Siege of Shata' Albahr
The Siege of Shata' Albahr occurred from 1343 to 1345 when Creeperopolis laid siege to Shata' Albahr, the capital of the Emirate of Jakiz. The siege was the last military engagement of the Creeperian Crusade.
Contents
Background
Relations between Creeperopolis and Jakiz remained on good terms following the fall of Abdan and Helam, as Ahmad al-Ishaaq denounced Orhan II and Mehmed I's violations of the Treaty of Eriwr. Miguel I rewarded Ahmad I for denouncing Abdan and Helam's aggression with a 10% decrease in the yearly tribute required. Miguel I and Ahmad I met in person on the Creeperian-Jakizi border on 18 March 1339 as a sign of their warm relations, where they discussed possibly giving Jakiz lands in southern Abdan to increase their coastline. Both leaders agreed to each other that, if the two were to ever come into conflict, neither would have the other killed as a sign of their good relations. Nothing was said about each other's soldiers or any civilians.
On 18 March 1342, Miguel Martínez Arshad, the eldest son of Miguel I and Prince of Extremadura, was assassinated in Shata' Albahr when he was on a diplomatic mission to discuss that cession of land to Jakiz in Abdan. Miguel I demanded that Ohmad I arrest whoever was responsible and send them to Creeperopolis to be executed. Ahmad I discovered that it was his sons, Ohmad al-Jamal and Sulayman al-Jamal, that had Martínez Arshad killed. Ahmad I could not allow himself to turn his sons over to the Creeperans, and so he offered further land concessions and an increase in tribute payments instead. Miguel I refused, and demanded that his sons were turned over. Ahmad I sent a message to Miguel I that read, "My friend, if this is how it must end, then to war it is."
Siege
In March 1343, Miguel I marched south with the intent of destroying the last remnants of the Caliphate of Deltino and to complete the Crusade that was started by Alfonso I on 8 February 1231. The final siege of the Creeperian Crusade, the siege of Shata' Albahr, began on 1 June 1343. Similar to the siege of Almadinat Almuqadasa, the Jakizians had sea access for supplies. The city was completely blockaded by the Creeperian Navy, however, on 18 August 1343, and the Creeperans began to slowly starve the city into submission. The city, however, had a large farm within the city walls that continued to sustain the city's supply of food. It was not until August 1344 that the Creeperans successfully managed to burn the farm within the city walls. From then, the city only had a year's supply of food to last them. On 13 October 1345, sections the Jakizian military of mutinied and attempted to depose Ohmad I, but the mutiny failed and the mutineers were put to death.
Finally, on 25 December 1345, while the Creeperans were celebrating the Nativity of Jesús, Ahmad I yelled to the Creeperans, asking to meet with Miguel I. The two met and Ahmad I agreed to surrender the city to Miguel I if he upheld his promise he made in 1339 to not kill each other. He agreed and Ahmad I left Jakiz for exile in Castilliano where he would live out the rest of his life and die on 6 December 1352. Ahmad I left the city before the Creeperans stormed in, and he would never learn that Shata' Albahr was massacred. Everyone in the city, like in Almadinat Almuqadasa, was slain. Among the dead were the two sons which killed Martínez Arshad in 1342.
Aftermath
The Creeperans celebrated the fall of the city and the city was renamed to Denshire. The fall of Shata' Albahr marked the end of the Creeperian Crusade and the end of Muslim rule in Sur.
