such can not be good for the Harmony of this world or in the Heavens. What of the Persians?"
"We? Subjugated by the Turks but-"
"But nothing, you are a fine example of the Persian men, Kadvah, you are even named for a great Emperor of the last, true Persian dynasty. The Qadjars are corrupt. We Persians have put ourselves complacent to the Will of Tengri, other then to Tengri we should have no foreign masters! "
"What you say could get you killed"
"Does it matter? This is why I have asked you to walk with me Kadvah, the resistance of our identity to the Turkics must continue, so we mays tand on our own feet under the Blue Heaven. You are a fine example of a Persian, and if I do not see a free Persia in my life, then their must be a next generation stubborn to the Qadjars. Come now, their are people of like mind I wish you to meet...."
"Do you know what Age we live in Kadvah?" the Court-Philisopher, Balash asked of the young Persian noble as both walked the streets of Tehran. The Noon sun beat down on the streets, from the constant yammer of the merchant bazaarians to the clop of the hooves of the Qadjar Princes as they surveyed the people of their dominion. Kadvah already was inwonderment why Balash had asked him on this walk, but was even more bewildered by question the much, much, much older Persian presented.
"We live in the 27 year past the Revelation of the Tenets of Diyanat. Praise be the WIll of Heaven."
"Praise be Diyanat and Tengri, Harmony does smie on us...on the people of Persia"
Kadvah raised a brow at the way, te older man phrased his words...was he hinting something?
"Correct, but their is more....we live in the Age of the Turk!" Spitting out the last word with contempt that alarmed Kadvah, making him look around worried to the armed Turkic guards that patrolld the streets. One outburst agaanst the Khan never ended well...still he was....intrigued.
"Yes, this era in history could be called that. The Turks dominate the lands from the Far Ocean of the East to the Meditteranian to the west. Such is providence granted to them by Tengri?"
Balash nodded in agreement "Yes this is so, their victories in the past, even over our own noble people was granted to them no doubt by the Will of Tengri, but is it a wonder that Tengri's Will may change?"
"Change you say?"
"Yes, the Khan has not had victories in late, from the last century with the failed invasion of the Levent, to the failures during the War of the Three Yurts against his fellow faithful! Such can not be good for the Harmony of this world or in the Heavens. What of the Persians?"
"We? Subjugated by the Turks but-"
"But nothing, you are a fine example of the Persian men, Kadvah, you are even named for a great Emperor of the last, true Persian dynasty. The Qadjars are corrupt. We Persians have put ourselves complacent to the Will of Tengri, other then to Tengri we should have no foreign masters! "
"What you say could get you killed"
"Does it matter? This is why I have asked you to walk with me Kadvah, the resistance of our identity to the Turkics must continue, so we mays tand on our own feet under the Blue Heaven. You are a fine example of a Persian, and if I do not see a free Persia in my life, then their must be a next generation stubborn to the Qadjars. Come now, their are people of like mind I wish you to meet...."
Fascinating. I wonder if Turkic influence over Persia is ever thrown off, if Islam or Zoroastrianism makes a come back.
Also, how do Baltic, Germanic, Norse paganism coexist under the Diyanatism framework? From my own rough idea of it, the religion seems to be roughly a henotheist Buddhislam. Got the Central/Western Asian cultural aspects and early conquering nature of Islam that we know of OTL, but seems rather more relaxed and tolerant of local beliefs like Buddhism and the other Karmic religions do. Is this accurate?
I know I am rather skeptical at some points about the spread of Diyanatism in this timeline- partly because I'm comparing it to Christianity/Islam's patterns of influence, partly because I'm hoping that other new religions unrelated to Diyanat may appear (crusading Odinists!). Perhaps once we dive into the details of what makes it into a universal religion that northern European pagans can pick up, then I can be further convinced.
Another interesting point is that it seems to be a steppe faith, in contrast to the Abrahamic religions. And the whole henotheist but tolerant of compatible local variations aspect. Maybe Diyanatism is like Sikhism.
Also, how do Baltic, Germanic, Norse paganism coexist under the Diyanatism framework? From my own rough idea of it, the religion seems to be roughly a henotheist Buddhislam. Got the Central/Western Asian cultural aspects and early conquering nature of Islam that we know of OTL, but seems rather more relaxed and tolerant of local beliefs like Buddhism and the other Karmic religions do. Is this accurate?
I know I am rather skeptical at some points about the spread of Diyanatism in this timeline- partly because I'm comparing it to Christianity/Islam's patterns of influence, partly because I'm hoping that other new religions unrelated to Diyanat may appear (crusading Odinists!). Perhaps once we dive into the details of what makes it into a universal religion that northern European pagans can pick up, then I can be further convinced.
Another interesting point is that it seems to be a steppe faith, in contrast to the Abrahamic religions. And the whole henotheist but tolerant of compatible local variations aspect. Maybe Diyanatism is like Sikhism.
Ah something interesting will come out of Ghana and West Africa.
The Universal Attitude of it will become more apparent as the Age of the Turk ends, the Non-Turkish Tengris come into power, or the Nomadic Turks settle down for good, etc. Though those Karmaic aspects are correct.
Diyanatism is henotheist, like Buddhism or Sikhism or Hinduism or most of the Pre-Christian Pagan religions. Though Diyanat has incorporated certain elements into it, reminiscent both Karmaic and Zoroastrian-Abrahamic. The largest of the latter being the Good vs Evil, Duality, 'Heaven' 'Hell' and the summary of Tengri as a persona-whereupon before Tengri was imageless and formless as literally the Sky, but 'Tengri's Revelation' gave him a him form especially of the later.
The 'You did Bad, You are Cursed by Tengri and Must Die!' was already present there.
Though remember! None of today's religions are the same as they were at their foundation (Look at the basis of Fundamentalism, to Purify the Religion of 'Foreign Influences').
Here is a bit on Tengriism, though one has to wonder if the author's view is tinged by Islam? http://s155239215.onlinehome.us/turkic/51Adji/TengriAdjiEn.htm
I guess I'm just wondering what happens to pagan religions on the fringes of the domain of the Sky-supplicants. For example, will (a) the Finns become Diyanatists with their own regional blend since the onslaught of the Buglars and Magyars cuts them off from Christianity, (b) the cross prevails nonetheless, or (c) the Finnish people retain their traditional pagan beliefs, albeit "modernized" with a written scripture and more formalized rituals/hierarchy?
