A Crescent, a Cross, and a Lion: A CKII Abyssinia AAR

Not far south of the Abyssinian capital, Gondar, lies the scattered tribes and villages of Gojjam. King Anbasa, in a meeting of major court members, has declared that these tribes, united under a petty king in the city of Eliyas, must be united under Abyssinian rule. The Gojjam, currently, was led by a man who calls himself King Desta. His father was said to have united the tribes in a bloody war many years ago. They say his heart lies with his father's, in the heat of the battlefield. During the period of planning for this conquest, King Anbasa has been delving into the literary art, spending his waiting time scouring out books to attempt sedation of his unceasing hunger for literature. He had read poems, scriptures, and epics from Greece, Arabia, Egypt, Persia, Tunis, and even Sicily. He became a wise scholar, whose library brimmed with knowledge. During these years, King Anbasa has become attentive of a court lady named Kelyle. She, like Anbasa, has a heart for diplomacy. She also possesses great mathematical and administrative skill. They quickly marry with a large celebration in Gondar. She had a hearty soul, which held the virtues of charity and modesty. Sources differ on the subject, but she may have also been a daughter of a petty king long dead. She fits in nicely in the business of court.

King Anbasa was a renowned scholar and diplomat, and many began naming him King Anbasa the Wise. By the year 871, King Anbasa declared that the time was right for an invasion of the southern Gojjam tribes. An army of roughly 800 men bearing the Abyssinian flag stormed the villages and highlands to the south, burning, pillaging, and sacking many settlements along the way. The army encountered little resistance, and quickly, much of Gojjam has fallen to Abyssinia. However, the Abyssinian armies were not completely in control of Gojjam yet, as Abyssinian scouts have reported signs of a larger army gathering in the west. The messenger is sent to gather more forces to aid in the coming battle.

Three weeks later, the forces of Abyssinia and Gojjam meet four miles from the city of Eliyas. It was a sweltering August morning, and the soldiers were tense. They had been awaiting this for a long time. As the sun climbed across the cloudless sky, the Abyssinian army marched forward, knowing that the ensuing chaos would see many deaths. Prayers were whispered under the breaths of many soldiers. This would be one of the first major tests of their might. Victory in battle would require the success of a carefully planned tactic. Three Ethiopian armies would have to merge during the battle to drive off the larger force. As the two armies met, the incessant clash of swords dominated the air, mixed with cries of anger and pain. The battle, which lasted for almost four blisteringly hot days, saw tired soldiers who had seen much blood. Despite the best efforts, the reinforcing armies failed to arrive in time to fight alongside their brethren. The surviving Abyssinians walked home in shame of their defeat.

For two months the Abyssinian army rested, while a new plan was created to break the back of the Gojjam's fierce generals and soldiers. By now, the war had gone on for almost two years, an embarrassment for King Anbasa and his generals. The war in Gojjam was a war that dragged on far longer than needed. Eventually, the Ethiopian army returned to Gojjam, this time to take Eliyas while the petty king Desta was liberating his western villages. During the siege of Eliyas, Queen Kelyle has birthed a daughter to the King of Abyssinia. She is named Mandera, and Kelyle and Anbasa alike were overwhelmed with joy. An extravagant feast is planned for when the war in Gojjam is over.

In June 864, the Abyssinians took complete hold of Eliyas. There the army waited until the Gojjam army arrived back, which would be not a month later. This time, the Abyssinian army had the advantage of defending in the rocky Ethiopian highlands while Gojjam's forces, already weary from marching, were attacking. The outcome was much more desirable. Almost all of Gojjam's men were slaughtered, and the rest were taken prisoner to be publicly executed. The rest of the war consisted of cleaning up any fighting forces left and occupying the entirety of Gojjam. In 875 AD, the peace treaty was signed and Gojjam became a part of the Kingdom of Abyssinia. Peace had been restored to the Kingdom of Abyssinia, but these days are numbered. War will again plague Abyssinia, and on that front, King Anbasa Wedem the Wise of house Solomonid must be ready.

As planned, a great feast was held in the halls of Gondar's palace to celebrate the birth of the daughter of King Anbasa and Queen Kelyle. Nothing was spared as a large chunk of money went into the preparations for the great feast. King Anbasa himself hunted the boar that was to be carved and fed upon, along with venison, pork, chicken, steak, fish, veal, lamb, duck, and quail. No expenses were spared on entertainment or food. Acrobats, jugglers, singers, dancers, and poets were invited to entertain the guests. The result was that almost all the guests praised King Anbasa for the food and entertainment, and the three-night celebration passed without a hitch.

