Jafarid Empire of the Holy Successor
The Empire of the Holy Successor was technically founded following the death of the Holy Prophet Jafar Illahia, however modern discussions of the history of the region do usually refer to the empire while Jafar was alive by the same name to avoid confusion. Since Jafar didn't name the Empire, it might also be referred to as the "Jafarids", after the dynasty. In this discussion, the former format will be used.
The Empire of the Holy Successor is closely tied with the Illahic faith, which during its purview was completely united, young, and full of fervent new converts. This gave the Empire a highly motivated based to expand its lands and conquer heathens. For this reason, they were able to unite far more of the region than previous Empires, and went a long way towards reshaping the demographics and sociopolitical standards of the region. Though many of these changes are unrecognizable today following Orcish migration to the region, the Empire of the Holy Successor was one of the most defining (and by far the largest) Al'salaan state to ever exist.
History
The Empire of the Holy Successor rose to great heights from humble beginnings. The events that set in motion it's rise occured over a span of several months, when a man named Jafar was gravely ill. Jafar was the leader of one of the Al'salaan dryland tribes. The drylands, while not true desert and more like steppes, have always been very dry and with limited water, and during this period there were no centralized states in the region. Jafar's illness was severe, and his death would have thrown his tribe into strife given that he was 30 years old and heirless. In the pre-Illahic faith of the Al'salaan, omens were greatly used, and Jafar's omens had continually stated that he should not marry for many years. His death would have thrown the tribe into great disarray.
But this was not to occur. To his people's surprise, Jafar recovered, and when he did he was a changed man. Ranting and raving while ill, many assumed he had gone insane. However, Jafar emerged with a fully developed theology and began preaching it to his people. During his illness, he was visited by a being he claimed was God- the one god. He declared that the omens and various traditions the people had been following were totally wrong, and that they were the work of evil spirits known as the Fallen. Although it didn't catch on at first, the conversion of the tribe's shaman went far in convincing the people and by 1095 the tribe was fully converted. Jafar began sending his people out into the lands to spread the religion and soon began to amass a number of followers among different nations. This naturally angered the shamans and rulers of the tribes, and many of them attacked Jafar's in 1103. After a 3-year war, Jafar and his followers emerged victorious, subjugating the tribal leaders and leading to the conversion of many of them. At this point, having united almost the entirety of the drylands, Jafar declared that he would spread the faith, by war or peace.
Backed by his powerful forces of converts, who were promised many things in return for their service, he swept across the land. The coastal lands were swiftly conquered, and conquests inland also proved fruitful. The city-states of the Ægyians proved tougher, but fell to the army, which had become massively swelled by converts. However, campaigns down the river valley were not so simple as besieging cities, and never managed to fully conquer the upstream Ægyians. The harsh terrain and limited fields of battle allowed the Ægyians to muster effective defenses, and interest in the region fizzled out as northern expansion proved more profitable. The disorganized Sholi, while having many highland possessions which could not be fully conquered during Jafar's reign, were easily conquered and their river valleys proved both productive and a major source of new converts.
Jafar's death in 1119 saw the Al'salaan totally united under the Empire, the Sholi almost half-conquered, and the Ægyians neutered as a potential rivalling force. However, though the Empire was large, it was far from stable, and Jafar's eldest son, Durvar Illahar Ali Rashar w Jafarid, was young yet, having only been born in 1105. Most of his reign had to be spent dealing with various rebellious groups- those who had not converted and wished to restore the old faith, old aristocrats who wanted power but cared little about religion, and disgruntled convert tribes, angry at not recieving as much loot as promised. Looming in the background to all this were the Sholi, of whom many were in small communities within the purview of the Empire but not yet pacified and who raided constantly. Durvar was critical to the survival of the Empire, stabilizing its borders instead of rushing ahead onto more mass conquest that would leave an even more dangerously overextended empire. By the time of his death, it was clear that the Holy Successorship was here to stay, as zealous pilgrims converted en masse and buoyed the empire. Though much of the empire retained traditional faiths, over the years of Durvar's reign the Illahic faithful did become a slight majority.
The Jafarid successors after Durvar were not as successful in expanding the empire as Jafar, but nonetheless competant rulers. During the reign of Abdulhamid, the Ægyian islands were invaded and pacified in a decade-long war (the islands, though originally posessions of the mainland cities, had become independent during Jafar's conquest there). Unsurprisingly, having just been taken over by force, as well as being treated poorly by the conquerors and being slightly isolated, the islands were a hotbed for resistance, and besides a few just of the coast, never converted to the Illahic faith en masse. Abdulhamid, as one may have guessed, was interested in naval pursuits, and opened up the country to trade with the wider world, establishing a powerful merchant and military marine. Besides the war with the Ægyians, he used this navy to conquer the island of tbd, one of the very few places where the tbd culture still existed. His son, Jafar had some success against both the inland Ægyians and the Sholi, but due to his short reign he ultimately failed to accomplish much of note.
Following Jafar II came Abdulhamid II, a long-ruling Successor and the final undisputed Jafarid Succcessor. His reign of 42 years was the longest of any Jafarid, and he was able to live a full life. Abdulhamid was a major reformer, codifying the disparite rules and laws of the Illahic religion into a cohesive whole, and rooting out many of the various pre-Illahic folk beliefs that had snuck their way into the veried texts over the years. This lead to increased proselytizing, and the overseas converts really began to come into their own. The Illahic faith saw the first national conversions since the time of Jafar, spreading the word around the continent. Abdulhamid was also a competant military leader, defeating almost the entire rest of the Sholi and incorporating them. Later campaigns to try to pacify desert regions were not so successful, and so Abdulhamid returned to religious codification.
The end of Abdulhamid II's reign was a chaotic time which led to the fracturing of the Empire, and it has proven impossible to truly figure out what happened because all records were destroyed (probably on purpose). During the final years of Abdulhamid II's life, he had been deep in discussion with his uncle and various members of the clergy. His uncle, Adar Illas Ali Shahr w Jafarid, was actually around the same age as him (having been born to Abdulhamid I and his much younger 4th wife) and the two had long been confidants. Ali Shahr was also a member of the clergy, who Abdulhamid II had worked with for many years to codify the faith. All agree that Ali Shahr and Abdulhamid II agreed to turn the Holy Successorship elective, as they felt future generations of Jafarid would not be sufficiently holy to truly spread the word properly. However, many claim that Ali Shahr either manipulated Abdulhamid II into doing so or was an evil wizard who used mind control on him throughout the latter years of his life. The Al'fatimi sect are the primary followers of this belief that Ali Shahr was an evil wizard, pointing to the suspicious closeness between him and Abdulhamid, the swift deaths of Durvar II and Hamidhal I, and his long life as proof.
Either way, the Jafarids broke with the clergy following the death of Abdulhamid II, and the empire sundered in two. Despite the clerical-backed side winning, the Empire was not reunified, and various regions remained independent. The Jafarid line was broken, and the new dynasty in charge, the Uthmarids, would not hold the Holy Successorship themselves, being forced to share power with the Al'shahri Holy Successor, who from then on was always the head of the clergy.
Holy Successors (Including Jafar, Holy Prophet)
- Jafar: 1106-1119
- Durvar: 1119-1152
- Abdulhamid: 1252-1193
- Jafar: 1193-1202
- Abdulhamid: 1202-1246
- Durvar (disputed): 1246-1247
- Hamidhal (disputed): 1247-1252
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