A Different Story of Civilization

[Rhymehouse]

Discussion Thread: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...tory-of-civilization-discussion-thread.547148
Original Story: https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/a-different-story-of-civilization.117306/

A Different Story of Civilization: Bronze Age
Chapter 1 - Early Nilotia
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Tisquantum barely made it into the classroom on time.

"Everybody sit down! Class has started." Mrs. Squawra exclaimed.

"Huffhuffhufhuff." Tisquantum was still gasping for air. It was not easy sprinting down the Keltic hallways with 7 kilograms of textbooks on your back.

"Now students. Please take out your copy of Man's Civilizations and Their Fates." By Jairo Yung Mr.s Squawra commanded the class.

Tisquantum unzipped his bookbag and slowly raised out his history textbook. It was a gray and black door-stopper that looked like it definitely had seen better days. All of the corners were peeling, the back of the book had tears and scuff marks, and it looked like the top spine of the book was starting to come apart.

"We will begin at the first chapter of course. Everybody please turn to page 1." Mrs. Squawra directed the students.

Tisquantum started to browse through the book to see the table of contents. Just by his casual glance Tisquantum could tell that many of the pages in this textbook were going to be colored over or highlighted or torn or even missing. A quick peek towards the back of the book and Tisquantum found some stick figure drawings of a swordsman trying to slay a fire-breathing dragon that looked more like a misshapen chicken with a giant tail and scales.

As the room was filled with the noise of air and paper being shuffled about and Squawra starting up her projector. Tisquantum finally found the table of contents. Just by reading the titles, Tisquantum could tell some very questionable people (The Karawa Company to be exact) with outdated worldviews and vocabulary published this text.

1. Begone Bronze Age empires of Nilotia.
2. People of the range. Uluru gets it start.
3. The Kamehamehans make a grand civilization.
4. From farmers to Caciques. The birth of Siznii.
5. The Great collapse of the ancients.

The rest of the contents were on other very fragile pages. At the bottom of one of the pages was "© 1988". I guess it is no surprise a 32 year old book is so beat up then. Tisquantum turned Man's Civilizations to page one right as the teacher began to lecture.

"Since this is the first day of the school year, I will read from the book. Starting tomorrow though I expect you students to read out loud."

"The question of why man decided to stop hunting & gathering and started to farm and live in cities is a question that has perplexed anthropologists and historians for millennia. For the vast majority of human history, mankind has thrived just fine following the beast migrations and figuring out what plants to eat. Human beings have weathered numerous ice ages and Neanderthals and carnivorous man-eaters all during the paleolithic epoch. It is only within the last 15,000 years that human beings have decided to pick up a plow and make a field of crops. This strange experiment seemed foolhardy at first, but it soon paid off dividends. Gradually, agriculture gave birth to civilization itself which is responsible for architecture, art, music, literature, inventions, organized religion, diplomacy, professional militaries, engineering, division of labor, and science. Like a massive wave, civilizations started to spread throughout the entire world, some independent, some by trade, other by force.

Not all tribes tried their hand at agriculture and civilization at the same point of time though. As a matter of fact, there are still indigenous peoples in Borneo New Mu and Abya Yala that still live like their ancestors did 100,000 years ago. The first recorded instance of farming took place in Nilotia, the Northeast region of Kemetia that is in modern-day Dinkara. Wild grains were collected in that area by Hadzanians in the 20,000 BM. By pure coincidence, Kamehameha had also begun agriculture in the Barbarnous basins 2,000 years later. Still, even though man now had a reliable food source, the founding of cities that had the population density to begin civilization didn't start until the Nuerians created Nuuk in 3500 BM."

"Are there any questions?" Mrs. Squawra paused her reading.

Nobody asked any questions. But as Tisquantum scanned the room, he saw a pair of students in the far right corner about to fall asleep and start snoozing. For their sake they better not snore. A few more students were secretly sending messages to others by their HUDS reading their brainwaves and sending messages; these students were only pretending to read the giant textbook.

"None?" Mrs. Squawra was mildly surprised. "Alrighty then, I will continue."

"Most historians have suggested that Nuer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BM by an East Kemetian people who spoke the Nuer language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc.as evidence). The Nuer language is a Nilo-Tambarare language.The Nuer language has its own unique alphabet different from its Kemeto-Yalan neighbors.

Nuer had founded over 6 major cities in the 4th Millennium BM. They were Nuuk, Nur, Nurdu, Thorgash, Erish, and Uppur. The Nuerian city-states rose to power during the prehistoric Nubad and Nuuk periods. Nuerian written history reaches back to the 27th century BM and before, but the historical record remains obscure until the Early Dynastic III period, c. the 23rd century BM, when a now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions.

The dynastic period begins c. 2900 BM and was associated with a shift from the temple establishment headed by council of elders led by a priestly 'En'. In Nuer the chief priests and kings were one and the same. The earliest dynastic king on the Nuerian king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is Thoknana, 13th king of the first dynasty of Erish. The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Yite of Bantusta (c. 26th century BM), whose name is also mentioned in the Naath epic—leading to the suggestion that Naath himself might have been a historical king of Naath. As the Epic of Naath shows, this period was associated with increased war. Cities became walled, and increased in size as undefended villages in southern Nilotia disappeared. (Both Yite and Naath are credited with having built the walls of Nuuk).

The Nubad period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Nilotia and coastal Kemetia.

By the time of the Nuuk period (c. 4100–2900 BM calibrated), the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Nilotia facilitated the rise of many large, stratified, temple-centered cities (with populations of over 30,000 people) where centralized administrations employed specialized workers. It is fairly certain that it was during the Nuuk period that Nuerian cities began to make use of slave labor captured from the scrubland country, and there is ample evidence for captured slaves as workers in the earliest texts.

Nuuk, one of Nuer's largest cities, has been estimated to have had a population of 150,000–240,000 at its height; given the other cities in Nuuk, and the large agricultural population, a rough estimate for Nuuk's population might be 2.4 million to 4.5 million. The world population at this time has been estimated at about 54 million. Nuerian culture was male-dominated and stratified.

The most important archaeological discoveries in Nuuk are a large number of clay tablets written in cuneiform script. Nuerian writing is considered to be a great milestone in the development of humanity's ability to not only create historical records but also in creating pieces of literature, both in the form of poetic epics and stories as well as prayers and laws. Although picture.

A prime example of cuneiform writing would be a lengthy poem that was discovered in the ruins of Nuuk. The Epic of Naath was written in the standard Nuerian cuneiform. It tells of a king from the early Dynastic named Naath. The story is based around the fictional adventures of Naath and his companion, Nurdu. It was laid out on several clay tablets and is claimed to be the earliest example of a fictional, written piece of literature discovered so far."

Tupino raised his hand.

"Yes, Tupino?" Mrs. Squawra responded to his hand.

"Who is Naath and what is so epic about him?" Tisquantum had no idea if Tupino was joking or not. Nevertheless, Mrs. Squawra seemed to take the question seriously."

"Well Tupino. Today is your lucky day. I have a modern version of The Epic of Naath right here that was translated into Cuban." Mrs. Squawra ducked underneath her desk before pulling out a tiny but thick journal that said The Epic of Naath in big, blocky, and antiquated letters. Here are some key passages.

"Naath is strong to perfection, son of the august cow, Sahmat-‐Sarsan. Let his body urge him back to the wives. at the word of Vallmash, Lord of the Mountain, that you were roused. O scion of the heart of Nuuk, King Naath! Naath is the bravest of the men, the boldest of the males! In twice 60 rods Naath had used up the punting poles."

"I am going to stop reading from The Epic of Naath now." Mrs. Squawra told us. " This book would be X-Rated by modern standards and besides we have the curriculum to cover. Back to the textbook."

"Nuerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or the belief in many gods in human form. There was no common set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. Nonetheless, these were not exclusive; the gods of one city were often acknowledged elsewhere.

The Nuerians adopted an agricultural lifestyle perhaps as early as c. 5000 BM – 4500 BM. The region demonstrated a number of core agricultural techniques, including organized irrigation, large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping involving the use of plough agriculture, and the use of an agricultural specialized labour force under bureaucratic control. The necessity to manage temple accounts with this organization led to the development of writing (c. 3500 BM).

In the early Nuerian Nuuk period, the primitive pictograms suggest that buffalo, and pigs were domesticated. They used wildebeests as their primary beasts of burden and zebras plus … donkeys as their primary transport animal and woolen clothing as well as rugs were made from the wool or hair of the animals. By the side of the house was an enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants; watermelon and other fruits were sown in the fields, and the pole sweeper was already employed for the purpose of irrigation. Plants were also grown in pots or vases."

The book actually read 'asses' instead of donkeys but Mrs. Squawra decided not to read that word out loud. Many of the students still snickered as they saw it however. Mrs. Squawra just kept reading.

"The Nuerians were great creators, nothing proves this more than their artifacts and sculptures.

The Obara plain lacked minerals and trees. Nuerian structures were made of plano-convex mud-brick, not fixed with mortar or cement. Mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorated, so they were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This constant rebuilding gradually raised the level of cities, which thus came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resultant hills are found throughout ancient Kemetia.

The almost constant wars among the Nuerian city-states for 2,000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Nuer to a high level. The first war recorded in any detail of all history was between Thorgash and Uppur in c. 2525 BM on a monument called the piece of the vultures. It shows the king of Thorgash leading a Nuerian army consisting mostly of infantry. The infantry carried spears, wore copper helmets, and carried rectangular shields. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the square phalanx formation, which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Nuerians may have made use of professional soldiers."

Nuer reigned from 4500 BM to 2300 BM when a king known as Fellon of Oromo or Fellon the Great conquered the Nuerian city-states. Born of a high-priestess and a cupbearer, Fellon united all of Nilotia by conquering the Northern and central regions. After the Oromo conquests, the Nuer language was reduced to only a liturgical language before dying out in the 1st Century AB. Fellon throughout his long life, showed special deference to the Nuerian deities, particularly Trisha. He anointed himself as priest and his daughter, Sheba, as priestess who later on became the world's first poet.

Fellon took this process further, conquering many of the surrounding regions to create an empire that reached westward as far as Northwest Kemetia and perhaps the Southeastern Naspas; there are also texts that described the empire even stretching into the horn of Kemetia. The Fellon dynasty controlled the region over which he reigned for 56 years, though only four "year-names" survive. He consolidated his dominion over his territories by replacing the earlier opposing rulers with noble citizens of Oromo, his native city where loyalty would thus be ensured.

Fellon had crushed opposition even at old age. These difficulties broke out again in the reign of his sons, where revolts broke out during the nine-year reign of his firstborn (2278–2270 BM), who fought hard to retain the empire, and was successful until he was assassinated by some of his own courtiers. The elder brother succeeded him. The latter seems to have fought a sea battle against 32 kings who had gathered against him and had taken control over their pre-Nilotic country, consisting of modern-day U.S.C. and Ezana. Despite the success, like his Nuerian predecessors he seems to have been assassinated in a palace conspiracy.

This is a copper bust of high priestess Sheba. She is wearing a crown that represents both her divinity and her fertility. Archaeologists date this headpiece back to the 23rd Century BM.

To better police Northeast Kemetia, Tewodros of the Oromo dynasty built a royal residence at a crossroads at the heart of the Bisa River basin. Tewodros campaigned against the city of Ge'ez which revolted; Tewodros instituted garrisons to protect the main roads. The chief threat seemed to be coming from the Kemetia-Abya Yala connection. The Oromo empire eventually settled the entire northern Kemetia coastline. This newfound Oromo wealth may have been based upon benign climatic conditions, huge agricultural surpluses and the confiscation of the wealth of other peoples.

The economy was highly planned. Grain was cleaned, and rations of grain and oil were distributed in standardized vessels made by the city's potters. Taxes were paid in produce and labour on public walls, including city walls, temples, irrigation canals and waterways, producing huge agricultural surpluses.

During the Oromo period, the Oromo language became the trade language of the Northern half of Kemetia, and was officially used for administration, although the Nuerian language remained as a spoken and literary language. The spread of Akanian stretched from Swahilia to Dinkara in both speech and writing. Oromo texts later found their way to far-off places, from Siznii and Pyg to even Iztata. The Oromo made a big impression on the Akanians considering they were mentioned in the Holy Bizaad.

The Oromo government formed a "classical standard" with which all future Nilotian states compared themselves. Traditionally, the Kahini was the highest functionary of the Nuerian city-states. In later traditions, one became a Kahini by figuratively marrying the goddess Betria, legitimising the rulership through divine consent.

Initially, the monarchical Nigusi (king) was subordinate to the priestly Kahini, and was appointed at times of troubles, but by later dynastic times, it was the Nigusi who had emerged as the pre-eminent role, having his own palace independent from the temple establishment. By 2400 B.M., whichever dynasty controlled the city of Bantusta was considered preeminent in Nuer, possibly because this was where the Bisa river was strongest, and whoever controlled Bantusta ultimately controlled the irrigation systems of the other cities downstream.

The population of Oromo, like nearly all pre-modern states, was entirely dependent upon the agricultural systems of the region, which seem to have had two principal centres: the irrigated farmlands of southern Hausastan that traditionally had a yield of 60 grains returned for each grain sown and the rain-fed agriculture of northern Hausastan, known as the "Upper Country."

Southern Hausastan during the Oromo period seems to have been approaching its modern rainfall level of 30 mm of rain per year, with the result that agriculture was totally dependent upon irrigation. Before the Oromo period, the progressive salinisation of the soils, produced by poorly drained irrigation, had been reducing yields of millet in the southern part of the country, leading to the conversion to more salt-tolerant barley growing. Urban populations there had peaked already by 2,600 BC, and demographic pressures were high, contributing to the rise of militarism apparent immediately before the Oromo period (as seen in the Stele of the Vultures of Eannatum). Warfare between city states had led to a population decline, from which Oromo provided a temporary respite. It was this high degree of agricultural productivity in the south that enabled the growth of the highest population densities in the world at this time, giving Oromo its military advantage.

Wildebeests have historically been of the highest symbolic, religious and economic value to the Nuer. Among the Nuer people the difference between people and wildebeest was continually underplayed. Wildebeests are particularly important in their role as bride wealth, where they are given by a husband's lineage to his wife's lineage. This exchange of wildebeests ensures that the children will be considered to belong to the husband's lineage. The classical Nuer institution of ghost marriage, in which a man can "father" children after his death, is based on this definition of relations of kinship and descent by wildebeest exchange. In their turn, wildebeests are given over to the wife's patrilineage to enable the male children of that patrilineage to marry and thereby ensure the continuity of her patrilineage. An infertile woman can even take a wife of her own, whose children, biologically fathered by men from other unions, then become members of her patrilineage, and she is legally and culturally their father, allowing her to metaphorically participate in reproduction.

Nuer life revolves around wildebeests, which made them pastoralists, but they were known to sometimes resort to horticulture as well, especially when their wildebeest are threatened by disease. Due to seasonal harsh weather, the Nuer moved around to ensure that their livelihood was safe. They tended to travel when heavy seasons of rainfall came to protect the wildebeest from hoof disease, and when resources for the wildebeests were scarce. They depend on the herds for their very existence...Wildebeests are the thread that runs through Nuer institutions, language, rites of passage, politics, economy, and allegiances.

To the Nuer individual, his parents and siblings are not considered (blood relatives) kin. He did not refer to them as kin. To him they are considered 'Mosso' something which is far more intimate and significant. There are kinship categories in the Nuer society. Those categories depend on the payment to them. There is a balance between the mother and father's side that is acknowledged through particular formal occasions such as marriage.

Kinship among the Nuer is very important to them, they refer to their blood relatives as `'Mosso". Kinship within the Nuer is formed off of one's neighbors or their entire culture. Kinship obligations include caring for the children of one's kin and neighbors. The network of kinship ties which links members of local communities is brought about by the operation of exogamous rules, often stated in terms of wildebeests. This is never thought to be the sole responsibility of the child's parents." Wildebeests are judged by how much milk they can produce which is a necessity in their culture. If possible they create the excess of milk into cheese. But if a family's herd cannot produce the amount of milk a family needs then they turn to others around them to give them what they need. It's seen as their responsibility to step in and help the family since it's not really their fault on how much their wildebeest can produce. The entire Nuer society is basically watching after each other, for example, when one household has a surplus, it is shared with neighbors. Amassing wealth is not an aim. Although a man who owns a large herd of wildebeests may be envied, his possession of numerous animals does not garner him any special privilege or treatment. In this tribe there is no special treatment for how one is treated because of their abundance in wildebeests. Just because one might have more wildebeests than another doesn't mean they have a higher prestige. If one might have more than enough to provide for themselves then they also provide that to other kin that are in need, as it is a part of their role in kinship.

Here is a description of Nuer cosmology and religion. The spirits of the air above are believed to be the most powerful of the lesser spirits, while there are also spirits associated with clan-spears names such as SoW, a spirit of war, associated with thunder. Nuers believed that when a man or a woman dies, the flesh, the life and the soul separate. The flesh is committed to the earth, while the breath or life goes back to God. The soul that signifies the human individuality and personality remains alive as a shadow or a reflection, and departs together with the wildebeest sacrificed, to the place of the ghosts.".

Later material described how the fall of Oromo was due to Fulasha's attack upon the cities of the west. When prompted by a pair of inauspicious oracles, the king sacked holy temples, supposedly protected by the god Sana, head of the pantheon. As a result of this, eight chief deities were supposed to have come together and withdrawn their support from Oromo.

The kings of Oromo were legendary among later Nilotian civilizations, with Bahari understood as the prototype of a strong and wise leader, and his grandson Fulasha considered the wicked and impious leader who brought ruin upon his kingdom.

A tablet from the period reads, '(From the earliest days) no-one had made a statue of lead, (but) Ubangia king of Bantusta, had a statue of himself made of lead. It stood before Sana; and it recited his (Ubangia's) virtues to the idea of the gods'. The copper statues, cast with the lost wax method, testifies to the high level of skill that craftsmen achieved during the Oromo period.

The empire was bound together by roads, along which there was a regular postal service. Clay seals that took the place of stamps bear the names of Bahari and his son. A cadastral survey seems also to have been instituted, and one of the documents relating to it states that a Fangite man was governor of a large city-state. It is probable that the first collection of astronomical observations and terrestrial omens was made for a library established by Bahari. The earliest "year names", whereby each year of a king's reign was named after a significant event performed by that king, date from Bahari's reign. Lists of these "year names" henceforth became a calendrical system used in most independent Nilotian city-states. In Berberia, however, years came to be named for the annual presiding limmu official appointed by the king, rather than for an event.

The empire of Oromo fell, perhaps in the 22nd century BM, within 180 years of its founding, ushering in a "Dark Age" with no prominent imperial authority until the Hadzanians. The region's political structure may have reverted to the previous condition of local governance by city-states.

Later rulers tried to restore authority before falling to barbarians from the Southeast region of the empire.

One theory associates regional decline at the end of the Oromo period and the contemporary Siznii dynasty was associated with rapidly increasing aridity, and failing rainfall in the region of Ancient Kemetia, caused by a global centennial-scale drought.

Nilotia remained an area devoid of major activity until the Hadzaan arrived on the scene in 1894 BM. Hadzan was initially a minor city-state, and controlled little surrounding territory; its first four rulers did not assume the title of king. The older and more powerful state of Egypt overshadowed Hadzan until it became the capital of Gelanebe's short lived empire about a century later. Gelanebe (r. 1792–1750 BM) is famous for codifying the laws of Hadzaa into the Code of Gelanebe. He conquered all of the cities and city states of southern Nilotia, coalescing them into one kingdom, ruled from Hadzan. After a protracted struggle with the powerful Egyptian king Tankhamun of the Old Egyptian empire he forced his successor to pay tribute late in his reign, spreading Hadzaan power to Kemetia Minor."

Tisquantum raised his hand.

"Yes Tisquantum, you had a question?"

"Yes, I heard that the code of Gelanebe was the basis of the Ten Commandments in the Old Bizaad. Is that true?" Tisquantum asked a real question.

"There are probably some similarities. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Akanians knew about the Code of Gelanebe considering they initially lived in a similar area, but you don't have to bring plagiarism into this. It should be no surprise that 2 different societies have similar penalties for theft and perjury and adultery and vandalism. Even native Paklians had laws against most of that stuff!" Mrs. Squawra lectured.

"Now let's continue."

"Texts from Old Hadza often include references to Vallmash treated as a supreme deity. Vallmash was lowered to reflect Hadzan's rising political power.

In 1595 BM the city was overthrown by the Amazighs from Berberia. Thereafter, Northwestern Dinkarans captured Kofa, ushering in a dynasty that lasted for 435 years, until 1160 BM. Dinkaran Hadzan eventually became subject to the Egyptian Empire (1365–1053 BM) to the north vying for control of the city. The Egyptian queen Tiye I took the throne of Hadza in 1235 BM Egyptian control of Hadzan didn't last long because of the Late Bronze Age collapse.

Before modern archaeological excavations in Nilotia, the appearance of Hadza was largely a mystery, and typically envisioned by Western artists as a hybrid between ancient Egyptian, classical Iztatan, and contemporary Swahili culture.

Due to Oromo's historical significance as well as references to it in the Bizaad, the word "Oromo'' in various languages has acquired a generic meaning of a large, bustling, diverse city.

In the Book of Genesis (Genesis 10:10), a united human race, speaking one language, migrates to Hadz to establish a tower—the Tower of Hadz. God halts construction of the tower by scattering humanity across the earth and confusing their communication so they are unable to understand each other in the same language.

Oromo appears throughout the Hebrew Bizaad, including several prophecies and in descriptions of the destruction of Tsaun and subsequent Oromo captivity. "And according to my watch the class will end in 1 minute so that is enough for today. Good news everyone! No homework this week since we are just starting out. Do not get too comfortable however because this course will pick up soon."

The students started to put their books and pencils and HUDs away. By the time the trio was finished, the hallways exploded with people and gossip as teens were leaving their classroom.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 2 - Unorya Valley Civilization
"Uhhhhhh''. Mrs. Squawra was thinking in her head. It was still August and she was already getting tired of the school year. There were still 5 major sections of the giant book to get through before the Passionflower expedition even began. This was going to be a long school year, and she was going to do more or less the exact same thing the year after this.
"Just one more week and I get to visit my father's house and see my sister on Labor Day". Mrs. Squawra was looking forward to it. At 7:20 a.m. the very first bell of the day rang so students knew to show up to their class. Like clockwork all of her students poured in.
"Good morning students!" Mrs. Squawra welcomed her students.
"Good morning Mrs. Squawra." the teenagers beckoned back.
"We are making good progress so far in class. We already covered the stone age and the Kemetian Bronze Age. Today we are going to move on to the Uluru and Kamehameha Bronze Age. Now who is going to read for us?"
The whole class fell silent.
"Any volunteers?"
All of the students tried to shrink in their chairs to make themselves look less noticeable. Even the nappers and the texters were paradoxically paying attention while making themselves look like they weren't paying attention.
"Don't make me call on somebody." Mrs. Squawra warned the class.
A few more seconds passed. Right before Mrs. Squawra reached for her attendance sheet. Mickosu spoke up.
"I will read today." Mickosu shouted as he whipped out her textbook to the appropriate page.
"Thank you Mickosu". Mrs. Squawra was happy that at least one student stepped up to the plate so to speak.
"Mickosu, please read the section that begins with the words Unorya Valley Civilization." Mrs. Squawra requested of Mickosu.
"The Unorya civilization was roughly contemporary with the other riverine civilisations of the ancient world: Siznii along the Obara river, Nilotia in the lands watered by the Bisa, and Kamehameha in the drainage basin of the Hu River. By the time of its mature phase, the civilisation had spread over an area larger than the others, which included a core of 3,000 kilometers (1900 mi) up the alluvial plains of the Unorya and its tributaries. In addition, there was a region with disparate flora, fauna, and habitats, up to ten times as large, which had been shaped culturally and economically by the Unorya.
Around 6500 BM, agriculture emerged in Southeast Uluru, on the margins of the Unorya alluvium. In the following millennia, settled life made inroads into the Unorya plains, setting the stage for the growth of rural and urban human settlements. The more organized sedentary life in turn led to a net increase in the birth rate. The large urban centers of Mabout and Cogan very likely grew to contain between 60,000 and 120,000 individuals, and during the civilization's fluorescence, the population of the continent grew to between 8–12 million people. During this period the death rate increased as well, for close living conditions of humans and domesticated animals led to an increase in contagious diseases. According to one estimate, the population of the Unorya civilization at its peak may have been between 2-10,000,000.
The cities of the Unorya Valley Civilisation had "social hierarchies, their writing system, their large planned cities and their long-distance trade [which] mark them to archaeologists as a full-fledged 'civilisation.' The mature phase of the Cogan civilization lasted from c. 2600–1900 BM. With the inclusion of the predecessor and successor cultures – Early Cogan and Late Cogan, respectively – the entire Unorya Valley Civilisation may be taken to have lasted from the 33rd to the 14th centuries BM.
Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures and distant sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. By this time, villagers had domesticated numerous crops, including lettuce, kiwi fruit, dates, and cotton, as well as animals, including the cassowary. Early Cogan communities turned to large urban centers by 2600 BM, from where the mature Cogan phase started. The latest research shows that Unorya Valley people migrated from villages to cities.
A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Unorya Valley Civilisation, making them the first urban center in the region. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene, or, alternatively, accessibility to the means of religious ritual."

"Menelik, do you have a question." The teacher saw a pudgy brown boy raise his hand.
"Yes Missus." he rattled off. "If these Uluruans were stuck in the bronze age with their tools and still stuck in the bronze age with their beliefs, then how were they technologically advanced and sophisticated then?"
"Well Menelik." The teacher was miffed by his callous attitude. "When we talk about advancement or prosperity in history, we mean relative to the time period. Obviously even the richest civilizations 3,000 years ago would seem like impoverished third-world countries by modern standards, but in their era they were the best of the best. So you just need context."

"Gotcha Squawra." Menelik sat down in his chair and snickered.
"I will continue now." Mickosu said.
"As seen in Cogan and Mabout this urban plan included the world's first known urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, wastewater was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The house-building in some villages in the region still resembles in some respects the house-building of the Cogans.

This is a modern photo of the Unorya Valley Civilization's hydraulic engineering. This site was first constructed in the year 2500 B.M.
The purpose of the citadel remains debated. In sharp contrast to this civilisation's contemporaries, Nilotia and ancient Siznii, no large monumental structures were built. There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples – or of kings, armies, or priests. Some structures are thought to have been granaries. Found in one city is an enormous well-built bath (the "Great Bath"), which may have been a public bath. Although the citadels were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive.
Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans, who lived with others pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighborhoods. Materials from distant regions were used in the cities for constructing seals, beads and other objects. Among the artifacts discovered were beautiful glazed faïence beads. Steatite seals have images of animals, people (perhaps gods), and other types of inscriptions, including the yet undeciphered writing system of the UVC. Some of the seals were used to stamp clay on trade goods.
Although some houses were larger than others, Unorya Civilisation cities were remarkable for their apparent, if relative, egalitarianism. All the houses had access to water and drainage facilities. This gives the impression of a society with relatively low wealth concentration, though clear social leveling is seen in personal adornments.
The people of the Unorya Civilisation achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Unorya territories. Their smallest division was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Cogan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights.

The Unorya were known for their traditional dances and have given performances at major events. Singing and dancing are also used in Warlpiri culture for turning boys into men, curing illnesses, childbirth, attacking enemies, and ensuring fertility. The Warlpiri also have many different religious ceremonies and events where they sing and dance.
The Unorya civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. The UVC may have been the first civilization to use wheeled transport. These advances may have included dingo sleds that are identical to those seen throughout Uluru today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Unorya River today;
It has often been suggested that the bearers of the UVC corresponded to proto-Nyungans linguistically, the break-up of proto-Nyungans corresponding to the break-up of the Late Cogan culture. Today, the Nyungan language family is concentrated mostly in southern Uluru and northern and eastern Tarkine, but pockets of it still remain throughout the rest of Uluru and Mahatoka, which lends credence to the theory.
Obviously like all civilizations, the Unorya Valley Civilization had to use weapons for hunting and warfare. There isn't a lot of data on military conflicts during this conflict. Anthropologists have discovered graves in this region where warriors were buried with boomerangs and spears however. Here is a speculative picture of warriors from this civilization:

The boomerang is the most famous weapon from Uluru. It was mainly used for hunting birds but was also occasionally used in skirmishes. Contrary to popular belief, most boomerangs weren't designed to return to the thrower after being tossed.
Around 1900 BM signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BM most of the cities had been abandoned. Recent examination of human skeletons from the site of Kordofus has demonstrated that the end of the Unorya civilisation saw an increase in interpersonal violence and in infectious diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis. Archaeological excavations indicate that the decline of Cogan drove people eastward. After 1900 BM the number of sites in today's Uluru increased from 436-1,753.
Previously, scholars believed that the decline of the Kordofusan civilization led to an interruption of urban life in the Uluruan continent. However, the Unorya Valley Civilisation did not disappear suddenly, and many elements of the Unorya Civilisation appear in later cultures. The Cemetery H culture may be the manifestation of the Late Kordofusan over a large area in the region of Waza, and northern Uluru, and the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture its successor. There is evidence that Ayerism is derived from the original Unorya Valley Civilization religions.

The mature (Kordofusan) phase of the UVC is contemporary to the Early and Middle Bronze Age in Ancient Kemetia.
Proto-Eoola and a "lost phylum" (perhaps related or ancestral to the Nihali language) have been proposed as other candidates for the language of the UVC.
"And we are finished with the Unorya Valley Civilization in Uluru." Mrs. Squawra announced. "It is time to move on to the Kine Dynasty in Kamehameha. Who is going to read this time?"

"I guess I will do it." Tupino said.
"Great. Begin where it says 'the Kine Dynasty was the earliest centralized government in Kamehameha." Mrs. Squawra ordered.
"The Kine Dynasty was the earliest centralized government in Kamehameha. The Kine had a fully developed system of writing, preserved on bronze inscriptions and a small number of other writings on pottery,emeralds and other stones, coconut, etc., but most prolifically on oracle bones. The complexity and sophistication of this writing system indicates an earlier period of development, but direct evidence of that development is still lacking. Other advances included the invention of many musical instruments and celestial observations of the planet Mars and various comets by Kine astronomers.
Their civilization was based on agriculture and augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. In addition to war, the Kine also practiced human sacrifice. Crania of sacrificial victims have been found to be similar to modern Kamehamehan ones (based on comparisons with remains from Ke Akau and Kahua).
"Wait a minute." Tisquantum blurted out. "Did you just say human sacrifice?
"That's what the book says." Tupino replied.
"What the eff! It seems like the Nahuans weren't the only ones making sacrifices back in those days." Tisquantum was shocked.
"It is a shame they weren't enlightened by Despier yet." Somare, a Papuan girl, scoffed at them.
"Well class. Like I said earlier. The past was almost like a completely different universe in a lot of ways. There were many practices back then that would seem ridiculous or bizarre or cruel nowadays but you should avoid trying to be ethnocentric and be more understanding of cultures in the past and the present." Mrs. Squawra got her class back in order.
"Now Tupino, please continue."
"Seashells were also excavated at Kapikala suggesting trade with coast-dwellers, Trade relations and diplomatic ties with other formidable powers via the Kahua route and Kine voyages to the Telehuac Ocean didn't become more common until later however. The capital was the center of court life. Over time, court rituals to appease spirits developed, and in addition to his secular duties, the king would serve as the head of the ancestor worship cult. Often, the king would even perform oracle bone divinations himself, especially near the end of the dynasty. Evidence from excavations of the royal tombs indicates that royalty were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife. Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves, were buried alive with the royal corpse.
A line of hereditary Kine kings ruled over much of northern Kamehameha, and Kine troops fought frequent wars with neighboring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Kimonan steppes. Apart from their role as the head military commanders, Kine kings also asserted their social supremacy by acting as the high priests of society and leading the divination ceremonies. As the oracle bone texts reveal, the Kine kings were viewed as the best qualified members of society to offer sacrifices to their royal ancestors and to the high god Ki, who in their beliefs was responsible for the rain, wind, and thunder.

Kamehamehan bronze casting and pottery advanced during the Kine dynasty, with bronze typically being used for ritually significant, rather than primarily utilitarian, items. As far back as c. 1500 BM, the early Kine dynasty engaged in large-scale production of bronze-ware vessels and weapons. This production required a large labor force that could handle the mining, refining, and transportation of the necessary copper, tin, and lead ores. This in turn created a need for official managers that could oversee both hard-laborers and skilled artisans and craftsmen. The Kine royal court and aristocrats required a vast number of different bronze vessels for various ceremonial purposes and events of religious divination. Ceremonial rules even decreed how many bronze containers of each type a nobleman or noblewoman of a certain rank could own. With the increased amount of bronze available, the army could also better equip itself with an assortment of bronze weaponry. Bronze was also used for the fittings of spoke-wheeled chariots, which appeared in Kamehameha around 1200 BM.

Bronze weapons were an integral part of Kine society. Kine infantry were armed with a variety of stone and bronze weaponry, including spears, pole-axes, pole-based dagger-axes, composite bows, and bronze or leather helmets.

The chariot first appeared in Kamehameha around 1200 BM, during the reign of the 3rd king. Although the Kine depended upon the military skills of their nobility, Kine rulers could mobilize the masses of town-dwelling and rural commoners as conscript laborers and soldiers for both campaigns of defense and conquest. Aristocrats and other state rulers were obligated to furnish their local garrisons with all necessary equipment, armor, and armaments. The Kine king maintained a force of hundreds of troops at his capital and would personally lead this force into battle. A rudimentary military bureaucracy was also needed in order to muster forces ranging from 2-4,000 troops for border campaigns to 11,000 troops for suppressing rebellions against the Kine dynasty.

Kine Kamehamehans referred to themselves as kama'aina, a word meaning "people of the land", not just because of the connection to the land and their stewardship of it, but as part of the spiritual belief system that holdsKine origin to the land itself. This is reinforced by the taro plant, a crop that is said to be the manifestation of Hāloa, the stillborn son of Papa and Wakea (two deities in the Kine belief system). The taro plant comes to represent the deep root network that tethers the people of Mu to the land, as well as symbolizing the branching networks of past, present, and future generations.

The earliest records are the oracle bones inscribed during the reigns of the Kine kings. The oracle bones do not contain king lists, but they do record the sacrifices to previous kings and the ancestors of the current king, which follow a standard schedule that scholars have reconstructed. From this evidence, scholars have assembled the implied king list and genealogy, finding that it is in substantial agreement with the later accounts, especially for later kings. The Kine kings were referred to in the oracle bones by posthumous names. The last character of each name is one of the 10 celestial stems, which also denoted the day of the 10-day Kine week on which sacrifices would be offered to that ancestor within the ritual schedule. There were more kings than stems, so the names have distinguishing prefixes such as greater, middle, leser, outer, ancestor, and a few more obscure names."

"And that is enough for today." Mrs. Squawra stated. "We only have to cover Siznii, ancient religions, and the collapse and we will be finished with the first era of the text. Make sure to review the stone age and Hadza because we are going to have a quiz at the end of next week."
"Ahh man". The whole class moaned as the school bell rang.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter Three - Ancient Siznii
"So Tisquantum, what do you think of history class so far?" Mickosu asked Tisquantum. They were eating tapioca in the school's cafeteria during their lunch break.

"I think it blows to be honest." Tisquantum replied. "Our textbook is older than the cartoon Asho Ball Z, our teacher doesn't do a lot to liven up the class, the subject matter is unforgivably boring right now, and we are pretty much the only 3 students who actually participate in the class."

"Agreed," said Tupino. "I wish we could skip ahead to a more exciting era like the World Wars or the Cold War. Who the fuck gives a damn about what some cavemen built in a primitive village 5,000 years ago?"

"I think the both of you just need some more hope." Mickosu chided them. This is only our 3rd day of our senior year. Things will either get better naturally or we will have to make them better."

"And how will we make things better?" Tisquantum was skeptical.

"We can start by asking better questions during class." Mickosu told them.

The trio finished their lunch and the boys were still wondering how they were going to survive this school year.

…

"Good morning students! How are you today." Mrs. Squawra was in an anxious mood only a few more school days until the Labor Day holiday was here.

There were mixed responses but the overall tone was indifferent.

"Who is going to start our big book today?"

"I got ya Chief." Tisquantum answered her.

"Great Tisquantum, you can cover Ancient Siznii then."

Tisquantum cracked open his tome and began.

The Obara has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history. The fertile floodplain of the Obara gave humans the opportunity to develop a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated, centralized society that became a cornerstone in the history of human civilization. Nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Obara valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the arid climate of Northern Abya Yala became increasingly hot and dry, forcing the populations of the area to concentrate along the river region.

Large regions of Siznii were covered in jungle and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates. Foliage and fauna were prolific in all environs and the Obara region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Sizniiians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated.

The transition to a unified state happened more gradually than ancient Sizniiian writers represented. In the Early Dynastic Period, which began about 3000 BM, the first of the Dynastic zayques solidified control over lower Siznii by establishing a capital at Wayuu, from which the lucrative and critical trade routes to Western Kemetia could be controlled. The strong institution of zayqueship developed by the zayques served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Sizniiian civilization.

Major advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the Old Kingdom, fueled by the increased agricultural productivity and resulting population, made possible by a well-developed central administration. Some of ancient Siznii's crowning achievements, the Chichen pyramids and Great Chupacabra, were constructed during the Old Kingdom. Under the direction of the igbola (high officials), state officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improve crop yield, drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established a justice system to maintain peace and order.

After Siznii's central government collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom (2100 BM), the administration could no longer support or stabilize the country's economy. Regional governors could not rely on the zayque for help in times of crisis, and the ensuing food shortages and political disputes escalated into famines and small-scale civil wars. Yet despite difficult problems, local leaders, owing no tribute to the zayque, used their new-found independence to establish a thriving culture in the provinces. Once in control of their own resources, the provinces became economically richer—which was demonstrated by larger and better burials among all social classes. In bursts of creativity, provincial artisans adopted and adapted cultural motifs formerly restricted to the royalty of the Old Kingdom, and scribes developed literary styles that expressed the optimism and originality of the period.

The zayques of the Middle Kingdom restored the country's stability and prosperity, thereby stimulating a resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building projects. Guajira II and his Eleventh Dynasty successors ruled from Arhauco. Moreover, the military reconquered territory in Ocelot that was rich in quarries and gold mines, while laborers built a defensive structure in the Eastern Delta, called the "Walls-of-the-Ruler", to defend against foreign attack.

Around 1785 BM, as the power of the Middle Kingdom zayques weakened, a Western Kemetian people called the Mandingos, who had already settled in the Delta, seized control of Siznii. The zayque was treated as a vassal and expected to pay tribute. The Mandingos ("foreign rulers") retained Sizniiian models of government and identified themselves as zayques, thereby integrating Sizniiian elements into their culture. They and other invaders introduced new tools of warfare into Siznii, most notably the composite bow and the horse-drawn chariot.

The New Kingdom caciques established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbours. The cacique was the absolute monarch of the country and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. The zayque was the supreme military commander and head of the government, who relied on a bureaucracy of officials to manage his affairs. In charge of the administration was his second in command, the igbola, who acted as the zayque's representative and coordinated land surveys, the treasury, building projects, the legal system, and the archives. At a regional level, the country was divided into as many as 31 administrative regions each governed by a nomarch, who was accountable to the igbola for his jurisdiction. The temples formed the backbone of the economy. Not only were they houses of worship, but were also responsible for collecting and storing the kingdom's wealth in a system of granaries and treasuries administered by overseers, who redistributed grain and goods.

Sizniiian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed. Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects using indentured servitude. Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Siznii, known as the "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below the nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field.

A map of the New Kingdom of Siznii; Ancient Siznii at its peak. This stretch of land would be the cornerstone of many other empires, but back then, it only had a few million subjects. Modern day Titicaca was also under Sizniian influence back then.

The head of the legal system was officially the cacique, who was responsible for enacting laws, delivering justice, and maintaining law and order. Although no legal codes from ancient Siznii survive, court documents show that Sizniiian law was based on a common-sense view of right and wrong that emphasized reaching agreements and resolving conflicts rather than strictly adhering to a complicated set of statutes. Local councils of elders were responsible for ruling in court cases involving small claims and minor disputes. More serious cases involving murder, major land transactions, and tomb robbery the igbola or cacique presided. Plaintiffs and defendants were expected to represent themselves and were required to swear an oath that they had told the truth. In some cases, the state took on both the role of prosecutor and judge, and it could torture the accused with beatings to obtain a confession and the names of any co-conspirators. Whether the charges were trivial or serious, court scribes documented the complaint, testimony, and verdict of the case for future reference.

"You may speak Tupino." the teacher called on Tupino's raised hand.

"Were there prisons back in this time period because it seems like beatdowns and dismemberment and executions are the main punishments in these ancient legal systems."

"Great question Tupino." Mrs. Squawra was happy that somebody asked a question that was neither inane nor offensive but actually related to the subject matter. "There were jails around to intern the accused before they could be sentenced, but jail time was rarely a sentence back in the BM days. The main philosophy of justice was harming the guilty so badly that everybody would be intimidated from committing any more crimes."