Apparently, during the feast, Queen Kelyle was impregnated again by King Anbasa. Joy was brought to the realm as another baby, perhaps a fitting heir to the throne of Abyssinia, was coming. King Anbasa was often heard praying that he would have a son. In one of these sessions, a local priest interrupted him. They spoke of faith and religion, as well as some of the religious tomes in Anbasa's library. Then he was delivered news. News of a strange kingdom, far to the north, beyond the distant realm of the Catholics, that followed a strange religion. The priest spoke that this was a religion whose followers were savages, who wielded axes to battle and burned churches like rat nests. All Europe feared these bloodthirsty barbarians, so much so that the Byzantine Emperor himself feared their raiding parties. King Anbasa laughed, and assured the priest that these men were just a fictional menace, crated by mothers to implant obedience in their children. The priest soon left, and Anbasa resumed his praying.

After many months, King Anbasa's prayers were answered. The Solomonid dynasty now had an heir, in prince Iskander, son of King Anbasa and Queen Kelyle. The entire realm is joyous, and celebration begins across the whole of Abyssinia. However, tensions have risen in the east. A local Muslim lord has taken power in Asayita, where numerous offenses on Coptic Christians have been committed. The Emir there has burned down Coptic churches, executed Coptic priests, and burned any who dare speak out. This cannot stand. Abyssinian armies once again prepare to attack, and liberate the Christian people in Asayita. This Emir may persecute Christians well, but his armies pale in comparison to the religious fervor that leads the numerous Abyssinian soldiers to victory. The war ends within a few months.

Not long after, King Anbasa delved into several religious tomes, and decided that he must see the great holy sites of Christianity for himself, in order to gain a better understanding of his faith and his world. He starts making travel plans, and in May 878 AD, King Anbasa set out for Jerusalem. However, he did not leave before impregnating his wife again. When he returned, he would lay eyes upon another child. Jerusalem, a holy place for all Christians, was currently crushed by the Abbasid Caliph's iron grip. There are many pilgrimages to Jerusalem a year, but it is still a dangerous place to be for those who are not Muslim. King Anbasa ensured that he would be accompanied by a band of strong and loyal bodyguards. He set out, making for Egypt first, and then up into the Levant. When he reached the deserts of Egypt, King Anbasa joined a trade caravan making its way towards Cairo. From there, Anbasa traveled east, to the Sinai peninsula. During his journey, King Anbasa learned a great deal of new things. He learned various intricacies of desert navigation, cross-Saharan trade, Egyptian tactics for warfare, and other practical skills. When he finally arrived in Jerusalem, King Anbasa was greeted by temples, large crowds, and incredible, stunning architecture. He made sure that his valuables were close at hand and his bodyguards were on alert. A pickpocket could easily find Anbasa's coin purse in this sea of people. While in Jerusalem, King Anbasa took the time to learn even more bout various cultures and languages. He met another pilgrim, who had come all the way from a distant land known as the Kingdom of Asturias, a Christian land across the Mediterranean Sea. He met a Jewish princess from the Khazar Khanate, who came to seek out ancient religious texts. He met a white man who stated that he had arrived all the way from a city called Kiev. King Anbasa had never laid eyes upon a white man before. That was just one of many new experiences for Anbasa. It was truly a journey to be remembered.

When King Anbasa returned to Gondar, he met his third child. She was named Senalat, and was already several months old. Meanwhile, young Mandera was sent off to learn administrative skills from the court steward, a Jewish man named Yuda. This marked a few years of peace and stability, without much of note, until April of 880, when King Anbasa begins an invasion of the Kassala villages to the west of Gondar. The decision was made to secure the capital, and the invasion ends shortly, with a decisive but inevitable Abyssinian victory.

