Chapter 7
The Reign of Shah Sadi
It's universally believed, that during the reign of Shah Sadi, the Shahi Empire reached its greatest extent. By the time of his death, the Empire span from the Mirzachol steppe and southern reaches of Usturt plateau in the North to the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka in the South.
Mirzachol, The Hungry Steppe
The city of Galle, Sothern Sri Lanka
From the Brahmaputra river in the East to the Nile in the West.
It is said, that during his reign, the seeds of future desolation of the Empire were sown.
Crowned after his brother's assassination, he survived, not one but five attempts on his life. In the bazaars of Kabul people were waging at the amount of time young Shah would survive. He, however, outlived most of the wagers. In 1077, his scheming regent was captured by a rival party and flayed alive, his supporters trampled by Imperial elephants.
The young Shah left Imperial Palace, and was educated among the nomadic warrior tribes of Afghanistan proper, the very people, that brought Shahi banner to all corners of earth.
Brought into an old ways of Afghan nomadic warrior societies, soon after his adolescence he started the unprecedented military campaigns in the Eastern border of Empire. The old ritual of
Ashvamedha was employed.
The stallion of Imperial stables, 24 years old was sprinkled with holy water, the most learned priests of
adhavaryu caste whispered mantras inthe horse's ear. The dog was sacrificed.
The horse was said to roam free in the North Eastern direction, and Shah and his host followed it, conquering princes, through whose lands the horse went. After the return of the horse, it was, along with three others, yoked into a golden chariot and driven into the water for ritual cleansing. The first wife of the Shah, and two of the secondary, covered the body of the stallion in
ghi butter, and adorned its tail, head and neck with golden decorations. After that the horse, hornless goat and wild bull were tied to the poles, and seventeen other animals were tied to the horse. 609other animals were tied to the poles around the temple complex. All of them were put to death then.
"Steed, from thy body, of thyself, sacrifice and accept thyself.
Thy greatness can be gained by none but thee."
The first wife would spent the night near the dead body of a horse, imitating copulation. The following day, the three of Shah's wife would use the silver and golden needles to mark the body of a horse. It was dismembered then, along this marks, its meat roasted and offered to the gods.
"May this Steed bring us all-sustaining riches, wealth in good kine, good horses, manly offspring
Freedom from sin may Aditi vouchsafe us: the Steed with our oblations gain us lordship!"
The part of the booty was given to
hotr priests. The maiden daughter of the Shah and his fourth wife were given to
adhvaryu priest.
By 1099 Bengal fell. By 1101 the last tribal kings in Assam bowed before the glory of Afghan Empire. Sadi reigned supreme over the whole subcontinent.
In 1102, after the Caliph unsuccessfully tried to rally Muslim warriors against Shahi in Mesopotamia, it was proclaimed, that peace and tranquility of Empire won't be achieved until the fall of last of Muslim principalities. New campaigns followed, culminating in the conquest of Cairo in 1120.
By 1127, the Holy city of Mecca was predominantly Hindu.
However, the state of the empire was hectic. The Shah took the famously beautiful, but alas, caste-less woman as his first wife, outraging traditionalists. The Empire was constantly in the state of uprising here, civil war there. Vassals refused to recognize the half-caste sons of Sadi as governors, and the relationship between father and sons were deteriorating with every passing minute. In the year of 1132, the old man was strangled by his sons with a silk scarf in the his palace. The official cause of death, was, of course, accession to the superior plane of existence. The empire was divided between his sons, under only nominal superiority of an eldest. However if half-caste princes they could force vassals to acknowledge their right to rule remains to be seen.
The western part of the Shahi Empire, by the time of Shah Sadi's death