Eagerly looking forward to the answer in future installments!
Eagerly looking forward to the answer in future installments!
Which China?
Seriously though, that actually sounds cool.
Vacation, work, studies?
The Peoples Republic. I am going to the Anqing Teacher's College of the Anhui Province from endof August to Mid December where I will beone of the first Western International Students to attend and definitly the first on this brand new program bewteen my college and theirs which they REALLY want to have work. Hence why I am staying in a Single Townhouse Apartment witha Kitchen, Washer, Heated Water, meal plan. Basicly cuz I am one of the first, the three classes I am taking: Intermediate Chinese, Chinese History, and Culture are going to be filled by students from the 2,000 strong English Language Majors at the college. beause they have never had english international students attend and they simply don't have courses to teach in Chinese or likewise those two in english.
The headof the ForeignLanguage Department basicly in a Drinking Alchol ceremony said he would look afte rme and the other student going like we were their sons. Most of the students are First Generation College students off the farm, so that I am blonde and blue eyed and the other guy is Black will go over well as well.
Also reportedly the girls there are very cute.
So I will have it made!!!!!!!
The Peoples Republic. I am going to the Anqing Teacher's College of the Anhui Province from endof August to Mid December where I will beone of the first Western International Students to attend and definitly the first on this brand new program bewteen my college and theirs which they REALLY want to have work. Hence why I am staying in a Single Townhouse Apartment witha Kitchen, Washer, Heated Water, meal plan. Basicly cuz I am one of the first, the three classes I am taking: Intermediate Chinese, Chinese History, and Culture are going to be filled by students from the 2,000 strong English Language Majors at the college. beause they have never had english international students attend and they simply don't have courses to teach in Chinese or likewise those two in english.
So I will have it made!!!!!!!
Lucky bastard!
Make sure to take lots of pictures in case AH does'nt make it around the Great Firewall.
Reread my last post as itis edited
More reasons why I am a lucky bastard!Though I definitly will and very much hope AH does make it through! Not sure how I will comment on China in the TL while I am there...maybe not at all or unless their kicking ass.
The Anadolu Khanate- Beginnings of a Empire
The Legacy of Temur lives strong in the former center of the Eastern Roman Empire, with the fall of the last remnants of what could be said to the once great and powerful Roman Empire to the unstoppable will of Tengri. Thanks mostly in part to the greed and machinations of Justinian the Second (Whose entombed corpse would only be found in Tarnovgrad's sewers by a team of Archaeologists in 1923, the find rivaling the discovery of King Tut in Egypt) but also to the military strategy of Temur and the unity of the Tengriist Kayi Turks and Bulgars. The Byzantine Empire in 704 was sheared in half the western half of southern Slavs and homeland Greeks to the Bulgar Khanate, the eastern half of Anatolian Greeks going to the Tengri Khaganate and soon to the Kayi Turks and their allies forming the Anadolu Khanate, from their capital in the center of Anatolia, under the Khan Galip.
The defeat of what at once seemed to be the great and powerful East Roman Empire created a cultural shockwave throughout the Romani Greek population, as the defeat of the Empire created in effect the death keel of Eastern Christianity's dominance in the world. The erosion of what was most likely the most powerful kingdom in Europe would cause the wave of Tengriism to spread into Europe, the movement of the southern Slavic peoples into central Europe, and the flight of the Greek Christian population to southern Italy and the homeland of Greece. The Orthodox population now goes into a age of decline, especially as of the tenet of Diyanat which mandates the cowing of the eastern Christians, and with no system of giving lenience or protection to the Christians such as the Caliphate's millet system for the Copts, the Will of Tengri is in for permanent ascendance in the Anatolia. Though no major ideology when spread to a foreign land and foreign population comes out unchanged as so will what by today be known as Anatolian Tengriism.
Though the ascendance of Tengri in the Anatolian Peninsula will not be a easy task, nor the taming of the Romani Greek and the ascendance of the Romaioi Türkler, taking heart from the legacy of Rome and the Tengri Khaganate, religion of Tengriism, and Hellenism in ways forming in opposition to the Orthodox Hellenes of Greece. First, the Anatolia had to be tamed, a task which would not be completed even under the Great Temur or under Khan Galip but mostly under Khan Ekrem centuries later which by then the Greek identity had been shattered.
The first tasks at hand would be with dealing with the highly byzantine and bureaucratic system of the Byzantine society, the first and most easy task was Khan Galip's taking over of the position of Emperor, the absolute ruler ship and divine origin of rule was very easy to learn though Galip's humble nature did not allow him to take up the name of Emperor or the equivalent of Khagan though his successors would be less hesitant to causing tension amongst the surrounding Tengriist states and the organized Tengri clergy. The Theme system, based around the military division of the Byzantine Empire by army groups was reorganized to fit along tribal lines with the administrative divisions being based on ruler ship by tribal-confederations within the Khanate which would last until the collapse of the Second Tengri Khaganate whereupon the Republic would reorganize it based on division of population and economics. The series of titles and aristocratic privileges and society, as at the beginning the Kayi Turks were a distinct grouping in the new social order but eventually filling into the social order from peasantry to nobles to merchants and eventually being absorbed totally by the 14th century. The Senate would at first play a role of being the go-to administration for the Turks and their Greek subjects, the misunderstanding of the role of the Senate by the Turks keeping the administrative arm alive when under East Roman Rule it appeared to be in a state of decline.
The Legacy of Temur lives strong in the former center of the Eastern Roman Empire, with the fall of the last remnants of what could be said to the once great and powerful Roman Empire to the unstoppable will of Tengri. Thanks mostly in part to the greed and machinations of Justinian the Second (Whose entombed corpse would only be found in Tarnovgrad's sewers by a team of Archaeologists in 1923, the find rivaling the discovery of King Tut in Egypt) but also to the military strategy of Temur and the unity of the Tengriist Kayi Turks and Bulgars. The Byzantine Empire in 704 was sheared in half the western half of southern Slavs and homeland Greeks to the Bulgar Khanate, the eastern half of Anatolian Greeks going to the Tengri Khaganate and soon to the Kayi Turks and their allies forming the Anadolu Khanate, from their capital in the center of Anatolia, under the Khan Galip.