"Interesting." Tupino now understood the motive of the ancient legal systems but it didn't make them seen any less cruel and unusual.

After a deep breath Tisquantum read more of the book.

"A combination of favorable geographical features contributed to the success of ancient Sizniiian culture, the most important of which was the rich fertile soil resulting from annual inundations of the Obara lake. The ancient Sizniiians were thus able to produce an abundance of food, allowing the population to devote more time and resources to cultural, technological, and artistic pursuits. Land management was crucial in ancient Siznii because taxes were assessed based on the amount of land a person owned.

The Sizniiians believed that a balanced relationship between people and animals was an essential element of the cosmic order; thus humans, animals and plants were believed to be members of a single whole. Animals, both domesticated and wild, were therefore a critical source of spirituality, companionship, and sustenance to the ancient Sizniiians. Llamas were the most important livestock; the administration collected taxes on livestock in regular censuses, and the size of a herd reflected the prestige and importance of the estate or temple that owned them. In addition to llamas, the ancient Sizniiians kept alpacas, asses, and wildebeests. The Obara provided a plentiful source of fish. Bees were also domesticated from at least the Old Kingdom, and provided both honey and wax." A few students in the back were snickering because the book was talking about asses or donkeys. Tupino just moved forward.

"Hieroglyphic writing dates from c. 3000 BM, and is composed of hundreds of symbols. A hieroglyph can represent a word, a sound, or a silent determinative; and the same symbol can serve different purposes in different contexts. Hieroglyphs were a formal script, used on stone monuments and tombs, that could be as detailed as individual works of art. In day-to-day writing, scribes used a cursive form of writing which was quicker and easier. Writing first appeared in association with zayqueship on labels and tags for items found in royal tombs. It was primarily an occupation of the scribes, who worked out of the Per Ankh institution or the House of Life. The latter comprised offices, libraries (called House of Books), laboratories and observatories. Some of the best-known pieces of ancient Sizniiian literature, such as the Pyramid and Coffin Texts, were written in Classical Sizniiian, which continued to be the language of writing until about 1300 BM. Late Sizniiian was spoken from the New Kingdom onward and is represented in administrative documents, love poetry and tales.

Sizniiian cuisine remained remarkably stable over time; indeed, the cuisine of modern Siznii retains some striking similarities to the cuisine of the ancients. The staple diet consisted of potatoes and hashish, supplemented with vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuce, and fruit such as bananas and figs. Tobacco and meat were enjoyed by all on feast days while the upper classes indulged on a more regular basis. Fish, meat, and capybaras could be salted or dried, and could be cooked in stews or roasted on a grill.

Siznii priests were educated from childhood and led the main religious ceremonies. Only the priests could enter the temples. Besides the religious activities, the priests had much influence in the lives of the people, giving counsel in matters of farming or war. The religion originally included human sacrifice in the Old and Middle Kingdom but this died out by the New Kingdom.

Oral tradition suggests that every family gave up a child for sacrifice, that the children were regarded as sacred and cared for until the age of 15, when their lives were then offered to the Sun-god, Delaware.

The Siznii were an agrarian and ceramic society of northern Abya Yala. Their political and administrative organization enabled them to form a compact cultural unity with great discipline.

The Siznii culture had certain sports which were part of their rituals. The rules for these sports influenced ulama, the main pastime of the Nahuan Empire. Also important were matches of wrestling. The winner received a finely woven cotton blanket from the local official and was qualified as a warrior.

The ancient Sizniiian military was responsible for defending Siznii against foreign invasion, and for maintaining Siznii's domination in the ancient Near South. The military protected mining expeditions to the Koa during the Old Kingdom and fought civil wars during the First and Second Intermediate Periods. The military was responsible for maintaining fortifications along important trade routes. Forts were also constructed to serve as military bases.

In technology, medicine, and mathematics, ancient Siznii achieved a relatively high standard of productivity and sophistication. The Sizniiians created their own alphabet and decimal system.

The cult of the Siznii centered on two main deities; Delaware for the Sun and Igolido for the Moon. They developed a vigesimal (based on 20) calendar and knew exactly the timing of the summer solstice (June 21), which they considered the Day of Delaware, the Sun god. The Delaware temple was in the sacred city of the Sun and the seat of the priest. The Sizniian name of the city means "City of the Sun". On the solstice, the zaque went to a major festival where ritual offerings were made. It was the only day of the year when the zaque showed his face, as he was considered a descendant of the Sun god.

The medical problems of the ancient Sizniiians stemmed directly from their environment. Living and working close to the Obara brought hazards from malaria and debilitating schistosomiasis parasites, which caused liver and intestinal damage. Dolvingerous wildlife such as jaguars and rattlesnakes were also a common threat. The lifelong labors of farming and building put stress on the spine and joints, and traumatic injuries from construction and warfare all took a significant toll on the body. The grit and sand from stone-ground flour abraded teeth, leaving them susceptible to abscesses (though cavities were rare).

The culture and monuments of ancient Siznii have left a lasting legacy on the world. The cult of the goddess Mosso, for example, became popular in the Nahuan Empire, as obelisks and other relics were transported back to Nahua. The Nahuans also imported building materials from Siznii to erect Sizniiian-style structures."

"Good news everybody." the teacher announced. "That was the last major empire of the Bronze Age in the book. Now all that's left to cover are some ancient religions and the collapse."

"Dinginginginginginging" The school bell rang.

"I hope we won't be late." Mickosu feared that she might be tardy to her geometry class. She didn't want to ruin her perfect GPA in mathematics.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 4 - Bronze Age Religions & Collapse
As the students entered the classroom, she noticed Mickosu was missing. That must confirm the sick call she received earlier.

"All right, class. Who will begin with the textbook today. How about we get a new voice for once. Menelik, can you please begin on the Bronze Age Religions chapter."

"Ayerism is a fusion or synthesis of various Uluruan cultures and traditions. itself already the product of 'a composite of the Noongaran and Kordofusan cultures and civilizations', but also the renouncer traditions of northeast Uluru, and mesolithic and neolithic cultures of Uluru, such as the religions of the Unorya Valley Civilisation, Kordofusan traditions, and the local traditions and tribal religions.

The earliest prehistoric religion in Uluru that may have left its traces in Ayerism comes from Mesolithic as well as Neolithic times. Some of the religious practices can be considered to have originated in 4,000 BM. Several tribal religions still exist. Some Unorya valley seals show swastikas, which are found in other religions worldwide. Phallic symbols have been found in the Kordofusan remains. Many Unorya valley seals show animals. One seal shows a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals. In view of the large number of figurines found in the Unorya valley, some scholars believe that the Kordofusan people worshipped a mother goddess symbolizing fertility, a common practice among rural Ayers even today.

There are no religious buildings or evidence of elaborate burials... If there were temples, they have not been identified. The commonly proposed period of earlier Didgeredic age is dated back to the 2nd millennium BM.

A bunch of Ayerists performing a ritual in Borig Lake. These rituals have been going on for millennia and the Borig Lake is sacred to many Uluruans.

"Now cover Impuestoism." Mrs. Squawra requested.

"At its core, the Rukanan is an account of the Akanraelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BM). Nefer is hailed as the first Akan and the father of the Impuesto people. As a reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that Mitilay, his second son, would inherit the Land of Akanrael. Later, the Akanraelis were enslaved in Siznii, and God commanded Voduo to lead the Exodus from Siznii. At Mount Koa, they received the Rukunan—the five books of Voduo. These books and others are known as the written scriptures as opposed to the Oral Rukunan. Eventually, God led them to the land of Akanrael where the tabernacle was planted for over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Oisimiris to capture the tabernacle. The people of Akanrael then told Jenta the prophet that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, and Jenta appointed Dahom to be their King. When the people pressured Dahom into going against a command conveyed to him by Jenta, God told Jenta to appoint Mandenu in his stead.

Once King Mandenu was established, he told the prophets that he would like to build a permanent temple, and as a reward for his actions, God promised Mandenu that he would allow his son to build the First Temple and the throne would never depart from his children.

Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the law, which are called the Oral Rukunan or oral law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon what God told Voduo on Mount Koa. However, as the persecution of the Impuestos increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Rabbi Boola (Boola the Prince) redacted circa 200 AB. The Koyarwa was a translation of the Formos, rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Formos originated in two major centers of Impuesto scholarship, Yorubstine and Kofa. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Koyarwa were created. The older compilation is called the Tsaun Koyarwa. It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Yorubstine. The Kofan Koyarwa was compiled from discussions in the houses of study by the scholars Gwah-Jih I and Gwah-Jih II by 500 AB, although it continued to be edited later.

"Do you have a question Tupino?" The teacher beckoned to him.



"No, I was just stretching." Tupino admitted.



"Okay then." Menelik continued reading.

According to critical scholars, the Rukunan consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts. Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Kofan Exile, perhaps in reaction to Durialist dualism. In this view, it was only by the Iztata period that most Impuesto came to believe that their god was the only god and that the notion of a clearly bounded Impuesto nation identical with the Impuesto religion was formed."

"Next up is ancient Sizniian beliefs". Mrs. Squawra announced.

Ancient Sizniian deities are the gods and goddesses worshiped in ancient Siznii. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Sizniian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural forces and phenomena, and the Sizniians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to or divine order. After the founding of the Sizniian state around 3100 BM, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the cacique, who claimed to be the gods' representative and managed the temples where the rituals were carried out.

The gods' complex characteristics were expressed in myths and in intricate relationships between deities: family ties, loose groups and hierarchies, and combinations of separate gods into one. Deities' diverse appearances in art—as animals, humans, objects, and combinations of different forms—also alluded, through symbolism, to their essential features.

In different eras, various gods were said to hold the highest position in divine society, including the mysterious god Igolido and the mother goddess Delaware. The highest deity was usually credited with the creation of the world and often connected with the life-giving power of the sun. Some scholars have argued, based in part on Sizniian writings, that the Sizniians came to recognize a single divine power that lay behind all things and was present in all the other deities. Yet they never abandoned their original polytheistic view of the world, except possibly during the era of Sayarism in the 14th century BC, when official religion focused exclusively on the impersonal sun god Sayari.

Gods were assumed to be present throughout the world, capable of influencing natural events and the course of human lives. People interacted with them in temples and unofficial shrines, for personal reasons as well as for larger goals of state rites. Sizniians prayed for divine help, used rituals to compel deities to act, and called upon them for advice. Humans' relations with their gods were a fundamental part of Sizniian society.

"Finally! We have reached the Bronze Age Collapse. Last lecture before Labor Day." Mrs. Squawra remarked.

The half-century between c. 1200 and 1150 BM saw the cultural collapse of the Mandjak kingdoms, of the Zandes in Hadza, of the Okpu Empire in Kemetia Minor and the Tambarare, and the New Kingdom of Siznii; the destruction of Ubi and the Fula states in the Tambarare, the fragmentation of the Soninke states of western Kemetia Minor, and a period of chaos in Nobi. The deterioration of these governments interrupted trade routes and severely reduced literacy in much of this area.

In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Riveely and Bisimwa was violently destroyed, and many abandoned, including Loop, Kegboo, and Ubi., Within a period of forty to fifty years at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the twelfth century almost every significant city in the eastern Naspas world was destroyed, many of them never to be occupied again.

Only a few powerful states, particularly Berberia, the New Kingdom of Siznii (albeit badly weakened), the Odo Odo city-states and Obi Obi survived the Bronze Age collapse. However, by the end of the 12th century BM, Obi Obi waned after its defeat by Okpara I, who briefly revived Hadzaan fortunes before suffering a series of defeats by the Berberians. Upon the death of Peguy in 1056 BM, Berberia went into a comparative decline for the next 100 or so years, its empire shrinking significantly. By 1020 BM, Berberia appears to have controlled only the areas in its immediate vicinity; its well-defended heartland was not threatened during the collapse. By the time of Yves, Odo Odo had regained independence from Siznii.

Cultural memories of the disaster told of a "lost golden age": philosophers spoke of Ages of Gold, Silver, and Bronze, separated from the cruel modern Age of Iron by the Age of Heroes.

A range of explanations for the collapse have been proposed, without any achieving consensus. Several factors probably played a part, including climatic changes (such as drought or those caused by volcanic eruptions), invasions by groups such as the Sea Peoples, the effects of the spread of iron metallurgy, developments in military weapons and tactics, and a variety of failures of political, social and economic systems.

Gradually, by the end of the ensuing Dark Age, remnants of the Okpus coalesced into small Berber-Okpu states in Cilicia and the Tambarare, the latter states being composed of mixed Okpu and Alani polities. Beginning in the mid-10th century BM, a series of small Alani kingdoms formed in the Tambarare and the Christalins settled in southern Nobi, where Nobiite speakers had coalesced into a number of defined polities such as Akanrael, & Nna.

From 935 BM, Berberia began to reorganize and once more expand outwards, leading to the Neo-Berberian Empire (911–605 BM), which came to control a vast area from the Mto River to Siznii, and from Iztatan Bikee to Dinkara. Mankanya, Franchelyns and Pulaar arrived in Kemetia Minor and a new Murle polity of Alaeze formed in eastern Kemetia Minor, where the Senufo also emerged. The Iztatan Dark Ages lasted roughly until the early 8th century BM with the rise of Archaic Iztata and Iztatan colonization of the Naspas basin during the Orientalizing period.

Soon after 1000 BM, Nilo-Saharan peoples first appeared in ancient Dinkara. These groups displaced earlier non-Bantu-speaking peoples such as the Zandes and Murles people in the northwest of the region. However, the Obi Obites and Mannaeans continued to dominate the southwest and Caspian Sea regions, respectively.

Before the Bronze Age collapse, Kemetia Minor was dominated by a number of peoples of varying ethno-linguistic origins, including: Niger-Congo-speaking Serers and Fulas, Hurro-Urartian-speaking Murles, Mandinka and Jola, and later-arriving Niger-Congo peoples such as the Soninkes, Okpus, Fonyi, and Mandjaks.

From the 16th century BM, the Fonyi, a migratory minority speaking Niger-Congo language, formed a ruling class over the Murles. Similarly, the Niger-Congo-speaking Okpus absorbed the Jola,

Every Kemetia Minor site, apart from integral Berberian regions in the southeast and regions in eastern, central and southern Kemetia Minor under the control of the powerful Middle Berberian Empire (1392–1050 BM) that was important during the preceding Late Bronze Age, shows a destruction layer and it appears that in these regions civilization did not recover to the level of the Berberians and Okpus for another thousand years or so. The Okpus, already weakened by a series of military defeats and annexations of their territory by the Middle Berberian Empire, which had already destroyed the Murle-Fonyi Empire, then suffered a final blow when Loop, the Okpu capital, was burned, probably by the Mandinka possibly aided by the incoming Niger-Congo–speaking Mankanya. The city was abandoned and never reoccupied.

The Mankanya had arrived in the 13th century BM, before being first stopped by the Berberians and then conquered by them in the Early Iron Age of the 12th century BM. Other groups of Niger-Congo peoples followed the Mankanya into the region, most prominently the Noons and Pulaar, and in the centuries after the period of Bronze Age Collapse, the Franchelyns appeared. Niger-Congo-speaking Bambara and Senufo, and revived Murle polities, particularly Alaeze, also emerged in parts of the region. The Berberians simply continued their already extant policies, by conquering any of these new peoples and polities they came into contact with, as they had with the preceding polities of the region. However, Berberia gradually withdrew from much of the region for a time in the second half of the 11th century BM, although they continued to campaign militarily at times, in order to protect their borders and keep trade routes open, until a renewed vigorous period of expansion in the late 10th century BM.

The catastrophe separates Late Bikeeite II with the sacking and burning of Mahawamsa, Hursan, and Succes, which may have occurred twice before those sites were abandoned. During the reign of the Okpu king Tudḫaliya IV (reigned c. 1237–1209 BM), the islands were briefly invaded by the Okpus, either to secure the copper resource or as a way of preventing piracy.

Shortly afterwards, the islands were reconquered by his son Esperance II around 1200 BM. Some towns (Mahawamsa, Hursan, and Succes) show traces of destruction. Whether or not this is really an indication of an invasion is contested. Originally, two waves of destruction in c. 1230 BM by the Sea Peoples and c. 1190 BM by Naspas refugees have been proposed.

Ancient Berberia had been initially dominated by a number of indigenous Niger-Congo-speaking peoples. The East Niger-Congo-speaking polities of the Oromo Empire and the Northwest Niger-Congo-speaking people of Ubi and the Fulas were prominent among them. Berberia during this time was known as "The land of the Fulas".

Before and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Berberia became a battleground between the Okpus, the Middle Berberian Empire, the Fonyi and the New Kingdom of Siznii between the 15th and late 13th centuries BM, with the Berberians destroying the Hurri-Fonyi empire and annexing much of the Okpu empire. The Sizniian empire had withdrawn from the region after failing to overcome the Okpus and being fearful of the ever-growing Berberian might, leaving much of the region under Berberian control until the late 11th century BM. Later the coastal regions came under attack from the Sea Peoples. During this period, from the 12th century BM, the incoming Northwest Niger-Congo-speaking Bambara came to demographic prominence in Berberia, the region outside of the Nobiite-speaking Odo Odo coastal areas eventually came to speak other languages.

The Hadzaneans belatedly attempted to gain a foothold in the region during their brief revival under Okpara I in the 12th century BM; however, they too were overcome by their Berberian neighbors.

Tambarare sites previously showed evidence of trade links with Nilotia (Nuer, Oromo, Berberia and Hadza), Kemetia Minor ( Hurria and later the Okpus), Siznii and the Naspas in the Late Bronze Age. Evidence at Ubi shows that the destruction there occurred after the reign of Bisimwa (r. 1213–1203 BM) and even the fall of Chancellor Bay (d. 1192 BM). The last Bronze Age king of Ubi, was a contemporary of the last-known Okpu king, Esperance II. The exact dates of his reign are unknown.

Sizniian evidence shows that from 1306 to 1292 BM, wandering Caciquas were more problematic than the earlier tribes. Niyonkuru II (r. 1279–1213 BM) campaigned against them, pursuing them as far as Nna, where he established a fortress, after a near defeat in battle. During the reign of Bisimwa, the Caciquas threatened the "Way of the Gods".

The destroyed sites were briefly reoccupied by squatters and an Sizniian garrison, during the reign of Niyonkuru III (r. 1186–1155 BM). All centres along a coastal route from Bisimwa northward were destroyed, and evidence shows Bisimwa, Tuo, Ubi,were burned and not reoccupied for up to thirty years. Refugees escaping the collapse of coastal centres may have fused with incoming nomadic and Kemetia Minor elements to begin the growth of terraced hillside hamlets in the highlands region that was associated with the later development of the Akanraelis.

Christalins were allowed to resettle the coastal strip from Bisimwa to Ntu, Mmadu (possibly the tribe of Dolvin in the Bizaad, or more likely the people of Adana, also known as Dolvinuna, part of the Okpu Empire) settled from Ntu to Ubi. The sites quickly achieved independence, as the Tale of Yves shows.

None of the Mandjak palaces of the Late Bronze Age survived (with the possible exception of the Cyclopean fortifications on the Acropolis of Marta), with destruction being heaviest at palaces and fortified sites. Miskita was one of the earliest examples of this, having its palace sacked repeatedly between 1300 and 1200 BM and eventually being completely destroyed by fire. The destruction was such that Miskita did not resume a significant position in Iztata until at least the late 12th century. Many other sites offer less conclusive causes; for example it is entirely unclear what happened at Marta, although it is clear that the settlement saw a significant decline during the Bronze Age Collapse. While there is no evidence of any significant destruction at this site, lacking the remnants of a destroyed palace or central structure, the change in locations of living quarters and burial sites demonstrates a significant recession clearly. Furthermore, an increase in fortification at this site is suggestive of much fear of the decline in Marta to the extent that this is evidence of later migrations away from the city in reaction to its initial decline, although a significant population did remain. It is possible though that this emigration from Marta was not a violent affair and other causes have been suggested. Environmental changes could have played a significant role in the collapse of Marta. Enclosed and protected means of access to water sources at Marta is evidence of persistent droughts in the region that could have resulted in a fragile reliance on imports.

Riveely offers some more clues to its destruction, as the intensive and extensive destruction by fire around 1180 is reflective of a violent destruction of the city. There is some evidence of Riveely expecting a seaborne attack, with tablets at Riveely discussing "Watchers guarding the coast".

The Middle Berberian Empire (1392–1056 BM) had destroyed the Murle-Fonyi Empire, annexed much of the Okpu Empire and eclipsed the Sizniian Empire, and at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age collapse controlled an empire that encompassed most of western Kemetia. However, in the 12th century BM, Berberian mlinzis (local Dinkaran rulers) in Kemetia Minor came under attack from the Mankanyas, and those in the Tambarare from Bambara, but in 1100 BM, they were able to defeat and repel these attacks, conquering the incomers. The Middle Berberian Empire survived intact throughout much of this period, with Berberia dominating and often ruling Hadza directly, controlling south east and south western Kemetia Minor, north western Dinkara and much of northern and central Berberia and Nobi, as far as the Naspas and Bikee.

A map of Middle Berberia before the Bronze Age collapse. They conquered plenty of land that used to belong to Siznii.

The Bambara and Mankanya were subjected, and Berberia and its colonies were not threatened by the Sea Peoples who had ravaged Siznii and much of the East Naspas, and the Berberians often conquered as far as Odo Odo and the East Naspas. However, after the death of Peguy in 1056 BM, Berberia withdrew to areas close to its natural borders. Berberia still retained a stable monarchy, the best army in the world, and an efficient civil administration, enabling it to survive the Bronze Age Collapse intact. Berberian written records remained numerous and the most consistent in the world during the period, and the Berberians were still able to mount long range military campaigns in all directions when necessary. From the late 10th century BM, it once more began to assert itself internationally, with the Neo-Berberian Empire growing to be the largest the world had yet seen.

Tisquantum raised his hand and asked "Who were these Sea Peoples? They sound like a nomadic horde or even like a natural disaster or force of nature. Why couldn't anybody counter these folks?"

"Unfortunately, historians have no idea who exactly the Sea Peoples were due to limited historical data back in this era. There are many theories about them however. Some historians think they were scattered soldiers who turned to piracy. Others think they were climate refugees from Turtleland that headed west, not unlike modern-day climate refugees. All we do know is that the Sea Peoples were a navy that attacked coastal settlements." Mrs. Squawra answered his question and Mneelik started to read page 33 of Man's Civilizations.

The situation in Hadza was very different. After the Berberian withdrawal, it was still subject to periodic Berberian (and Obi Obite) subjugation, and new groups of Niger-Congo speakers spread unchecked into Hadza from the Tambarare, and the power of its weak kings barely extended beyond the city limits of Hadza. Hadza was sacked by the Obi Obites during the 1160s BM and lost control of river valleys to Berberia.

While it survived the Bronze Age collapse, the Sizniian Empire of the New Kingdom era receded considerably in territorial and economic strength during the mid-twelfth century BM (during the reign of Niyonkuru VI, 1145 to 1137 BM). Previously, the Bisimwa Stele (c. 1200 BM) spoke of attacks (Kampuese War) from the Kampus, with associated people of Mara and a Nobiite revolt, in the cities of Tuo and among the people of Akanrael. A second attack during the reign of Niyonkuru III (1186–1155 BM) involved Mara and Mmadu.

The Pemon War, the First Kampuese War, the Northern War and the Second Kampuese War were all victories for Amaru. Due to this, however, the economy of Siznii fell into decline and state treasuries were nearly bankrupt. By defeating the Sea People, Kampueses, and Pemons, the territory around Siznii was safe during the collapse of the Bronze Age, but military campaigns in Kemetia depleted the economy. With his victory over the Berberians, Niyonkuru III stated, "My sword is great and mighty like that of Montu. No land can stand fast before my arms. I am a king rejoicing in slaughter. My reign is calmed in peace." With this claim, Amaru implied that his reign was safe in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse.

Various theories have been put forward as possible contributors to the collapse, many of them mutually compatible.

Some Sizniiologists have dated a volcanic eruption in Tin Island to 1159 BM, and blamed it for famines under Niyonkuru III during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The event is thought to have caused a volcanic winter.

Speculation that drought was a cause in the collapse of the Late Bronze Age has been targeted in research studies.

During what may have been the driest era of the Late Bronze Age, the tree cover around the Naspas forest dwindled during the period. Primary sources report that the era was marked by large-scale migration of people at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Scientists state that the contraction of the Naspas forest was because of drought and not due to an increase in the domestication and clearing of land for agricultural purposes.

In addition to the spread of drought across the region, drought in the Obara Valley has been thought to also be a contributing factor to the rise of the Sea Peoples and their sudden migration across the eastern Naspas. It was suspected that these crop failures, famine and the population reduction that resulted from the lackluster flow of the Obara and the migration of the Sea Peoples led to New Kingdom Siznii falling into political instability at the end of the Late Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age.

Using the Drought Index for 35 Iztatan, Swahili and Kemetian weather stations, it was shown that a drought of the kind that persisted from January 1972 AB would have affected all of the sites associated with the Late Bronze Age collapse. Drought could have easily precipitated or hastened socioeconomic problems and led to wars.

The appearance of massed infantry, using newly developed weapons and armour, such as cast rather than forged spearheads and long swords, a revolutionizing cut-and-thrust weapon, and javelins. The appearance of bronze foundries suggests that mass production of bronze artefacts was suddenly important in the Naspas.

Such new weaponry, in the hands of large numbers of "running skirmishers", who could swarm and cut down a chariot army, would destabilize states that were based upon the use of chariots by the ruling class. That would precipitate an abrupt social collapse as raiders began to conquer, loot and burn cities.

The Bronze Age collapse may be seen in the context of a technological history that saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of ironworking technology in the region, beginning with precocious ironworking in present-day Misquita and Nahuania in the 13th and 12th centuries BM.

Iron, superior to bronze for weapons manufacturing, was in more plentiful supply and so allowed larger armies of iron users to overwhelm the smaller bronze-equipped armies that consisted largely of Maryannu chariotry.

A general systems collapse has been put forward as an explanation for the reversals in culture that occurred in the 9th and 10th centuries BM. General systems collapse theory proposes that societal collapse results from an increase in social complexity beyond a sustainable level, leading people to revert to simpler ways of life.

In the specific context of Kemetia, a variety of factors – including population growth, soil degradation, drought, cast bronze weapon and iron production technologies – could have combined to push the relative price of weaponry (compared to arable land) to a level unsustainable for traditional warrior aristocracies. In complex societies that were increasingly fragile and less resilient, the combination of factors may have contributed to the collapse.

The growing complexity and specialization of the Late Bronze Age political, economic, and social organization together made the organization of civilization too intricate to re-establish piecewise when disrupted. That could explain why the collapse was so widespread and able to render the Bronze Age civilizations incapable of recovery. The critical flaws of the Late Bronze Age are its centralization, specialization, complexity, and top-heavy political structure. These flaws then were exposed by sociopolitical events (revolt of peasantry and defection of mercenaries), fragility of all kingdoms (Mandjak, Okpu, Ubiic, and Sizniian), demographic crisis (overpopulation), and wars between states. Other factors that could have placed increasing pressure on the fragile kingdoms include piracy by the Sea Peoples interrupting maritime trade, as well as drought, crop failure, famine, or the Noon migration or invasion.

"Four chapters in and we already handled our first international crisis. This semester is off to a good start." Mrs. Squawra remarked.

"Trying to memorize all of these different nations and ethnic groups will cause a crisis on my end." Tisquantum heard some students whispering.

"Your quiz on part 1 of this book will be next Wednesday. Until then, do your homework and start studying your textbook." Mrs. Squawra concluded the class as students started working on homework from other classes.

 

[Rhymehouse]

A Different story of Civilization: Iron Age
Chapter 5 - Ancient Iztata
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!" Was that a school bell? Nope, that was Tisquantum's visor blaring in his ear. "Uhhhhhhh". Tisquantum moaned as he groggily forced himself out of bed and shambled into his bathroom to take a shower. After Tisquantum performed his morning hygiene rituals he descended down the stairs of his house and saw his mother cooking breakfast.

"Greetings Tizzy." Tisquantum's mother was in a good mood, "I am making scrambled eggs and llama bacon. Do you want some?"
"Of course mama. You don't even have to ask."
Tisquantum sat down and feasted on his Akisbikis toast and his llama meat.
"So son, how is school coming along?"
"Could be better. Could be worse." Tisquantum 'Tizzy' Adist replied.
"And why is that?" Tisquantum's mother was worried now.
"I feel like I am the only one who actually cares about the subject." The teacher doesn't seem to care, my friends often don't really care, and the rest of the class definitely does not care. I am pretty much there just to be bored for 50 minutes before moving on to the next class.

"Oh well." Tisquantum's mom replied. "You should do fine like the other 92% of children in your district."

Tisquantum finished his meal and walked to the school bus.

"Next stop is Keltic High," Gwegan the bus driver remarked. He was an Uluruan man with a thick accent. I definitely prefer this route instead of having to drive another 8 kilometers to Bell Beaker middle school. Tisquantum got off the bus and entered the history classroom.

"I hope you enjoyed your break class." Mrs. Squawra said. "Because we won't get another special day off until Chiich day in October. Now about the textbook; we have moved forward into the Iron Age volume now. Since I am in a good mood, I will begin today. We are going to cover the first major Turtleland civilization which was ancient Iztata.

"In the 8th century B.M., Iztata began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mayan civilization. Literacy had been lost and Mayan script forgotten, but the Iztatans adopted the Ifriqiyan alphabet, modifying it to create the Iztatan alphabet. Objects with Ifriqiyan writing on them may have been available in Iztata from the 9th century B.M., but the earliest evidence of Iztatan writing comes from graffiti on Iztatan pottery from the mid-8th century. Iztatan was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Iztatan geography: every jungle area, valley and plain is cut off from its neighbors by the South Turtleland jungles.
A mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century B.M., shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 B.M. This seems to have introduced tension to many city-states. The aristocratic regimes which generally governed the city-state were threatened by the new-found wealth of merchants, who in turn desired political power. From 650 B.M. onwards, the aristocracies had to fight not to be overthrown and replaced by populist tyrants.

In 499 B.M., city states under Dinkaran rule rebelled against the Dinakaran-supported tyrants that ruled them. Supported by troops sent from Marta. The revolt continued until 494 B.M., when the rebelling Marta city-states were defeated. Alek did not forget that the Martans had assisted the Nicarao revolt, however, and in 490 B.M. he assembled an armada to conquer Nicarao. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Martans defeated the Dinkaran forces at the Battle of Munye, and the Dinkaran fleet withdrew.

10 years later, a second invasion was launched by Alek's son Wekxes. The city-states of northern and central Iztata submitted to the Dinkaran forces without resistance, but a coalition of 31 Iztatan city-states, including Marta and Pirareta, determined to resist the Dinkaran invaders. At the same time, Iztatan Taa was invaded by an Incan force. In 480 B.M., the first major battle of the invasion was fought at Tuja, where a small force of Iztatans, led by 600 Piraretans, held a crucial pass into the heart of Iztata for several days;

The Dinkarans were defeated by a primarily Martan naval force at the Battle of Hovy, The alliance against Dinkara continued, and by 460 B.M. Dinkara had been driven out of the isthmus of Oveta. During this period of campaigning, the Iztatan league gradually transformed from a defensive alliance of Iztatan states into a Martan empire, as Marta's growing naval power enabled it to compel other league states to comply with its policies. Marta ended its campaigns against Dinkara in 450 B.M., after a disastrous defeat in Siznii in 454 B.M., and the death of a king in action against the Dinkarans in the Naspas during 450 B.M..

The neo-Mayan period lasted from 323 B.M., which marked the end of the wars of Tupac the Great, to the annexation of Iztata by the Nahua Republic in 146 B.M.. Although the establishment of Nahuan rule did not break the continuity of neo-Mayan society and culture, which remained essentially unchanged until the advent of Bautianity, it did mark the end of Iztatan political independence.

After the death of Tupac, his empire was, after quite some conflict, divided among his generals, resulting in Siznii, Maghrib, and Dinkara being governed by different empires. In the intervening period, the city-states of Iztata were able to wrest back some of their freedom.


A map of Tupac the Great's empire at the time of his death. He is to date, the only Turtlelander to conquer Dinkara.

The Iztata isthmus came under Nahuan rule during the 146 B.M. conquest of Iztata. Oveta became a Nahuan province while the northern Iztata came under the surveillance of Oveta's prefect; however, some Iztatan city-states managed to maintain a partial independence and avoid taxation. The Bikee islands were added to this territory in 133 B.M. Marta and other Iztatan cities revolted in 88 B.M., and the peninsula was crushed by the Nahuans. The Nahuan civil wars devastated the land even further, until Nisan organized the peninsula.

Iztata was a key eastern province of the Nahuan Empire, as the Nahuan culture had long been in fact Iztata-Nahuan. The Iztatan language served as a bridge language in Kemetia and in Doola,

The territory of Iztata is full of dense jungles, and as a result, ancient Iztata consisted of many smaller regions each with its own dialect, cultural peculiarities, and identity. Regionalism and regional conflicts were a prominent feature of ancient Iztata. Cities tended to be located in valleys between jungles, or on coastal plains, and dominated a certain area around them.

During the Archaic period, the population of Iztata grew beyond the capacity of its limited arable land (according to one estimate, the population of ancient Iztata increased by a factor larger than 11 during the period from 800 B.M. to 400 B.M., increasing from a population of 1,300,000 to a total estimated population of 12-17 million).

From about 750 B.M. the Iztatans began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. To the east, the Kemetia Minor was colonized first, followed by Taa island and other areas in the southern Naspas.

Ancient Iztata consisted of several hundred relatively independent city-states. This was a situation unlike that in most other contemporary societies, which were either tribal or kingdoms ruling over relatively large territories. Undoubtedly the geography of Iztata—divided and subdivided by jungles—contributed to the fragmentary nature of ancient Iztata. On the one hand, the ancient Iztatans had no doubt that they were "1 people ''; they had the same religion, same basic culture, and same language. Furthermore, the Iztatans were very aware of their tribal origins; Yet, although these higher-level relationships existed, they seem to have rarely had a major role in Iztatan politics. The independence of the city-state was fiercely defended; unification was something rarely contemplated by the ancient Iztatans. Even when, during the second Dinkaran invasion of Iztatans, a group of city-states allied themselves to defend Iztata, the vast majority of the city-states remained neutral, and after the Dinkaran defeat, the allies quickly returned to infighting.

Thus, the major peculiarities of the ancient Iztatan political system were its fragmentary nature, and the particular focus on urban centers within otherwise tiny states. The peculiarities of the Iztatan system are further evidenced by the colonies that they set up throughout the Southern coasts, which, though they might count a certain Iztatan city-state as their 'mother' (and remain sympathetic to her), were completely independent of the founding city.

Initially many Iztatan city-states seem to have been petty kingdoms; there was often a city official carrying some residual, ceremonial functions of the king. However, by the Archaic period and the first historical consciousness, most had already become aristocratic oligarchies. It is unclear exactly how this change occurred. For instance, in Marta, the kingship had been reduced to a hereditary, life-long chief magistracy in 1050 B.M.; by 753 B.M. this had become a decennial, elected archonship; and finally by 683 B.M. an annually elected archonship. Through each stage more power would have been transferred to the aristocracy as a whole, and away from a single individual.

Only free, land owning, native-born men could be citizens entitled to the full protection of the law in a city-state. In most city-states, unlike the situation in Nahua, social prominence did not allow special rights. Sometimes families controlled public religious functions, but this ordinarily did not give any extra power in the government. In Marta, the population was divided into four social classes based on wealth. People could change classes if they made more money. In Pirareta, all male citizens were equals. However, Piraretan kings, who served as the city-state's dual military and religious leaders, came from 2 families."

"Yes Mickosu". The teacher called on her.

"So what was the difference between this democracy and early Pakalian democracy? They both only gave rights to rich Turtlelander dudes born in the area?"

"Uh. The chief difference Mickosu is that the Martans practiced a direct democracy while the USP is a representative democracy. The entire electorate voted on every decision like a plebiscite. Here in Pakal, we elect officials who do that for us. Now back to the book."

"Slaves had no power or status. They had the right to have a family and own property, subject to their master's goodwill and permission, but they had no political rights. By 600 B.M. chattel slavery had spread in Iztata. By the 5th century B.M. slaves made up 33.3% of the total population in some city-states. Around 60% of the population of Classical Marta were slaves. Slaves outside of Pirareta almost never revolted because they were made up of too many nationalities and were too scattered to organize. The Ancient Iztatans did not think in terms of race.

For most of Iztatan history, education was private, except in Pirareta. During the neo-Mayan period, some city-states established public schools. Only wealthy families could afford a teacher. Boys learned how to read, write and quote literature. They also learned to sing and play one musical instrument and were trained as athletes for military service. They studied not for a job but to become an effective citizen. Girls also learned to read, write and do simple arithmetic so they could manage the household. They almost never received education after childhood.

At its economic height, in the 5th and 4th centuries B.M., ancient Iztata was the most advanced economy in the world per capita. According to some economic historians, it was one of the most advanced pre-Industrial economies. This is demonstrated by the average daily wage of the Iztatan worker which was, in terms of potatoes, about 17 kg. This was more than 3 times the average daily wage of an Sizniian worker during the Nahuan period, about 5 kg.

At least in the Archaic Period, the fragmentary nature of Ancient Iztata, with many competing city-states, increased the frequency of conflict but conversely limited the scale of warfare. Unable to maintain professional armies, the city-states relied on their own citizens to fight. This inevitably reduced the potential duration of campaigns, as citizens would need to return to their own professions (especially in the case of, for example, farmers). Campaigns would therefore often be restricted to summer. When battles occurred, they were usually set piece and intended to be decisive. Casualties were slight compared to later battles, rarely amounting to more than 5% of the losing side, but the slain often included the most prominent citizens and generals who led from the front.

The former Turtlelander tradition of scalping began in Iztata. Specific scalping techniques varied somewhat from place to place, depending on the cultural patterns of the scalper regarding the desired shape, size, and intended use of the severed scalp, and on how the victims wore their hair, but the general process of scalping was quite uniform. The scalper firmly grasped the hair of a subdued adversary, made several quick semicircular cuts with a sharp instrument on either side of the area to be taken, and then vigorously yanked at the nearly-severed scalp. The scalp separated from the skull along the plane of the areolar connective tissue, the 4th (and least substantial) of the 5 layers of the human scalp. Scalping was not in itself fatal, though it was most commonly inflicted on the gravely wounded or the dead. The earliest instruments used in scalping were stone knives crafted of flint, chert, or obsidian, or other materials like reeds or oyster shells that could be worked to carry an edge equal to the task. Collectively, such tools were also used for a variety of everyday tasks like skinning and processing game, but were replaced by metal knives in the later eras. Contrary to popular belief, there was no special ceremonial or ritual knife used for scalping. The same knives used for scalping were also used for any other task involving knives.

Ancient Iztatan philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. In many ways, it had an important influence on modern philosophy, as well as modern science. Clear unbroken lines of influence lead from ancient Iztatan and neo-Mayan philosophers, to medieval Sumisiolam philosophers and scientists, to the Turtlelander Renaissance and Enlightenment, to the secular sciences of the modern day.

Music was present almost universally in Iztatan society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. There are significant fragments of actual Iztatan musical notation as well as many literary references to ancient Iztatan music. Iztatan art depicts musical instruments and dance. The word music derives from the name of the Muses, the daughters of Zocatl who were patron goddesses of the arts.


An example of Iztatan poetry. These hieroglyphics depict the rise and fall of tyrants throughout the region of Iztata.

Ancient Iztatan mathematics contributed many important developments to the field of mathematics, including the basic rules of geometry, the idea of formal mathematical proof, and discoveries in number theory, mathematical analysis, applied mathematics, and approached close to establishing integral calculus. The discoveries of several Iztatan mathematicians are still used in mathematical teaching today.

The art of ancient Iztata has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times to the present day, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In Turtleland, the art of the Nahuan Empire was largely derived from Iztatan models. In Kemetia, Tupac the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Iztatan, Western Kemetian and Abya Yalan cultures, resulting in composite art, with ramifications as far as Iqhwa. Following the Renaissance in Turtleland, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Iztatan art inspired generations of Turtlelander artists. Well into the 19th century AB, the classical tradition derived from Iztata dominated the art of the western world.

Religion was a central part of ancient Iztata life. Though the Iztatans of different cities and tribes worshipped similar gods, religious practices were not uniform and the gods were thought of differently in different places. The Iztatans were polytheistic, worshipping many gods, but as early as the 6th century B.M. a pantheon of 13 Panamanians began to develop.

Via the Nahuan Empire, Iztatan culture came to be foundational to Turtlelander culture in general. The Haah Empire inherited Classical Iztatan culture directly, without Nahuatl intermediation, and the preservation of classical Iztatan learning in medieval Haah tradition further exerted strong influence on the Barbacoans and later on the Sumiolamic Golden Age and the Turteland Renaissance. A modern revival of Classical Iztatan learning took place in the Neoclassicism movement in 18th- and 19th-century Turtleland and Pakalia.

