Who let the dogs out? A Nogai AAR

[Lofman]

Here comes my new AAR. I'm playing Nogai in the GC on normal/normal. Writing style will probably be a little different for each monarch. I have some special rules I may use whenever I want, but I will attempt not to overuse them . They are as following:

SPECIAL RULES:
- I may move my capital whenever I want wherever I want.
- I may rearrange my six core provinces should I feel like it within the provinces I own. Capital must always be a core.
- If I no longer want a specific province and there is no other way to get rid of it (such as releasing them as a vassal), I may freely give them away to whatever nation may border that province, and the province may not be a core province after been given away.
- I may switch between sunni and shiite whenever I like, but when done stability must be lowered by 2.

GOAL:
To keep this AAR going until 1819 or Nogai is annexed, whichever comes first, and to see where Nogai ends up in the end

NOTE:
Ghâzî Nuruz started in 1412.


A dream of Persia

I always wanted to rule the rich cities of Persia. Unfortunately there was little I could do to reach that goal, as the lands I rule as Khan of the Nogai is way to poor to be able to threaten Timurid power over the region. I'm Ghâzî Nuruz, Khan of the Nogai, and I will now tell what happened in the eigth year of my reign. In the beginning of that year I've decided to fulfill my old dream, or atleast try. In order to reach the Persian cities I would however be forced to subjugate the Uzbeks before reaching the Persian border.

I wasn't afraid of the Uzbeks led by Dawlat Khan, and the heirs of Timur Lenk seemed barely able to keep his great realm intact. However plans for conquest in the south had to be postponed as Korijiaq of the Khazaks, the weak people east of our lands, decided to raid into our territory, and take our sheep and grain. However the incompetent leadership of Korijiaq allowed me to wipe out their force of 15,000 stragglers, with a mere 2,000 men lost after two months of fighting. Such is the weakness of the Khazak stragglers, 15,000 of them completely crushed by 10,000 Nogai warriors without even causing considerable losses!

In the end of the year the Khazak had had enough, and paid me a grand tribute, and in my generosity I returned control of the saltproducing province of Aralsk. All nations could see the might of the Nogai, but it wasn't truely recognized because of the incompetence and weakness of the Khazaks, so therefore we had in the beginning of the next year, the ninth year of my reign, to ride out against the forces of On Khan of Sibir, who probably assumed that the Khazaks had put up better resistance then they truly had.

To prevent the Uzbeks from attacking us from the south I accepted to join an alliance with them and their leader Dawlat Khan. Sometimes politics is more important than dreams, and Persia could wait. The Sibir proved a more difficult nut to crack then the Khazaks, mostly because of the harsh weather and forests and marshes in the furproducing realm of On Khan. Their armies where crushed on the plains so they fled to their forests, and I decided that it would be foolish to venture there in the winter, which saved their fortress in Kurgan from falling as Tenghiz had earlier, while their main army hid in Kustanai.

In the second year of the Sibirian war, the eleventh year of my reign, the weak and incompetent Korijiaq of the Khazaks was overthrown by the somewhat more able Buraq, who joined the alliance with the Uzbeks. Late in that year, after having their army defeated and their provinces looted, and the fortress at Tenghiz in our hands, Sibir gave up and paid what they had in tribute. In return we gave them back control of Tenghiz. The Uzbeks seeing that all of the alliance was at peace and that the Timurids was weak, declared war on that Empire led by Shâh Rûkh in the first half of the twelfth year of my reign.

I followed the Nogay Horde south to Bukhara were we first encountered Timurid troops. They proved to be a more worthy foe then the Khazaks and the Sibirians had been, but we plundered Transoxania and Afghanistan, and after a little more then one years fighting, the Timurids signed a peace with the Uzbeks handing over the provinces Elbruz in Persia and Kirgisistan and Tadjikistan east of the Uzbek lands. Dawlat Khan wouldn't enjoy his victory more then four months before being killed by Abu'l Khayr who became the new Khan of the Uzbeks.

As peace once again settled I began planning for war. The Golden Horde to the west, ruled by a Dawlat Berdi, looked promising as it was quite unstable and subject to many rebellions. Not to mention the trade center of Astrakhan, and the riches surely held in their capital of Saraj in the province Volgograd. I prepared my forces, and sometime early in the fifteenth year of my reign I would be ready to strike.


