Khosrau Anushirawan: Prince of Persia - Extra History - #2
Added 2017-12-15 18:30:00 +0000 UTCAfter a decade of political turmoil, Khosrau's father asks for help from his ally, the Emperor of Eastern Rome. Help... is not forthcoming.
Comments
It's not really my own work. I've mostly worked with late Qing and republican China, as well as how to use pop culture as historical sources for more modern history. The parallel is just to things that were unavoidable while getting my degree because a solid grounding in Danish history was expected.
Christina Maria Jessen
2017-12-24 22:43:06 +0000 UTCI also has a sad about this, so many sads, really. I want to see the alternate reality viewer, tuned to the world where everyone gets along, and they already have interstellar space travel. Oh, right, that's Star Trek, when they aren't fighting someone else.
Bill Lemmond
2017-12-22 22:31:14 +0000 UTCA+ for tracking that story so thoroughly, Ramin!
Extra History
2017-12-22 19:29:12 +0000 UTCI'm just happy you're finding parallels with your own work!
Extra History
2017-12-22 19:28:48 +0000 UTCI do think it presents an interesting moment in alt-history, regardless of the conclusion! What ih Khosrau's adoption had gone through and the two of them had become (at least symbolically) brothers? Would it have changed the way they approached each other? Would it have kept their heirs from fighting? Etc.
Extra History
2017-12-22 19:28:22 +0000 UTCI'm Danish and have a master's degree in history, I should probably know that Denmark and Sweden fought each other a lot. It'd have been a complete failure at my education otherwise.
Christina Maria Jessen
2017-12-17 13:16:37 +0000 UTCwell that is kind of a long story...(sorry if i come off like a know-it-all) but basically the HLoA was originally an epic poem composed in the 19th century CE at the Qajar court. It was also based on even older legends that take place in the Sasanid era. Then it became a play, then a movie, then a Japanese fantasy novel, then a manga, and eventually an OVA anime in the 80's. Then it got a new manga adaptation a few years ago then the 2015 anime came out.
Ramin Hafezi
2017-12-17 06:44:43 +0000 UTCI wonder this is the inspiration for the Heroic Legend of Arislan.
Brian Kim
2017-12-17 01:42:12 +0000 UTCAgain, Christina, is there anything you don't Know about History? You're a genius.
Martin Verran
2017-12-16 23:35:08 +0000 UTCThis whole thing reminds me of another, though smaller scale, case of two countries ruining each other by continuing to bash their heads together for relatively little gain for centuries. What I'm saying is... Rome and Iran are basically just renaissance Denmark and Sweden on an even larger scale. Because Rome and Iran wasted so much time and effort fighting each other for something on the scale of 700 years, without really gaining much from each other.
Christina Maria Jessen
2017-12-16 23:26:28 +0000 UTCThat line completely destroyed me. I had to pause the video I was laughing so hard and I must’ve replayed it half a dozen times. My FAVORITE line EVER.
Amy Reynolds
2017-12-16 22:25:58 +0000 UTCThe multiple a's make it sound rather like my sheep 🐑 gave you a Hand [or should I say a Hoof?] in typing that last Comment. 😉
Martin Verran
2017-12-16 09:05:16 +0000 UTCIt would seem Justinian was just a little too smart for his own good; maybe if he hadn't tried to sow chaos in Iran by refusing to recognize Khosrau, the Sassanids wouldn't have been as happy to return the favor of screwing him over during his Italian adventure, which might have lead to a different outcome to the Gothic War? Or if he hadn't wishy-washy'd it and just thrown his support behind Khosrau's rival maybe there would have been a different result (though given how easily Khosrau crushed him, it might have just made things worse). Or maybe the Gothic War was just doomed from the start and Khosrau's interference didn't really make a difference in the end.
Darren Loo
2017-12-16 08:46:18 +0000 UTCThe sources are scanty but if I were to guess, I would say that in large part it's due to the persistent power of the priests and nobles who disliked Mazdakite ideals. Without Mazdak to organize his followers, and with a pretty clear denunciation of the idea by the shah himself (Khosrau), the people who traditionally held power in Iran were able to assert it and stop Mazdak's revolution from spreading any farther. You can see some of this in the way Mazdakites are portrayed in Eastern sources, which condemn them for outlandish things like wife-stealing and unforgivable things like nearly bankrupting Iran. In reality their ideals were probably milder, and their impact was probably less, but the sources that have come down to us are given from the perspectives of those priests and nobles who had quite a lot invested in scapegoating the Mazdakites and discouraging anyone from following their lead. -Soraya
Extra History
2017-12-16 05:52:23 +0000 UTCSomething of a stylistic choice - during that series, James went with "Byzantines" and "Persians" for what I'm calling "Romans" and "Iranians." Both names describe the same people, but I chose to go with the names those people would have used for themselves at the time because I think they're both still recognizable today. Also, they lost to Belisarius at Dara in this episode, right at 6:51!
