Preview: Dar al-Islam, revealing the Islamic world

[Landil]

Well, Misriyan actually falls outside the BMAC zone. However, it is clear that the oases of Khorasan are amongst the earliest inhabited regions in the world. Well known settlements of the Margiana part of the BMAC zone are Altyn-depe (36°51'31.69"N, 60°26'0.69"E), Anau (37°53'47.07"N, 58°32'43.35"E) and Gonur (38°12'49.38"N, 62°2'16.05"E).

In other news, preview 4 will hopefully be done either tonight or tomorrow.

[Diodredai]

Fixed that for ya:

In other news, preview 4 will be done tonight.

NOW GET TO WORK

[Landil]

A preview is never late, it arrives precisely when it means to.

[Slaytaninc]

A preview is never late, it arrives precisely when it means to.

Well, it should mean to show up very early

[ALFAJI]

Yes, there was. There is clear evidence of a medieval urban nucleus in the modern city of Bani Suwayf (or Beni Suef and a multitude of different transliterations). Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the medieval name of the city, and as such it is represented by its modern name. In any case, it was rather small, but a relatively important economic centre none the less.




It certainly was. Asyut was an important city during Ptolemaic and Roman times, but quickly lost importance when the Muslims took over, who gave preference to other settlements (like Minya). Indeed, until the 19th century, Asyut remained a backwards town, growing exponentially again when it became an industrial centre. Minya, on the other hand, was one of the largest and most important cities of Upper Egypt during the Middle Ages. Indeed, the famous 14th century Andalusian traveller Ibn Battuta claimed that it was superior to all other towns in Upper Egypt, and many contemporary (and earlier) Muslims joined him in this opinion (though according to my research, Qift was more important in the centuries before Ibn Battuta's life). Comparison of the satellite imagery of the medieval towns of Asyut and Minya also show that Minya was much larger.



Correct, it's not in. Unfortunately, it could not fit on the map because it's too close to Qift. If we had had the space, we would have included Qus, but as Qift was more important than Qus until at least the 14th century (and probably up to the 16th century) we had to give Qift priority.



I haven't been able to finish my revision of the Arabian peninsula yet, so it will feature at the very end of this series of previews. You'll have to wait, but it's going to be awesome

theres no evidence for beni swaif you can replace it will other important citys and if you want help i will help you for sure


and please make arabia as i told you to and i dont want to see a none historic arabia

[Landil]

theres no evidence for beni swaif you can replace it will other important citys and if you want help i will help you for sure

Sorry, but "there's no evidence" is not a counterargument and thus not something I will listen to. Also, even if it's not historical, what other cities would there be with which I could replace it? Researching Egypt is extremely difficult because Egyptologists have so far almost completely ignored medieval Egypt, which means that there is very little material to work with. Egypt as it currently is in DotS, is the result of many days of me researching every little thing I could find, while trying to figure out what information was true and what was actually false. If you think you have knowledge that I apparently lack, then please feel free to PM me about it and we'll discuss it

and please make arabia as i told you to and i dont want to see a none historic arabia

I think you mean: 'As I told your predecessor', because I've never received anything from you about Arabia. If you have valuable information about Arabia for me, then by all means, PM me about it, and I'll make certain that I will use it during my research, because I don't want to see a misrepresented Arabia either.

[mynameisowen]

Landil you're unveiling you're awesomeness to us more and more everyday. Everytime I look at this thread I try to rep but am rebuffed, please accept this message instead!

[raven63]

I'm from Arabia, and after seeing what Landil did with Egypt, I completely trust him with the fate of my homeland (in DoTS that is ). I mean, I personally can recognize the results of thorough research and tedious attention to details. I would only argue something here if I can back it up with references and concrete arguments.

"(Persia is not the correct name, it has never been in any place but Europe, blame the Greeks who called it Persis!)"

This is from a previous post. (too lazy to quote properly). Here is something interesting, the Arabs call Persians "Fors" or "Farsis". It's derived from the name of the region of Faris (Fars), on the Persian gulf. I've always thought that the word "Persia" and "Faris" must have the same origin.

