The Rise of the White Huns
- Thread starter Practical Lobster
- Start date
If anyone knows anything about the Great Lakes of this time period I would be absolutely fascinated to hear about them. At this juncture I've been able to find even less on them than on the Hephthalites when I started this thread. And I'm wary of making it all up wholesale - down that road lies madness.
Glad you guys are suitably horrified. I'm gonna keep going but it won't get better for the middle east for some time. It might be good I'm thinking to spruce it up with some looks into other parts of the world.
Bronze age collapse might be a bit extreme, Soverihn. But it's certainly not a good time to be alive. Hard numbers are hard to guesstimate but Constantinople is down to a few thousand people. Susa is a smouldering ruin. Most other cities are in the process of shrinking if they didn't get sacked at some point - sedentary farming in Iran and Anatolia is a risky profession in big parts of the middle east and pastoralism is on the rise (it already was since around the time the Eftal arrived, but now its really taking off) - and we're only a few years in.
Doesn't help that we didn't have all that much time (in the grand scheme of things) to recover from the last bloody Eftal civil war.
Glad you guys are suitably horrified. I'm gonna keep going but it won't get better for the middle east for some time. It might be good I'm thinking to spruce it up with some looks into other parts of the world.
Bronze age collapse might be a bit extreme, Soverihn. But it's certainly not a good time to be alive. Hard numbers are hard to guesstimate but Constantinople is down to a few thousand people. Susa is a smouldering ruin. Most other cities are in the process of shrinking if they didn't get sacked at some point - sedentary farming in Iran and Anatolia is a risky profession in big parts of the middle east and pastoralism is on the rise (it already was since around the time the Eftal arrived, but now its really taking off) - and we're only a few years in.
Doesn't help that we didn't have all that much time (in the grand scheme of things) to recover from the last bloody Eftal civil war.
Deleted member 67076
Got you covered right here. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/dialogue/general-history-of-africa/volumes/
Its a huge read, but there is information on the Lakes in there.
Its a huge read, but there is information on the Lakes in there.
Ah hah! And an update about the growing cities on the African coast and the peoples of interior will be a lot more upbeat than the one describing the collapse of the middle east, so thank you very much.
Oh wow, just had a glorious binge read. Thank you a million times, Practical Lobster!
Roman and Middle Eastern collapse as a result of Hephtalite expansion looks a bit like what happened to Northern India`s empire and civilization when some Hephtalites had invaded there instead, only postponed for a while...
Roman and Middle Eastern collapse as a result of Hephtalite expansion looks a bit like what happened to Northern India`s empire and civilization when some Hephtalites had invaded there instead, only postponed for a while...
That collapse though 
I can't wait to see the grimdark that follows.
Small question: from a western perspective did they see the greater Eftal empire as a new Persia? If so, I can imagine later fiction on both sides really playing up a narrative obsession with the collapse more than otl. With nothing like the rise of Islam to overshadow it, I could see figures on both sides using the collapse in a historical revanchist manner or as a warning metaphor from history about great rivalries.
I can't wait to see the grimdark that follows.Small question: from a western perspective did they see the greater Eftal empire as a new Persia? If so, I can imagine later fiction on both sides really playing up a narrative obsession with the collapse more than otl. With nothing like the rise of Islam to overshadow it, I could see figures on both sides using the collapse in a historical revanchist manner or as a warning metaphor from history about great rivalries.
Glad everyone's enjoying it - and yes, Salvador, I definitely took some inspiration from OTL's North India. Although the circumstances were obviously different.
CountPeter - While the Roman historians undoubtedly saw a continuity between Persia and the Eftal (frankly it would be hard not to) in both our timeline and this timeline they were certainly aware of the Hephthalites before they conquered Persia. On the Roman side at least, perhaps there's two conflicting narratives - one involving Hunnic barbarians trampling civilization, and the other presenting both sides as old enemies. The first of these narratives naturally discounts the various scientific, theological, and architectural achievements of the Eftal era in favor of painting them as ruthless savages. The latter is rather more charitable, if less popular for say, a ruler who wants to whip people into a frenzy.
For the Eftal narrative, it really depends on where they live, what beliefs they hold, etc. A bit of a cop-out I know, but until I figure out what all happens a bit better I can't really answer. I will say that for the average Eftal, Rome doesn't really come into the picture for an answer to the question of "why" - most of the blame might well fall on a figure like Hiramaosha who can't defend himself on account of being dead, but did start the process of civil war off.
CountPeter - While the Roman historians undoubtedly saw a continuity between Persia and the Eftal (frankly it would be hard not to) in both our timeline and this timeline they were certainly aware of the Hephthalites before they conquered Persia. On the Roman side at least, perhaps there's two conflicting narratives - one involving Hunnic barbarians trampling civilization, and the other presenting both sides as old enemies. The first of these narratives naturally discounts the various scientific, theological, and architectural achievements of the Eftal era in favor of painting them as ruthless savages. The latter is rather more charitable, if less popular for say, a ruler who wants to whip people into a frenzy.
For the Eftal narrative, it really depends on where they live, what beliefs they hold, etc. A bit of a cop-out I know, but until I figure out what all happens a bit better I can't really answer. I will say that for the average Eftal, Rome doesn't really come into the picture for an answer to the question of "why" - most of the blame might well fall on a figure like Hiramaosha who can't defend himself on account of being dead, but did start the process of civil war off.
Coasts and Great Lakes
The Coasts and the Great Lakes
As Eftal civilization imploded, many of those who lived in the Persian Gulf and could afford to do so sought new homelands safe from war - a mass flight of artisans, merchants, and nobles. While some would flee to India or Arabia, establishing small communities of exiles, many would travel west instead, settling down in the country of Savahila. There the growing coastal city states would welcome them with open arms. The city of Mzishima [Dar es Salaam] in particular swelled, becoming the predominant metropolis of the East African coast. Simultaneously, Indonesian and Indian migrants seeking a fortune and often an increase in social standing began to arrive, bolstering the numbers of these cities and allowing them to rapidly expand production of the trade goods that were their lifeblood.
This expansion would not always be easy. While many of the Cushitic ethnic groups along the coast such as the Sabaka and the Ma'a found cooperation and trade to be beneficial, opening themselves up to Indo-Iranian cultural influences and slowly assimilating into the foreign culture on their borders, further inland the cattle-herding Mbisha would come into conflict with the newly founded city of Vayubata, on the Tana river. Raiding back-and-forth along the frontier would prove indecisive - the foreign settlers lacked the manpower and the military experience to drive off the Mbisha, but were too well entrenched and too well fortified to be defeated themselves.
The Mbisha culture was based around a semi-pastoralist lifestyle - they raised cattle and cereal crops in the high hill country of the Taita. They worshiped an abstract creator god, associated with the sky, and had a society deeply stratified by age and experience as opposed to the caste and ethnic divisions which defined the Savahila states. Unwilling to yield and being forced south by the migration of northern Cushites as Awalastan crumbled, they were only finally driven off by an alliance of the "Three Cities" - Vayubata, Kintradoni, and Rhapta. Organized by Citrasena, a local merchant-prince, the Three City alliance would grow through the Seventh Century into a confederation of all the major Savahila cities, enabling a coordinated defense against invasions from the interior and attempts by various external factions to gain preferential trading rights.
By contrast, the neighboring highland people called the Asa welcomed trade. Despite having little that was directly of value to the mercantile cities to the east, they felt less threatened and as such maintained cordial relations with the Savahila - even allowing missionaries and explorers to pass through their lands in search of rumored great kingdoms further inland. Their primary trade was based around exchanging cattle for iron tools - their economy, like that of many of the inland East African civilizations, was rudimentary.
Trade penetrated the southern interior only infrequently. Riverine travel was common, allowing more advanced blacksmithing to spread inland, but in few places did a serious volume of trade build up - beyond a few rarer commodities, most of what East Africa offered the broader Eurasian trade networks could be found with relative ease within the coastal lowlands. Tribes such as the Ruvu were brought under the hegemonic power of Mzishima, but beyond the lowlands independent societies were able to continue their traditional lifestyles without any interruption.
The south was the country of the Kw'adza and Iringa. Two Cushitic tribes, they were slowly being threatened by the influx of Bantu along their periphery. By the seventh century, east Bantu farming communities were scattered across the Great Lakes region - but notably concentrated in those regions blessed with high rainfall, where the yam could still be grown. As such, the core lands of the Cushitic pastoralists were safe - marginal by the standards of the Bantu, who were unwilling to give up their traditional lifestyle or their proximity to the forest. However, with time population pressures would force the Bantu further towards the coast, bringing them into conflict with the Cushites.
