User:SolaceEaSw/Arzham

Arzham is an teaching that Arzhang is a messenger of God. The religion is broken into at least two major branches, and its followers are generally known as Arzhamites or "the Semitic people of the east" in earlier transcriptions. Arzham teaches that God is all-powerful, in similar vein to other Abrahamic religions, and has guided humanity through a number of prophets, the most central of which being Arzhang, who is responsible for composing Arzham’s primary scripture. Other important figures include the prophet of, various other Biblical prophets, and Mayyanim, the great-grandfather of Arzhang, in addition to a large number of companions.

Life of Arzhang

 * 580-600
 * An average Kandahar merchant, Arzhang claims to be the final Prophet of God (not specified which god this is) and amasses a following in Kandahar which grows fairly quickly due to its consideration for Kandahari culture and traditions, not to mention the redaction of class systems into the background. Publicly considered as a religion in its own right, most of the population of Kandahar is Arzhist by the end of the 6th century.
 * 620-640
 * Kandahar becomes a vassal of Iranian Empire (Jaghatai Khaganate)
 * Arzham spreads across much of eastern and central Iran.
 * 640-660
 * Koran: The Arzham holy book, the Koran is compiled in Kandahar by a Arzhist priest.
 * As Arzham continues to grasp peoples in eastern Iran, various denominations have formed in the east as a result, with many features being from Zoroastrianism and Christianity. This becomes known as Persian Arzham, which is different depending on which person is asked. This form of Arzham remains specific to eastern Iran, while Arzham itself continues to prosper in Kandahar.

Early Azarkhates (670-1125)
Kandahar Azarkhate (670-810) Hassanid Azarkhate (810-1125)
 * 660-680
 * The First Azakhate: As Arzhamism spreads, a young prince declares Kandahar the first Azakhate, a holy land of Arzhamism, a kingdom with the duty to tell the world of the message found in the Koran. Many already Arzhamistic regions surrounding Kandahar join the Azakhate in 652-657, like Nicaea, Qusdar, Alexandria Furthest and border lands from Kushan and Gupta.
 * 680-700
 * Rise of the House of Uyanik: With the occupation and incorperation of much of the Roma Orential's territory and nobility as a result, the House of Uyanik, a Turkic Arzham-centered dynasty, rises to power in much of eastern Iran and Roma Oriental.
 * 700-720
 * As more chappels are built, various heretics begin appearing across Eastern Persia, preaching their own form of Arzham that is seperate from central Arzham, almost twisting it into various branched activies. As a result, Arzham becomes more centralized as a religion and through persistence, most Persians following their own form eventually begin following the base religion itself rather than their own interpretation. The Jhazurik School of Thought opens in Nicaea as a result, with the goal of preserving the words and philosophy teached, as well as starting the process of the transcription of certain events and such.
 * As Arzham spreads to central Iran, more nobles and peasants begin to follow the religion.
 * 740-760
 * Arzham: Although Arzhang himself died years ago, the question of whom shall take up the mantle of his leadership in Arzha has continued onward. Although the House of Arzha had selected Aydolun, the grandson of Arzhang, as the most recognized leader, the long time companion Akkemik declares that unjust to the religion of Arzham, citing passages from the Koran and proclaiming the House of Arzha to be somewhat heretical to the expansion of Arzhamian ideologies. This results in the Siege of Kubha between Arzhan forces and the Army of Akkemik. The Army of Akkemik succeeds in the siege, and as a result, the complete dynastic genocide of the House of Arzha takes place. Akkemik is crowned as the Aesuit of Arzham. After he is crowned, he lives on for four more years, eradicating numerous heretical school of thoughts and consolidating the Koran. He is assassinated by Kenan of the House of Karatas, who proclaims himself the second Aesuit of Arzham. His reign consists of revolutionizing the military. The Atranacide of Dusanbe takes place during his reign, which was a Christian-based massacre that resulted in the deaths of numerous former Roman Priests and hundreds of Christian deaths at the hand of Arzham. Although labeled as a band of mercenaries post-war, it has been historically debated about whether Kenan masterminded the extermination and forced migration of Christians back to Alexandria Herat. This centralization of Arzham allows for the religion to expand deep in Samarkand and further into the Jaghatai Khaganate. Kashmir also experiences a major increase in Arzham followers.
 * 760-780
 * The Azarkhate: The Kandahar Azarkhate begins to be recognised as the centre of Arzhism itself, with many viewing it to be holy in itself. Kandahar becomes a holy site, with monuments and places of worship being erected to reflect its status, such as the Dome of the Rock.
 * Arzham: After Kenan perishes by assassination done by a man of Takkan origin, he is replaced by Timur of the House of Timurid. A historically allied house to the House of Karatas, Tumir goes on a military invasion of Takka to avenge the former Aesuit's death. With religious and military power over the small state, an army of 9,000 invades from the west while a seperate legion of Kashmir militants numbering 4,000 invade from the north. Timur declares a Vardiyad (religious war) against the Takkan state for their heretic beliefs. As a sign of good faith between the Khan Akmeric and Aesuit Timur, an Iranian legion of 2,000 is sent to support the cause. This is done in 763 AD, and shows moderate success after suffering minimal casualties yet overtaking large territorial conquest. After re-grouping in 766 AD, a large scale siege of Takka's capital Taxila is done with a total army numbering 15,000 led by Aesuit Timur. The overall war has exerted Arzham's growth and status within the confines of the Jaghatai Royal Palace, as more and more nobles within Central Iran and in Eastern Iran convert over from Zoroastrianism, although much of the general populace remains mixed on the concept.
 * 780-800
 * Arzham: After being destroyed properly, Aesuit Timur sets up the Azarkhatic Kingdom of Takka as a puppet of the Kandahar Azarkhate. Additionally, and at the request of the King of Kashmir, sets up the Azarkhatic Kingdom of Kashmir. With this, Arzham spreads deeper into neighboring countries, specifically Samarkand, Uyghur Khaganate, and Sind. Aesuit Timur dies of old age, and his military prodigy Akkan becomes the fourth Aesuit. Small conflict between Iranian legions stationed in Kandahar and Akkan's Army start to appear, mainly due to religious differences.
 * 800-820:
 * Arzhamism: The religion becomes a majority faith in Samarkand and Kashmir because of religious cleansing ordered by the chiefs and leaders. Most followers of the faith begin to interpret the Quran, so that they must spread their faith and those who won't convert, shall be put to the sword. The Azarkhate of Kandahar ends its era as a vassal after a change in the general theological views on their holy scripture. Such begins the Second Azarkhate, the Hassanid Azarkhate.
 * Saeed el-Hassan: A devout follower of Arzhamism and a genious military tactician begins his career in Kandahar. He leads the armies of the Azarkhate into Jaghagai lands, rallying the local Arzhamites to their cause. He wins battle aftet battle, crushing a third of the Jaghatai army in 5 years, spearheading his way to Tiz, while his brother, Rahun el-Hassan took Zarang. They are both seen as great liberators.
 * Kandahar: They declare independence from being a vassal and invade Jaghatai. Their armies are led by Saeed and Rahun el-Hassan. Their campaign so far is victorious as the local Arzhamites of Jaghatai take up arms to help them in their conquest of the west. Their armies number 40 000 trained soldiers and 300 000 recruits. They also annex Takka and insert more influence over Kashmir. Kashmir later willingly joins once the Hassanid Azarkhate forms.

