Battle of Savina Bay

Battle of Savina Bay
Date January 2-4, 204 or February 1-3, 204 Location Savina Bay, Mujansa Result West Faction Victory Lésimā clan defeated Ṣāmbúsā clan maintains privilege of the imperial crowning rite Beginning of Third Century Crisis Reintroduction of the thémā provincial system
Belligerents
Ṣāmbúsā clan Kúrhaṣā clan	Lésimā clan
Commanders and leaders
Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā  † Ṣāmbúsā Kupúksā Ṣāmbúsā Idnā́ Ṣāmbúsā kūkútā Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō Kúrhaṣā Mírkhaphā Kúrhaṣā Mṓlā	Lésimā Guṣḗpō  † Lésimā Rṓsāṭṣē  † Lésimā Jhísā Lésimā Rṓraṭṭṣē
Strength
350 Ṣāmbúsā boats 200 Kúrhaṣā boats	350 boats initially
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy
Light
Estimates of the casualties from the battle range from as little as 5,000 to as many as 35,000

The Battle of Savina Bay was a battle fought between the Ṣāmbúsā and Kúrhaṣā clans against the Lésimā clan over a succession dispute regarding the inheritance of the Ṣāmbúsā clan. Fought in 204 CE, hundreds of vessels engaged in battle off the coast of Savina, a village in Mujansa. It is noted for being one of the largest naval battles in Sahar history, and for being the only battle of the civil war.

Background

In the late 2nd century, the Ṣāmbúsā clan was in decline, as the main line's only unnamed infant son died from a fever. There was discussions and envoys sent throughout the empire to two of the cadet branches, to help in deciding an heir to maintain their hegemony over the imperial succession ritual. Both heads of the Lésimā clan and Kúrhaṣā clans, agreed to arrange for a council to solve the matter. This council's talks were not recorded, and so much of it is hearsay and verbal agreements between the various family heads.

This agreement seems to have broken apart when Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā, head of the original dynasty, had decided to adopt a young but experienced nobleman named Idnā́ to be his new heir. The Lésimā clan's head, Lésimā Guṣḗpō, demanded that the nobleman be punished on behalf of Bagámā on the grounds that a non-same blood nobleman could not be responsible for the imperial rites. Bagámā likely chose 203 to instigate the crisis to consolidate his family's power as the Kúrhaṣā clan was on campaign in Urabor at the time and would need substantial time to return. Despite this, dealings were made between Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā and Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō regarding the succession which seems to have hinted that Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō would take Bagámā's side should they be granted a significant portion of the Lésimā's domains as payment.

Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā was the first to make a move against the Lésimā clan, as he mustered 350 warboats to protect the Savina Canal. The canal was of vital interest as it connected the Asura Sea to the interior of Cananganam's Great Lakes. Lésimā Guṣḗpō in turn, had mustered as many vessels as he could, and had achieved a standing force of 450 warboats. However, due to the threat of the Kúrhaṣā clan's fleet being unknown to them, one hundred warboats were to be left behind in Esu under Lésimā Hávā to prevent any flanking maneuvers. Their task failed, however, as the fleet under Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō had already landed in Sunee after leaving Urabor's Neshim in late November, despite the storm season.

Battle

Simple depiction describing the movements of the battle. Red; Lésimā. Yellow; Ṣāmbúsā. Blue; Kúrhaṣā.

On either January 2 or February 1, Lésimā ships approached Savina Bay where they attempted to provoke the Ṣāmbúsā fleet into battle by firing arrows from several of their faster outriggers, but had no success in doing so. Lésimā Rṓsāṭṣē, heir of the Lésimā clan, proposed his and 49 other boats land further north along the coast to gather supplies and prepare a flanking maneuver over land with their crews to take the canal and trap the Ṣāmbúsā boats from retreating up the canal. Given permission, he sailed north when the winds were favorable during the night. The raiding force landed and foraged for supplies, before beginning the day long trek to the canal with 2,000 men.

On the second day of battle, Lésimā had several ships scout out the surrounding waters to ensure that Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō's fleet was not in the immediate vicinity for the next night's planned battle. Meanwhile, the Ṣāmbúsā not having realized it, slowly drifted off from their original attacking positions placing their fleet in a precarious position should the fleets attack.

By the third day of battle, many of the Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā's men were becoming uneasy by the standoff that had taken hold and demanded he attack. Threatened with a mutiny if they waited one more day before attacking, Bagámā folded to their demands and ordered for an attack that evening. The attack originally seemed to go well, as the Ṣāmbúsā ships swept across the bay hurdling towards the Lésimā clan ships in an organized fashion, but the winds suddenly changed and the momentum of the attack stagnated. To make matters worse, the waters were low tide, and as the winds pushed the heap of ships back westward, the wings of the fleet managed to find themselves caught on the coral shoals fending off sharks as their ships sank. Seeing the opportunity granted to them, Lésimā Jhísā and Lésimā Rṓraṭṭṣē rushed towards the center now that the winds were in their favor.

The battle in the center was fierce, as some 70 ships directly led by Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā was forced to hold off the mass of 300 warships rushing through them towards the canal. Bagámā himself was nearly killed had it not been for Ṣāmbúsā Kupúksā defending him with his bare body from a barrage of arrows delivered by Lésimā Jhísā's flagship. Lésimā Jhísā, however, was struck down by several boarding spears during the attempt to capture Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā's own ship leading to much of his men wavering in spite of the numerical advantage.

As the naval battle had continued, a battle for the canal locks began as Lésimā Rṓsāṭṣē led his men to storm the fort that protected them. He was initially successful, however, seeing the chaotic naval battle and believing his own father's fleet was being defeated, burned the fort in the hopes of improving the morale of the crewmen. This had the effect of spurring on the Lésimā fleet into action to press on and destroy Ṣāmbúsā Bagámā's fleet which was already mostly in flames.

Kúrhaṣā Pā́ḍhō, spotting the fires from the fort, now had an idea of where the battle was taking place with his fleet that had gradually moved north from their anchorage in the south. With his 200 warboats, they struck at the rear of the Lésimā, forcing them to either commit to the battle and take the canal or flee southwards away from their own domains leaving their own home exposed. Lésimā Guṣḗpō hesitated, but eventually decided to gather his ships and take whatever route the wind had guided them towards. The wind had changed to an easterly direction, and so with his ships made way to the east in the hopes of taking port at Nahamata which was owned by a friendly clan and had a substantial castle to defend from. This meant, however, he had abandoned his own son and heir in the canal. Lésimā Rṓsāṭṣē was killed along with most of his men while attempting to defend the flameridden fortifications.

Aftermath

The Lésimā clan was in absolute tatters following this battle, as most of their warboats were destroyed and many of their experienced men were either captured or killed. The result left much of the Mujansan protectorates without order, and many noblemen were no longer alive to administrate the realm there. Despite this, the imperial succession system was anything but secured, as trust in the system had been destroyed with this outbreak of civil conflict. In 211, a mutiny would result in a break in peace throughout the empire and Six Leagues war would commence.