The defeat of what at once seemed to be the great and powerful East Roman Empire created a cultural shockwave throughout the Romani Greek population, as the defeat of the Empire created in effect the death keel of Eastern Christianity's dominance in the world. The erosion of what was most likely the most powerful kingdom in Europe would cause the wave of Tengriism to spread into Europe, the movement of the southern Slavic peoples into central Europe, and the flight of the Greek Christian population to southern Italy and the homeland of Greece. The Orthodox population now goes into a age of decline, especially as of the tenet of Diyanat which mandates the cowing of the eastern Christians, and with no system of giving lenience or protection to the Christians such as the Caliphate's millet system for the Copts, the Will of Tengri is in for permanent ascendance in the Anatolia. Though no major ideology when spread to a foreign land and foreign population comes out unchanged as so will what by today be known as Anatolian Tengriism.
Though the ascendance of Tengri in the Anatolian Peninsula will not be a easy task, nor the taming of the Romani Greek and the ascendance of the Romaioi Türkler, taking heart from the legacy of Rome and the Tengri Khaganate, religion of Tengriism, and Hellenism in ways forming in opposition to the Orthodox Hellenes of Greece. First, the Anatolia had to be tamed, a task which would not be completed even under the Great Temur or under Khan Galip but mostly under Khan Ekrem centuries later which by then the Greek identity had been shattered.
The first tasks at hand would be with dealing with the highly byzantine and bureaucratic system of the Byzantine society, the first and most easy task was Khan Galip's taking over of the position of Emperor, the absolute ruler ship and divine origin of rule was very easy to learn though Galip's humble nature did not allow him to take up the name of Emperor or the equivalent of Khagan though his successors would be less hesitant to causing tension amongst the surrounding Tengriist states and the organized Tengri clergy. The Theme system, based around the military division of the Byzantine Empire by army groups was reorganized to fit along tribal lines with the administrative divisions being based on ruler ship by tribal-confederations within the Khanate which would last until the collapse of the Second Tengri Khaganate whereupon the Republic would reorganize it based on division of population and economics. The series of titles and aristocratic privileges and society, as at the beginning the Kayi Turks were a distinct grouping in the new social order but eventually filling into the social order from peasantry to nobles to merchants and eventually being absorbed totally by the 14th century. The Senate would at first play a role of being the go-to administration for the Turks and their Greek subjects, the misunderstanding of the role of the Senate by the Turks keeping the administrative arm alive when under East Roman Rule it appeared to be in a state of decline.
Nice update. Interesting to see how Tengrist Anatolia and Eastern Europe will develop.
Oh, you can have China lose, just be sure to mention it was because of their lack of internal unity due to failure of the people to follow the proper Confusian order and due to the corruption and decadence of the ruling imperialist elites. Obviously a properly unified Chinese state under the proper dictates of a strong central government and a loyal, diligent, and dutiful people would never have lost that war.
Oh, you can have China lose, just be sure to mention it was because of their lack of internal unity due to failure of the people to follow the proper Confusian order and due to the corruption and decadence of the ruling imperialist elites. Obviously a properly unified Chinese state under the proper dictates of a strong central government and a loyal, diligent, and dutiful people would never have lost that war.
Central Asia- The 800s
The Glory of Semerkant
The beginning years of the 9th century for Central Asia was a period of peace, rather the ending of a period of peace for the region that had begun in the latter part of the 8th century which was handled largely by the preminence of the Khans of Semerkant. Despite the end of the glorious Tengri Khanate which had first risen Samarkand up as one of the most promiennt and influencial cities in the world. Semerkant continued to be great, safe in the middle of sea of grass that was the Eurasian Steppe, and as the center of religion for Tengriism despite warrings with their neighbors the Kayi Turks were well able to handle the politics of religion. With its central position on the silk trade routes and the center of religion all that the Tengriists conquered somehow would find its way to the capital as the east and west, the Confucian, the Buddhist, the Islamic, and the Christian met in the city as the loot brought by the raids of the Turkics trekked thousands of miles. It was the City of One Hundred Thousand Yurts, as the limits of what could be said of Semerkant changed by the season, growing and shrinking by the will of the people who lived there.
Thus it was not surprising that ideas, lightest but the most important and changing of commodities found their way to Semerkant by whatever way they could get their from on the pages of paper, chisled on stones, or carried on the tounges of teachers and other learned men. Dozens of languages, hundreds of peoples from thousands of lands, and much more was the wealth brought to Semerkant. It woulld be through the city that the secret of papermaking and the explosive might of gunpowder would be spread to the West and to the East spread the medicine and ideas of the hellenes, thus Semerkant would be a key meeting place. As an international city, while the Kayi Turks of the Steppe (to make them different to their cousins on the Anatolia) did not have much in the way of culture or science desired this only allowed for the ideas of their far flung and many neighbors to not clash and pass through their lands.
With this position as a center of culture and wealth, the Kayi Turks would definitly be one of the most successful of the Post-Khaganate states, being responsible for the continued succession of economic and cultural flow across Eurasia, the Khan of Semerkant maintaining and controlling the migration of Turkic and Non-Turkic nomads through Central Asia and stregthening their position as a stable keyholder for peace and prosperity.
The Khan Uli Beg from 777 to 820 would provide the prime reason for the peace, as his measure of command allowed for a stable period of maintaining the order of peace and his curiosity would lead to the encouragement of seeking out foreign ideas and bringing in the first Non-Tengriist enclaves into the city. His death along the southern border with the Kinik Turks in 820 would also be the result of the total dismemberment of this peace and the beginning of bloodshed.
The War of Four Yurts
The conflict that ranged from the Caucasus to the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau was known as the War of Four Yurts for the involement of the Kayi Turks of Semerkant, the Kinik Turks from Kerman in south-eastern Persia, the Penchegs, and Magyars. The outbreak of the war came from the death of the Khan of Semerkant, Uli Beg on the southern border of his lands with the Kinik Turks. The Khan on a hunting trip was felled by a arrow of unknown origin, as soon as his body was returned to Semerkant to be interred in the Tomb of Khans (a tomb structure near the tomb-monuments of the Khagans of the Tengri Khanate, this structure for the latter rulers of Semerkant) his successor, his grandson Tugrul Khan declared immediate war on the Kinik Turks declaring foul play on their part. Leading the Horde from Semerkant, Tugrul's army penetrated into Persia but was forced to give up land and split his forces when word that the Penchegs had joined the conflict and were pushing the Kayi Turks from around the Caspian Sea.