But for now, the Bantu communities of [Lake Victoria] and [Lake Tanganyika] were not yet pressured to expand. Bantu civilizations such as the Rutara, the Ganda, and the Cushitic Takama lived and prospered around the great lake, giving rise to the myths of kingdoms in the interior of the continent. In truth, they were kinship-oriented societies not dissimilar to those already encountered. However, with their iron-age advancement and agricultural package, they were able to push out local hunter-gatherers and nomadic peoples and establish sedentary communities.
The reorientation of trade
As overland trade through much of the Middle East became impossible, the cities of Arabia and Egypt blossomed. The goods of India and East Africa both had to be either sailed or carried by caravans up the Red Sea, to Egyptian ports. In Heshanid Egypt, the young Basileus Heshana made such trade easy - even low tariffs were enormously profitable for the Egyptian monarchy. To avoid imperiling this trade, against the recommendation of many of his advisors, he chose not to challenge his immediate rival Nanivadh, for control of Palestine, choosing instead to maintain a yearly exchange of gifts with his "beloved cousin". While this was unpopular with the Coptic majority, trade uninterrupted by endemic warfare would pay immensely. It was no secret that Nanivadh had a strong fleet and a well-trained Arab-Eftal army - victory over him was by no means assured, especially due to Heshana's lack of military expertise.
However, problems remained. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, piracy, once confined to Crete, was able to expand across the Eastern Mediterranean. In response a Mauri expedition, launched from Italy would capture Crete and subdue several other nests of pirates by 654. Once this was done, Mediterranean trade blossomed for a time, but the Mauri lord of Crete, Asulil, would gradually grow independent and begin his own policy of coastal raiding, further destabilizing the region.
The Mauri King, Izdarasen, would be slow to respond, and his attempt to recall in 660 Asulil led to Asulil declaring himself King of Crete. After this, Mauri trade would primarily be confined to southern routes, avoiding the Aegean which became progressively more hostile to trade. This in turn would have a negative effect on the Xasar-Sahu to the north, whose riverine trading network relied on the relative security of maritime routes through the Black and Caspian seas and stable marketplaces in the former Roman and Eftal Empires. The Sahu Shah, Vashtawar, found state revenues declining and at least in the short term sought to supplement this with raiding into Pannonia and Armenia - a policy which had mixed success. More successful was his policy of paying off Asulil to ensure that trade could continue. The slave trade in particular remained lucrative as landholders with depopulated territories sought to acquire a new labor force.
In the Vacuum
After the fall of the Eftal Empire, atrocities were widespread. Dashkart, Tesifon, Bavel, and many more were all sacked in the back-and-forth warfare which claimed untold thousands of lives. Shah Tistyra's infamous commander, Nijara the White, built a pyramid of human heads outside the city of Hulwan after it defied him for three hundred days. In Mesun, the Mahadevists, once a peaceful sect, ironically fearing for their own lives, turned on their Christian brethren and massacred them, selling those who survived the first bloody nights into slavery. Yet in spite of all these atrocities, war did not take so many lives as hunger and plague.
Over the first five years of the Warlord Era, the greatest calamity to befall Mesopotamia and large parts of Iran was the widespread abandonment of the irrigated farmland due to ceaseless raids. As farmland was allowed to go uncultivated, famine wracked much of the region, and forced mass migrations of regions of relative stability, which, then overburdened by refugees were forced to ration. While the actual losses of population are difficult to estimate in any premodern time, they can only be assumed to be immense - perhaps a fourth or a third of the population. Further, there would be no immediate rebound, but rather a long period of stagnation. Reduced manpower allowed bandits, both Eftal and also Arabs from the desert to roam freely, slaughtering and stealing indiscriminately out of the picked-over husks of once great cities.
Outside of Mesopotamia, the crisis was no less real. The flight of much of the mercantile class from the Persian Gulf was followed by several decisive raids from Kaosha Prajana which lead to famine and the abandonment of urban sites such as Ram-Ardashir which had been key to Iranian trade. In spite of these successes however, Kaosha, whose authority weakened steadily through the early 650's was finally assassinated by a retainer in 656. If our Eftal historians are to be believed, he was killed after sleeping with the wife of this retainer.
Kaosha's death did not grant Shah Tarkhsuna of Pars and his Mahadevist partisans the victory they wanted - almost immediately they were overrun by a migration of Asvha and Turkic tribesmen fleeing the central Iranian plateau, and two years later, in fighting outside the marshy floodplains of Karka, Tarkhsuna would be killed, and a new warlord, Shativash, would emerge almost as swiftly. Unlike Tarkhsuna, however, Shativash was a traditional Iranian pagan, his Asvha followers primarily worshippers of Anahita and Hvarna, and the Turks a mixed bag of Tengri-worshippers and Buddhists. As such, Shativash would side with the Buddhist and more traditional Zoroastrian population of Pars, and spent the period between 657-660 engaging in a series of massacres against the Mahadevists, many of whom fled to Arabia or southern Mesopotamia, outside of his reach. Narsai of Argan was martyred in 658. Without him, his organization would splinter, with the rural bandits and radicals forming armed mobs, while the traditional urban congregations attempted to fortify various "safe" places and stockpile grain, aiming to wait out the crisis.
In Syarzur and Gilan, mountain monasteries, both Nestorian Christian and Buddhist, would provide conduits for the preservation of the knowledge, both religious and scientific, that came out of the Eftal golden age. Relatively isolated and difficult for a raiding party of cavalry to assault, they would endure, often hiring armed guards or more rarely, training their devotees in self-defense. After the death of Kaosha, it was a few major Buddhist monasteries in the Syarzur region, such as the monastery of Adhur which, by allying with a loose confederacy of local Eftal tribes such as the Oadhya and the Hitivira, began to gain secular power, repelling an invasion by Tistyra in 661. Their impromptu coalition would become known as the Syarzur Confederation, or the Eftal Nations. The latter is considered a poor translation, while the former is anachronistic.
Meanwhile, Khingila declared himself a Shah, as did his ally Syavusha the Red. Together, they were able to generally repel raiders and an invasion by the Shah of Armenia, Ashot, who coveted the semi-independent city Naxcavan. Here, the religious tolerance and relative security of trade and travel which had defined the Eftal era was preserved, albeit in a limited form. Distant from the anarchy of Mesopotamia, they were able to avoid being drawn into the chaos, promote ties between their regions, and still patronize authors, poets, and philosophers fleeing the anarchy all around.
Even more distant, the Sogdian Shah was similarly able to avoid being drawn into war. Fortunately for them, the Johiyava were cowed by Maukhani hegemony, and the Turks were frequently content to pass through in search of riches and land further south. In Samarkand, a local despot named Shanoshach was able to maintain a rough hegemony over Ferghana, Marv, and Ustrushana and a similarly vague hold over the countless cities and castles which comprised his own confederated kingdom. Theoretically acknowledging the sovereignty of the Maukhani granted him the ability to in practice act with autonomy, warring and aligning with various Turkic tribes on the frontier as he chose. In practice this directed them towards Xvarazm, which was overrun by the Qarluq tribe in 659. By 662, with the floodgates now open, Turkish warlord named Iltamish carved out a petty state for himself around the city of Abarsahr, driving the local Eftal south. Another, Baghatur, would conquer much of Sakastan in 665.
These conquests would only exacerbate the pressures on the Eftal. Amidst famine and mass migrations not seen since their initial conquest of Iran, they were forced into increasingly desperate and violent conflicts against each other and the Turks. While the Eftal undoubtedly suffered as a result of these wars and massacres, it must also be remembered that they were a societal elite. The settled peasant populations and the urban artisans and merchants suffered the brunt of regular raids and exploitation at the hands of these desperate elites, elites which already often maintained a semi-nomadic lifestyle and were thus in far less danger than their settled subjects.
However, after fifteen years of warfare, many factions were becoming exhausted. Claims to superiority or sovereignty over more than a small locality were increasingly viewed with skepticism and derision. Most of the original claimants for the throne were dead and aging, and Eftal armies had atrophied significantly. Large military forces and field battles were rare after 650, being almost entirely replaced by raiding parties and sieges. While armed men were ubiquitous, the resources to support them were rare, necessitating pillaging as a tool of warfare not merely for terror or loot, but for survival.