[Landil]

I'm from Arabia, and after seeing what Landil did with Egypt, I completely trust him with the fate of my homeland (in DoTS that is ). I mean, I personally can recognize the results of thorough research and tedious attention to details. I would only argue something here if I can back it up with references and concrete arguments.

"(Persia is not the correct name, it has never been in any place but Europe, blame the Greeks who called it Persis!)"

This is from a previous post. (too lazy to quote properly). Here is something interesting, the Arabs call Persians "Fors" or "Farsis". It's derived from the name of the region of Faris (Fars), on the Persian gulf. I've always thought that the word "Persia" and "Faris" must have the same origin.

Correct, the Persians (Parsi, spelled Farsi since the adoption of the Arabic script, as it lacks a proper letter for the 'P'), are from Persia (Fars). What I implied however, is that the people of Iran, of whom the majority are of Persian ethnicity, call only the region in the south-west of Iran itself Fars, not the whole nation. The usage of the term Iran as a way to describe a unified nation stems back to the Old Persian word Aryanam, meaning 'Land of the Aryans', Arya being the Proto-Indo-European word for 'Noble'. This refers back to the ancient class system that is still found in all Indo-European cultures today, as social classes like the Aryana (nobility) and Magu (clergy, the original source of the English word magic) were instated by the Indo-European 'invaders' to gain control over the local people. The Indian caste system and the European feudal system (and various others) are both of the same heritage as this Iranian system. As the Indo-Europeans slowly assimilated the indigenous peoples, the usage of Arya as a way to describe a social class evolved into a denotation of national identity, namely Iran.

Landil you're unveiling you're awesomeness to us more and more everyday. Everytime I look at this thread I try to rep but am rebuffed, please accept this message instead!

Have you ever given me rep before? If so, you might have to rep someone else (like the most divine Resurrection and Hross, whom we do worship with great piety ) before you can rep me again.

[Hengest]

the Old Persian word Aryanam, meaning 'Land of the Aryans', Arya being the Proto-Indo-European word for 'Noble'. This refers back to the ancient class system that is still found in all Indo-European cultures today, as social classes like the Aryana (nobility) and Magu (clergy, the original source of the English word magic) were instated by the Indo-European 'invaders' to gain control over the local people. The Indian caste system and the European feudal system (and various others) are both of the same heritage as this Iranian system.

I disagree with that actually. The Hindu jati caste system is the best claimant to inheritance from the Aryans, but the concept is now disputed by academics who think that the Aryan class system is aetiological. The idea that the Indo-European cradle (only a theory after all) bred the class system through Europe is extremely dangerous politically because of its implications historically (both in its medieval context and of course modern history too) but also because it is very difficult to prove. It therefore smacks of projection, and the theory has forced itself on evidence rather than the other way around. The evidence was flimsy to start with in the 1800s but now it just seems irrelevant in the series of archaeological finds. The only piece of the Aryan idea left is the etymological aspect, which is only theory.

Of course class systems are not limited to Persia, India or medieval Europe anyway. But this Aryan theory has more to do with conservative and pretty dodgy science from the national romanticism period- mainly from lots of bloody Germans and Swedes!

[raven63]

Very interesting topic. One that I know next to nothing about! I will be reading about this - I've wondered before whether the Aryan race which people in Iran speak about is related to the European one - (which quite unfortunately has been stained with Nazism and white supremacy, but we should make a clear distinction). Also, at the risk of sounding like someone who has no idea what they're talking about (which is sort of true), sometimes it occurs to me that certain ideologies which have been adapted by groups which we all despise, (read: Nazism), contain a bundle of ideas which are now disregarded and tabooed, possibly for a good reason, but who can say? One drawback is that many academics stay clear of touching these topics for the fear of being crucified. Moral of the story: Just because white supremacists celebrated the idea of the Aryan race, and quite likely produced unreliable academic evidence for it, should not mean that modern historians should be discouraged from and stigmatized for addressing it in an unbiased way.

[ALFAJI]

I'm from Arabia, and after seeing what Landil did with Egypt, I completely trust him with the fate of my homeland (in DoTS that is ). I mean, I personally can recognize the results of thorough research and tedious attention to details. I would only argue something here if I can back it up with references and concrete arguments.