The conflict would ride on for additional years with much of the conflict consisting of attacks and counter attacks as the fluid style of the Steppe warfare warred on, at one point the situation for the Kayi Turks seemed to turn sour when Tugrul Khan was killed and the Kiniks thretened Semerkant but the timely involvement of the Magyars turned the war as their combination of ferocious horsemen and levies of Rus foot soldiers and navy knocked the Penchegs out of the fighting, a fourth campaign front opening bewteen the Rus Khanate and the Finnic States where the Finns were able to hold back advances by the Rus and keep them from the upper reaches of the Volga. With the Penchegs brought into a state of vassalage to the Magyars the Kayi Turks would be able to push the Kiniks back and eventual end the conflict.
With the period of disruption following the conflict the Khan of Semerkant's control over many of the tribes living in the area would briefly be lost causing a migration of Turks to sweep into the Caucasus and Mongolia. After much bloodshed the only ones to really gain from this conflict would be the Magyars as they ruled the entire expanse ofthe north shore of the Black Sea and the Afghanis.
The Afghan Revolt and Persian Abound
The state of affairs following the War of Four Yurts greatly weakened the Turkics, the war would drag on to create a lawless rollback effect in the Hindu Kush as the Afghanis, Pashtun and Tajik tribesmen, revolted against the Kiniks in 848 though most likely some of the most ardent of Tengriists after years of conversion they were infact the only remants of East Persian culture following the 'Balancing' of the original invasion of Persia by Diyanat which destroyed Persian culture enthusiasticly in Central Asia. Thus the Afghanis, the people of the Afghani Lands revolted from the Kinik Turks, easily taking the Hindu Kush and northern Sindh from the Kinik Khanate in their hour of weakness.
The Ferishta Dynasty was thus formed from this, centered around Kabul the Shah Sikander Ferishta aptly extended relations to the Qadjars, who by this point were deep into the revival of Persian Culture as they forsook domination of the Persians, taking keen to link up with the Afghanis. This relationship would be bolstered when the Qadjars invaded eastern Persia and pushed the the Kiniks from Fars, Persia in 871 over the course of the years to come retaking much of Persia from the Kiniks and respreading Persian culture into the area untill the Mongol invasion.
For Central Asia the 800s would in the beginning be a period of peace and propsperity as Semerkant became one of the most reknown cities in the world, facilitating the cross spread of culture and goods across the Steppe. The remainder of the century would be absorbed in warfare as the Penchegs and Kinik Turks fell into a period of decline as they were dominated by their neighbors. The Persian culure would see a revival as the Afghanis became independent and formed their own Dynasty in the Hindu Kush and the Qadjars grew to dominate southern Central Asia. As well as the migration of several nomadic tribes from Central Asia toward Tibet and the Caucasus.
The Glory of Semerkant
The beginning years of the 9th century for Central Asia was a period of peace, rather the ending of a period of peace for the region that had begun in the latter part of the 8th century which was handled largely by the preminence of the Khans of Semerkant. Despite the end of the glorious Tengri Khanate which had first risen Samarkand up as one of the most promiennt and influencial cities in the world. Semerkant continued to be great, safe in the middle of sea of grass that was the Eurasian Steppe, and as the center of religion for Tengriism despite warrings with their neighbors the Kayi Turks were well able to handle the politics of religion. With its central position on the silk trade routes and the center of religion all that the Tengriists conquered somehow would find its way to the capital as the east and west, the Confucian, the Buddhist, the Islamic, and the Christian met in the city as the loot brought by the raids of the Turkics trekked thousands of miles. It was the City of One Hundred Thousand Yurts, as the limits of what could be said of Semerkant changed by the season, growing and shrinking by the will of the people who lived there.
Thus it was not surprising that ideas, lightest but the most important and changing of commodities found their way to Semerkant by whatever way they could get their from on the pages of paper, chisled on stones, or carried on the tounges of teachers and other learned men. Dozens of languages, hundreds of peoples from thousands of lands, and much more was the wealth brought to Semerkant. It woulld be through the city that the secret of papermaking and the explosive might of gunpowder would be spread to the West and to the East spread the medicine and ideas of the hellenes, thus Semerkant would be a key meeting place. As an international city, while the Kayi Turks of the Steppe (to make them different to their cousins on the Anatolia) did not have much in the way of culture or science desired this only allowed for the ideas of their far flung and many neighbors to not clash and pass through their lands.
With this position as a center of culture and wealth, the Kayi Turks would definitly be one of the most successful of the Post-Khaganate states, being responsible for the continued succession of economic and cultural flow across Eurasia, the Khan of Semerkant maintaining and controlling the migration of Turkic and Non-Turkic nomads through Central Asia and stregthening their position as a stable keyholder for peace and prosperity.
The Khan Uli Beg from 777 to 820 would provide the prime reason for the peace, as his measure of command allowed for a stable period of maintaining the order of peace and his curiosity would lead to the encouragement of seeking out foreign ideas and bringing in the first Non-Tengriist enclaves into the city. His death along the southern border with the Kinik Turks in 820 would also be the result of the total dismemberment of this peace and the beginning of bloodshed.
The War of Four Yurts
The conflict that ranged from the Caucasus to the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau was known as the War of Four Yurts for the involement of the Kayi Turks of Semerkant, the Kinik Turks from Kerman in south-eastern Persia, the Penchegs, and Magyars. The outbreak of the war came from the death of the Khan of Semerkant, Uli Beg on the southern border of his lands with the Kinik Turks. The Khan on a hunting trip was felled by a arrow of unknown origin, as soon as his body was returned to Semerkant to be interred in the Tomb of Khans (a tomb structure near the tomb-monuments of the Khagans of the Tengri Khanate, this structure for the latter rulers of Semerkant) his successor, his grandson Tugrul Khan declared immediate war on the Kinik Turks declaring foul play on their part. Leading the Horde from Semerkant, Tugrul's army penetrated into Persia but was forced to give up land and split his forces when word that the Penchegs had joined the conflict and were pushing the Kayi Turks from around the Caspian Sea.