In 663, Tistyra, whose power was on the wane, would be assassinated by Nijara the White in a palace coup. Tistyra's chosen successor, a Nestorian Eftal named Khauwashta Taoma was forced to flee with his retainers and family to Syria, where he would become a guest of Akhsaman's court. Mosil would fall into the hands of Nijara, whose brutal legacy preceded him. Three weeks into his reign, as the death toll began to mount, a group of Tistyra's retainers assassinated him in turn and Khauwashta Taoma was able to return and become Shah of Arbayestan. Less ambitious than his father and less bloodthirsty than Nijara, he sought peace with his neighbors, marking the beginning of the end of almost a generation of unending internecine war and warlordism. Bringing peace to even the territory within his nominal borders would prove challenging, however, and on the Iranian plateau various tribes such as the Khiash and the Panjadh would continue to feud, accumulating regional coalitions around them.
[Don't worry, there will be a new map coming after the next post, which is mostly written and focuses on a few different rebellions, Italy, and the former Roman Empire.]
As Eftal civilization imploded, many of those who lived in the Persian Gulf and could afford to do so sought new homelands safe from war - a mass flight of artisans, merchants, and nobles. While some would flee to India or Arabia, establishing small communities of exiles, many would travel west instead, settling down in the country of Savahila. There the growing coastal city states would welcome them with open arms. The city of Mzishima [Dar es Salaam] in particular swelled, becoming the predominant metropolis of the East African coast. Simultaneously, Indonesian and Indian migrants seeking a fortune and often an increase in social standing began to arrive, bolstering the numbers of these cities and allowing them to rapidly expand production of the trade goods that were their lifeblood.
This expansion would not always be easy. While many of the Cushitic ethnic groups along the coast such as the Sabaka and the Ma'a found cooperation and trade to be beneficial, opening themselves up to Indo-Iranian cultural influences and slowly assimilating into the foreign culture on their borders, further inland the cattle-herding Mbisha would come into conflict with the newly founded city of Vayubata, on the Tana river. Raiding back-and-forth along the frontier would prove indecisive - the foreign settlers lacked the manpower and the military experience to drive off the Mbisha, but were too well entrenched and too well fortified to be defeated themselves.
The Mbisha culture was based around a semi-pastoralist lifestyle - they raised cattle and cereal crops in the high hill country of the Taita. They worshiped an abstract creator god, associated with the sky, and had a society deeply stratified by age and experience as opposed to the caste and ethnic divisions which defined the Savahila states. Unwilling to yield and being forced south by the migration of northern Cushites as Awalastan crumbled, they were only finally driven off by an alliance of the "Three Cities" - Vayubata, Kintradoni, and Rhapta. Organized by Citrasena, a local merchant-prince, the Three City alliance would grow through the Seventh Century into a confederation of all the major Savahila cities, enabling a coordinated defense against invasions from the interior and attempts by various external factions to gain preferential trading rights.
By contrast, the neighboring highland people called the Asa welcomed trade. Despite having little that was directly of value to the mercantile cities to the east, they felt less threatened and as such maintained cordial relations with the Savahila - even allowing missionaries and explorers to pass through their lands in search of rumored great kingdoms further inland. Their primary trade was based around exchanging cattle for iron tools - their economy, like that of many of the inland East African civilizations, was rudimentary.
Trade penetrated the southern interior only infrequently. Riverine travel was common, allowing more advanced blacksmithing to spread inland, but in few places did a serious volume of trade build up - beyond a few rarer commodities, most of what East Africa offered the broader Eurasian trade networks could be found with relative ease within the coastal lowlands. Tribes such as the Ruvu were brought under the hegemonic power of Mzishima, but beyond the lowlands independent societies were able to continue their traditional lifestyles without any interruption.
The south was the country of the Kw'adza and Iringa. Two Cushitic tribes, they were slowly being threatened by the influx of Bantu along their periphery. By the seventh century, east Bantu farming communities were scattered across the Great Lakes region - but notably concentrated in those regions blessed with high rainfall, where the yam could still be grown. As such, the core lands of the Cushitic pastoralists were safe - marginal by the standards of the Bantu, who were unwilling to give up their traditional lifestyle or their proximity to the forest. However, with time population pressures would force the Bantu further towards the coast, bringing them into conflict with the Cushites.
But for now, the Bantu communities of [Lake Victoria] and [Lake Tanganyika] were not yet pressured to expand. Bantu civilizations such as the Rutara, the Ganda, and the Cushitic Takama lived and prospered around the great lake, giving rise to the myths of kingdoms in the interior of the continent. In truth, they were kinship-oriented societies not dissimilar to those already encountered. However, with their iron-age advancement and agricultural package, they were able to push out local hunter-gatherers and nomadic peoples and establish sedentary communities.
The reorientation of trade
As overland trade through much of the Middle East became impossible, the cities of Arabia and Egypt blossomed. The goods of India and East Africa both had to be either sailed or carried by caravans up the Red Sea, to Egyptian ports. In Heshanid Egypt, the young Basileus Heshana made such trade easy - even low tariffs were enormously profitable for the Egyptian monarchy. To avoid imperiling this trade, against the recommendation of many of his advisors, he chose not to challenge his immediate rival Nanivadh, for control of Palestine, choosing instead to maintain a yearly exchange of gifts with his "beloved cousin". While this was unpopular with the Coptic majority, trade uninterrupted by endemic warfare would pay immensely. It was no secret that Nanivadh had a strong fleet and a well-trained Arab-Eftal army - victory over him was by no means assured, especially due to Heshana's lack of military expertise.
However, problems remained. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, piracy, once confined to Crete, was able to expand across the Eastern Mediterranean. In response a Mauri expedition, launched from Italy would capture Crete and subdue several other nests of pirates by 654. Once this was done, Mediterranean trade blossomed for a time, but the Mauri lord of Crete, Asulil, would gradually grow independent and begin his own policy of coastal raiding, further destabilizing the region.
The Mauri King, Izdarasen, would be slow to respond, and his attempt to recall in 660 Asulil led to Asulil declaring himself King of Crete. After this, Mauri trade would primarily be confined to southern routes, avoiding the Aegean which became progressively more hostile to trade. This in turn would have a negative effect on the Xasar-Sahu to the north, whose riverine trading network relied on the relative security of maritime routes through the Black and Caspian seas and stable marketplaces in the former Roman and Eftal Empires. The Sahu Shah, Vashtawar, found state revenues declining and at least in the short term sought to supplement this with raiding into Pannonia and Armenia - a policy which had mixed success. More successful was his policy of paying off Asulil to ensure that trade could continue. The slave trade in particular remained lucrative as landholders with depopulated territories sought to acquire a new labor force.
In the Vacuum
After the fall of the Eftal Empire, atrocities were widespread. Dashkart, Tesifon, Bavel, and many more were all sacked in the back-and-forth warfare which claimed untold thousands of lives. Shah Tistyra's infamous commander, Nijara the White, built a pyramid of human heads outside the city of Hulwan after it defied him for three hundred days. In Mesun, the Mahadevists, once a peaceful sect, ironically fearing for their own lives, turned on their Christian brethren and massacred them, selling those who survived the first bloody nights into slavery. Yet in spite of all these atrocities, war did not take so many lives as hunger and plague.
Over the first five years of the Warlord Era, the greatest calamity to befall Mesopotamia and large parts of Iran was the widespread abandonment of the irrigated farmland due to ceaseless raids. As farmland was allowed to go uncultivated, famine wracked much of the region, and forced mass migrations of regions of relative stability, which, then overburdened by refugees were forced to ration. While the actual losses of population are difficult to estimate in any premodern time, they can only be assumed to be immense - perhaps a fourth or a third of the population. Further, there would be no immediate rebound, but rather a long period of stagnation. Reduced manpower allowed bandits, both Eftal and also Arabs from the desert to roam freely, slaughtering and stealing indiscriminately out of the picked-over husks of once great cities.
Outside of Mesopotamia, the crisis was no less real. The flight of much of the mercantile class from the Persian Gulf was followed by several decisive raids from Kaosha Prajana which lead to famine and the abandonment of urban sites such as Ram-Ardashir which had been key to Iranian trade. In spite of these successes however, Kaosha, whose authority weakened steadily through the early 650's was finally assassinated by a retainer in 656. If our Eftal historians are to be believed, he was killed after sleeping with the wife of this retainer.
