Khwarasanid Persia

Faction Leader: Shapur V (38)

• Religiously Tolerant
  
• Loyal
  
• Dislikes Arabs
  
• Expansionist
  

Faction Heir: Eskander
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Economic System: Feudalism
State Religion: Zoroastrianism

Trade Relations:
Defensive Alliances:
Military Alliances:
Non-Aggression Pacts:
Satraps/Client States:

The Khwarasanids are the latest in a long line of ruling Persian dynasties running all the way back to Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC. With the fall of the Sassanid Empire following the Muslim Conquest of Persia in the 7th century AD, most of the local ruling Persian elite were either incorporated as vassals under Rashidun and later Umayyad authorities, or driven to the extremities of the Sassanid hinterlands. Accompanying the Arabian invaders was the ever growing power and influence of Islam, which very rapidly gained followers and replaced the Persian state religion of Zoroastrianism. The conversion of the majority of the Persian population to Islam was solidified over the next three centuries by several Muslim empires well into the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate. By the dawn of the 11th century AD however, Abbasid power has lost much of its iron grip over various Persian elites in the fringes of the Caliphate's jurisdiction.

In the far north of Persia south of the Caspian Sea, in the province of Khwarasan, an Abbasid vassal by the name of Ardashir Khwarasani seized an opportunity to reassert Persian authority against his masters and declared his own Kingdom.  In the regional capital of Abarshahr, Ardashir proclaimed the formation of a new dynasty that would continue the royal line of past Persian kings. Adopting the name Shapur, Ardashir was crowned Shahanshah Shapur V by his Zoroastrian high priest and declared the sovereignty of the Khwarasanid Dynasty. In full awareness of his realm's multi-religious composition, Shapur V adopted a policy of religious tolerance, yet still raised the status of Zoroastrianism back to prominence as his new Kingdom's state religion. Khwarasanid Persia's first challenges would be the consolidation of its military forces to resist retaliation from hostile and competing factions, as well as balancing the internal fragmentation caused from multiple religious faiths within its borders.

A) Khwarasan

• Semnan
  
• Sari
  
• Gurgan
  
• Sharud
  
• Khur
  
• Jurjan
  
• Mashhad
  
• Abashahr
  

Claims:

Territory of the Sassanid Empire:
Strong Claims
Weak Claims

The Khwarasanid military is comprised of two branches - an army and navy. The army was founded in 1005 AD by Shapur V and modeled closely on the old Sassanid military with some modern technological advancements. Shapur V reformed the old military apparatus that functioned under previous Abbasid authorities by raising a standing army that was under his sole command and staffed by officers who were directly appointed rather than chosen from local landed elites.

The army can be broken down into various types of soldiers:
1) Zhayedan "Immortals" (elite heavy infantry/cavalry), 5%
2) Savaran Cataphracts (elite heavy cavalry), 20%
3) Dehqan (light cavalry), 10%
4) Daylami (heavy infantry) 20%
5) Paighan (levy infantry), 45%


- A mounted Zhayedan guard


- A Savaran Cataphract


- A Dehqan cavalryman


- Daylami Infantry


- Paighan Infantry

The army also uses a vast array of siege weapons from ballistas, catapults, and onagers all the way to a unique brigade of "fire throwers" who specialize in the use of Naft powder.

The Khwarasanid navy is also heavily prized and is spread evenly between melee, ranged, and support ships rigged in the eastern style. A small host of fire ships should also be noted.