The Rise of the White Huns

[XanXar]

The development of the Maukhani is very interesting, similar to most Indian empires up to the Raj, it's quite a decentralised state. One of the main things about Indian monarchy that always baffled me was the lack of a true succession system, have you considered introducing one?
Visnuvadha might consider creating one after the difficulty of regaining his uncles empire.
Secondly has the syncretised Shiva worship become the dominant form of Hinduism in India or only in the west? I assume it's gaining quite a track within Arabia, which already had strong hindu influence in Pre - Islamic times.

 

[Practical Lobster]

I'd heard that roughly speaking, primogeniture was most common in ancient and classical India. I can't find a source on that at the moment. Certainly the Maurya had at least a few succession crises. At the very least, I expect Visnuvadhana to make very clear who his successor is, but more than anything decentralization is a bigger threat right now, and a tougher one to fight.

Worship of Shiva is mostly a western thing. In Sogdia, Baktria and the who Johiyava regime, those who aren't Buddhist subscribe to a variety of types of Hinduism and more generally a lot of gods. In Iran and Arabia, monotheism is more the order of the day.

In India, as in OTL at this time, there are many many forms of Hinduism, and any sweeping statements are going to be necessarily rather inaccurate. Also I haven't yet done enough research. I will say that Buddhism is doing comparatively better and continues to enjoy patronage in regions where it started to lose ground during the era of the OTL White Huns. The sects focusing on a single god are somewhat less developed in this timeline as well, and the devotional cults are going to turn out differently if nothing else. Charavaka is still doing pretty well too, if only as a philosophical movement. And the Bhakti will probably not get off the ground in this setting, so we're looking at a fundamentally different path for religion in India just like in Persia.

(Also in China for that matter, but I'm still wary of wading into China without a LOT more research)

 

[XanXar]

Sounds interesting I tend to ask about India mostly because that's where most of my knowledge happens to be based, but I'm enjoying the other events in your timeline too.

 

[fi11222]

It was not until the reign of Khauwashta son of Sheskh that the first royal-sponsored religious debates took place. At the Shah's winter palace near the Gulf city of Ram-Ardashir, the debate was held between the Nestorian Bishop Elisha of Bavel, the Syriac Buddhist monk Bhedhisho, and a group of various Zoroastrian and Indian mystics, most notably the rail-thin ascetic Khalinga of Argan, one of the earliest Iranian Advaita devotees and a traveler and historian who spent much of his time in Balkh. While such debates had happened before in satrapal courts and in the latter days of the Reign of Sons, they began again under the renewed tolerance ushered in by Khauwashta.

Congratulations for the whole section on religion; and thanks for following up on my suggestion. Would you mind if I provide some material to flesh-out the debate between Elisha of Bavel and Bhedhisho ?

 

[Practical Lobster]

Sure, if you want to. I confess I hadn't put too much thought into what the debate would look like - theology isn't really my strong suit. It would be an excellent way to fluff out the chaotic religious situation in the East as well.

 

[fi11222]

Sure, if you want to. I confess I hadn't put too much thought into what the debate would look like - theology isn't really my strong suit. It would be an excellent way to fluff out the chaotic religious situation in the East as well.

Ok, good. I'll work on it and publish it in a day or 2 if all goes well. Keep it up.

 

[Practical Lobster]

Would you be willing to PM it to me first, just to make sure it doesn't contradict anything - just in case?

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Wonderful updates.

 

[Practical Lobster]

Berber Africa

A century of Mauri rule in Africa had led to an increasingly centralized but nevertheless feudal state. As tribal distinctions began to blend, the Rex of Mauritania and Africa, [FONT=&quot]Takfarinas presided under a continued zenith of Mauri power. Takfarinas spent much of his reign in Sicily and Sardinia, where he played a sort of Roman Emperor to those local potentates who hosted him. In the wake of the declining power of Constantinople, the African King was remarkably well received. Though Takfarinas had dreams of a campaign against the Visigoths, he would ultimately listen to his advisors and avoid upsetting the status quo. [/FONT]

Back in North Africa, after Isemrases II's death in 574, a renaissance of theological debate began. Influenced by Cassodorian apologism and a growing monastic tradition in North Africa, the ideas that began to take vogue were often bordering on the heterodox. But where their European counterparts would press towards a unification with Arianism, the African movement tended towards Gnosticism, encouraged by Manichaeist holy men from Syria. These refugees were often persecuted, but due to the patchwork nature of North Africa, they could move from region to region, enjoying the patronage of certain tribes which developed into a small but nevertheless influential following.