The conflict would ride on for additional years with much of the conflict consisting of attacks and counter attacks as the fluid style of the Steppe warfare warred on, at one point the situation for the Kayi Turks seemed to turn sour when Tugrul Khan was killed and the Kiniks thretened Semerkant but the timely involvement of the Magyars turned the war as their combination of ferocious horsemen and levies of Rus foot soldiers and navy knocked the Penchegs out of the fighting, a fourth campaign front opening bewteen the Rus Khanate and the Finnic States where the Finns were able to hold back advances by the Rus and keep them from the upper reaches of the Volga. With the Penchegs brought into a state of vassalage to the Magyars the Kayi Turks would be able to push the Kiniks back and eventual end the conflict.
With the period of disruption following the conflict the Khan of Semerkant's control over many of the tribes living in the area would briefly be lost causing a migration of Turks to sweep into the Caucasus and Mongolia. After much bloodshed the only ones to really gain from this conflict would be the Magyars as they ruled the entire expanse ofthe north shore of the Black Sea and the Afghanis.
The Afghan Revolt and Persian Abound
The state of affairs following the War of Four Yurts greatly weakened the Turkics, the war would drag on to create a lawless rollback effect in the Hindu Kush as the Afghanis, Pashtun and Tajik tribesmen, revolted against the Kiniks in 848 though most likely some of the most ardent of Tengriists after years of conversion they were infact the only remants of East Persian culture following the 'Balancing' of the original invasion of Persia by Diyanat which destroyed Persian culture enthusiasticly in Central Asia. Thus the Afghanis, the people of the Afghani Lands revolted from the Kinik Turks, easily taking the Hindu Kush and northern Sindh from the Kinik Khanate in their hour of weakness.
The Ferishta Dynasty was thus formed from this, centered around Kabul the Shah Sikander Ferishta aptly extended relations to the Qadjars, who by this point were deep into the revival of Persian Culture as they forsook domination of the Persians, taking keen to link up with the Afghanis. This relationship would be bolstered when the Qadjars invaded eastern Persia and pushed the the Kiniks from Fars, Persia in 871 over the course of the years to come retaking much of Persia from the Kiniks and respreading Persian culture into the area untill the Mongol invasion.
For Central Asia the 800s would in the beginning be a period of peace and propsperity as Semerkant became one of the most reknown cities in the world, facilitating the cross spread of culture and goods across the Steppe. The remainder of the century would be absorbed in warfare as the Penchegs and Kinik Turks fell into a period of decline as they were dominated by their neighbors. The Persian culure would see a revival as the Afghanis became independent and formed their own Dynasty in the Hindu Kush and the Qadjars grew to dominate southern Central Asia. As well as the migration of several nomadic tribes from Central Asia toward Tibet and the Caucasus.
The 800s- The Middle East
The early political Ubaydullah developments took part with the colonization of India and bringing about the domination of the Indian Ocean under Islamic influence as the Islamic navy spread the Caliphate's dominion over the area only hitting a block later in the century with the development of the Nan Dynasty. Though the larger part of the century the Caliphate had to deal with affairs on their homefront that threatened the stability of Islam's dominance in the area.
Curse The Blue Sky!
The 9th century is known for the beginning of a three century long period of affairs between the Caliphate and the rising stars of the Anadolu Khanate and the Qadjar Khanate.
The Anadolu Khanate soon would embroil itself with the Ubaydullah Caliphate as the intellectual and cultural successor to the Byzantines as both powers would be poisoned from the inside by internal Hellenization and taking over the bureaurcracies of the Byzantines with changes here and there. The Copts, the Egyptians of Egypt had by this point well suited themselves in the Caliphate making their way as scholars andadministrative officals often put into use by the nowelected Caliphs, and like the Anadolu Turks they had been enamoured with the idea that had become Rome. Both would strive to make themselves into the Third Roman Empire (the Roman Republic being the first and the Roman Empire the second), and so the ambitions of these two would clash quickly in numerous skirmishes and jabs between the two from the Islamic recapture of Damascus and Aleppo in 824 which would see raids into Anatolia and in 860 the Turks would capture Rhodes and curtail Islamic naval raids in the Agean Sea.
The Qadjars would come onto the scene later in the century following the War of Four Yurts but from it they would establish themselves as another rival to the Islamic Caliphate as the two powers waged over control of Mesopotamia and the Levent but also in the Indian Ocean would the Qadjars provide a headache to the Caliphs as pirates would do well to stretch the limits of the Islamic Navy in the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Arabia. The Qadjars would also pose rivals to the Anadolu Khanate as both powers desired control over the Caucasus, the Magyars would benefit well from playing their two neighbors off one another. The most imfamous affair during the century would be in 888 when a Qadjar fleet burned the port-city around modern day Aden and burned several towns in southern Arabia. The effects of this raid would cause a uproar which would see the sacking of the current Caliph and the Kharijite Revolt of 891.
The Kharijite Revolt, The Yazid Dynasty
Since the first Berber revolt, under Ziyad the area west of Tunis (which had become heavily Arabized) was mostly considered Khatijite as the sect of communal non Sunni and Shia Muslims grew in popularity and with certain agreements following the reintergration of the Ziyad allowed the Kharijite sect to grow and branch out on its own bringing together both Arabs and Berbers. The increasing hellenization of the Caliphate though did not sit well with many of the religious leaders throughout the Maghreb and Al-Andalus who looked on the influence of the Copts and taking in of the hellenization as afront to Allah and their cultural heritage. The area had long been known for its religious extremism (by Alexandarian standards) such as the rule of Imams in many of the tribes and cities along the coast and interior. Up untill the 888 raid on Southern Arabia the area had already been the site of minor revolts, but the storm that followed the event could not be contained by local officals loyal to Alexandria,
The call was taken up by one Abu Yazid, a trader's son turned theological student and Imam whose fiery rhetoric resulted in bloodshed in Algeria spreading westward that by two years later spread to cover Al-Andalus throwing out Alexandrian officals, moving along with his revolt on a grey donkey. The Caliphate quicklly sent a expedition to recapture the territory by land and by sea, both failling to recapture much territory generally because of events in the east with a new conflict arising bewteen the Caliphate and the Qadjars along with defending incursions by Hindu rebels in India that had started a year before the Kharijites.
From his capital at Tiaret in western Algeria, Abu Yazid offically declared the Yazid Dynasty in 897, seceding the territory from western Tunis to Al-Andalus from the Caliphate and splitting the religion of Islam between the religious ruled Kharijites and the enlightened Sunni.
The early political Ubaydullah developments took part with the colonization of India and bringing about the domination of the Indian Ocean under Islamic influence as the Islamic navy spread the Caliphate's dominion over the area only hitting a block later in the century with the development of the Nan Dynasty. Though the larger part of the century the Caliphate had to deal with affairs on their homefront that threatened the stability of Islam's dominance in the area.