In 881 AD, a messenger reaches Gondar with news. The tribal people of the south are dealing with an outbreak of heresy. These heretics have broken off from a once-powerful chief and founded their own tribal kingdom. Their first decision is to make "holy" war against the Kingdom of Abyssinia, to spread their heretical ideas. If this upstart chief gains victory, the Coptic church will be forever weakened. It is the duty of Abyssinia to break the back of their armies and heretical ideas. Their armies began in the war-torn county of Motamma once a part of Gojjam, where they burned and slaughtered thousands of villagers and attempted to spread heresy in the backwater land. The Abyssinian army awaits nearby, in Eliyas, waiting for the time to strike back, prepare defenses to stave off the attack. Eventually, the true Abyssinian forces surrounded the attackers, and when the heretics moved to strike one force, all the other Abyssinian armies moved in. The ambush was successful, and the enemy general was captured in battle. He turned out to be a mere peasant leader who was not even a capable commander. He was quickly burned at the stake as a heretic in Gondar. A few weeks after the peace treaty was signed, Abyssinia declared holy war to destroy the heretic chief once and for all. Because their forces were already defeated, the war was ended decisively in 884 AD.

I'll add screenshots for chapter three, but I'm still new to the forum, so I have to first figure out how to do that. One step at a time, I guess. Chpater three is due for tomorrow morning as it is late and sleep is my friend.

King Anbasa Wedem the Wise of house Solomonid has crushed his new enemy in the heretic forces, and now the Kingdom of Abysinia is at peace. King Anbasa Wedem has decided to take a look at the state of the kingdoms nearby, especially the Islamic kingdoms that circle Abyssinia like vultures.


The Shirazids and Raysutids are the most immediate threats, as they are working to spread Islam to the Horn of Africa. Soon, these Emirs will hunger for more, and Abyssinia will have to take up arms in defense.


In Africa, the Idrisids are being pushed south by the Umayyads, and are encroaching on the kingdoms of Ghana and Songhai.


The Abbasid Caliph has expanded his power further into Arabia and Armenia, and stands to face the Byzantine Empire on the battlefield sometime soon.

Deaghaidh said:

FYI, when you're very new and try to post a lot of pics, often there will be a delay. Its an anti-spam feature, and once a mod OKs it your post will be up.

Its a fine start to your game and aar career. Abyssinia is way more interesting now, and was the first thing I tried in RoI. I wound up getting crushed, but good luck to you!

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Ah. That explains why chapter three isn't up. My bad. I don't know how I'm not dead yet, as there's a Muslim Sultanate to the west (Shirazids) that probably had twelve chances to wipe me out by now. I think they're having internal issues as their Emir is Ibadi and not Sunni like the rest of them.

Deaghaidh said:

Yeah, the best thing you have going for you is that Arabia and Egypt usually have more important things to do. Just remember to check what alliances your Muslim neighbors have before you DoW them. Rude surprises can ensue if you don't.

Other things I've learned:
*Your troops won't win even fights against the sultans
* Retinues and mercs will probably be a big part of your army. Your levies are not overwhelming.
*Jews are your friends! Not the neighbors next door, the ones who will lend you several years of income.
*Maintain marriage ties to the Byzantines. Will discourage your neighbors. Don't actually call them against non- sultans though.

Most of all, remember the War Fortress motto: losing is fun!

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*Really? I didn't know that. Why don't they?
*I've noticed that Abyssinia doesn't have a large army.
*Jews, Jews, everywhere! I have a quite a few Jewish courtiers and even a few Jewish vassals. They don't mind me too much, as I don't mind them. Yet.
*I need to get around to cuddling up to the Byzantines.

Losing is fun! I have experience with losing in CKII, in Scotland and France games.

Deaghaidh said:

Part of the reason your armies don't hold up is tech I think. Also your cultural retinues are unimpressive to say the least. On the upside, between the rivers and the mountains there are lots of places that give bonuses to defense.

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The mountains and rivers are certainly a boon to defense.

Also, how long does it usually take for the mods to approve a new person's post with pictures? Do you know?

Deaghaidh said:

A day or so seems usual, but it being the weekend it might take them a while to get to it.

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Thanks. I will patiently wait, with three copies of my save because it CANNOT BE LOST.

Chapter three was put up before the conversation so it looks like we all went insane.

CHAPTER FOUR: A BUTCHERED VULTURE​

King Anbasa Wedem, the wise king of Abyssinia, was growing old in age and weary in strength. However, age did not make him any less wise. He continued to be an avid scholar and a learned diplomat, studying various tomes for hours on end. His visit to Jerusalem had only made his religious fervor burn brighter, and he began to see the Muslim Shirazid Emir in the west as a foreign invader, who needed to be driven out of Abyssinia. At first, he dismissed it as mere desire, as there were many other small and petty kings surrounding him that were ripe for the taking. Eventually, though, the feeling grew, and the concept of forcing Muslims out of Ethiopia, like the faraway Spaniards he had heard about while in Jerusalem, became more and more tantalizing. Eventually, on a cool autumn evening, King Anbasa called for a meeting of all the important members of his personal court. In Gondar's palace, they spoke of the concept into the small hours of the morning, and the meeting was not ended until the thinnest rays of light were shining onto Gondar from the mountains nearby. The decision had been made; it was the time for war.

