The Kisra’s Horsemen

This novel brings to life the legend of Kisra, the formidable journey that took Africans from Iran to the West African coast in the Middle Ages. In 636 AD, the Sassanid army, one of the most powerful in the world, was crushed at Qadisiyya by the Muslim troops of the Rashidun Caliphate. To save their lives and avoid slavery, black mercenaries from the Persian cavalry were forced into exile. After a long journey of more than 8,000 km that took them through Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Nigeria, their descendants reached the Borgu region on the Gulf of Benin in the 11th century. There, they founded kingdoms the traditions of which endure to this day in Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. It is this epic that is brought to life in this story, which combines established historical facts, oral tradition, and fiction.