Thank you for your interest, Saithis! The north is a long way off for Maridjata. As a general note of interest to readers, I am going to be working on indexing and formatting the story a bit better for the future. Here's part 3, enjoy:
The War of Independence Period
It was 'Eid in 1239, and Farbas Maridjata I Keita held a great feast to which all of his vassals attended. Marshal Kaya Bamako had recently died of old age. Maridjata reorganized his state to better accommodate his undeniably primary position in the distribution of power in Mali. A new marshal was selected, Cisse, the Wali of Niani, a city in the province of Aourane. Marshall Cisse was sent to train troops there in his home province. Kayna Bamako, the heir of the late marshall, was selected to be the master of griots and spies and set to seeking out plots within Maridjata's capitol at Boure.
Furthermore, Maridjata attained two new allies through marriages at this feast. The first of whom was Amira Almohad, a 16-year old daughter of Sultan Musa I Almohad, commonly known as 'the Bewitched'. This marriage secured an alliance with the Sultanate, though it was unlikely for the Mauretanians to interfere in Malis affairs. Furthermore, Musa the Bewitched had no legitimate heir and his realm was likely to pass to his brother, the homosexual Emir Abdul-Wahid I of the Marrakech Almohads. The reasons for Maridjata's marriage to this possibly collapsing house are hard to say for certain, but Amira was certainly known to be talented and perhaps Maridjata believed a son borne of her could produce an heir with the ability to expand into Mauretania.
Maridjata's position in the kingdom of Mali was greatest during this period. The powers of the crown over the nobility were strictly limited, however, and the other vassals had few qualms with Mansa Soumaoro's methods of rule. Farbas Yasiboy of Songhay, for example, was perfectly content and was known to have great admiration for the Mansa. The young Faran of Taghaza, Tunka Modibo, too appreciated the great freedom with which he was able to rule his realm. The young Faran may have been betrothed to Maridjata's daughter, but for him to turn against his liege was unthinkable.
In March of 1240 Maridjata requests control over Ouadane, a territory traditionally held by the Farbas of Ghana. Mansa Soumaoro refuses the request, pushing Farbas Maridjata to declare war out of pride and rage. Because of the nature of this war, in which Maridjata had no true cause within the kingdom, but only fought for his secession from the Mali Kingdom, the idea of bringing in allies from within the kingdom was unthinkable, for the other Farbases and Farans would have been reluctant to join even a just war. On March 13th, a Friday, of 1240, the doomed war begins. Sultan Musa I Almohad, 'the Bewitched', refuses to interfere in the war, thus hammering the final nail in Maridjata's coffin.
The first battle takes place in April of 1240 in the province of Ouadane between Ijdil and Aoudaghost in Ghana, this was the province requested.
The second battle takes place in the province of Ghana where Maridjata and Marshall Kayna with 3000 troops attack Wali Kalabi of Fakala the court Imam of Soumaoro.
The battle of Sila in Ghana is a great victory. 1200 of the Mansa's troops were killed or wounded for only 146 of Maridjata's troop's casualties.
In Ouadane the troops from Aoudaghost arrive on May 5th, turning the battle to Maridjata's favour. By late May Maridjata had attained a victory. His troops then headed northwest to Idjil to gather their strength and cohesion, but then were directed south to Ghana, as the victorious troops in the province of Ghana were now in great danger. Mansa Soumaoro had gathered 10,000 men in the east and would arrive in the province by June 24th. Maridjata's southern troops had no chance of escaping, and his northern troops could not arrive before a month of doomed fighting.
At the Second Battle of Sila, Maridjata was attacked by the Mansa's ten thousand troops, and fled to meet with the northern army in the province of Aoudaghost, taking 1200 casualties while only inflicting 300.
In July, the battle of Taghaza is a victory, which meant very little, over in the east. The troops in this region soon disband for fear of the Mansa's large armies.
By this time Maridjata's western troops had retreated to consolidate their strength in remote Idjil, hoping for the Mansa's troops to suffer from disloyalty and starvation, or that by some miracle of Allah's favour another vassal would rebel, or another entity would invade; anything to defeat the vile Soumaoro!
By October of 1240 when the rains set in, it was clear to everybody in Mali that the Mansa would be the victor. The only question was; would Maridjata perish in defeat, or prove such a wily foe as to retain his freedom?
In February of 1241 Maridjata brought his troops south, having heard from the griots that the army of Soumaoro in Aoudaghost had suffered significant attrition.
On May 30th the 24 year old Maridjata, his spymaster Kayna Bamako, and Marshall Cisse's troops meet with Soumaoro's troops. The battle goes poorly. Within ten days Maridjata's center column is routed which gives the enemy a distinct advantage. Mayor Cisse was still able to crush their flanks by the end of June, which finally led to a victory on July 14th. The enemy suffered 4,000 for Maridjata's 3,000 casualties, making it the most decisive battle to take place in the war of Maridjata's independence.
During August, at the height of Mali's brilliance, Soumaoro's forces were on the run in western Mali, but the troops from the east, facing no resistance, would be more than Maridjata's armies could overcome and so Mansa Suomaoro knew he had some leverage in the bargaining. The old Mansa met the upstart Farbas under a peace banner and a white peace was signed. Each agreed to forgive the transgressions of the other and return to the previous relationship that had existed between the two.
The war was a loss and Mansa Soumaoro shortly thereafter gave Maridjata the title of Chief Architect in hopes of placating him. The 61-year old Mansa gave up on his plot to revoke Maridjata's territory, and thus the war was over for now. In the rainy season of 1241, the Mansa was assured of his power and increased crown authority in Mali, reducing the powers of Farbases in regards to settling debts of honour or property amongst themselves.