The Kingdom of Abyssinia would not wage war against the nearby Shirazids for several more years as the army was being reconstructed after past wars. The new army would use a combination of Egyptian and Ethiopian methods of war. This resulted with an army that combined the use of Ethiopian light, mobile infantry with the liberal use of archers and sometimes cavalry, depending on the battlefield. Also, a standing Ethiopian army was commissioned, beginning at only 1500 men, but plans for its growth were already in place. During all this military growth, Prince Iskander, only 10 years of age, was to eventually be married to a Byzantine princess. If all went according to plan, the Kingdom of Abyssinia would find a steadfast ally in Constantinople's great halls.


In September 894 AD, it was decided that no longer would Abyssinia wait; now was the time to strike against the Shirazids! The new Abyssinian army, comprising of almost 5,300 trained soldiers, set out for the Horn of Africa to take what was rightfully theirs. any attempts to halt the Abyssinian advance were futile, and soon the Shirazid capital of Harer was under siege. The war ended in April 895 after the Shirazid Emir surrendered during the Siege of Harer. King Anbasa Wedem described the war as a "butchering of a starving vulture. Even if one dies, there will always be ten more to take its place."


Anbasa returned to Gondar with grave news. While he was away, Queen Kelyle had fallen ill with Pneumonia. For three straight days, King Anbasa Wedem prayed for her life, spending lavishly on anyone who might be able to help her. All of it was in vain. On 21 April, 895 AD, Queen Kelyle died of Pneumonia. From that point on,King Anbasa went through life with reduced vigor. His once cheery attitude finally seemed to cave in to persistently weary age. Life had lost much of its luster to King Anbasa, and the death of his wife remained on his mind. He world remain like that for roughly five years, before the deadly combination of advanced age and severe stress and depression killed King Anbasa Wedem the Wise of house Solomonid on 30 March, 900 AD. He was 65 years of age.


All of Abyssinia mourned over the loss of one of the greatest leaders Ethiopia had ever seen. His funeral was attended by thousands of people. He was buried next to his wife on the summit of a small mountain near the palace of Gondar. Of all the people affected by the recent news, young King Iskander was affected most. He was 22 years of age at the time of his father's death, and Anbasa had been a major influence upon his life. Iskander took after his father, in many ways. He was strong with words, and a talented diplomat. Books had captivated Iskander from a very young age, and he had become a learned scholar, even if his religious zeal did not match his father's. Where religious fervor existed in Anbasa, ambition existed in Iskander. Iskander dreamed of glory and wealth for Abyssinia, especially after seeing the great city of Constantinople for his marriage to the Greek princess Viviana.* Whether he wanted it or not, it was time for Iskander Solomonid to become more than just a man. It was time for him to become a king.

* She isn't actually named Viviana, she's named Garyphallia. I decided not to use that as her name for this.

The first thing Iskander did as king was to finally destroy the remnants of the Shirazid Emirate in the Horn of Africa. 1,100 Abyssinian men marched all the way to the Indian Ocean to meet 750 Arab soldiers. Thus, the Battle of Mosylon began.

Mosylon was a small castle, nestled in a rural, dry region, that really only existed as a stop for ships going into the Red Sea. It overlooked the ocean wearily, with crumpling walls and bored guardsmen who only served to stave off the occasional pirate ship. However, the fort served a vastly different purpose on March 19, 901, when two armies clashed not three miles from its ill-maintained spires. The fort's garrison quickly moved in to join the ranks of the Arabs as they clashed with the Abyssinians, who were already fatigued from marching. As the armies marched towards each other that morning, a sense of dread filled the air. The Abyssinian army had almost 300 more me than the Arabs, but the Arabs had several days of rest before marching out to fight. The result was a bloody melee between Muslim Arabs and Christian Ethiopians. Soldiers would attack each other with whatever they could find, whether it was a stick, a rock, a sword, or a dead body. the bloody brawl lasted for two days before the Arab army retreated from Mosylon. The smell of the ocean was long gone by then, replaced by the stench of bloodied corpses. the remainder of the Arab army was quickly destroyed in Maydh, a city to the west of Mosylon, where 600 Abyssinians were laying siege to the city.