A new Khan and the invasion of the Golden Horde

I am Nûr ad-Din, Khan of the Nogai. My father Ghâzî Nuruz ruled for fourteen years, but he died before his planned invasion of the Golden Horde could start. He fell in the end of his fourteenth year of rule ill, but before he died he called me to his side and told me about his dream to rule Persia and made we wov that I should do whatever was in my power to fulfill his dream for either me or one of my descendants, all my brothers except one had allready died in the wars fought during my father's reign.

The dream of my father was in no means unobtainable, but it wouldn't be as easy as crushing some 50,000 Khazaks. Since there for the moment was no way to conquer Persia, I concluded I should continue what my father had gathered the troops for before dying. Invading the Golden Horde. I waited four months for the snow to melt in the Golden Horde lands, and then I invaded. First I looted around Astrakhan before turning north and laying siege to Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. When winter came close I sent my only remaining brother, Hasan, back to gather more troops that could be sent to join the siege.

My forces besieging Saraj, was soon to few to conduct a real siege as too many died in the snow that surrounded us, but fortunately Hasan arrived with the reinforcements, so Saraj fell thirteen months after the invasion had begun. The city was sacked and I've managed to come over some interresting maps the Khans of the Golden Horde had kept in their capital. Our army marched south and before the year was over Astrakhan fell in our hands. The Khan Dawlat Berdi was deemed incompetent and was killed by his troops and Ulugh Muhammad was restored as Khan of the Golden Horde. Attempts to force the new Khan to pay tribute was futile, but the armies of the Golden Horde seemed unable to retake Saraj and Astrakhan and in the later half of that year, the third year of my reign, Ulugh Muhammad surprisingly offered us the rich trading center of Astrakhan rather then paying tribute!

I hesitated, wondering if this maybe was some trick, but I eventually agreed to their offer and Astrakhan and sorroundings were added to my realm. I still wonder what could have made the Khan more willing to give up his richest city, then paying a relatively modest tribute. I've heard it was because Khan Ulugh Muhammad had vowed not to pay tribute to the dogs holding Saraj and Astrakhan, and therefore was forced to give up Astrakhan in order to be able to get peace, but I don't know if I believe that. Regardless of the reason, we where in peace in little more then a year but then the Uzbeks once again declared war on the failing Timurids.

 

[unmerged(15337)]

I wish you good fortune with the Nogai. I had a very memorable and enjoyable game playing the Khazaks. Please be nice to them.

My experience with Sibir was just as you described. It is really tough to defeat them (at least, in the first century of the game).

Why wouldn't you have wanted Astrakhan? Without a province like that how will you ever get enough money to do anything?

Now are you going to move your capital to Astrakhan so that nobody else can annex it?

Why would you want to switch to Shiite? Even if you take a lot of Persian provinces surely you would have many more Sunni than Shiite, wouldn't you?

Again, good luck. Central Asia is the poorest region in the world as far as I know (I mean in EU, not necessarily real life!).

 

[Lofman]

I will be nice to the Khazaks if they are nice to me. Their province are even poorer then mine (atleast most of them), and I don't want to go in that direction.

The trouble with Sibir was minimal. If I really would have wanted any territory out of them I would have stayed in Kurgan when winter came (it was almost about to fall) but since I didn't want to loose more troops then necessary I withdrew for the winter and was content just to loot.

I didn't have enough warscore to be able to demand Astrakhan and I had gotten what I was hoping for the most, better maps.

No, or atleast not yet

Well the Persian provinces are quite rich, some have quite high tax value. Higher morale and a bunch of free CBs isn't too bad either . And most sunni provinces would probably be the poor sheep provinces of the steppes (which I may give to the remaining nations in those areas).

Yes but luckily Nogai is relatively (if you disregard starting treasury) rich and I've only gotten good events soo far. The "worst" event was a diplomatic move towards Georgia...

 

[unmerged(9046)]

Nice start. Be nice to Uzbeck! (It seems most of your readers have each played one of your neighbors in an earlier AAR, limiting your aggression!)

 

[Lofman]

Originally posted by Stroph1
Nice start. Be nice to Uzbeck! (It seems most of your readers have each played one of your neighbors in an earlier AAR, limiting your aggression!)

I will be as nice as possible and not conquer anything they have east of and including Khiva . But in order to get to Persia the shortest way is through the Uzbeks...

The next update will hopefully come tomorrow.

 

[Lofman]

Sheep and Rebels

As war against the Timurids started I rode south with the Nogay Horde to loot Transoxania and Afghanistan. However I was forced to return north when my traitorous brother Hasan raised an army and threatened Astrakhan. When I arrived with the Nogay Horde at Astrakhan, I quickly attacked my brothers army and crushed, whereas he fled and found protection for him and his sons in the Golden Horde. A mountain of the skulls of the fallen rebels was erected where the center of the battle had been, or atleast where it had been if the battle had truly had a center.

