Koncek | or "Konyek", sometimes "Koncek Zurvansword"
Cilbu | "Turkslayer"
Tortogul I | "The Strange"
Sotan I | "The Grandiose" / "The Elder"
Sotan II | "The Younger"
Aepak | "The Just"
Kopti | (1253-1258)
Tortogul II (1258-1269)
Sotan III (1269-1273/1281)* | "Sotan Cleansing Fire"
Akouas I (1273/1281-1320) | "of Sound Body"
Akouas II (1320-1326)
Sotan IV (1326- )
*Some scholars posit that Sotan III survived his illness in 1273, and was still formally the Khagan until roughly 1281, but the literature of the time period is inconsistent.
The brief reign of the Khomany Khagan Sotan III, known once by his epithet Sotan Cleansing-Fire (a literal translation of the Khomany) but now more commonly referred to only by his regal numeral, is one marked by violence and death. To Manichee scholars it marks the point at which Manicheanism transitioned from being the esoteric Religion of Light into a more grounded, political entity, like, at least in their view, the Christian Churches and Islamic Caliphates that had come before.
a miniature of Sotan III. Note that it long postdates his reign, being from the 16th century.
But we must be wary of taking common wisdom for granted. Sotan III came to power at an extremely volatile time in Khomany history. The realm was being wracked by the Black Plague from its eastern border in Khorasan to its western in the tributary states of Anatolia. Sotan's succession was, itself, fraught. Tortogul II had disinherited his son--also named Sotan--due to his renunciation of the Primacy of Mani and advocacy for the equality of the prophets; namely the Buddha. This doctrine, once considered heterodox, but acceptable, had come to be seen as an active threat to the Yamag Church and to Manichee Civilization in general.
Sotan's nickname came from his general intolerance of such viewpoints. Prince Sotan's branch of Manichaenism, which Sotan III's scholars derisively referred to as Buddhism (though it should not be confused with that religion itself. As practiced at the time, nor today), was a threat, as were Zoroastrian reconcilers, Muslim holdouts, and Christians who did not live in The Trebizond or one of the other post-Byzantine tributary states that Khoman held sway over. Prince Sotan, being directly in line for the succession, was merely disinherited. His cousin and most vocal supporter Asep The Scholar, however, was put to death for his crime against the Yamag, and traditional stories hold that he was in fact burned alive atop a fire tower. (Modern scholarship disputes this claim, but the image has remained in the cultural memory for a reason, even as its meaning has overtime changed to reflect Sotan's brutality rather than his piety.)
Sotan III died after only a handful of years in power. Nonetheless, Sotan's reign was the first of many intermittent flareups of zealotry and persecution that many of those who live in predominantly Christian nations would perhaps find uncharacteristic for Manichaenism. Sotan's practices remind us that intolerance must be fought against actively, not simply ignored.
--Fowst Kobakian, Mazdan Studies, University of New Baghdad.
Simeon II (990-998) | Simeon the Christian or Simeon Davyd. First Christian Tsar of Novgorod.
Trifon (996-1036) | "Leon" in some sources, probably stemming from his epithet Leon or "Lion." At present, he is legally considered to be numbered separately.
Pavel (1036-1043) | Pavel Alexei
Daniil I (1043-1085) | Daniel the Horse-Tamer
Simeon III (1085-1097) | Simeon the Wise, the first to use the title "Tsar of Novgorod and King of Slavs," later simplified to just "Tsar of all Slavs" by his successors.
Daniil II (1097-1126) | Daniel the Bonebreaker. Not a close relation of the previous tsars. Assumed power via popular acclimation when Simeon III died of the dreaded Black Plague. From the hitherto-obscure Svetozaryev branch of the Dobrozhirov dynasty. Popularly acclaimed as a saint in the centuries following his death.
Simeon IV (1126-1156) | Simeon III's son.
Daniil III (1156-1177) | Daniel the Temperate.
Ivan I (1177-1193) | Ivan the Wise or Ivan the Reconciled. Daniil III's brother.
Yaropolk (1193- ) | Not a close relation of the previous tsar. Here, the line splits, with Ivan's nephew Pavel becoming Knyaz of Novgorod but not Tsar of All Slavs.
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