Takfarinas died in a hunting accident in 586 at the beginning of this movement. Under his wife [FONT=&quot]Meghighda[/FONT], who took power after his death however, the opportunities Takfarinas longed for would become a reality. During the first years of her reign, she was forced to negotiate uneasily the loose feudal structure that the Mauri Kings so commonly held together through force of will, and the displeasure of the Church, which not-so-quietly considered herself and her late husband to be almost heretical. But against the odds, she gained the respect of important vassal tribes and the critical cities of Hippo and Carthage. The army, a mix between tribal levies retained by nobles and a central corps of late-Roman style soldiers, was initially torn, but after the centralized legions, commanded by a "Roman" general named [FONT=&quot]Massensen began to work for her the remaining tribes were forced to quickly fall in line.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]However, in 604 Northern Italy decisively fell to the Avars, and [/FONT]Doux Isidorus' coup swiftly displaced the remaining Gothic hold on the peninsula. Now undisputed master of Southern Italy, he sought to consolidate his power by driving the Mauri from their few remaining strongholds around Rhegium. Drawn into a war, the Prefect of Sicily, a Mauri by the name of [FONT=&quot]Ilayetmas respectfully asked for the aid of the Queen. Isidorus, who had proved adept at backstabbing Gothic garrisons, proved less adept in a proper war. Massensen sailed to Rhegium with a large fleet and reinforcements, ending the siege and marching north with the Prefect. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Unlike Isidorus however, the Mauri armies lacked the loyalty of the Italian citizenry, who found Isidorus, a Roman like them, preferable to a new era of foreign rule. Despite setback after setback and a chaotic retreat to Naples, the Mauri could not win the hearts and minds of the Italian people. Despite the conquest of Canusium, which was awarded to General Massensen, the bulk of Italy fought back hard. The Doux learned to delegate his command to more capable subordinates, and in a skirmish near Capua, the Mauri were brought to a bloody stalemate that cause Massensen to stall. The General had already won from his Queen an enormous prize - the whole of Apulia and Calabria was his to rule as Doux, if he could hold it. There was little chance he would receive additional territory. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Rather, he made a pact with Ilayetmas and together the men approached Isidorus, who bit his tongue and accepted the concession of Apulia and Calabria in exchange for peace and the promise of future assistance against the Avars. When the Queen Meghighda[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]discovered this, she was furious, but cautious of angering the two commanders. Rather, she waited until the bulk of their forces began to trickle home and then quietly arranged for the Prefect's arrest and execution. In 608 her orders were carried out, and with Illayetmas out of the way, she divided Sicily into numerous small city-duchies under the command of handpicked Legates. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Massensen was no fool. He saw the future and his own impending demise. The royal army had been placed under the command of the Queen's heir and nephew, Amezwar and for two years now it had been stationed in Africa. He was the tenuous tyrant over a war-scarred province which had little love of him. Meghighda[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]could defeat him even without calling her tribal vassals. He appealed to the Langobard King, [/FONT]Valthar, for aid, but the young King sent his ambassador home with only empty promises. With the Queen closing in and his own paranoia growing, Massensen packed up his household and his remaining soldiers and fled - at first to Roman Asia, but when that proved unpromising, to Egypt, where he offered his services to Shah Syavush as a mercenary.

Apulia was granted to Amezwar within mere weeks of his departure. Under his patronage, it would become a thriving addition to the sprawling Mauri Kingdom, a realm now larger than the Vandal state it had supplanted.


Chaos in the Balkans

King Alboin could not live forever. The young conqueror whose clever leadership had brought his people dominance over Greece was an old man, riddled with gout by the time he passed away in 589. His son, Valthar, would prove to have few of his talents at a time when talent was in short supply. The warlord Zvonomir still ruled much of the Peloponnese, and the various Slavic tribes he and the Bulgars nominally ruled over were difficult to coerce into unified policy. Pannonia was overrun, and the Lombard powerbase had shifted south, to Illyria, or as many were beginning to call it, Langobardia.

Langobard culture was difficult to summarize. It was a mixture of many different peoples, a loose confederation whose aristocrats were independent at the best of times. The more ambitious of them carried out their own raids, either north on the Bulgars or into the remaining Roman territory, and increasingly commonly against local Slavic tribes. In the main, the Langobards were pagan, but increasingly were converting to the local Christianity. Valthar was among those who converted, shortly after ascending to the throne. While many Germanic kings found the realm unified by the adoption of a new faith, this merely lead to increasing instances of violence, now along religious lines. The Roman population themselves did not care that the barbarian invader had adopted their faith, and did not support him, and the Christian Langobards were firmly in the minority. Despite Valthar's attempt in 603 to stage a mass baptism, he found himself increasingly isolated.



This isolation would culminate several months after the "Baptism of the Few" when a Christian gastaldi (ambassador) was murdered by the Slavic lord Bogomil, and general chaos erupted. A massacre of Greek-speaking Romans living in the city of Argithea followed shortly thereafter, and the burning of several churches. Valthar rode south with a core group of his retainers and executed Bogomil, placing a Christian deputy in charge of the city, but the damage had been done. In many cases the already much diminished Greek population of the Balkans had been safe primarily in cities, but that was no longer the case. The history of the pennisula was slowly annihilated in revolts and genocide. That Valthar and his Christians would ultimately emerge victorious was almost irrelevant, given how greatly they weakened themselves in the process.