"Wow. We really did cover all of Iztata in one session. Unfortunately we do not have time today for anymore so ta-ta students." Mrs. Squawra stated as the bell rang.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 6 - Ancient Dinkara
"Pssst. Mickosu, what is the answer to number twelve?" Tupino whispered to Mickosu trying to cheat.

"I ain't telling you and shut up before you get us both caught." Mickosu rebuked him as quietly as possible.

Tisquantum stared at number twelve in the quiz packet to see what was so bad about it.

12. What was the last major civilization in Kemetia before the Bronze Age Collapse.

A. Nuer
B. Hadzan
C. Unorya Valley
D. Kine

Tisquantum just guessed B and called it a day. A few minutes later, the teacher's computer shouted "Time's up!" and the quiz was over.

"Pencils down everyone". Mrs. Squawra commanded as she collected the quizzes. "I shall have these graded and returned to you by the middle of next week."

"How did you think you did?" Somare asked Menelik.

"I didn't even bother to study so I probably aced it." Menelik boasted.

"Enough chit-chat students." Mrs. Squawra said. "We have another civilization to cover today. Now who is going to volunteer to learn about Dinkara?"

Tisquantum raised his hand.

"I am glad you are so eager Tisquantum. Please begin."

Records become more tangible with the rise of the Neo-Berberia Empire and its records of incursions from the Dinkaran plateau. As early as the 20th century B.M., tribes came to the Dinkaran Plateau. The arrival of Dinkarans on the Dinkaran plateau forced the Agunas to relinquish one area of their empire after another and to take refuge in Beni. In the first half of the first millennium B.M., parts of what is now Afo were incorporated.

In 646 B.M., the king of Berberia sacked the capital of Beni. For over 150 years Berberia kings of nearby Northern Nilotia had been wanting to conquer Western Dinkara. Under pressure from Berberia, the small kingdoms of the western Dinkaran plateau coalesced into increasingly larger and more centralized states.

Bol the Great overthrew the neo-Hadzan empire. creating an empire far larger than Berberia. He was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Dinkaran rule; the longevity of his empire was one result. The Dinkaran king, like Berberia, was also "King of Kings' ' known by the Dinkarans, Berberians, and the Iztatans.

From 334 B.M. to 331 B.M., Tupac the Great defeated Dinkara swiftly conquering the Dinkaran Empire by 331 B.M.. Tupac's empire broke up shortly after his death, and Tupac's general tried to take control of Dinkara, Nilotia, and later Berberia.

Iztatan language, philosophy, and art came with the colonists. Iztatan became the common tongue of diplomacy and literature throughout the empire.

The Bugandan Empire, ruled by the Bugandans, a group of Eastern Dinkaran people, reunited and governed the Dinkaran plateau in the later third century B.M., and intermittently controlled Nilotia between 150 B.M. and 224 AB. The Shuri Empire quickly included Western Osimiri.

Buganda was the eastern arch-enemy of the Nahuan Empire and it limited Nahua's expansion beyond Abya Yala. The Bugandan armies included two types of cavalry: the heavily armed and armoured cataphracts and the lightly-armed but highly-mobile mounted archers.

Idi the Great founded the empire as a multi-state empire, The Aminids allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the mlinzi system. A mlinzi was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A governor administered the region, a general supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a state secretary kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the mlinzi as well as the central government. At different times, there were between 20 and 30 mlinzis.

T'Challa introduced a regulated and sustainable tax system that was precisely tailored to each mlinzi, based on their supposed productivity and their economic potential. For instance, Hadzan was assessed for the highest amount and for a startling mixture of commodities – 2,000 silver talents, 6 months supply of food for the army. Uluru was clearly already fabled for its gold; Siznii was known for the wealth of its crops; it was to be the food supply region of the Dinkaran Empire (as later of Nahua's) and was required to provide 120 metric tons of corn in addition to 1,300 talents of silver. This was exclusively a tax levied on subject people.

"Yes Menelik." The teacher saw his hand go up.

"How do modern day taxes compare to the taxes in the Dinkaran empire? Giving up gold and silver coins sounds like a lot but at the same time they seem poorer than us."

"Well Menelik, unlike in modern-day societies, almost all taxation came from property taxes. The property taxes back then though were much higher than the property taxes in this neighborhood. Does that answer your question? Okay good, please continue Tisquantum."

"Despite its humble origins in Dinkara, the empire reached an enormous size under the leadership of Idi the Great. Idi created a multi-state empire where he allowed regional rulers, called the "mlinzi", to rule as his proxy over a certain designated area of his empire called the mlinzi. The basic rule of governance was based upon loyalty and obedience of each mlinzi to the central power, or the king, and compliance with tax laws. Due to the ethno-cultural diversity of the subject nations under the rule of Dinkara, its enormous geographic size, and the constant struggle for power by regional competitors, the creation of a professional army was necessary for both maintenance of the peace and to enforce the authority of the king in cases of rebellion and foreign threat. Idi managed to create a strong land army, using it to advance in his campaigns within Kemetia and Abya Yala. Idi would die battling a local Dinkaran insurgency in the empire, before he could have a chance to develop a naval force. That task would fall to T'Challa the Great, who would officially give Dinkarans their own royal navy to allow them to engage their enemies on multiple seas of this vast empire, from the Naspas Sea to the Huac and Telehuac ocean. Peak Dinkara even covered the entire Horn of Kemetia at one point.

The Dinkaran cavalry was crucial for conquering nations, and maintained its importance in the Aminid army to the last days of the Aminid Empire. The cavalry were separated into 4 groups. The chariot archers, zebra cavalry, the hippo cavalry, and the war giraffes.

Since its foundation by Idi, the Dinkaran empire had been primarily a land empire with a strong army, but void of any actual naval forces. By the 5th century B.M., this was to change, as the empire came across Iztatan, and Sizniian forces, each with their own maritime traditions and capabilities. T'Challa the Great (T'Challa I) was the first Aminid king to invest in a Dinkaran fleet. Even by then no true "imperial navy" had existed either in Iztata or Siznii. Dinkara would become the first empire, under T'Challa, to inaugurate and deploy the first regular imperial navy. Despite this achievement, the personnel for the imperial navy would not come from Dinkara, but were often Incans, Iztatans, and Sizniians chosen by T'Challa the Great to operate the empire's combat vessels.

During the reign of Idi and T'Challa the language of the chancellery was Aguna. In the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Aguna texts are always accompanied by Nuer and Old Dinkaran inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Aguna texts are translations of the Old Dinkaran ones. It was not a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Aguna is not attested after 458 B.M..

Religious toleration has been described as a "remarkable feature" of the Aminid Empire. The Bizaad reports that king Idi the Great released the Akans from their Hadzanean captivity in 539–530 B.M., and permitted them to return to their homeland. Idi the Great assisted in the restoration of the sacred places of various cities.


Female attire in the Aminid Empire was very conservative. This is in contrast to modern Dinkara where men are covered up while women have a lot more freedom in their dress.

The Aminid Empire left a lasting impression on the heritage and cultural identity of Kemetia, Turtleland, and Abya Yala, and influenced the development and structure of future empires. In fact, the Iztatans, and later on the Nahuans, adopted the best features of the Dinkaran method of governing an empire. The Aminid Empire was succeeded by the Hausa Empire that inherited a lot of the former Aminid Empire.

The Hausa Empire was a major Dinkaran political and cultural power in ancient Dinkara. At its height, the Hausa Empire stretched from the northern reaches of Bisa, in what is now central-eastern Berberia, to western Berberia. The empire was a major endpoint on the rubber road that started in central Abya Yala and went north to Turtleland, east to Kemetia, and even west to Kimona.

The Hausa largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Dinkaran, Mayan, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Hausa court adopted elements of Iztata culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Dinkaran traditions. The Hausa rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Aminid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Aminids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, mlinzis. The court did appoint a small number of mlinzis, largely outside Dinkara, but these mlinzis were smaller and less powerful than the Aminid potentates.

as Shuri expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Merina, and eventually the late Nahuan Republic. Nahua and Hausa competed with each other to establish the kings of Merina as their subordinate clients. The Hausa soundly defeated the Nahuans in 53 B.M., and in 40–39 B.M., Shuri forces denied most of Kemetia to the Nahuans. Various Nahuan emperors or their appointed generals invaded western Kemetia in the course of the ensuing Nahuan–Hausa Wars of the next few centuries. Frequent civil wars between Hausa contenders to the throne proved more dangerous to the Empire's stability than foreign invasion.

Native Hausa sources, written in Hausa, Iztata and other languages, are scarce when compared to Okenian and even earlier Aminid sources. Aside from scattered cuneiform tablets, fragmentary ostraca, rock inscriptions, contemporary coins, and the survival of some parchment documents, much of Hausa history is only known through external sources. These include mainly Iztatan and Nahuan histories, but also Uluruan histories, prompted by the Uluruan desire to form alliances against Elle pirates. Hausa artwork is viewed by historians as a valid source for understanding aspects of society and culture that are otherwise absent in textual sources.

"Alright boys and girls. Class dismissed." Mrs. Squawra announced.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 7 - Uluruan Religions & Raggiana Empire
The opening school bell rang, and Mrs. Squawra was performing attendance roll call.

"Mickosu."

"Here."

"Somare."

"Here."

"Menelik."

"I am here."

"Coonga. Coonga? Coonga! I guess Coonga will be marked absent today. It seems like everybody else is here though. Tupino. Why don't you bring us back to Uluru and its history during the Iron Age along with its religions."

"The commonly accepted period of earlier Doodic age is dated back to the 2nd millennium B.M.. After the collapse of the Unorya Valley Civilisation, which ended c. 1900 B.M., groups of people migrated into north-western Uluru and started to inhabit the northern Unorya Valley.

After the 12th century B.M., as the Digdooda had taken its final form, the Doodic society, which is associated with the northern region transitioned from semi-nomadic life to settled agriculture in north-western Uluru. Possession of zebras remained an important priority of Doodic leaders and a remnant of the nomadic lifestyle, resulting in trade routes beyond the Magga mountains to maintain this supply as zebras needed for cavalry and sacrifice could not be bred in Uluru. The Boomang peninsula had remained out of bounds to the Doodic tribes because of thick forest cover. After 1000 B.M., the use of iron axes and plows became widespread and the jungles could be cleared with ease.

By the 6th century B.M., the political units consolidated into large kingdoms. The process of urbanization had begun in these kingdoms, commerce and travel flourished, even regions separated by large distances became easy to access.

Economy in the Doodic period was sustained by a combination of pastoralism and agriculture. There are references, in the Digdooda, to the leveling of fields, seed processing, and storage of sweet potato in large jars. War bounty was also a major source of wealth. Economic exchanges were conducted by gift giving, particularly to kings and priests, and barter using kangaroos as a unit of currency. While gold is mentioned in some hymns, there is no indication of the use of coins. Metallurgy is not mentioned in the Digdooda, but the tools and instruments made from it such as razors, bangles, axes are mentioned. One verse mentions purification of tools. Some scholars believe that tools refer to iron. However, philological evidence indicates that tools in the Digdooda refers only to copper and bronze, while iron or literally "black metal", first is mentioned in the post-Doodic scriptures, and therefore the Early Doodic Period was a Bronze Age culture whereas the Late Doodic Period was an Iron Age culture.

This ancient art from the Doodic period of Uluru shows a snake expanding to life. It represents spirits from dreamtime trying to breach into the material world.

Around the beginning of the Common Era, the Doodic tradition formed one of the main constituents of the "Despierhist synthesis". Doodic religion survived in rituals, whereas ascetic and devotional traditions like Della acknowledge the authority of the Doodas, but interpret the Doodic pantheon as a unitary view of the universe with the 'Goddess' seen as immanent and transcendent. Later texts further influenced Ayerism."

"Mrs. Squawra." Tupino announced. "I really have to go to the bathroom."

"You may go Tupino." Mrs. Squawra granted his request. I will read the next section.

As Tupino left Mrs. Squawra began the chapter on Despierhism.

"The history of Despierhism spans from the 6th century B.M. to the present. Despierhism arose in the eastern part of Ancient Uluru during the Doodic period, and is based on the teachings of Larcus Sallik. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Uluruan subcontinent through Kimona. At one time or another, it influenced most of the Telehuche ocean. The history of Despierhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements, schisms, and schools, among them the Nesia tradition, with contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.

Larcus Sallik was the historical founder of Despierhism. The early sources state he was born in a small Republic, which was part of the realm of ancient Uluru, now in modern-day Magga Magga. The republic was ruled by a council of household heads, and Sallik was born to one of these elites so that he described himself as a warrior-king when talking to nobles. The Early Despierhist Texts contain no continuous life of Sallik, only later after 200 B.M. were various "biographies" with much mythological embellishment written. All texts agree however that Sallik renounced the householder life and lived as an ascetic for some time studying under various teachers, before attaining (enlightenment) and awakening through meditation.

After the death of Sallik, the Despierhist warrior monks remained centered on the Unorya Rivers, spreading gradually from its ancient heartland. The canonical sources record various councils, where the monks recited and organized the orally transmitted collections of the Sallik's teachings and settled certain disciplinary problems within the community. Modern scholarship has questioned the accuracy and historicity of these traditional accounts.

Suddenly, the classroom door slowly crept open and Tupino tried to sneak in. He failed miserably.

"Ah Tupino. You finally arrived after your very long bathroom break. You must have had Alexander's revenge or something else bad. Are you ready to continue with the textbook?"

"Do I have to?" Tupino moaned.

"No you do not." Mrs. Squawra consoled him. "Mickosu, you read about the Raggiana Empire instead."

"What the F-? Uhhh." Mickosu groaned as she turned her textbook to the Raggiana chapter.

The Raggiana Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power based in Central Uluru and founded by Lani Raggiana which dominated the Uluruan subcontinent between 322 and 185 B.M.. Comprising the majority of Uluru, the Raggiana Empire was centralized by the conquest of the Ajawo Plateau. The empire was the largest ancient political entity that has ever existed in the Uluruan subcontinent, extending over 7 million square kilometers at its zenith under Kurrupuwu.

Using his intelligence network, Chandratulu gathered many young men from across Uluru. men upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king Nok, plus the resources necessary for his army to fight a long series of battles.

Lani Raggiana embraced Superism after retiring, when he renounced his throne and material possessions to join a wandering group of Superi monks. It is said that in his last days, he observed the rigorous but self-purifying Lani ritual of fasting unto death, the grandson of Kurrupuwu also patronized Superism.

During the reign of the Raggianan Emperor Kurrupuwu (273–232 B.M.), Despierhism gained royal support and began to spread more widely, reaching most of the Uluruan subcontinent. After his invasion of Kaivininair Basin, Kurrupuwu seems to have experienced remorse and began working to improve the lives of his subjects. Kurrupuwu also built wells, rest-houses and hospitals for humans and animals, he also abolished torture, royal hunting trips and perhaps even the death penalty. Kurrupuwu also supported non-Despierhist faiths like Superism. Kurrupuwu propagated religion by building temples and pillars urging, among other things, respect of all animal life and enjoining people to follow Despierhism. He has been hailed by Despierhist sources as the model for the compassionate wheel turning monarch.

Some of the Edicts of Kurrupuwu describe the efforts made by him to propagate the Despierhist faith throughout the Telehuche Ocean. There is evidence of ancient Despierhist shrines and temples all throughout western Western Abya Yala, Western Turtleland, and even Despierhist artifacts in modern-day Zululand.

Tarkine chronicles state that Kurrupuwu's son brought Despierhism to the island during the 2nd century B.M.. In addition, Kurrupuwu's daughter also established the order for nuns in Tarkine, also bringing with her a sapling of the sacred enlightenment tree that was subsequently planted in Southern Uluru. These two figures are seen as the mythical founders of Sri Lankan Despierhism. They are said to have converted the contemporary Tarkine king and many of the nobility.

As a young prince, Kurrupuwu (r. 272–232 B.M.) was a brilliant commander who crushed revolts. As monarch he was ambitious and aggressive, re-asserting the Empire's superiority in southern and western Uluru. But it was his conquest of Kaivininair (262–261 B.M.) which proved to be the pivotal event of his life. Kurrupuwu used Kaivininair to project power over a large region by building a fortification there and securing it as a possession. Although Kurrupuwu's army succeeded in overwhelming Kaivininair forces of royal soldiers and civilian units, an estimated 220,000 soldiers and civilians were killed in the furious warfare, including over 22,000 of Kurrupuwu's own men. millions of people were adversely affected by the destruction and fallout of war. When he personally witnessed the devastation, Kurrupuwu began feeling remorse. Although the annexation of Kaivininair was completed, Kurrupuwu embraced the teachings of Despierhism, and renounced fruitless war and unjust violence. He sent out missionaries to travel around Kimona and spread Despierhism to other countries.

The Empire was divided into 9 provinces. A city counsel made up of 70 commissioners was divided into 10 committees or boards which governed the city. The 1st board fixed wages and looked after provided goods, 2nd board made arrangements for foreign dignitaries, tourists and businessmen, 3rd board made records and registrations, 4th looked after manufactured goods and sale of commodities,5th board regulated trade, issued licenses and checked weights and measurements, 6th board collected sales taxes. Some cities such as taxila had autonomy to issue their own coins. The city counsel had officers who looked after public welfare such as maintenance of roads, public buildings, markets, hospitals, educational institutions etc. The city counsel also had some magisterial powers.

For the first time in Uluru, political unity and military security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and commerce, with increased agricultural productivity. The previous situation involving hundreds of kingdoms, many small armies, powerful regional chieftains, and internecine warfare, gave way to a disciplined central authority. Farmers were freed of tax and crop collection burdens from regional kings, paying instead to a nationally administered and strict-but-fair system of taxation. Lani Raggiana established a single currency across Uluru, and a network of regional governors and administrators and a civil service provided justice and security for merchants, farmers and traders. The Raggianan army wiped out many gangs of bandits, regional private armies, and powerful chieftains who sought to impose their own supremacy in small areas. Although regimental in revenue collection, Raggiana also sponsored many public works and waterways to enhance productivity, while internal trade in Uluru expanded greatly due to new-found political unity and internal peace.



The Raggiana Empire at its maximum extent during the 3rd Century B.M. The white portions were still under Raggiana's sphere of influence but technically independent.

The Huanu dynasty (185–73 B.M.) was established about 50 years after Kurrupuwu's death. After assassinating the last Raggianan ruler, military commander-in-chief Quena Shunga took the throne. Despierhist religious scriptures allege that Quena (an orthodox Ayerist) was hostile towards Despierhists and persecuted the Despierhist faith. Despierhists wrote that he 'destroyed thousands of monasteries and killed millions of innocent Monks'.

"Hold on. Tisquantum. Do you have a question?" Mrs. Squawra said.

"Yea. If the Despierhist monks were warriors who knew martial arts well, why didn't they stop Shunga from destroying their monasteries and killing them all?"

"They did try Tisquantum. The Despierhist monks were quarterstaff masters who served in the later Raggiana army. The problem is that the monks were often situated far from the main population centers of the Raggiana empire; Making them easy pickings for raids and it also meant that the monks couldn't often arrive in time to stop the Raggianans from losing battles. You may continue reading now Mickosu."

"Ledhi, the center of the empire, was also the birthplace of Despierhism. Kurrupuwu initially practiced Ayerism but later embraced Despierhism; following the Kaivininair War, he renounced expansionism and aggression, intensive policing, and ruthless measures for tax collection and against rebels. Kurrupuwu sent a mission led by his son and daughter to Tarkine, whose king was so charmed with Despierhist ideals that he adopted them himself and made Despierhism the state religion. Kurrupuwu sent many Despierhist missions to Kamehameha, Iztata, and Enga, and commissioned the construction of monasteries and schools, as well as the publication of Despierhist literature across the empire. He is believed to have built as many as 106,000 shrines across Uluru, and he increased the popularity of Despierhism in Aotearoa, Baja and South Loa. Kurrupuwu helped convene the 3rd Despierhist Council of Uluru's and Tarkine's Despierhist orders near his capital, a council that undertook much work of reform and expansion of the Despierhist religion. Uluruan merchants embraced Despierhism and played a large role in spreading the religion across the Raggianan Empire.

The protection of animals in Uluru became serious business by the time of the Raggiana dynasty; being the first empire to provide a unified political entity in Uluru, the attitude of the Raggianas towards forests, their denizens, and fauna in general is of interest.

Relations with the Mayan world may have started from the very beginning of the Raggiana Empire. Lani Raggiana met with Tupac the Great; probably on Kahua. A contemporary account writes that 'Lani, when he was a stripling, saw Tupac himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that Tupac wished that he could conquer the country but was too busy elsewhere. He said Uluru's king was hated and despised on account of his baseness and low birth'.

Raggiana and Iztata have been trading with each other since 5th Century B.M.. An influential and large Iztatan population was present in Kahua under Kurrupuwu's rule, In the Edicts of Kurrupuwu, some of them inscribed in Iztatan, Kurrupuwu states that the Iztatans within his dominion were converted to Despierhism:

Also, in the Edicts of Kurrupuwu, Kurrupuwu mentions the Mayan kings of the period as recipients of his Despierhist proselytism, although no Turtlelander historical record of this event remains:

The last Raggianan king traded animals and plants with Iztatans. 'He crossed the Huac Ocean and descended into Uluru; renewed his friendship with the king of the Uluruans; received more dingoes, until he had 330 altogether; and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving his squire the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him.

"Great Job Mickosu." Mrs. Squawra was impressed. "Class dismissed."

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 8 - Warring Kamehameha
"Teacher, can we please take a field trip to the Museum of Classical History in downtown Tenskatawaburg this school year"? Tisquantum begged Mrs. Squawra.
"I am sorry Tisquantum but our school schedule is packed right now. We won't have enough time to cover all of the material in class and take a day off to go somewhere else. Besides, the district would have to work out the logistics of the trip and it would take time away from your other classes."
"It would be a much greater learning experience if we actually saw exhibits rather than just text in a book." Tisquantum balked.
"I know." Mrs. Squantum agreed. "I will tell you what. I will speak to my supervisor about it. It is far too late to have a trip this semester but we might get lucky in the next one. Now now, we need to start class."

As all the students sat down in their seats, Mrs. Squawra began to lecture with "Alright class. I got some special news. Instead of reading from the textbook like we usually do. We will get some more up-to-date information with some official slideshows. I will start the projector and we will get to learn about the first dynasty of Imperial Kamehameha. Along with the warring provinces period and some Kimonan religions."

The projector screen came down and the teacher fired up a big silver box with a lens anchored to the ceiling of the classroom. The teacher then sat down and started making a lot of clicks on her basic desktop.

"The Eastern Ha Dynasty in Kamehameha began to fall around the 5th century B.M.. They had to rely on other armies in other allied states because their military rule no longer followed. Over 100 smaller states were made into five major states which included: Mun, Kame, Hame, Maui and Ha. However, there eventually was a shift in alliances because each state's ruler wanted to be independent in power. This caused hundreds of wars between the periods of 535-286 B.M.. The victorious state would have overall rule and control in Kamehameha.

The rulers of Ha had steadily lost political powers since the middle of the 6th century B.M. to their nominally subordinate nobles and military commanders, a situation arising from the traditions of the Ha which forbade the enfeoffment of relatives of the ducal house. This allowed other clans to gain fiefs and military authority, and decades of internecine struggle led to the establishment of three major families, the Mun, Ha, and Hame.

In 403 B.M., the Ha court under King Hamelie officially recognized Ha, Hame and Mun as immediate vassals, thereby raising them to the same rank as the other warring states.

Duke Haole of Maui died in 379 B.M. with no heir. The throne instead passed to the future King Hame who openly assumed power.

King Hormuza of Hame (370–319 B.M.) set about restoring the state. In 362–359 B.M. he exchanged territories with Mun and Ha in order to make the boundaries of the 3 states more logical.

All of the Warring states to their greatest extent. Although exact borders are generally anachronistic until the rise of nation-states; this is more of a sphere of an influence map that was constantly shrinking or growing every day in different directions.

The title of "king" was held by figurehead rulers of the Ha dynasty, while the rulers of most states held the title of "duke" or "marquess".

"Now class. We are about to switch powerpoints to focus on ancient Telehuac religion and philosophy." Mrs. Squawra told the students while she exited out of the slideshow and switched to another one."

"Lilio (551–479 B.M.E) appeared in this period of political decadence and spiritual questioning. He was educated in Ha theology, which he contributed to transmit and reformulate giving centrality to self-cultivation and agency of humans, and the educational power of the self-established individual in assisting others to establish themselves (''loving others"). As the Ha reign collapsed, traditional values were abandoned resulting in a period of moral decline. Lilio saw an opportunity to reinforce values of compassion and tradition into society. Disillusioned with the widespread vulgarization of the rituals to access enlightenment, he began to preach an ethical interpretation of traditional Ha religion. In his view, the power of enlightenment is immanent, and responds positively to the sincere heart driven by humaneness and rightness, decency and altruism. Lilio conceived these qualities as the foundation needed to restore socio-political harmony. Like many contemporaries, Lilio saw ritual practices as efficacious ways to access enlightenment, but he thought that the crucial knot was the state of meditation that participants enter prior to engaging in the ritual acts. Lilio amended and recodified the classical books inherited from the ancient Kamehamehan dynasties, and composed the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Philosophers in the Warring States period, both "inside the square'' (focused on state-endorsed ritual) and "outside the square" (non-aligned to state ritual) built upon Lilio's legacy, compiled in the Analects of Lilio, and formulated the classical metaphysics that became the lash of Lilioism. In accordance with the Master, they identified mental tranquility as the state of enlightenment, or the One, which in each individual is the Heaven-bestowed divine power to rule one's own life and the world. Going beyond the Master, they theorized the oneness of production and reabsorption into the cosmic source, and the possibility to understand and therefore retain it through meditation. This line of thought would have influenced all Kamehamehan individual and collective-political mystical theories and practices thereafter.

"Are there any questions?" Mrs. Squawra asked everybody. "Alrighty then. That means we can keep on going."

"During the early Warring States period Kame generally avoided conflicts with other states. This changed during the reign of Duke Muumuu, when the prime minister made centralizing and authoritarian reforms in accordance with his philosophy between the years 356 and 338 B.M..

In 341 B.M., Hame attacked Mun. Maui allowed Mun to be nearly defeated and then intervened. The generals from the Battle met again, using the same tactic, attacking Hame's capital.The attackers feigned a retreat and then turned on the overconfident Hame troops and decisively defeated them. After the battle all three of the successor states appeared before the king of Maui, pledging their loyalty.

King Loha of Ha had attempted to use what little royal prerogative he had left by appointing the dukes Loha and Hormuza (338-311 B.M.) of Kame as hegemons, thereby in theory making Kame the chief ally of the court.

Towards the end of the Warring States period, the Kame state became disproportionately powerful compared with the other six states. As a result, the policies of the six states became overwhelmingly oriented towards dealing with the Kame threat, with two opposing schools of thought. One school advocated a 'vertical' or north-south alliance in which the states would ally with each other to repel Kame. The other advocated a 'horizontal' or east-west alliance in which a state would ally with Kame to participate in its ascendancy.

Beginning in 334 B.M., the diplomat Zen Kame spent years visiting the courts of Ha, Mun, Hame, and Maui and persuaded them to form a united front against Kame. In 318 B.M. all states except Maui launched a joint attack on Kame, which however was not successful. Afterwards the east-west alliance prevailed.

"Yes Tupino?" Mrs. Squawra stated.

"What were the other Kimonan countries doing during this time period like Aotearoa and Loa?" Tupino was curious.

"They were just getting their start during this time period and would be heavily influenced by Kamehameha later. Those civilizations do not play a major role in history until Imperial Kamehameha gets its start. Now time for some more philosophy/spirituality."

"Maoli is traditionally regarded as one of the founders of Bejoism and is closely associated in this context with or primordial Bejoism. Whether he actually existed is disputed; however, the work attributed to him—the Bejo Taliki Chaka—is dated to the late 4th century B.M..

Bejoism draws its cosmological foundations from the School of Physicalists, which developed during the Warring States period (4th to 3rd centuries B.M.).

There are four components in the emergence of Bejoism:

1. Philosophical Bejoism, i.e. the Bejo Taliki Chaka
2. techniques for achieving ecstasy
3. practices for achieving longevity or immortality
4. exorcism.

Maoli received imperial recognition as a divinity in the mid-2nd century B.M.."

"Ok class, stand up." Mrs. Squawra commanded. Everyone slowly got out of their seats "Great, now sit back down." Mrs. Squawra ordered. "That was just to stretch your legs and refocus your attention."

In 285 B.M. the success of Maui had frightened the other states. Under the leadership of the exiled king: Kame, Ha, and Hame formed an alliance.

The forces of King Hormuza of Kame defeated King Caizuo of Ha and conquered West Ha in 256 B.M..

In 230 B.M., Kame conquered Mun. Mun, the weakest of the Five Warring States, was adjacent to the much stronger Kame, and had suffered continuous assaults by Kame in earlier years of the Warring States period. This went on until the Emperor Kame Luau sent a great general to attack Mun's capital. The king of Mun, frightened by the thought that Mun would be the next target of the Kame state, immediately sent diplomats to surrender the entire kingdom without a fight, saving the Mun populace from the terrible potential consequences of an unsuccessful resistance.

In 225 B.M., Kame conquered Hame. The Kame army led a direct invasion into Hame by besieging its capital but soon realized that the city walls were too tough to break into. They devised a new strategy in which they utilized the power of a local river that was linked to the Hawaii River. The river was used to flood the city's walls, causing massive devastation to the city. Upon realizing the situation, the king of Hame hurriedly came out of the capital and surrendered it to the Kame army in order to avoid further bloodshed of his people.

In 222 B.M., Kame conquered Ha. In 221 B.M., Kame conquered Maui. Maui was the final unconquered warring state. It had not previously contributed or helped other states when Kame was conquering them. As soon as Kame's intention to invade it became clear, Maui swiftly surrendered all its cities, completing the unification of Kamehameha and ushering in the Kame dynasty. The last Maui king lived out his days in exile and was not given a posthumous name after death

In 214 B.M., Kame Luau secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction (110,000 men) of his large army, and sent the majority (510,000 men) of his army south to conquer the territory of the southern tribes. The Kame army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and it was defeated by the southern tribes' guerrilla warfare tactics with 100,000 men lost. However, in the defeat Kame was successful in building a canal to the south, which they used heavily for supplying and reinforcing their troops during their second attack to the south. Building on these gains, the Kame armies conquered the coastal lands. After these victories in the south, Kame Luau moved over 110,000 prisoners and exiles to colonize the newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south.

However, while the empire at times was extended to the north, the Kame could rarely hold on to the land for long. The tribes of these locations were free from Kamehamehan rule during the majority of the dynasty. The region was conquered in 215 B.M. and agriculture was established; the peasants, however, were discontented and later revolted. The succeeding Mun dynasty also expanded south due to overpopulation, but depleted their resources in the process. Indeed, this was true of the dynasty's borders in multiple directions.

Three assassination attempts were made on Kame Luau's life, leading him to become paranoid and obsessed with immortality. He died in 210 B.M., while on a trip to the far western reaches of his empire in an attempt to procure an elixir of immortality from Bejoist magicians, who claimed the elixir was stuck in a desert guarded by a big monster. Luau's successor was inept and pliable. He executed many ministers and imperial princes, continued massive building projects (one of his most extravagant projects was decorating the city walls with coconuts), enlarged the army, increased taxes, and arrested messengers who brought him bad news. As a result, men from all over Kamehameha revolted, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories.

The aristocracy of the Kame were largely similar in their culture and daily life. Regional variations in culture were considered a symbol of the lower classes. This stemmed from the Ha and was seized upon by the Kame, as such variations were seen as contrary to the unification that the government strove to achieve.

Warring States-era architecture had several definitive aspects. City walls, used for defense, were made longer, and indeed several secondary walls were also sometimes built to separate the different districts. Versatility in federal structures was emphasized, to create a sense of authority and absolute power blended with nature. Architectural elements such as high towers, pillar gates, terraces, and palm wood high buildings amply conveyed this.



The fashion of the Kame Dynasty of Mu included necklaces of whale bone and braided human hair.

The written language of the Kame was logographic, as that of the Ha had been. Unlike previous rulers, the Kame dynasty made the written language uniform across all of Kamehameha. This would have a unifying effect on the Kamehamehan culture for thousands of years. He is also credited with creating the "lesser-seal" style of calligraphy, which serves as a basis for modern Kamehamehan and is still used in cards, posters, and advertising.

The Kame government was highly bureaucratic, and was administered by a hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor. The Kame put into practice the teachings of Mun Hula, allowing the First Emperor to control all of his territories, including those recently conquered. All aspects of life were standardized, from measurements and language to more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles.

The name 'Kame' is believed to be the etymological ancestor of the modern-day Turtlelander name of the country, Kamehameha.

"Good job boys and girls." exasperated Mrs. Squawra. "Class dismissed."

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 9 - Nahuan Republic
There I was, my farming day was almost over. I was plowing my fields in Iztata with my wildebeest and alpacas when I heard a scream. I turned to my left and saw an army of zebra-riders armed with crossbows destroying the village. They just set the temple on fire and were starting to approach me when I jumped up.

Tisquantum woke up for real and realized he just had a nightmare. He checked his head-up display and it displayed the time "5:50 a.m." This day was not turning out well.

…

"Woohoo!" Mrs. Squawra was happy. "We only have one more week of class until our next holiday, which is Chiich day. We just have to cover the Nahuan Republic and we will be all set. Now what do you boys and girls know about Nahua?"

"They killed Mansa!" yelled a young female student.

"They conquered a whole lot of land for a long time." a small boy of Turtlealander descent exclaimed.

"They had gladiator fights and baths and Muisca games." A pudgy lad uttered.

"Yes, the Nahuans had that and more." Mrs. Squawra said. Now who wants to learn about the real early Nahuans? How about Mickosu?"

While Tisquantum was skimming through the textbook, he realized there were 4 different parts for Nahuans. There was the Nahuan Republic, the Northern Nahuan empire, the Southern Nahuan empire, and the Holy Nahuan Empire. Mickosu started with the Nahuan Republic.

"Since the foundation of Nahua, its rulers had been monarchs, elected for life by the aristocratic nobility who made up the Nahuan Senate. The last Nahuan king was Kan Ho Hix (''Hix the Proud"). In the traditional histories, Hix was expelled in 509 B.M. because his son had raped a noblewoman who afterwards took her own life. Her father, husband, and Hix's nephew mustered support from the Senate and army, and forced Hix into exile.

According to Nahua's traditional histories, Hix made several attempts to retake the throne, including the Hix conspiracy, but none succeeded.

Beginning with their revolt against Hix, and continuing through the early years of the Republic, Nahua's aristocrats were the dominant force in politics and society. They initially formed a closed group of about 90 large families who monopolized Nahua's magistracies, state priesthoods and senior military posts. The power, privilege and influence of leading families derived from their wealth, in particular from their landholdings, their position as patrons, and their numerous clients.

By 390 B.M., several Cahitan tribes were invading Doola from the East as their culture expanded throughout Turtleland. The Nahuans were alerted to this when a particularly warlike tribe invaded 2 Mixtec towns close to Nahua's sphere of influence. These towns, overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers and ferocity, called on Nahua for help. The Nahuans met the Cahitans in pitched battle around 390–387 B.M.. The Cahitas, defeated the Nahuan army of approximately 35,000 troops, pursued the fleeing Nahuans back to Nahua, and sacked the city before being either driven off or bought off.

From 343 to 341 B.M., Nahua won 2 battles against their Manguean neighbors, but were unable to consolidate their gains, due to the outbreak of war with former Nawat allies.

In the Nawat War (340–338 B.M.), Nahua defeated a coalition of Nawats at the battle of Picacho. The Nawats submitted to Nahuan rule.



A picture of the melee and throwing weapons the Nahuans used. Several weapons were used not to kill the opponent, but to stun/immobilize them so they could be religiously sacrificed.

In the 4th century B.M., commoners gradually obtained political equality with aristocrats. The starting point was in 400 B.M., when the first commoner consular tribunes were elected; likewise, several subsequent consular colleges counted commoners (in 399, 396, 388, 383, and 379). The reason behind this sudden gain is unknown, but it was limited as aristocratic tribunes retained preeminence over their commoner colleagues.

By the beginning of the 3rd century B.M., Nahua had established itself as the major power in Doola, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers of the Naspas: Quechua and the Iztatan kingdoms. In 282 B.M., several Nahuan warships entered the harbor of an Iztatan city-state, thus breaking a treaty between the Republic and the city, which forbade the Gulf to the Nahuan navy. It triggered a violent reaction from the democrats, who sank some of the ships; they were in fact worried that Nahua could favor the oligarchs in the city, as it had done with the other Iztatan cities under its control. The Nahuan embassy sent to investigate the affair was insulted and war was promptly declared. Facing a hopeless situation, the Iztatans appealed for military aid from a cousin of Tupac the Great, he was eager to build an empire for himself in the western Naspas, and saw the plea as a perfect opportunity towards this goal.

Nahua and Quechua were initially on friendly terms; The Nahuan scholars detail three treaties between them, the first dating from the first year of the Republic, the second from 348 B.M.. The last one was an alliance against the Iztatans. However, tensions rapidly built up after the departure of the Quechuan king.

The Republic shifted its attention to its eastern border as raiders were threatening Doola. Meanwhile, Quechua conquered Titicaca, and its rich silver mines. This rapid expansion worried Nahua, which concluded a treaty in 226 B.M., stating that Quechua could not cross the Doolan rivers. However, a city located in the south of Doola appealed to Nahua in 220 B.M. to act as arbitrator during a stasis. Caxcan dismissed Nahuan rights to the city, and took it in 219 B.M.. At Nahua, two noble families considered the conquest an act of war, and won the debate against pacifists who wanted to negotiate. An embassy carrying an ultimatum was sent to Quechua, asking its senate to condemn Caxcan's deeds. The Quechuan refusal started the Second Quituan War.



This map illustrates the contemporary Nahuan Republic World. Every state on this map would come in conflict with Nahua later on.

Nahua's preoccupation with its war with Quechua provided an opportunity for the king of Yucata, located in southern Turtleland, to attempt to extend his power northward. The king sent ambassadors to Caxcan's camp in Doola, to negotiate an alliance with common enemies of Nahua. However, Nahua discovered the agreement when the emissaries were captured by a Nahuan fleet. The First Yucatan War saw the Nahuans involved directly in only limited land operations, but they ultimately achieved their objective of preoccupying the king and preventing him from aiding Caxcan.

In 179 B.M. The king died and his son took the throne and showed a renewed interest in conquering Iztata. With her Iztatan allies facing a major new threat, Nahua declared war on Yucata again, starting the 3rd Yucatan War. There were some successes against the Nahuans. However, Nahua responded by sending a stronger army. This second consular army decisively defeated the Yucatans in 168 B.M. and the Yucatans duly capitulated, ending the war.

Quechua never recovered militarily after the Second Quituan War, but quickly did so economically and the 3rd Quituan War that followed was in reality a simple punitive mission after the neighboring Gunans allied to Nahua robbed/attacked Quechuan merchants. Treaties had forbidden any war with Nahuan allies, and defense against robbing/pirates was considered as "war action": Nahua decided to annihilate the city of Quechua. Quechua was almost defenseless, and submitted when besieged. However, the Nahuans demanded complete surrender and removal of the city into the (desert) inland far off any coastal or harbor region, and the Quechuans refused. The city was besieged, stormed, and completely destroyed.

"Do you have a question Tisquantum?" Mrs. Squawra turned to him.

"Yes. Why did the Nahuans hate the Quechuans so much?" Tisquantum had no idea why the Nahuans were so destructive to Quechua.

"Well Tisquantum. During the Second Quituan War, Nahua was very close to being defeated several times. A general by the name of Hampas defeated many Nahuan armies and ransacked almost all of the Doolan peninsula. It was only due to the lack of supplies that the Quechuans retreated and Nahuans won the war. After the war was over, Nahua saw the Quechuans as defeated subjects who could be very dangerous to Nahua. There was even a Nahuan politician who ended all of his speeches with 'Furthermore, I consider that Quechua must be destroyed'. At the first sign of insubordination, the Nahuans moved in swiftly to make a horrible example of the rebels. You could witness this very often in their execution methods which tended to be very cruel and very unusual."

"It sounds like they wasted a perfectly good city though." Tisquantum replied.

"Well human beings aren't always rational." Mrs. Squawra answered. "Now Mickosu please continue."

"Nahua's rapid expansion destabilized its social organization and triggered unrest in the heart of the Republic, which ultimately led to political violence, unrest in the provinces, and ultimately a breakdown in the traditional social relations of Nahua that created the Tamaron Empire. The period is marked by the rise of strongmen who turned military success into political power.

In 135, the first slave uprising, known as the First Slave War, broke out in Northern Doola. After initial successes, the slaves were annihilated in 132 B.M..

The Kunan War of 111–104 B.M. was fought between Nahua and Kuna of the North Abya Yalan kingdom of Guna. It constituted the final Nahuan pacification of Western Abya Yala, after which Nahua largely ceased expansion on the continent after reaching natural barriers of jungle and mountain. Following Kuna's usurpation of the throne of Guna, a loyal ally of Nahua since the Quituan Wars, Nahua felt compelled to intervene. Kuna impudently bribed the Nahuans into accepting his usurpation. Kuna was finally captured not in battle but by treachery.