Curse The Blue Sky!
The 9th century is known for the beginning of a three century long period of affairs between the Caliphate and the rising stars of the Anadolu Khanate and the Qadjar Khanate.
The Anadolu Khanate soon would embroil itself with the Ubaydullah Caliphate as the intellectual and cultural successor to the Byzantines as both powers would be poisoned from the inside by internal Hellenization and taking over the bureaurcracies of the Byzantines with changes here and there. The Copts, the Egyptians of Egypt had by this point well suited themselves in the Caliphate making their way as scholars andadministrative officals often put into use by the nowelected Caliphs, and like the Anadolu Turks they had been enamoured with the idea that had become Rome. Both would strive to make themselves into the Third Roman Empire (the Roman Republic being the first and the Roman Empire the second), and so the ambitions of these two would clash quickly in numerous skirmishes and jabs between the two from the Islamic recapture of Damascus and Aleppo in 824 which would see raids into Anatolia and in 860 the Turks would capture Rhodes and curtail Islamic naval raids in the Agean Sea.
The Qadjars would come onto the scene later in the century following the War of Four Yurts but from it they would establish themselves as another rival to the Islamic Caliphate as the two powers waged over control of Mesopotamia and the Levent but also in the Indian Ocean would the Qadjars provide a headache to the Caliphs as pirates would do well to stretch the limits of the Islamic Navy in the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Arabia. The Qadjars would also pose rivals to the Anadolu Khanate as both powers desired control over the Caucasus, the Magyars would benefit well from playing their two neighbors off one another. The most imfamous affair during the century would be in 888 when a Qadjar fleet burned the port-city around modern day Aden and burned several towns in southern Arabia. The effects of this raid would cause a uproar which would see the sacking of the current Caliph and the Kharijite Revolt of 891.
The Kharijite Revolt, The Yazid Dynasty
Since the first Berber revolt, under Ziyad the area west of Tunis (which had become heavily Arabized) was mostly considered Khatijite as the sect of communal non Sunni and Shia Muslims grew in popularity and with certain agreements following the reintergration of the Ziyad allowed the Kharijite sect to grow and branch out on its own bringing together both Arabs and Berbers. The increasing hellenization of the Caliphate though did not sit well with many of the religious leaders throughout the Maghreb and Al-Andalus who looked on the influence of the Copts and taking in of the hellenization as afront to Allah and their cultural heritage. The area had long been known for its religious extremism (by Alexandarian standards) such as the rule of Imams in many of the tribes and cities along the coast and interior. Up untill the 888 raid on Southern Arabia the area had already been the site of minor revolts, but the storm that followed the event could not be contained by local officals loyal to Alexandria,
The call was taken up by one Abu Yazid, a trader's son turned theological student and Imam whose fiery rhetoric resulted in bloodshed in Algeria spreading westward that by two years later spread to cover Al-Andalus throwing out Alexandrian officals, moving along with his revolt on a grey donkey. The Caliphate quicklly sent a expedition to recapture the territory by land and by sea, both failling to recapture much territory generally because of events in the east with a new conflict arising bewteen the Caliphate and the Qadjars along with defending incursions by Hindu rebels in India that had started a year before the Kharijites.
From his capital at Tiaret in western Algeria, Abu Yazid offically declared the Yazid Dynasty in 897, seceding the territory from western Tunis to Al-Andalus from the Caliphate and splitting the religion of Islam between the religious ruled Kharijites and the enlightened Sunni.
Hmmm alright I am going to try a new format, bringing back Prof Kemal but this post will be more broad and range over more then a century rather then tackling and picking out events in short spans. Tell me what formats are thy favorites my readers.
Also I wonder if this will answer some thoughts from page 2?
Excerpt from "The History of Islam", Chapter Eight, The Demise of the Islamic Caliphate by Mustafa Kemal (1931)--
Let it be said that bewteen the Tengri Khaganate of Diyanat and the Islamic Caliphate of Mohammad it was the latter of the two that would see a period of the greatest longevity for despite the constant unstability of rulers that characterized the Islamic Dynasties (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abdullah, and Ubaydullah). It can be said that the Caliphate that was founded by Muhammad in the 600s lasted a good half a millenium before toppling in 1054, constantly known as the Islamic Caliphate despite the change of rulers compared to the short-termed Tengri Khaganate. Though of course the Islamic Caliphate is something that has not since been revivied and if we add up the second khaganate, known as the Mongol Khaganate or the Chinggis or Genghis Khaganate, we can say that the Spiritual-Poltiical empires of Tengri lasted much longer! Though looking at the periods of these different Dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate we can see increasing periods of stability amid the violence periods such as the conflict between Uthman and Ali during the Rashidun or the topple of the Abdullah because of the loss of a Turkic-Arab war, the shorter a dynasty was the more violent it was the longer a dynasty was the more peaceful it was. The obvious case in point being the Ubaydullah, the last of the dynasties but the longest lasting and arguablly the most prosperous, some scholars even blend the Abdullah dynasty with this one because the character of these two sets them differently from the previous two.
Looking at the period of the Abdullah and the early period of the Ubaydullah, otherwise the latter period of the Islamic Caliphate, we can see a remarkable period of growth and stability within the Islamic sphere of cultural influence as during this time the First 'Awakening', the revival of Greco-Roman culture and the advancement of human thought occured which would be repeated in the Anatolia and Europe at latter periods of time. The great works of the once great power and cultural forebearers of Europe and the Middle East were refounded and gradually re-expressed as scholars across the Islamic world continued to push what theselong dead Greeks and Romans had started in a epoch of learning that would spread outward to create a wave of undeniable progression of human thought, culture, and technology. The form of government that Caliphate practiced during this era was the closest thing to democracy at the time with the universal election of the Caliph from the Arab population (barring non-Muslims, Non-Arabs, and Arabs of less then reputable reputation). This time also was a expression of the spread of Islam down into East Africa and across the Indian Ocean to India and Burma as Islamic traders forged trade links and later Arab captains forged a Empire with the overtaking of southern India west of the Deccan Plateau and establishing the solid prescence of Islam in Al-Andalus as well as creating a island empire in the Med. Sea via the constant prescence of corsairs and other pirates.