Extra History
2017-12-16 05:45:56 +0000 UTCCut off the head, and the body will die. Cult of personality has a weak point: the personality itself. Once it's eliminated, the rest simply decays.
Pavel Yakushevich
2017-12-16 05:38:13 +0000 UTCI am curious why didn't this act strengthen Mazdak and his followers as he would be seen as Martyr, wouldn't that make him more popular and thus strengthen his followers? Of course now I am curious how Iran would turn out if Mazdak and his followers won out over traditional Zoroastrianism?
Herkles
2017-12-16 01:27:46 +0000 UTCOh! Oh! These are the guys that eventually lost to Belisarius at Dara huh? But wait! Way back when you said these guys were Persians. But now you’re calling them Iranians and the Sassanian Empire. Is this just a source material interpretation?
Sean Sarff
2017-12-16 01:22:23 +0000 UTCYeah, this has been so much fun!
Extra History
2017-12-16 01:03:10 +0000 UTCYay for Inter-linking stories!
Daniel R.
2017-12-16 00:09:39 +0000 UTCI didn't celebrate that either. But we can drop it.
Extra History
2017-12-15 22:49:59 +0000 UTCBefore we agree that this is not a place for political discussions, I'd like to point out that a week ago an episode aired that described how communists were willing to let half of Berlin starve in a very literal sense of the word. Now, let's watch history and learn from our predecessors' mistakes.
Pavel Yakushevich
2017-12-15 22:00:31 +0000 UTCYowza. I get that you hate communism but those are human lives, in the end. I can't join you celebrating what Khosrau did there.
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:04:48 +0000 UTCDan's ability to deliver on those lines when I write them is a source of neverending glee for me. ;)
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:04:19 +0000 UTCI'm still thinking about making Extra History meeples...
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:03:27 +0000 UTCStranger danger!
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:02:59 +0000 UTCIt's one of the reasons I find him so interesting: he got so brutal sometimes, but he was also so open to and encouraging of different perspectives within his empire. I see him as a man who tried to balance what he saw as necessary vs the ideals he wanted to see.
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:02:49 +0000 UTCNope, we've got one more Khosrau episode coming out next week, and then we disappear in a puff of smoke! Also, we maaaay have a bonus episode or two planned for the holidays... ;)
Extra History
2017-12-15 21:01:26 +0000 UTCKudos to Khosrau for being creative and planting commie trees to compensate for the lack of helicopters.
Pavel Yakushevich
2017-12-15 20:41:51 +0000 UTC'Hey give that back I'm not kidding!' hilarious! Great writing guys.
Nate Stirly
2017-12-15 20:12:38 +0000 UTCAs a miniature war gamer I love the picture at 2:34. Kudos to you
Van Butler
2017-12-15 19:57:49 +0000 UTCSo many people all up in there trying to mess with Khosrau's empire!
Extra History
2017-12-15 19:34:57 +0000 UTC"I can't talk to strangers." "You can adopt my fist to your face." I'm detecting a bit of snark this time around. :) I like it.
Christopher Pelletier
2017-12-15 19:34:05 +0000 UTCKhosrau seems to be the Persian Tywin Lannister. How he dealt with his elder brother and his Mazdakite supporters was clearly very brutal way to eliminate that threat.
Petri Luosto
2017-12-15 19:32:38 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed writing Justinian from this perspective! I still love him too, even though from Khosrau's perspective he was absolutely being a jerk. From his perspective, there are times when Khosrau is being a jerk too! It's interesting and a little sad that these two amazing leaders could not find grounds for understanding between themselves, especially when they came so close to being brothers, at least in name.
Extra History
2017-12-15 19:28:29 +0000 UTCYou're kinda studying! Studying Iranian history is important too, right? :D
Extra History
2017-12-15 19:12:10 +0000 UTCThe Byzantines, Generally, are NOT the best People to go to for favours. Is this going to be the last Upload of 2017 from you Guys?
Martin Verran
2017-12-15 19:05:13 +0000 UTCI had to google where Europe ends for that joke.
Bumble
2017-12-15 19:02:44 +0000 UTCPeople coming over the Caucasus...hmmmm. KNOCK KNOCK IT'S EUROPE, AND THEY HAVE COME MESS WITH YOUR EMPIRE.
Bumble
2017-12-15 19:00:09 +0000 UTCGlad to see my country Iberia (Now Georgia) mentioned somewhere :) Regardless of him being a dick from this side of story, still rooting for Justinian <3
Irakli Tchigladze
2017-12-15 18:48:55 +0000 UTCwell I haven't started studying yet, what's another few minutes?
Heath Dionne
2017-12-15 18:32:40 +0000 UTC