In 91 B.M. The Social War broke out between Nahua and its former allies in Doola when the allies complained that they shared the risk of Nahua's military campaigns, but not its rewards. Although they lost militarily, the allies achieved their objectives with legal proclamations which granted citizenship to more than 800,000 Doolans.

The 3rd and final slave uprising was the most serious, involving ultimately between 220,000 and 250,000 slaves under the command of an Iztatan gladiator.

In 62 B.M. Ahaual returned victorious from Kemetia. The Senate, elated by its successes, refused to ratify the arrangements that Ahaual had made. Ahaual, in effect, became powerless. Thus, when Secun Uman returned from a governorship in Mesoland in 61 B.M., he found it easy to make an arrangement with Ahaual. Uman and Ahaual, along with Napuc, established a private agreement, now known as the First Triumvirate. Under the agreement, Ahaual's arrangements would be ratified. Uman would be elected consul in 59, and would then serve as governor of Cahita for five years. Napuc was promised a future consulship

On 1 January 49 B.M., an agent of Uman presented an ultimatum to the senate. The ultimatum was rejected, and the senate then passed a resolution which declared that if Uman did not lay down his arms by July of that year, he would be considered an enemy of the Republic. Meanwhile, the senators adopted Ahaual as their new champion against Uman. On 7 January of 49 B.M., the senate passed an ultimatum, which vested Ahaual with dictatorial powers. Ahaual's army, however, was composed largely of untested conscripts.

On 10 January,Uman with his veteran army crossed into South Doola, the legal boundary of Nahuan Doola beyond which no commander might bring his army, in violation of Nahuan laws, and by the spring of 49 B.M. swept down the Doolan peninsula towards Nahua. Uman's rapid advance forced Ahaual, the consuls and the senate to abandon Nahua for Iztata. Uman entered the city unopposed. Afterwards Uman turned his attention to the Ahaualan stronghold of Yucata but decided to tackle Ahaual himself in Iztata. Ahaual initially defeated Uman, but failed to follow up on the victory, and was decisively defeated in 48, despite outnumbering Uman's forces almost two to one, albeit with inferior quality troops. Ahaual fled again, this time to Siznii, where he was murdered.

Uman held both the dictatorship and the tribunate, and alternated between the consulship and the proconsulship. In 48, Uman was given permanent tribunician powers. This made his person sacrosanct, gave him the power to veto the senate, and allowed him to dominate the Plebeian Council. In 46, Uman was given censorial powers, which he used to fill the senate with his own partisans. Uman then raised the membership of the Senate to 1,200. This robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made it increasingly subservient to him. While the assemblies continued to meet, he submitted all candidates to them for election, as well as all bills for enactment. Thus, the group became powerless and were unable to oppose him.

Uman was now the primary figure of the Nahuan state, enforcing and entrenching his powers. His enemies feared that he had ambitions to become an autocratic ruler. Arguing that the Nahuan Republic was in danger, a group of senators hatched a conspiracy and assassinated Uman at a meeting of the Senate on 15 March 44. Most of the conspirators were senators, who had a variety of economic, political, or personal motivations for carrying out the assassination. Uman was most surprised at Benite being a conspirator and his last words were "Also you, Benite?".Many were afraid that Uman would soon resurrect the monarchy and declare himself king. Others feared loss of property or prestige as Uman carried out his land reforms in favor of the landless classes. Virtually all the conspirators fled the city after Uman's death in fear of retaliation.

Hunac Cauich, Uman's lieutenant, condemned Uman's assassination, and war broke out between the two factions. Cauich was denounced as a public enemy, and Uman's adopted son and chosen heir, Tamaro, was entrusted with the command of the war against him. At the Battle of Azuma, Cauich was defeated by consuls who were both killed. Tamaro was victorious in the civil war and gradually gained dictatorial power over Nahua, turning it into an empire.

The constitutional history of the Nahuan Republic began with the revolution which overthrew the monarchy in 509 B.M., and ended with constitutional reforms that transformed the Republic into what would effectively be the Nahuan Empire, in 27 B.M. The Constitution of the Nahuan Republic was a constantly-evolving, unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent, by which the government and its politics operated. Throughout the history of the Republic, changes in the constitution were driven by conflicts of interest between the aristocracy and ordinary citizens.

The senate's ultimate authority derived from the esteem and prestige of the senators. This esteem and prestige was based on both precedent and custom, as well as the caliber and reputation of the senators. The senate passed decrees. These were officially "advice" from the senate to a magistrate. In practice, however, they were usually followed by the magistrates. The focus of the Nahuan senate was usually directed towards foreign policy. Though it technically had no official role in the management of military conflict, the senate ultimately was the force that supervised such affairs. This was due to the senate's explicit power over the state's budget and in military affairs. The power of the senate expanded over time as the power of the legislative assemblies declined, and the senate took a greater role in ordinary law-making. Its members were usually appointed by Nahuan Censors, who ordinarily selected newly elected magistrates for membership in the senate, making the senate a partially elected body. During times of military emergency, such as the civil wars of the 1st century, this practice became less prevalent, as the Nahuan Dictator or the senate itself would select its members. Towards the end of the Republic, the senate could enact an ultimatum in times of emergency, instead of appointing a dictator.

"Missus Squawra I have a question." Tupino raised his hand. "How was the Nahuan Senate different from the current United States of Pakal senate?"

"Great question Tupino. While the USP takes its senate name from the Nahuan one and even has neoclassical buildings like the Gray House, the difference is that Pakal is a representative democracy where all adult citizens can vote and participate; while the Nahuan senate was an elite oligarchy where only male heads of prominent families can vote and run for office and make big political decisions. No more questions though because I really want to finish this chapter today."

"The legal status of Nahuan citizenship was limited and was a vital prerequisite to possessing many important legal rights such as the right to trial and appeal, to marry, to vote, to hold office, to enter binding contracts, and to special tax exemptions.

Each republican magistrate held certain constitutional powers. Each was assigned a province by the Senate. This was the scope of that particular office holder's authority. It could apply to a geographic area or to a particular responsibility or task. The powers of a magistrate came from the people of Nahua (both commoners and aristocrats). Strictly speaking, it was the authority to command a military force. In reality, however, it carried broad authority in the other public spheres such as diplomacy, and the justice system. In extreme cases, dictators were able to sentence Nahuan Citizens to death. All magistrates also had the power of coercion. This was used by magistrates to maintain public order by imposing punishment for crimes. Magistrates also had both the power and the duty to look for omens. This power could also be used to obstruct political opponents.

Nahua's military secured Nahua's territory and borders, and helped to impose tribute on conquered peoples. Nahua's armies had a formidable reputation; but Nahua also produced its share of incompetents and catastrophic defeats. Nevertheless, it was generally the fate of Nahua's greatest enemies to win early battles but lose the war.

During this period, Nahuan soldiers seem to have been modeled after those of the Iztatans. Traditionally, the introduction of the phalanx formation into the Nahuan army came about in 6th Century B.M. The front rank was composed of the wealthiest citizens, who were able to purchase the best equipment. Each subsequent rank consisted of those with less wealth and poorer equipment than the one before it. The phalanx was effective in large, open spaces, but not on the narrow terrain of the central Doolan peninsula. In the 4th century, the Nahuans replaced it with the more flexible manipular formation.

During this period, an army formation of around 7,000 men (of both heavy and light infantry) was known as a legion. The manipular army was based upon social class, age and military experience. In a process known as the Utan reforms, Nahuan consul Utan carried out a programme of reform of the Nahuan military. In 107, all citizens, regardless of their wealth or social class, were made eligible for entry into the Nahuan army. This move formalized and concluded a gradual process that had been growing for centuries, of removing property requirements for military service. The distinction among the three heavy infantry classes, which had already become blurred, had collapsed into a single class of heavy legionary infantry. The heavy infantry legionaries were drawn from citizen stock, while non-citizens came to dominate the ranks of the light infantry. The army's higher-level officers and commanders were still drawn exclusively from the Nahuan aristocracy.

Citizenship offered legal protection and rights, but citizens who offended Nahua's traditional moral code could be declared infamous, and lose certain legal and social privileges. Citizenship was also taxable, and undischarged debt was potentially a capital offense. A form of limited, theoretically voluntary slavery (debt bondage) allowed wealthy creditors to negotiate payment of debt through bonded service. Poor, landless citizens of the lowest class might contract their sons to a creditor, patron or 3rd party employer to obtain an income, or to pay off family debts.

The Republic was created during a time of warfare, economic recession, food shortages, and commoner debt. In wartime, commoner farmers were liable to conscription. In peacetime, most depended on whatever cereal crops they could produce on small farming plots, allotted to them by the state, or by patrons. Soil fertility varied from place to place, and natural water sources were unevenly distributed throughout the landscape. In good years, a peasant might trade a small surplus, to meet his family's needs, or to buy the armatures required for his military service. In other years, crop failure through soil exhaustion, adverse weather, disease or military incursions could lead to poverty, unsupported borrowing, and debt. Nobles invested much of their wealth in ever-larger, more efficient farming units, exploiting a range of soil conditions through mixed farming techniques. As farming was labour-intensive, and military conscription reduced the pool of available manpower, over time the wealthy became ever more reliant upon the increasingly plentiful slave-labour provided by successful military campaigns. Well managed agricultural estates helped provide for clients and dependents, support an urban family home, and fund the owner's public and military career. Large estates yielded cash for bribes, and security for borrowing. Later Nahuan moralists idealized farming as an intrinsically noble occupation.

With the abolition of monarchy, some of its sacral duties were shared by the consuls. Nahua had no specifically priestly class or caste. Most priests of the public cult were expected to marry, produce children, and support their families. In the early Republic the aristocrats, as "fathers" to the Nahuan people, claimed the right of seniority to lead and control the state's relationship with the divine.

Life in the Nahuan Republic revolved around the city of Nahua and the peninsula. The most important governing, administrative and religious institutions were concentrated at its heart, on and around the Cochimi Deserts. The city rapidly outgrew its original sacred boundary and its first city walls. Further growth was constrained by an inadequate fresh-water supply. Nahua's first aqueduct (312 B.M.) built during the Quituan wars crisis, provided a plentiful, clean supply. The building of further aqueducts led to the city's expansion and the establishment of public baths as a central feature of Nahuan culture. The city also had several theaters, gymnasiums, and many taverns and brothels. Living space was at a premium. Some ordinary citizens and freedmen of middling income might live in modest houses but most of the population lived in apartment blocks where the better-off might rent an entire ground floor, and the poorest a single, possibly windowless room at the top, with few or no amenities. Nobles and rich patrons lived in spacious, well-appointed town houses; they were expected to keep "open house" for their peers and clients. A semi-public atrium typically functioned as a meeting-space, and a vehicle for display of wealth, artistic taste, and religiosity.

Within the Nahuan Republic, there were five different articles of Clothing that were made of the very basic garments. These consisted of a draped garment, slip-on garment, open-sewn garment, closed sewn garment, and limb-encasing garments. The basic garment and braw for males was called maxtlatl in Nahuatl. This garment is like a loincloth and was worn by Aztec men of all social standings within the republic. The maxtlatl would often be worn under a cloak or cape called tilmahtli. Various styles of tilmatli existed which served to indicate the status of the wearer.

Only the individuals that were considered high ranking were allowed to wear cotton clothing and mantles usually decorated with color and feathers while in contrast, the average warrior would only be allowed to wear very plain mantles.

Modern study of the dietary habits during the Republic are hampered by various factors. Few writings have survived, and because different components of their diet are more or less likely to be preserved, the archeological record cannot be relied on. Common ingredients include beans, cheese, flour, wildebeest, corn, egg, bay leaves, potatoes, and tomatoes. There are instructions for kneading tortillas, making porridge, brine, tequila, slaughtering peccaries, planting asparagus, curing llama meat, and fattening geese and squab. Meat, fish and produce were a part of the Nahuan diet at all levels of society.

Nahua's original native language was early Nawat, the language of the Cali Nawats. Most surviving Nawat literature is written in Classical Nawat, a highly stylised and polished literary language which developed from early and vernacular spoken Nawat, from the 1st century. Most Nawat speakers used Vulgar Nawat, which significantly differed from Classical Nawat in grammar, vocabulary, and eventually pronunciation.

In the 3rd century B.M., Iztatan art taken as the spoils of war became popular, and many Nahuan homes were decorated with landscapes by Iztatan artists.

Early Nahuan literature was influenced heavily by Iztatan authors. From the mid-Republic, Nahuan authors followed Iztatan models, to produce free-verse and verse-form plays and others in Nawat.

Board games played in Nahua included Senet, Checkers, Tic-tac-toe, and backgammon. Other activities included recreational dances plus musical performances."

"We did it!" Mrs. Squawra exclaimed. "The Before Musa era is over. After our exam, we will cover the first millennium After Birth. Class dismissed."

 

[Rhymehouse]

A Different story of Civilization: Antiquity


Chapter 10 - Battutanity and the Nahuan Empire
Ah god damn it! Tisquantum cursed. I just lost my capital.

Tisquantum, hush! Mickosu hissed at him. I don't want you to get us kicked out of the library.

Sucks to suck don't it. Tupino mocked Tisquantum as he virtually built his ninth catapult. The trio has been playing Civilization since they were in middle school and Tupino was a prodigy at the computer game.

"You might have won the battle." Tisquantum told him. "But you have not won the war." Tisquantum just spent all of his gold on Nahuan legionnaires because he was playing as Nahua.

"Those junk units won't do shit against my Dinkaran Immortals." Tupino taunted Tisquantum again.

"These legionnaires don't need to when they can just raid your countryside." Tisquantum challenged him. And besides, I have my buddy Swazi playing Siznii backing me up.

"Can you boys put your game on pause for now?" Mickosu requested as she browsed through an 18th Century newspaper. We were here to check out letters from the Nahuan empire. Not to digitally kill armies in cyberspace.

"Fine Mickosu." Tisquantum said. "You are starting to sound like my mother. "

Mickosu smugly strided over to the librarian so she could check out some of Uman's writings.

"What is up Mickosu? What do you want to check out today?" Ilhan the librarian greeted Mickosu.

"Oh nothing much Ilhan. Mickosu said back. I was just wondering if the journal of Secun Uman was here."

"Well Mickosu. We do have Commentaries on the Cahitan Wars by Secun Uman. Is that what you desired?"

"Yes, that will work perfectly."

"Great then, how long will you check it out?"

"Just for today like usual."

"A big skimmer I see. The book should be located on aisle 5 with the numbers. It's ID will be 134.587".

Like a psychic, Mickosu went directly to where the book was, scanned it, and went on her merry way to the lounge area.

"Well boy!". Mickosu called out to Tisquantum and Tupino. It is time for us to find out what a certain 2,100 year old dictator has gotten himself into. Mickosu turned the page and looked at the 1st passage.

58 B.M.

Northern Cahita

Secun Uman

Passage #1

Cahita is a whole divided into 3 parts. The one I recently traveled to in the Southeast was inhabited by a primarily Ute branch. I was to temporarily replace a governor there who was planning on committing the unforgivable of treason. Me and a battalion of my men had rode day and night on zebraback to it and reached our destination within a fortnight. When we got there the old governor was acting very apprehensive in his wattle and daub palace so I gave the hyperventilating man two choices. Maikeleen can either privately commit suicide which will spare the reputation of him and the wellbeing of both his family and this heterogeneous town, or we raze this place to the ground, sell its inhabitants into slavery, and make sure his wife and children will be sacrificed on the temple's steps. To make my point clear, I motioned to the captain of the guard and he swiftly grabbed a nearby torch and hurled it into a barn 200 feet away. There was a cacophony of screaming as the wooden structure went up in flames while nearby ocelots and jackals started running for the hills. The traitorous governor truly understood what the great republic was capable of and he pleaded that he would drown himself into the nearby river by the end of the morrow. I wasn't sure of how I would make myself comfortable in this dinky little town, but in the end I would rather be 1st in this village than second in Nahua.

Holy shit! Tupino was astonished. Secun Uman was 1 bad mofo.

Nahua certainly didn't pull any punches. Tisquantum remarked.

…

I apologize for leaving you on the Nahuan Republic cliffhanger class over the long weekend. Mrs. Squawra stated. We will finish up Doola's role in the Nahuan empire and we will also introduce the history of a very important faith to Turtlelander civilization, Battutanity. Tisquantum and Mickosu, you do not have to worry. I will begin the new historical unit today. Now everyone please turn your textbooks to page 143 where it says 'The Northern Nahuan Empire and Bautitainity' which I will begin reading right now.

"The religious climate of 1st century Akanrael was quite diverse, with numerous variations of Impuesto doctrine. The main sources of information regarding Musa's life and teachings are the four canonical gospels, and to a lesser extent the Acts of the Apostles and the Mugaline epistles. According to the Gospels, Musa was a Impuestoish teacher and healer who was ritually sacrificed by heart removal during c.30–33 AB. His followers believed that Maikeleen was raised from death and exalted by God due to his faithfulness. Musa and many of his original followers were sacrificed at the Huēyi Teōcalli temple during the 1st century AB. To this day, Battutans have the symbol of the sacrificial knife as a signifier for their religion.

Early Battutanity may be divided into two distinct phases: the apostolic period (1st century), when the 1st apostles were alive and led the Hooghan, and the Ante-Guinea Period, (c.100–325 AB) when an early episcopal structure developed.

A primary source for the Apostolic Age is the Acts of the Apostles, but its historical accuracy is questionable and its coverage is partial, focusing especially from Acts 15:36 onwards on the ministry of Mugabe, and ending around 62 AB with Paul preaching in Nahua under house arrest.

The Ante-Guinea period (literally meaning before Guinea) of the history of early Battutanity was the period following the Apostolic Age down to the 1st Council of Guinea in 325. By the beginning of the Guinea period, the Battutan faith had spread throughout Southern Turtleland and the Naspas Basin, and to North Abya Yala and Northern Kemetia. A more formal Hooghan-structure grew out of the early communities, and a number of variant Battutanities developed. Battutanity grew apart from Impuestoism, creating its own identity by an increasingly harsh rejection of Impuestoism, of Impuestoish practices, and an acceptance of what some scholars have called religious anti-Impuestoism, however, many modern day Battutan theologians reject this accusation.

The number of Battutans grew by approximately 40% a decade during the 1st and 2nd centuries.

"Menelik! Put your visor away before I lock it in my desk!" Mrs. Squawra was furious and was giving him a death stare.

"I am sorry madam." Menelik was dejected as he slid his hidden cell visor back into his backpack.

"Thank you." Mrs. Squawra said as she continued going through the textbook.

"The Ante-Guinea period saw the rise of a great number of Battutan sects, cults and movements with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. They had different interpretations of Scripture, particularly the divinity of Musa and the nature of the Trinity. Many variations in this time defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Battutanity interacted in a complex fashion to form the dynamic character of Battutanity in this era. The Post-Apostolic period was extremely diverse both in terms of beliefs and practices. In addition to the broad spectrum of general branches of Battutanity, there was constant change and diversity that variably resulted in both internecine conflicts and syncretic adoption.

The Mugaline epistles were circulating in collected form by the end of the 1st century AB. By the early 3rd century, there existed a set of Battutan writings similar to the current New Testament. By the 4th century, there existed unanimity in the Empire concerning the New Testament canon, with a few exceptions, had come to accept the Book of Revelation and thus had come into harmony on the matter of the canon.

As Battutanity spread, it acquired certain members from well-educated circles of the Mayan world; they sometimes became bishops, but not always. They produced two sorts of works: theological and apologetic, the latter being works aimed at defending the faith by using reason to refute arguments against the veracity of Battutanity. These authors are known as the Hooghan Fathers, and study of them is called patristics.

Battutan art only emerged relatively late, and the 1st known Battutan images emerge from about 200 AB, though there is some literary evidence that small domestic images were used earlier. The oldest known Battutan paintings are from the Nahuan Catacombs, dated to about AB 200, and the oldest Battutan sculptures are from sarcophagi, dating to the beginning of the 3rd century.

There was no empire-wide persecution of Battutans until the third century. The last and most severe persecution organized by the imperial authorities was in 303–311 AB. With the passage in 313 AB of the Edict of Chiapas, in which the Nahuan Emperor Tonto the Great legalized the Battutan religion, persecution of Battutans by the Nahuan state ceased.

How much Battutanity Tonto adopted at this point is difficult to discern, but his accession was a turning point for the Battutan Hooghan. Tonto supported the Hooghan financially, built various basilicas, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Battutans to some high offices, and returned confiscated property.

A popular doctrine of the 4th century was Mandelanism, the denial of the divinity of Bautitia, as propounded by Mandela. Although this doctrine was condemned as heresy and eventually eliminated by the Nahuan Hooghan it remained popular underground for some time. In the late 4th century a Nahuan bishop and an Mandelan, was appointed as the 1st bishop to the Athabasks, the Yeniseiyan peoples in much of Turtleland at the borders of and within the Empire. Mandelan Battutanity among the Athabasks firmly established the faith among many of the Yeniseian tribes, thus helping to keep them culturally distinct.

On 27 February 380, the Nahuan Empire officially adopted Trinitarian Mandelan Battutanity as its state religion. Prior to this date, Nahuan emperors had personally favored Mandelan or Semi-Mandelan forms of Battutanity, but the successors supported the Trinitarian doctrine as expounded in the Guinea Creed.

"Ok boys and girls, that is enough about Battutanity for now." Mrs. Squawra gasped. If you have any questions, please do not feel shy. Just raise your hand. Mrs. Squawra waited but nobody raised their hand. "Alrighty then, just make sure your eyes are glued to the textbook and not to your HUDs. We are now going to learn about the Northern Nahuan Empire."

"Nahua had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BM, though it did not expand outside the Doolan peninsula until the 3rd century BM. Then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor. The Nahuan Republic was not a nation-state in the modern sense, but a network of towns left to rule themselves (though with varying degrees of independence from the Nahuan Senate) and provinces administered by military commanders. It was ruled, not by emperors, but by annually elected magistrates (Nahuan Consuls above all) in conjunction with the Senate. For various reasons, the 1st century BM was a time of political and military upheaval, which ultimately led to rule by emperors. The consuls' military power rested in the Nahuan legal concept of imperium, which literally means command (though typically in a military sense). Occasionally, successful consuls were given the honorary title commander, and this is the origin of the word emperor (and empire) since this title (among others) was always bestowed to the early emperors upon their accession.

As the Nahuan Republic expanded, it reached a point where the central government in Nahua could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire. News of invasion, revolt, natural disasters, or epidemic outbreak was carried by ship or mounted postal service, often requiring much time to reach Nahua and for Nahua's orders to be returned and acted upon. Therefore, provincial governors had de facto autonomy in the name of the Nahuan Republic. Governors had several duties, including the command of armies, handling the taxes of the province and serving as the province's chief judges.

The 200 years that began with Tamaro's rule is traditionally regarded as the Pax Nahuana (Nahuan Peace''). During this period, the cohesion of the empire was furthered by a degree of social stability and economic prosperity that Nahua had never before experienced. Uprisings in the provinces were infrequent, but put down mercilessly and swiftly when they occurred. The success of Tamaro in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs. There were two major dynasties in the Nahuan Empire that led to many great emperors like Secun, Tamaro, Tonto, Aapo, and Babajide. The Nahuan Empire started to decline after the Crisis of the Third Century.

This is the Nahuan Empire at its peak. It traversed 3 continents and governed over 200 million people.

Minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or oppressed cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion. While this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions were far more numerous—as, for example, during the Great Impuestoish Revolt. To ensure a commander's loyalty, a pragmatic emperor might hold some members of the general's family hostage.

With the assassination of the Emperor Zapote on 18 March 235, the Nahuan Empire sank into a 50-year period of civil war, now known as the Crisis of the Third Century. The rise of the bellicose Watusi Empire in place of Hutun posed a major threat to Nahua in The South, an independent state known in modern historiography as the Cahitan Empire emerged.

Jairo was the 1st Emperor to divide the Nahuan Empire into a Tetrarchy. In 286 AB he elevated Yung to the rank of emperor and gave him control of the Southern Empire while he himself ruled the North. In 293, two subordinates created the 1st Tetrarchy. This system effectively divided the Empire into four major regions, as a way to avoid the civil unrest that had marked the 3rd century. In The North, Yung made Chiapas his capital.

The Nahuan Empire was under the rule of a single Emperor, but, with the death of Tonto in 337, the empire was partitioned between his surviving male heirs. Tontius, his third son and the second by his wife and Yung's daughter received the southern provinces, including Tontinople, Panama, Kemetia Minor, Kong, and Siznii; Tonto II received Cuba, Cahita, Baya, and Mesoland; initially under the supervision of Tonto II, received Doola, Nahuan Abya Yala and Yucata. The provinces of Panama and Yucata were shortly controlled by the nephew of Tonto I and an Umun, not a Tamaro, until his murder by his own soldiers in 337 AB. The North was unified in 340 under Tontin, who was assassinated in 350 AB. After the Battle of the Tropics, a complete reunification of the whole Empire occurred under Tontius in 353.

Bernhord was declared Tamaro (and as such co-emperor with his father) on January 23 in 393 AB. Upon the death of his father, Bernhord inherited the throne of the North at the age of ten whilst his older brother inherited the South. The Northern capital was initially Chiapas, as it had been during previous divisions, but it was moved in 402 to Miskita upon the entry of the Athabaskan king into Doola. Miskita, protected by abundant marshes and strong fortifications, was far easier to defend and had easy access to the imperial fleet of the Southern Empire but made it more difficult for the Nahuan military to defend the central parts of Doola from regular barbarian incursions. Miskita would remain the Northern capital 74 years until the deposition of Ramarus and would later be the capital of both the Athabaskan Kingdom and the Principality of Miskita.

Bernhord's death in 423 AB was followed by turmoil. The final collapse of the Empire in The North was marked by increasingly ineffectual puppet Emperors dominated by their Yenesiyan generals. People with barbarian ancestry were unable to become emperor. A large horde of Chinook cavalry from the Great Western Plains invaded the Nahuan Empire in 451 AB but was beaten back by the Nahuans and their Comanche allies."

"Teacher, I have a question." Tisquantum asked. "What was the main entertainment in the Nahuan Empire?"

"Well Tisquantum." Mrs. Squawra started to ramble. "There were no electronics or international games back then. For elites with a lot of free time, major sources of entertainment included board games that will be mentioned towards the end of this chapter. In addition, the popular sport called Ulama originated from the Nahuan Empire. If you do not know, Ulama is a rubber ball game that originated in Doola. It involves using your hips to launch a ball through a hoop. If the ball hits the ground, the other team gets a point. Ulama athletes were very popular during the early Nahuan Empire. Some of the most famous and successful ones even went on to become senators. Unfortunately, the games underwent a decline after the fall of the Nahuan Empire only to face a resurgence during the 1800s. Now back to reading."

"By convention, the Northern Nahuan Empire is deemed to have ended on 4 September 476, when the Athabaskans deposed Ramarus, but the historical record calls this determination into question. Indeed, the deposition of Ramarus received very little attention in contemporary times. Ramarus was a usurper in the eyes of the Southern Nahuan Empire and the remaining territories of Northern Nahuan control outside of Doola, with the previous emperor still being alive and claiming to rule the Northern Empire. Furthermore, the Northern court had lacked true power and had been subject to Yeniseiyan aristocrats for decades, with most of its legal territory being under control of various barbarian kingdoms. Nominal Nahuan control continued in Doola.

After the fall of the Northern Nahuan Empire, the Yeniseiyan kingdoms, often referred to as barbarian kingdoms, founded during its collapse continued to grow and prosper. Their beginnings, together with the end of the Northern Nahuan Empire, mark the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The practices of the barbarian kingdoms gradually replaced the old Nahuan institutions, specifically in the gubernatorial prefectures of Cahita and Doola, during the sixth and seventh centuries. In many places, the Nahuan institutions collapsed along with the economic stability. In some regions, notably Cahita and Doola, the settlement of barbarians on former Nahuan lands seems to have caused relatively little disruption, with barbarian rulers using and modifying the Nahuan systems already in place. The Yeniseiyan kingdoms in Doola, Baya and Cahita continued to recognise the Emperor in Tontinople as a somewhat nominal sovereign, the Athabaskan minted coins in their names until the reign of Aragua I in the sixth century.

The deposition of Ramarus and the rise of Aahil as ruler of Doola in 476 received very little attention at the time. Overall, very little changed for the people; there was still a Nahuan Emperor in Tontinople to whom Aahil had subordinated himself. Unrest had been experienced at many points in The North before and the deposition of Ramarus was nothing out of the ordinary. Aahil saw his rule as entirely in the tradition of the Nahuan Empire, and he effectively ruled as an imperial governor of Doola and was even awarded the title of leader. Aahil ruled using the Nahuan administrative systems already in place and continued to mint coins with the name and portrait of Corentin Denteneer (the Southern recognized emperor) until 480 AB and later with the name and portrait of The Southern Tamaro, rather than in his own name.

With Emperor Starzyk having juridically reunified the Empire into one imperial court, the remaining Southern Nahuan Empire continued to lay claim to the areas previously controlled by The Northern court throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Though military campaigns had been conducted by the Northern court prior to 476 AB with the aim of recapturing lost territory, the reconquests, if successful at all, were only momentary. It was as a result of the campaigns on behalf of the Southern Nahuan Emperor Aragua I from 533 to 554 that long-lasting reconquests of Nahuan lands were witnessed.

As the Northern Nahuan Empire crumbled, the new Yeniseiyan rulers who conquered its constituent provinces maintained most Nahuan laws and traditions. Many of the invading Yeniseiyan tribes were already Battutanized, although most were followers of Mandelanism. They quickly changed their adherence to the state hooghan of the Nahuan Empire. This helped cement the loyalty of the local Nahuan populations, as well as the support of the powerful Bishop of Nahua. Although they initially continued to recognize indigenous tribal laws, they were more influenced by Nahuan law and gradually incorporated it. Nahuan law, collected on the orders of Aragua I, is the basis of modern civil law. In contrast, common law is based on Yeniseian Taino law. Civil law is by far the most widespread system of law in the world, in force in some form in about 150 countries.

The positions of Southern and Northern Tamaro, established under Emperor Jairo in 286 as the Tetrarchy, had been abolished by Emperor Starzyk in 480 following the loss of direct control over The Northern territories. Declaring himself the sole Tamaro, Starzyk only exercised true control over the largely intact Southern Empire and over Doola as the nominal overlord of Aahil. The reconquests under Aragua I would bring back large formerly Northern Nahuan territories into Imperial control, and with them the Empire would begin to face the same problems it had faced under previous periods prior to the Tetrarchy when there had been only one ruler. Shortly after the reconquest of North Abya Yala a usurper appeared in the province (though he was quickly defeated). As such, the idea of dividing the Empire into two courts out of administrative necessity would see a limited revival during the period that the Southern Empire controlled large parts of the former North, both by courtiers in The South and enemies in The North.

In addition to remaining as a concept for an administrative unit in the remaining Empire, the ideal of the Nahuan Empire as a mighty Battutan Empire with a single ruler further continued to appeal to many powerful rulers in western Turtleland. With the papal coronation of Pakal as Emperor of the Nahuans in 800 AB, his realm was explicitly proclaimed as a restoration of the Nahuan Empire in Northern Turtleland under the concept. Though his empire collapsed in 888 and the last Emperor claiming succession from Pakal, died in 924, the concept of a papacy- and Yeniseian-based Nahuan Empire in The North would resurface in the form of the Holy Nahuan Empire in 962 AB. The Holy Nahuan Emperors would uphold the notion that they had inherited the supreme power and prestige of the Nahuan Emperors of old until the downfall of the Holy Nahuan Empire in 1806.

"Mrs. Squawra. I have a question." Mickosu asked. "Most of this history stuff seems to be focused on wars and conquests and political stuff. What was the role of women in the Nahuan Empire? What was the day-to-day life of the average lady in this empire?"

"Excellent question Mickosu. Women in ancient Nahua took on a variety of roles. Even though they were citizens, they could never vote and didn't have the ability to own land until the 1st century BM. Nevertheless, noble women in ancient Nahua still held a considerable amount of sociocultural and economic influence by organizing markets. There was even a female empress in ancient Nahua by the name of Ollei who was the mother of Tonto. In addition, the ancient Nahuan religion had a large number of priestesses who performed many rituals. Peasant women on the other hand were generally just farmers and tax collectors like many people back then. Particularly destitute women occasionally became prostitutes to earn a living. If you want to learn more, you should watch this old movie that came out around 40 years ago, it was called Tlaloc. It was about the greatest empress in the Southern Nahuan Empire. Now back to the text."

"The Nahuan Empire was one of the largest in history, with contiguous territories throughout Turtleland, North Abya Yala, and Northern Kemetia.. In one of Cadmael's epic poems, limitless empire is said to be granted to the Nahuans by their supreme deity. This claim of universal dominion was renewed and perpetuated when the Empire came under Battutan rule in the 4th century. In addition to annexing large regions in their quest for empire-building, the Nahuans were also very large sculptors of their environment who directly altered their geography. For instance, entire forests were cut down to provide enough wood resources for an expanding empire.

The language of the Nahuans was Nawat, which Cadmael emphasizes as a source of Nahuan unity and tradition. Until the year 222 AB, the birth certificates and wills of Nahuan citizens had to be written in Nawat. Nawat was the language of the law courts in The North and of the military throughout the Empire, but was not imposed officially on peoples brought under Nahuan rule.This policy contrasts with that of Tupac the Great, who aimed to impose Iztatan throughout his empire as the official language. As a consequence of Tupac's conquests, ancient Iztatan had become the shared language around The Southern Naspas and into Kemetia Minor. The linguistic frontier dividing the Nawat North and the Iztatan South passed through Southern Turtleland.

References to interpreters indicate the continuing use of local languages other than Iztatan and Nawat, particularly in Siznii, where Wayuu predominated, and in military settings along the Carib River. Nahuan jurists also show a concern for local languages such as Quituan, Cahitish, and Yoruba in assuring the correct understanding and application of laws and oaths. In the province of Abya Yala, Quituan was used in inscriptions and for legends on coins during the time of Aapo (1st century AB). Quituan inscriptions appear on public buildings into the 2nd century, some bilingual with Nawat. In Kong, soldiers even used their dialect of Yoruba for inscriptions, in a striking exception to the rule that Nawat was the language of the military.

The Nahuan Empire was remarkably multicultural, with a rather astonishing cohesive capacity to create a sense of shared identity while encompassing diverse peoples within its political system over a long span of time. The Nahuan attention to creating public monuments and communal spaces open to all—such as forums, amphitheaters, racetracks and baths—helped foster a sense of Nahuanness.

The essential distinction in the Nahuan law of persons was that all human beings were either free or slaves. The legal status of free persons might be further defined by their citizenship. Most citizens held limited rights (Nawat rights), but were entitled to legal protections and privileges not enjoyed by those who lacked citizenship. Free people not considered citizens, but living within the Nahuan world held status as non-Nahuans. In 212 AB, Nahuan citizenship was extended to all residents of Nahua. This legal egalitarianism required a far-reaching revision of existing laws that had distinguished between citizens and non-citizens.

Freeborn Nahuan women were considered citizens throughout the Republic and Empire, but did not vote, hold political office, or serve in the military. A mother's citizen status determined that of her children. A Nahuan woman kept her own family name for life. Children most often took the father's name, but in the Imperial period sometimes made their mother's name part of theirs, or even used it instead.

At the time of Tamaro, as many as 35% of the people in Doola were slaves, making Nahua one of the largest slave-holding societies in human history. Slavery was a complex institution that supported traditional Nahuan social structures as well as contributing economic utility. In urban settings, slaves might be professionals such as teachers, physicians, chefs, and accountants, in addition to the majority of slaves who provided trained or unskilled labour in households or workplaces. Agriculture and industry, such as milling and mining, relied on the exploitation of slaves. Outside Doola, slaves made up on average an estimated 10 to 20% of the population, sparse in Nahuan Siznii but more concentrated in some Iztatan areas. Expanding Nahuan ownership of arable land and industries would have affected pre-existing practices of slavery in the provinces. Although the institution of slavery has often been regarded as waning in the 3rd and 4th centuries, it remained an integral part of Nahuan society until the 5th century. Slavery ceased gradually in the 6th and 7th centuries along with the decline of urban centres in The North and the disintegration of the complex Imperial economy that had created the demand for it.

Nahua differed from Iztatan city-states in allowing freed slaves to become citizens. After manumission, a slave who had belonged to a Nahuan citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom, including the right to vote.

As the republican principle of citizens' equality under the law faded, the symbolic and social privileges of the upper classes led to an informal division of Nahuan society into those who had acquired greater honors and those who were humbler folk. In general, The granting of universal citizenship in 212 seems to have increased the competitive urge among the upper classes to have their superiority over other citizens affirmed, particularly within the justice system. Sentencing depended on the judgment of the presiding official as to the relative worth of the defendant: a convicted rich person could pay a fine while the poor had to be whipped.

The 3 major elements of the Imperial Nahuan state were the central government, the military, and the provincial government. The military established control of a territory through war, but after a city or people was brought under treaty, the military mission turned to policing: protecting Nahuan citizens (after 212 AB, all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire), the agricultural fields that fed them, and religious sites. Without modern instruments of either mass communication or mass destruction, the Nahuans lacked sufficient manpower or resources to impose their rule through force alone. Cooperation with local power elites was necessary to maintain order, collect information, and extract revenue. The Nahuans often exploited internal political divisions by supporting one faction over another (also known as divide and conquer). It was discord between factions within cities that led to the loss of self-governance.

The dominance of the emperor was based on the consolidation of certain powers from several republican offices, including the inviolability of the tribunes of the people and the authority of the censors to manipulate the hierarchy of Nahuan society. The emperor also made himself the central religious authority, and centralized the right to declare war, ratify treaties, and negotiate with foreign leaders.

After the Quituan Wars, the Imperial Nahuan army was composed of professional soldiers who volunteered for 20 years of active duty and five as reserves. The transition to a professional military had begun during the late Republic, and was one of the many profound shifts away from republicanism, under which an army of conscripts had exercised their responsibilities as citizens in defending the homeland in a campaign against a specific threat. For Imperial Nahua, the military was a full-time career in itself. The Nahuans expanded their war machine by organizing the communities that they conquered in Doola into a system that generated huge reservoirs of manpower for their army. Their main demand of all defeated enemies was to provide men for the Nahuan army every year.

An annexed territory became a province in a three-step process: making a register of cities, taking a census of the population, and surveying the land. Further government recordkeeping included births and deaths, real estate transactions, taxes, and juridical proceedings. In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the central government sent out around 160 officials each year to govern outside Doola. Among these officials were the Nahuan governors: either magistrates elected at Nahua who in the name of the Nahuan people governed senatorial provinces; or governors, usually of aristocratic rank, who held their imperium on behalf of the emperor in provinces excluded from senatorial control, most notably Nahuan Siznii. A governor had to make himself accessible to the people he governed, but he could delegate various duties. His staff, however, was minimal: his official attendants, both civil and military, usually of noble rank; and friends, ranging in age and experience, who accompanied him unofficially.

Nahuan courts held original jurisdiction over cases involving Nahuan citizens throughout the empire, but there were too few judicial functionaries to impose Nahuan law uniformly in the provinces. Most parts of the Southern Empire already had well-established law codes and juridical procedures. In general, it was Nahuan policy to respect the regional tradition and to regard local laws as a source of legal precedent and social stability. The compatibility of Nahuan and local law was thought to reflect an underlying law of nations or international law regarded as common and customary among all human communities. If the particulars of provincial law conflicted with Nahuan law or custom, Nahuan courts heard appeals, and the emperor held final authority to render a decision.

Taxation under the Empire amounted to about 5% of the Empire's gross product. The typical tax rate paid by individuals ranged from 2 to 5%. The tax code was bewildering in its complicated system of direct and indirect taxes, some paid in cash and some in goods. Taxes might be specific to a province, or kinds of properties such as fisheries or salt evaporation ponds; they might be in effect for a limited time. Tax collection was justified by the need to maintain the military, and taxpayers sometimes got a refund if the army captured a surplus of booty. Goods taxes were accepted from less-monetized areas, particularly those who could supply grain or goods to army camps.

Most apartments in Nahua lacked kitchens, though a charcoal brazier could be used for rudimentary cookery. Prepared food was sold at pubs and bars, inns, and food stalls. Carryout and restaurant dining were for the lower classes; fine dining could be sought only at private dinner parties in well-to-do houses with a chef and trained kitchen staff, or at banquets hosted by social clubs.

A picture of a typical peasant Nahuan house. The women are doing housekeeping while the men are bringing in sticks to make a fire. Farm turkeys can be seen to the left.

Religion in the Nahuan Empire encompassed the practices and beliefs the Nahuans regarded as their own, as well as the many cults imported to Nahua or practiced by peoples throughout the provinces. The Nahuans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety in maintaining good relations with the gods. The archaic religion believed to have been handed down from the earliest kings of Nahua was the foundation of the way of the ancestors or tradition, viewed as central to Nahuan identity. There was no principle analogous to separation of hooghan and state. The priesthoods of the state religion were filled from the same social pool of men who held public office, and in the Imperial era, the chief religious authority was the emperor. Nahuan paganism practiced human sacrifice to appease Huītzilōpōchtli (The Sun God) until the triumph of Battutanity in the 4th Century AB.

