Smerdis

Smerdis King of Kings ruled Markuran approximately 650 years before the arrival of the "Misplaced Legion" of Romans in Videssos.

Following the death of Peroz King of Kings in battle, Smerdis, then Imperial mintmaster, kidnapped Crown Prince Sharbaraz and forced him to renounce his claim to the throne on pain of death. Smerdis imprisoned Sharbaraz at Nalgis Crag stronghold and attempted to restore order to Makuran by offering tribute to the Khamorth barbarians to induce them to cease their raids. This strategy proved ineffective and soon a rebellion broke out among the northwestern nobility of the empire under Sharbaraz and a dihqan named Abivard. Although Smerdis's forces were defeated in the early encounters of the civil war his army, relying heavily on conscript infantry from the Thousand Cities river valleys, defeated the cavalry of Sharbaraz and drove the rebels into exile in Videssos.

There the rebels obtained Videssian aid and launched a second attempt to overthrow Smerdis. Thanks largely to Videssian intervention, particularly the excellent Videssian engineering corps and the leadership of the general Maniakes the Elder, the Rebels captured Mashiz and put Smerdis to death.