Kaosha's death did not grant Shah Tarkhsuna of Pars and his Mahadevist partisans the victory they wanted - almost immediately they were overrun by a migration of Asvha and Turkic tribesmen fleeing the central Iranian plateau, and two years later, in fighting outside the marshy floodplains of Karka, Tarkhsuna would be killed, and a new warlord, Shativash, would emerge almost as swiftly. Unlike Tarkhsuna, however, Shativash was a traditional Iranian pagan, his Asvha followers primarily worshippers of Anahita and Hvarna, and the Turks a mixed bag of Tengri-worshippers and Buddhists. As such, Shativash would side with the Buddhist and more traditional Zoroastrian population of Pars, and spent the period between 657-660 engaging in a series of massacres against the Mahadevists, many of whom fled to Arabia or southern Mesopotamia, outside of his reach. Narsai of Argan was martyred in 658. Without him, his organization would splinter, with the rural bandits and radicals forming armed mobs, while the traditional urban congregations attempted to fortify various "safe" places and stockpile grain, aiming to wait out the crisis.
In Syarzur and Gilan, mountain monasteries, both Nestorian Christian and Buddhist, would provide conduits for the preservation of the knowledge, both religious and scientific, that came out of the Eftal golden age. Relatively isolated and difficult for a raiding party of cavalry to assault, they would endure, often hiring armed guards or more rarely, training their devotees in self-defense. After the death of Kaosha, it was a few major Buddhist monasteries in the Syarzur region, such as the monastery of Adhur which, by allying with a loose confederacy of local Eftal tribes such as the Oadhya and the Hitivira, began to gain secular power, repelling an invasion by Tistyra in 661. Their impromptu coalition would become known as the Syarzur Confederation, or the Eftal Nations. The latter is considered a poor translation, while the former is anachronistic.
Meanwhile, Khingila declared himself a Shah, as did his ally Syavusha the Red. Together, they were able to generally repel raiders and an invasion by the Shah of Armenia, Ashot, who coveted the semi-independent city Naxcavan. Here, the religious tolerance and relative security of trade and travel which had defined the Eftal era was preserved, albeit in a limited form. Distant from the anarchy of Mesopotamia, they were able to avoid being drawn into the chaos, promote ties between their regions, and still patronize authors, poets, and philosophers fleeing the anarchy all around.
Even more distant, the Sogdian Shah was similarly able to avoid being drawn into war. Fortunately for them, the Johiyava were cowed by Maukhani hegemony, and the Turks were frequently content to pass through in search of riches and land further south. In Samarkand, a local despot named Shanoshach was able to maintain a rough hegemony over Ferghana, Marv, and Ustrushana and a similarly vague hold over the countless cities and castles which comprised his own confederated kingdom. Theoretically acknowledging the sovereignty of the Maukhani granted him the ability to in practice act with autonomy, warring and aligning with various Turkic tribes on the frontier as he chose. In practice this directed them towards Xvarazm, which was overrun by the Qarluq tribe in 659. By 662, with the floodgates now open, Turkish warlord named Iltamish carved out a petty state for himself around the city of Abarsahr, driving the local Eftal south. Another, Baghatur, would conquer much of Sakastan in 665.
These conquests would only exacerbate the pressures on the Eftal. Amidst famine and mass migrations not seen since their initial conquest of Iran, they were forced into increasingly desperate and violent conflicts against each other and the Turks. While the Eftal undoubtedly suffered as a result of these wars and massacres, it must also be remembered that they were a societal elite. The settled peasant populations and the urban artisans and merchants suffered the brunt of regular raids and exploitation at the hands of these desperate elites, elites which already often maintained a semi-nomadic lifestyle and were thus in far less danger than their settled subjects.
However, after fifteen years of warfare, many factions were becoming exhausted. Claims to superiority or sovereignty over more than a small locality were increasingly viewed with skepticism and derision. Most of the original claimants for the throne were dead and aging, and Eftal armies had atrophied significantly. Large military forces and field battles were rare after 650, being almost entirely replaced by raiding parties and sieges. While armed men were ubiquitous, the resources to support them were rare, necessitating pillaging as a tool of warfare not merely for terror or loot, but for survival.
In 663, Tistyra, whose power was on the wane, would be assassinated by Nijara the White in a palace coup. Tistyra's chosen successor, a Nestorian Eftal named Khauwashta Taoma was forced to flee with his retainers and family to Syria, where he would become a guest of Akhsaman's court. Mosil would fall into the hands of Nijara, whose brutal legacy preceded him. Three weeks into his reign, as the death toll began to mount, a group of Tistyra's retainers assassinated him in turn and Khauwashta Taoma was able to return and become Shah of Arbayestan. Less ambitious than his father and less bloodthirsty than Nijara, he sought peace with his neighbors, marking the beginning of the end of almost a generation of unending internecine war and warlordism. Bringing peace to even the territory within his nominal borders would prove challenging, however, and on the Iranian plateau various tribes such as the Khiash and the Panjadh would continue to feud, accumulating regional coalitions around them.
[Don't worry, there will be a new map coming after the next post, which is mostly written and focuses on a few different rebellions, Italy, and the former Roman Empire.]
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While I'll probably cover it in a new post, I should say that most of the Mauri (the term by now applies evenly to all, even those who in early times might have considered themselves Roman) are more interested in trade around the Mediterranean.
To the south, Ghana and other early West African civilizations have limited contact with the Mediterranean world. While butterflies have reached them, they've done little to change the general societal trends. Centralization and urbanization is on the rise, along a distinctively African model I've recently been learning a lot about. They have skilled iron and copper working, and intricate pottery and gold jewelry. The latter two items are traded overland and have begun to reach the Mediterranean world in some numbers. There are regular camel caravans run by various nomad groups and this does much to facilitate this trans-Saharan trade.
However the Garamantes I believe are by this point entering into a terminal decline due to sustainability issues inherent to their oasis civilization. I don't know much about them or enough to speak on the issues facing their civilization, but I would presume generally speaking they're migrating northward and integrating into Mauri civilization?
This all could very well be causing tensions that are worth exploring in a proper post, much as I did a broad overview of Eastern Africa.
To the south, Ghana and other early West African civilizations have limited contact with the Mediterranean world. While butterflies have reached them, they've done little to change the general societal trends. Centralization and urbanization is on the rise, along a distinctively African model I've recently been learning a lot about. They have skilled iron and copper working, and intricate pottery and gold jewelry. The latter two items are traded overland and have begun to reach the Mediterranean world in some numbers. There are regular camel caravans run by various nomad groups and this does much to facilitate this trans-Saharan trade.
However the Garamantes I believe are by this point entering into a terminal decline due to sustainability issues inherent to their oasis civilization. I don't know much about them or enough to speak on the issues facing their civilization, but I would presume generally speaking they're migrating northward and integrating into Mauri civilization?
This all could very well be causing tensions that are worth exploring in a proper post, much as I did a broad overview of Eastern Africa.
Sorry about that.
I think the Garamantes might have been came to an end a few decades earlier. So, maybe they're part of the Berber raids hitting the Mauri too?
I did read somewhere that they were very important for the Trans-Saharan trade before they collapsed. The might be something you can play with.
Either way, they might have an influence over the emerging Kanem empire that should be up in a few decades if some weaker tribes are forced to go into the southern Fezzan.
By the way, love the TL.
Picking over Bones
Apocalypse Now?
The various Christian apocalyptic movements which emerged in the wake of Constantinople's fall did not emerge out of nowhere. Apocalyptic thought had its roots early in the Christian tradition, but after so much of the Christian East was overrun, it enjoyed a revival. Beginning with the plagues in 540, many preachers, bordering on heretical, began to whip the populace into a frenzy of messianic fervor. While this fervor would wax and wane over the coming century, after Constantinople's fall it burst out into the open once more.
Beginning with the writings of Desidarius of Doclea, the movement in Italy preached that the end of times had begun - that a great Eftal warlord was coming out of the East to usher in the beginning of the end of the world. The warlord "Birharios" who had sacked Constantinople was his harbinger, much as Desidarius was the harbringer of Christ. When Desidarius was made to recant his claims, he would flee his monastery and travel the countryside, preaching. His execution in 653 would only strengthen the conviction of his disciples.
Similar movements grew in Greece and Anatolia, where the fall of Rome had been most acutely felt. Often called Procopians, after Procopius of Sardis, the founder of the movement, they believed similarly, only that Procopius was a sort of reincarnation of John the Baptist, come back to usher in the new era. Despite being widely condemned as heresy, the Procopians gained quite a following, and one which in many cases was violent, attempted to rebel against the "pagan overlords" to whom they were subjected, especially in those places where strong authority was scarce. While these rebellions were often quashed, the Procopians did not fear death or the end of the world. Unlike the more peaceful Desidarian movement, the Procopians tended to inspire violence against unbelievers and strict social codes, feeling that with the end of the world so urgent, there was little time to repent. In response, a less strict and more peaceful sect, the Phrygians (so named after Phyrgia, where the movement originated) developed, but it was similarly condemned as heresy for seeing Procopius as a prophet of the coming Apocalypse. Among the Slavs, Avars, Eftal, Alans, and other peoples who found themselves ruling Christian populations, these movements were treated with suspicion, derision, or bemusement, depending on the paranoia of the local rulers and the size of the apocalyptic congregations. Obviously, these movements did little to foster assimilation on either side.
