Seyhad Wars

Seyhad Wars
Part of the Makedonian conquest of Mansuriyyah
Seyahd and Makedonian infantry clash.
Date 163 BCE - 56 CE Location Mansuriyyah Result Makedonian Victory Makedon seizes control over Mansuriyyah
Belligerents
Makedonian Empire	Seyhad League
Commanders and leaders
Nikomakhos Arcidamus Phalaris	Ahiram II Ashdanot
Units involved
Ancient Makedonian army	Seyhad military Mansuri warriors Various mercenaries
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy

The Seyhad Wars (also known as the Makedonian-Seyhad Wars, or the Makedonian-Mansuri Wars) were a series of four major conflicts fought between the Makedonian Empire and the Seyhad League from 163 BCE to 56 CE. The conflict is generally agreed to have started in 163 BCE in the First Seyhad War, though fighting between the Makedonians and the Seyhad had occurred several times in the preceding 50 years. Originally a territorial and trade dispute, the wars eventually escalated into a larger struggle for dominance over western Siduri.

The foundation of the Seyahad League originated in the aftermath of the conquest of the Sardaranian Empire by Orestes II, which established a Makedonian presence in Mansuriyyah in 235 BCE. By the 2nd Century BCE Makedonian enroachment deeper into Mansuriyyah served as the catalyst for several Kenaani city-states to form the Seyhad League to oppose further Makedonian expansion. The League was founded and initially led by King Ahiram II of Seyhad, who made war with the Makedonians from 163-145 BCE in what became known as the First Seyhad War. The wars occurred as followed:

• First Seyhad War, fought by the League against Makedonian holdings in Adnaniyyah. The war lasted for nearly two decades and saw widespread loss of life but relatively little change in territory for most of the conflict. The Seyhad were unable to push the Makedonians out of Mansuriyyah, but repulsed Makedonian advances further south along the coast. Despite heightened tensions after the war was concluded by treaty, the outbreak of the Zarina's Civil War resulted in an uneasy peace between the League and Makedon for nearly a century.

• Second Seyhad War, fought from 44-40 BCE. Waged by Arcidamus, the Makedonians managed to inflict serious defeats on the Seyhad but raids by the Seyhad Navy along Makedonian supply lines limited Makedon's advance. The war was abruptly called off when the Makedonian King stumbled upon the ruins of Hani-Rabbat, and upon learning of the fate of the Naharin Empire was too despondent to continue the fighting and withdrew back to Syara. With the collapse of the Chalna Empire earlier in the century, the end of the second war led to a brief ascension of the Seyhad League as the premier power in south-west Siduri.

• Third Seyhad War, fought from 20-6 BCE. Following his ascension to the throne, Phalaris waged war against the Seyhad in an attempt to drive them from Siduri entirely. The most destructive and costly of the four conflicts, the Seyhad were able to frustrate Makedonian efforts through their naval dominance and frequent raids along the coast to disrupt Makedonian logistics. Despite these efforts the Seyhad were unable to defeat the Makedonians on land, allowing the Empire to steadily reduce Seyhad strongholds in Siduri one by one. What was left of the Seyahd eventually agreed to a peace treaty that disbanded the League and exiled the Seyhad leaders to the island of Yalunji off the Siduri coast.

• Fourth Seyhad War, fought from 52-56 CE. After less than fifty years of peace, the Makedonian Empire declared war on the Seyhad holdouts on Yalunji, ostensibly in light of Seyhad violations of the peace treaty's naval limitations. The Seyhad successfully resisted the Makedonians at sea for nearly two years before they were besieged at Yalunji, which the Makedonians invaded in 55 CE. After a protracted island campaign that ended with the last Seyhad holdouts reduced to rubble, Makedon declared victory but was undercut by the failure to locate the body of Queen Ashdanot, the last leader of the Seyhad. In the years after the war, Makedonian ships traveling along the Mansuri coast were subject to frequent raids conducted by an unnamed "Pirate Queen". The Mansuri corsair managed to avoid Makedonian efforts to capture her for the better part of two decades before she abruptly disappeared from history; Mansuri folklore holds that the Pirate Queen was in fact Ashdanot after she had somehow managed to escape the fall of Yalunji.

The defeat of the Seyhad League effectively marked the completion of Makedonian conquest of Mansuriyyah, which would remain part of the Empire in one form or another until the Battle of Tell Saqara a millennia later.