Preview: Dar al-Islam, revealing the Islamic world

[Cyprian2]

Glad to hear you're feeling better, Landil. Looking forward to the next one.

[fightermedic]

! looking forward !

[mynameisowen]

Me too!

[Landil]

The land of plenty

مصر (Miṣr):

For thousands of years, Miṣr ((the) country, better known as Egypt) has been a centre of human civilization, a land of peace and prosperity. The river Nile has for many thousands of years flooded its banks regularly, creating an environment that can be called almost perfect for humans to thrive in. So they did, and even though they were sometimes conquered by outsiders, or chose to adhere to a different religion, they always stayed Egyptians, bound to the land that provided them plenty. In 1080, Egypt was a land of two faces: one of unity, prosperity and order, and one of growing unrest, political instability and cultural differences.

I shall try to explain both these faces, and how they came to be, but first, here is an overhead view of the region, showing off the geographical features:

Spoiler for Miṣr map1: 

Spoiler for Miṣr map2: 

Geography and economy:

The most noticeable feature of Egypt is obviously the river Nile, the longest or second longest river in the world. There are many sayings about the Nile, and generally all agree that it is the source of all life in this region, as did Herodotos when he said that Egypt was "the gift of the Nile" in his masterpiece The Histories. Without the river, Egypt would simply be neigh inhabitable. The reason why the Nile is a source of wealth for the humans that live along its banks, is because of its reliable flooding. It always floods late August or early September, when the harvest has just taken place. New, fertile soil is deposited, and on that soil new crops are planted so that the cycle may begin anew. Because of this, the Egyptians have an almost infinitely sustainable source of food, and unless some terrible disaster occurs (like a draught), there is always a surplus. The Nile has three notable parts: the arc-shaped Delta, where about half of the region's inhabitants live, the Faiyum, a fertile basin fed by the Nile, and the rest of the river, which forms a long, thin sliver of fertile land surrounded by desert on both sides. Historically, these parts of Egypt have respectively been known Lower Egypt, Middle Egypt, and Upper Egypt.

This brings us to the second feature of Egypt: the desert. The Sahara desert covers more than 90% of the surface of Egypt, flanking both sides of the Nile. Due to their inhospitable nature, these Eastern- and Western Deserts have few inhabitants, so that almost the entirety of Egypt's populace lives along the Nile.

Due to the fertility of the Nile's floodplain, the Egyptian have always been able to thrive from their agricultural produce. Early in the history of the Egyptian people, they started trading grain with their neighbours, for they had no such plenty as the Egyptians. Later, different crops were also grown with success, and by 1080 AD, Egypt was by far the greatest producer of many agricultural products, noticeably cotton, flax, sugar and wheat. Flax in particular was an important product, as it was used in the country's largest industry: the manufacture of linen. Flax was grown all across the Nile's length, being sold by farmers to middlemen, who sold the flax to the great linen manufactories in cities like Dumyāt, Qift, and Tinnīs. These manufactories employed hundreds of people, though it must be mentioned that most of the linen production was still in the hands of small-scale, family-owned businesses. The cultivation of sugarcane was also a large sector, sugar being the only sweetener available to the medieval human apart from honey, which was much more difficult to produce. Egypt, especially the Nile Delta, had the perfect climate for the plant: high temperatures and fertile, moist soil. Cotton was a fairly new product, and because of the popularity of linen in Egypt, it saw limited production for the use in the textile industry. Egypt was still one of the few places where the crop was actually grown, however, so it was an important export product, especially when demand from Europe increased.

Apart from its agricultural products, there was one thing in particular that Egypt was richer in than most other parts of the world, and indeed this product was the desire of every man: gold. As rich as the Nile's water made Egypt, so as well did the mountains that spring up from the sands of the Eastern Desert. Since the early dynasties of Egyptian kings, gold has been mined in the south-eastern part of Egypt in great quantities, bringing immense wealth to its rulers. In the 11th century, it was one of the greatest sources of gold in the world, rivalled only by the mines in the tropical rainforests of West Africa and the Hungarian mines in the Carpathians.

