None of the rulers of the Scythians could surpass in treachery, treachery and cruelty Spargapis, the father of the future legendary queen Tomiris. All his allies subsequently paid dearly for their trust. Thanks to this, he avenged his father and founded his own dynasty.
In the 7th century BC, the Scythian tribes of Sakas and Massagets began to unite into unions headed by the supreme leaders. The council of chiefs elected a king who distributed pastures and other land plots between clans and tribes. To win over the leaders to their side, applicants for the royal rank had to resort to all sorts of tricks.
Descendant of Ishpakai
The dire necessity forced the leaders of the various tribes to agree on the convening of a general council. After long disputes, it was decided to unite all the Sakas under a single command and to entrust the supreme power over the steppe to Ishpakai, a hero and a great warrior. It soon became clear to the new tsar that the freedom-loving and formidable power of the steppe could be kept in obedience only if it was united by a common goal. Having seduced the Sakas with a tempting picture of the wealth and glory of a prosperous Assyria, in 679 BC he sent hordes of nomads westward.
The Saki rushed like a hurricane throughout Asia Minor, spreading fear and horror. The formidable Assyria could not give them a proper rebuff and became an object for robbery and tribute collection. In one of the battles, Ishpakai was killed, and Partatua became his successor. And the next king of the Sakas, Madiy, became the true ruler of this land.
Madiy began to prepare for a campaign against Egypt. He conquered Media and Mesopotamia with battle, and then conquered Syria and Palestine, passing through them in a devastating tornado. Gripped by panic, Egypt could not resist these wild hordes, and Pharaoh Psammetichus I agreed to a humiliating tribute, so as not to give up his ancient and prosperous country for plunder by the savages.
On the way back, in 612 BC. Madi took Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, by storm, staging a savage reprisal against the vanquished. The winners did not spare anyone, destroying everything around. They killed old people, raped women, grabbed babies by the legs and smashed their heads against the walls of houses. Leaving behind ruins and ashes, Madiy moved to Urartu. The Teishebaini fortress fell under his crushing pressure. Thousands of residents were burnt alive in the houses that were set on fire.
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The peoples of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia hoped in vain that after plundering Assyria, gutting Egypt and capturing huge booty in other countries, Madiy would finally be satisfied and leave them alone. The leader of the nomads swung at the riches of the flourishing Babylon, ruled by Nabopalasar, and moved his hordes to him through the conquered Media.
The Median king Cyaxar, who also grimaced at Babylon, decided to act by cunning. He came to the camp of the nomads, assuring them that he would help them conquer the hated Nabopalasar, presented a herd of horses and invited Madia with all his leaders to his palace for a magnificent feast.
The feast was a success: food, wine, melodic music. And in addition, the gentle embraces of half-naked beauties, finally relaxing the nomads. When the leaders began to fall asleep, the sound of the gong rang. The soldiers of the Medes king who jumped out of their hiding places with their akinaki began to cut and chop down the guests who had lost all caution.
Kiaxar personally cut the throat of the "dear ally." The domination of nomadic tribes in Western Asia came to an end. It was a lesson to Madia's son, Spargapis, who in a few years surpassed his father many times in cruelty and cunning.
Ancestral land
Spargapis was brought up at the royal courts and from childhood acquired the manners of a future ruler. On the eve of the feast, Madiy sent him with his brother Toksar to negotiate with the king of Lydia. This saved the young man from the bloody massacre. Now he had to flee to his forgotten homeland, where a single Sak people no longer existed.
The Massagets pushed the Saks back to the west, hordes of high-cheeked nomads rolled in from the north, and innumerable Chinese armies threatened from the south. Complete anarchy led to the fact that each tribal leader tried to become a new king. But there were too many applicants, and the alluring splendor of royal power rarely fell to any of them for a long time.
Toksar immediately rushed into the struggle for power, but was killed in the first battle with the Massagetae. Spargapis, who fled from the battlefield, managed to get to Khorezm, where the local ruler took him under the patronage.
Now the thoughts of the son of Madiy were occupied with something completely different. Day and night, he carefully worked out bloody plans for revenge on the Massagetae. Brought up at the court of Tsar Lydia, from childhood he perfectly mastered the lessons of the school of palace intrigues of the Eastern world, full of deceit and hypocrisy. The ruler of Khorezm indulged in this in every possible way, since the steppe strife played into his hands. Since Spargapis did not have large military forces, he decided to act by cunning.
The Massagetae, having dealt with Toksar, were absorbed in an internecine struggle for power and did not pay any attention to Spargapis, who returned with three hundred soldiers. His unexpected behavior and actions contrary to common sense completely confused the steppe leaders, inexperienced in intrigues. First of all, the new contender for power, instead of trying to unite the tribes, began to further inflame their feuds with each other, offering his alliance to the most powerful of the opponents. But in the course of the struggle it turned out that his help was offered to another enemy. Therefore, during the clashes, he robbed both of them.
Spargapis achieved his first goal. The flame of discord in the steppe flared up so that it was no longer possible to understand who was fighting against whom. When he saw that several tribes were beginning to unite against him, he pitted them against each other. His serpentine cunning worked unmistakably. If he offered his help to one of the leaders, the rest of the tribes united and jointly ruined another ally. The attention and friendship of Spargapis was very expensive.
In the name of power
The robber tactics of Spargapis brought him success. His detachment was either hiding in the thickets by the river, or hiding with the ruler of Khorezm.
But he never asked for gold and military help from foreigners, creating for himself the image of a steppe hero. Gradually, the name of Spargapis was overgrown with legends, and more and more soldiers joined his detachment.
Finally, the Massagets turned to him for help in solving their disputes, tacitly recognizing him as a legitimate contender for power. Two strong and friendly tribes - Apasiacs and Sakaravaks - which possessed the largest number of warriors, began to oppress the Massagetae, and they were afraid to enter into open confrontation with them. Spargapis promised to help them and really did. Only in my own way.
At night, with a small detachment of his soldiers, he attacked the camp of the Sakaravaks and set fire to all their yurts with burning arrows. The nomads rushed after him. Then Spargapis sent his detachment to the Apasiacs camp and did the same there. With their horses, his detachment began to trample on half-naked people running out of burning dwellings. At that moment, the chase of the Sakaravaks burst in here and, not understanding what was happening, began to chop everyone in a row. In the general panic, previously friendly tribes instantly became mortal enemies. Each of them sent messengers for reinforcements, after which a bloody battle ensued, eliminating both competitors at once.
Pushing the tribes of Alans and Tochars against each other, Spargapis again attacked the weakest. After the battle, he brazenly came to visit the victorious leader of the Alans - Batrazd, who dreamed of dealing with the insidious Sak. To the snide question: "Where is your gift?" the future king untied the sack and threw at the feet of the owner the head of the leader of the Tochars, which he had cut off in battle. After that, Spargapis and Batrazd became best friends. They were even going to marry their children. Thanks to this support, the rights of Spargapis to the royal title were recognized by all the tribes. But as soon as the friendship with Batrazd ceased to be beneficial, Spargapis betrayed him too, ruthlessly defeating the Alans in battle.
Soon after, the man, who had betrayed all his allies and did not keep a single promise, died peacefully in his own bed. The royal title was inherited by his daughter Tomiris. Her fate is much better known than the life of Spargapis, who created the Scythian steppe empire at the cost of intrigue and betrayal.
Vera CHISTYAKOVA
Alexander PLOSHINSKY