Late Middle Ages (1025-1180)
Kitna Period (1025-1047)

Askeri Azarkhate (1047-1180)

Daevic Era (1200?-1400)
Rum Azarkhate (1077-1300)

Alagadda Azarkhate (1175-1310)

Theology
Arzhamites (followers of Arzhang/Arzham) believe that there is one unitary, transcendent, and omnipresent deity known as “Ahlah”, or to European converts as “God”. In his lifetime, the prophet Arzhang would preach that Ahlah was incorporeal and disconnected with the world, later elaborating that Ahlah always held a universal compassion toward his followers, and thus was everlasting in concept but remained separate from his own creation. Arzham has often been classified as an “oriental” Abrahamic religion, primarily due to sharing numerous teachings and prophets from Judeo-Christianity as well as accepting the city of Jerusalem as spiritually holy and pious in nature, while often times being seen as an orthodox branch of Zoroastrianism during its original conception in Kandahar.

Ahlah is assisted by a host of lesser beings, known as angels. Most theological texts describe these angels as being similar to Ahlah, in that they incorporeal beings, but instead operated under the guidance and direction of Ahlah. Angels are often shown in scripture and iconography as being able to perform superhuman feats and abilities, usually in the form of passing through walls, vanishing in an instance, or casting illusions. The primary goal for angels is to act as guides for the followers of Arzham, whether it be speaking to or guarding prophets, kings, priests, or administering certain aspects of nature such as the ocean or mountains.

Iconography of the Prophet Arzhang and Ahlah is strictly forbidden in Arzham, although debates around the depiction of other prophets continue to this day.

Resurrection
Like other Eastern religions, Arzhamites believe in the concept of reincarnation through a gradual evolution of the soul that will enter the afterlife and become one with Ahlah, with those that embrace negative activities during their lifetime being re-born in dire circumstances as part of their cosmological punishment.

Scripture
The scripture of Arzham has been described by numerous scholars as syncretic due to its canonical texts featuring numerous prophets from other religions, such as Moses and Zoroaster. In total, there are five canonical texts of Arzham: the Book of Khalarsis, Book of Xedous, Book of Mashaturi, the Book of Jesakhish, and the Koran, although most followers of Arzham believe the Koran to be separate from the other canonical texts.

Xunni
The Xunni denomination of Arzham is often characterized by a greater emphasis on the prophet Arzhang, his companions in Persia, and the patronage of the all of the classic Azarkhates’ as rightly-guided successor states in contrast to the Xa’mah belief, which only correlate proper successorship to Arzhang’s original state and the Askari Azarkhate.

While the Xa’mah believe that the prophet Arzhang can only be succeeded by relatives or immediate family members, the Xunni deny this concept of succession-by-lineage, instead believing that the Arzhamite community can change and evolve to the point where staying in tradition will only lead to disaster, with this concept being further emphasized by the collapse of the Askari Azarkhate. While most differences between the Xunni and the Xa’mah are relatively political in nature, the Xunni represents a majority of the believers of Arzham that are more wide-spread across Eurasia, with the Xa’mah representing pluralities in places like India and Persia.