In the seventh year of my reign, when I once again had went south to loot the countryside around cities such as Bukhara in the Timurid Empire, I received an unexpected message. The inhabitants of the province Daghestan, shiite Turks they mostly where, had overthrown the rule of the Golden Horde in their lands, but their leader Khan Arslan ad-Dîn Abd'Allah had come to the conclusion that they needed someone stronger to protect them from the armies of the Golden Horde that surely would be on their way to reconquer the region. Khan Arslan's choices where limited, the christian Georgians to the west, the Ak Koyunlu Turks to the south-west, and us. Although the most probable choise would have been Ak Koyunlu, he chose us for their protection, probably since they shared our antagonism against the Golden Horde.

A few months later Hasan arrived with an army he had assembled in his exile within the Golden Horde and began a siege of Astrakhan. Once again his rebellion was crushed harshly, and another mountain of skulls was erected. Hasan once again fled to the Golden Horde, but this time the Khan Ulugh Muhammad killed him, which showed to be a not to wise decision. Soon afterwards Ulugh Muhammad was driven away and Hasan's son Sayyîd Ahmad took control in Saraj and executed those who had supported Ulugh Muhammad's decision to kill Hasan in the most gruesome ways imaginable.

A year later the Timurid ruler had gotten tired of my raids and agreed to pay a tribute to me. Seeing little use for the alliance with the Abu'l Khayr of the Uzbeks and Gîray of the Khazaks I left that alliance and instead allied myself with Qara Yülük 'Uthman of the Ak Koyunlu. Half a year late 'Uthman was assassinated and suceeded by the cruel Hamza who after a years rule declared war on Qara Koyunlu, who was aided by the powerful Mameluks. Seeing little use in aiding the cruel and obviously stupid Hamza, I decided not to care about Hamza's frenetical attempts to gain help in the war, as I strengthened my relations with the Mameluk Sultan. Unsurprisingly Hamza couldn't defeat the Qara Koyunlu and Mameluk armies, so he fled to his capital in Kurdistan, and managed to hold out for more then three years before finally giving in and paying tribute to the Qara Koyunlu.

Hamza's war clearly showed that being more powerful then your victim is to no use when the planned victim is wise and allied with those much stronger. The Qara Koyunlu had earlier lost Azerbaijan to the Ak Koyunlu and Iraq to the revived Jalayirids, but with their strong ally the Ak Koyunlu was no threat. It must be concluded that the power of diplomacy is not to be underestimated, and I hope my sons, Tîmûr, Mahmûd, Ali, Yusuf, Qasîm and Ibrahim, understands that, though I fear some of them won't. And I sincerely hope they won't underestimate the threat that Hasan's sons pose to them. But I still have much time left, so I will make sure they clearly understands these things and all other things one need to understand to rule before it is their turn.

 

[unmerged(9046)]

I really like the tone of this one. It reads like a true story of the Nogai.

Keep it up!!!

 

[Lofman]

Glad you enjoy it . I hope I will be able to come up with a new update for tomorrow, but it may be a little delayed.

 

[Lofman]

The update have been delayed and won't come until tomorrow.

But I've made use of my special rules for the first time, to move my capital and some cores. 50 imaginary ducats to the first one to guess where

 

[unmerged(9046)]

I would guess you made Astrakhan your new capital and made it one of your cores.

 

[unmerged(15337)]

OK, Stroph, you're probably right, but then which core did he give up? Probably doesn't really matter, all those provinces are worthless. But I'll cast my vote for Karabogaz. And I would gladly trade Karabogaz for Astrakhan. Go Nogai!

 

[unmerged(9046)]

I would guess he would give up a core that borders hostiles and is worthless. I do not have a game map in front of me soI don't know which one.

 

[Lofman]

Your guessed right. Astrakhan is the new capital. New cores are Astrakhan, Daghestan, Uralsk & Orenburg. Of the old ones Irgiz and Orsk remain as cores. Now here comes the update.


Khan of Astrakhan

I am Tîmûr, Khan of the mighty Nogai, Lord of Astrakhan and protector of Daghestan. As my father died in a hunting accident after having ruled for fourteen years, I became the new Khan. My five brothers looked greedily at the power I gained, but because of my strength they couldn't do anything but to accept that I was the new Khan, not any of them. They all decided to support me, but I can see treachery in their eyes, but as long as they serve me they will live. If they betray me they will surely die.