Far in the East, among the Nestorians, deliverance was considered to be imminent as well - and not without good reason. Despite generally having a much better knowledge of the various religions with which they shared the world, the Nestorians had suffered horribly since the collapse of the Eftal. In a few places, such as Mosil, tolerance remained, but daily rumors and tales of atrocities left certainty in the hearts of many, even high up in the Nestorian establishment in Mesopotamia, that the end was nigh.
Here, various figures - all of them much closer to home - were successively cast as the Antichrist or some harbinger of apocalypse - each acknowledged as such and then dismissed in turn as their power weakened. However the true apocalypse was little more than mass starvation and endemic warfare, a plight which was indiscriminate in its targeting of Christians and "unbelievers" alike. Deliverance would have to wait. In several cities, uprisings began in the latter days of the collapse, prepared to join the armies of Christ. However, these uprisings were incapable of coordinating and unlike in earlier periods, lacked manpower. Despite being a movement in which a not insubstantial number of Eftal were swept up in, after the destruction of cities such as Tesifon by Nijara the White (one of the favorite candidates for Antichrist) it began to lose steam in Mesopotamia, not for a lack of faith but a simple lack of available manpower.
Christians, of course, were not the only group to rebel in this time period. Many cities and peasant communities sought to throw off the increasingly exploitative Eftal yoke for a variety of non-religious reasons. However, generally speaking these groups, regardless of origin could not afford to field cavalry to the same degree that the Eftal warlords could. Frequently these rebellions turned into small battles where a disorderly mob of armed peasants would be outmaneuvered, worn down, and overrun by more agile bands of mounted raiders. Rebellions in this era tended to survive only with some combination of elite backing, a defensible stronghold, and a willingness to negotiate.
A Light in the West - Florentia, 647
Having abandoned Constantinople, Emperor Maurice quickly found himself having leapt from the frying pan into the fire. Julian's condition for allowing him to stay in Florentia was that Maurice name Julian co-Emperor. Maurice could see where such a deal would lead him - sooner or later he would be set aside, sent into retirement or to one of the many monasteries that dotted Italia. Then again, if Julian wanted to throw away his life pursuing the dream of Empire, so be it. Italy was comfortable and safe.
There was no reason not to give away a title which had caused him nothing but stress and premature graying. Even a monastery would not be so bad. Maurice had been married once, but his wife had died young, in childbirth. He had no desire to marry again - and at least in a monastery he could devote himself to his studies.
Three weeks after his arrival, Maurice proclaimed Julian his Co-Emperor, and began his slow premeditated withdrawal from public life, a withdrawal which suited him just fine. At first, Julian treated the announcement with caution, refraining from using the title of Basileus too frequently, or in his regular letters to the Avar Khagan. Despite his growth in power he feared, perhaps rightly, the Avars, and further seems to have had a cordial relationship with the Khagan which he was unwilling to jeopardize. However, the Avars were similarly unwilling to jeopardize their relationship with Julian, who provided them generous tribute and preserved the status quo.
When Constantinople fell, Julian almost immediately began considering a campaign to reclaim it. However, he knew well that the Avar Khagan would likely not support such an ambitious move, and without a strong fleet or Avar support, he would never be able to strike at Constantinople. Frustrated at the seeming logistical impossibility, he attempted to stay active, overseeing further renovations in Florentia and marrying a Sicilian Mauri noblewoman named Menna. While this choice angered many of the old Roman Patrician families, who hoped that he might favor them and thus grant them further prestige and exalt them above their competitors, it kept him aloof from their petty squabbles and strengthened ties with the various semi-autonomous nobles to his south. Despite the growing apocalypticism and panic that gripped the religious scene of Italy, Julian was a cautious, conservative leader. He took a moderate hand towards the Desidarian movement, persecuting outright heresy but otherwise turning a blind eye to their apocalyptic preaching. Privately, he undoubtedly hoped it would die down, feeling such fervor was dangerous to the state he had designed, particularly as it often directed its anger against the Avars who more than nominally controlled northern Italy.
Over the next ten years, Julian's reign would be remembered as a period of calm as the east disintegrated and in Francia another round of warfare broke out between rival heirs after Clothar II's death.
Picking over bones
The decade after the fall of Constantinople was, as already noted, one of cultural despair for the Greek speaking peoples of the Balkans and Asia Minor. Religious visions of apocalypse and chaos gripped the people. Constantinople lay in ruins and many assumed it would never recover. Without the Empire, a fixture of civilization here since time immemorial, what was there?
Birhar Manas, despite enormous wealth and decent land to settle his loyal soldiers in, was in an uncomfortable position. As the destroyer of Constantinople he earned himself the wrath of many. Most of the cities within his small territory had not anticipated that he would sack Constantinople, and despite their relative weakness and his relative strength, he found himself struggling to retain the loyalty of the Romans that made up the majority of his citizenry. He significantly lessened the tribute he demanded from the Roman cities, knowing that the sack of Constantinople had made him wealthy regardless and that the token submission was more important than anything else.
To compensate for this humiliation, he sailed around the northern Aegean, playing pirate for a time with his Sahu. In his absence, a Roman patrician named Isaac, living near Nicomedia gathered a small number of former soldiers and, joined by increasing numbers of disaffected locals and displaced peasants, he captured a network of towns in the Bithynian hills. When Birhar returned from his bloody adventuring, the self-proclaimed "Shah" was forced to fight for his life. That he ultimately won the battle and slew Isaac was little satisfaction - many of these former soldiers melted into the hills and proved a long-term thorn in his side.
After this rebellion, Birhar became distrusting of his subordinates. He had left Constantinople and a not insignificant garrison (including ships) in the hands of a lieutenant, Kormisosh, and paranoia that Kormisosh would act against him distracted him for the better part of a year, while another of his subordinates, an Avar mercenary named Umor, fanned the flames of his suspicions. Birhar alienated more and more of his men and finally they appealed to Kormisosh to overthrow him in truth.
Kormisosh was a more pragmatic, practical man. Like Birhar a Sahu by birth, in his youth he had been a traveler, and he had seen much of Europe and the Middle East, fighting both for and against the Eftal and the Romans. Finally settling in the Roman Empire, he had been quick to opportunistically join Birhar when the Empire began to collapse. Naturally, due to his talents and affable nature, he rose quickly to a position of subordinate command. Beneath his affability, however, was masked a profound ruthlessness which allowed him to seize control of the petty kingdom under the guise of restoring order.
However, in 658, as he sailed into Nicomedia and declared himself the new King (following a swift and relatively bloodless coup) his mission seemed nigh impossible. The Sahu and their various mercenary allies were all foreigners, outnumbered and despised by the native population. They faced a rebellion in the hill country of Bithynia and their greatest potential source of wealth, Constantinople, lay in ruins from which it might well never recover. And if rumors were true, both the Avars and Alans alike were eyeing their territory.
Alans and Eftal - Anatolia Divided
The Alans ruled a large and mostly depopulated region of Asia Minor. Apart from a ring of cities along the black sea coast that paid them tribute, they came out of the war with the least internal issues. By offering to work with the Eftal under Akhsaman the Elder, they were able to secure territorial concessions from the overstretched Eftal and in return supplied them with mercenaries - a relationship not dissimilar to that which they had with the Romans.
The Alans tended to eschew large urban foundations - although several fortified palaces were built in the westernmost parts of their territory, perhaps as a way to solidify their control. A mixture of Christians and traditional Iranian pagans, in the wake of the Roman Empire's fall, adherence to Nicene Christianity became less essential to advancement. Nestorian Christianity would subsequently gain a not insubstantial following, and Alan paganism would endure as Christianity failed to gain the official support of the Alan Khan, Celbir. Alan culture bore many similarities to that of the early Eftal - their ornate pottery and elaborate sewn banners were frequently decorated with scenes of horses and horsemen, and also pastoral representations of herdsmen or gods and goddesses, frequently portrayed dancing. Unlike the Eftal, these figures rarely bear any resemblance to Indian or Persian iconography, but more frequently bear resemblance to late Roman images.