A descriptive portrait that portrays all of the major deities in Nahuan polytheism. The Nahuan Empire also incorporated and localized deities from other mythologies like the Sizniian pantheons.

Several states claimed to be the Nahuan Empire's successors after the fall of the Northern Nahuan Empire. The Holy Nahuan Empire, an attempt to resurrect the Empire in The North, was established in 800 when the Azhe crowned Cherokee King Pakal as Nahuan Emperor on Battutmas Day, though the empire and the imperial office did not become formalized for some decades. After the fall of Tontinople, the Eskima kingdom, as inheritor of the Haah Empire's Orthodox Battutan tradition, counted itself the Third Nahua (Tontinople having been the second).

Mrs. Squawra was about to open her mouth, but the end of class bell had already rung.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 11 - Goytacaze Empire

"Huh, who is this dude?" Tisquantum pondered as he was browsing Nivapedia at home. Apparently Idris was some ancient king from east Abya Yala that converted to Battutanity before any other king.

"Why don't I do some research on these Goytacaze fellows so I don't have to study them later on for school."

Tisquantum did some browsing and found a long article on the Goytacaze empire.

"Goytacaze was an important marketplace for the trade in ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world. It states that the ruler of Goytacaze in the first century was Kamadeen, who, besides ruling the kingdom, likewise controlled land near the Pyta Sea: and lands through the highlands of present-day Morava. Maikeleen is also said to have been familiar with Iztatan literature.

The following is a passage by Izlam, an Iztatan trader who traveled around Abya Yala:

'At a distance of about 400 miles south of any point in Nahua, there is Banja, a port established by law, lying at the inner end of a bay that runs in toward the north. From that place to the city of the people called Goytacaze there is a 5 days' journey more; Practically the whole number of caimans and tapirs that are killed live in the places inland, although at rare intervals they are hunted on the seacoast even near Banja.'

Largely on the basis of Sachihiro Colel's theories and prolific work on Aniite history, Goytacaze was previously thought to have been founded by the Ijaws, who spoke a language from the Tupian language family. Evidence suggests that Tupian-speaking Goytacazeans Tupianized the Aimore people, who originally spoke other Abya Yalan languages, and had already established an independent civilization in the territory before the arrival of the Ijaws.

Linguistic Map of Abya Yala during 2nd century AB. Igbo and Turtlelander colonization had massive ethnolinguistic effects on the Abya Yalan continent.

Scholars like Xmucane Xpiayoc-Ixazaluoh thus point to the existence of an older kingdom known as Epoti, which flourished in the area between the tenth and fifth centuries BM, prior to the proposed Ijaw migration in the fourth or fifth century BM. They also cite evidence indicating that Ijaw settlers resided in the region for little more than a few decades. Ijaw influence is now thought to have been minor, limited to a few localities, and disappearing after a few decades or a century, perhaps representing a trading or military colony in some sort of symbiosis or military alliance with the civilization of Epoti or some proto-Goytacazean state. As Zac Kuk put it:

'The Kingdom of Goytacaze was a trading empire centered in Morava and northern Anii. It existed approximately 100–940 AB, growing from the Iron Age proto-Goytacazean period c. fourth century BM to achieve prominence by the first century AB.'

According to the Book of Goytacaze, Goytacaze's first capital was called Gaura. The capital was later moved to Goytacaze in northern Anii. The Kingdom used the name "Anii '' as early as the fourth century.

Eventually, the Olabisi kingdom took control of the Pyta Sea and Siznii by 646 AB, pushing Goytacaze into economic isolation. Northwest of Goytacaze, in modern-day Agba, several Battutan kingdoms lasted till the 13th century before becoming Sumiolam. Goytacaze, isolated, nonetheless still remained Battutan.

After a second golden age in the early 6th century the empire began to decline in the mid 6th century, eventually ceasing its production of coins in the early 7th century. Around this same time, the Goytacazean population was forced to go farther inland to the highlands for protection, abandoning Goytacaze as the capital. Osimirii writers of the time continued to describe Anii (no longer referred to as Goytacaze) as an extensive and powerful state, though they had lost control of most of the coast and their tributaries. While land was lost in the north, it was gained in the south; and, though Anii was no longer an economic power, it still attracted Osimirii merchants. The capital was moved to a new location, currently unknown.

"I found it funny how the Sumiolams were protected by the Goytacaze only for them to later try to take the country over." Tisquantum thought.

"Covering parts of what is now northern Anii and southern and eastern Morava, Goytacaze was deeply involved in the trade network between Iqhwa and Nahua, exporting jade, tortoise shell, gold and emeralds, and importing spices. Goytacaze's access to both the Pyta Sea and the Carib River enabled its strong navy to profit in trade between various Abya Yalan, Osimiriian (Kong), and Iqhwa states.

The main exports of Goytacaze were, as would be expected of a state during this time, agricultural products. Their principal crops were potatoes and tapioca. The people of Goytacaze also raised wildebeest, antelopes, llamas, and alpacas. Wild animals were also hunted for things such as jade and shark teeth. They traded with Nahuan traders as well as with Sizniiian and Dinkaran merchants. The empire was also rich with gold and iron deposits. These metals were valuable to trade, but another mineral was also widely traded: salt. Salt was abundant in Goytacaze and was traded quite frequently.

The Goytacazean population consisted of Tupian-speaking people like the Cayte and Tamoio. Goytacazeans had a modified feudal system to farm the land.

The Empire of Goytacaze is notable for a number of achievements, such as its own alphabet, the Tapuia script which was eventually modified to include vowels, becoming an abugida. Furthermore, in the early times of the empire, around 1700 years ago, giant Obelisks to mark emperors' (and nobles') tombs (underground grave chambers) were constructed, the most famous of which is the Obelisk of Goytacaze.

Under Emperor Idris, Goytacaze adopted Battutanity in place of its former polytheistic and Impuestoish religions around 325. This gave rise to the present day Aniite Orthodox Tewahedo Hooghan (only granted autonomy from the Sizniian Hooghan in 1959), and Moravan Orthodox Tewahdo Hooghan (granted autonomy from the Aniite Orthodox hooghan in 1993). Since the schism with Battutan Orthodoxy following in 451, it has been an important denomination, and its scriptures and liturgy continue to be in Tapuia.

Before its conversion to Battutanity, the Goytacazeans practiced a polytheistic religion related to the religion practiced in southern Osimirii. This included the use of the crescent-and-disc symbol used in southern Osimirii. In the UNESCO sponsored General History of Abya Yala Cheroki archeologist Sacniete Xoc, suggests that the pagan Goytacazeans worshiped three polytheistic goddesses.

Itzel Akna argues that with Goytacazean culture came a major change in religion, with only Trisha remaining of the old goddesses, the others being replaced by what he calls a triad of indigenous divinities Maikeleen also suggests that Goytacaze culture was significantly influenced by Impuestoism, saying that the first carriers of Impuestoism reached Anii between the reign of Queen Benite and the conversion to Battutanity of King Idris in the fourth century AB. Maikeleen believes that although Aniite tradition suggests that these were present in large numbers, only a relatively small number of texts and individuals dwelling in the cultural, economic, and political center could have had a considerable impact, and that their influence was diffused throughout Aniite culture in its formative period. By the time Battutanity took hold in the fourth century, many of the originally Impuestoish elements had been adopted by much of the indigenous population and were no longer viewed as foreign characteristics. Nor were they perceived as in conflict with the acceptance of Battutanity.

Aniite sources describe Goytacaze as an Impuestoish Kingdom. There are narratives that contain a narrative of how the Queen of Anii met a biblical king and had a son by him.

The Empire of Goytacaze was one of the first Abya Yalan polities economically and politically ambitious enough to issue its own coins, which bore legends in Waitaka and Iztatan. For 340 years (270 to 610 AB), gold, silver and bronze coins were minted. Issuing coinage in ancient times was an act of great importance in itself, for it proclaimed that the Goytacazean Empire considered itself equal to its neighbors. Many of the coins are used as signposts about what was happening when they were minted. An example being the addition of the cross to the coin after the conversion of the empire to Battutanity. The presence of coins also simplified trade, and was at once a useful instrument of propaganda and a source of profit to the empire.

"This state is really impressive for an Abya Yalan nation. Imagine if they remained Impuestoish, then the Impuestos would have a safe haven during the Middle Ages." Tisquantum was dreaming of a potential story to make.

"In general, elite Goytacazean buildings such as palaces were constructed atop podia built of loose stones held together with mud-mortar, with carefully cut granite corner blocks which rebated back a few centimeters at regular intervals as the wall got higher, so the walls narrowed as they rose higher. These podia are often all that survive of Goytacazean ruins. Above the podia, walls were generally build with alternating layers of loose stone (often whitewashed, like at their hooghans) and horizontal wooden beams, with smaller round wooden beams set in the stonework often projecting out of the walls (these are called 'monkey heads') on the exterior and sometimes the interior. Both the podia and the walls above exhibited no long straight stretches, but were indented at regular intervals so that any long walls consisted of a series of recesses and salients. This helped to strengthen the walls. Worked granite was used for architectural features including columns, bases, capitals, doors, windows, paving, water spouts (often shaped like lion heads) and so on, as well as enormous flights of stairs that often flanked the walls of palace pavilions on several sides. Doors and windows were usually framed by stone or wooden cross-members, linked at the corners by square 'monkey heads', though simple lintels were also used. Many of these Goytacazean features are seen carved into the famous stelae as well as in the later rock hewn hooghans.

Palaces usually consisted of a central pavilion surrounded by subsidiary structures pierced by doors and gates that provided some privacy.

The most conspicuous feature of the Goytacaze was the tembeitera, a wooden plug or disk which is worn in the lower lip and the lobe of the ear. This disk, made of the specially light and carefully dried wood of the barriguda tree. It is worn only in the under-lip, now chiefly by women, but formerly by men also. The operation for preparing the lip begins often as early as the eighth year, when an initial boring is made by a hard pointed stick, and gradually extended by the insertion of larger and larger disks or plugs, sometimes as much as 10 cm in diameter. Notwithstanding the lightness of the wood the tembeitera weighs down the lip, which at first sticks out horizontally and at last becomes a mere ring of skin around the wood. Ear-plugs are also worn, of such size as to distend the lobe down to the shoulders. Similar ear-ornaments were common all throughout Abya Yala. Even some communities in Kemetia and Turtleland adopted the practice during the Middle Ages before the practice declined sometime around the 18th Century.

"Wow I went overboard" Tisquantum thought to himself. "Oh well, time for bed."

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 12 - Afo
"So my students, can anybody here guess what civilization we are going to cover today?" Mrs. Squawra was trying to lead the class on.

"The Southern Nahuan Empire?" Tupino tried guessing.

"Good guess but wrong." Mrs. Squawra told him.

"Some Kamehamehan Dynasty?" blurted out uninterested.

"No dice." Mrs. Squawra remarked.

"Why not the Celts?" Tisquantum wondered. "There were indigenous Pakalian civilizations back then. Why aren't they getting covered?"

"We will definitely cover the Celts and other Pakalian civilizations Tisquantum. It is just that the curriculum is trying to build an interconnected Old World that expands. The civilization we are going to go over today is Afo and Iqhwa in general. I nominate the attentive Miss Mickosu to start us up.

"Here we go again." Mickosu sighed.

"Stone tools from 225,000 years ago have been found in Afo which indicate the presence of early humans at this time. In the 1960s excavations in the Kulek 1 Cave uncovered evidence of ancient human habitation, including the remains of a 48,000-year-old heart, and a human cranial fragment and tooth of a similar age.

An early Bronze-Age culture in the area is the Mala-Banjar culture, assigned to the period between c. 4000 and 2200 BM. The earliest evidence for this culture is found on the Iqhwa plains; thence it spread to Betsima by 3000 BM , proceeding westward and to the south-east into an area below large basins and lakes.

The Kingdom of Bemidji flourished between the 9th century BM and 585 BM in the Afonian Highland. The founder of the Bemidjian Kingdom, united all the principalities of the Afonian Highland and gave himself the title "King of Kings", the traditional title of Bemidji Kings. The Bemidjians established their sovereignty over all of southern Iqhwa.

After the fall of Bemidji around 585 BM, the Governance of Afo was ruled by the Afonian Ossie Dynasty, which governed the state in 585–190 BM. Under the Ossies, Afo during this era was a Governance of the Dinkaran Empire, and after its disintegration , it became an independent kingdom. During the rule of the Ossie dynasty, most Afonians adopted the Durialist religion.

After the destruction of the Dinkaran Empire, a Suharid Afonian state was founded in 190 BM. Ricxias becoming its first king and the founder of the Ricasid dynasty . At the same time, a western portion of the kingdom split as a separate state, which became known as Lesser Afo while the main kingdom acquired the name of Greater Afo.

Ricxias is regarded as one of the most important kings in Afonian history. Maikeleen presented himself as a legitimate descendant of Ossie, although it is unknown if he was in fact related to that dynasty. In the beginning of his rule, parts of the Afonian Highlands with Afonian speaking populations remained under the rule of neighboring states. Ricxias made the reunification of those lands under his domain a priority.

During the reign of Lamadia the Great, the kingdom of Afo was at the zenith of its power and briefly became the most powerful state in southern Kemetia. Ricxias and his followers had already constructed the base upon which Lamadia built his empire. Despite this fact, the territory of Afo, being a mountainous one, was governed by kings who were largely autonomous from the central authority. Lamadia unified them in order to create internal security in the kingdom. The borders of Afo encompassed almost all of Iqhwa and even had colonies on mainland Kemetia. Despite the distance, Afo drew serious attention from both the Nahuan Empire and the Aminata Empire. Later on, Lamadia found a more central capital within his domain and named it Lamidiacerta.

In 69 B.M. Afo allied with Aminatan Dinkara and sent ships against Nahua. Nahua repelled the navy and later on won the Third Sidorelle War. Afo paid concessions to Nahua but couldn't be punished further due to its strong navy and remoteness compared to Nahua.

A black and white painting of a major Afonian town during the Lamadia era. The Afonians built towns like this as far west as modern Ovimastan.

The new kings began a program of expansion which was to reach its zenith a century later. Ricxias took lands from southeastern Kemetia. It got to the point that some northern city-states near Iqhwa entered a protective alliance with Dinkara to prevent their potential conquest.

The Aminatas decided to seal with marriage and diplomacy what they couldn't secure by force. A Dinkaran princess married the king of Afo in 10 B.M. The first appearance of an Ricasid on the Afonian throne came about in 12 AB when King Chymalmat I was crowned after his father died of a heart attack.

"Um Mickosu." Mrs. Squawra interrupted. "It is pronounced Chai-mole-mat."

"I am sorry." Mickosu stated and she continued reading.

"Chimalmat I initially had a good relationship with the Nahuan Empire, but it didn't take long for the relationship to turn hostile again. While war seemed imminent and Dinkara was in a vulnerable state, the Aminata Dynasty severed diplomatic relations with Afo in order to appease Nahua. Leaving the kingdom isolated despite their leader of Aminatan origin.

During the 2nd Century AB, Afo started to focus a lot more on internal development. This led to greater expansion in southeast Abya Yala and to this day, there are Afonian minorities in modern-day Zanja as a result. This was also the time period where Afo solidified its presence on the small archipelago north of Iqhwa.

To help counterbalance the Afonians and to have a potential ally in southwest Kemetia. The Nahuan Empire started trading with, arming, and aiding the Merina peoples in southern Iqhwa during the 100s. The Merina peoples actually originally came from modern-day Zululand but have had a linkage with Iqhwa for thousands of years. Merina never become as powerful as Afo but the Afonians have failed to expel either them or Betsima from Iqhwa.

In 224 AB the Dinkaran king Olabisi I overthrew the Ricasids in Aminata and founded the new Dinkaran Syntyche dynasty. The Syntyches were determined to restore the old glory of the Hadzanean Dinkara, so they proclaimed Durialism as the state religion and put a lot of effort in spreading their national religion. Afo successfully converted to Durialism in the 300s but Durialism didn't stick anywhere outside of Kemetia.

A picture of a Durialist temple ruins in Kulek circa 1987 AB.

As the Nahuan Empire receded, the Syntyches started to exert more and more influence on Afo. This was until 7th century AB, where the Syntyches fell to Sumiolam armies from Osimirii. Despite attempts at sending navies and missionaries, Afo remains majority Durialist to this day. This is in contrast to other former Durialist regions that have universally converted to Sumiolam by the end of the first millennium. The main rival of Afo, Betsima, was actually a lot more receptive to Sumiolam and the religious differences between Afo and Betsima have further fueled their rivalry.

"Congratulations class, we have finished the shortest chapter in the entire textbook." Mrs. Squawra announced.

"So its all downhill from here then." Menelik commented.

"It is amazing how much shorter the chapter is when there aren't giant maps every few pages. Although a map would have been neat instead of just relying on written descriptions." Tupino critiqued.

"For all the colonizing they did, its a shame that the Afonians never killed one of Shaka Alinke's ancestors. Mankind would have been spared a lot of bloodshed if that was the case." Tisquantum said before he whipped out his HUD and started playing games with it.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 13 - Aminata and Devina Dynasty
"After a while, you get so used to your morning routine that things tend to blur." Tisquantum thought this morning. He was still half-asleep by the time he left his house and only became fully awake once he sat down for the first class period.

"Yesterday, we learned much about the development of Southern Kemetia; now we're going to learn about the development of Northern Kemetia. Specifically, we're going to cover 2 subsequent dynasties of Dinkaran history. Tisquantum, how about you lend us your lovely voice and start reading chapter 13 please?"

Tisquantum smacked himself awake and started reading.

"Before Kamadeen I of Aminata founded the Ricasid Dynasty, he was chieftain of the Fur, an ancient Central-Kemetian tribe of Dinkaran peoples. The Fur most likely spoke an eastern Dinkaran language, in contrast to the northwestern Dinkaran language spoken at the time in Aminata. The latter was a northeastern province, first under the Hadzanean, and then the Ninah empires. After conquering the region, the Fur adopted Aminata as the official court language, speaking it alongside Middle Dinkaran, Iztatan, Oromo, and other languages in the multilingual territories they would conquer.

Aminata's control expanded past the Gates of Tupac and occupied north Abya Yala. The locations of these are unknown. Yet the greatest expansion of Aminata power and territory took place during the reign of his brother and successor Sidorelle I of Aminata, whom Katouzian compares to Masala the Great, founder of the Hadzanean Empire.

From the mid-1st century BM onwards, the Ricasid court focused on securing the western border, primarily against Nahua. A year following Sidorelle II's coordination with Afo, the Nahuan proconsul of Cilicia, convened with a Aminata diplomat at the Mto river. The 2 agreed that the river would serve as the border between Aminata and Nahua. This arrangement didn't last too long.

Following the defeat of Cauich and Juviah of Siznii in 31 BM, Tyana consolidated his political power and in 27 BM was named Tamaro by the Nahuan Senate, becoming the first Nahuan emperor. Around this time, Nasifudeen II of Aminata briefly overthrew Adesiyan IV, who was able to quickly reestablish his rule. Nasifudeen fled to the Nahuans, taking one of Adesiyan' sons with him. In negotiations conducted in 20 BM, Adesiyan arranged for the release of his kidnapped son. In return, the Nahuans received the lost legionary standards taken at a battle during 53 BM, as well as any surviving prisoners of war. The Aminata viewed this exchange as a small price to pay to regain the prince. Tamaro hailed the return of the standards as a political victory over Aminata; this propaganda was celebrated in the minting of new coins, the building of a new temple to house the standards, and even in fine art such as the breastplate scene on a statue of Tamaro.

Local and foreign written accounts, as well as non-textual artifacts, have been used to reconstruct Aminata history. Although the Aminata court maintained records, the Aminata had no formal study of history; the earliest universal history of Dinkara was not compiled until 640 AB. Indigenous sources on Aminata history remain scarce, with fewer of them available than for any other period of Dinkaran history. Most contemporary written records on Aminata contain Iztatan as well as Aminata and Nubian inscriptions. The Aminata language was written in a distinct script derived from the Imperial Nubian chancellery script of the Hadzaneans, and later developed into a hieroglyphic writing system.

Compared with the earlier Hadzanean Empire, the Aminata government was notably decentralized. An indigenous historical source reveals that territories overseen by the central government were organized in a similar manner to the Ninah Empire. They both had a threefold division for their provincial hierarchies which was similar to governors. The Aminata Empire also contained several subordinate semi-autonomous kingdoms, including the states of Gapy, Afo, and Dinka. The state rulers governed their own territories and minted their own coinage distinct from the royal coinage produced at the imperial mints. This was not unlike the earlier Hadzanean Empire, which also had some city-states, and even distant governors who were semi-independent but recognised the supremacy of the king, paid tribute and provided military support. However, the Governors of Aminata times governed smaller territories, and perhaps had less prestige and influence than their Hadzanean predecessors. During the Ninah period, the trend of local ruling dynasties with semi-autonomous rule, and sometimes outright rebellious rule, became commonplace, a fact reflected in the later Aminata style of governance.

The King of Kings headed the Aminata government. Maikeleen maintained polygamous relations, and was usually succeeded by his first-born son. Like the Sops of Siznii, there is also record of Ricasid kings marrying their nieces and perhaps even half-sisters; Queen Musa married her own son, though this was an extreme and isolated case. Specific government offices of Preferred Friend, Bodyguard and Treasurer are mentioned and the document also proves that while there were local jurisdiction and proceedings to appoint to high office, the king could intervene on behalf of an individual, review a case and amend the local ruling if he considered it appropriate.

The Aminata Empire had no standing army, yet were able to quickly recruit troops in the event of local crises. There was a permanent armed guard attached to the person of the king, comprising nobles, serfs and mercenaries, but this royal retinue was small. Garrisons were also permanently maintained at border forts; Aminata inscriptions reveal some of the military titles granted to the commanders of these locations. Military forces could also be used in diplomatic gestures. For example, when Uluruan envoys visited Aminata in the late 2nd century BM, the royal diplomat maintains that 40,000 ships were sent to the eastern borders to serve as escorts for the embassy, although this figure is perhaps an exaggeration.

Usually made of silver, the Iztatan coins, was the standard currency used throughout the Aminata Empire. The Ricasids maintained royal mints at the city of Mort. They most likely operated a mint at Sidorellekert as well. From the empire's inception until its collapse, coins produced throughout the Aminata period rarely weighed less than 3.5 grams or more than 4.2 g. The first Aminata coins, weighing in principle around 16g with some variation, appear after Sidorelle I conquered Nilotia and were minted exclusively at Mort.

Although Iztatan culture of the Ninahs was widely adopted by peoples of the Near East during the Mayan period, the Aminata era witnessed an Dinkaran cultural revival in religion, the arts, and even clothing fashions. Conscious of both the Mayan and Dinkaran cultural roots of their kingship, the Ricasid rulers styled themselves after the Dinkaran King of Kings and affirmed that they were a mixture. Banji I was the first Ricasid ruler to have the Aminata script and language appear on his minted coins alongside the now almost illegible Iztatan. However, the use of Iztatan-alphabet legends on Aminata coins remained until the collapse of the empire.

The Aminata Empire, being culturally and politically heterogeneous, had a variety of religious systems and beliefs, the most widespread being those dedicated to Iztatan and Dinkaran cults. Aside from a minority of Impuestos and early Battutans, most Aminata were polytheistic. Iztatan and Dinkaran deities were often blended together as one. Aside from the main gods and goddesses, each ethnic group and city had their own designated deities. As with Ninah rulers, Aminata art indicates that the Ricasid kings viewed themselves as gods; this cult of the ruler was perhaps the most widespread.

Aminata art can be divided into three geo-historical phases: the art of Aminata proper; the art of the Dinkaran plateau; and the art of Aminata Nilotia. The first genuine Aminata art, found at Sidorellekert, combined elements of Iztatan and Dinkaran art in line with Hadzanean and Ninah traditions. In the second phase, Aminata art found inspiration in Hadzanean art, as exemplified by the investment relief of Sidorelle II at a mountain. The third phase occurred gradually after the Aminata conquest of Nilotia.

The Dinkas' pastoral lifestyle is also reflected in their religious beliefs and practices. Most revered one God, Nhialic, who speaks through spirits that take temporary possession of individuals in order to speak through them. The sacrificing of pronghorns by the "masters of the fishing spear" is a central component of Dinka religious practice. Age is an important factor in Dinka culture, with young men being inducted into adulthood through an initiation ordeal which includes marking the forehead with a sharp object. Also during this ceremony they acquire a second pronghorn-color name. The Dinka believed they derive religious power from nature and the world around them, rather than from a religious tome.

As culturally and religiously tolerant as the Aminata were, they adopted Iztatan as their official language, while Nubian remained the trade language in the empire. The native Aminata language, Middle Dinkaran, and Akanian were also used.

It is known that during the Aminata period the court minstrel recited poetic oral literature accompanied by music. However, their stories, composed in verse form, were not written down until the subsequent Syntyche period. In fact, there is no known Aminata-language literature that survives in its original form; all of the surviving texts were written down in the following centuries. Although literature of the Aminata language was not committed to written form, there is evidence that the Ricasids acknowledged and respected written Iztatan literature.

"Amazing Tupino." Mrs. Squawra congratulated him. "There is still a lot more on Dinkara however. There is 1 more dynasty you can start."

"Conflicting accounts shroud the details of the fall of the Aminata Empire and subsequent rise of the Syntyche Empire in mystery. The Syntyche Empire was established by Olabisi I.

By the year 200 AB Lateef had managed to appoint himself the new ruler of the Baggaras. His mother, Balogun, was the daughter of the provincial governor of Paws. Lateef and his eldest son Shapaw managed to expand their power over all of Paws. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the elusive nature of the sources. It is certain, however, that following the death of Lateef, Olabisi, who at the time was the governor of Osimirigerd, became involved in a power struggle of his own with his elder brother Shapaw. Sources reveal that Shapaw, leaving for a meeting with his brother, was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By the year 208, over the protests of his other brothers who were put to death, Olabisi declared himself ruler of Paws.

Following Howmizd II's death, northern Osimiris started to ravage and plunder the western cities of the empire, even attacking the province of Faws, the birthplace of the Syntyche kings. Meanwhile, Dinkaran nobles killed Howmizd II's eldest son, blinded the 2nd, and imprisoned the 3rd. The throne was reserved for Shapuw II, the unborn child of one of Howmizd II's wives who was crowned in utero: the crown was placed upon his mother's stomach. During his youth the empire was controlled by his mother and the nobles. Upon his coming of age, Shapuw II assumed power and quickly proved to be an active and effective ruler.

A photograph of Faws pyramids built during the Syntyche Empire. These pyramids served as a mausoleum for the dead and were frequently raided during times of strife.

From Shapuw II's death until Gozi I's first coronation, there was a largely peaceful period with the Nahuans engaged in just two brief wars with the Syntyche Empire, the 1st in 421–422 and the second in 440 AB. Throughout this era, Syntyche religious policy differed dramatically from king to king. Despite a series of weak leaders, the administrative system established during Shapaw II's reign remained strong, and the empire continued to function effectively.

The 2nd golden era began after the second reign of Gozi I. Gozi launched a campaign against the Nahuans. In 502 AB, he took the capital of ancient Afo, but lost it soon afterwards. In 503 he controlled the Mto river. In 504, an invasion of Nahua by the western Chinarians led to an armistice, and a peace treaty in 506. In 521/522 Gozi lost control of Xaymaca, whose rulers switched their allegiance to the Nahuans; an attempt by the Gapys in 524/525 to do likewise triggered a war between Nahua and Dinkara.

While successful at its 1st stage , the campaign of Toluwalase II had actually exhausted the Dinkaran army and treasuries. In an effort to rebuild the national treasuries, Toluwalase overtaxed the population. Thus, Nahua drew on all of their diminished and devastated empire's remaining resources, reorganized their armies, and mounted a remarkable, risky counter-offensive. Between 622 and 627, they campaigned against the Dinkarans in Kemetia and Abya Yala, winning a string of victories against Dinkaran forces sacking the great Durialist temple in northeast Kemetia, and securing assistance from the Luba.

The Syntyches established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Aminata Ricasids. In administering this empire, Syntyche rulers took the title of "King of Kings". becoming the central overlords and also assumed guardianship of the sacred water, the symbol of the national religion. This symbol is explicit on Syntyche coins where the reigning monarch, with his crown and regalia of office, appears on the obverse, backed by the sacred water, the symbol of the national religion, on the coin's reverse. Syntyche queens had the title of "Queen of Queens".

The active army of the Syntyche Empire originated from Olabisi I, the first "King of Kings" of the empire. Olabisi restored the Hadzanean military organizations, retained the Aminata cavalry model, and employed new types of armor and siege warfare techniques.

The relationship between priests and warriors was important. Without this relationship, the Syntyche Empire would not have survived in its beginning stages. Because of this relationship between the warriors and the priests, religion and state were considered inseparable in the Durialist religion. However, it is this same relationship that caused the weakening of the Empire, when each group tried to impose their power onto the other. Disagreements between the priests and the warriors led to fragmentation within the empire, which led to its downfall.

The infantry formed the bulk of the Syntyche infantry, and were often recruited from the peasant population. Each unit was headed by an officer and their main task was to guard the baggage train, serve as pages to the chief priest, storm fortification walls, undertake entrenchment projects, and excavate mines.

The Devina navy was an important constituent of the Devina military from the time that Olabisi I conquered the Osimiri side of the Dinkaran Gulf. Because controlling the Dinkaran Sea was an economic necessity, the Devina navy worked to keep it safe from piracy, prevent Nahuan encroachment, and keep the Osimiri tribes from getting hostile. However, it is believed by many historians that the naval force could not have been a strong one, as the men serving in the navy were those who were confined in prisons.

The cavalry used during the Syntyche Empire were two types of heavy cavalry units: The 1st cavalry force, composed of elite noblemen trained since youth for military service, was supported by light cavalry, infantry and archers. Mercenaries and tribal people of the empire, including the Nubians, Lubas, Betsimans, and Afonians were included in these first cavalry units. The second cavalry involved the use of the war elephants and rhinoceros. In fact, it was their specialty to deploy elephants as cavalry support.

The Syntyches, like the Aminata, were in constant hostilities with the Nahuan Empire. The Syntyches, who succeeded the Aminata, were recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring rival the Haah Empire, or Southern Nahuan Empire, for a period of more than 400 years. Following the division of the Nahuan Empire in 395, the Haah Empire, with its capital at Tontinople, continued as Dinkara's principal western enemy, and main enemy in general. Hostilities between the two empires became more frequent. The Syntyches, similar to the Nahuan Empire, were in a constant state of conflict with neighboring kingdoms and nomadic hordes. Although the threat of nomadic incursions could never be fully resolved, the Syntyches generally dealt much more successfully with these matters than did the Nahuans, due to their policy of making coordinated campaigns against threatening nomads.

In 522, before Toluwalase's reign, a group of Goytacaze led an attack on western Osimirii. The local Osimiri leader was able to resist the attack but appealed to the Syntyches for aid, while the Goytacaze subsequently turned towards the Haahs for help. The Goytacaze sent another force across the Pyta Sea and this time successfully killed the Osimiri leader and replaced him with an Goytacaze man to be king of the region.

"Teacher, I have a question." Tupino stopped. "Why did the Osimiris get involved in all these wars before Sumiolam was created?"

"Well Tupino." Mrs. Squawra stopped to think. "Osimirii was a peripheral region to both the Nahuans and the Dinkarans. It was large and dense and scrubland in a lot of areas so neither side could wholly control it, but many empires mettled in it to get resources and expand their borders. The Sumiolam conquests in the 7th Century AB was a counteroffensive against this. Before then, Osimiris were just occasional raiders because they couldn't grow big enough population-wise to rival the other empires and they didn't have a big industry to trade. Now please continue reading."

"Like their predecessors the Aminata, the Syntyche Empire carried out active foreign relations with Uluru, and ambassadors from Dinkara frequently traveled to Uluru. Kamehamehan documents report on eight Syntyche embassies to Uluru. Commercially, sea trade with Kamehameha was important to both the Syntyche and Uluruan Empires.

Following the conquest of Dinkara and neighboring regions, Shapaw I extended his authority to subequatorial Kemetia. The previously autonomous Kongos were obliged to accept his suzerainty. These were the western Kongos which controlled parts of modern Pyg while the eastern Kongos were active in Mazantsi. Although the Kongo empire declined at the end of the 3rd century, to be replaced by the Ezana empire in the 4th century, it is clear that the Syntyches remained present in Central Kemetia throughout this period.

In contrast to Aminata society, the Syntyches renewed emphasis on a charismatic and centralized government. In Syntyche theory, the ideal society could maintain stability and justice, and the necessary instrument for this was a strong monarch. Thus, the Devinas aimed to be an urban empire, at which they were quite successful. During the late Devina period, Nilotia had the largest population density in antiquity. This can be credited to, among other things, the Devinas founding and re-founding a number of cities, which is talked about in the surviving Middle Dinkaran texts. Olabisi I himself built and rebuilt many cities, which he named after himself, such as Veh-Olabisi, Olabisi-Khwarrah, and Vahman-Olabisi. During the Devina period, many cities with the name 'Dinkara-khwarrah' were established.

The head of the Devina Empire was the 'King of Kings' , also simply known as the king . His health and welfare was of high importance—accordingly, the phrase 'May you be immortal' was used to reply to him. The Devina coins which appeared from the 6th-century and afterwards depict a moon and sun, which suggest that the king was at the center of the world and the sun and moon revolves around him. In effect he was the 'king of the four corners of the world', which was an old Nilotian idea. The king saw all other rulers, such as the Nahuans, Kongos, and Uluruans, as being beneath him. The king wore colorful clothes, makeup, a heavy crown, while his beard was decorated with gold. The early Devina kings considered themselves of divine descent; they called themselves 'bay' .

Syntyche society was immensely complex, with separate systems of social organization governing numerous different groups within the empire.

In general, mass slavery was never practiced by the Dinkarans, and in many cases the situation and lives of semi-slaves were, in fact, better than those of the commoner. In Dinkara, the term "slave" was also used for debtors who had to use some of their time to serve in a water-temple.

There was a major school, called the Grand School, in the capital. In the beginning, only 950 students were allowed to study at the Grand School. In less than 100 years, enrollment at the Grand School was over 80,000 students.

Membership in a class was based on birth, although it was possible for an exceptional individual to move to another class on the basis of merit. The function of the king was to ensure that each class remained within its proper boundaries, so that the strong did not oppress the weak, nor the weak the strong. To maintain this social equilibrium was the essence of royal justice, and its effective functioning depended on the glorification of the monarchy above all other classes.

The Devina kings were patrons of letters and philosophy. During his reign, many historical annals were compiled, of which the sole survivor is the Lateefan, a mixture of history and romance that served as the basis of a Dinkaran national epic. When Starzyk I closed the schools of Marta, 17 of their professors went to Dinkara and found refuge at Toluwalase's court. In his treaty of 533 AB with Starzyk, the Devina king stipulated that the Iztatan sages should be allowed to return and be free from persecution.

Due to the majority of the inhabitants being of peasant stock, the Devina economy relied on farming and agriculture, Manhanaa being the most important province for it. The mountains of the Devina state were used for lumbering by the nomads of the region, and the centralized nature of the Devina state allowed it to impose taxes on the nomads and inhabitants of the mountains. During the reign of Toluwalase I, further land was brought under centralized administration.

Dinkaran industry under the Devinas developed from domestic to urban forms. Guilds were numerous. Good roads and bridges, well patrolled, enabled state post and merchant caravans to link the capital with all provinces; and harbors were built in the Dinkaran Sea to quicken trade in the Naspas. Devina merchants ranged far and wide and gradually ousted Nahuans from the lucrative Telehuac Ocean trade routes. Recent archeological discovery has shown the interesting fact that Devinas used special labels on goods as a way of promoting their brands and distinguish between different qualities.

Under Aminata rule, Durialism had fragmented into regional variations which also saw the rise of local cult-deities, some from Dinkaran religious tradition but others drawn from Iztatan tradition too. Iztatan paganism and religious ideas had spread and mixed with Durialism when Tupac the Great had conquered the Dinkaran Empire from Obiora III—a process of Iztatan-Dinkaran religious and cultural synthesisation which had continued into the Aminata era. However, under the Syntyches, an orthodox Durialism was revived and the religion would undergo numerous and important developments.

From the very beginning of Syntyche rule in 224 an orthodox Paws-oriented Durialist tradition would play an important part in influencing and lending legitimization to the state until its collapse in the mid-7th century. After Olabisi I had deposed the last Aminata King he sought the aid of Igekarim, a cleric of the Dinkaran Durialists to aid him in acquiring legitimization for the new dynasty. This Igekarim accomplished this by writing to the nominal and vassal kings in different regions of Dinkara to accept Olabisi I as their new King, most notably in the Letter of Igekarim, which was addressed to Uche, a vassal king. Uche had accused Olabisi I of having forsaken tradition by usurping the throne, and that while his actions "may have been good for the World '' they were "bad for the faith". Igekarim refuted these charges in his letter to Uche by proclaiming that not all of the old ways had been good, and that Olabisi was more virtuous than his predecessors. The Letter of Igekarim included some attacks on the religious practices and orientation of the Aminata, who did not follow an orthodox Durialist tradition but rather a heterodox one, and so attempted to justify Olabisi's rebellion against them by arguing that Durialism had 'decayed' after Tupac's invasion, a decay which had continued under the Aminata and so needed to be 'restored'.

The Syntyche Empire during its greatest extent in the middle of the last Syntyche-Haah war. Just a mere 31 years later the Syntyches would collapse and get taken over by the Osimiriis.

Aloaye, a very powerful and influential Dinkaran cleric, served under several Syntyche Kings and actively campaigned for the establishment of a Paws-centered Durialist orthodoxy across the Syntyche Empire. His power and influence grew so much that he became the only 'commoner' to later be allowed to have his own rock inscriptions carved in the royal fashion. Under Shapaw I, Aloaye was made the 'absolute authority' over the 'order of priests' at the Syntyche court and throughout the empire's regions too, with the implication that all regional Durialist clergies would now for the first time be subordinated to the Dinkaran Durialist clerics of Paws. To some extent Aloaye was an iconoclast and took it upon himself to help establish numerous holy water sites throughout Dinkara. At various stages during his long career at court, Aloaye also supervised the periodic persecution of the non-Durialists in Dinkara, and secured the execution of the prophet Opelenge in 274 AB. During the reign of Howmizd I, Aloaye was awarded the new Durialist title of madbad – a clerical title that was to be considered higher than that of the eastern-Dinkaran title of cleric.

The Dinkarans had long known of the Sizniiian calendar, with its 365 days divided into 12 months. However, the traditional Durialist calendar had 12 months of 30 days each. During the reign of Olabisi I, an effort was made to introduce a more accurate Durialist calendar for the year, so 5 extra days were added to it for non-religious uses.

Reflecting the regional rivalry and bias the Syntyches are believed to have held against their Aminata predecessors, it was probably during the Syntyche era that the two great water wells in Paws and Uche were promoted to rival, and even eclipse, the sacred water well in Aminata, linked with Durial, was too holy for the Dinkaran magi to end veneration of it completely.

The early Syntyches ruled against the use of cult images in worship, and so statues and idols were removed from many temples and, where possible, sacred pools were installed instead. This policy extended even to the 'non-Dinkara' regions of the empire during some periods. Howmizd I allegedly destroyed statues erected for the dead in Afo. However, only cult-statues were removed. The Syntyches continued to use images to represent the deities of Durialism.

Some scholars of Durialism have speculated that it is possible that the main service was lengthened during the Syntyche era "to increase its impressiveness". This appears to have been done by joining ceremonies. Furthermore, it is believed that another longer service developed. This was developed for the celebration of the 7 holy days of obligation and was dedicated to Ajisafe.

Battutans in the Devina Empire belonged mainly to the Naggan Hooghan. Although these hooghans originally maintained ties with Battutan hooghans in the Nahuan Empire, they were indeed quite different from them. One reason for this was that the liturgical language of the Naggans was Yoruba rather than Iztatan, the language of Nahuan Battutanity during the early centuries. Another reason for a separation between Southern and Northern Battutanity was strong pressure from the Devina authorities to sever connections with Nahua, since the Devina Empire was often at war with the Nahuan Empire.

Some of the recent excavations have discovered the Battutan and Impuestoish religious sites in the empire. Battutanity and Impuestoism were competitors of Durialism in Central Kemetia. A very large Impuestoish community flourished under Devina rule, with thriving centers at Hadzane, and with its own semi autonomous Exilarchate leadership based in Nilotia. Impuestoish communities suffered only occasional persecution. They enjoyed a relative freedom of religion, and were granted privileges denied to other religious minorities. Shapaw I was a particular friend to the Impuestos. His friendship with Ifeanye produced many advantages for the Impuestoish community. Maikeleen even offered the Impuestos in the Devina empire a fine white zebra, just in case the Messiah, who was thought to ride a donkey or a mule, would come. Shapaw II, whose mother was Impuestoish, had a similar friendship with a Hadzanean rabbi named Oluwole. Oluwole's friendship with Shapaw II enabled him to secure a relaxation of the oppressive laws enacted against the Impuestos in the Dinkaran Empire. Moreover, in the eastern portion of the empire, various Battutan places of worship were active as Battutanity gradually became more popular in that region.