As I became Khan, similar events took place in the Khazak Horde as Gîray was succeeded by the ruthless Jâni Beg. After having ruled for almost three and a half year, I declared war on the vile Golden Horde, led by my vicious cousine Sayyîd Ahmad. The war had barely started before my brother Ali killed the local ruler Khan Arslan ad-Dîn Abd'Allah and convinced some of the tribes in Daghestan to join him in rebellion against my rule. Khan Arslan brother Aziz organized the defense of Derbent and prevented that city from falling in the hands of the rebels.

I commanded the Nogay Horde to move south from the looted lands of the Golden Horde towards the rebels in Daghestan. Outside Astrakhan I crushed the army of the Golden Horde and before the year was over Ali and his rebels had been defeated. Ali attempted to flee to the Ak Koyunlu but was captured by my forces. He begged for mercy, but no mercy is to be shown traitors, and I killed him with my own hands. Such is the fate of traitors!

When the new year came a new ruler took power within the Ak Koyunlu, namely Jihângîr the wicked. In the meantime i continued to ravage the lands of the Golden Horde, and after not even three years of fighting the Golden Horde saw themselves forced to give in to my demands, and I where given the provinces of Uralsk and Orenburg. The Golden Horde was severely weakened and soon where forced to surrender the provinces of Kazan and Tambow to the Prince of Moskva.

In the eigth year of my reign I established my capital in the city of Astrakhan, strengthening my hold over the northern Caspian shore, although at a small expense at the control over the poor steppes that where the core of our territory in the rule of my father and the early years of my reign. A mere year later the Golden Horde faced uprisings from their non-Mongol subjects, so Sayyîd Ahmad decided to subjugate them harshly, which made the revolts against Golden Horde rule even more severe and numerous.

At home our relations with the Khazaks were harmed when my brother Qasîm got in a fight with Jâni Beg's emissary, Mûsa, and nearly killed him. Mûsa's guards weren't as lucky, since they greatly underestimated the skill with which Qasîm handles a sword. According to Qasîm, Mûsa had insulted him, something Mûsa can neither admit or deny since he met with an unfortunate accident and drowned before he had the oppurtunity.

 

[Lofman]

The Gathering Storm

At the beginning of my eleventh year of rule, the old On Khan of Sibir died, leaving way for Taybuga Khan as the new ruler of Sibir. I met with him near Kurgan, where the usual procedures when two Khans met were followed. Relations between our two Khanates were reasonably good. A little more then a year later I received word that the Golden Horde had lost its control over the Crimea, where one Hajji Giray took control. The Golden Horde was to weak to even think of recapturing it so they just let it go. In the end of the same month the Timurid Emperor, 'Abd Allâh Mîrzâ, overreacted when he heard rumours about treason and decided to attack all traitors in a series of preemptive strikes. However they were poorly planned and led, and the increasing paranoia of the Emperor led to chaos, which we unfortunetaly was unable to take advantage of as the Uzbeks where in the way.

So after leading the Horde to Daghestan I two months later decided to conquer Georgia. The Georgians where also in a war against Candar, so I sent some gifts to the ruler of Candar to aid him in his efforts. Three months later, in the last month of the year, the ruthless and greedy Jâni Beg of the Khazaks declared war and together with Sibir and the Uzbeks they invaded our eastern provinces. Although we captured Tblisi I was forced to withdraw our troops from Georgia to face the armies of the treacherous Khazaks.

Usun Hasan, the new ruler of the Ak Koyunlu, sent words to tell me he was on my side, and he didn't break his word by stabbing us in the back, which to some would imply that he was a man of honour, as if anyone could be that. Nevertheless the tide of Khazak and allied invaders was turned back and the Khazaks was forced to pay a tribute after their army had been annihilated. The Nogay horde once again turned west against the Georgians who had managed to take control of our lands west of the river. The Georgian offensive came to an abrupt end as their entire army was annihilated, and a mountain of their skulls was erected near the border to Georgia.

After the war with Georgia had went on for a total of seven years, we held all of northern Georgia in our hands. The southern part was unfortunately controlled by Karaman, and rebels had taken over Emba, so the Georgians was forced to pay tribute so an example could be made of the rebels in Emba. When I returned to Astrakhan on my way to Emba I received word that Taybuga Khan of Sibir had fallen and that the new ruler of Sibir was Khwajâ`Khan.