The next few months would consist of capturing fortresses and cities held by the Shirazids, until they were utterly defeated. The Kingdom of Abyssinia now stretched all the way across the Horn of Africa. However, King Iskander was not content. He saw the Nubian tribes as weak kings who needed to be united, and began planning on how best to subjugate the Nubian Desert. He himself traveled to several smaller kings, persuading them to be integrated into Abyssinia peacefully. He purposefully left out a few of these tribal kings, hoping to create a buffer between the Kingdom of Abyssinia and the powerful Sultanate of Egypt to the north. King Iskander was ambitious, but he was not foolish. He knew that he would not be able to face the Egyptians until became much more powerful. Thus, he turned his attention west, to the largest tribal kingdom in Nubia: the Kingdom of Alodia. Alodia was a desert kingdom, with its capital in the city of Omdurman. Alodia was ruled by Queen Maria. The Abyssinian Invasion of Alodia proved to be the first real test of the Abyssinian standing army.

The first and last major confrontation of the war was the Battle of Sinjah. Sinjah was a small trading outpost along the Nile River. It saw many caravans coming from as far away as Morocco and Mali. There, the Abyssinian Army rested, restocking before venturing further into the Nubian Desert. Two weeks after they arrived, the Alodian army struck back. From across the Nile, archers shot flaming arrows straight and true at the Abyssinian forces. The Alodian general, Tzadok Ben Jeremias, hoped that he would destroy the Abyssinian supplies by burning the entire trade post to the ground. The plan worked. The 1,300 Alodians managed to draw the 1,500 Abyssinians out of Sinjah's forts and encampments, to fight on the open battlefield. Chaos ensued in the Abyssinian army as the fires spread throughout Sinjah. The Abyssinians were vulnerable and unorganized. That was the time when the full force of the Alodian army crossed the Nile River to drive the Abyssinians from Nubia. The Battle of Sinjah was remembered by historians as being a work of both tactical genius and tactical idiocy. For one, the Nubians had caused chaos and disorganization in the larger Abyssinian army, which gave them the chance to secure victory in battle. However, General Tzadok Ben Jeremias underestimated the difficulty of crossing the Nile River. Their armies became bogged down, giving the Abyssinian army time to reorganize and launch a counterattack. The Alodians, stuck in the water, were shot down by the Abyssinian archers in a near-massacre, killing roughly 1,000 of them, and securing a glorious victory for Abyssinia. Soon, Queen Maria of Alodia surrendered.


Not long after Alodia had been subjugated, Queen Viviana of Abyssinia had given birth to twins: Prince Amare and Princess Nishan. A large festival was planned to be held later in the year, during the summer of 905. During the spring, much planning had gone into how the long festival was going to be, what attractions it was going to have, who was to be admitted into the festival, and other details. The festival was to last for three straight weeks in the streets of Gondar (which had grown substantially since the reins of King Anbasa and King Iskander), and the festival was going to be open for anyone to enter. Sprits were high, songs were sung, merchandise was bartered, and food was eaten. It truly was an event to be remembered. During the festival, Queen Viviana had become pregnant again. Everyone who attended agreed that the festival was well worth coming to.

After the festival, King Iskander examined the state of the lands known to him. He employed several cartographers and explorers to gather information about the lands surrounding the Kingdom of Abyssinia and the Middle East.

The following years were rather uneventful, besides the birth of another daughter to King Iskander: Princess Fannah. The Abyssinian standing army increased in size, this time with cavalry and archers as well as infantry. The standing army now employed 4,000 troops. A brilliant general came to lead Abyssinia's armies, named Hackeem. He was a landholder southern Abyssinia, and possessed incredible tactical ability. He quickly became one of the most important figures in the Abyssinian military. in Gondar continued to grow, now becoming a wealthy city on the same scale as cities like Baghdad or Alexandria. This growth, however, would be broken. The Raysutid Emirate of Oman, hungry to expand into Africa, declared an invasion of Abyssinia on February 5th, 907.