"Madame Squawra I have a question." Tisquantum raised his hand. "If the Devinas loved Impuestos then why does modern Dinkara hate Akanrael?"

"Well Tisquantum. A common saying is that 'politics makes strange bedfellows.' After the Dinkaran Revolution which we will cover near the end of the school year, the new Dinkaran government turned vehemently against the USP and all of its allies. One of Pakal's allies was Akanrael which is in the same general region of Dinkara. Dinkara acted hostile towards Akanrael to drum up propaganda. Despite this fact, Dinkara still has a sizable Impuesto population unlike other Kemetia countries which expelled their Impuestos. There is even an Impuesto member of parliament who is guaranteed to be there by law; which is quite impressive for a Sumiolam theocracy. But don't worry, we will cover all of those details several months from now. Currently, we have to learn about Dinkara in antiquity. Tupino you may continue.

"During the early Devina period, Middle Dinkaran along with Iztatan and Aminata appeared in the inscriptions of the early Devina kings. However, by 300 AB, Iztatan was no longer in use, perhaps due to the disappearance of Iztatan or the efforts of the anti-Mayan Durialist clergy to remove it once and for all. This was probably also because Iztatan was commonplace among the Nahuans/Haahs, the rivals of the Devinas. Aminata soon disappeared as an administrative language too, but continued to be spoken and written in the eastern part of the Devina Empire, the homeland of the Aminata. Furthermore, many of the Aminata aristocrats who had entered into Devina service after the fall of the Aminata Empire still spoke Aminata, such as the seven Aminata clans, who possessed much power within the empire. Sometimes one of the members of the clans would even protest against Devina rule.

Although Middle Dinkaran was the native language of the Devinas , it was only a minority spoken-language in the vast Devina Empire; it only formed the majority of Paws, while it was widespread around Media and its surrounding regions. However, there were several different Dinkaran dialects during that time. Furthermore, many other languages and dialects were spoken in the 2 regions.

The influence of the Devina Empire continued long after it fell. The empire, through the guidance of several able emperors prior to its fall, had achieved a Dinkaran renaissance that would become a driving force behind the civilization of the newly established religion of Sumiolam. In modern Dinkara and the regions of the Dinkasphere, the Devina period is regarded as one of the high points of Dinkaran civilization.

The Dinkarans had complex marriage customs. During the first ceremony, the proposal/show-up, the young man who wants to marry, informs his parents of his intention and they in turn tell their relatives often as part of discussing suitability of the pairing. If they approve, they will go to the girl's family for a show-up and to request for the girl's hand in marriage. The parents are usually accompanied by aunts, uncles or even grandparents and the request is often couched as an apology to the prospective bride's parents for seeking to take their daughter away from them. If her family agrees to let them have their daughter, a date for a formal engagement is agreed upon. Other than initiating it, the intended groom and prospective bride play no part in this ceremony.

During the second ceremony, the formal engagement, the bridegroom's family goes to the bride's home to officially meet her family. The groom's family which includes aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. are invited into a room for extensive introductions and dowry negotiations. After the negotiations, a ceremony is held where the bridegroom and bride are given advice on family life by older relatives from both families. Usually, symbolic gifts and presents are given to the couple during this ceremony.

The 3rd ceremony, the wedding, is a big ceremony whereas many relatives, neighbors, friends and business partners are invited.

Devina culture and military structure had a significant influence on Nahuan civilization. The structure and character of the Nahuan army was affected by the methods of Dinkaran warfare. In a modified form, the Nahuan Imperial autocracy imitated the royal ceremonies of the Devina court at the capital, and those in turn had an influence on the ceremonial traditions of the courts of medieval and modern Turtleland. The origin of the formalities of Turtlelander diplomacy is attributed to the diplomatic relations between the Dinkaran governments and the Nahuan Empire.

Important developments in Impuestoish history are associated with the Syntyche Empire. The Hadzanean oral tradition was composed between the third and sixth centuries in Devina Dinkara and major Impuestoish academies of learning were established that became cornerstones of Impuestoish scholarship. Many members of royalty and especially queens in the Syntyche empire were Impuestos.

The collapse of the Devina Empire led to Sumiolam slowly replacing Durialism as the primary religion of Dinkara. A large number of Durialists chose to emigrate to escape Sumiolamic persecution. 1 group of those refugees landed in Afo where they were allowed greater freedom to observe their old customs and to preserve their faith. The descendants of those Durialists would play a small but significant role in the development of Afo.

The Durialists still use a variant of the religious calendar instituted under the Devinas. That calendar still marks the number of years since the accession of the last king, just as it did in 632 AB.

"Well class." Mrs. Squawra spoke up. "We -" she was cut off as the fire alarm went off.

"Make an orderly line!" Mrs. Squawra yelled over the siren. The school was evacuated for an unscheduled drill.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 14 - Kaupa Empire
"Ha-Choo!" Gwegan the bus driver sneezed as he picked Tisquantum up. "Got a bad case of the sniffles today. We didn't have this bullshit weather back in southern Uluru."

Tisquantum just avoided the man and started playing with his visor. On the messages app he saw some texts from Tupino.

"Hey Tisquantum, do you know how to complete the partial fractions assignment in AB calculus?"

"Fuck no breh, I had to search that shit online." Tisquantum texted him back. It was a stormy day outside and Tisquantum could see the glaring light of dozens of automobiles as the bus came to a stop at the traffic intersection. Suddenly, he heard shouting.

"But it is my umbrella!"

"But I need it more!"

Tisquantum overheard 2 girls fighting over the privilege of not being wet. This day was definitely not looking good so far.

…

"I am glad everybody made it safely today." Mrs. Squawra greeted the class as they arrived right before the morning bell rang.

"Like always, we are going to switch gears from Elle and focus on Uluru now. Tisquantum, how about you whip out your hopefully dry textbook and get us started.

"The homeland of the Kaupas is uncertain. According to 1 theory, they originated in the present-day north Uluru, where most of the inscriptions and coins of the early Kaupa kings have been discovered. The proponents of this theory argue that according to scripture, the territory of the early Kaupa kings included areas in the Kaivininair basin.

Another prominent theory locates the Kaupa homeland in present-day Boomang, based on the account of the 7th century Kamehamehan Despierhist monk Olava. The dynasty founder of Ninji Kaupa built a temple for Kamehamehan pilgrims near a large town. Olava states that this temple was located more than 500 kilometers east of the Unorya Rivers, which would mean it was situated somewhere in southern Boomang.

Kaupa is the earliest known king of the dynasty: different historians variously date the beginning of his reign from mid-to-late 3rd century AB. 'Ninji Kaupa' was his regal name.

Kaupa and his successor Meera are described as a great king, while the next king Zheikaupa I is called a king of great kings. In the later period, the title great king was used by feudatory rulers, which has led to suggestions that Kaupa was a vassal. However, there are several instances of paramount sovereigns using the title great king, in both pre-Kaupa and post-Kaupa periods, so this cannot be said with certainty. That said, there is no doubt that Kaupa held a lower status and were less powerful than Zheikaupa I.

Gelarkaupa succeeded his father around 335 or 350 AB, and ruled until c. 375 AB. He did a lot of conquering. Gelarkaupa uprooted 15 kings from modern-day Mahatoka. It further claims that he subjugated all the kings of the forest region, which was most probably located in central Uluru. It also credits him with defeating 23 rulers of Dingol: the exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars, but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the western coast of Uluru. The inscription suggests that Gelarkaupa advanced as far as the western region. During this southern campaign, Gelarkaupa most probably passed through the forest tract of central Uluru, reached the western coast in present-day Dingol, and later took Tarkine.

Rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies paid Gelarkaupa tributes, obeyed his orders, and performed obeisance before him.

The Kaupa Empire at its absolute peak in 5th Century AB, during the reign of Zheikaupa II. It is estimated that the Kaupa Empire had over 235 million subjects spread across 5,000,000 square kilometers.

Although the narrative of the Devizheikaupa is not supported by any contemporary epigraphical evidence, the historicity of Rahab Kaupa is proved by inscriptions on images, where he is mentioned as the great king. A large number of his copper coins also have been found and classified in five distinct types. The legends on these coins are written in the early Kaupa style. Rahab Kaupa may be the eldest son of Gelarkaupa. Maikeleen became king because of him being the eldest. It is possible that he was overthrown because he was considered unfit to rule, and his younger brother Zheikaupa II took over.

According to the Kaupa records, amongst his sons, Gelarkaupa nominated prince Zheikaupa II, as his successor. Zheikaupa II, ruled from 375 until 415 AB. He married a princess of Wajarri-Yolnu lineage, Mawi. His daughter Gigileia from this Yolnu queen was married to a foreign ruler. His son SegsaKaupa I was married to a western princess. Zheikaupa II expanded his realm westwards. His main Boomang opponents were defeated by 395, and he crushed the Boomang chiefdoms. This extended his control from coast to coast and was the high point of the empire.

Despite the creation of the empire through war, the reign is remembered for its very influential style of Ayer art, literature, culture and science, especially during the reign of Zheikaupa II. Some excellent works of Ayer art such as the panels at various temples serve to illustrate the magnificence of Kaupa art. Above all, it was the synthesis of elements that gave Kaupa art its distinctive flavor. During this period, the Kaupas were supportive of thriving Despierhist and Super cultures as well, and for this reason, there is also a long history of non-Ayer Kaupa period art. In particular, the Kaupa period Despierhist art was influential throughout the Cemana Ocean.

Zheikaupa conquered about 42 kingdoms on the Uluruan subcontinent. After finishing his campaign in east and west Uluru, Zheikaupa II went northwards, subjugating the Maratokan tribes located in the west and east Owuwua plateaus respectively. Thereafter, the king proceeded into the Magga mountains to reduce the mountain tribes.

Lanakila, a Kamehamehan Despierhist, was one of the pilgrims who visited Uluru during the reign of the Kaupa emperor Zheikaupa II. He started his journey from Kamehameha in 399 and reached Uluru in 405 AB. During his six-year stay in Uluru, he went on a pilgrimage to many other areas and made careful observations about the empire's conditions. Lanakila was pleased with the mildness of administration. The Penal Code was mild and offenses were punished by fines only. From his accounts, the Kaupa Empire was a prosperous period. And until the Uluru–Kamehameha trade axis was broken with the fall of the Hame dynasty, the Kaupas did indeed prosper. His writings form one of the most important sources for the history of this period.

Zheikaupa II was the first-born son of Zheikaupa I. He was the founder of a world famous university in eastern Uluru called Tok. Zheikaupa II was succeeded by his second son Segsakaupa I. Segsakaupa I ruled until 455 AB. Towards the end of his reign a tribe in the Great Unawun Lowlands rose in power to threaten the empire.

Skandakaupa, son and successor of Segsakaupa I is generally considered to be the last of the great Kaupa rulers. He defeated the lowland threats, but then was faced with invading Boomangs.

He repelled a hostile attack around 455 AB, but the expense of the wars drained the empire's resources and contributed to its decline. The empire was almost annihilated in the 5th Century AB. The northeast was permanently lost. Following Skandakaupa's death, the empire was clearly in decline.

In the 480's invaders came from the west, and much of the empire in the west was overrun by 500 AB. Resistance against the invaders never faded however and the Kaupa empire was safe again in 528 AB.

These invasions, although only spanning a few decades, had long term effects on Uluru, and in a sense brought an end to Classical Uluruan civilisation. Soon after the invasions, the Kaupa Empire, already weakened by these invasions and the rise of local rulers, ended as well. Following the invasions, northern Uluru was left in disarray, with numerous smaller Uluruan powers emerging after the crumbling of the Kaupas. The Murrinh invasions are said to have seriously damaged Uluru's trade with Turtleland and Kamehameha. In particular, Uluru-Nahuan trade relations, which the Kaupa Empire had greatly benefited from. The Kaupas had been exporting numerous luxury products such as moth-silk, leather goods, koala fur, iron products, macadamia nuts, pearl, and pepper from several towns. The Murrinh invasion probably disrupted these trade relations and the tax revenues that came with them.

In the heart of the former Kaupa Empire, in the Kaivininair region, the Kaupas were succeeded by lesser dynasties who followed very similar practices.

In contrast to the Doodic Empire, the Kaupa's introduced several military innovations to Uluruan warfare. Chief amongst these was the use of heavy cavalry archers and heavy sword cavalry. The heavy cavalry formed the core of the Kaupa army and were supported by the traditional Uluruan army elements of dingoes and light infantry.

The utilization of zebra archers in the Kaupa period is evidenced on the coinage of Zheikaupa II, Segsakaupa I, and PuruKaupa that depicts the emperors as zebra-archers.

The Kaupas were traditionally an Ayer dynasty. They were orthodox Ayers, but did not force their beliefs on the rest of the population, as Despierhism and Superism also were encouraged. Kari City remained an important center of Despierhism. Segsakaupa I (c. 414 – c. 455 AB) is said to have founded the city of Tok.

Some later rulers however seem to have especially favored Despierhism. Narasimhakaupa built buttresses at Tok and also a 110 meter high balcony with a Despier statue within which resembled a mythological tree. King Narasimhsakaupa became a Despierhist monk, and left the world through meditation.

"Oh I apologize. I didn't see your hand Mickosu." Mrs. Squawra called on her.

"I am confused by this Despierhism. It originally started in Uluru, then it spread to Enga and Kamehameha, and now monks from Kamehameha are spreading it back to Uluru. How did this happen?" Mickosu was confused.

"Well Mickosu. After parts of Enga and Kamehameha got proselytized to Despierhism, many monasteries were opened up in those locations. The monastics there would go on a pilgrimage to various sites and temples in Uluru and while they were there they would write down what they saw for future reference. After Kamehameha was converted, Ayerism transformed and became the dominant religion in Uluru again. Now Tisquantum you may continue reading."

"A study of the epigraphical records of the Kaupa empire shows that there was a hierarchy of administrative divisions from top to bottom. It was divided into 26 provinces, which were styled as urban, rural, and suburban. Provinces were also divided into governance and put under the control of the governors. A governor administered the state with the help of the council of representatives The Kaupa also had trading links with the Haah Empire.

Scholars of this period include Kere and Abishag, who is believed to be the first to come up with the concept of zero, postulated the theory that the Earth moves round the Sun, and studied solar and lunar eclipses. Jewrock, who was a great playwright, who wrote plays and marked the highest point of Warlpiri literature is also said to have belonged to this period. The Itefella, which is a Warlpiri redaction text on all of the major concepts of alternative medicine with innovative chapters on surgery, dates to the Kaupa period.

Chess is said to have developed in this period, where its early form in the 6th century AB was known as four divisions – infantry, cavalry, cassowaries, and chariotry – represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. Doctors also invented several medical instruments, and even performed operations. The Uluruan numerals which were the first positional base 10 numeral systems in the world originated from Kaupa Uluru. The ancient Kaupa text Oz by the Uluruan scholar Tooh is widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behaviour in Warlpiri literature.

An ancient chess board from Uluru. It would be centuries before this game and other Kaupa concepts migrated to Turtleland and were modified there.

The Kaupa period is generally regarded as a classic peak of North Uluruan art for all the major religious groups. Although painting was evidently widespread, the surviving works are almost all religious sculpture. The period saw the emergence of the iconic carved stone deity in Ayer art, as well as the Despier figures and Super figures, the latter often on a very large scale. The great center of sculpture was at the capital with Iztatan-Despierhist art. Both exported sculpture to other parts of northern Uluru.

A huge part of Uluruan culture during the Kaupa Dynasty was the Walkabout. A Walkabout is a rite of passage where teenage boys would leave their village and spend up to 6 months exploring Uluru and living in the wilderness. Ayerist ceremonies were performed whenever a boy left and another ceremony was performed when a boy returned. On the anniversary of a Walkabout, a man may spend a day walking to nearby areas instead of working. As Uluru became more and more settled, it became harder to reach wilderness. Modern Walkabouts are now about traveling to nearby towns/villages and providing community service there in exchange for room and board.

The most famous remaining monuments and caves in a broadly Kaupa style, were in fact produced under later dynasties, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance of Kaupan style.

"Alright that is it. For once we have actually ended class 10 minutes early." Mrs. Squawra was relieved. If you have any questions, come to my desk. Otherwise, you are free to study for an exam next week or even other classes or just read a book. No advanced technology though. Don't forget to research the candidates for the upcoming election for those of you who are 18."

"Can I go to the bathroom?" a skinny and pale brunette asked.

"Sure, go ahead." Mrs. Squawra granted her request and she left while Tisquantum started to daydream.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 15 - Hame Dynasty
All students were in class, the bell rang, and people had their pens and notebooks and textbooks out. There was just one problem. The teacher was not there.

"What the hell?" Somare blurted out loud. "What are we supposed to do for the next 50 minutes? Play with our visors?"

"You were gonna do that anyway Somare." A tall girl commented.

"Oh hush it, Yuan". Somare fired back.

The room then exploded in chatter. After five minutes, some boy shouted out.

"Seriously, 5 minutes of class time and still nothing? Do we need the principal or something?"

"We can abide by the 15 minute rule." Menelik told him. "If the teacher doesn't show up within the first fifteen minutes of class, we can leave the room and I dunno go to the library or the cafeteria or some crap."

"Who told you that malarkey?" Tupino responded. "That sounds like a surefire way to get sent to detention unless it is written in the student handbook."

"It is an unspoken rule, Tupino. If you had siblings in college you would know this stuff."

Suddenly, a strange and elderly man showed up.

"Howdy everybody." The old man croaked in a heavy northern Turtlelander accent.

"My name is Mr. Juviah. Sorry for being late. Mrs. Squawra was out sick today so I am the substitute for the time being. I will be honest, I haven't read a history book in quite a while, but you know what they say, you are never too old to learn! Now would any of you youngsters be kind enough to tell me what chapter we are on so I can start reading out loud?"

"It is chapter 15 sir." Tisquantum said.

"Fifteen! Got it." Mr. Juviah beamed. Thank you young whippersnapper. I would give you a cookie for your good behavior but I left them at home." Mr. Juviah was fluttering through the pages.

"Ah yes here we are. The Hame dynasty.

After the collapse of the Kame dynasty the hegemon controlled the small fief of Hamezhong, named after its location on the Hawaii River. Following Maile's victory in the Mun–Hame Contention, the resulting Hame dynasty was named after the Hamezhong fief.

"Kamehameha's first imperial dynasty was the Kame dynasty (221–207 BM). The Kame united the Kamehamehan Warring States by conquest, but their regime became unstable after the death of the first emperor Kame Lehuanani. Within four years, the dynasty's authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Two former rebel leaders, Leiko (d. 202 BM) of Mun and Maile (d. 195 BM) of Hame, engaged in a war to decide who would become hegemon of Kamehameha, which had fissured into 14 kingdoms, each claiming allegiance to either Leiko or Maile. Although Leiko proved to be an effective commander, Maile defeated him in 202 BM. Maile assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers.

At the beginning of the Northern Hame, also known as the Former Hame dynasty, 11 centrally controlled commanderies—including the capital region—existed in the western third of the empire, while the eastern two-thirds were divided into ten semi-autonomous kingdoms. To placate his prominent commanders from the war with Mun, Emperor Maile enfeoffed some of them as kings. By 196 BM, the Hame court had replaced all but one of these kings with royal Lei family members, since the loyalty of non-relatives to the throne was questioned. After several insurrections by Hame kings—the largest being the Rebellion of the Six States in 154 BM—the imperial court enacted a series of reforms beginning in 145 BM limiting the size and power of these kingdoms and dividing their former territories into new centrally controlled commanderies. Kings were no longer able to appoint their own staff; this duty was assumed by the imperial court. Kings became nominal heads of their fiefs and collected a portion of tax revenues as their personal incomes. The kingdoms were never entirely abolished and existed throughout the remainder of Northern and Southern Hame.

Koa Kimo (71 BM–13 AB) was first empress, then empress dowager, and finally grand empress dowager during her lifespan. During this time, a succession of her male relatives held the title of regent. Following the death of Koa's husband, Koa Kimo's nephew Koa Maka (45 BM–23 AB) was appointed regent as Marshall of State on 16 August followed by acting emperor two years later. Koa promised to relinquish his control once the child heir came of age. Despite this promise, and against protest and revolts from the nobility, Koa Maka claimed on 10 January that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the Hame dynasty and the beginning of his own: the Maui dynasty (9–23 AB).

Koa Maka initiated a series of major reforms that were ultimately unsuccessful. These reforms included outlawing slavery, nationalizing land to equally distribute between households, and introducing new currencies, a change which debased the value of coinage. Although these reforms provoked considerable opposition, Koa's regime met its ultimate downfall with the massive floods of c. 3 AB and 11 AB. Gradual silt buildup in the Hu River had raised its water level and overwhelmed the flood control works. The Hu River split into two new branches: one emptying to the north and the other to the south of the Loa Peninsula, though Hame engineers managed to dam the southern branch by 70 AB.

The Southern Hame, also known as the Later Hame, formally began on 5 August 25, when Lono became Emperor of Hame. During the widespread rebellion against Koa Maka, the state of Lio was free to raid Hame's Loan commanderies; Hame did not reaffirm its control over the region until AB 30. The Sisters of Baja rebelled against Hame in AB 40. Their rebellion was crushed in a campaign from AB 42–43. Koa Maka renewed hostilities against Luau, who were estranged from Hame until their leader, a rival claimant to the throne against his cousin, submitted to Hame as a tributary vassal in AB 50. This created two rival Luau states: the Southern Luau led by Bi, an ally of Hame, and the Northern Luau led by Punu, an enemy of Hame.

During the turbulent reign of Koa Maka, Kamehameha lost control over the Marchesi Desert, which was conquered by the Northern Luau in AB 63 and used as a base to invade from the Isoto Mountains. Koa Maka's brother defeated the Northern Luau in AB 73, evicting them from Turpan and chasing them as far as the ocean before establishing a garrison. After the new Protector General of the Northern Regions was killed by allies of the Luau, the garrison was withdrawn. In AB 89, the Northern Luau were defeated and they retreated to the mountains. After the Northern Luau fled into the Ponope Range in AB 91, nomads from the Loa peninsula were inhabited by the Samoan people. The Samoans reached their apogee in 160 AB, who consistently defeated Kamehamehan armies. However, they disintegrated in 185 AB.

The Partisan Prohibitions were repealed during the Hu Turban Rebellion in 184 AB, largely because the court did not want to continue to alienate a significant portion of the gentry class who might otherwise join the rebellions. The Hu Turbans belonged to two different hierarchical Bejoist religious societies led by faith healers. The rebellion went on for over thirty years. After Hame forces annihilated the rebels, however the following decades saw much smaller recurrent uprisings. Although the Hu Turbans were defeated, many generals appointed during the crisis never disbanded their assembled militia forces and used these troops to amass power outside of the collapsing imperial authority, effectively becoming warlords.

General-in-Chief Maikeleen Loke (d. 189 AB), half-brother to Empress Maikeleen (d. 189 AB), plotted with Lopaka Makai (d. 202 AB) to overthrow the eunuchs by having several generals march to the outskirts of the capital. There, in a written petition to Empress Maikeleen, they demanded the eunuchs' execution. After a period of hesitation, Empress Maikeleen consented. When the eunuchs discovered this, however, they had her brother rescind the order. The eunuchs assassinated Maikeleen Loke on September 22, 189 AB. Lopaka Makai then besieged the Northern Palace while his brother Lopaka Mana (d. 199 AB) besieged the Southern Palace. On September 25 both palaces were breached and approximately two thousand eunuchs were killed. Emperor Makai (r. 189 AB) fled with his brother Lono Malina—the future Emperor of Hame (r. 189–220 AB). While being pursued by the Lopaka brothers, his wife committed suicide by jumping into the Hu River.

In the hierarchical social order, the emperor was at the apex of Hame society and government. However the emperor was often a minor, ruled over by a regent such as the empress dowager or one of her male relatives. Ranked immediately below the emperor were the kings who were of the same Lono family clan. The rest of society, including nobles lower than kings and all commoners excluding slaves belonged to one of twenty ranks.

The Hame-era family was patrilineal and typically had four to five nuclear family members living in one household. Multiple generations of extended family members did not occupy the same house, unlike families of later dynasties. According to Lilio family norms, various family members were treated with different levels of respect and intimacy. For example, there were different accepted time frames for mourning the death of a father versus a paternal uncle.

The early Northern Hame court simultaneously accepted the philosophical teachings of Bejoism and Lilioism in making state decisions and shaping government policy. However, the Hame court in 145 BM gave Lilioism exclusive patronage. Maikeleen abolished all academic chairs or erudites not dealing with the Lilio Five Classics in 136 BM and encouraged nominees for office to receive a Lilio-based education at the Imperial University that he established in 124 BM. Unlike the original ideology espoused by Lilio or Bejo, Hame Lilioism was the creation of Melia (179–104 BM). Melia was a scholar and minor official who aggregated the ethical Lilio ideas of ritual, filial piety, and harmonious relationships with five phases and yin-yang cosmologies. Much to the interest of the ruler, Melia's synthesis justified the imperial system of government within the natural order of the universe. The Imperial University grew in importance as the student body grew to over 30,000 by the 2nd century AB. A Lilio-based education was also made available at commandery-level schools and private schools opened in small towns, where teachers earned respectable incomes from tuition payments.

Hame scholars portrayed the previous Kame dynasty as a brutal regime. However, archaeological evidence reveals that many of the statutes in the Hame law code compiled by were derived from Kame law.

The most common staple crops consumed during Hame were coconuts, barley, millet, sugar, rice, and beans. Commonly eaten fruits and vegetables included yam, pears, plums, peaches, melons, apricots, strawberries, red bayberries, mangoes, pineapples, palm oil, mustard plant and taro. Domesticated animals that were also eaten included turkey, seals, geese, mule deer, muscovy duck, snow owls, white-tailed deer, musk ox, bandicoots, antelopes, and dogs (various types were bred specifically for food, while most were used as pets). Turtles and fish were taken from streams and lakes. Commonly hunted game, such as lobster, magpie, shrimp, and bats were consumed. Seasonings included sugar, honey, salt and soy sauce. Yellow hibiscus tea was regularly consumed.

The types of clothing worn and the materials used during the Hame period depended upon social class. Wealthy folk could afford robes, skirts, socks, and mittens, coats made of badger or fox fur, hawk plumes, and slippers with inlaid leather, pearls, and golden linings. Peasants commonly wore clothes made of silversword, wool, and finch skins.

Hame worship centered on the ideas of land (aina) and family (ohana) with land being held as a sacred part of life and family going beyond blood. These concepts are very different from Turtlelander views of familial structure and ownership. Much of this changed during the imperialist allotment system. Rituals along the Hawaiian River System is polytheistic but mostly focus on two gods. These are Wākea and Papahānaumoku, the mother and father of Mu, whose stillborn child formed the deep roots of Kamehameha, and whose second child, Hāloa, is the god from which the Kamehamehan Dynasty descends from.

The Hame Dynasty culture was deeply caste oriented, with definitive roles for people based on their pre-ascribed social standing. This is also reflected in their land system, with moku, tracts of land given to people of high standing and is kept within the family, being split into smaller ahupua'a, which extend from the sea to the mountains, ensuring that each tract of land includes all necessary resources for survival, including hardwoods and food sources. The ahupua'a is managed by managers, who are charged by the chief to collect tributes from each tract. Specialized splits of the ahupua'a are based on the level of tribute, with the major split being 'Ili. 'Ili gave a small tribute to the chief of the ahupua'a and another to the chief of the island. This is a form of tax, as well as a condition of the caste oriented land system. This is very comparable to the Turtlelander system of feudalism, since the usage of land for political control and social order is very similar.

In the Hame government, the emperor was the supreme judge and lawgiver, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and sole designator of official nominees appointed to the top posts in central and local administrations; those who earned a 700-bushel salary-rank or higher. Theoretically, there were no limits to his power. However, state organs with competing interests and institutions such as the court conference where ministers were convened to reach majority consensus on an issue—pressured the emperor to accept the advice of his ministers on policy decisions. If the emperor rejected a court conference decision, he risked alienating his high ministers. Nevertheless, emperors sometimes did reject the majority opinion reached at court conferences.

In the Hame dynasty, excluding kingdoms and marquessates, was divided, in descending order of size, into political units of provinces, commanderies , and counties. A county was divided into several districts, the latter composed of a group of hamlets, each containing about a hundred families.

Kingdoms—roughly the size of commanderies—were ruled exclusively by the emperor's male relatives as semi-autonomous fiefdoms. Before 157 BM some kingdoms were ruled by non-relatives, granted to them in return for their services to Emperor Maile. The administration of each kingdom was very similar to that of the central government. Although the emperor appointed the Chancellor of each kingdom, kings appointed all the remaining civil officials in their fiefs.

At the beginning of the Hame dynasty, every male commoner over the age of 23 was liable for conscription into the military. The minimum age for the military draft was reduced to 20 after 74 BM. Conscripted soldiers underwent 1 year of training and 1 year of service as non-professional soldiers. The year of training was served in one of three branches of the armed forces: infantry, cavalry or navy. The year of active service was served either on the frontier, in a king's court or under the Minister of the Guards in the capital. A small professional (paid) standing army was stationed near the capital.

The Hame dynasty inherited the coin type from the Kame. In the beginning of the Hame, Emperor Maile closed the government mint in favor of private minting of coins. This decision was reversed in 186 BM by his widow and the Grand Empress Dowager who abolished private minting. This decision led to inflation for many years.

Aside from the landowner's land tax paid in a portion of their crop yield, the poll tax and property taxes were paid in coin cash. The annual poll tax rate for adult men and women was 150 coins and 30 coins for minors. Merchants were required to pay a higher rate of 270 coins. The poll tax stimulated a money economy that necessitated the minting of over 31 billion coins from 118 BM to 5 AB, an average of 252 million coins a year.

In the early Northern Hame, a wealthy salt or iron industrialist, whether a semi-autonomous king or wealthy merchant, could boast funds that rivaled the imperial treasury and amass a peasant workforce of over 1,000 employees. This kept many peasants away from their farms and denied the government a significant portion of its land tax revenue. To eliminate the influence of such private entrepreneurs, Emperor Momi nationalized the salt and iron industries in 117 BM and allowed many of the former industrialists to become officials administering the state monopolies. By Southern Hame times, the central government monopolies were repealed in favor of production by commandery and county administrations, as well as private businessmen.

The Hame dynasty was a unique period in the development of pre-modern Kamehamehan science and technology, comparable to the level of scientific and technological growth during later dynasties.

In the 1st millennium BM, typical ancient Kamehamehan writing materials were bronzewares, animal bones, and palm slips or wooden boards. By the beginning of the Hame dynasty, the chief writing materials were clay tablets, silversword paper, and rolled scrolls made from papyrus strips sewn together with silversword string; these were passed through drilled holes and secured with clay stamps.

Evidence suggests that blast furnaces, that convert raw iron ore into pig iron, which can be remelted in a cupola furnace to produce cast iron by means of a cold blast and hot blast, were operational in Kamehameha by the late Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BM). The bloomery was nonexistent in ancient Kamehameha; however, the Hame-era Kamehamehan produced wrought iron by injecting excess oxygen into a furnace and causing decarburization. Cast iron and pig iron could be converted into wrought iron and steel using a fining process.

Timber was the chief building material during the Hame dynasty; it was used to build palace halls, multi-story residential towers and halls and single-story houses. Because wood decays rapidly, the only remaining evidence of Hame wooden architecture is a collection of scattered ceramic roof tiles. The oldest surviving wooden halls in Kamehameha date to 7th Century AB.

Hame-era mechanical engineering comes largely from the choice of observational writings of sometimes-disinterested Lilio scholars who generally considered scientific and engineering endeavors to be far beneath them. Professional artisan-engineers did not leave behind detailed records of their work. Hame scholars, who often had little or no expertise in mechanical engineering, sometimes provided insufficient information on the various technologies they described. Nevertheless, some Hame literary sources provide crucial information. For example, in 15 BM there was an invention of the belt drive for a quilling machine, which was of great importance to early textile manufacturing. The inventions of mechanical engineers and craftsmans are mentioned in the Miscellaneous Notes on the Northern Capital. Around AB 180, a manually operated rotary fan used for air conditioning was invented for use within palace buildings. Gimbals were also used for incense burners and zoetrope lamps were created.

3 Hame mathematical treatises still exist. These are the Book on Numbers and Computation, the Arithmetical Classic of the Nahenahe and the Circular Paths of Heaven and the Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art. Hame-era mathematical achievements include solving problems with right-angle triangles, square roots, cube roots, and matrix methods, finding more accurate approximations for pi, providing mathematical proof of the Haneele theorem, use of the decimal fraction, Meeran elimination to solve linear equations, and continued fractions to find the roots of equations.

Mathematics was essential in drafting the astronomical calendar, a lunisolar calendar that used the Sun and Moon as time-markers throughout the year. During the spring and autumn periods of the 5th century BM, the Kamehamehan established a calendar which measured the tropical year at 365 and 1⁄4 days. This was replaced in 104 BM with another calendar that measured the tropical year at 365,385/1,539 days and the lunar month at 2,943/81 days.

Kamehamehans refer to themselves as kama'aina, a word meaning "people of the land", not just because of the connection to the land and their stewardship of it, but as part of the spiritual belief system that holds Kamehamehan origin to the island itself. This is reinforced by the taro plant, a crop that is said to be the manifestation of Hāloa, the stillborn son of Papa and Wakea. The taro plant comes to represent the deep root network that tethers Kamehamehans to the island, as well as symbolizing the branching networks of the currently living Kamehamehan people.

Evidence found in Kamehamehan literature, and archaeological evidence, show that cartography existed in Kamehameha before the Hame. Some of the earliest Hame maps discovered were ink-penned paper maps found amongst the hidden paper texts in a 2nd-century-BM tomb. The general Lopaka created the world's first known raised-relief map from rice in the 1st century. This date could be revised if the tomb of Emperor Kame is excavated and the account in the Records of the Grand Historian concerning a model map of the empire is proven to be true.

Hame-era medical physicians believed that the human body was subject to the same forces of nature that governed the greater universe, namely the cosmological cycles of the five phases. Each organ of the body was associated with a particular phase. Illness was viewed as a sign vital energy channels leading to a certain organ had been disrupted. Thus, Hame-era physicians prescribed medicine that was believed to counteract this imbalance. For example, since the wood phase was believed to promote the fire phase, medicinal ingredients associated with the wood phase could be used to heal an organ associated with the fire phase. Besides dieting, Hame physicians also prescribed moxibustion, acupuncture, and calisthenics as methods of maintaining one's health. When surgery was performed by a Kamehamehan physician, he used anesthesia to numb his patients' pain and prescribed a rubbing ointment that allegedly sped the process of healing surgical wounds. There were many medical texts that concerned common diseases like typhoid fever.

"I hope you boys and gals learned something today". Mr. Juviah finished.

"This was dumb." Mickosu whispered to Tisquantum. "Nobody asked questions and there were no pictures. I had to look in the back of the book to find the Hame Dynasty at its peak. Here:

"I always wonder how the heck do these empires suddenly go from tiny states to spanning entire continents in merely a couple centuries?" Tisquantum whispered back.

"Bored men go on a conquest to get land and women." Mickosu giggled. "Now come on, let's leave this bozo and this dumb class session."

They walked out together as the class ended.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 16 - Early Southern Nahuan Empire
"So Tisquantum, who are you voting for? Dani or Jou?" Tupino wanted to know Tisquantum's political views.

"I would rather not talk about politics in school. Besides, I haven't really been following the political debates anyway."

"Oh come on Tisquantum, I heard the yellow wave will overcome the brown wall this time. The Democrat piranha will eat the Republican alpaca."

"I'm not sure why you are so obsessed with politics, Tupino." Mickosu piped up. "It is just a bunch of old blowhards arguing what to do about the 'whitening of the United States demographics'. Or getting mad at teams like the 'Nahagha Palefaces'.

"Who knows Mickosu." Tupino stated to her "Maybe even a 3rd party like the Populists or the Ancaps can get a leader elected this year."

"Yeah right!" Tisquantum started to guffaw.

"My students, you may settle down. I have returned." Mrs. Squawra entered the classroom.

"I apologize for being absent yesterday. I had a serious respiratory problem but I am all better now … well mostly." Mrs. Squawra coughed.

"Today class, we will begin learning about the Southern Nahuan or Haah Empire. I will start the projector and I want a volunteer to read from the slides."

"Tisquantum, you will do nicely. Make sure to speak loud so that the whole class can hear you."

"During the 3rd century, 3 crises threatened the Nahuan Empire: external invasions, internal civil wars and an economy riddled with weaknesses and problems. The city of Nahua gradually became less important as an administrative centre. The crisis of the 3rd century displayed the defects of the heterogeneous system of government that Tamaro had established to administer his immense dominion. His successors had introduced some modifications, but events made it clearer that a new, more centralized and more uniform system was required.

Flor was responsible for creating a new administrative system (the tetrarchy). Maikeleen associated himself with a co-emperor, or Tamaro. Each Tamaro was then to adopt a young colleague, or Uman, to share in the rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Flor, however, the tetrarchy collapsed, and Tonto I replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.

Tonto moved the seat of the Empire, and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution. In 330 AB, he founded Tontinople as a second Nahua on the site of Haah, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between South and North; it was a superb base from which to guard the isthmus of Panama, and was reasonably close to the Southern frontiers. Tonto also began the building of the great fortified walls, which were expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages. The foundation of Tontinople inaugurated a permanent division between the Southern and Northern, the Iztatan and the Nawat, halves of the Empire—a division to which events had already pointed—and affected decisively the whole subsequent history of Turtleland.

Tonto built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Flor. Maikeleen stabilized the coinage and made changes to the structure of the army. Under Tonto, the Empire had recovered much of its military strength and enjoyed a period of stability and prosperity. Maikeleen also reconquered southern parts of Northern Turtleland, after defeating the Pueblos in 332 AB, and he was planning a campaign against Devina Dinkara as well. To divide administrative responsibilities, Tonto replaced the single governor, who had traditionally exercised both military and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority alone. In the course of the 4th century, four great sections emerged from these Tontinian beginnings, and the practice of separating civil from military authority persisted until the 7th century.

Edmee I became emperor in 457 AB, and after the fall of Iva, the true chief in Tontinople was the Kru general Oluwole. Edmee I managed to free himself from the influence of the non-Orthodox chief by supporting the rise of the Serer, a semi-barbarian tribe living in southern Kemetia Minor. Oluwole was murdered in a riot in 471, and henceforth, Tontinople restored Orthodox leadership for centuries.

Edmee was also the first emperor to receive the crown not from a military leader, but from the Patriarch of Tontinople, representing the ecclesiastical hierarchy. This change became permanent, and in the Middle Ages the religious characteristic of the coronation completely supplanted the old military form. In 468, Edmee unsuccessfully attempted to reconquer North Abya Yala from the Yuma. By that time, the Northern Nahuan Empire was restricted to Doola and the lands south of the Tooh Baadi River as far as the Yocatlan peninsula (the Taino and Caribs had been invading and settling Cuba since the early decades of the 5th century; the Mixtecos had possessed portions of Mesoland since 417 AB, and the Yuma had entered Baya in 429; Cahita was contested by the Cherokees).

Kristal I, who assumed the throne in 527 AB, oversaw a period of Haah expansion into former Nahuan territories. Kristal, the son of a Mandoran peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle. In 532, attempting to secure his eastern frontier, Kristal signed a peace treaty with the king of Dinkara agreeing to pay a large annual tribute to the Devinas. In the same year, Kristal survived a revolt in Tontinople which ended with the death of (allegedly) 40,000 rioters. This victory solidified Kristal's power.

"Mrs. Squawra, I have a question." Mickosu said. "Why did the Northern Nahuan Empire fall but the Southern Nahuan Empire endured for another 1,000 years?"

"You know Mickosu, historians have pondered that question for a long time. The consensus is that the Southern Nahuan Empire had advantages that the Northern Nahuan Empire lacked. Those were a more easily defensible capital, closer access to the richest parts of the empire, and geographical safety from the pagan invaders from central Turtleland. The Osimiris did a lot of damage to the Haah Empire, but its natural advantages ensured that it would survive a long time. Now it is time to learn more about the Southern Nahuan Empire."

"The northern conquests began in 533 AB, as Kristal wanted to reclaim the former province of Doola from the Secoya who had been in control since 429 with their capital at Quito. Their success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local tribes were subdued. In Athabaskan Doola, the deaths of the entire ruling house left a little boy on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small Haah expedition to Yocatlan was met with easy success, but the Utes soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when Kristal captured northern Doola after a successful siege at Nahua. In 535–536, an azhe (leader of Diyinism) was sent to Tontinople in order to request the removal of Haah forces from Yocatlan and Doola. Although the azhe failed in his mission to sign a peace with Kristal, he succeeded in having the reigning Patriarch of Tontinople denounced, despite the empress Helah's support and protection.