Medieval Egypt had almost undoubtedly the strongest economy in the world after China, unrivalled as producer of both agricultural and artisanal goods throughout the Mediterranean and beyond until the 14th century, when regions like Flanders and the Po valley in Italy became to rival Egypt's economic power. Egypt's economic success can be explained by the region remaining relatively peaceful and centralised when surrounding regions were plunged into a period of decentralisation and economic decline, combined with its very sustainable economy.*

Before we go on to the next part of the preview, here are two screenshots giving more detail on the various towns and cities of Egypt:

Spoiler for Miṣr detail1: 

Spoiler for Miṣr detail2: 

Demography and politics:

The heart of Egypt has always been at the part of the Nile where the river splits up into several distributaries. In ancient times, the city of Memphis lay here, a city which often fulfilled the role of political and religious capital. Though during Ptolemaic and Roman rule, the capital shifted to the coast, this 'neck' of the Nile never lost its importance. When in 642 AD the Arab Muslims finalised their conquest of Egypt from the Roman Empire, this part of Egypt again became its heart. The Muslims built several successive cities here, each the capital of the country. The last of these cities, Cairo, became the undisputed capital of the Fatimid dynasty and all Egyptian dynasties thereafter. Under the Fatimids, this city bloomed, and by 1080 AD, it had more than 50,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities of the Dar al-Islam. This bustling metropolis had inhabitants of all ethnicities and religions, and was undoubtedly the economic, political and religious centre of the nation.

But Cairo was not the only city of Egypt, certainly not. Of all inhabited regions of the world, the banks of the Nile river were amongst the most densely populated and highly urbanised. Alexandria, the old capital of Egypt under the Ptolemaics and Romans, was still a very large city and an important sea port, though it was just a shadow of what it had been in its days of splendour. Other cities had risen to grandeur under the Muslim reign alongside Cairo, especially Qift in Upper Egypt, which was the main artery of the trade in gold and spices, and Tinnīs** in the Delta, a large sea port and likely the largest producer of linen in the world during the 11th century. Other large cities included Dumyāt, Farama, al-Mahalla and al-Minyā.

In 1080 AD, Egypt was firmly under the control of the Fatimid Caliph, Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh, who resided in Cairo. The Fatimids where a dynasty of Arabian Shi'a Muslims, and though they were powerful, a great threat loomed over the palace in 1080. Just a few years before, the Fatimids had lost their Levantine possessions to the Seljuq Turks, cutting off an important portion of the state's income. The impact was not just economical, put also political: the trust of the Egyptian elite in the Caliph was shaken, and while no open rebellion had yet broken out, there was much unrest below the surface. This unrest was not something the Caliph could use, certainly not because he was not just the secular, but also the ecclesiastical leader of the nation, and the religious balance was not in his favour either. In the 11th century, around half of the Egyptian population still adhered to the Christian faith, especially to the Coptic Church. With Sunnite Muslims forming an important segment of the population as well, the Shi'ites were a clear minority. The religious segregation limited the Caliph power greatly, with the Cairo region being the most loyal to him, followed by the Delta region. Upper Egypt was dominantly Christian however, and the Caliph unpopular, so unrest could easily be caused here. It is the question whether or not the Fatimid Caliph can regain the trust of his fellow Muslims, retain control of his Christian subjects, and keep the Egyptian economy running to fuel his wars...

* If you'd like to know more about this specific subject, I'd recommend reading Chris Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome, which explains the European and Middle Eastern Early Middle Ages in great detail and certainly provides much food for thought.

** Tinnīs is a little known medieval Egyptian city (shame on you, Egyptologists, for not caring about medieval Egypt!), its ruins still completely visible at 31°12'1.72"N, 32°14'3.89"E. The city was destroyed and abandoned in 1227 AD, but in 1080 AD it was the third largest city of Egypt and an important economic hub. Many mods have Dumyāt (better known as Damietta) as their third provincial capital in the Nile Delta, but Tinnīs was clearly more important until its destruction, and it is this destruction that moved Tinnīs previous role to Dumyāt and made it so important. In fact, I believe we are the only mod that include Tinnīs, which shows once again how much we care about historical accuracy


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

Finally, the third preview has arrived! Sorry for the long wait guys, I will try to supply you with frequent previews from now on. Hopefully I can pull off one a week, but don't be surprised if I skip a week, life's busy for me at the moment. That's really all I can promise, hope you stick around for more Islamic goodness!

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

[Lуra]

This is awesome.

~Lyra

[Judeman266]

I like that this mod attempts to focus on historical accuracy but the mod goes into the 15th century. I think it's more important to focus on cities that are important for the majority of the campaign. Using Tinnīs instead of Damietta (Damyut) is a personal preference, not a historical accuracy. Tinnīs is not in the campaign when many significant wars and campaigns are happening in Egypt, while Damietta is involved in these wars very much. I know it won't be changed but it's worth mentioning.