"(Persia is not the correct name, it has never been in any place but Europe, blame the Greeks who called it Persis!)"

This is from a previous post. (too lazy to quote properly). Here is something interesting, the Arabs call Persians "Fors" or "Farsis". It's derived from the name of the region of Faris (Fars), on the Persian gulf. I've always thought that the word "Persia" and "Faris" must have the same origin.

i'm from kuwait where do we say farsis !

[Landil]

I disagree with that actually. The Hindu jati caste system is the best claimant to inheritance from the Aryans, but the concept is now disputed by academics who think that the Aryan class system is aetiological. The idea that the Indo-European cradle (only a theory after all) bred the class system through Europe is extremely dangerous politically because of its implications historically (both in its medieval context and of course modern history too) but also because it is very difficult to prove. It therefore smacks of projection, and the theory has forced itself on evidence rather than the other way around. The evidence was flimsy to start with in the 1800s but now it just seems irrelevant in the series of archaeological finds. The only piece of the Aryan idea left is the etymological aspect, which is only theory.

Of course class systems are not limited to Persia, India or medieval Europe anyway. But this Aryan theory has more to do with conservative and pretty dodgy science from the national romanticism period- mainly from lots of bloody Germans and Swedes!

Perhaps I should have expanded more upon that point than I chose to, but then again, I was trying to explain it in a way that everyone would understand it, not just people who are obsessed with history . What I implied, is that class systems in regions of the world where cultures of Indo-European descent are dominant have aspects in common that can (I agree: in theory, but then again everything is theory) be linked back to the pre-divergent Indo-European society. That systems of thought can carry on through millennia seems clear enough, looking for example at religions like Hinduism or Judaism (and many others). However, these ideas change constantly, and as such a religion like Judaism is today completely different from what it was 2000 years ago. Similarly, class systems change overtime to serve the needs of the people that use them, but some core ideas can remain intact for an extremely long time.

I believe the theory of a proto-historic Indo-European culture being the origin of both the European and Indo-Iranian peoples to be quite likely. However, the two branches cannot be said to be the same. Indeed, the whole concept of white supremacy all stems from the desire of 19th and early 20th century European nations (Nazi Germany was only the last in the line of many) to justify their colonisation practices. The Orientalistic approach is, I agree, far too Eurocentric. What I find most likely is that the proto-historic Indo-Europeans were a very loose confederation of sedentary tribes living on the chernozem/mollisols black soil belt that stretches from the western borders of Ukraine to the eastern borders of Kazakhstan (so very comparable to the territorial expanse of the medieval Cuman-Kipchak confederation). This region features relatively flat and very fertile grass steppes, which provide perfect pasture grounds and good soil for agriculture. It is also a great habitat for horses, wild horses must have been aplenty here and the Indo-Europeans were likely quick to domesticate them. This also led to their invention of the chariot (as far as archaeology can provide us proof, the chariot originates from this region). In the 6th to 5th millennium BC, part of the western group of Indo-Europeans seems to have started migrating westwards. Migration is a very common human activity, whether it is because of environmental, economic or political reasons (the latter two arguably also being environmental ). In the case of the Indo-European migration, I think it most comparable with the Turkic migration: it came in waves, some following shortly after one another, some with centuries in between. I have no doubt however, that the Europeans, if they would have ever met their Indo-Iranian brethren somewhere during the 3rd to 2nd millennium, when the latter started migrating southwards to their current habitat, the two would have thought the other alien. Just as alien as when the Europeans and Native Americans met, or when American and Russian soldiers met each other at the Elbe river during the aftermath of WWII. My point is, humans change all the time, and the two branches of Indo-Europeans were indeed neigh incomparable by the time they stopped migrating, yet they did retain some core ideas from the time they still lived close together, because those ideas were just damn handy.

[raven63]

i'm from kuwait where do we say farsis !

"Farsis" is my attempt to make an english-like plural out of the word "Farsi", of course the arabic plural looks different, "Fors" but english speakers will then think that I'm talking about something different - I'm just bridging linguistic gaps to communicate an idea

Kull 3am winta b'7air wa 3eed mubarak, in 10 days that is

[Pyres Δt Varanasi]

This is Lovely and Awesome !