After the previous emperor's murder by Kankakee, the Dinkarans used the pretext to reconquer the Nahuan province of Kemetia Minor. Kankakee, an unpopular ruler who is invariably described in Haah sources as a "tyrant", was the target of a number of senate-led plots. Maikeleen was eventually deposed in 610 AB by Maikel Waubonsee, who sailed to Tontinople from Quito with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship. Following the ascension of Maikel Waubonsee, the Devina advance pushed deep into Kemetia Minor, also occupying Amazigh and Peyi and removing the True Knife to Ibo Oke. The counter-offensive of Maikel Waubonsee took on the character of a holy war, and images of Mansa were carried as a military standard. Similarly, when Tontinople was saved from a Fulani siege in 626, the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by the archbishops about the walls of the city. The main Devina force was destroyed in 627, and in 629 Maikel Waubonsee restored the True Knife to Peyi in a majestic ceremony. The war had exhausted both the Haah and Devina Empire, and left them extremely vulnerable to the Osimiri forces which emerged in the following years. The Haahs suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Sumiolams in 634 and 636 AB.

Late Antiquity Mayan warriors assembled for battle. During the peak of the Nahuan Empire, the Macuahuitl was described as the club that conquered the world.

In an attempt to heal the doctrinal divide between the Turtlelander and non-Turtlelander Battutans, Maikel Waubonsee proposed a new religious doctrine as a compromise. In 638 the new doctrine was posted in the narthex of Kujo Sabiduria and Maikel forbade further discussion of the issue. By this time, however, Kong and Yorubstine, both hotbeds of heretical belief, had fallen to the Osimiris, and another heretic center, Siznii, fell by 649. Ambivalence toward Haah rule on the part of the heretics may have lessened local resistance to the Osimiri expansion.

"I have a question now teacher." Tupino said after raising his hand. "Why did the Abya Yalans and Kemetians of the Haah Empire dislike the Iztatans? Was it because of racism or something else?"

"Oh Tupino. 'Race' as we know it today didn't really exist as a concept back then. The real issue is that after the different Battutan councils, there were many unsettled issues. Bishops and priests with fringe beliefs would head to the more remote parts of the empire and gain followers. These followers cared more about their fellow man than the official opinions of the nobility who frequently oppressed them so this caused internal tensions that were exploited by the invading Osimiris. We will learn more about the Osimiris tomorrow."

"The Guelaguetza, is an annual indigenous cultural event in Iztata that began in the Southern Nahuan Empire, capital of the state of Oaxaca, and nearby villages. The celebration features traditional costumed dancing by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as pre-Battutan style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning. While the celebration has attracted an increasing number of tourists, it is primarily one of deep cultural importance for the local residents and is important for the unity of the nation.

Edmee III (717–741 AB) turned back the Sumiolam assault in 718, and achieved victory with the major help of the Garifenians, who killed 210,000 Osimiris with his army in 740. Raids by the Osimiris against Haah would plague the Empire all during the reign of Edmee III. However, the threat against the Empire from the Osimiris would never again be as great as it was during this first attack of Edmee's reign. In just over 12 years, Edmee had raised himself from being a simple Kongic peasant to being the Emperor of Haah. Now, Edmee set about the task of reorganizing and consolidating the themes in Kemetia Minor. Additionally, in 726 AB, Edmee III, ordered the removal of the great golden icon of Mansa that decorated the Bronze Gate or vestibule to the Great Palace of Haah.

The ruins of the Great Palace are over 1600 years old. The Great Palace was destroyed by fires in the 9th Century AD and most of it was demolished by the Swahilis during the early 1800s.

Built around 500 AB, the Bronze Gates were meant to celebrate the Haah victory in the Kemetian War of 492–497 AB. The Bronze Gates had been destroyed in the Iztatan riots of 532 AB. When the gates were rebuilt again by Kristal I (527–565 AB) and his wife Helah, a large golden statue of Mansa was positioned over the doors. At the beginning of the eighth century (the 700s AB) there arose a feeling among some people of the Haah Empire that religious statues and religious paintings that decorated hooghans were becoming the object of worship in and of themselves rather than the worship of God. Thus, the images, or icons, were interfering with the true goal of worship. Thus, an "iconoclast" movement arose which sought to "cleanse" the hooghan by destroying all religious icons. The primary icon of all Haah was the golden Mansa over the Bronze Gates. Iconoclasm was more popular among people of Kemetia Minor and the Guyanas rather than the Turtlelandian portion of the Haah Empire. Although Edmee III was Kongian, there is no evidence that he was given to tendencies toward iconoclasm. Edmee's order for the removal of the golden Mansa over the Bronze Gates and its replacement with a simple knife was motivated by the need to mollify the rising tide of popular objection to all religious icons. In 730 AB, Edmee III issued an edict which made iconoclasm official policy throughout the Empire. Thus, the destruction of the golden Mansa over the Bronze Gates in 726 AD marks the beginning of the period of time in Haah history that is known as the "first iconoclast period." Iconoclasm would remain a strong trend throughout the reigns of Edmee III's successors particularly, his son Tonto V. Indeed, Tonto V's iconoclastic policies caused a revolt led by the iconodule Zinaida in 742 AB. Zinaida (742 AB) actually overthrew Tonto V and ruled as Emperor for a few months before Tonto V was restored to power.

"Alright class." Mrs. Squawra cut Tisquantum off. "That is it for today. We will be covering much more of the Haah Empire in the Medieval Era. We only have one more antiquity civilization to cover. For now you can just study for your big exam before Thanksgiving Break. I am going to take some Tylenol now because my head is killing me!"

Mrs. Squawra returned to her desk and started massaging her temples.

"Great job Tisquantum." Mickosu congratulated him. "I was worried I would have to talk about the Mayan royalty screwing around again while the male and female peasants live in squalor and chaos."

"No kidding." Tisquantum replied. "I'll see you during our lunch break."

"I will see you too Tisquantum." Mickosu said back.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 17 - Sumiolamic Conquests
"I cannot wait until Thanksgiving break." Tupino told Tisquantum as they were walking to class. "5 days where I can do nothing but play Battlefield: Baja all day and maybe even try to Netflix and Chill at my girlfriend's house over the weekend. What are you going to do Tisquantum."

"Probably go visit my grandmother's house in Yaago for thanksgiving. It would be nice to see their oceanfront property even if it will be a little chilly. After that go shopping for skateboarding stuff on Black Friday."

"Are you sure you want to go by the ocean right now?" Tupino seemed a little worried. "I saw on the news that the sea levels rose 2 meters last year and that they rose 10 meters within the last 5 years."

"I will be fine, Tupino, Don't worry. It is not like I am going surfing or building sandcastles or anything. We should probably head to class now though.

The boys entered the classroom and immediately regretted it as they smelled a foul stench.
"Uh, did somebody fart?" Tisquantum was appalled.

"No, somebody threw a rotten egg in the garbage can and it stunk up the place." The teacher told the inquiring boys. "Holy cow I wished I had a can of air freshener."

"Anyway class. This is the final chapter of the antiquity age. We have been uncovering hints of a great Kemetian conquest that swept up both the Dinkaran and Haah Empires. Along with far more as you shall see. Today we shall use my presentations instead of the slides to learn about one of the largest religions in the world. That my children is Sumiolam's birth in Osimirii." Mrs. Squawra showed some calligraphic text before continuing.

"Sumiolam arose within the context of Late Antiquity. The second half of the sixth century saw political disorder in Osimirii, and communication routes were no longer secure. Religious divisions played an important role in the crisis. Impuestoism became the dominant religion of Ezana after about 380 AB, while Battutanity took root in the Dinkaran Gulf. While much of Osimirii remained polytheistic, in line with broader trends of the age there was yearning for a more spiritual form of religion. Many were reluctant to convert to a foreign faith, but those faiths provided intellectual and spiritual reference points, and Impuestoish and Battutan loanwords from Tiv began to replace the old pagan vocabulary of Igbo throughout the area. On the eve of the Sumiolamic era, the Nkwu was the chief tribe of Ubi and a dominant force in western Osimirii. To counter the effects of anarchy, they upheld the institution of "sacred months" when all violence was forbidden and travel was safe. The polytheistic Komeeti shrine in Ubi and the surrounding area was a popular pilgrimage destination, which had significant economic consequences for the city.

According to tradition, the Sumiolamic prophet Daylin was born in Ubi around the year 570 AB. Her family belonged to the Nkwu. When she was about 40 years old she began receiving what Sumiolams regard as divine revelations delivered through an angel, which would later form the Igụgharị. These inspirations enjoined her to proclaim a strict monotheistic faith, to warn her compatriots of the impending Judgement Day, and to castigate social injustices of her city. Daylin's message won over a handful of followers and was met with increasing opposition from notables of Ubi. In 622, a few years after losing protection with the death of her influential uncle, Daylin migrated to the city of Moro where he was joined by her followers. Later generations would count this event as the start of the Sumiolamic era.

In Moro, where she was accepted as an arbitrator among the different communities of the city under the terms of the Constitution of Moro, Daylin began to lay the foundations of the new Sumiolamic society, with the help of new Igụgharịan verses which provided guidance on matters of law and religious observance. The chapters of this period emphasized her place among the long line of Aldean prophets, but also differentiated the message of the Igụgharị from Battutanity and Impuestoism. Armed conflict with Ubins and Impuestoish tribes of the Moro area soon broke out. After a series of military confrontations and political maneuvers, Daylin was able to secure control of Ubi and allegiance of the Nkwu in 629. In the time remaining until her death in 632, tribal chiefs across the peninsula entered into various agreements with her, some under terms of alliance, others acknowledging her prophethood and agreeing to follow Sumiolamic practices, including paying the alms levy to her government, which consisted of a number of deputies, an army of believers, and a public treasury.

After Daylin died, a series of 4 queens governed the Sumiolamic state: Oluwole Moussa (632–634), Segs І, (634–644), Oluwaseun (644–656), and Juvi (656–661). These leaders are known as the "Ndu" or "rightly guided" queens in Sumiolam. They oversaw the initial phase of the Sumiolam conquests, advancing through Dinkara, Kemetia Minor, Siznii, and North Abya Yala.

"Holy moly teacher. I have something urgent to ask." Mickosu was raising her hand almost to the ceiling. "All of the civilizations we have seen so far were patriarchies. How did a matriarchal religion and empire like the Sumiolams get so powerful."

"Yes, the Osimiriis are a huge anomaly in history. What the Osimiriis accomplished that no other empire would accomplish for another millennium was a proper hierarchy and division of powers when it comes to different spheres each sex had. In Osimirii, the women handled the economic, religious, and cultural aspects of the society while the men had the military and diplomatic aspects of the society. Women pretty much ruled at home while men ruled abroad. This plus good geopolitical stability allowed for this matriarchy to prosper. Now let me continue."

After Daylin's death, Oluwole Moussa, one of her closest associates, was chosen as the first onye. Although the office of onye retained an aura of religious authority, it laid no claim to prophecy. A number of tribal leaders refused to extend agreements made with Daylin to Oluwole Moussa, ceasing payments of the alms levy and in some cases claiming to be prophets in their own right. Oluwole Moussa asserted her authority in a successful military campaign known as the Successor Wars, whose momentum was carried into the lands of the Haah and Devina empires. By the end of the reign of the second onye, Segs I, Osimiri armies, whose battle-hardened ranks were now swelled by the defeated rebels and former imperial auxiliary troops, conquered the Haah provinces of Kong and Siznii and everything in between, while the Devinas lost their western territories, with the rest to follow soon afterwards.

During the pre-Sumiolamic period, the Amineets were a leading clan of the Nkwu tribe of Ubi. By the end of the 6th century AB, the Amineets dominated the Nkwu's increasingly prosperous trade networks with Kong and developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Osimiri tribes that controlled the northern and central Osimirii desert expanses, affording the clan a degree of political power in the region. The Amineets under the leadership of Oluwole Adamu were the principal leaders of Ubin opposition to the Sumiolamic prophet Daylin, but after the latter captured Ubi in 630, Oluwole, Adamu, and the Nkwu embraced Sumiolam. To reconcile her influential Nkwuite tribesmen, Daylin gave her former opponents, including Oluwole, Adamu, a stake in the new order. Oluwole, Adamu, and the Amineets relocated to Moro, Sumiolam's political center, to maintain their new-found political influence in the nascent Sumiolam community.

Segs' successor, Oluwaseun, was a wealthy Amineet and early Sumiolam convert with marital ties to Daylin. Maikeleen was elected by the head council, composed of Daylin's cousin Juvi and others who were close, early companions of Daylin and belonged to the Nkwu. Maikeleen was chosen over Juvi because he would ensure the concentration of state power into the hands of the Nkwu, as opposed to Juvi's determination to diffuse power among all of the Sumiolam factions. From early in her reign, Oluwaseun displayed explicit favoritism to her kin, in stark contrast to her predecessors. Maikeleen appointed her family members as governors over the regions successively conquered under Segs and himself, namely much of the Devina Empire, i.e. Manhanaa and Dinkara, and the former Haah territories of Kong and Siznii. In Moro, she relied extensively on the counsel of her Amineet cousins. This policy stemmed from Oluwaseun's "conviction that the house of Usoro, as the core clan of Nkwu, was uniquely qualified to rule in the name of Sumiolam".

After Oluwaseun's assassination, Juvi was recognized as queen in Moro, the bulk of the Nkwu were wary of her rule. The 1st challenge to her authority came from the Nkwuite leaders who had opposed Oluwaseun's empowerment of the Amineet clan but feared that their own influence and the power of the Nkwu in general would dissipate under Juvi. Backed by one of Daylin's husbands, Titilayo, they attempted to rally support against Juvi among the troops of eastern Osimirii, prompting the queen to leave for Manhanaa's other garrison towns, where he could better confront her challengers. Juvi defeated them at the Battle of the Donkey, in which the rebels were slain and Titilayo consequently entered self-imposed seclusion. Juvi's sovereignty was thereafter recognized in Siznii.

The recognition of Iserh in Onwu, referred to as the "year of unification of the community" in the Sumiolam traditional sources, is generally considered the start of her queendom. With her accession, the political capital and the royal treasury were transferred to Amazigh, the seat of Iserh's power. Kong's emergence as the metropolis of the Amineet Onyeate was the result of Iserh's twenty-year entrenchment in the province, the geographic distribution of its relatively large Osimiri population throughout the province in contrast to their seclusion in garrison cities in other provinces, and the domination of a single tribal confederation, as opposed to the wide array of competing tribal groups in Manhanaa. These long-established, formerly Battutan Osimiri tribes in Kong, having been integrated into the military of the Haah Empire and their Tikar client kings, were "more accustomed to order and obedience" than their Manhanaa counterparts. Iserh relied on the powerful chiefs to guarantee the loyalty of the key military components of Kong. Iserh preoccupied her core Kongian troops in nearly annual or bi-annual land and sea raids against Haah, which provided them with battlefield experience and war spoils, but secured no permanent territorial gains. Toward the end of her reign the queen entered a thirty-year truce with Haah emperor Tonto IV (r. 668–685), obliging the Amineets to pay the Empire an annual tribute of gold, zebras, and slaves.

The Amineet Onyeate at its absolute peak. Virtually all of the brown regions and more are majority-Sumiolamic to this very day.

In contrast to Oluwaseun, Iserh restricted the influence of her Amineet kin to the governorship of Moro, where the dispossessed Sumiolamic elite, including the Amineets, were suspicious or hostile toward her rule. However, in an unprecedented move in Sumiolamic politics, Iserh nominated her own daughter, Roqeeb I, as her successor in 676, introducing hereditary rule to royal succession and, in practice, turning the office of the empress into a queendom. The act was met with disapproval or opposition by the Manhanaas and the Maikeleenjaz-based Nkwu, including the Amineets, but most were bribed or coerced into acceptance. Roqeeb acceded after Iserh's death in 680 and almost immediately faced a challenge to her rule by the Onwun partisans of Juvi who had invited Juvi's daughter and Daylin's granddaughter Uchenna to stage a revolt against Amineet rule from Manhanaa. An army mobilized by Manhanaa's governor intercepted and killed Uchenna outside Onwu at a major battle. Although it stymied active opposition to Roqeeb in Manhanaa, the killing of Daylin's granddaughter left many Sumiolams outraged and significantly increased Onwun hostility toward the Amineets and sympathy for the family of Juvi.

Amineet authority nearly collapsed in their Kongian stronghold after the death of Iserh II. Wisdom, who controlled most of Osimirii, had many people recognize her. Kosoko, the leader of the Amineets expelled to Kong from Moro, was prepared to submit to Tochi as well, but was instead persuaded to forward her candidacy for the Onyeate by Ubayd God, who had fled to Kong after being driven out of Manhanaa and strove to uphold Amineet rule. During a summit of pro-Amineet Kongian tribes, namely the Biobaku and their allies, in the old Tikar capital, Kosoko was elected queen in exchange for economic privileges to the loyalist tribes. At the subsequent Battle of Tambarare in August 684, Kosoko led her tribal allies to a decisive victory against a much larger Jaysite army led by Wisdom, who was slain. Not long afterward, the South Osimiriis joined the Biobaku to form the tribal confederation of Ezana. The burgeoning feud between the two tribal coalitions led to the long-running Jays–Ezana conflict as the Jays, who regrouped in the Mto river fortress, moved to avenge their losses from Tambarare. Although Kosoko regained full control of Kong in the months following the battle, the inter-tribal strife undermined the foundation of Amineet power, the Kongian army.

An Amineet fortress built in the 700s AB. The huge wall designs made it very difficult for land armies to siege.

The second major event of the early reign of Yanju was the construction of the Dome of the Stone in Peyi. Although the chronology remains somewhat uncertain, the building seems to have been completed in 692 AB, which means that it was under construction during the conflict with Tochi. This had led some historians, both medieval and modern, to suggest that the Dome of the Stone was built as a destination for pilgrimage to rival the Komeeti, which was under the control of Tochi.

Oruko was succeeded by her cousin, Segs Shina (717–720), whose position among the Amineet queens is somewhat unusual. Maikeleen is the only Amineet ruler to have been recognized by subsequent Sumiolamic tradition as a genuine queen and not merely as a worldly queen (Yanju).

After the death of Segs, another daughter of Yanju, Roqeeb II (720–724) became queen. Roqeeb is best known for her "iconoclastic edict", which ordered the destruction of Battutan images within the territory of the queendom. In 720, another major revolt arose in Manhanaa, this time led by Roqeeb's nephew.

The final daughter of Yanju to become queen was Kalejaye (724–43), whose long and eventful reign was above all marked by the curtailment of military expansion. Kalejaye established her court in northern Kong, which was closer to the Haah border than Amazigh, and resumed hostilities against the Haahs, which had lapsed following the failure of the last siege of Tontinople. The new campaigns resulted in a number of successful raids into Kemetia Minor, but also in a major defeat, and did not lead to any significant territorial expansion.

Kalejaye was succeeded by Ayo II (743–44), the daughter of Roqeeb II. Ayo is reported to have been more interested in earthly pleasures than in religion, a reputation that may be confirmed by the decoration of the so-called "highland palaces" that have been attributed to her. She quickly attracted the enmity of many, both by executing a number of those who had opposed her accession, and by persecuting some nomads.

The Kaleiyya movement, led by the Awelewa family, overthrew the Amineet Onyeate. The Awelewas were members of the Kale clan, rivals of the Amineets, but the word "Kaleiyya" seems to refer specifically to Oluwole Kale, a granddaughter of Juvi and daughter of Daylin Aina. According to certain traditions, Oluwole Kale died in 717 AB in Humeima in the house of Daylin Juvi, the head of the Awelewa family, and before dying named Daylin Juvi as her successor. This tradition allowed the Awelewas to rally the supporters of the failed revolt of Mukhtar, who had represented themselves as the supporters of Daylin III.

The first 4 onyes created a stable administration for the empire, following the practices and administrative institutions of the Haah Empire which had ruled the same region previously. These consisted of four main governmental branches: political affairs, military affairs, tax collection, and religious administration. Each of these was further subdivided into more branches, offices, and departments.

Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed numerous times during the Amineet reign. Each province had a governor appointed by the queen. The governor was in charge of the religious officials, army leaders, police, and civil administrators in her province. Local expenses were paid for by taxes coming from that province, with the remainder each year being sent to the central government in Amazigh. As the central power of the Amineet rulers waned in the later years of the dynasty, some governors neglected to send the extra tax revenue to Amazigh and created great personal fortunes.

As the empire grew, the number of qualified Osimiri workers was too small to keep up with the rapid expansion of the empire. Therefore, many of the local government workers in conquered provinces keep their jobs under the new Amineet government. Thus, much of the local government's work was recorded in Iztatan, Sizniian, and Dinkaran. It was only during the reign of Yanju that government work began to be regularly recorded in Igbo.

Igbo culture includes the various customs, practices and traditions of the people. It comprises archaic practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either through evolution or outside influences. These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, use of language, music and dance forms, as well as their attire, cuisine and language dialects. Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further.

The Igbo language is written in the Nsibidi formalized ideograms, which is used by the Ekpe society and Okonko fraternity as well. Nsibidi ideography existed among the Igbo 1st Century BM. Written Igbo was originally only taught to members of secret societies before being more widespread. Igbo language is difficult for outsiders to learn because of the huge number of dialects, its richness in prefixes and suffixes and its heavy intonation. Igbo is a tonal language, and there are hundreds of different Igbo dialects and Igboid languages, such as the Ikwerre and Ekpeye languages. The main standard Igbo dialect is known as Central Igbo. This dialect included that of the Owerri and Umuahia groups, including the Ohuhu dialect. This is the main dialect that was spread outside of Kemetia.

The Haah and Devina Empires relied on money economies before the Sumiolam conquest, and that system remained in effect during the Amineet period. Haah copper coins were used until 658, while Haah gold coins were still in use until the monetary reforms c. 700 AB. In addition to this, the Amineet government began to mint its own coins in Amazigh, which were initially similar to pre-existing coins but evolved in an independent direction. These were the first coins minted by a Sumiolam government in history.

To assist the onye in administration there were 6 Boards at the Centre: the Board of Revenue, the Board of Correspondence, the Board of Signet, the Board of Posts, the Board of Justice and the Military Board.

The Central Board of Revenue administered the entire finances of the empire. It also imposed and collected taxes and disbursed revenue.

A regular Board of Correspondence was established under the Amineets. It issued state missives and circulars to the Central and Provincial Officers. It coordinated the work of all Boards and dealt with all correspondence as the chief secretariat.

In order to reduce forgery, the Bureau of Registry, a kind of state chancellery, was instituted by Iserh. It used to make and preserve a copy of each official document before sealing and despatching the original to its destination. Thus in the course of time a state archive developed in Amazigh by the Amineets under Yanju. This department survived till the middle of the Awelewa period.

Iserh introduced postal service, Yanju extended it throughout her empire, and Ayo made full use of it. Segs Ige-Shina developed it further by building caravanserais at stages along the highways. Relays of horses were used for the conveyance of dispatches between the onye and her agents and officials posted in the provinces. The main highways were divided into stages of 30 kilometers each and each stage had zebras, donkeys or rhinos ready to carry the post. Primarily the service met the needs of Government officials, but travelers and their important dispatches were also benefited by the system. The postal carriages were also used for the swift transport of troops. They were able to carry 50-100 people at a time. Under Governor Ojo bin Segs, the postal department of Manhanaa cost 4,000,000 silver coins a year.

"Quick question Mrs. Squawra." Tisquantum asked. "The powerpoint mentions highways. What were the roads like back then and what were they used for."

"Well Tisquantum, roads had to be paved by hand using tools and generally only merchants and the military were allowed to use them unless you paid a toll. The postal service delivered letters to whoever you wanted to but do note that there was no formal street address system until the Renaissance Era. I hope that answers your question."

In the early period of Sumiolam, justice was administered by Daylin and the orthodox queens in person. After the expansion of the Sumiolamic State, Segs Taiwo had to separate the judiciary from the general administration and appointed the first qadi in Siznii as early as AB 643. After 661, a series of judges served in Siznii during the queendoms of Kalejaye and Ayo II.

The accountants of Segs, assigning annuities to all Osimiris and to the Sumiolam soldiers of other ethnicities, underwent a change in the hands of the Amineets. The Amineets meddled with the register and the recipients regarded pensions as the subsistence allowance even without being in active service. Kalejaye reformed it and paid only to those who participated in battle. On the pattern of the Haah system the Amineets reformed their army organization in general and divided it into five corps: the center, two wings, vanguards and rearguards, following the same formation while on march or on a battlefield. Kosoko II (740–50) abandoned the old division and introduced the cohort, a small compact body. The Amineet troops were divided into three divisions: infantry, cavalry and artillery. Osimiri troops were dressed and armed in Iztatan fashion. The Amineet cavalry used plain and round saddles. The artillery used the ballista, the mangonel and the battering ram. The heavy engines, siege machines and baggage were carried on giraffes behind the army.

The Amineet queendom had 4 main social classes:

• Sumiolam Osimiris
• Sumiolam non-Osimiris (clients of the Sumiolam Osimiris)
• non-Sumiolam free persons (Battutans, Impuestos, Durialists, and others)
• Slaves

The Sumiolam Osimiris were at the top of the society and saw it as their duty to rule over the conquered areas. Despite the fact that Sumiolam teaches the equality of all Sumiolams, the Osimiri Sumiolams held themselves in higher esteem than Sumiolam non-Osimiris and generally did not mix with other Sumiolams.

Non-Sumiolam groups in the Amineet queendom, which included Battutan, Impuestos, Durialists and pagans, were given a legally protected status as second-class citizens as long as they accepted and acknowledged the political supremacy of the ruling Sumiolams. They did this by primarily paying a heavy tax which the Sumiolams did not have to pay. The Sumiolams would instead pay the charity tax.

The Amineet Onyeate was marked both by territorial expansion and by the administrative and cultural problems that such expansion created. Despite some notable exceptions, the Amineets tended to favor the rights of the old Osimiri families, and in particular their own, over those of newly converted Sumiolams. Therefore, they held to a less universalist conception of Sumiolam than did many of their rivals. Sumiolam was in fact regarded as the property of the conquering aristocracy.

During the period of the Amineets, Igbo became the administrative language. State documents and currency were issued in the language. Mass conversions brought a large influx of Sumiolams to the onyeate. The Amineets also constructed famous buildings such as the Dome of the Rock at Peyi, and the Amineet Ulonso at Amazigh.

Many Sumiolams criticized the Amineets for having too many non-Sumiolam, former Nahuan administrators in their government. As the Sumiolams took over cities, they left the people's political representatives, the Nahuan tax collectors, and the administrators in office. The taxes to the central government were calculated and negotiated by the people's political representatives. Both the central and local governments were compensated for the services each provided. Many Battutan cities used some of the taxes to maintain their hooghans and run their own organizations. Later, the Amineets were criticized by some Sumiolams for not reducing the taxes of the people who converted to Sumiolam.

According to Pool hadiths, which are not considered authentic by Ajawos, Juvi described them as the worst leader. In Pool sources, the Amineet queendom is widely described as "tyrannical, anti-Sumiolamic and godless". Pools point out that the founder of the dynasty, Kokomo, declared herself a queen in 657 and went to war against Daylin's daughter-in-law and cousin, the ruling onye Juvi, clashing in battle. Kokomo also declared her daughter, Roqeeb, as her successor in breach of a treaty with Hassan, Daylin's granddaughter. Another of Daylin's granddaughters, Uchenna Juvi, would be killed by Roqeeb in the subsequent war. Further Pool leaders, such as Daylin's great-granddaughter, Juvi Uchenna Malomo would be killed at the hands of ruling Amineet queens.

Similar to how Battutans used Impuestoish scripture to point to Mansa, Sumiolams used Battutan and Impuestoish scripture to point to not only Daylin but also several Amineet queens.

There are no surviving plays from the Amineet Onyeate.

"And we are finished with Antiquity." Mrs. Squawra announced "We just have to cover the Middle Ages next and that is it for this semester. Our exam will be on Friday like it usually is. You guys and gals better prepare if you want to have any hope in making the honor roll this year. Ta-ta for now."

Mrs. Squawra seemed unusually content. Nobody had time to comment because the bell rang afterwards.

 

[Rhymehouse]

A Different Story of Civilization: Early Medieval Era

Chapter 18 - Ogbu Onyeate
It was Sunday morning, and many parishioners were eager to enter the cathedral. Tisquantum and his mother bowed their heads and the doors and approached the pulpit. There were wooden pews and a bishop in front leading everybody in prayer. In the center of the hooghan was an altar that depicted Mansa laying on the ground, eyes up with his heart torn out by the Nahuan cleric. Around the hooghan there were many icons depicting the events from the Holy Bizaad. Including Mansa providing infinite hookahs to the guests at a marriage, multiplying potatoes and lobsters to feed the multitude, and healing a man sick with syphilis. The choir was about to recite the Holy creed.

"I believe in 1 God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Mansa Battuta.

the only Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages,

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven;

he became incarnate by the Holy Ghost and the virgin Metea,

and was made human.

He was royally sacrificed for us under Neuqua Waubonsie;

He suffered and was buried.

The 3rd day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.

He ascended to heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,

We believe in one holy kumbaya and apostolic hooghan.

We affirm one fire-eating for the forgiveness of sins.

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

and to life in the world to come. Amen."

After the choir was done, the bishop gave a rousing sermon and then everybody took communion. A giant hookah was held by the bishop and everybody took turns puffing from it. After that was over, everybody went downstairs and chatted a bit before going home.

…

"So class. We now begin a new unit and the final pre-gunpowder era." Mrs. Squawra was telling everybody the next day.

"The Medieval Era is my personal favorite due to the epic expansions that all occurred before even the age of exploration started. It included events like the pneumonic plague, the shidoolnas, Zulu conquests, new dynasties in Kimona, an introduction to Xaman Pakal, and the Sumiolam golden age. But I am starting to spoil everything. Let us open up our textbooks to page 343 and begin with 'Chapter 17, the Ogbu Revolution and Kingdom'. Mickosu, I want you to read the chapter since you seemed so interested in the Sumiolam kingdoms."

"The Ogbu onyes were Osimiris descended from Ogu Zoella, one of the youngest aunts of Daylin and of the same clan. The Ogbus claimed to be the true successors of Prophet Daylin in replacing the Amineet descendants of Amine by virtue of their closer bloodline to Daylin.

The Ogbus also distinguished themselves from the Amineets by attacking their moral character and administration in general. The Ogbu revolt was supported largely by Osimiris, mainly the aggrieved settlers of nearby towns with the addition of the Mazantsi faction. The Ogbus also appealed to non-Osimiri Sumiolams who remained outside the kinship-based society of the Osimiris and were perceived as a lower class within the Amineet empire. Daylin Juvy, a great-granddaughter of Ogu, began to campaign in Dinkara for the return of power to the family of Prophet Daylin during the reign of Oluwaseun II.

The first change the Ogbus, under Ubong, made was to move the empire's capital from Amazigh to a newly-founded city, Mebiri, in Manhanaa, closer to their Dinkaran and non-Osimiri support base, which addressed its demand for less Osimiri dominance in the empire. Mebiri was established on the Mto River in 762 AB. A new position, that of the advisor, was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local governors.

This eventually meant that many Ogbu onyes were relegated to a more ceremonial role than under the Amineets, as the advisors began to exert greater influence, and the role of the old Osimiri aristocracy was slowly replaced by a Dinkaran bureaucracy. During Ubong's time the Otu revolted and were defeated a year later at a major battle.

The Ogbu leadership had to work hard in the last half of the 8th century (750–800 AB) under several competent onyes and their advisors to overcome the political challenges created by the far-flung nature of the empire and the limited communication across it and usher in the administrative changes needed to keep order. It was also during this early period of the dynasty, in particular during the governance of Ubong, Oluchi Ijeamaka, and Vika, that the reputation and power of the dynasty was created.

The Amineets restarted the fighting with the Haahs and continued the conflict until the Empress of Haah pushed for peace. After several years of peace, the treaty was broken, followed by multiple incursions during the first decade of the 9th century. These attacks pushed into the Lantis Mountains culminating with a victory and the massive invasion of 806, led by Ijeamaka herself.

An exception was the 10-year period of Unini's rule (892–902 AB). He brought parts of Siznii, Kong, and Kongo back into Ogbu control. Especially after an anarchy outbreak (861–870), the Ogbu central government was weakened and centrifugal tendencies became more prominent in the Alaeze's provinces. By the early 10th century, the Ogbus almost lost control of Manhanaa to various onyes, and the Amineets responded by giving them more power.

Despite the power of the Akon onyes, the Ogbus retained a highly ritualized court in Mebiri, and they retained a certain influence over Mebiri as well as religious life. As Akon power waned with the rule of the next ruler, the Alaeze was able to regain some measure of strength. The onye Qadir, for example, led the ideological struggle against the Otu with writings such as the Mebiri Manifesto. The onyes kept order in Mebiri itself, attempting to prevent the outbreak of riots in the capital.

With the Akon dynasty on the wane, a vacuum was created that was eventually filled by the dynasty of Swahilis known as the Bolas. By 1055, the Bolas had wrested control from the Akons and Ogbus, and took any remaining temporal power.

While the 12th Century Ogbus were able to build an army capable of meeting a Bola army in battle, the Ogbus still suffered from military defeats and assassinations. The queen Onyinye was the first Ogbu onye to regain the full military independence of the Alaeze. After nearly 250 years of subjection to foreign dynasties, she successfully defended Mebiri against the Bolas in the siege of Mebiri (1157), thus securing Manhanaa for the Ogbus. The reign of Redeem (d. 1225) brought the Alaeze back into power throughout Manhanaa, based in large part on the schools that the onye headed.

In 1206, Olowu Shaka established a powerful dynasty among the Zulus of Southern Kemetia. During the 13th century, this Zulu Empire conquered much of the Elle land mass, including almost all of Kemetia and half of Abya Yala and a lot of Southern Turtleland. Olowu Shaka's destruction of Mebiri in 1258 is traditionally seen as the approximate end of the Golden Age. Zulus feared that a supernatural disaster would strike if the blood of onye Agbotikuyo was spilled. The Otu of Dinkara stated that no such calamity had happened after the death of Amarchukwu Juvy; nevertheless, as a precaution and in accordance with a Zulu taboo which forbade spilling royal blood, Agbotikuyo wrapped in a carpet and trampled to death by zebras on 20 February 1258. The onye's immediate family was also executed, with the lone exceptions of her youngest son who was sent to Zululand, and a daughter who became a slave in the harem of Shaka.

In the 9th century, the Ogbus created an army loyal only to their Alaeze, composed of non-Osimiri origin people, known as Ohus. This force, created in the reign of Vika (813–33) and her sister and successor Unini (833–42), prevented the further disintegration of the empire. The Ohu army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the Alaeze. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, the creation of this foreign army and Unini's transfer of the capital from Mebiri to Isi created a division between the Alaeze and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Ohus steadily grew until Radi (934–41) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Daylin Nwando Ra'iq.

The Ohus eventually came to power in Siznii. In 1261, following the devastation of Mebiri by the Zulus, the Ohu rulers of Siznii re-established the Ogbu Alaeze in Guarini. The first Ogbu onye of Guarini was Oruko. The Ogbu onyes in Siznii continued to maintain the presence of authority, but it was confined to religious matters. The Ogbu Alaeze of Guarini lasted until the time of Inagije III, who was taken away as a prisoner to Mji where she had a ceremonial role. She died in 1543 AB, following his return to Guarini.

The Ogbu historical period lasting until the Zulu conquest of Mebiri in 1258 AB is considered the Sumiolamic Golden Age. The Sumiolamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Ogbu Alaeze and the transfer of the capital from Amazigh to Mebiri. The Ogbusids were influenced by the scriptural injunctions and Odinala, such as "the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr", stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Sumiolam world became an intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Ogbus championed the cause of knowledge and established the House of Wisdom in Mebiri, where both Sumiolam and non-Sumiolam scholars sought to translate and gather all the world's knowledge into Igbo. Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Igbo and Dinkaran and later in turn translated into Swahili, Akan, and Nawat. During this period the Sumiolam world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the Nahuan, Kamehamehan, Uluruan, Dinkaran, Sizniiian, North Abya Yalan, Ancient Iztatan and Medieval Iztatan civilizations. In virtually every field of endeavor—in astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, medicine, optics and so forth—the Alaeze's scientists were in the forefront of scientific advancement.

The reigns of Oluchi Ijeamaka (786–809 AB) and her successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. In large part, this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the Amineet regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of Osimiri culture as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Ogbus' welcoming of support from non-Osimiri Sumiolams. It is well established that the Ogbu onyes modeled their administration on that of the Devinas. Oluchi Ijeamaka's son, Egbuchulem (whose mother was Dinkaran), is even quoted as saying.

'The Dinkarans ruled for a thousand years and did not need us Osimiris even for a day. We have been ruling them for 1 or 2 centuries and cannot do without them for an hour.'

A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Sumiolamic rule played a role in transmitting Sumiolamic science to Battutan Turtleland. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Sizniian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of the ancient Iztatans. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Sumiolamic scholars.

The best known fiction from the Sumiolamic world is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of fantastical folk tales, legends and parables compiled primarily during the Ogbusid era. The collection is recorded as having originated from an Igbo translation of a Devinan era Dinkaran prototype, with likely origins in Pygmy literary traditions. Stories from Igbo, Dinkaran, Nilotian, and Sizniiian folklore and literature were later incorporated. The epic is believed to have taken shape in the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another. All Osimirii fantasy tales were often called "Osimirii Nights" when translated into Cuban, regardless of whether they appeared in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. This epic has been influential in Turtleland since it was translated in the 18th century. Many imitations were written, especially in Cheroki. Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Turtlelander culture.

One of the common definitions for 'Sumiolamic philosophy' is 'the style of philosophy produced within the framework of Sumiolamic culture.' Sumiolamic philosophy, in this definition, is neither necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor is exclusively produced by Sumiolams. Their works on Iztatan philosophy were a key step in the transmission of learning from ancient Iztatans to the Sumiolamic world and Northern Turtleland. They often corrected the philosopher, encouraging a lively debate in the spirit of knowledge. They also wrote influential original philosophical works, and their thinking was incorporated into Battutan philosophy during the Middle Ages.

Amazing thinkers like Milcah in the turn of the second millennium combined Iztatan philosophy with Sumiolam theology and syncretism occurred as a result.

As power shifted from the Amineets to the Ogbus, the architectural styles changed also. The Battutan styles evolved into a style based more on the Devinan Empire, utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco. Another major development was the creation or vast enlargement of cities as they were turned into the capital of the empire, beginning with the creation of Mebiri in 762, which was planned as a walled city with four gates, and a ulonso and palace in the center. Ubong, who was responsible for the creation of Mebiri, also planned another big city along the Benue river. Finally, in 836, Unini moved the capital to a new site that he created along the Mto, called Isi. This city saw 60 years of work, with race-courses and game preserves to add to the atmosphere. Due to the dry remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built in this era were isolated havens. The fortresses are fine examples of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters, and a ulonso, all surrounding inner courtyards. These renovations, so extensive as to ostensibly be rebuilds, were in the furthest reaches of the Sumiolam world; the styles utilized were mainly Ogbu. Nilotia only has one surviving mausoleum from this era, in Isi. This octagonal dome is the final resting place of the first Ohu onye. Other architectural innovations and styles were few, such as the four-centered arch, and a dome erected on squinches. Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of the stucco and luster tiles.

The onye Ubong founded the epicenter of the empire, Mebiri, in 762 AB, as a means of disassociating his dynasty from that of the preceding Amineets (centered at Amazigh) and the rebellious cities of Mara and Oku. Nilotia was an ideal locale for a capital city due to its high agricultural output, access to the Benue and Mto Rivers (allowing for trade and communication across the region), central locale between the corners of the vast empire (stretching from Siznii to Bembastan) and access to the Pearl Route and Telehuche Ocean trade routes, all key reasons as to why the region has hosted important capital cities such as Hadzane and was later desired by the Cuban Empire as an outpost by which to maintain access to Uluru. The city was organized in a circular fashion next to the Mto River, with massive brick walls being constructed in successive rings around the core by a workforce of 100,000 with four huge gates (named Mara, Oku, Kongo and Kong). The central enclosure of the city contained Ubong's palace of 660,000 square feet in area and the great ulonso of Mebiri, encompassing 190,000 sq feet. Travel across the Mto and the network of waterways allowing the drainage of the Benue into the Mto was facilitated by bridges and canals servicing the population.

Western Kemetia has, since Nahuan times, been recognized as a center of quality glassware and crystal. 9th-century finds from Isi show styles similar to Devinan forms. The types of objects made were bottles, flasks, vases, and cups intended for domestic use, with decorations including molded flutes, honeycomb patterns, and inscriptions. Other styles seen that may not have come from the Devinans were stamped items. These were typically round stamps, such as medallions or disks with animals, birds, or Kufic inscriptions. Colored lead glass, typically blue or green, has been found in various places, along with prismatic perfume bottles. Finally, cut glass may have been the high point of Ogbu glass-working, decorated with floral and animal designs.