[Landil]

I like that this mod attempts to focus on historical accuracy but the mod goes into the 15th century. I think it's more important to focus on cities that are important for the majority of the campaign. Using Tinnīs instead of Damietta (Damyut) is a personal preference, not a historical accuracy. Tinnīs is not in the campaign when many significant wars and campaigns are happening in Egypt, while Damietta is involved in these wars very much. I know it won't be changed but it's worth mentioning.

Historical accuracy in the Total War franchise works with what you could call 'fire and forget'. As a modding team you can make the mod's start date as historically accurate as you want (within the limits of the game engine), but as soon as you press the 'end turn' button, the game becomes randomised and most you can do to make that process historical is by guiding it, by providing the player with historical units, buildings, cities, characters and events. You can even simulate certain events through scripting, but we are against forcing events upon the player, and instead have triggered events that can, but not necessarily will happen. The point is, that Total War is not a historical simulator, and we try to not make it such.

Tinnis was until its destruction more important than Dumyat as far as my research can conclude this. Indeed, it was not unusual for a city to be destroyed or otherwise hampered and have a different city in the vicinity take over its functions (an example that comes to mind is that when Antwerp's harbour was blockaded during the Eighty Years War, its economical function passed to Amsterdam).
Also, we do in fact look at the longevity of a settlement when deciding whether it should be in the game or not, and Tinnis in fact survived about half of our game's timespan, so yes, it does qualify in my opinion. Lastly, you seem to act like Dumyat is not in the mod, which is wrong: it's a PSF

[ALFAJI]

Historical accuracy in the Total War franchise works with what you could call 'fire and forget'. As a modding team you can make the mod's start date as historically accurate as you want (within the limits of the game engine), but as soon as you press the 'end turn' button, the game becomes randomised and most you can do to make that process historical is by guiding it, by providing the player with historical units, buildings, cities, characters and events. You can even simulate certain events through scripting, but we are against forcing events upon the player, and instead have triggered events that can, but not necessarily will happen. The point is, that Total War is not a historical simulator, and we try to not make it such.

Tinnis was until its destruction more important than Dumyat as far as my research can conclude this. Indeed, it was not unusual for a city to be destroyed or otherwise hampered and have a different city in the vicinity take over its functions (an example that comes to mind is that when Antwerp's harbour was blockaded during the Eighty Years War, its economical function passed to Amsterdam).
Also, we do in fact look at the longevity of a settlement when deciding whether it should be in the game or not, and Tinnis in fact survived about half of our game's timespan, so yes, it does qualify in my opinion. Lastly, you seem to act like Dumyat is not in the mod, which is wrong: it's a PSF

was there any city in that time called bani suwayf !

and i dont think minya is more important than asyut in that time

and i dont see the important city of qus in upper egypt

and i really would like to see arabia which i helped you a bit with it in the team

[Landil]

was there any city in that time called bani suwayf !

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.

and i dont think minya is more important than asyut in that time

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.

and i dont see the important city of qus in upper egypt

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.

and i really would like to see arabia which i helped you a bit with it in the team

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

[Mads]

How do you get sattelite imagery of medieval towns?
just curious.

[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

[The Kybrothilian]

It will be long and arduous journey of walk and conquest along the Nile, through all the cities, if you wish to conquer Egypt. Nice work.

I like that this mod attempts to focus on historical accuracy but the mod goes into the 15th century. I think it's more important to focus on cities that are important for the majority of the campaign. Using Tinnīs instead of Damietta (Damyut) is a personal preference, not a historical accuracy. Tinnīs is not in the campaign when many significant wars and campaigns are happening in Egypt, while Damietta is involved in these wars very much. I know it won't be changed but it's worth mentioning.

When they talk about historical accuracy, they don't want to say that it should be maintained as much as possible throughout the whole campaign. The destruction of Tinnis isn't inevitable, so there is no reason why they shouldn't be there instead of Damietta.

[Diglytron]

Nice preview, good read. +rep!

[Mads]

Just ing amazing. Love your previews!

[Los San Patricios]

Amazing preview, the map looks fantastic as well (as always). With every (map) preview released I change my mind about what faction to play first! This mod is going to be absolutely amazing when released.

[Cyprian2]

Truly stunning work, Landil. Great essays, too.

[mynameisowen]

Once again, amazing

One Mod To Rule Them All

[Outrider]

Looking good!

[Slaytaninc]

I can't wait to retake Anatolia, Syria and Palestine, and then invade and seize Egypt

[fightermedic]

*cheer*