The Taking of Ilyastanbul - 1535-1551
Seated upon the throne within the palace at Smyrna, Sultan Ilyas III spoke with his advisors, reflecting upon the growth of the Saruhan nation. The twenty-five years since his coronation had seen Saruhan conquer most of Greece as well as instituting many cultural advances, but as his years began to reach their end, Ilyas mused that he had one regret: he had yet to take the crowning jewel.
Constantinople.
So it was, in the final years of his reign, Ilyas III directed that his people would take the final step to fulfill the ambitions of his forefathers.
To mark the 25th year of his reign, Ilyas III first proclaimed that a new flag would be raised above the palace at Smyrna. The old tribal flag, he remarked, stood as a suitable banner for his father but that the new nation needed a more noble symbol. He directed that the smudged handprint commonly placed on a flag by a soldier dipping his hand in whitewash would be replaced with a properly sewn symbolic hand.
"This will show the world that we are joining the ranks of civilized nations, a symbol that we shall not be looked down upon as backwards savages."
In the same speech, he stated "those that stand before us shall be driven into the darkness with shadow and flame."
The people of Morea had just thrown off the oppression of Italian invaders; Saruhan stood ready to aid them and to accept them into the fold of the new power that was rising, whose victory was at hand.
Following this lightning strike into the southern reaches of Greece, Ilyas III declared that the time had come to remove the Byzantines from the land. Preparations were made for a strike at the island of Corfu while the Saruhanli navy (such as it was) moved into the Aegean to delay any Byzantine ships from preventing such a landfall. While they were not large enough to win such a naval battle, it was expected that they could at least hold out long enough for troops to land on Corfu. After this was done, it would be no difficult thing to conquer Constantinople.
As it turned out, shortly before Saruhan could declare war, their allies in Bulgaria (to whom they had recently sold two provinces that were home to Bulgarian peoples) launched an attack on Thrace. While Saruhan was able to conquer Corfu, the Bulgarians reached Thrace first and had the honor of taking their last city, removing them from the world.
Shortly after this, the islands of Naxos were annexed into Saruhan, making the conquest of Greece nearly complete.
Finally, though, an opportunity presented itself for Ilyas to see his dream completed. Bulgaria had apparently found itself in a war with Persia, who was allied with the Mamluks. As Saruhan was not
quite ready to take on the Egyptians at this time, the Sultan decided to ignore Bulgaria's call for aid. On top of this, he declared, they would take advantage of the situation by declaring war upon the Bulgarians and driving upon Thrace.
Before the siege could be completed, however, tragedy struck the nation: Ilyas III, the first sultan, passed away while sleeping in his tent upon the siege field. His son, Hizir III, took up the sword of his father and prepared the troops. The day after Ilyas's death, the army stormed Constantinople, capturing the city.
Following the capture of Constantinople, Sultan Hizir III made three proclamations:
First, a bureau of trade and tolls would be created, to manage shipping traffic through the Bosphorus. This would add useful gold to the nation's coffers. Second, the military would be overhauled, adding western organization and practices, preparing them to fight against more than just ragged hordes from the east.
Finally, the city they had just taken, the Jewel of Greece and the Black Sea, would be renamed in his father's honor. It would forever be known as Ilyastanbul.
Following these proclamations, there would be a significant stretch of time as the military was reorganized. A time of severe unrest followed, though Hizir III was up to the task of managing the nation. Their erstwhile allies in Bulgaria were conquered by Hungary, creating a potentially major threat to the west, and the Mamluks and Persians, allied together, continued to grow in the East. Only time would tell if the nation of Saruhan could reform its forces and stabilize itself in time to avoid being caught between two empires.
End of Book 2.
