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Looking forward to it! :)
 
INTERMISSION 1

"Mister Teacher.
Can I get copies of the letters between Suleyman and the Caliph Al- Muqtadi?"

Of course. I've deposited all of the letters as digital files into the class' own Dropbox, which you can find on the address I've written onto the blackboard here. Anyhow, I can read a portion of the first letter, sent by Suleyman as Jerusalem fell.

Al- Muqtadi, blessed be your name. The women and children of Rum weep and the men sharpen their blades and spears, the horses neigh and beat their feet upon this ground and I write this letter upon to you on the news that the holy city of Jerusalem, whereupon Muhammad (blessings be unto him) rose into the skies. While it is known that Allah told Muhammad that our religion is that of peace, and while it is known our swords are only drawn to push the heretics away from our own homes, the falling of Jerusalem is a slight upon Allah and Muhammad that we cannot simply let go. Would Muhammad have allowed such a slight in his life time? As Caliph, response to this insult should come from you. Bless the blades, call upon the great Jihad, and let the heretics following their own God falter upon the might of Allah's fold.

This letter, while mostly only composed of paragraphs similar to this, was the start of the fall of Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

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"Mister Teacher, could you please tell us a bit more about the Furusiyaa? Considering how many great warriors there must have been in the Sultanate, it was surely an amazing event? Also, did Suleyman participate?"

Ah, of course! Suleyman himself took it upon himself to wield his blade with pride during the Furusiyaa. While he did not win (this honor fell upon a man known as Malik, a great master of blade from the Sultan's personal retinue), he still won third place.

The first Furusiyaa of the Rumans was one of the grandest. Rum had filled it's coffers with the gold of Cilicia, and trade had flourished under the Turkish. While the Byzantine administration in Anatolia had fallen into ruin before the Turks invaded, the Turkish kept trade under tight control, mostly because all of the bandits had either died or fled the Turkish horde when they invaded.

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While some could compare the Furusiyaa to the knightly competitions in Western Europe, it was much different. No lances were touted, besides in the smaller area designated for the greek population. Instead, horse archery, hunting, and chess of all things, among other such things were the main pull of the event. The Turkish were nomadic in origin, so their Furusiyaa especially focused on horses. There was also a grand melee near the end of the Furusiyaa. Other littler known events include oil wrestling.
 
Nice update! Eagerly awaiting class 2!
 
Congratulations Xhanada, it's very well deserved! :)
 
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Class 02: Arslan, fearless crescent (part 01)

Good afternoon, class! I hope your trip here was nice. Last time, during our short intermission, I supplied you all with the letters between Suleyman and the Caliph. I hope you've studied them, because these letters might or might not become more important for this portion of the class. Now, Suleyman, the founder of house Suleyman, now known as Suleyman the Magnificent. The conquerer of Constantinople and the master of Armenia, had one last wish before his death. He wished for Constantinople to be renamed. Some sources dictate his wish had been for them to name the city after Jerusalem. Some cite the idea of Konstantinyee, yet in the end, the modern term Istanbul won over.

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The coronation of Arslan was an interesting thing. The crown jewels of Byzantium (whose capital had relocated to coastal Greece) were taken from the body of the Emperor, used as smelting material for Arslan's own armor. This was used as an effective scare tactic during his commander years. Another important event of the coronation was the "fifth" wife of Arslan, Vahide. While officially only took four wifes, Vahide was treated like a wife would.

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So much so that when they had his first son, Berkan, about a year later, he was acknowledged as his own son. The Sultanate would live in fear for the next few years on if Berkan, the bastard, would inherit the sultanate if something happened to Arslan.

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The home of the Seljuks was doing much worse than their cadet house, however. The Sultan had died in combat against the enemy, presumably one of the crusaders that had invaded Jerusalem. His boy now sat on the throne, a lazy boy. While the Seljuk sultanate did not shatter upon this revelation, they would fall upon hard times in the political sense. Some say Allah himself had whispered to Suleyman that this curse would befell upon his kin, urging him onto declaring the house of Suleyman.