After the few hundred-day reign of the Roman Emperor Justin in 607, the throne would pass to a general by the name of Constantine, who inherited a much better position. Helped to the throne after Justin died on relatively suspicious natural causes, he quickly turned his attention to shoring up the situation of a crumbling Empire. He would find Ioannes had not been idle. With Alan tribes guarding the east, the Emperor had turned his attention westward. Federates of the Xasar-Sahu cheerfully raided the northern border of Bulgar lands, carrying off slaves bound for Eftal markets. The Avars cheerfully accepted Byzantine aid in pressing southwards into Illyria.

Constantine could not have missed the growing weakness of the Langobards. To protect the Roman citizens being massacred, he ceremonially revoked the status of "Doux" Valthar. Sending an embassary to the Bulgars, he struck an alliance and after a quick naval engagement, prevailed and scattered the Langobard fleet. After landing, he met Valthar in battle at Dausara and smashed the Langobard army in a two day battle which was decided when a detachment of Bulgar cavalry arrived and encircled the Langobard forces. Valthar's regime unraveled shortly thereafter. While the Roman campaign stalled in Illyricum, the reconquest of much of Greece marked an impressive resurgence in the fortunes of an Empire which seemed from the perspective of many to be finally dying. As far north as Macedonia was now Roman once more.

And yet Constantine's reconquest could not have been more hollow in many ways. He recovered a ruined land populated in large part by Slavic tribes, burnt out by years of raiding and war. Economically devastated, it would take much work to leave the region a prosperous again. And the Romans, after finding out the devastation inflicted on their coreligionists and countrymen were more than willing to forestall the prospect of prosperity in favor of vicious vengeance against the remaining Germanic and Slavic peoples. Massacres and mass enslavement were the order of the day.

Central Asia

While relations between the Eftal and the Gokturks had remained friendly throughout first three decades of their "eternal peace" fragmentation in Sogdia meant opportunity, and a new khagan, Kultegin Shad, saw opportunity. The Gokturks had only grown in power, particularly by cementing an alliance with the stubbornly un-sinicized Jin dynasty, the descendants of Rouran Khagans ruling over northern China. Trade along the silk road had allowed them to become wealthy far beyond their local subject clans, and the slow decline of the Eftal in the East presented opportunities which they began to exploit.

At first this exploitation was subtle. Local dhiqans in frontier cities such Khojand as were intimidated or forced into paying tribute. The Qangli Turks, under their vicious Khan Yarin, killed Shah Gokharna and left much of Sogdia unprotected. Difficult choices had to be made. In the south, around Baktria, the Johiyava were quick to offer protection to the various petty dhiqans who established themselves. Eftal companions accustomed to war with both the Gandharans and the Turks, they bit their tongue and accepted the interference of Johiyava tax collectors and clansmen, the latter of whom they were often required to settle on choice land. While in the wake of Turkic raids this was not necessarily difficult, it was a humiliating concession to men who had enjoyed relative autonomy under the nomad Shah Gokharna.

The northern cities however, including fantastically wealthy Samarqand, fell. In 612, a native Sogdian lord in Samarqand was given the title of Iltabar by Kultegin Shad Khagan, replacing almost two centuries of White Hun rule. In general, those cities conquered to the Turks were granted to local Sogdians, and while the distinction between Sogdians and Eftal was by this point not always clear, it was nevertheless a clear indication of who had power on the steppe.

More tragic than the loss of Samarqand for the Eftal was the loss of Piandjikent. The palace-city had long been outside even their largest pretensions to empire, and yet it had remained in the hands of an Eftal. Now Kultegin Shad rode through its hunting grounds and subjected the city itself to a brutal sack from which it would not recover for centuries.

Asvhastan and Xvarazm, two powers in their own right, resisted the Turkic menace rather more strongly - but Xvarazm's tribal warlords slowly folded into the growing Turkic state, and Asvhastan was forced to seek protection from the Eftal.

 

[fi11222]

By special authorization from our friend Lobster, a little fan-fiction contribution

The garden debate

In the 5th year of his reing, Shah Khauwashta son of Sheskh convenend a gathering of Holy men at his winter palace near Ram-Ardashir. The place was not chosen at random. Located in the heart of Akhshunwar Malkha's erstwhile domain, it was still heavily associated with the peculiar Mahadevan faith of the former king. Khauwashta son of Sheskh did not want to go down the path of Akhshunwar and he felt that the latter's tight association to a single creed had been his undoing. Yet Khauwashta was troubled. Like many of his subjects, he felt that not all faiths could be true at once. And also some of his advisors wispered to him that a multiplicity of sects was a factor of division in a realm and that it was such divisions which doomed the previously united Eftal Empire. What to think ? What to believe ? Khauwashta son of Sheskh wanted to know more about religion in general and so he was all ears as the holy men seated before him in the audience hall started talking.

Bhedhisho: Great King ! Shah of a vast domain, secure and prosperous, let me recall the words of another arhat of the past, Nagasena, which he proffered before another king of blessed memory, Milinda, king of the Yavanna[1].

