The Tide of Victory

: the ancient canal connecting the Euphrates and Tigris rivers; scene of a battle between Belisarius and the Malwa.

The Pass

: a pass in the Zagros mountains separating Mesopotamia from the Persian plateau; site of a battle between Belisarius and Damodara; called The Battle of the Mongoose by the Rajputs.

Peshawar

: located in the Vale of Peshawar, between the Punjab and the Khyber Pass.

Punjab

: the upper Indus river valley.

Rajputana

: the land of the Rajputs, one of India's major nationalities.

Sind

: the lower Indus river valley.

Sukkur

: a major city on the Indus; north of the city is the "Sukkur gorge" which marks the boundary between Sind and the Punjab.

Suppara

: a port city on India's west coast, to the north of Chowpatty.

Tamraparni

: the island of Ceylon; modern day Sri Lanka.

Vindhyas

: the mountain range which marks the traditional boundary between northern India and southern India.

Terms

Anvaya-prapta sachivya

: members of the Malwa royal clan.

Aqabe tsentsen

: literally, "keeper of the fly-whisks." The highest ranked official in the Axumite government.

Azadan

: literally, "men of noble birth." Refers to a class of people in the Persian empire roughly analogous to medieval European knights.

Cataphract

: the heavily armed and armored mounted archer and lancer who formed the heart of the Roman army. Developed by the Romans as a copy of the dehgan.

Dawazz

: a slave assigned as adviser to Ethiopian princes, specifically for the purpose of deflating royal self-aggrandizement.

Dehgan

: the Persian equivalent of a cataphract.

Dromon

: a Roman war galley.

Kushans

: originating as a barbarian tribe from the steppes, the Kushans became civilized after conquering Central Asia and were the principal support for Buddhism in the early centuries of the Christian Era; later subjugated by the Malwa.

Negusa nagast

: "King of Kings." Ruler of Axum, the kingdom of the Ethiopians.

Nika

: the name of the insurrection against Justinian and Theodora engineered by the Malwa.

Peshwa

: roughly translates as "vizier." Top civilian official of the Empire of Andhra.

Sahrdaran

: the highest ranked nobility in the Persian empire, next in status to the emperor. Traditionally consisted of seven families, of which the "first among equals" were the Suren.

Sarwe

: a regiment of the Axumite army. The plural is "sarawit." Individual soldiers are called "sarwen."

Spatha

: the standard sword used by Roman soldiers; similar to the ancient Roman short sword called the

gladius

, except the blade is six inches longer.

Vurzurgan

: "grandees" of the Persian empire. Noblemen ranked between the azadan and the sahrdaran.

Ye-tai

: a barbarian tribe from central Asia incorporated into the Malwa governing structure. Also known as "Ephthalites" or "White

Huns."

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