Book X: The Distant Kingdom
Before marching into the fertile lands
Of Taksashila, protected by the
Eastern mountains, Antigenes marched on
Uparisena, whose people controlled
The passes that led to Taksashila
And whose merchants profited greatly from
Their active trade with the distant kingdom.
The city’s ruler, Bardân, urged his men
To sally forth beyond their walls and crush
The nomadic horde, but it would be his
Host to taste most bitter defeat; and so
The mountain passes were open to
The Saka. Aryandes elected to
Send his envoy Shafar to the kingdom.
With words sweetened with honey and money,
The peasants of Taksashila rose up
And joined the army of Antigenes
That would soon set siege to the capital.
Yet when the Arkah of Hayasdan came
To learn of this treachery, he sent at
Once a petition to the Rrudi, for
Hayasdan and Taksashila were firm
Allies, bonded by years of fruitful trade.
In return, Aryandes rejected him.
Reading the steppe king’s haughty letter, the
The Arkah exclaimed, “Never have the gods
Created such a miserable man
Who would sooner poison friendship in search
Of even greater riches than to stand
By an honorable commitment? I
Predict nothing but ruin to this fool;
Whether his descendants will be wiser
I cannot yet tell; but I think the men
Of his family are similarly
Aligned in their thought-and if so, I see
Chaos and rebellion awaiting.”
As the Arkah mused to himself, the host
Of Taksashila routed the nomads
And slaughtered the traitors to their kingdom.
And yet the rebellion spread even
More, as discontent peasants formed militias
Against their cruel and hateful sovereign.
Unfazed by defeat, Antigenes, with
The aid of Zeionises, returned to
The capital and renewed the siege. While
The Saka fought in these unfriendly lands,
Their men became familiar with a
Strange tradition, far removed from the kind
They had learned as children upon the steppe.
The natives called this religion Dharma
And they put great reverence in places
That they called stupas. The first Saka who
Adopted this tradition were called traitors in
The service of the enemy raja,
Not for any nefarious reason,
But because they refused to fight under
The influence of the mysterious
Dharma; but the many who continued
To fight while visiting stupas were not
Persecuted, for they were doing what
They were asked of by their commanders, and
They better understood the people than
Those who stuck to the old ways of the steppe.
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