Emba soon fell in my hands and an example was made of the rebels, none was spared. Some uprisings ocurred down south near the borders with the Uzbeks, but they were crushed swift and harshly. I soon created an alliance with the Khazaks and Sibir, as their alliance with the Uzbeks had fallen apart as the Khazaks and Sibir didn't want to join the Uzbeks against the Chagatai Horde, a probably wise desicion, as the Chagatai forces have as of now overrun and taken control of the eastern half of the Uzbek Kaganate. I will consider what to do in this matter. Things don't look bright for the Uzbeks, and they block the way to the disintegrating Timurid Empire, so I think aggressive action might be quite rewarding.

 

[unmerged(15337)]

Nice update! It looks like you're facing a nice challenge -- just as you begin to defeat an enemy at one front, you get hit by a different foe on the other side of your territory. I experienced just this many times in my Khazak game.

Speaking of the Khazaks, what are your relations with them? I am puzzled that they were angry enough to declare war against you, but then pleased enough with you to join your alliance very soon thereafter. Maybe it's a case that they are so isolated there is not much choice of enemies when they want to fight, nor much choice of friends when they want an alliance?

What year is it in your game now? I've lost track of the calendar.

Don't worry about whatever Stroph says, if the Uzbeks are in the way crush them!

 

[unmerged(9046)]

Oh well. It sounds like the Uzbeckis must die (sniff sniff). At least give them an honorable death in battle.

Nice update!

 

[Lofman]

jwolf: now the current year is 1458, my relations with Khazaks is only slightly above 0, it was higher but they did DoW me.

Stroph1: Well I will not take anything they have east of Khiva, to bad it looks like the Chagatai will do that, but what are you going to do

BTW the largest Uzbek Kaganate I've seen is the one in my AAR with Moldavia. There you can talk about big, since it has roughly (in addition to starting territory) Persia, Khazaks, Chagatai and parts of Afghanistan. And reasonable technology levels, so they are no weaklings exactly (better army then the remnants of the Ottomans IIRC). Should perhaps note that I for some time ago changed my GC so that the Khanates uses the tech groups they have in the later scenarios, so I'm in Muslim tech group, not that it really matters yet.

 

[Lofman]

The Unleashed Storm and the divided Khanate

In my 23rd year of rule I launched the Nogay Horde against the Uzbeks. The Uzbek Khan Abu'l Khayr managed to gain peace in the east by giving the Chagatai ruler Yûsuf Khân the provinces of Kirgisistan and Tadjikistan a year after my invasion. But this wasn't enough to save them. In the Golden Horde the Khan Sayyîd Ahmad died in their war against Muscowy, and was succeeded by a general named Ahmad. The Khan of Sibir also passed away and Mar Khan took control of the frozen forests and plains of the north.

After nearly four years of fighting the Uzbeks finally were defeated, and the provinces of Elbruz, Tabaristan, Lut and Meched in Persia and the Uzbek steppes west of Khiva where handed over to us. This however caused us to get a very bad reputation, although not unfounded, would make our neighbours a little more suspicious and eager to declare war against us, which in short is more trouble then neccesary. Also my realm was now almost to big for me to rule effectively enough alone. In order to maintain efficient Nogai rule of my realm I gave the title Khan of Astrakhan to my brother Qâsim. I hope he will remain loyal, but only time can tell.

The border between the lands I rule directly and thos Qâsim rule goes between the provinces of Alga and Emba. I set up my capital at Sari in Elbruz, and mostly concetrated my power within Persia. And so in the 27th year of my I was proclaimed Shah of Persia. I am now the Great Tîmûr, Supreme Khan of the Nogai and Shah of Persia.

The Shah of Persia

As my power in Persia grew, the vile and jealous Abû Sa'id of the Timurids declared war, an oppurtunity Jâni Beg of the Khazaks took to leave the Nogai alliance. But the Khazaks where easily replaced, and a few months later the Chagatai Horde joined the Nogai Hordes and Sibir against the Timurid Empire. Near the end of that year Jahan Shah of the Qara Koyunlu died, and Hasan 'Ali took control of the Black Sheep, seemingly contemplating to join the Timurids, and in that way preserve his rule over western Persia. But before he had decided the Timurids were beaten, and forced to cede the province of Khorasan to me and pay tribute.

Slightly more then two years later the Khazaks had gathered their army and Jâni Beg foolishly declared war on my powerful Khanate. The only thing Jâni Beg managed to do was assassinate the Sibir Khan so Obder Khan came to rule there. After nearly two years of fighting the Khazaks abandoned their Persian province of Awhaz and signed peace. Although peace would prove short-lived as Abû Yûsuf of the Qara Koyunlu declared war two and a half years later. But the Qara Koyunlu and their Arabian allies of Hedjaz and Aden proved unable to gain the upper hand and payed tribute less then one year later.