Just, O king, as an acrobat, when he wants to exhibit his skill, first digs over the ground, and proceeds to get rid of all the stones and fragments of broken pottery, and thus to make it smooth, and only then, on soft earth, shows his tricks; just even so does the recluse develope in himself the five moral powers, and so on, by means of virtue, on the basis of virtue. For it has been said, Sire, by the Blessed One:

"Virtue's the base on which the man who's wise
Can train his heart, and make his wisdom grow.
Thus shall the strenuous Bhikkhu, undeceived,
Unravel all the tangled skein of life.

"This is the base--like the great earth to men--
And this the root of all increase in goodness,
The starting-point of all the Buddhas' teaching,
Virtue, to wit, on which true bliss depends.​

​

And therefore myself, if it pleases the King, will talk of the means of acquiring Virtue and of the goal beyond virtue which is true bliss.

Elisha of Bavel: Bhedhisho my brother and my friend, our Lord Jesus, the heavenly King annointed by God, told us that his second greatest commandment, after that of loving God with all our heart, was to love each other as ourself. And so it is with brotherly love that I will reproach you and your fellow disciples of Boddo[2].

You spoke just now of virtue as a worthwhile aim. But what is virtue and is it truly accessible to men? Seen from afar, some men do appear virtuous but when we draw closer it often transpires that their righteousness was mere appearance. Our scripture tell us of many prophets and kings, all chosen and beloved by God. Yet all of them are also shown to have been fallible. Moses, for example, is the foundation of God's revealed Word. Yet he fell short of God's commands and was thus prevented from entering the Promised Land. David and Solomon were prosperous kings favored by God and yet they both comitted unspeakable crimes. David sent his best commander to his death so that he could lay with his wife. Solomon, lured by wives he had taken from the nations, fell back into the sacrilegeous worship of demons towards the end of his life.

If the promise of virtue had truly been offered to us by God in this life, it would indeed be worthwhile to pursue it as a goal. Yet if this promise has not been made to us, and we believe it has not, then claiming that we can attain the goal of righteousness through techniques and discipline is a seduction of the Devil. And we should not forget that the Devil is a seducer. Outwardly, he presents himself as the light-bringer[3] offering us only virtue and righteousness. Yet, when we press him, we learn that what he truly offers us is dominion in this world and power and means of enslaving others. To our savior he said "Bow down to me and I will give you dominion over all the kingdoms of the world". But this is of course a trick. Only God is truly King of the world and thus those foolish enough to take the Devil's bait only end up rebels against the true King. They then receive their just reward: eternal damnation. Because there is nothing better than submission to a rightful King and nothing worse than rebellion.

Bhedhisho: Esteemed Bishop Elisha, I have great respect for your learning and rethorical abilities. Yet I wonder whence comes this fear you express regarding the exertions required of man to become truly great. Our teacher Shakyamuni actually reached perfect Virtue in this world. We have reliable testimony of that fact. And beyond perfect Virtue we know that lies Nirvana, the shattrering of bonds to this world of delusion. And beyond Nirvana is Buddha-hood[4], the perfected state of the man who, out of compassion for all beings, returns from perfect bliss in order to help all those who still toil blindly in the darkness of error.

But in order to reach this most lofty of goals, we must first overcome the obstacles obstructing the road to perfect knowledge. One of these obstacles is fear. Fear is born of delusion. And delusion is mistaken belief about impermanent things. You mention one of your kings of old who was driven to commit a crime out of lust. If this king had been enlightened enough to consider the true object of his craving, appart from the delusional outward crust that covers it, he would have been freed from it instantly and would have avoided a great burden of unwanted Karma. For what was the object of his desire ? It was a body. Sure enough this body must have been soft and smooth and young on the outside. But what about on the inside ? Well, like other bodies, it no doubt contained blood and bile and urine and faeces. And also how impermanent was it! In the blink of an eye, the young body is old and wrinkled flesh. And yet another blink of an eye and the body is nothing but rotting fless and creeping insects and all manner of unclean things.

This kind of meditation on the impermanence of things is but one of the simplest of techniques that our master taught his disciples more than a thousand years ago and which we have been passing on between members of the Sangha ever since. Beyond these doctines for beginners are teachings for truly advanced men about the ways and means to completely free the senses from illusion, remove impure desires from the heart and attain perfect knowledge about the truly unchanging essence of reality. Of course these teachings are not easy to master and many will fail to do so in their present life. But there is always the hope of rebirth. Through the practice of elementary virtues, any life-form can reach a higher level in the hierarchy of being until it reaches a rung high enough to be able to master the purer teachings and thus escape the wheel of rebirth altogether. Not even a century ago, a mighty King of the great Empire on the Eastern End of the Earth has reached this stage and made himself a Bodhisattva through a solemn vow[5]. Would it not be foolish, bordering on criminal I say, to refuse such blessings if they are avalable to man, as I know they are ?

Elisha of Bavel: My dear brother Bhedhisho, tears well up in my eyes when I hear you speak with such learned brilliance about promises that my Faith has revealed to be tricks of the Accuser[6].

