Battle of Amamia

Sunfall    Conflicts and Conspiracies      Andistani Revolt      Battle of Amamia

Do friends arrive armed? If this Andistani 'King' claims to offer you freedom, why does he threaten your walls? Why does he threaten you great people that live within this city? He is no more your friend than the hawk is to the hare.

— The Amamian Shahlik to the Amamian people

The Battle of Amamia was the capture of the Kanodite city of Amamia during the Andistani Revolt, in 97BSF. It was fought between the Andistan-Sarvenganian combined armies and the Kanodite garrison stationed in the city and resulted in the fall, and sacking, of the city.
Following the Andistani-Samadic victory at the Battle of Mypatha, Kanodite power had been severely undermined in the region. Sensing an opportunity to break free from imperial rule, the Sarvenganians rebelled throwing out the Kanodite garrison and joining Sina in revolt. Sina and Dariush, the newly crowned Sarvenganian king, both agreed that the Kanodites would quickly send an overwhelming force to counter their revolt and this force must come through Amamia. If Amamia could be taken, and held, it would be both a strategic and a symbolic victory. Control of the city would delay any counterattack from the Kanodites and, as the city was the first to join the Kanodite Empire, its fall might encourage others to join the revolt.
After refusing to capitulate, Amamia was closely invested. Concerned that the local population would become sympathetic to the besiegers, the Kanodites sallied forth but were defeated taking heavy losses. After two weeks of attempting to take the walls, the Andistani captured the main gatehouse and opened the gates. The city fell within the next two hours. The city was sacked and most of the population was killed or enslaved.
The loss of Amamia saw the third imperial city, and Shalik, lost to the Andistani Revolt and proved symbolic to both sides. As predicted, the Kanodites dispatched a large force to retake the city which was crushed during the Battle of Abisi. Despite the victories, no further cities rebelled against the Kanodite Empire. Most were outraged at the Amamians' treatment, people whom Sina promised to 'free', following the city's fall.

Contents

Background

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Earlier in the year, the Andistani and Samadic fleets crushed the Kanodites at the Battle of Mypatha. The victory for the Andistani added weight to their cause and saw the Sarvenganians join Sina in open revolt. Both Sina and Dariush met shortly afterwards and agreed to combine their forces and resources. A pact was made to defend the independence of the other until the sun fell from the sky once more. Sina saw fit to share some of the spoils from the Battle of Mypatha with the Sarvenganians and promised them that more would soon be taken.

^{Sina and Dariush's meeting}

Despite the optimism for the revolt, the populace of Andistan and Sarvengan, and both Sina and Dariush, knew that a prolonged war would lessen their chances of success and saw to strike another blow to the Kanodites. It was agreed that Amamia would be their next target and that the combined armies of Andistan and Sarvengan would march shortly after their meeting. Either the Amamians would join willingly or be forced to submit. Both hoped that the Amamians would join peacefully, with Dariush particularly keen to avoid a conflict.

The Opposing Forces

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Andistani and Sarvenganian

Wanting to avoid a lengthy siege, the Andistani and Sarvenganians brought the largest forces that they could muster. The Andistani mustered 9,000 infantry and 600 cavalry which was supplemented by 5,000 infantry and 500 cavalry from the Sarvenganians. To make the march quicker, very limited siege equipment was brought to Amamia and the supply train was exceptionally light. Sina gambled that the Amamians would fold or fall quickly and was prepared to withdraw without quick success.

Kanodite

Amamia was not a border city in the Kanodite Empire and so had a very limited garrison of roughly five thousand men. The arrival of the Andistani and Samadics meant that many of the surrounding villages and towns could not be called upon to reinforce the city. When the Amamians resolved to hold the city, and hope for Kanodite reinforcements, a number of the citizenry were pressed into service. Despite the swell in numbers, the people proved poorly equipped for the city's defence.

Prelude

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The Amamians were completely unprepared for the arrival of the Andistani and Sarveganians. News of the oncoming army threw the city into disarray with some fleeing the city and some taking to the streets in support of the Andistani Revolt. By the time that Sina and Dariush arrived, the city had reached a heightened state of panic which was only resolved by an impassioned speech by the Amamian Shahlik, Sirvan, backed by support from the city guard. Sirvan agreed to meet the opposing commanders and hear their proposal.

Dariush implored Sirvan to open his gates and join the Andistani Revolt. He too had been worried that the Kanodites would crush the revolt without concern but Sina had met the Kanodites on the open sea and annihilated them. Now Sarvengan had joined the revolt, they were even more likely to succeed. If Amamia joined the revolt, the Kanodites would be forced to reach terms. After his request, Sina informed Sirvan that Amamia would join the revolt one way or another. Whilst they came as allies, they were prepared to storm the city. Sirvan would have the evening to decide what course of action he would like to follow.

We are all in agreement that the Kanodites do not care about us. They only care that we pay them their dues and supply our men for their wars. We once paid tribute to no one and sent none of our men to fight foreign wars. You now have the chance to take back control, so please - take it freely.

