Rulcarian Jihad

The Rulcarian Jihad was a conflict in Rulcaria (or Rulkhar) lasting from 1840 to 1848 between Islamist rebels (Mujahideen) and the state of Rulkhar, though it only saw actual fighting in the years 1840-1843 and 1847-8. It was fought concurrently to the Imperial Civil War.

## Origin

The conflict arose when the state of Rulkhar refused the "Pan-Inecurian Islamic Freedom Petition" delivered on the 20th of August 1840, which was supported by the signatures of not only every single registered imam in Rulkhar but in Suqohayn as well (a heavily Islamised region of Kalzuranur). The petition called for all majority-Muslim areas to have the freedom to fully govern themselves according to Sharia law. The state of Rulkhar refused, and both Rulkhar and Kalzuranur sent military forces into their Muslim areas, anticipating a revolt. When exactly the Muslims came to the decision to take up arms against the state is unknown, but it was in the final days of August.

On the 2nd of September, the imams and governors of Aukan came to the conclusion that they did not merely want autonomy from Rulkhar, but they wanted full separation; they declared themselves the Emirate of Aukan (Aukani: *Amrat Aukani*) and hoisted a new flag which they called the Green Confession. Momad Agranor, the wealthiest and most powerful of the Counts of Aukan, was chosen as the Emir (or *Ammer*). It is important to note that they did not declare independence - all of them still swore fealty to the Emperor, and made this fact as clear as they could - but they did declare separation from Rulkhar.

## Course of the War

Throughout 1840 to 1843, the Mujahideen of Rulkhar drove out the state forces from their lands with minimal defeats, and they began to accrue Islamic volunteers not only from around Inecuria but also from the Middle East. As the state of the war against the Republicans began to worsen in Rulkhar, the two sides unofficially agreed to an armistice, as the Mujahideen had absolutely no love for the Republicans; the two violently clashed in 1845 when a small Republican army was completely destroyed by the Mujahideen at Mukhabol. The Mujahideen then had a tense stand-off with the Loyalist army chasing the Republicans for about a week before the Loyalist commander decided he had better things to do and retreated to fight the Republicans elsewhere.

As the Rulcarian state forces were paying little, if any attention to the Mujahideen, a Natrakhsanian militia group calling itself the Warpath began to assemble and started attacking the Mujahideen from February of 1847. The Warpath proved to be extremely brutal, mutilating the corpses of the dead and torturing prisoners of war, and attacking any Muslim they found. The Warpath grew increasingly radical and genocidal in its aims, and soon openly declared its intention to exterminate the Muslims of Rulkhar. This, however, only emboldened the Mujahideen, who now knew that their situation was victory or death.

### General Tolyan Arrives

In October of 1847, General Tolyan Asteghvar assembled an army supplemented by forces lent by Onshi to pacify the Muslims. The exact size of this force is unknown, but it is known that it was lesser in size than the Mujahideen, but possessed much artillery whereas the Mujahideen had six field guns at most.

General Tolyan was not merely considered an enemy by the Mujahideen, but a traitor; he was a Muslim himself, and the brother of one of the major imams leading the rebellion, a man named Habun. Many of the Mujahideen labelled him *fasiq* or *fajir*, and some went as far as to call him *kafir* or even *munafiq -* whereas Habun, for his part, had no great hatred for his brother but rather disappointment, and he constantly tried to convince Tolyan through letters to join the Jihad.

General Tolyan sent a letter to his brother Habun in which he stated that he did not truly wish to fight the Mujahideen, as he was sympathetic to their cause, but he did stress that he would if he had to, as he would be loyal to his country and his Emperor to his dying breath. He made it known to the Mujahideen that he would attack the Warpath first, labelling them a "rogue criminal organisation of evildoers".

Tolyan tracked the militia down near Hatslai in November, and proceeded to attack them - but unbeknownst to him, the Mujahideen were watching his actions, and commenced their own attack on the rear flank of the Warpath. Together, the two completely annihilated the militia. General Tolyan tried to take prisoners, but the Mujahideen shot and bayonetted all the militia who tried to surrender, and Tolyan was not in the mood to fight his spiritual brothers to protect murderous *kafiruna*, so he retreated and allowed them all to be killed.