You speak of knowledge. But your own teachings show that no such thing exists. In the codex you mentioned, which relates the dialogue belween king Menander and the appostle of Boddo called Nagasena, the latter asks the king how he came to the meeting and this is his answer:

-- I did not come, Sir, on foot. I came in a chariot.
-- Then if you came, Sire, in a chariot, explain to me what that is. Is it the pole that is the chariot?
-- I did not say that.
-- Is it the axle that is the chariot?
-- Certainly not.
-- Is it the wheels, or the framework, or the ropes, or the yoke, or the spokes of the wheels, or the goad, that are the chariot?

And to all these he still answered no.

-- Then is it all these parts of it that are the chariot?
-- No, Sir.
-- But is there anything outside them that is the chariot?

And still he answered no.

-- Then thus, ask as I may, I can discover no chariot. Chariot is a mere empty sound. What then is the chariot you say you came in? It is a falsehood that your Majesty has spoken, an untruth! There is no such thing as a chariot! You are king over all India, a mighty monarch. Of whom then are you afraid that you speak untruth? And he called upon the Yonakas and the brethren to witness, saying: 'Milinda the king here has said that he came by carriage. But when asked in that case to explain what the carriage was, he is unable to establish what he averred. Is it, forsooth, possible to approve him in that?'​

Then, and in a manner I believe to be not a little disingenuous, your appostle Nagasena says that after all a chariot is the sum of its constituent parts: the pole, the wheels, the framework and so on. But one could have continued the dialogue in the same ways as before: what is a pole ? Is it made of wood ? only of wood ? and is it the sum of all wood fibers that enter into it ? and what happens if one wood fiber drops to the ground ? is it still a pole then ? when does it stops being a pole ? And so on and so forth. And we can deal similarly with the wheels, the framework, the ropes, everything! This will go on forever and we will never be able to define what a chariot is.

Human knowledge is an illusion and many have fallen for it, most conspicuously the disciples of Mani and the so-called Gnostics (God save their miserable souls). Only Faith is a reliable rope of rescue for our salvation in this world. I will not say more about it at this point as I do not want to wear out the ears of our listeners. Let me just say that it is Faith, not knowledge, that binds the subjects to a King. This species of Faith is called loyalty and on it kingdoms are built. Likewise, our Christian Faith is the mortar that binds us to the cornerstone of God's great Temple, our heavenly King, Jesus Christ.

Shah Khauwashta son of Sheskh: I thank you both my faithful subjects Elisha and Bhedhisho for your efforts in exposing your teachings. I am pleased to have learned one or two things today as a result. I like the depiction of Virtue that Bhedhisho offered at the begining of the debate. Virtue is a worthwhile pursuit for any man. But I also like the idea of Faith that Elisha exposed so vivdly. Faith is indeed the most necessary ingredient in a prosperous realm. This being said, we will adjourn for the moment. You are all invited to avail yourself of the bounties that God (whatever his name) has bestowed upon me and through me upon you. Walk in the gardens, enjoy the song of birds and the freshness of water. Nourish your mortal flesh with the meats my servants have readied for you. Peace be upon you all.

[1] Name for the Greeks in Indic languages. Derives from the word "Ionian"
[2] This is how the Bhudda's name was spelled in Greek : βοδδο
[3] meaning of "Lucifer"
[4] a specific Mahayana doctrine.
[5] Emperor Wu of Liang
[6] another name of the Devil.

 

[Practical Lobster]

History Repeats


The Eftal viewed the deteriorating situation on the steppe with no small measure of concern. They had not forgotten history, nor that they had begun their rise to power much as the Turks now had, pressing slowly westward. Khauwashta, whatever his personal religious convictions, was inclined to see time as cyclical. The Eftal had become the settled people, not so different from the Iranians they ruled. Those Iranians had hired Eftal mercenaries, much as the Eftal now hired Turkic warriors to augment their armies. They had come to rely upon those mercenaries to prop up a weakening state, never imagining that it would only take a single battle to permanently undo native rule. The Pahlava before them had been nomads as well, once. The river Wehrot (Amu Darya) was no barrier to an ambitious Khagan, nor were promises of eternal peace.

And yet Khauwashta, unlike his predecessors, was actually equipped to do something about the threat. When the Shah of the Asvha, Salanavira appealed to his "elder brother" in Susa, the "elder" sent money and soldiers, allowing the Asvha to fend off Gokturk raids. Mihiradata, the younger brother of Khauwashta and his close confidant, rode to the relatively neutral ground of Samarqand along with two of the Shah's sons, and attempted to broker a new peace with the Gokturks, perhaps based on marriage as many of the Eftal-Gokturk pacts had previously been based. But the Khagan was ambitious, and unlike many of his predecessors, well aware that previous treaties had been disproportionately favorable to the Eftal. Historically Turkic part of the Silk Road could be more easily circumvented than the whole of Persia, and Kultegin Shad had little desire to yield up this newfound source of revenue. More travelled than his predecessors, Kultegin knew well that the Eftal elite lived lives of ostentatious luxury, even relative to the wealth and power of his own retainers. According to our Eftal sources, the Khagan had seen the opulence of Piandjikent and the prosperity of Eftal cities, and might well have imagined similar wealth for himself and his people, or perhaps believed that the Eftal had forgotten their origins and become weak and lax in their virtues.