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The first year or so of Arslans reign was a peaceful one. He took the time to partake in Hajj, the holy trip similar to a pilgrimmage taken by the Christians. During this trip he saw much of the Islamic world, reading trough the texts of the prophets with great interest. While his father had never claimed one specific school of theology upon himself, Arslan took all by surprise when he returned home and claimed to belong to the Ash'ari school of theology, focusing at the time on traditional, conservative views.

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Arslan himself was a strange figure. Just as shy as his father had been, Arslan still showed a strange sense of pride and ambition. His father left him with Istanbul, the city of world's desire. Yet he wished for more. He wanted to bring a thousand events like Istanbul upon his country, perhaps not for his people, but for his own ambition. He had the patience to wait a thousand years for this chance. And it'd come soon enough. A masterful fighter and commander, he was a bloody swathe upon his enemies.

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His first official act as king and not as himself was to declare for a sweeping change in the government structure of Rum. While they worked upon the Iqta system, and while there were no large changes in the bureocracy or the rulers of the area, these changes brought upon a dozen new laws which mostly profited the Greek population by solidifying matters of succession for both the smallfolk and the few rulers that had not been removed from their seats when the Turks came. The rule of Arslan had started with a glimmer of promise.

[Note: these pictures are a bit out of order chronology wise, but they make for better storywriting.]
 
Arslan seems like a quite good character. May he fulfill his ambition and conquer a thousand Constaninoples! :D
 
Class 02: Arslan, fearless crescent (part 2)

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The Angelos dynasty, also known as the Angelid dynasty or the Angeloi, were a dynasty of rather low renown at the time of Arslan. A small island off the coast of Anatolia was their only holding, yet they had ruled under the Turks as begrudgingly faithful vassals for now. Some of them had even converted to Islam, and were beginning to take after the traditions of their new overlords. The Angelos dynasty might have fallen into obscurity there and then as just another Turkish vassal of minor importance.

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That is, until Sergios tes Rhoas came. A brilliant Greek peasant who worked under Alexios Komnenos himself before the emperor died, he had fled the battlefield and into the Turkish occupied island of Sisam to slowly plot the downfall of the Turkish invaders. Today he's regarded as an orthodox saint and a common here to the Greek peoples. He began a rebellion on the island, his aims to remove the Turks from Anatolia and to drive them back to the middle eastern areas they held. His main assistant in this was Manuel Angelos. He had been promised the crown of Nicaea if he aided the brave Greek man.

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Manuel was a capable man. The makings of a Tyrant, a Despot. Paranoid, he never let anyone but his close family and Sergios near him. Cruel beyond all belief, it has been written by many Turkish scholars of the time that he skinned any Turk he came across on the field of battle. Decent with a sword and ambitious beyond all belief, he was the man that the Greeks had fallen upon to ensure their freedom. While a majority of the population chose to not rise up either out of fear or respect for those who had brought down Constantinople...

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Around five thousand men, a bit more, a bit less, had risen up on the small island. They were soon taken to siege down the mainland holdings. Later scholars question the intellect of Sergios. Why had he gone to the lone island for help, when the Byzantine emperor was roaring to reclaim his ancestral home of Constantinople? All is known that this small rebellion fell upon Arslan after a year or so of peace. The rebellion was easily stopped, Angelos himself for now imprisoned in the cells of Istanbul.

But to make matters worse, during the end of the rebellion...

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The boy emperor chose to come home.

[This was a slightly smaller update, since I wanted to cover the Angeloi rebellion quickly.]
 
Now when the emperor is a child, I guess you can't win by capturing him on the battlefield. Rum is surely strong enough to beat the Byzantine armies though.
 
Discovered this AAR through the weekly awAARd.:) Nice writing you've done here!:)
 
Came here through your recent award. Well done and I'll be following.

I like the style of history book with lecture/class. It's dynamic

Small point of language. You use the word trough several times when you mean through.

Great start though.
 
I don't want to stress you, but I'm eagerly waiting for the next part, because this is a great AAR! ;)