At that time the Chagatai declared war on the Timurids. Seeing little to gain from a war at this moment I after a few months signed a white peace with the Timurids. As peace settled Khorasan was fortified, and money was gathered to enable further fortification efforts in the poorly fortified provinces of Persia. Now after having ruled for almost 40 years, I'm certainly going to be remembered as one of the if not the most powerful of the Khans of Nogai. And Isfahan looks interesting to conquer, perhaps something to conquer as soon as our bad reputation has become sufficiently better.

 

[unmerged(23262)]

Really good aar. Taking on the mantle of the "steppe dummies". Tough stuff.
Where will you go here? Europe? China?

 

[Lofman]

Decades of War

Aftern Khan Tîmûr had ruled for fourty years, he was killed by rebels in Bouzatchi. There I, general Yagarchi, became Khan. The rebels where slaughtered, and thanks to my skills the troops wanted me to be the new Khan. And so I was proclaimed Grand Khan of the Nogai, and after returning to Sari I was also crowned Shah of Persia. At that time the Khazaks and Sibir also gained new rulers. Burunduq became Khan of the Khazaks, and Ibaq Khan became Khan of Sibir. Qasîm of Astrakhan who had counted on becoming the new Grand Khan, was infuriated when he heard about my ascension, but he wisely decided not to put his rule over Astrakhan at stake by challenging me.

It did not take long before the over-confident Timurid Emperor sent a warning, as if they could do anything. The first years of my reign was peaceful, the only thing that happened was that Rustam became the new ruler of the Qara Koyunlu. In the beginning of my third year as Khan the Chagatai Khan declared war on the Timurids requesting my assistance, which showed to be unnessecary as the Timurid government soon collapsed, something some shiite named Haidar used to take control of Timurid Persia and proclaim himself Shah of Persia. However this "Persia" was by no means strong, as three of the four provinces it consisted of was unfortified, and the only province even worthy of mentioning was Isfahan, a rich trading centre, and also the place where Haidar had set up his capital.

Haidars claim to be Shah of Persia, and aswell as being a shiite was a cause for war. In a quick war, slightly interrupted by a declaration of war by 'Abd al-Wahhâb of Aden, joined by his allies the Hedjaz and Qara Koyunlu. Soon 'Abd al-Wahhâb and his allies had to pay a tribute, and Haidar's successor in Persia, Ismâ`îl, was forced also forced to pay a tribute, as well as becoming sunni. Also he was forced to renounce any claim to the title of Shah of Persia.

A little more then a year after the peace, I decided to commision a Great Mosque, that however forced a loan, was certainly worth it as it brought stability to the realm. It didn't take long for the Chagatai to once again declare war on the Timurids, and as before we joined them in the war. Soon I heard news that some Muhammad Shaybani had become the new Khan of the Uzbeks. He seemed able but, unfortunately the Uzbek Kaganate is by no means powerful. The following year Qara Koyunlu declared war, not that they managed to accomplish anything, and soon they paid me a tribute. Soon afterwards the frightened Timurids decided to sign a separate peace and paid me a modest tribute.

A few months afterwards Qasîm of Astrakhan died and I there installed the loyal and trustworthy 'Abd al Karîm as new Khan. Unfortunately he isn't as competent as loyal but loyalty is more important if influence over Astrakhan is to be maintained, and he is competent.enough. When I had ruled nearly thirteen years, Ismâ`îl of Persia declared war supported by Baluchistan. After a quick war of only seven months, peace was signed. About half a year later, Mamuk Khan became the new ruler of Sibir.

Slightly more then two years later we once again joined the Chagatai against the Timurids. Unfortunately Qara Koyunlu declared war a few months later soon followed by the Uzbeks aided by the Khazaks. After the Uzbek declaration i decided it would be best to pay of Qara Koyunlu and then turn east. The plan worked and the next year, in addition to Abalak Khan becoming new ruler of Sibir, peace was signed with Uzbeks and Timurids. Unfortunately the inhabitants of Tabaristan where unhappy and raised a vast army, that I through my great skills and persistence, had crushed as it ventured south to besiege the loyal cities in the province of Awhaz. The remaining rebels tried to hold out in Tabaristan but soon their strongholds fell, and no mercy was shown to the rebel scum.