Accusations of avarice aside, Kultegin was also clever. The Gaoche confederation had been displaced by his ancestors, and had attempted to invade Persia after being repulsed from the high mountain passes of India. A hundred years ago, another warlord named Khauwashta had seen them back with relative ease, and brought the survivors under his wing as mere vassals. The Gaoche had served only to strengthen the Eftal, uniting them around a common foe and allowing their Shahs to maintain control over their eastern territories in a time of fragmentation.

Kultegin made careful preparations, and struck only after receiving some fortuitous news. In 617, Khauwashta had slipped from a horse while travelling to his royal hunting grounds, and broken his neck. Mihiradata was forced to return from the East with haste. There was no doubt as to Khauwashta's choice of successor - his oldest son, Shahriyar, was already acclaimed. And yet Mihiradata needed to arrive, personally pledge his loyalty to the new Shah, and ensure that he was not seen as a threat by the new Shah's companions, who might well have considered him a potential usurper.

However, these months of cautious politics among the Eftal allowed the Turks a window of opportunity to mount a massive invasion. A series of three columns of Turkic cavalry rode south. The various tribes and nations of Eftal who lived south of the Wehrot however, did not respond timidly as their northern cousins had. Rather, they used night raids and swift ambushes to cause chaos in the larger Turkic armies. But ultimately these outnumbered raiders were dispersed and the Turks proceeded deeper into the heart of Iran, striking for Spahan.

This penetration of the Eftal heartlands ensured a swift response and near-total unity behind the new Shah, Shahriyar. Displaced tribes from the East rallied what mount warriors they could, their style of warfare having changed little since the first Eftal arrived in the region. Heavy cavalry armed with cudgels from Pars, archers from Mesopotamia, the famed Armenian horsemen, their shields painted with Christian imagery - the united Eftal Empire was a potent force. The young Shah rode east and met Khagan Kultegin near Spahan.

Spahan (618) would become a battle for history. It represented the high-water mark of the short-lived Gokturk Khaganate, a time when it seemed that the Eftal could well have been subjugated much as the Persians had a century ago. The Turkic columns converged, but rather than resting and preparing for a pitched battle the next day, Kultegin opted to attack Eftal vanguard in their camp. Under the command of an Eftal general named Artavazda, the vanguard held until the sixteen year old King could bring the bulk of his army around. Contingents of lightly-equipped Eftal cavalry seized two of the Turkic camps, causing a general rout to develop as word spread. Despite being largely cavalry, many exhausted Turkic contingents were surrounded and slaughtered.

Artavazda was named commander and chief for his role in the day's masterful defense of the Eftal camp, and Kultegin himself was captured three days later as his scattered army was ridden down by relatively more fresh Eftal troops - their supplies lost and their horses exhausted, countless Turks were captured and sold into slavery. Kultegin himself would be paraded in an opulent triumph through the streets of Susa, after which time he was executed.

Between 620 and 625, Artavazda led a series of campaigns into Sogdia and Xvarazm, pressing as far as Kashgar. With royal authority, he created a series of new satrapies out of this territory. While some of these battles, particularly those against the vicious Qangli Turks, were hard-fought, they demonstrated the power of a unified Eftal state against the steppe and ensured the enduring power of the Iranic cultural sphere. The battle of Spahan ensured a stricter East-West division of the steppe, preventing the whole region from falling under Turkic cultural hegemony. While these victories would do little to weaken Turkic power in Turkestan proper (although they did for a time reduce it to a squabbling succession crisis) they did re-assert Eftal power in such a way as to encourage the Johiyava to cease their raiding and direct their energies into the subcontinent, which would ultimately lead to the general subjugation of them and their fellow Kamboja tribes as tributaries of the growing empire of Visnuvadhana Maukhani.

History Repeats in the West too

Just when fortune had seemed ready to consign what remained of the Roman Empire to history, the Emperor Constantine had scored, thanks to the internal division of his foes, a magnificent triumph. But it was not enough. The Balkans represented a sink for manpower. The region known as Illyria Langobardia remained outside the grasp of his soldiers, and anarchy reigned. Rulership required negotiating settlements with the surviving Gepidic and Slavic settlers, making treaties and acknowledging the claims of certain local warbands - arousing the ire of the Constantinopolitan elite. Constantine no doubt intended to strip these "grants" at the earliest convenience, but they were still taken as an insult by the aristocracy, who whipped the population of Constantinople into a frenzy.