The Black Guard
It would be the latter period of the Ubaydullah Caliphate that events would turn sour, following the formation of the Kharijite Yazid Dynasty in the western portion of the Caliphate from Al-Andalus to Tunis which would spell a devestating political and spiritual loss for the groundbase of stability for the Ubaydallah and Caliphate. This allowed for a period of political fragmentation as the feuding tribal loyalties of the population welled up immensely. The Arab population had by this point settled across North Africa and south into Nubia and the Sudan with population extending greatly as south as Aksum, the Christian kingdom having retreated into the Ethiopian Highlands but it was here that stability and the eventual downfall of the Caliphate sprouted from in the form of the Black Guard.
The tradition of slave-soldiers was not new in Islamic society, indeed as it started out with slaves taken from other Arab tribes or non-Arab populations forming the basis for adding population numbers or small numbersof bodyguards for tribal chiefs and merchants but it was Caliph Abu Al-Musta that created an actual army from them. Following the Yazid Revolt, and seeing the decay of political order Al-Musta who had avid dealings with the slave trade decided that a more martial fist was needed and so in the period following he created a small army of a few thousand fiercely trainned black slaves captured as young boys or men from Aksum and over the course of their lives created a fiercly trainned and disciplined force. Naming them the Black Guard, for the majority were of Habesha descent from Aksum though their are accounts of a few Indian members, likely of the Konkani ethnic where he first had his overseas buiesness interests. Being above the tribal loyalties and bloodshed these reliable warriors formed the core of a Islamic professional army, and from Nubia Al-Musa quickly overtook the feuding tribes and gathered thema round him as his strength grew apparent, eventually being elected Caliph.
Following his election, Al-Musta's Black Guard swelled immensely in number, soon reaching to close to a hundred thousand they became the defacto military force for the Caliphate as they brought down the law and became the main military force of the Caliphate in its wars with its neighbors and putting down revolts quite brutally in India. The Black Guard became a class upon their own, only below the Caliph these black men became superior to the Arabs who ruled Islam for so long as their word could kill any man they wished! Over their careers the longest lived and farthest promoted gaining varous plots of land and fortunes of wealth, these men broke the racial barrier of the Islamic Caliphate and would become powerful figures for quite sometime. These men kept Al-Musta and every descendent of his untill the collapse of the Caliphate as the democraticly based system of choosing the Caliph collapsed by the force of power projected by Al-Musta and his descendents.
The Collapse
The true collapse of the Islamic Caliphate came from a combination of factors, mostly from economic downturns, the personality of the Caliphs, the cost of India, and the feuding amongst the Black Guard.
The economic downturns and the personality of the Caliph went hand in hand as the pompous and eccentricly brutal personalities of Al-Musta and his descendents produced a financial and social strain on the Caliphate. These range from a number of costly and forced-labor monuments and palaces, especially by Al-Kafur who committed to his very own Pyramid at the split of the Nile River delta which sank four times. Military pomp such as creating new unforms for the Black Guard, investing in bad economic buiesnesses and just increasing corruption throughout the government was sending the Caliphate into a spiral by the year 1000. India was also being a problem as native, but Muslim nobles repeatedly schemed and revolted against the rule of the Caliphate forming a number of city-state like entities independent of the Caliphate but under nominal control much like the Zanj Coast. Further, the Black Guard following the death of Al-Musta was divided into regional commands from occupied Tunis to Alexandria, Axum to Damascus, and even Mecca. Here the Commanders of the Black Guard eventually found their way into positons of power such as governors or adminsitrators.
It would be the death of Caliph Al-Busaid in 1054 that would finally bring the decay of the Islamic Caliphate to one epic explosion! Al-Busaid died infertile and without a blood heir or an appointed heir to the Caliphate, and so it was at this time that the tribal Sheikhs saw their chance to regain power and went about actually electing a Caliph on their free will, but the various commanders of the Black Guard would not have this as finally after generations of loyal servitude many saw their chance to gain the top seat for themselves. Thus the end of the Islamic Caliphate came with not a epic, noble battle such as the tension of the fall of the Tengri Caliphate bewteen Temur and Arkhan but with the blood, howling rage of greed as numerous factions, Arab, Black, Indian, Sunni, Shia, Khatijite, pro this and anti that crawled out from the corpse of the Caliphate wanting to get the juiceiest piece for themselves.
The fighting would see the creation of several different Dynasties, the Ateeq in Tunis, the Al-Kinidi in Egypt and Nubia, the Waliuyllah in Sudan and Aksum (Eritera), Samman in Jeruselum, and Barakat in Arabia. Thus had begun the Era of the Zanj, the post-Arab history of Islam was forming which would create a diverse political and cultural scenery for Islam as the Caliphate broke up creating a wanting for unification not unlike European pinings for Rome or our own for the Khaganate, but as history wouldpplay out to date the Caliphate has not been restored ever to the whole of the Islamic World. Nonetheless, the various statelets popping up out of the Caliphate would go on to progress further then their predescessor as the Islamic Awakening at this point was still in full swing and would be even into the Mongol Khaganate when Alexandria is taken by the Will of Tengri.
Also I wonder if this will answer some thoughts from page 2?
Excerpt from "The History of Islam", Chapter Eight, The Demise of the Islamic Caliphate by Mustafa Kemal (1931)--
Let it be said that bewteen the Tengri Khaganate of Diyanat and the Islamic Caliphate of Mohammad it was the latter of the two that would see a period of the greatest longevity for despite the constant unstability of rulers that characterized the Islamic Dynasties (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abdullah, and Ubaydullah). It can be said that the Caliphate that was founded by Muhammad in the 600s lasted a good half a millenium before toppling in 1054, constantly known as the Islamic Caliphate despite the change of rulers compared to the short-termed Tengri Khaganate. Though of course the Islamic Caliphate is something that has not since been revivied and if we add up the second khaganate, known as the Mongol Khaganate or the Chinggis or Genghis Khaganate, we can say that the Spiritual-Poltiical empires of Tengri lasted much longer! Though looking at the periods of these different Dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate we can see increasing periods of stability amid the violence periods such as the conflict between Uthman and Ali during the Rashidun or the topple of the Abdullah because of the loss of a Turkic-Arab war, the shorter a dynasty was the more violent it was the longer a dynasty was the more peaceful it was. The obvious case in point being the Ubaydullah, the last of the dynasties but the longest lasting and arguablly the most prosperous, some scholars even blend the Abdullah dynasty with this one because the character of these two sets them differently from the previous two.