— Dariush to Sirvan before the Battle of Amamia

That evening Sirvan met with the people and the nobility to share the information that had been shared with him. After debate, it was agreed that if the city gates were open, Amamia would become a client state of the Andistani. If the Amamians wanted freedom, they would not get it from the Sarvenganians or the Andistani. The Kanodites had never arrived at their gates, armed, implying that the city would be taken if they refused their requests. They had arrived as allies to stave off the Sarvenganians. The same people once more threatened their land. The Amamians would remain loyal to the Kanodites. Once the message was shared with Sina and Dariush, an investment in the city began.

Strategic and tactical considerations

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After the victory at Mypatha, it was unlikely that the Kanodites would attempt to engage the Andistani at sea once more, particularly with the support given to the revolt by the Samadic Kingdom. The next retaliation would likely come by land. A Kanodite army would need to come through the city of Amamia to resupply and march eastwards. In an attempt to counter this predicted advance, it was agreed that Amamia should join the rebellion. Even if the city was retaken, it would delay the imperial advance and give the revolt more time to grow.

^{Last stand of the Amamians}

It was hoped that the city would join the revolt willingly but it transpired that the Amamians would remain loyal to the Kanodites. The garrison force was limited, in both size and experience and desperately hoped that the Kanodites would send reinforcements. Despite multiple attempts, each Amamian messenger who slipped out of the city was caught and executed. By the time that the Kanodites had received word of the siege, the city had already fallen. In the end, the defenders hoped to delay the attack as much as possible and nearly died to a man.

The Battle

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With the Amamians resolved to fight, Sirvan gambled that he could break the impending blockade by sallying his troops out of the city. Taking a fifth of his garrison, Sirvan led the sally but the Sarvenganians were tipped off to the attempted breakout and engaged the Amamians routing the force and killing a large portion of the salliers. Sirvan was dehorsed and wounded and needed to be carried back by the survivors which numbered under a hundred. The defeat was felt in terms of the loss of manpower but severely impacted the morale of the defenders who prepared for the oncoming assault.
Over the following days, the Andistani and Sarvenganians encircled the city and prepared ladders and towers to take the walls. Each day the walls were assailed and the attackers repulsed but at great cost to the Amamians. After a week, the garrison force was greatly deprecated and Sirvan pressed a number of the citizenry into the defence of the city. At one point, the Sarvenganians managed to take a portion of the walls but were cast out by a counterattack led personally by Sirvan.
After ten days of near-constant assault, the Andistani managed to take the main gatehouse and open the gates permitting the besiegers to enter the city. At this point, the Amamians withdrew into the city and fought house and house, street to street until they were slaughtered. Sirvan was supposedly killed after slaying a dozen Andistani warriors. The Andistani and Sarvenganians turned to sacking and looting the city. Many of the civilians were killed attempting to defend their homes or flee. It took three days for Dariush and Sina to regain control of their men.

Aftermath

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I will not hear anything about peace. He has taken from us, from me and from you and now you think we could call him a friend! And pray, what terms do you think a slayer of Kanodites would want? None that I will pay. I will not hear of peace again until he lies dead.

— Mazyar I to his court

The fall of Amamia was received with great surprise and outrage in the Kanodite Empire, who had barely processed the defeat at Mypatha. Three Kanodite Shahliks had died in two years at the hands of a single man. What had once been seen as a minor uprising now threatened to fracture the Empire. Despite some in the Kanodite court murmuring that terms could be reached, Mazyar I refused to propose a ceasefire and raised an army to take the city back. This army was bested at the Battle of Abisi.

For the revolt, the battle marked both a strategic high and low point. The city had fallen with limited losses to the besiegers and the spoils taken from the city filled the Andisani and Sarvenganian war chests until the end of the Andistani Revolt. The risk of financial attrition was abated. Yet Sina's hopes of a region-wide revolt were dashed. The slaughter and treatment of the Amamians, people who the revolt claimed to want to be free from tyranny, alienated any other cities that may have considered aligning with Sina. Kanodite resolve had hardened and any chance of peace, slim as it would have been, was over.

Significance

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At the end of the Andistani Revolt, the Amamians were commended and rewarded by Mazyar I for their brave defence of the city. A monument was placed at the point where Sirvan fell to commemorate the battle and at its base was placed Sirvan's sword, still caked in dried blood. Each year Amamia celebrates the battle as a reminder of the brave few that held against overwhelming odds and libations of water are made in each building to remember the fires that once spread through the city and wash out the memory of the blood once spilt.

Battle of Amamia

Part of the Andistani Revolt

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Date: 97BSF

Location: Amamia

Result: Andistani and Sarvenganian Victory

Territorial Changes: Amamia is taken by the forces of the Andistani Revolt

Belligerents

Kanodite Empire

Andistan

Sarvengan

Commanders and Leaders

Sirvan†

Sina

Dariush

Strength

5,000 soldiers

60,000 civilians

14,000 infantry

1,100 cavalry

Casualties and Losses

4,800 soldiers

45,000 civilians

Minimal

The Andistani Revolt

Mypatha (97BSF) • Amamia (97BSF) • Abisi (97BSF) • Andistan (96BSF) • Denittin (96BSF) • Kashale Fields (95BSF)