Tolyan was then distracted by the bellowing call of a tall Aukani Orc named Dinag, who demanded that Tolyan fight him in single combat to the death. To the strong protestations of his subordinates, Tolyan agreed, and the two duelled in the sight of both the Loyalist army and the assembled Mujahideen. Tolyan won the duel, slaying Dinag, but his left shin was shattered and badly mangled; the leg later had to be amputated. Honouring the principle of single combat, the Mujahideen retreated.

### Battle of Bachumaan

The Mujahideen and the army of General Tolyan proceeded to dance around each other, each one hesitant to attack the other, until they finally clashed in February of 1848 at Bachumaan. General Tolyan demanded the surrender of the Mujahideen, which they refused, and so he attacked.

The superior artillery of the Loyalists was devastating to the Mujahideen, but they quickly advanced upon the Loyalists, coming so close to their lines that the artillery could no longer fire without endangering friendly soldiers. The Mujahideen delivered a single volley before charging with bayonets lowered into the Loyalist lines, an attack the soldiers in purple - many of which were relatively new conscripts - were unprepared for. The Mujahideen cavalry also attacked the Loyalist cavalry, preventing them from swooping around the rear of the Mujahideen infantry. The bulk of the Loyalist infantry began to break and run after a mere ten minutes, and even the experienced grenadiers began to have their morale shaken before General Tolyan accepted the reality of the situation and called for his soldiers to lay down their arms.

Tolyan and his soldiers were taken prisoner. Many of the Mujahideen wanted Tolyan's head, but his brother Habun threatened anyone who so much as touched Tolyan with execution, declaring him to be under his personal protection. Habun and the other leading imams, as well as Emir Momad of Aukan, then delivered a message to Emperor Jacras himself, asking for a meeting and informing him that they had Tolyan and several thousand Imperial soldiers as hostages. Jacras agreed to meet in the neutral ground of Rukawa, a small city in Onshitama which was lucky enough to be untouched by the civil war.

### Negotiations at Rukawa

Emperor Jacras was himself actually fairly sympathetic to the cause of the Mujahideen, and said to the imams and Emir Momad that he had been planning to do something about the "Muslim Question" for quite some time; he proceeded to berate them for not coming to him directly to begin with. Jacras then laid out his terms.

Jacras agreed to give all of the Muslim-majority communities of the Empire, not just the Rulcarians, the freedom to create their own self-governing bodies which would rule according to the principles of Sharia. However, he added two conditions; he utterly prohibited the use of the death penalty for blasphemy, as this had been prohibited by Imperial Law since the 17th century, and he also utterly prohibited the practice of polygamy, as this law was even more ancient, inherited from a law passed in the Kingdom of Ascaria by King Mathados the Founder at some point in the 590s BC. Jacras also agreed to separate Aukan from Rulkhar and have it be a distinct state within the Empire, but in return he would demand the taxes and soldiers expected of a fully-fledged Imperial Country.

After a few minutes of debate amongst themselves, the representatives of the Mujahideen agreed to these terms, and handed over their hostages to the Emperor. Jacras travelled with the Mujahideen back to their country, where he would tell the government of Rulkhar of his decision in person. The Rulcarians were furious, and after a short and very heated debate, declared that whilst they would accept the self-government of the Muslims with "extreme reluctance", they would not accept the separation of Aukan, and neither would their people; they said to the Emperor that they could not guarantee public order in their country if this decision was made. The Emperor grew incensed at this rebellion, threatening to execute them all as traitors, to which the Rulcarians flatly stated that he would have to deliver on this threat, because none of them would accept it.

Emperor Jacras weighed up the options and decided to not execute the entire aristocratic class of Rulkhar, instead reneging on his decision to support the Emirate of Aukan. However, he did tell Emir Momad that he had not abandoned the issue, and would return to it at a better time.

True to his word, Emperor Jacras returned in person to Rulkhar shortly after the turn of 1852, after the Civil War's end. He did not demand that the Rulcarians separate Aukan into a distinct state, but he did demand that they recognise the existence of the Emirate of Aukan as an autonomous vassal state under themselves. The aristocracy of Rulkhar saw this demand as more reasonable, and they had both grown ashamed of their earlier defiance and were exhausted from the tribulations of the devastating war - so they agreed to these terms and signed them into law on the 29th of January.