Looking at the period of the Abdullah and the early period of the Ubaydullah, otherwise the latter period of the Islamic Caliphate, we can see a remarkable period of growth and stability within the Islamic sphere of cultural influence as during this time the First 'Awakening', the revival of Greco-Roman culture and the advancement of human thought occured which would be repeated in the Anatolia and Europe at latter periods of time. The great works of the once great power and cultural forebearers of Europe and the Middle East were refounded and gradually re-expressed as scholars across the Islamic world continued to push what theselong dead Greeks and Romans had started in a epoch of learning that would spread outward to create a wave of undeniable progression of human thought, culture, and technology. The form of government that Caliphate practiced during this era was the closest thing to democracy at the time with the universal election of the Caliph from the Arab population (barring non-Muslims, Non-Arabs, and Arabs of less then reputable reputation). This time also was a expression of the spread of Islam down into East Africa and across the Indian Ocean to India and Burma as Islamic traders forged trade links and later Arab captains forged a Empire with the overtaking of southern India west of the Deccan Plateau and establishing the solid prescence of Islam in Al-Andalus as well as creating a island empire in the Med. Sea via the constant prescence of corsairs and other pirates.
The Black Guard
It would be the latter period of the Ubaydullah Caliphate that events would turn sour, following the formation of the Kharijite Yazid Dynasty in the western portion of the Caliphate from Al-Andalus to Tunis which would spell a devestating political and spiritual loss for the groundbase of stability for the Ubaydallah and Caliphate. This allowed for a period of political fragmentation as the feuding tribal loyalties of the population welled up immensely. The Arab population had by this point settled across North Africa and south into Nubia and the Sudan with population extending greatly as south as Aksum, the Christian kingdom having retreated into the Ethiopian Highlands but it was here that stability and the eventual downfall of the Caliphate sprouted from in the form of the Black Guard.
The tradition of slave-soldiers was not new in Islamic society, indeed as it started out with slaves taken from other Arab tribes or non-Arab populations forming the basis for adding population numbers or small numbersof bodyguards for tribal chiefs and merchants but it was Caliph Abu Al-Musta that created an actual army from them. Following the Yazid Revolt, and seeing the decay of political order Al-Musta who had avid dealings with the slave trade decided that a more martial fist was needed and so in the period following he created a small army of a few thousand fiercely trainned black slaves captured as young boys or men from Aksum and over the course of their lives created a fiercly trainned and disciplined force. Naming them the Black Guard, for the majority were of Habesha descent from Aksum though their are accounts of a few Indian members, likely of the Konkani ethnic where he first had his overseas buiesness interests. Being above the tribal loyalties and bloodshed these reliable warriors formed the core of a Islamic professional army, and from Nubia Al-Musa quickly overtook the feuding tribes and gathered thema round him as his strength grew apparent, eventually being elected Caliph.
Following his election, Al-Musta's Black Guard swelled immensely in number, soon reaching to close to a hundred thousand they became the defacto military force for the Caliphate as they brought down the law and became the main military force of the Caliphate in its wars with its neighbors and putting down revolts quite brutally in India. The Black Guard became a class upon their own, only below the Caliph these black men became superior to the Arabs who ruled Islam for so long as their word could kill any man they wished! Over their careers the longest lived and farthest promoted gaining varous plots of land and fortunes of wealth, these men broke the racial barrier of the Islamic Caliphate and would become powerful figures for quite sometime. These men kept Al-Musta and every descendent of his untill the collapse of the Caliphate as the democraticly based system of choosing the Caliph collapsed by the force of power projected by Al-Musta and his descendents.
The Collapse
The true collapse of the Islamic Caliphate came from a combination of factors, mostly from economic downturns, the personality of the Caliphs, the cost of India, and the feuding amongst the Black Guard.
The economic downturns and the personality of the Caliph went hand in hand as the pompous and eccentricly brutal personalities of Al-Musta and his descendents produced a financial and social strain on the Caliphate. These range from a number of costly and forced-labor monuments and palaces, especially by Al-Kafur who committed to his very own Pyramid at the split of the Nile River delta which sank four times. Military pomp such as creating new unforms for the Black Guard, investing in bad economic buiesnesses and just increasing corruption throughout the government was sending the Caliphate into a spiral by the year 1000. India was also being a problem as native, but Muslim nobles repeatedly schemed and revolted against the rule of the Caliphate forming a number of city-state like entities independent of the Caliphate but under nominal control much like the Zanj Coast. Further, the Black Guard following the death of Al-Musta was divided into regional commands from occupied Tunis to Alexandria, Axum to Damascus, and even Mecca. Here the Commanders of the Black Guard eventually found their way into positons of power such as governors or adminsitrators.
It would be the death of Caliph Al-Busaid in 1054 that would finally bring the decay of the Islamic Caliphate to one epic explosion! Al-Busaid died infertile and without a blood heir or an appointed heir to the Caliphate, and so it was at this time that the tribal Sheikhs saw their chance to regain power and went about actually electing a Caliph on their free will, but the various commanders of the Black Guard would not have this as finally after generations of loyal servitude many saw their chance to gain the top seat for themselves. Thus the end of the Islamic Caliphate came with not a epic, noble battle such as the tension of the fall of the Tengri Caliphate bewteen Temur and Arkhan but with the blood, howling rage of greed as numerous factions, Arab, Black, Indian, Sunni, Shia, Khatijite, pro this and anti that crawled out from the corpse of the Caliphate wanting to get the juiceiest piece for themselves.
The fighting would see the creation of several different Dynasties, the Ateeq in Tunis, the Al-Kinidi in Egypt and Nubia, the Waliuyllah in Sudan and Aksum (Eritera), Samman in Jeruselum, and Barakat in Arabia. Thus had begun the Era of the Zanj, the post-Arab history of Islam was forming which would create a diverse political and cultural scenery for Islam as the Caliphate broke up creating a wanting for unification not unlike European pinings for Rome or our own for the Khaganate, but as history wouldpplay out to date the Caliphate has not been restored ever to the whole of the Islamic World. Nonetheless, the various statelets popping up out of the Caliphate would go on to progress further then their predescessor as the Islamic Awakening at this point was still in full swing and would be even into the Mongol Khaganate when Alexandria is taken by the Will of Tengri.
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