House Zabid of Oman

To march or not to march...

Emir Jabir has been ruling for 15 years now. He's 60 years old and has so far failed to produce a son. A 4th daughter Shola was born off his marriage with Emira Dilar. Jabir decided to marry for the 3rd time to a seventeen year old Bedouin whose father is the Sheikh of neighbouring Bahrain. Emira Parand is a calm and gregarious person and promised to produce a son for him.

Emir Jabir's inability to produce a son thus far has turned him into a shy and timid person which isn't helping him in that department, nor in state politics and diplomacy. 

During the holy month of Ramadan in the year 1120, Emir Jabir gets very ill but decides to continue his fasting. Jabir even agrees to release his imprisoned cousin who is still furious about getting stripped from all his titles 10 years ago. Jabir's decision to continue his fast against the advice of his team of doctor's has cost him dearly. He became very weak and barely capable of going about his day without help. Jabir is now convinced that his Emirate that his grand fathers before him worked so hard to setup the opportunity for him to usurp it will land in the hands of a coward member of his dynasty. He decides to retreat to the Mosque of Qutuf to think careful about his next steps.

Jabir finally decides to set his own brother up, a well balanced diplomat and his Emirate's steward for succession. He revokes the Mosque of Qutuf from his newphew and awards it to his brother. Months later in a trafic turn of events his brother caught the Great pox that was spreading the southern provinces and died at the younge age of 45. His son Qawurd although a well rounded individual lacks the diplomatic skills required from an Emir. He faces an even tougher decision now, which nephew is the more suitable Amir?

The Emir's health conditions worsened and at the age of 63 he became incapable of leading the emirate. His second wife Dilar the genious was appointed regent on his behalf to take care of his estate while he slowly dies. The matter of the heir has been settled and it will be Qawurd who will become Emir. He finally died comatose in bed at the age of 64 leaving behind four daughters the eldest is 38 and the youngest 6 years old.

Long Live Emir Qawurd

Qawurd at 25 years old quickly had a problem on his hands. With 5 titles in his hands and being a new ruler he needs to give up some terrirotires to ensure he doesn't have a rebellion on his hands so early in his rule. He is faced with a tough decision. On one hand there is Sheikh Husam of Duqm who turned out to be moderately liked within his court. Then there is the young bastard son of his uncle Mubarak. He's a 16 year old warrior who has already started building a name for himself in the army. Finally, there is his half-brother Abu Bakr who is also a bastard and also building a name for himself in the army. Although he wanted to keep the territories within his own close family, he decides to give the Sheikhdom of Mahra to his kinsman Abu-Bakr ibn Zyed. Abu-Bakr is a heavy infanty leader, diligent and most importantly content so he should be no trouble in the future.

The Emir had just returned from the Haj and had learned one of his vassals Sheikh Abu-Bakr from House Dofharid has attempted to fabricate claims on the Emirate of Oman. Qawurd is furious and this further strengthens his belief that the emirate should be devided up between members of House Zabid. He needs to act swiftly and decisevely to prevent the other vassals from getting any creative ideas. The royal guard quickly storm into Abu-Bakr's court in Salalah and arrest the treacherous bastard and toss him in jail. Next Qawurd takes this a step further and banish Abu-Bakr from the realm. He grants the title of Dofharid to his other kinsman and rival Zyed. Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite him. He will have to keep a close watch on Zyed though.

During the month of Ramadan in 1126AD, Qawurd decided to host an Iftar in his one of the palaces in honor of the great Emir Jabir who passed away a year ago. The Iftar was to be held at the newly built city of Khor Fakkan which Emir Jabir started the project before his passing. Everybody attend the Iftar except for Zyed. This is not a good sign and Qawurd retreats to his quarters after dinner to assess the situation.

An alliance with the Hashimids

There is only one independent realm in the Arabian Peninsula and that is the Emirates of Medina and Nefoud, both ruled by Emir Abdul-Gafur of House Hashimid. The Hashimids are the only house who thus far have refused to swear fealty to Caliph Bahir 'the Careless' and the supreme ruler of the Arabian Empire. The empire stretches from the west of Africa in Tangiers and Marakech all the way to the east in Oman. Somehow the Hashimids have remained independent and occupied a fairly large territory on the Arabian Peninsula.

While visiting the region to strenghen ties with the neighbouring Emirates, Qawurd met the lovely daughter Shameem of the Emir Abdul-Gafur Hashimid. They instantly hit it off and he request her hand from her father. Shameem was a skilled tactician, a genius, ambitious, charitable, just and even patrilinearly descendent from the Prophet Muhammad. This was an excellent marriage and solidifies the neighbours into an alliance. Qawurd will make her his first wife as soon as the opporunity presents itself. Until then, it's time for Qawurd to start building up his war chest and focus on expanding west into the Emirate of Damman.

Zyed's Rebellion

In 1129 Qawurd's mother and his Spymaster Sheeva bint Muhammad delivered the evidence that Zyed was up to no good. Zyed had started plotting to assassinate Qawrud. The plans for Damman had to be put on hold until Qawurd can deal with this disobedient vassal. Once again the royal guard was sent to Salalah in Dhofar to arrest Zyed, but he was prepared and waiting. The Emir's Royal Guard was slain in Salalah and their bodies were torn apart by crazed dogs. Qawurd is now furious with his kinsman and raises an army of 6,000 men and leads them to Mahra himself. The traitor Zyed was laying siege to the capital Ghayda  with his lightly armoured 1,500 man army. The battle was swift and bloody. Two thirds of the Zyed's army was slaughtered but Zyed managed to escape with his 500 remaining men into the neighbouring Emirate of Sanaa. Qawurd marched on and after defeating the remaining 500 he still failed to capture Zyed. Qawurd marched back to Dhofar to find Zyed cowering in his castle. The rebellion is crushed where it started and Zyed's only son was taken back to Qawurd's court in Dhu Zabi. Qawurd was going to teach Zyed's son a couple of lessons that his father missed on during his own upbringing. 

There's no room for traitors in the Emirate of Oman, and Qawurd knows exactly how he himself became to be the Emir through his great great grand father's own trechery. His own family's history has taught him how high the stakes are and how everything can quickly change for a weak Emir.

Revolt against the Caliph

In the year 1140 AD, Qawurd decided to join a faction to lower the Caliph's authority so that he can finally invade Damman. The Caliphate's crown authority was high and at times even absolute which prevented any vassals from warring each other over new territories. The revolt ended 7 years later failing to lower the Caliphate's authority. However it was a good practice to test out the armies of the neighbouring states that Qawurd is planning to take over. The Caliph was able to crush a major revolt in his empire and gained the respect of all his vassals again.

It's now 1150, and Emir Qawurd has become sick and infirm over the past decade. One more time he attempts to lower the Caliph's authority so that he is able to invade his neighbours and expand his dynasty's territories. This time the revolt didn't last too long and was quickly shutdown by the Caliph. Emir Qawurd is one of the Caliph's most powerful Emirs and to satisfy his thirst for more land, Caliph Akin transfered the Sheikdoms of Al Jazira in Iraq and Kairawan in Tunis to Qawurd  Although these new territories don't increase his military power, Qawurd was still satisfied. He will groom some new Zabid Sheikhs and send them off to these new lands to expand the family's dynasty elsewhere. 

Qawurd was growing tired of the high crown authority in the kingdom that's preventing him from marching into Damman. He's much too weak to lead another revolt, and he would still need a few of the other powerful Emirs' backing. Time to improve relations with the Emirs of Jordan, Tigris, Baghdad, Syria and Sanaa. Hopefully Qawurd can rock the ship a bit before his disease kills him.