The initial stages of the invasion consisted of the blocking of the Strait of Mandeb by Abyssinian forces, hoping to incite a battle where the Arabs would cross the strait. Other Abyssinian forces would move in to block the Arabs from travelling beyond the Horn of Africa. The tactic, General Hackeem hoped, was that the Arabs would move in from the Horn of Africa directly into the ambush of Abyssinian soldiers in the Ethiopian highlands. The Arabs, fortunately, seemed to act more or less the way that Hackeem hoped. Their ships dropped their soldiers off on the coastline of the Gulf of Aden, and their armies began laying siege to the cities and fortresses there. Meanwhile, the Abyssinian armies waited in the highlands, hoping that their dice roll would equal an Abyssinian victory. After several months, an Arab army, totaling around 3,500 men (excluding the armies laying siege to cities in the Horn of Africa) broke through one of the armies General Hackeem placed to attract the Arabs. However, the Arab victory was so overwhelming, the ambush could not happen on time, and the Arabs broke through into the interior of Abyssinia. The Arabs moved into the city of Massawa, which had a large population of heretics. The Arabs had rightly guessed that they would encounter much less resistance in a land filled with Christian heretics. Still, the Arabs were not fully accepted by the population, who hated the Muslims more than their Coptic overlords. General Hackeem surrounded the Massawa region with two large armies and multiple 'distracting' armies. He knew how fast the Muslim armies could break the Abyssinian defense, and he hoped that more ambushing armies would allow the Abyssinian forces to successfully intercept their enemy. The tactic, this time, was a resounding success. The Muslim invaders were slaughtered by the dozens not far south of Massawa. King Iskander personally entered the thick melee as 4,500 Abyssinian soldiers fought 4,000 Arabian men. The bloody, brutal melee ended with a legendary Abyssinian victory, as almost all of the 4,000 Muslim troops were slaughtered on the Red Sea coastline. The battle was named the Red Sea Massacre, as the Abyssinian men suffered remarkably few casualties in the savage brawl.


The Red Sea Massacre may have been a miraculous Abyssinian victory, but the war was far from over. The Arabian Peninsula was well known for wealth from trade, and quickly, several thousands Arabian mercenaries came to the aid of the Raysutids to help destroy the Abyssinians. These 3,000 mercenaries, combined with 500 more Arabian soldiers, moved into Tadjoura, quickly occupying it, and then advanced to Harer. This was where 4,000 Abyssinians met them, and quickly, a battle ensued. The Battle of Harer, unlike the Red Sea Massacre, was long and brutish, with neither side gaining and noticeable advantage for three days. These three days consisted of exasperated soldiers clashing at each other in a vain attempt to gain ground. Eventually, however, the Abyssinian army found itself losing ground to the Muslims, and eventually faced defeat. It was not a defeat like that seen in the Red Sea Massacre, but a defeat is a defeat nonetheless. Several weeks of futile attempts to stop the advancing Muslims concluded with the death of the reigning Emir in the Raysutid Emirate. The small child that ascended to the throne of the Raysutids was not capable of effectively leading their armies to crush the Abyssinians, and quickly, a white peace was signed.

In September 911 AD*, the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad declared that Byzantine ventures into the Levant were causing the center of Islam to crack, and that in order for the faith to survive, an era of Renewed Jihad must happen. He called all faithful Muslims to take up arms against the Eastern Roman Empire to retake cities like Aleppo and Damascus. The might of the Abbasid Caliphate and the rest of the Islamic World, might be enough to break the Byzantine Empire. The Caliph immediately calls a Jihad upon the Byzantines, and soon, the fires of war trembled across both Christian and Muslim realms. The time to take up arms has begun, as only one faith can prevail!

*The date for the event happening is entirely unintentional.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE WORLD BEFORE JIHAD​

As Abyssinia was being dragged into its largest conflict yet, King Iskander took the time to analyze the current geopolitical situation in preparation for warfare.



The entire Muslim world is against the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the Kingdom of Georgia, the Kingdom of Armenia, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and the Kingdom of Abyssinia. The cities of Gondar and Constantinople both house powerful Christian kingdoms, but the cities of Baghdad, Esfahan, Cordoba, Medina, Tunis, and Muscat all are the centers of equally powerful Muslim lords. Byzantine resources have allowed Abyssinia to come into contact with several Christian lords beyond the Balkan Peninsula, including Italy, France, and Asturias. It has also shown Abyssinia the farthest reaches of Islam, such as the Umayyad Empire in Andalusia and Mauritania.