Akhsaman the Elder perhaps bit off more than he could chew with his sweeping spate of conquests. He made arrangements with local orthodox religious leaders, landholders and cities, but these arrangements were often complicated by the desire of his own people to settle this "newly conquered" land. He lacked the soldiers to enforce order, and as a result the Kutigurs and Slavs were able to raid areas which paid him for supposed protection. He was according forced to spend most of his early reign riding from place to place, solving local disputes and using military force to suppress bandits and potential rebels.
A battle against Slavic raiders left him with lingering wounds and accordingly by 660 he was an aging man with a young (third) wife, Vitushoana. In court rumor and in fact she came to utterly control the affairs of state, coming the closest to creating an organized census and a regular tax rate for the various subject peoples under Akhsaman's yoke. It was she who moved the court to the more central city of Tyana. The near-total abandonment of the city and its hinterlands played into her decision, because it could be repopulated with Eftal and Akhsaman's retainers could be placated with large estates of pastureland nearby. The city of Ikonion underwent similar treatment at the hands of Vitushoana's brother Disiapata, but remained less prestigious and less powerful because of its distance from the heartland of Syria. As a sort of counterbalance, the "golden city" of Emesa would be granted to Akhsaman's cousin, Akhsaman the Younger as a personal territory, bound by tribal ties to the central authority but otherwise autonomous. In these turbulent times, Akhsaman would fortify the city and many others along the border with Palestine, never wholly trusting Nanivadh or his successor Avyaman of Damascus. (Avyaman was crowned co-Shah in 653, and would assume total power in 654, with Nanivadh retiring and dying several years later.)
Like so many other opportunists, the Kutigurs did well for themselves in Anatolia. Roughly unified under the leader Bayan Irbis, they subjugated much of Lydia and despite having only a few thousand warriors, they were able to negotiate their submission to Akhsaman the Elder, becoming effectively the Eftal tax collectors. It was a role they excelled in, effectively besieging cities until they were paid, and then splitting the proceeds equitably with the Eftal, whose effective power was confined further south and east. The Ezerite Slavs, who clung to the coastlines, were a frequent target on their aggression as well. Neither the Slavs or the Bulgars left much material culture in Anatolia - both were relatively few in number, and overwhelmingly militaristic. Much of what they used was taken from the far more advanced society they ruled. Both would often make use of Roman-made weapons and armor. Furthermore, Roman historians after only a generation or so seem to regard the Bulgars of Asia Minor as no different from the Eftal.
This pillage, rebellion, and general decline in urban population was really nothing new. The population of Anatolia by 660 was at a low not seen in centuries - having never fully recovered from the Egyptian Plague and being subsequently wracked over the next hundred years by invasion, famine, warfare and several resurgent outbreaks of plague. However, it is a testament to Roman society that along the west coast, the Roman cities endured. Even as the surrounding countryside reverted back towards subsistence agriculture and pastoralism, these cities and their environs remained both strongholds against raiding and important, if diminished economic centers with food surpluses. Their churches, with beautiful mosaics and jewel-inlaid relics, were never pillaged. Their public forums and marketplaces remained lively and distinctly Roman. Perhaps most importantly the "barbarians" who claimed to rule them rarely interfered in their daily function, preferring to simply extract tribute and move on to the next city.
[Big update! I know I packed a lot in there. As ever I welcome questions and comments and thoughts.
The big initial period of chaos is winding down, but the aftermath will take some time to sort out. I have to admit to being a little uncertain where to go from here - I'm not operating with much of a plan anymore and I'll need to develop one again. I'd love to hear some suggestions on that front, if anyone has any. (Although I reserve the right to disagree, it's not like I'm totally devoid of plans or ideas.) And yes, the map is coming along. I just need to update it to accommodate some last minute changes to this post. Apologies for not having it out sooner - I know I for one would be totally lost without it.]
The various Christian apocalyptic movements which emerged in the wake of Constantinople's fall did not emerge out of nowhere. Apocalyptic thought had its roots early in the Christian tradition, but after so much of the Christian East was overrun, it enjoyed a revival. Beginning with the plagues in 540, many preachers, bordering on heretical, began to whip the populace into a frenzy of messianic fervor. While this fervor would wax and wane over the coming century, after Constantinople's fall it burst out into the open once more.
Beginning with the writings of Desidarius of Doclea, the movement in Italy preached that the end of times had begun - that a great Eftal warlord was coming out of the East to usher in the beginning of the end of the world. The warlord "Birharios" who had sacked Constantinople was his harbinger, much as Desidarius was the harbringer of Christ. When Desidarius was made to recant his claims, he would flee his monastery and travel the countryside, preaching. His execution in 653 would only strengthen the conviction of his disciples.
Similar movements grew in Greece and Anatolia, where the fall of Rome had been most acutely felt. Often called Procopians, after Procopius of Sardis, the founder of the movement, they believed similarly, only that Procopius was a sort of reincarnation of John the Baptist, come back to usher in the new era. Despite being widely condemned as heresy, the Procopians gained quite a following, and one which in many cases was violent, attempted to rebel against the "pagan overlords" to whom they were subjected, especially in those places where strong authority was scarce. While these rebellions were often quashed, the Procopians did not fear death or the end of the world. Unlike the more peaceful Desidarian movement, the Procopians tended to inspire violence against unbelievers and strict social codes, feeling that with the end of the world so urgent, there was little time to repent. In response, a less strict and more peaceful sect, the Phrygians (so named after Phyrgia, where the movement originated) developed, but it was similarly condemned as heresy for seeing Procopius as a prophet of the coming Apocalypse. Among the Slavs, Avars, Eftal, Alans, and other peoples who found themselves ruling Christian populations, these movements were treated with suspicion, derision, or bemusement, depending on the paranoia of the local rulers and the size of the apocalyptic congregations. Obviously, these movements did little to foster assimilation on either side.
Far in the East, among the Nestorians, deliverance was considered to be imminent as well - and not without good reason. Despite generally having a much better knowledge of the various religions with which they shared the world, the Nestorians had suffered horribly since the collapse of the Eftal. In a few places, such as Mosil, tolerance remained, but daily rumors and tales of atrocities left certainty in the hearts of many, even high up in the Nestorian establishment in Mesopotamia, that the end was nigh.
Here, various figures - all of them much closer to home - were successively cast as the Antichrist or some harbinger of apocalypse - each acknowledged as such and then dismissed in turn as their power weakened. However the true apocalypse was little more than mass starvation and endemic warfare, a plight which was indiscriminate in its targeting of Christians and "unbelievers" alike. Deliverance would have to wait. In several cities, uprisings began in the latter days of the collapse, prepared to join the armies of Christ. However, these uprisings were incapable of coordinating and unlike in earlier periods, lacked manpower. Despite being a movement in which a not insubstantial number of Eftal were swept up in, after the destruction of cities such as Tesifon by Nijara the White (one of the favorite candidates for Antichrist) it began to lose steam in Mesopotamia, not for a lack of faith but a simple lack of available manpower.
Christians, of course, were not the only group to rebel in this time period. Many cities and peasant communities sought to throw off the increasingly exploitative Eftal yoke for a variety of non-religious reasons. However, generally speaking these groups, regardless of origin could not afford to field cavalry to the same degree that the Eftal warlords could. Frequently these rebellions turned into small battles where a disorderly mob of armed peasants would be outmaneuvered, worn down, and overrun by more agile bands of mounted raiders. Rebellions in this era tended to survive only with some combination of elite backing, a defensible stronghold, and a willingness to negotiate.
A Light in the West - Florentia, 647
Having abandoned Constantinople, Emperor Maurice quickly found himself having leapt from the frying pan into the fire. Julian's condition for allowing him to stay in Florentia was that Maurice name Julian co-Emperor. Maurice could see where such a deal would lead him - sooner or later he would be set aside, sent into retirement or to one of the many monasteries that dotted Italia. Then again, if Julian wanted to throw away his life pursuing the dream of Empire, so be it. Italy was comfortable and safe.
There was no reason not to give away a title which had caused him nothing but stress and premature graying. Even a monastery would not be so bad. Maurice had been married once, but his wife had died young, in childbirth. He had no desire to marry again - and at least in a monastery he could devote himself to his studies.