While the riots were ultimately dispersed and the aristocracy and soldiery placated with promises and land they could not realistically claim, the Romans still incurred great expense garrisoning Greece. The Avars were moving south. Khagan Anakuye had struck south at Constantine's request, but he had made Slavic and Langobard vassals in Illyria and even had the Bulgar Khagan sending a token tribute and referring to him in deferential language. Moving against either of the invaders who now settled south of the Danube with impunity would cost him. The Bulgars in particular had been reforming their military, raising a standing force of soldiers paid in money and land. Constantine's reign would be one of frustrations. Unquestionably brilliant, reportedly a multilingual polymath who in his relative youth had been concerned with theology and the natural science and in his middle age wrote book on military tactics (published posthumously by his daughter), he found himself beset on all sides by threats. The Alans he'd settled in Eastern Anatolia were often restless, and in times of regional famine (notably the year 621) they nearly erupted in open rebellion. Two years later, a general of Alan birth named Eutychius attempted to lead a coup in the city after his soldiers went without regular pay for the better part of a year. But for the timely intervention of the Excubitors. The Imperial Guards arrested most of the conspirators and mass executions were held, but many managed to flee and escape the city.

As a result, distrust of the Alans would grow. The Roman military officers in particular began to refuse to cooperate with them, favoring the hiring of Xasar-Sahu or Avar mercenaries - but these were relatively less available and as a result the military suffered.

Further, in the south Shah Syavush was yet another "heathen" holding the holy city of Jerusalem. The holiest city in Christendom languished in the hands of the "pagan Persians and the vilest Hun." The Western Eftal and their Arab allies still held Cilicia and rumors among the Romans held that the Alans were willing to cooperate with them, so as to gain immense power and become themselves counted amongst the ranks of the Eftal. Syavush for his part would be Shah of Rome, and within years the Byzantines would be forced to worship the Sun and the demonic figure of the Buddha. ...Or so the most alarmist of the Roman patricians believed.

Constantine, a devout Christian, was inclined to agree, but he was also a realist, aging as each year in supreme power over the Roman state took a profound toll. In 623 he signed a new treaty with the Avars, attempting to drive a wedge between them and the Bulgars. It was only partially successful however - the Avars were rampaging through Italy, and very distracted. Further, the Bulgars were building a fleet, and repairing the Roman navy was a top priority of his. Opportunistic pirates had begun to operate on Crete, and even Syavush was building himself a navy - although composed entirely of native auxiliaries - the Eftal had no tradition of naval warfare to speak of, and the Arabians who comprised his state were traditionally landlocked. However, Syavush's advisors had learned well the value of navies from Heshana's campaigns, where it had been one of the great disadvantages of an otherwise seemingly unbeatable army.

But for now, Syavush focused on the short term. Preoccupied by rebellions and matters of administration, he would spend the 20's primarily in Egypt. On his coins, he portrayed himself stylistically as a Greek or Roman monarch, adopting a style radically unlike that of Heshana. He made an effort to accommodate his new, more Hellenized subjects even as he remained at heart an Eftal. Like his father, he was an able administrator and leader, and in the Egyptian tradition, he became a capable master of propaganda, playing Roman to his Roman subjects and Eftal to the rest. Speaking Greek, Aramaic, and Persian, he was in many respects a match for Constantine much as Mihiragula had been for Kallinikos some eighty years ago. When the cautious, diplomatic Narsai passed away in 629, it would set the stage for a new confrontation.

[I hope I've set up some interesting plot twists. Not much new on the western front, but the Turkic conquest of the Eftal I may have foreshadowed a few times has been either delayed or averted. Frankly it seemed both too early and also something that should have happened during the "civil war" if at all. Now, despite the regionalism of the Empire, its unified and invasion would only be a catalyst for that. The reference to "tribes and nations of Eftal" represents just the degree to which Eftal has become a term for all the various nomadic peoples under the Eftal banner - even the Turkic ones to some degree. Of course the ancestors of the original Eftal are higher on the totem pole, and those who can trace Akhshunwarid lineage even higher...

Syavush's Empire right now is a shaky one. There's only so many Eftal in Syria and Osrhoene, and only so many Arabs. Have they reached the limits of their conquest? I don't know. What I do know is that the Roman revival is equally unsteady at this point. I like the idea of two talented leaders who have very little to work with - I think this could become something of an interesting narrative and something worth focusing on. Unless you guys are more interested in developments with say, the Avars or in India.]

 

[fi11222]

But for now, Syavush focused on the short term. Preoccupied by rebellions and matters of administration, he would spend the 20's primarily in Egypt. On his coins, he portrayed himself stylistically as a Greek or Roman monarch, adopting a style radically unlike that of Heshana. He made an effort to accommodate his new, more Hellenized subjects even as he remained at heart an Eftal. Like his father, he was an able administrator and leader, and in the Egyptian tradition, he became a capable master of propaganda, playing Roman to his Roman subjects and Eftal to the rest. Speaking Greek, Aramaic, and Persian, he was in many respects a match for Constantine

Hi Lobster. Nice to see that you are continuing to work on this magnificient thread of yours.