[Landil]

Where earthly and divine touch

بلاد الشام (Bilad al-Sham):

Bilad al-Sham, the Land of Syria, or the Levant in the heathen tongue of the Franks, a land both united and torn asunder by the faith in God. It was here that the Jews found and settled their promised land, where the prophet Jesus was born and died, his followers forging a religion that would last many centuries, and where, according to the Qur'an, Muhammad made his Night Journey to Jerusalem. It has not just been a cradle of religions, but also of civilisation in general. Many of the world's first urban communities sprouted up in Syria, on its coasts and fertile river plains, living off agriculture, fishing and trade. This prosperity still lingers, but for how long shall it be able to last under the pressures the region experiences?

More information on this situation is coming, but first, here is an overhead view of the region, showing off the geographical features:

Spoiler for Bilad al-Sham map 1: 

Spoiler for Bilad al-Sham map 2: 

Geography and economy:

The Land of Syria has been strongly urbanised region since many millennia ago. This has come to pass because of the land's geographical composition. In the west, Syria is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, from which coasts the land gradually rises until reaching heights where it forms mountain ranges that protect the fertile plains from the desert sands that form the eastern border of the region. In the northern part of Syria, the land is especially fertile, due to the waters of the Orontes and Euphrates rivers. These geographical features create a particularly pleasant climate wherein agriculture, and therefore human life, thrives. As mentioned before, the eastern border is formed by desert, the Syrian Desert to be precise. This desert is very inhospitable, with there being only a few paths that can safely be crossed to reach Mesopotamia, which lies on the other side. The most viable of these corridors is the one that passes through the oasis city of Palmyra, and then continues through the desert until it reaches the Euphrates at al-Busayrah, from where the road follows the river into Arabian Iraq. Lastly, in the south, the border of Syria is defined by the Negev Desert, and to the north-east of this desert lies the Dead Sea, one of the world's largest and most saline lakes.

Notable are the many cities on the coast, most of which have existed since several millennia BC, and which are usually exactly a day sailing apart. This system of coastal towns came into existence very early in history, as the coast of Syria has long been the place where the Asian and the European trade routes came together, and as such thrived from all the commerce.

It was not just the merchandise moving through the region that made it rich, but also the local produce. As I insinuated previously, agricultural produce was very important to Syria. It was one of the major producers of wheat in the Mediterranean, though it could not compete with neighbouring Egypt in this regard. Another important product was salt from the Dead Sea, from which, as it is one of the most saline lakes in the world, it was easy to collect great quantities of salt. Cotton, though a relatively new product, having come here from India through Iran only a few centuries before 1080 AD, was also becoming popular, especially amongst the farmers of the Orontes and Euphrates river plains.

Here are, as usual, two screenshots giving more detail on the various towns and cities of Syria, note especially the PSF density visible in the coastal areas:

Spoiler for Bilad al-Sham detail 1: 

Spoiler for Bilad al-Sham detail 2: 

Demography and politics:

As I mentioned previously, Syria was heavily urbanised for its time, and had been so since the dawn of civilisation. A great many cities had risen to splendour here, especially the great cities of Aleppo, Antioch, Damascus and Jerusalem.

Aleppo, or Halab in Arabian, was in 1080 AD the largest of these four and still is today. The city is of great antiquity, having been mentioned as an important city since the 3rd millennium BC. The Citadel of Aleppo, the tell of the original city, still stands at the centre of the city today to testify this long history. It commands a central position on a very fertile plain, and as such has always been the focus of the surrounding settlements.

Antioch, Antiok in Armenian or Antakya in Arabian, previously the Roman capital of Syria and one of the grandest cities of the Empire, was during the Middle Ages mostly in ruins. Its great walls still stood to protect it, but many of its houses, churches and other buildings had been deserted and were decaying slowly as time passed. In 1080, a modest population of Muslims and Christians resided here, ruled by the former Byzantine general Philaretos Brachamios, who led the Armenian Christians in their struggle against the Muslim armies that threatened this last foothold of Christianity in Syria.