Three weeks after his arrival, Maurice proclaimed Julian his Co-Emperor, and began his slow premeditated withdrawal from public life, a withdrawal which suited him just fine. At first, Julian treated the announcement with caution, refraining from using the title of Basileus too frequently, or in his regular letters to the Avar Khagan. Despite his growth in power he feared, perhaps rightly, the Avars, and further seems to have had a cordial relationship with the Khagan which he was unwilling to jeopardize. However, the Avars were similarly unwilling to jeopardize their relationship with Julian, who provided them generous tribute and preserved the status quo.
When Constantinople fell, Julian almost immediately began considering a campaign to reclaim it. However, he knew well that the Avar Khagan would likely not support such an ambitious move, and without a strong fleet or Avar support, he would never be able to strike at Constantinople. Frustrated at the seeming logistical impossibility, he attempted to stay active, overseeing further renovations in Florentia and marrying a Sicilian Mauri noblewoman named Menna. While this choice angered many of the old Roman Patrician families, who hoped that he might favor them and thus grant them further prestige and exalt them above their competitors, it kept him aloof from their petty squabbles and strengthened ties with the various semi-autonomous nobles to his south. Despite the growing apocalypticism and panic that gripped the religious scene of Italy, Julian was a cautious, conservative leader. He took a moderate hand towards the Desidarian movement, persecuting outright heresy but otherwise turning a blind eye to their apocalyptic preaching. Privately, he undoubtedly hoped it would die down, feeling such fervor was dangerous to the state he had designed, particularly as it often directed its anger against the Avars who more than nominally controlled northern Italy.
Over the next ten years, Julian's reign would be remembered as a period of calm as the east disintegrated and in Francia another round of warfare broke out between rival heirs after Clothar II's death.
Picking over bones
The decade after the fall of Constantinople was, as already noted, one of cultural despair for the Greek speaking peoples of the Balkans and Asia Minor. Religious visions of apocalypse and chaos gripped the people. Constantinople lay in ruins and many assumed it would never recover. Without the Empire, a fixture of civilization here since time immemorial, what was there?
Birhar Manas, despite enormous wealth and decent land to settle his loyal soldiers in, was in an uncomfortable position. As the destroyer of Constantinople he earned himself the wrath of many. Most of the cities within his small territory had not anticipated that he would sack Constantinople, and despite their relative weakness and his relative strength, he found himself struggling to retain the loyalty of the Romans that made up the majority of his citizenry. He significantly lessened the tribute he demanded from the Roman cities, knowing that the sack of Constantinople had made him wealthy regardless and that the token submission was more important than anything else.
To compensate for this humiliation, he sailed around the northern Aegean, playing pirate for a time with his Sahu. In his absence, a Roman patrician named Isaac, living near Nicomedia gathered a small number of former soldiers and, joined by increasing numbers of disaffected locals and displaced peasants, he captured a network of towns in the Bithynian hills. When Birhar returned from his bloody adventuring, the self-proclaimed "Shah" was forced to fight for his life. That he ultimately won the battle and slew Isaac was little satisfaction - many of these former soldiers melted into the hills and proved a long-term thorn in his side.
After this rebellion, Birhar became distrusting of his subordinates. He had left Constantinople and a not insignificant garrison (including ships) in the hands of a lieutenant, Kormisosh, and paranoia that Kormisosh would act against him distracted him for the better part of a year, while another of his subordinates, an Avar mercenary named Umor, fanned the flames of his suspicions. Birhar alienated more and more of his men and finally they appealed to Kormisosh to overthrow him in truth.
Kormisosh was a more pragmatic, practical man. Like Birhar a Sahu by birth, in his youth he had been a traveler, and he had seen much of Europe and the Middle East, fighting both for and against the Eftal and the Romans. Finally settling in the Roman Empire, he had been quick to opportunistically join Birhar when the Empire began to collapse. Naturally, due to his talents and affable nature, he rose quickly to a position of subordinate command. Beneath his affability, however, was masked a profound ruthlessness which allowed him to seize control of the petty kingdom under the guise of restoring order.
However, in 658, as he sailed into Nicomedia and declared himself the new King (following a swift and relatively bloodless coup) his mission seemed nigh impossible. The Sahu and their various mercenary allies were all foreigners, outnumbered and despised by the native population. They faced a rebellion in the hill country of Bithynia and their greatest potential source of wealth, Constantinople, lay in ruins from which it might well never recover. And if rumors were true, both the Avars and Alans alike were eyeing their territory.
Alans and Eftal - Anatolia Divided
The Alans ruled a large and mostly depopulated region of Asia Minor. Apart from a ring of cities along the black sea coast that paid them tribute, they came out of the war with the least internal issues. By offering to work with the Eftal under Akhsaman the Elder, they were able to secure territorial concessions from the overstretched Eftal and in return supplied them with mercenaries - a relationship not dissimilar to that which they had with the Romans.
The Alans tended to eschew large urban foundations - although several fortified palaces were built in the westernmost parts of their territory, perhaps as a way to solidify their control. A mixture of Christians and traditional Iranian pagans, in the wake of the Roman Empire's fall, adherence to Nicene Christianity became less essential to advancement. Nestorian Christianity would subsequently gain a not insubstantial following, and Alan paganism would endure as Christianity failed to gain the official support of the Alan Khan, Celbir. Alan culture bore many similarities to that of the early Eftal - their ornate pottery and elaborate sewn banners were frequently decorated with scenes of horses and horsemen, and also pastoral representations of herdsmen or gods and goddesses, frequently portrayed dancing. Unlike the Eftal, these figures rarely bear any resemblance to Indian or Persian iconography, but more frequently bear resemblance to late Roman images.
Akhsaman the Elder perhaps bit off more than he could chew with his sweeping spate of conquests. He made arrangements with local orthodox religious leaders, landholders and cities, but these arrangements were often complicated by the desire of his own people to settle this "newly conquered" land. He lacked the soldiers to enforce order, and as a result the Kutigurs and Slavs were able to raid areas which paid him for supposed protection. He was according forced to spend most of his early reign riding from place to place, solving local disputes and using military force to suppress bandits and potential rebels.
A battle against Slavic raiders left him with lingering wounds and accordingly by 660 he was an aging man with a young (third) wife, Vitushoana. In court rumor and in fact she came to utterly control the affairs of state, coming the closest to creating an organized census and a regular tax rate for the various subject peoples under Akhsaman's yoke. It was she who moved the court to the more central city of Tyana. The near-total abandonment of the city and its hinterlands played into her decision, because it could be repopulated with Eftal and Akhsaman's retainers could be placated with large estates of pastureland nearby. The city of Ikonion underwent similar treatment at the hands of Vitushoana's brother Disiapata, but remained less prestigious and less powerful because of its distance from the heartland of Syria. As a sort of counterbalance, the "golden city" of Emesa would be granted to Akhsaman's cousin, Akhsaman the Younger as a personal territory, bound by tribal ties to the central authority but otherwise autonomous. In these turbulent times, Akhsaman would fortify the city and many others along the border with Palestine, never wholly trusting Nanivadh or his successor Avyaman of Damascus. (Avyaman was crowned co-Shah in 653, and would assume total power in 654, with Nanivadh retiring and dying several years later.)
Like so many other opportunists, the Kutigurs did well for themselves in Anatolia. Roughly unified under the leader Bayan Irbis, they subjugated much of Lydia and despite having only a few thousand warriors, they were able to negotiate their submission to Akhsaman the Elder, becoming effectively the Eftal tax collectors. It was a role they excelled in, effectively besieging cities until they were paid, and then splitting the proceeds equitably with the Eftal, whose effective power was confined further south and east. The Ezerite Slavs, who clung to the coastlines, were a frequent target on their aggression as well. Neither the Slavs or the Bulgars left much material culture in Anatolia - both were relatively few in number, and overwhelmingly militaristic. Much of what they used was taken from the far more advanced society they ruled. Both would often make use of Roman-made weapons and armor. Furthermore, Roman historians after only a generation or so seem to regard the Bulgars of Asia Minor as no different from the Eftal.
This pillage, rebellion, and general decline in urban population was really nothing new. The population of Anatolia by 660 was at a low not seen in centuries - having never fully recovered from the Egyptian Plague and being subsequently wracked over the next hundred years by invasion, famine, warfare and several resurgent outbreaks of plague. However, it is a testament to Roman society that along the west coast, the Roman cities endured. Even as the surrounding countryside reverted back towards subsistence agriculture and pastoralism, these cities and their environs remained both strongholds against raiding and important, if diminished economic centers with food surpluses. Their churches, with beautiful mosaics and jewel-inlaid relics, were never pillaged. Their public forums and marketplaces remained lively and distinctly Roman. Perhaps most importantly the "barbarians" who claimed to rule them rarely interfered in their daily function, preferring to simply extract tribute and move on to the next city.