The Iberian War Period
In January of 1242 the Aragonian Holy War for Valencia held by King Alfonso II of Portugal and King Jaume I of Aragon was joined by Mansa Soumaoro. This was a conflict that had begun years earlier, and the Christians seemed to have had the upper hand in the fighting up until this time. Though it seemed a doomed effort at the start, Mansa Soumaoro's forces proved to be the deciding factor in pushing back the infidels in Valencia. By 1244 the Almohads can claim a decisive victory over the Christians.
During the Iberian War years, Maridjata had three children, and began the construction of a mosque, ensuring his legacy; the glory of which was no longer assured due to the failure of his rebellion. The first was Abanata, a healthy baby girl by Sogolon Zuwa. Amira had a girl when she was 19, who was named Sogolon in honour of Maridjata's mother. Amira had a second child on May 10th, 1246, finally, a boy, and he was named Maridjata for his father. He would grow to have significant difficulty with speech due to handicap whose exact details remain a mystery to historians. Nonetheless, his place at the time of his birth was one of glory; the firstborn son of Maridjata.
The Three Peaceful Years
The mosque Ksar El-Barka was completed in June of 1246 shortly after the birth of the heir. The three years following the construction of the mosque were generally peaceful, though plots on the part of Mansa Soumuoro against his own son were discovered during this period. As for Maridjata, he took to training with his griots and came to be known as a great poet and singer. His realm continued to grow rich and his armies increased in size.
His second son was born in 1247, in September, and he named him Maghan Kon Fatta in honour of his father.
In May of 1249 Soumaoro Diarisso, the Mansa of Mali, declared an invasion of Sijilmasa. This was made possible due to a succession crisis within the Almohads upon the death of Sultan Musa the Bewitched.
After Musa's passing, the 5-year old dwarf Sultan Sultan I Almohad assumed the throne. The son of Musa's brother, and the current Sultan's cousin, Abdul-Wahid the Ill-Ruler of Badajos declared himself to be the rightful Sultan over Mauretania and gathered support from throughout the realm; including Al'Abbas of the Marrakech Almohads, Sinbad I Seqtaid in Granada, and Abdal-Qawi I Tijinid in Alger.
In all this chaos and confusion Soumaoro chose to declare a conquest upon the young Emir Al'Abbas I Almohad in Marrakech and thus expand the realm of Mali. How would Maridjata bring this to his benefit?
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The Worldly Travels of Abu Bakr Cisse
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Oh, Islam, House of Peace, I have travelled out unto the House of War, and I have travelled within the realms controlled by infidels and apostates alike. Listen to my tales, for they surely hold piece of the puzzle! The cycles by which all kingdoms and empires rise or fall is an effect which can be predicted and replicated just as any other science can be.
Look at the infidel kingdom of the
ferengis, or Franks. The king of France has been considered infidel by even his own subjects, and their Caliph in Rome, Pope, has called for him to be removed from power. See these regions on the map? Holland, Brittany, and Aquitaine? These dukes are working to do as Pope commands and destroy the Frank King. The Flanders region is merely seeking their own independence, and like to get it with the distractions which King Frank has today.
Well, you say, but the Franks are only one type of infidel. But looks at England, this island nation north of France, their sultan is called Henry III Plantagenet. King Henry is also excommunicated by Pope, but he faces very different threats. He may lose these Irish dukedoms, Meath and Leinster, as each fights their own independence wars. Only a precious few of his dukes have allied under Duke Gloucester to remove him from the throne. Henry III Plantegenet is unlikely to suffer nearly so great as King Frank, who faces strong, united enemies.
What of these lands to the east? Livonia is a land controlled by the Christian priests, who fear the pagans there. Vitebsk is a Princedom of a Rurik. The Ruriks control most of Russia, and their largest kingdom is called Volga Bulgaria, which today succumbs to invasion by the easterners, the Golden Horde of Tengri Mongols. Poland is ruled by King Piast. Bohemia is independent, so much that neither they nor the Holy Roman Empire which used to claim overlordship on them has any peace treaty; but there they exist side by side! Who rules this kingdom of Bohemia? An 8-year old Rurik boy, of the Eastern brand of Christianity, and working to help Volga Bulgaria in the futile battle against the Tengri Hordes.
Hungary is a Catholic kingdom led by a woman, Queen Arpad. Serbia is an Orthodox kingdom led by King Nemanjic. The old Greek Roman Empire has been collapsing since the days of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, and controls only the principalities of Thrace, Nikea, and Samos, plus a few of the Aegean Islands. A newer, but similarly stagnating Latin Empire also exists under the Frankish House de Courtenay, while Venetian merchant-princes hold dominance on many of the islands and coastlines, including Crete.
In the House of Peace, the Sunni Caliphate is stewarded by the Abbasids, who rule from Basra and control the territories of Baghdad and the Tigris valley. In Egypt are the Ayyubid sultanate, who are Sunni. In fact, Shiism is mostly an extinct religion today, the sun has set on that sect, for only a few small rulers profess Shiism around the gulf of Hormuz and Iberia. Their caliph has not been declared for many years. Lastly there is a significant breach of our House, the Christians retain some lands in the Levant which they fashion the Kingdom of Jerusalem. They are ruled by a woman, Sultana Isabelle II de Brienne, who has taken to Levantine customs though she still holds claims to some Frankish lands.
There is your knowledge, Maridjata, now what shall you do with that, hm?
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