If I may venture some advice, I believe that the key to Syavush's success or failure in Egypt will be his religious policy. Propaganda in those days essentially meant religious propaganda. The issue is not, of course, what the ruler truly believes but what he says he believes (through coins, inscriptions and such) and, even more important, what rites he performs. In Egypt, this means finding an accomodation with Christianity. Syavush is faced with an ovewhelmingly christian population. So being "neutral" in religious terms will not cut it. From the point of view of Christians, "neutral" or "tolerant" is just another word for "pagan" since it implies a multiplicity of deities and rituals.

So the key question here is whether or not Syavush will decide to be baptized and attend mass regularly. If he does not, no amount of propaganda will do. He will be perceived as a foreign power and will have to rule through coercion. In particular, the church hierarchy will work with him only reluctantly and this will have a negative impact on tax collection. Only the church has a reliable bureaucracy in place in Egypt. Only they know exactly who owns what land, how much grain it produces and how many people live where. If you cannot rely on this knowledge, only arbitrary plunder will work as a tax collection technique and this is is highly inefficient as it erodes the tax base year after year.

If he does decide to be baptized, the question is how his Eftal companions and courtiers will react. Given that they are used to seing all sorts of religious choices made by various Eftal rulers, I do not think it should be such a big problem, provided they are not forced to convert themselves.

Furthermore, there is an added benefit if Syavush becomes a Christian. Since this is Egypt, Syavush would most likely become a Monophysite Christian and thus would be able to mobilize the majority of the native population (both Greeks and Copts) against Chalcedonian Constantinople.

 

[Practical Lobster]

To be fair, Egypt is currently being mostly just exploited right now. Most of the time it's been ruled it has also been in a state of active rebellion or ongoing war - so revenue has mostly been collected through pillage and coercion. Obviously, that state of affairs cannot last indefinitely, and is detrimental to the tax base as you say. However, he also does grant the Monophysite church freedom of religion, which is something the Romans didn't allow. It seemed to me that this would suffice, at least in the short term - it worked for the Muslims, at least. I imagine the Monophysites will cooperate, and in the next post I was trying to think of some new accord being established. I assume eventually most of these Eftal will become Christian, but I assumed a longer timeframe than you did, I think. It's not like Eftal polytheism is winning any new coverts - so it is somewhat inevitable, barring something totally unforeseen which would also probably doom the western Eftal to failure.

Certainly, I doubt the bulk of the Eftal would care if he converted or acted the part of a Christian. He likely does that to some degree regardless - just as his counterparts in the East have, since the early days been willing to patronize Christian churches and whatnot. Also, I assumed that like the Persians IOTL, he'd seek Jewish support in maintaining his rule down the line, allowing them back into Jerusalem and whatnot. That would provide him with another substantial minority on his side - and one capable of mobilizing a decent force.

 

[fi11222]

Obviously, that state of affairs cannot last indefinitely, and is detrimental to the tax base as you say. However, he also does grant the Monophysite church freedom of religion, which is something the Romans didn't allow. It seemed to me that this would suffice, at least in the short term - it worked for the Muslims, at least. I imagine the Monophysites will cooperate ...

Indeed, but only grudgingly. And only because they are affraid. Of course they like the fact that they are tolerated. But they will have no real loyalty to Syavush, unless he converts. That is just the way a Christian mind works.

Of course, on the one hand, submission is enough or at least Syavush may think that it is enough. But, on the other hand, baptism would give him an edge that he does not currently have, just like Clovis gained one in similar circumstances.

Contrary to the Arabs, Syavush does not control the whole Middle-East but only Egypt and a part of Syria. These are indeed wealthy regions but much will depend on whether or not he is able to mobilize this wealth to its full extent. Remember the Ptolemies. In exactly the same situation as Syavush, they played the local religious card to the full and it seems to have served them quite well.

I almost sound like a courtier giving advice to Syavush ...

 

[Practical Lobster]

Huh, you kind of do.

I confess that I've been trying to spread the "Crossroads of Civilization" as far as possible for as long as possible - but Egypt and Anatolia is probably their natural limit. Even the Alanians who settled on the periphery of the remaining Roman Empire are converting in numbers because down that road lies the possibility for advancement within the Roman military.

That said, I'm curious what the others reading this thread think. Are the various polytheistic religions of the steppe doomed in this TL?

 

[fi11222]

Come on guys, don't be shy. Tell us your opinion!

Should Syavush get baptized or what ?

 

[fanthemadman]

IT LIVES!!!!!!


MOAR WHITE HUNS!! MOAR NOW!!!

 

[dreadnought jenkins]

If he or his successors want to keep Egypt loyal from foreign enemies, I suspect at least lip service baptism is necessary.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

That said, I'm curious what the others reading this thread think. Are the various polytheistic religions of the steppe doomed in this TL?

I wouldn't say doomed, but they are at an institutional disadvantage compared to the Dharmic and Abrahamic faiths.

Furthermore, those religions obtaining patronage by the state has a sort of 'hardening' effect amongst the subject populations as their religion forms another set of self identification to contrast themselves against the ruling classes.

Converting breaks this hardening and makes the ruling aristocracy far more palatable to the masses, along with presentation of their culture and worldview as someone similar to them.

 

[fi11222]

Nobody else ?