Incorporation of South Bank Lower Euphrates
In winter 103 and into the autumn of 104 Mustasha conquered the south bank lower Euphrates and the first towns to come under his rule. He did so by leading the levies on wide-ranging raids, first against the rural areas, later against the towns. One by one these areas were subdued and conquered, then incorporated into Chaldea.
[UQuotes from early issues of
The News of the Known World Quote:
Hexober to Mithrasmus 103
Mustasha and Abraham begin by leading extensive raids around the city of Kuwait. At the beginning of Mithrasmus, braving the winter rains, a large force of two to four thousand carried out decoy raids on the Kuwait area. Several thousand hit Sheba.
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Dorman, Frostman, Printemps 104
Mainly political activity, marriages, consolidation and confirming his pro-Persian stance. |
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Wapenry 104
A well-attended fair was held. Some mercenary hiring, though Fibula had been active earlier in the winter. |
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Ete, Dujuly, Aufield 104
Thousands mustered by Suren at the Great Oasis and another force of several thousands by Mustasha. Starting near Tehran and moving west to Kuwait and Sirjan, enslaving, looting killing and laying waste. 50,000 gold pieces in loot estimated to have been taken. |
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Umshofbrew 104
The south bank from the Eastern Ocean to Sheba and Ur are cleared. Despite a harvest deficit the expansion upriver and imports should ease the problem in future years. |
The balance of power in the immediate aftermath of the conquest of South Bank Euphrates
Throughout 105 all energies were taken up sharing and settling the new lands between the river and desert. They were more extensive than originally planned for, so some last-minute alterations were made to the land transfers at a meeting of all the Sheikhs at the Great Oasis in the winter of 105. The Failak succeeded in strengthening their position and emerging especially favoured. This, plus the recent development of pearl-diving, is likely to result in a relative increase in Failak power.
A natural consequence of this has been to push the Hamid and Na’im sheikhs closer together, to maintain the Hamid “balancing act”: hence Mustasha’s interest in extending Chaldean influence west into Nubia, which would benefit the Na’im especially.
Mustasha’s interest in South Bank must also be understood in this light. At the Qabal Sheikh councils where the land carve-ups were settled, Suren, on Mustasha’s advice, pressed Sheikh Shakhbut several times on whether he intended to settle the Tehran and Kuwait ruins, and he did so in a tone to imply Failak betrayal of nomadic values. Shakhbut eventually fell into the trap and denied any such intention. Mustasha’s subsequent appointment of two of his cousins as Governors to rebuild the towns – directly responsible to him – has therefore greatly enhanced Hamid influence on South Bank at the expense of the Failak. The incorporation of Sirjan into the Chaldean Provincial tax system has exactly the same effect. To a lesser extent, all Mustasha’s dealings with the Syrian cities on South Bank have similar implications.
Shakhbut was naturally furious with Mustasha’s “takeover” of the two deserted towns, but was not in a position to object as he publicly renounced his interest in them – and by Eblas land rights the Failak cannot prevent settlement.