Damascus, or Dimashq in Arabian, is, like Aleppo, one of the oldest cities in the world, some even call it the oldest. The city is very comparable to its northern neighbour, but has also ever been in its shadow. At about half the size of Aleppo, it is much smaller, but not less significant in local politics. The fact that it was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphs still left traces, still made the city a strong contestant among the cities of Syria.

Jerusalem, known by many names, but one in particular, al-Quds: the Holy. The ancient city overlooking the Dead Sea was for many people the centre of the world and the place where the earthly and the divine touched. Firmly in Muslim hands, by 1080 AD the city had attracted many immigrants, pilgrims and opportunists alike, making it the second largest city of Syria.

As said, there were many great cities in Syria during the Middle Ages, and amongst the greatest should also be counted Afāmiyya*, Busrā, Germanikeia, Ghazza, Hamā, Hims, al-Khunāsir*, al-Lādhiqīyya, Manbig, al-Ramla, al-Rasūfa*, Tadmur* and Tarābulus.

The political situation in Syria in the 11th century could hardly be called stable. The region prospered economically, yes, but it was also torn apart by great wars and divided into many factions. By 1070, the Seljuk Turks were marching through these lands, taking city by city from the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt and other, smaller rulers, yet even they could not bring this land under one banner. Ten years later, the region was de facto autonomous from the Sultan in Esfahan, divided between several Emirs who ruled the great cities and trusted one another little. The Fatimid Caliph meanwhile, waited his chance to strike back and take the rich lands that he had been forced from. And while he had allowed Christian pilgrims free travel in the Holy Land, the arrival of the Seljuks threatened to deny them this access, and as such the eyes of the Pope of Rome indeed were turned as well to Jerusalem, contemplating how Catholic Europe should answer to the threat these Turkish invaders posed. In another corner, the Armenians were the last Christians to hold out against the Seljuk onslaught, and were prepared to fight to the last man to preserve the region for Christendom.

All that the common man knew, was that something was brewing, most likely a great conflict that would disturb the lives of many thousands, that would bring calamity to the people who had already suffered so greatly and could only pray to God, whichever one it was they followed, that it would end.

* Because apparently you guys like these, here are the coordinates of some ruined cities:
- Afāmiyya: massive Greek/Roman ruins of Apamea, with an even older tell adjoining the walls, in the Middle Ages reduced in population size, but still quite large (35°25'12.50"N, 36°24'0.40"E)
- al-Khunāsir: very large ruins of an originally Greek/Roman city with an ancient tell forming the citadel, note that you have to look very carefully to see the full scope of the city walls (35°46'49.91"N, 37°29'54.81"E)
- al-Rasūfa: note that the ruins have two tiers, one still mostly intact, the other vaguely visible (35°37'35.86"N, 38°45'39.89"E)
- Tadmur: the immense ruins of the city known better as Palmyra (Tadmur being the correct Arabian and original Aramaic name), which still flourished during the Middle Ages, though less densely populated (34°33'13.38"N, 38°15'57.18"E)

** Please note, the screenshots are slightly outdated. Adana and Tarsos should be controlled by Armenia, this will be fixed as soon as possible.

Here ends this preview, I hope you have enjoyed it!

Well, that took bloody long, didn't it? After life kicked me in the groin repeatedly whenever I tried to get this preview made and put me to work on other things, and then lastly technical issues that postponed its release further, the fourth preview is finally here. Hopefully I'll have more time in the coming weeks than I had the last two months, and as such be able to get previews up more frequently, but I can't promise I will. However, there is a good chance that there will be at least one more preview coming up within a week's time

If you have time to spare, please feel free to go here and contribute to the mod, it would be much appreciated.

If there are any questions about this or the previous preview, or about anything else related to this project, please feel free to ask them and I will do my best to answer.

Cheers,

Landil

[The Kybrothilian]

Excellent work! Syria does look like a nightmare of PSFs, and it will surely be fun to try and capture the whole region as the Fatimids or crusaders, or try to hold it as Syria.

[Morrowgan]

Thanks for this nice preview ! Excellent work !

[Stath's]

Wow!!!

[Diglytron]

I really like the colours the mapper used on the map. It looks realy unique and nice. Great job team I like the historical correctness of the rivers, hills and settlements. This all together indeed will form a supermod.