[Big update! I know I packed a lot in there. As ever I welcome questions and comments and thoughts.
The big initial period of chaos is winding down, but the aftermath will take some time to sort out. I have to admit to being a little uncertain where to go from here - I'm not operating with much of a plan anymore and I'll need to develop one again. I'd love to hear some suggestions on that front, if anyone has any. (Although I reserve the right to disagree, it's not like I'm totally devoid of plans or ideas.) And yes, the map is coming along. I just need to update it to accommodate some last minute changes to this post. Apologies for not having it out sooner - I know I for one would be totally lost without it.]
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I guess you could always go with the Italian/Mauri unification to recreate the Western Roman Empire.
As for a plan, maybe one of those apocalyptic religions preached during these times actually sticks, in that one of these preachers actually proves to be more than just your typical doomsayer and can actually organize his followers into something coherent, and while it won't be an alt-Islam, it could be a faith that provides a sense of stability to a large swath of the former Eftal Empire, as a religious vacuum that Islam took up in OTL still exists ITTL.
Also, in Constantinople, is the institution of Church still being maintained, and is there still a Patriarch of Constantinople, even if for just appearances sake? Also, how powerful is the Bishop of Rome right now, and what sort of influence does he have in a far more powerful compared to OTL Italian state?
As for a plan, maybe one of those apocalyptic religions preached during these times actually sticks, in that one of these preachers actually proves to be more than just your typical doomsayer and can actually organize his followers into something coherent, and while it won't be an alt-Islam, it could be a faith that provides a sense of stability to a large swath of the former Eftal Empire, as a religious vacuum that Islam took up in OTL still exists ITTL.
Also, in Constantinople, is the institution of Church still being maintained, and is there still a Patriarch of Constantinople, even if for just appearances sake? Also, how powerful is the Bishop of Rome right now, and what sort of influence does he have in a far more powerful compared to OTL Italian state?
Deleted member 67076
Next step that usually happens is assimilation of conquerors, a 'freezing' of borders (for what its worth in this era) and economic expansion as there's far less pillage to inhibit growth. From then on, the areas with the most people, money and resources are going to go conquering, in turn strengthening their power bases.
I'd suggest like the others in focusing on the West for a bit. Maybe India too. The implosion of the Eftal Realms means someone, somewhere is going to get the idea to migrate into India for opportunities. And then others will follow.
I'd suggest like the others in focusing on the West for a bit. Maybe India too. The implosion of the Eftal Realms means someone, somewhere is going to get the idea to migrate into India for opportunities. And then others will follow.
Thanks for all the suggestions everybody!
@Bmao - I don't know if I can see the Italian "Empire" and the Mauri unifying. Even if they would want to, one's a centralized imperial state, the other a feudal patchwork of tribal rulers imposed over a thin veil of "Roman-ness". On the otherhand... it's one of the cooler ideas I've heard/considered.
I've been reading more about Sogdian/Turkish Buddhism and also how Hinduism adapted to the steppe (in the few cases where it did). And out west we have the cult of Alilat growing in power among the Arabs. But I'm not sure if I want one monolithic faith to ever predominate in the Middle East.
For the past ten years or so there has not been a Patriarch of Constantinople. Birhar never bothered to appoint one, and in the current environment it seemed unlikely that people would gather for an election. I imagine that will change and it will probably be an interesting plot point when it does, but it seemed realistic to me that there would be a brief interruption in this case. As for the Bishop of Rome, I was thinking that his power was likely untarnished by a "Byzantine Papacy" and as such he'd have more authority and respect, and yet also the Isidorian Emperors will probably get an active say in the coronation process, either overtly or covertly trying to arrange things so that they can put a "yes man" in the Papacy.
@Orisha91
Hispania is doing well, indeed. They've got stable institutions and never had to deal with an Eastern Roman invasion. I'll keep them in mind as I tilt my focus further westward.
@Soverihn
All that seems exceptionally plausible. India in particular deserves more focus, and it will probably get invaded sooner or later. They really got lucky with a few hundred years of no internal threats. Longer Gupta golden age, a more enduring and prosperous successor in the Maukhani.
Also without Islam to define any particular conquering group, any waves of invaders will likely assimilate to a much greater degree than OTL.
@Bmao - I don't know if I can see the Italian "Empire" and the Mauri unifying. Even if they would want to, one's a centralized imperial state, the other a feudal patchwork of tribal rulers imposed over a thin veil of "Roman-ness". On the otherhand... it's one of the cooler ideas I've heard/considered.
I've been reading more about Sogdian/Turkish Buddhism and also how Hinduism adapted to the steppe (in the few cases where it did). And out west we have the cult of Alilat growing in power among the Arabs. But I'm not sure if I want one monolithic faith to ever predominate in the Middle East.
For the past ten years or so there has not been a Patriarch of Constantinople. Birhar never bothered to appoint one, and in the current environment it seemed unlikely that people would gather for an election. I imagine that will change and it will probably be an interesting plot point when it does, but it seemed realistic to me that there would be a brief interruption in this case. As for the Bishop of Rome, I was thinking that his power was likely untarnished by a "Byzantine Papacy" and as such he'd have more authority and respect, and yet also the Isidorian Emperors will probably get an active say in the coronation process, either overtly or covertly trying to arrange things so that they can put a "yes man" in the Papacy.
@Orisha91
Hispania is doing well, indeed. They've got stable institutions and never had to deal with an Eastern Roman invasion. I'll keep them in mind as I tilt my focus further westward.
@Soverihn
All that seems exceptionally plausible. India in particular deserves more focus, and it will probably get invaded sooner or later. They really got lucky with a few hundred years of no internal threats. Longer Gupta golden age, a more enduring and prosperous successor in the Maukhani.
Also without Islam to define any particular conquering group, any waves of invaders will likely assimilate to a much greater degree than OTL.
In the midst of all this chaos taking place, not to mention the lack of a Byzantine Papacy period, I actually see the Nicene Christian Church growing more powerful, particularly in Western Europe. The Bishop of Rome in particular, if he is smart, will also see the fall of Constantinople, not to mention the continued 'heathen' rule of Egypt, as an opportunity to establish himself as the only 'true' Christian Pope and create a primacy around Rome.
The Isidorians are going to need to Pope's influence to ensure that there is no expansion of heresy within Italy and just beyond, not to mention continue to secure good relations with neighboring Christian powers like the Franks and the Visigoths (who I imagine have largely converted to Catholicism like OTL). Having a Bishop of Rome that is recognized by the general public as having a considerable amount of spiritual authority can also strengthen their own legitimacy to rule as the continuation of the Roman Emperors. One practice I can imagine them taking up is having the Bishop of Rome being the one to crown the next Emperor, ala Charlemagne, thus not so subtly implying that their rule is blessed by a divine right, while granting the Pope a certain amount of influence temporal influence as well. They'll be able to show the world that while the east has fallen to the grasp of paganism and heresy, in Rome itself, the Isidorians remain a bastion of order, 'civilization' and piousness.
I hope that this can be an intriguing idea for you, as this timeline now moves from Late Antiquity to a more early Medieval setting.
Yeah, I guess that's what I was thinking too. A sort of feedback loop might develop due to the proximity of Pope and "Emperor" - where both depend on the other for legitimacy to some degree.
Almost all Christians in the West are now Nicene, and the Pope really is the only Patriarch left with any influence. So I agree, his position is perfect.
As the "Middle Ages" come, I think that's when the changes to the European West are going to start becoming more obvious. A relatively centralized, Nicene Kingdom of Hispania. Christian North Africa that sees itself as part of the the "West". Any Frankish pretensions to inheriting the western Roman title will be complicated by the fact that both Pope and Emperor will disagree.
Almost all Christians in the West are now Nicene, and the Pope really is the only Patriarch left with any influence. So I agree, his position is perfect.
As the "Middle Ages" come, I think that's when the changes to the European West are going to start becoming more obvious. A relatively centralized, Nicene Kingdom of Hispania. Christian North Africa that sees itself as part of the the "West". Any Frankish pretensions to inheriting the western Roman title will be complicated by the fact that both Pope and Emperor will disagree.
And with Constantinople and the other places having fallen to the heathens, this would provide a powerful impetus for future 'Crusades' to recover the Holy places for Christendom.
In terms of Francia, are we also seeing a collapse of the Merovingian dynasty and the replacement by a new dynasty similar to OTL?
If so, will there also be a potential conquest of the Saxons and other peoples in pagan Germania?