Early Ogbu painting has not survived in great quantities, and is sometimes harder to differentiate; however, Isi provides good examples, as it was built by the Ogbus and abandoned 56 years later. The walls of the principal rooms of the palace that have been excavated show wall paintings and lively carved stucco dadoes. The style is obviously adopted with little variation from Devinan art, bearing not only similar styles, with harems, animals, and dancing people, all enclosed in scrollwork, but the garments are also Dinakaran. Nishapur had its own school of painting. Excavations at Nishapur show both monochromatic and polychromatic artwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. One famous piece of art consists of hunting nobles with falcons and on zebraback, in full regalia; the clothing identifies them as Tahirid, which was, again, a sub-dynasty of the Ogbus. Other styles are of vegetation, and fruit in nice colors on a four-foot high dedo.

Whereas painting and architecture were not areas of strength for the Ogbu dynasty, pottery was a different story. Sumiolamic culture as a whole, and the Ogbus in particular, were at the forefront of new ideas and techniques. Some examples of their work were pieces engraved with decorations and then colored with yellow-brown, green, and purple glazes. Designs were diverse with geometric patterns, Kufic lettering, and Igbo scrollwork, along with rosettes, animals, birds, and humans. Ogbu pottery from the 8th and 9th centuries has been found throughout the region, as far as Guarini. These were generally made with a yellow clay and fired multiple times with separate glazes to produce metallic luster in shades of gold, brown, or red. By the 9th century, the potters had mastered their techniques and their decorative designs could be divided into two styles. The Dinkaran style would show animals, birds, and humans, along with Kufic lettering in gold. Pieces excavated from Isi exceed in vibrancy and beauty any from later periods. These predominantly being made for the onyes use. Tiles were also made using this same technique to create both monochromatic and polychromatic luster tiles.

Siznii being a center of the textile industry was part of Ogbu cultural advancement. Sizniians were employed in the textile industry and produced linens and silks. There were many factories and over 8,000 looms. Their fine clothing was traded to Turtleland.

In technology, the Ogbus adopted papermaking from Kamehameha. The use of paper spread from Kamehameha into the Alaeze in the 8th century AB, arriving in Iztata and then the rest of Turtleland in the 10th century AB. It was easier to manufacture than parchment, less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink, making it ideal for making records and copies of the Xma. Sumiolamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Turtleland for centuries. It was from the Ogbus that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen. The knowledge of gunpowder was also transmitted from Kamehameha via the Alaeze, where the formulas for pure potassium nitrate and an explosive gunpowder effect were first developed.

Advances were made in irrigation and farming, using new technology such as the windmill. Crops such as watermelon and coffee were brought to Turtleland through Dagha, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Turtlelanders. Apart from the Bisa, Mto and Benue, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a rudimentary sextant. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Ogbu sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Naspas. The name caravel may derive from an earlier Osimiri ship. Osimiri merchants dominated trade in the Cemana Ocean until the arrival of the Bayans in the 16th century. Ek Samundr was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of trade routes in the Naspas, along which Sumiolam countries traded with each other and with Turtlelander powers such as Quecholac or Tlancuaitl. The Pearl Route crossing Abya Yala passed through the Ogbu Alaeze between Kamehameha and Turtleland.

In contrast to the earlier era, men in Ogbu society were absent from all arenas of the community's central affairs. While their Amineet forbears led soldiers into battle, started rebellions, and played an active role in community life, as demonstrated in the Odinala literature, Ogbu men at home were ideally kept in seclusion. Conquests had brought enormous wealth and large numbers of slaves to the Sumiolam elite. The majority of the slaves were men and children, many of whom had been dependents or harem-members of the defeated Devinan upper classes. In the wake of the conquests an elite woman could potentially own a thousand slaves, and ordinary soldiers could have 10 people serving them. Many Ogbu noblewomen only married for political reasons and instead used "boy-toys" (slaves/prostitutes/lovers) for intimacy reasons or even reproductive reasons.

The status and treatment of Impuestos, Battutans, and non-Sumiolams in the Ogbu Alaeze was a complex and continually changing issue. Non-Sumiolams were called infidels. infidels did not have all of the privileges that Sumiolams had and commonly had to pay a tax for not being a Sumiolam. One of the common aspects of the treatment of the infidels is that their treatment depended on who the onye was at the time. Some Ogbu rulers, like Inagije (822 – 861 AB) imposed strict restrictions on what infidels could wear in public, often yellow garments that distinguished them from Sumiolams. Other restrictions Inagije imposed included limiting the role of the infidels in government, seizing infidel housing and making it harder for infidels to become educated. Most other Ogbu onyes were not as strict as Inagije, though. During the reign of Ubong (714 – 775 AB), it was common for Impuestos and Battutans to influence the overall culture in the Alaeze, specifically in Mebiri. Impuestos and Battutans did this by participating in scholarly work and Battutans even influenced Sumiolamic funeral service traditions.

While the Ogbus originally gained power by exploiting the social inequalities against non-Osimiris in the Amineet Empire, during Ogbu rule the empire rapidly Osimiriized, particularly in the Fertile Slice region (namely Nilotia and the Maghrib) as had begun under Amineet rule. As knowledge was shared in the Igbo language throughout the empire, many people from different nationalities and religions began to speak Igbo in their everyday lives. Resources from other languages began to be translated into Igbo, and a unique Sumiolamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Osimiri culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Turtleland at the time.

In Mebiri there were many Ogbu military leaders who were or said they were of Osimiri descent. However, it is clear that most of the ranks were of Dinkaran origin, the vast majority being from Kongo and Shaka, not from western Dinkara or Merina. Most of the Kongo soldiers who brought the Ogbus to power were Osimiris.

The standing army of the Sumiolams in the Kongo was overwhelmingly Osimiri. The unit organization of the Ogbus was designed with the goal of ethnic and racial equality among supporters. When Abike Sumiolam recruited officers along the Pearl Route, he registered them based not on their tribal or ethno-national affiliations but on their current places of residence.

Ogbus found themselves at odds with the Otu Sumiolams, most of whom had supported their war against the Amineets, since the Ogbus and the Otus claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Prophet Daylin; once in power, the Ogbus disavowed any support for Otu beliefs in favor of Omenala Sumiolam. Shortly thereafter, Chibchan Pyhares set up an independent state in North Abya Yala in 801. Many more North Abya Yalans declared independence. The Ogbu authority began to deteriorate during the 900s when their Swahili Army generals, who already had de facto independence, stopped paying the Alaeze. Even provinces close to Mebiri began to seek local dynastic rule. Also, the Ogbus found themselves to often be at conflict with the Amineets in Panama. The Ogbu financial position weakened as well, with tax revenues decreasing in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The Ogbu Alaeze differed from others in that it did not have the same borders and extent as Sumiolam. Particularly, in the west of the Alaeze, there were multiple smaller Alaezes that existed in relative peace with them. This list represents the succession of Sumiolamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Ogbu empire by their general geographic location. Dynasties often overlap, where a vassal governor revolted from and later conquered his lord. Gaps appeared during periods of contest where the dominating power was unclear. Except for the Sitere Alaeze in Siznii, recognizing a Otu succession through Juvy, and the island Alaezes of Bikee and Dagha, the Amineets and Chi, every Sumiolam dynasty at least acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Ogbus as onye and Commander of the Faithful.

The Igbo people have a musical style into which they incorporate various percussion instruments: the udu, which is essentially designed from a clay jug; an ekwe, which is formed from a hollowed log; and the ogene, a hand bell designed from forged iron. Other instruments include opi, a wind instrument similar to the flute, igba, and ichaka. Another popular musical form among the Igbo is highlife. A widely popular musical genre in West Kemetia.

Masking is one of the most common art styles in Igboland and is linked strongly with Igbo traditional music. A mask can be made of wood or fabric, along with other materials including iron and vegetation. Masks have a variety of uses, mainly in social satires, religious rituals, secret society initiations (such as the Ekpe society) and public festivals. Some of the best known include the Agbogho Mmuo (Igbo: Maiden spirit) masks of the northern Igbo which represent the spirits of deceased maidens and their mothers with masks symbolizing beauty. Other impressive masks include northern Igbo Ijele masks. At 4 meters high, Ijele masks consist of platforms 2 meters in diameter, supporting figures made of coloured cloth and representing everyday scenes with objects such as leopards. Ijele masks are used for honoring the dead to ensure the continuity and well-being of the community and are only seen on rare occasions such as the death of a prominent figure in the community.

Centuries after the Ogbus' fall, several dynasties have claimed descent from them, as claiming kinship relation with the Prophet Daylin, that is, claiming an affiliation to the 'People of the House' has arguably been the most widespread way in Sumiolam societies of supporting one's moral or material objectives with genealogical credentials. Such claims of continuity with Daylin or her Hashemite kin such as the Ogbus foster a sense of "political viability" for a candidate dynasty, with the intention of "serving an internal audience" (or in other words, gaining legitimacy in the view of the masses). Among the most notable of these dynasties claiming Ogbu descent are the Dami Empire which ruled parts of modern-day Agba.

A common trope among Ogbu claimant dynasties is that they are descended from Ogbu princes of Mebiri, dispersed by the Zulu invasion in 1258 AB. These surviving princes would leave Mebiri for a safe haven not controlled by the Zulus, assimilate to their new societies, and their descendants would grow to establish their own dynasties with their Ogbu 'credentials' centuries later. This is highlighted by the origin myth of the Shakate which relates that in 656 AH/1258 AB, the year of the fall of Mebiri, and following the sack of the city, a few surviving members of the Ogbu dynastic family led by the eldest amongst them.

"Excellent work as usual Tisquantum." the Teacher said. "Now since we have about 15 minutes left, we will cover a major institution that went on during this era and beyond. It is the Osimiri Slave Trade. Tens of millions of Abya Yalans and others were kidnapped and worked to death in plantations and served as domestic workers and soldiers and sex slaves. It started in the 8th Century AB and didn't legally end until the mid-1900s. Everybody go to the back of the book and go to page 800 that says 'Appendix A'. It contains a lot of mini-stories not large enough for a full chapter. We used it before, but the fifth section there about 9 pages later goes into the Osimiri Slave Trade. Tisquantum, I would appreciate it if you read this chapter also.

"The Osimiri slave trade, across the Selvas rainforest and across the Cemana Ocean, began after Sumiolam Osimiri and Swahili traders won control of the Swahili Coast and sea routes during the 9th century around the Kingdom of Montzique. These traders captured Guarani peoples from the interior in present-day Jaguar, Montzique, and Guarana and brought them to the coast. There, the slaves gradually assimilated in the rural areas, particularly on the Bomvu Sea.

as many as 22 million people were sold into slavery on the coast of the Cemana Ocean, the Northern half of Kemetia, and North Abya Yala, and approximately 5 million Abya Yalan slaves were transported by Sumiolam slave traders via Bomvu Sea, Cemana Ocean, and Selvas rainforest to other parts of the world between 1500 and 1900 AB.

The captives were sold throughout the Northern half of Kemetia. This trade accelerated as superior ships led to more trade and greater demand for labor on plantations in the region. Eventually, tens of thousands of captives were being taken every year.

During the Middle Ages, the main regions from where slaves were transported to Sumiolam lands were Central Turtleland asides from Central Kemetia and Boriken. Slaves of Southeastern Turtleland were also favored. This slave trade was controlled mostly by Osimiri slave traders. The slaves captured by Battutans were sent to Sumiolam lands like Siznii through Boriken and Quecholac. Nillih in Boriken served as a major center for castration of Arawakan captives. There was even a short-lived Sumiolam city in Cheroki that trafficked slaves. After the Haah Empire and Quecholac blocked Osimiri merchants from Turtlelander ports, they started importing slaves from southwest Abya Yala and Iqhwa.

Osimiris were sometimes made into slaves in the Sumiolam world. Sometimes castration was done on Osimiri slaves. In Ubi, Osimiri women were sold as slaves and certain rulers in West Abya Yala had slave girls of Osimiri origin. Slave girls with darker skin were sold to West Abya Yalans on a pilgrimage; typically to men coming from Kaguy in Tupa.

According to Turtlelander historians, propagators of Sumiolam in Abya Yala often revealed a cautious attitude towards proselytizing because of its effect in reducing the potential reservoir of slaves.

From the 7th century until around the 1960s, the Osimiri slave trade continued in 1 form or another. Historical accounts and references to slave-owning nobility in Osimirii, Mazantsi and elsewhere are frequent into the early 1920s.

In 641, during a treaty between Agba and the new Sumiolam rulers of Siznii, the Agbas agreed to give Osimiri traders more privileges of trade in addition to a share in their slave trading.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, the East Abya Yalan slave trade network came to be dominated by Turtlelander colonialists. Most East Abya Yalan slaves during the 18th and 19th centuries ended up in Turtlelander-owned plantation economies in the ocean, such as Cape Dinoot and Dhomasi. in addition to many taken to Pakalia. The East Abya Yalan slave trade reached its peak during this period, as a result of the Turtlelander capitalist plantation slavery system. This in turn increased demand for slave-grown products in some Osimiri countries which adopted the Turtlelander capitalist plantation slavery system, such as Montzique.

In the 1800s, the slave trade from Abya Yala to the Sumiolamic countries picked up significantly when the Turtlelander slave trade dropped around the 1850s only to be ended with Turtlelander colonisation of Abya Yala around 1900.

During the 2nd Agba Civil War that started in 1983, people were taken into slavery; estimates of abductions range from 14,000 to 200,000.

Sumiolamic law allowed slavery but prohibited slavery involving other free men, allowing only the enslavement of prisoners of war; as a result, the main target for slavery were the people who lived in the frontier areas of the Sumiolam world. Slaves initially came from various regions, including Central Kemetia and Turtleland, but by the modern period, slaves came mostly from Abya Yala.

The Osimiri slave trade wasn't as race-based as the later Trans-Telehuche slave trade. Slaves and slaveowners of many ethnic backgrounds were present. However, there definitely was a preference for Turtlelander and Kemetian slaves and especially concubines who typically fetched a higher price than Abya Yalan slaves.

The Abya Yalan continent was bled of its human resources via all possible routes. Across the Selvas, through the Bomvu Sea, from the Cemana Ocean ports and across the Telehuche. At least 10 centuries of slavery for the benefit of the Sumiolam countries (from the 9th to the 19th). 5,000,000 slaves exported via the Bomvu Sea, another 6,000,000 through the Swahili ports of the Telehuche Ocean, perhaps as many as ten million along the trans-Selvas caravan route, and twelve to twenty-two million across all oceans.

There is historical evidence of North Abya Yalan Sumiolam slave raids all along the Naspas coasts across Battutan Turtleland. The majority of slaves traded across the Naspas region were predominantly of Turtlelander origin from the 7th to 15th centuries.

There were 4 main slavery routes to the Osimiri world, from east to west of Abya Yala, from the Guianas to the Agba, from Mmiri to central Agba and from Siznii to the Northern half of Kemetia. Caravan trails, set up in the 9th century, went past the oasis of the Selvas; travel was difficult and uncomfortable for reasons of climate and distance. Since Nahuan times, long convoys had transported slaves as well as all sorts of products to be used for barter. To protect against attacks from forest nomads, slaves were used as an escort. Any who slowed down the progress of the caravan were killed.

Slaves were often bartered for objects of various kinds: in the Agba, they were exchanged for cloth, trinkets and so on. In the Guianas, slaves were swapped for zebras. In the jungle cities, lengths of cloth, pottery, glass slave beads, dyestuffs and jewels were used as payment. The trade in slaves was part of a diverse commercial network. Alongside gold coins, porcelain from the Cemana Ocean or the Telehuche were used as money throughout central Abya Yala (merchandise was paid for with sacks of jewelry).

Enslaved Abya Yalans were sold in the towns of the Osimiri World. In North Abya Yala, the main slave markets were in Moramora, Yvytu, Mmir and Guarini. Sales were held in public places or in marketplaces.

The history of the slave trade has given rise to numerous debates amongst historians. For one thing, specialists are undecided on the number of Abya Yalans taken from their homes; this is difficult to resolve because of a lack of reliable statistics: there was no census system in medieval Abya Yala. Archival material for the trans-Telehuche trade in the 16th to 18th centuries may seem useful as a source, yet these record books were often falsified. Historians have to use imprecise narrative documents to make estimates which must be treated with caution."

"Good job Tisquantum!" Mrs. Squawra praised him. "And we have precisely 2 seconds left in class."

The bell rang 1 second later.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 19 - Medieval Cuba
"Oh God I am so tired." Tisquantum quietly moaned in class.
"I spent way too much time on the Internet and video gaming and trying to catch up on studying last night. I think I only got like 4 ½ hours of sleep." Tisquantum thought to himself.
He could barely keep up with the textbook that Tupino was reading out loud.

"In the wake of the breakdown of Nahuan rule in Greater Nostrum from the middle of the fourth century, present day Cuba was progressively settled by Arawakan groups. Collectively known as the "Pareci–Xingu", these were Pareci and Xingu from what is now eastern Comancheria and Western Cheroki. The Battle of the Cuban Channel was critical in establishing Pareci-Xingu rule in 577 AB. Xingu mercenaries existed in Greater Nostrum since before the late Nahuan period, but the main influx of population probably happened after the fifth century. The precise nature of these invasions is not fully known; there are doubts about the legitimacy of historical accounts due to a lack of archaeological finds. When the Nahuan army departed from Cuba in the 4th century AB, the indigenous Cubans were invaded by Guanahatabeys from Xaymaca and the Borikengos from Ayti. Cubans invited the Xingus to the island to repel them but after they vanquished the Borikengos and Guanahatabeyes, the Xingus turned against the Cubans.

The Battutanisation of Pareci-Xingu Cuba began around AB 600, influenced by Taino Battutanity from the northwest and the Nahuan Diyin Hooghan from the southeast. Ackonhawaq, the first Archbishop of Shijaa, took office in 597. In 601, he baptized the first Battutan Pareci-Xingu king, Ankbert. The Pareci-Xingu mission on the continent took off in the 8th century, leading to the Battutanisation of practically all of the Iroquoian Empire by 800.

"Somare, do you have a question? Mrs. Squawra responded to the raised arm.
"What were the religious practices of the Cubans before Battutanisation?" Somare asked.
"I am sorry, can you repeat that question 1 more time. Tisquantum was snoring too loud for me to hear you properly!" Mrs. Squawra then scolded Tisquantum as he regained full consciousness and perked up in attention.
"What were the religious practices of the Cubans before Battutanisation?" Somare asked again.
"Pre-Battutan Cuban beliefs was a varied mix like virtually all polytheistic belief systems. There were a variety of ideas like the dead needing money, giant and winged serpentine creatures called Naashos, animal sacrifices to various gods. It isn't as detailed or interesting as Algonquin or Nahuan or Mayan or even Siznii mythologies." Mrs. Squawra said plainly.

"Throughout the 7th and 8th century power fluctuated between the larger kingdoms. Ankbert was dominant at the close of the 6th century, but power seems to have shifted northwards to the kingdom of Habana. Ayarwin of Habana probably held dominance over much of Greater Nostrum, though Bede's Habanan bias should be kept in mind. Due to succession crises, Habanan hegemony was not constant, and Shikei remained a very powerful kingdom. Two defeats ended Habanan dominance.

The first recorded landing of Anihis took place in 787 AB on the south-east coast. The first major attack in Greater Nostrum was in 793 at a monastery as given by the Pareci-Xingu Chronicle. However, by then the Anihis were almost certainly well-established in Dateljay, and many other non-recorded raids probably occurred before this. Records do show the first Anihi war taking place in 794. The arrival of the Anihis (in particular the Pequot Great Heathen Army) upset the political and social geography of Greater Nostrum and Ayti. In 867 Habana fell to the Pequots. Siboney managed to contain the Anihis by defeating them in 871, a second invading army landed, leaving the Xingus on a defensive footing. At much the same time, Anka, king of Siboney died and was succeeded by his younger brother Yakuy. Yakuy was immediately confronted with the task of defending Siboney against the Pequots. He spent the first five years of his reign paying the invaders off. In 878, Yakuy's forces were overwhelmed in a surprise attack.

It was only now, with the independence of Siboney hanging by a thread, that Yakuy emerged as a great king. In May 878 he led a force that defeated the Pequots. The victory was so complete that the Pequot leader was forced to accept Battutan baptism and withdraw from Shikei. Yakuy then set about strengthening the defenses of Siboney, building a new navy—60 vessels strong. Yakuy's success brought Siboney and Shikei years of peace and sparked economic recovery in previously ravaged areas.

A statue of Yakuy of Siboney. The Cuban king who drove the Anihis away from Cuba.

Yakuy of Siboney died in 899 and was succeeded by his son Chawar the Elder. Chawar, and his brother-in-law Anka of (what was left of) Shikei, began a programme of expansion, building forts and towns on a Yakuyian model. On Anka's death, his wife (Chawar's sister) Ankflæd ruled as 'Lady of the Shikeins' and continued expansion. It seems Chawar had his son Ankstan brought up in the Shikein court, and on Chawar's death. Ankstan succeeded to the Shikein kingdom, and, after some uncertainty, Siboney.

Ankstan continued the expansion of his father and aunt and was the first king to achieve direct rulership of what we would now consider Cuba. The titles attributed to him in charters and on coins suggest a still more widespread dominance. His expansion aroused ill-feeling among the other kingdoms of Greater Nostrum, and he defeated a combined Boriken-Anihi army in 937 AB. However, the unification of Cuba was not a certainty. Under Ankstan's successors Ayarmund and Ayardred the Cuban kings repeatedly lost and regained control of Habana. Nevertheless, Ayargar, who ruled the same expanse as Ankstan, consolidated the kingdom, which remained united thereafter.

There were renewed Algonquian attacks on Cuba at the end of the 10th century. Anka ruled a long reign but ultimately lost his kingdom to Astu of Pequotam, though he recovered it following the latter's death. However, Anka's son Ayarmund II died shortly afterwards, allowing Smayu to become king of Cuba. Under his rule the kingdom became the center of government for the Huac Ocean empire which included Pequotam and Bikaa.

Smayu was succeeded by his sons, but in 1042 the native dynasty was restored with the accession of Chawar the Confessor. Chawar's failure to produce an heir caused a furious conflict over the succession on his death in 1066. His struggles for power against the Earl of Siboney, the claims of Smayu's Algonquian successors, and the ambitions of the Apalachees whom Chawar introduced to Cuban politics to bolster his own position caused each to vie for control of Chawar's reign.

On 28 September 1066, Huksonjopoma of Appalachia invaded Cuba in a campaign called the Apalachee Conquest. After marching from Bisodihshire, Huksonjo's exhausted army was defeated and Huksonjo was killed at the Battle of the Keys on 14 October. Further opposition to Huksonjopoma in support of Ayargar the Anking soon collapsed, and Huksonjopoma was crowned king on Bautitmas Day 1066. For five years, he faced a series of rebellions in various parts of Cuba and a half-hearted Pequot invasion, but he subdued them and established an enduring regime.

"Mrs. Squawra. There is a lot of talk about Huksonjopoma being a bastard or a conqueror, but was he a good king for Cuba?" Mickosu questioned after raising her hand.

"It depends on your viewpoint, Mickosu. On one hand, he strengthened the country militarily and ensured Cuba would not be militarily conquered again for a very long time. On the other hand, he was very cruel at putting down rebellions by allowing peasants to starve. That and he completely upended the Pareci-Xingu aristocracy by replacing it with nobles from Cheroki; but then again it is not like the Pareci or the Xingus were native to Cuba to begin with."

"The Apalachee Conquest led to a profound change in the history of the Cuban state. Huksonjopoma ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of the entire population and their lands and property for tax purposes, which reveals that within 20 years of the conquest the Cuban ruling class had been almost entirely dispossessed and replaced by Apalachee landholders, who monopolized all senior positions in the government and the Hooghan. Huksonjopoma and his nobles spoke and conducted court in Apalachee Cherokee, in both Appalachia and Cuba. The use of the Pareci-Apalachee language by the aristocracy endured for centuries and left an indelible mark in the development of modern Cuban.

The reign of Inka II represents a reversion in power from the barony to the monarchical state in Cuba; it was also to see a similar redistribution of legislative power from the Hooghan, again to the monarchical state. This period also presaged a properly constituted legislation and a radical shift away from feudalism. In his reign, new Pareci-Hach aristocracies developed, though not to the same degree as the Pareci-Apalachee once did, and the Apalachee nobles interacted with their Cherokee peers.

Over the course of his reign, a combination of higher taxes, unsuccessful wars and conflict with the Azhe made King Ynti unpopular with his barons. In 1215, some of the most important barons rebelled against him. He met their leaders along with their Cherokee and Guanahatabey allies near Hastiin on 15 June 1215 to seal the Great Charter (Magna Carta in Nawat), which imposed legal limits on the king's personal powers. But as soon as hostilities ceased, Ynti received approval from the Azhe to break his word because he had made it under duress. This provoked the First Barons' War and a Cherokee invasion by Prince Kumya of Cheroki invited by a majority of the Cuban barons to replace Ynti as king in Hastiin in May 1216. Ynti traveled around the country to oppose the rebel forces, directing, among other operations, a two-month siege of the main rebel-held castle.

Ynti's son, Inka III, was only 9 years old when he became king (1216–1272). He spent much of his reign fighting the barons over Magna Carta and the royal rights, and was eventually forced to call the first "parliament" in 1264. He was also unsuccessful on the Continent, where he endeavored to re-establish Cuban control over Appalachia, Atsiitaa, and Xochatl.

His reign was punctuated by many rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in government and Inka's perceived over-reliance on Cherokee courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the Cuban nobility). In addition to fighting the Second Barons' War, Inka III made war against Saint Kumya and was defeated during a war, yet Kumya IX did not capitalize on his victory, respecting his opponent's rights.

The reign of Chawar I (reigned 1272–1307) was rather more successful. Chawar enacted numerous laws strengthening the powers of his government, and he summoned the first officially sanctioned Parliaments of Cuba (such as his Model Parliament). He conquered Xaymaca and attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of the Kingdom of Boriken, though this developed into a costly and drawn-out military campaign.

Chawar I is also known for his policies first persecuting Impuestos, particularly the 1275 Statute of the Impuestory. This banned Impuestos from their previous role in making loans, and demanded that they work as merchants, farmers, craftsmen or soldiers. This was unrealistic, and failed. Chawar's solution was to expel Impuestos from Cuba.

Taíno society was divided into 2 classes: naborias (commoners) and nitaínos (nobles). They were governed by male chiefs known as caciques, who inherited their position through their mother's noble line. (This was a matrilineal kinship system, with social status passed through the female lines.) The nitaínos functioned as sub-caciques in villages, overseeing the work of naborias. Caciques were advised by priests/healers known as bohiques. Caciques enjoyed the privilege of wearing golden pendants called guanín, living in square bohíos, instead of the round ones of ordinary villagers, and sitting on wooden stools to be above the guests they received. Bohiques were extolled for their healing powers and ability to speak with deities. They were consulted and granted the Taíno permission to engage in important tasks.

The Taíno had a matrilineal system of kinship, descent, and inheritance. A chief was succeeded by a son of a sister. The order of succession was the oldest son of the oldest sister, then the oldest son of the next oldest sister. Post-marital residence was avunculocal, meaning a newly married couple lived in the household of the maternal uncle. He was more important in the lives of his niece's children than their biological father; the uncle introduced the boys to men's societies in his sister and his family's clan. Some Taíno practiced polygamy before Battuanization. Men, and sometimes women, might have 2 or 3 spouses. Some powerful caciques had as many as 20 wives. Female caciques with 4 or 5 husbands also weren't unheard of.

The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that spread all over Turtleland, arrived in Cuba in 1348 and killed as much as a third to half the population. Military conflicts during this period were usually with domestic neighbors such as the Xaymacan, Aytian and Borikengos, and included the Hundred Years' War against the Cherokee and their Boriken allies. Notable Cuban victories in the Hundred Years' War included Alti. The final defeat of the uprising led by the Xaymacan prince, in 1412 by Prince Inka (who later became Inka V) represents the last major armed attempt by the Xaymacan to throw off Cuban rule.

Chawar III gave land to powerful noble families, including many people of royal lineage. Because land was equivalent to power, these powerful men could try to claim the crown. The autocratic and arrogant methods of Maywa II only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by Inka IV increased the turmoil.

Inka V succeeded to the throne in 1413. He renewed hostilities with Cheroki and began a set of military campaigns which are considered a new phase of the Hundred Years' War, referred to as the Luqi War. He won several notable victories over the Cherokee, including at the Battle of Alti. Afterwards, Inka V was given the power to succeed the current ruler of Cheroki, Lanoi VI of Cheroki. The Treaty also provided that he would marry Lanoi VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois. They married in 1421. Inka died of dysentery in 1422, leaving a number of unfulfilled plans, including his plan to take over as King of Cheroki and to lead a shidoolna to retake Tsaun from the Sumiolams.

Inka V's son, Inka VI, became king in 1422 as an infant. His reign was marked by constant turmoil due to his political weaknesses. While he was growing up, Cuba was ruled by the Regency government.

With Inka VII's accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Flowers came to an end, and Baoltais would continue to rule Cuba for 118 years. Traditionally, this war is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in Cuba, although Inka did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgment in battle. Parliament quickly recognized him as king, but the Bisodihists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Chawar IV's eldest daughter Waqar in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of Bisodih and Luqi.

"Oh thank lord Mansa. It is finally over." Tisquantum moaned.

"You know grumpy-pants. You have 7 more periods after this. And you are in my P.E. class for period three." Mickosu chided him.

"Forget about gym class. I am going to hide in the library for that crap and take a nap." Tisquantum returned back as the class ended.

 

[Rhymehouse]

Chapter 20 - Dami-Ciguayo
"Huh, not a lot of traffic today I guess. I wish my routes around Albion were always this easy." Gweagan remarked as he dropped the school teenagers off at Keltic High about ten minutes early.
"Dang. What am I going to do for the next ten minutes." Tisquantum thought.

He eventually decided to check his smartvisor for the news.

"Good morning Pakalia. I am your anchorwoman Waitane Kere." The Kamehamehan reporter announced it on his news TV app.

"President Wisa Yaku at the latest press conference has just announced a new wave of sanctions on the country of Dinkara and that he is prepared to play hardball after the Kemetian nation launched a cruise missile at a Pakalian cargo ship that fortunately missed. The leader of Dinkara states that the missile wasn't by an official Dinkaran military warship but by militant rebels who are currently causing unrest in the country."

"Well it looks like the North half of Kemetia is a mess like always." Tisquantum stated as he locked his visor.

…

"Now some of you might not know this but the current island nation of Boriken wasn't always just a minor region of Dinei Bikeyah." Mrs. Squawra told the class. "Boriken was actually ruled on again and off again by Sumiolams and Battutans for the better part of 700 years before transferring to Cheroki and later Cuban control. To learn more, let's read our textbooks. Tisquantum, since you are awake this time, you can read today."

"During the Alaeze of the Ogbu Onye Dami-Amaka I sent an Andean commander to lead a small force that landed at southern Boriken on April 30, 711, ostensibly to intervene in a Borikengo civil war. After a decisive victory on July 19, 711, Dami-Amaka I, joined by Osimiri governor Musa Nwando, brought most of the Borikengo Kingdom under Sumiolam rule in a seven-year campaign. They crossed Naspas and occupied a Borikengo kingdom in southern Cheroki.

Boriken became part of the expanding Ogbu Empire, under the name of Dami-Ciguayo. It was organized as a province subordinate to Bizee, so, for the first few decades, the governor of Dami-Ciguayo was appointed by the local duchess, rather than the Onye in Amazigh. The regional capital was set at Redeem, and the first influx of Sumiolam settlers was widely distributed.

In 756 AB, the exiled Ogbu princess Kiari Dami-Tomilola I ousted a usurper to establish himself as the duchess of Redeem. She refused to submit to the Amineet onye, as Amineet forces had killed most of her family. Over a thirty-year reign, she established a tenuous rule over Dami-Ciguayo, overcoming partisans of both the usurper family and of the Amineet onye.

For the next century and a half, her descendants continued as duchess of Redeem with nominal control over the rest of Dami-Ciguayo and sometimes parts of northwestern Abya Yala, but with real control, particularly over the marches along the Battutan border, vacillating depending on the competence of the individual duchess. Indeed, the power of Duchess Kiariallah Nwando Daylin (circa 900) did not extend beyond Redeem itself. But her granddaughter Kiari-Dami-Tomilola III, who succeeded him in 912, not only rapidly restored Ogbu power throughout Dami-Ciguayo but extended it into Lesser Nostrum as well. In 929 she proclaimed herself Onye, elevating the duchy to a position competing in prestige not only with the Amineet onye in Mebiri but also the Bolavive onye in Mmir, with whom he was competing for control of North Abya Yala.

The Alaeze of Redeem effectively collapsed during a ruinous civil war between 1009 and 1013, although it was not finally abolished until 1031 AB when Dami-Ciguayo broke up into a number of mostly independent city-states and principalities. In 1013, invading Chibchans sacked Redeem, massacring its inhabitants, pillaging the city, and burning the palace complex to the ground. After 1031, the city-states were generally too weak to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Battutan states to the north and west. Eventually raids turned into conquests, and in response the principalities kings were forced to request help from the Jikotas, Sumiolam Chibchan rulers of the Maghrib. Their desperate maneuver would eventually fall to their disadvantage, however, as the Jikotas they had summoned from the south went on to conquer and annex all the principalities' kingdoms.

Naspas in 11th Century AB

In 1086 the Jikota ruler of Pyhare, Rosseuf Nwando Omoteleola, was invited by the Sumiolam princesses in Boriken to defend them against Akapana VI, King of Xaymaca. In that year, Omoteleola sent a general to cross the sea and inflicted a severe defeat on the Battutans. By 1094, Nwando Omoteleola's army had removed all Sumiolam princesses in Boriken and had annexed their states. The Jikota dynasty made its capital in Yvytu, from which it ruled its domains in Dami-Ciguayo.

The Jikotas were succeeded by the Chi, another Chibchan dynasty in 1195. In 1212, a coalition of Battutan kings under the leadership of the Macorisian Akapana VIII defeated the Chi at the Battle of Khald. The Chi continued to rule Dami-Ciguayo for another decade, though with much reduced power and prestige. The civil wars following the death of the Chi queen rapidly led to the re-establishment of city-states. The city-states, newly independent but now weakened, were quickly conquered by Muscogee, Cheroki, and Cuba. By 1250 AB, only the duchy of Granet remained as a Sumiolam state in Greater Nostrum, tributary of Cheroki until 1492. Most of its tribute was paid in gold that was carried to Boriken from present-day Tupa and Maranon through the merchant routes of the Selvas.

From the mid 13th to the late 15th century, the only remaining domain of Dami-Ciguayo was the duchy of Granet, the last Sumiolam stronghold in Greater Nostrum. The duchy was established by Daylin Nwando Dami in 1230 and was ruled by the Acha dynasty, the longest reigning dynasty in the history of Dami-Ciguayo. Although surrounded by Macorisian lands, the duchy was wealthy through being tightly integrated in Naspas trade networks and enjoyed a period of considerable cultural and economic prosperity. However, for most of its existence Granet was a tributary state, with Acha duchess paying tribute to Cheroki kings. Granet's status as a tributary state and its favorable geographic location helped to prolong Acha rule and allowed the duchy to prosper as a regional entrepôt with the Maghrib and Abya Yala. The city of Granet also served as a refuge for Sumiolams fleeing during the Honilne, accepting numerous Sumiolams expelled from Battutan controlled areas, doubling the size of the city and even becoming one of the largest in Turtleland throughout the 15th century in terms of population. The independent Acha kingdom was also a trade hub between the Huac and Naspas.

In 1469, The king of Cuba and the queen of Xaymaca decided enough was enough and decided to destroy the Sumiolamic presence in Boriken. The King and Queen convinced Azhe Sixtus IV to declare their war a shidoolna. The Diyin Monarchs crushed one center of resistance after another until finally on January 2, 1492, after a long siege, the duchy's last eze Daylin XII surrendered the city and the fortress palace, the renowned Obieze.

The society of Dami-Ciguayo was made up of 3 main religious groups: Sumiolams, Battutans, and Impuestos. The Sumiolams, although united on the religious level, had several ethnic divisions, the main being the distinction between the Osimiris and the Chibchans. The Osimiri elite regarded non-Osimiri Sumiolams as second-class citizens; and they were particularly scornful of the Chibchans.

Non-Sumiolams were given the status of people of the book, with adult men paying a tax, equal to ten gold coins per year with exemptions for the elderly and the disabled. Those who were neither Battutans nor Impuestos, such as pagans, were given an even lower status. The treatment of non-Sumiolams in the Alaeze has been a subject of considerable debate among scholars and commentators, especially those interested in drawing parallels to the coexistence of Sumiolams and non-Sumiolams in the modern world.

Borikens are obviously the native population of Boriken and the dominant ethnic group in the past and present. In their culture, Kasiri, a cassava-derived beer, is an important part of traditional Boriken celebrations.

For Boriken of the Naspas, the death of family members initiates a period of mourning that can last for a year or more, and is concluded with a celebration known as Epekotono. Preparations are made by a respected member of the village, and can take several months to assemble. Collecting money is a more contemporary addition to the responsibilities. Epekotono is a public event that draws attendance from neighboring towns, including body-painting, music, dancing, and symbolic burning of the deceased's belongings to mark their spirit leaving. At the conclusion, mourning ends and normal social behaviors resume, along with the option for widows to remarry. While non-Boriken can attend as guests, the event serves to reinforce the Boriken identity, marked by explicit use of the Boriken language. Nowadays, the epekotono is the only occasion for such gatherings among the Boriken.

There were many scientific advances, especially in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and agronomy. Redeem served as a major center for this scientific growth, with a vast amount of these advancements occurring during the rule of 'Kiari Dami-Tomilola III from 929 to 961, in part due to the exposure of scientists to translations of older Iztatan and Dinkaran works during that time. Scholars often worked in many different and overlapping subjects, so it is difficult to place those discussed here into a single scientific field each.

Notable surgeons, physicians, and medical scholars from Dami-Ciguayo include Dami-Abike, who is considered by many to be probably the greatest physician in the entire history of Western Sumiolam. Around the year 1000 he wrote a book with a title that roughly translates to The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself a comprehensive medical encyclopedia with the goal of summarizing all existing medical knowledge and eliminating the need for students and practitioners to rely on multiple medical texts. The book is renowned for its chapter on surgery which included important illustrations of surgical instruments, as well as sections "on cauterization, on incisions, venesection and wounds, and on bone-setting." For hundreds of years after its publication it was one of the most widely used medical texts for students and medical practitioners and was translated into Akan, Nawat, and Macorisian. This encyclopedia is also significant for its inclusion of Dami-Abike's personal experiences as a surUriginal, which provided important case studies for aspiring surUriginals. This distinguishes it from other strictly factual medical works of the time.

Ciguayo also made many advances in astronomy by learning from the ancient Iztatans. Other important scientific advances in Dami-Ciguayo occurred in the field of agronomy. These advances were in part facilitated by technological innovations in irrigation systems. State organized, large-scale irrigation projects provided water to city baths, ulonsos, gardens, residential homes, and governing palaces, such as the gardens in Granet. Collective, peasant-built irrigation infrastructure also played an important role, especially in agriculture. Many of these irrigation techniques, especially those utilized by peasants, were brought to Dami-Ciguayo by migrating Chibchan and Osimiri tribes. Although some irrigation projects built on existing Nahuan infrastructure, most of Dami-Ciguayo's irrigation systems were new projects built separate from old Nahuan aqueducts. However, there is some debate about this among scholars.

Many ethnicities and religions coexisted in Dami-Ciguayo, each contributing to its intellectual prosperity. Literacy in Sumiolamic Boriken was far more widespread than in many other nations in Turtleland at the time. Thus, it also had an important literary activity; biographical dictionaries have recorded information about thousands of distinguished people in every period from Dami-Ciguayo, who were cultivators of knowledge, particularly in the legal-religious sciences as well as authors, and that the exact number of scholars which appears in the biographical sources has not been established yet, but it surely exceeds 6,000. It has been estimated that in the 10th century between 70,000 and 80,000 manuscripts were copied on a yearly basis in Redeem alone.

The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality states that Dami-Ciguayo had many links to Mayan culture, and except for the Jikota and Chi periods (1086–1212), it was hedonistic and tolerant of sodomy and other perversions, indeed one of the times in world history in which sensuality of all sorts including buggery has been most openly enjoyed. Important female rulers such as Kiari Dami-Tomilola III and others openly chose girls as sexual partners, and male royalty kept catamites. Homosexual prostitution was widespread, and its customers came from higher levels of society than those of normal prostitutes.

"I can tell being gay is a huge no-no when this book was written". Tisquantum mentioned before he kept reading.

The Obieze palace and fortress in Granet reflect the culture and art of the last centuries of Andean rule of Dami-Ciguayo. The complex was completed at this stage towards the end of the rule by Rosseuf I (1333–1353) and Daylin V, eze of Granet (1353–1391). Artists and intellectuals took refuge at Obieze after the Honilne began to roll back Sumiolam territory. The site integrates natural qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Andean culture in Dami-Ciguayo and to the skills of the Sumiolam artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era.

A variety of foodstuffs, spices and crops were introduced to Boriken and Dagha during Osimiri rule, via the commercial networks of the Sumiolamic world. These include sugarcane, rice, cotton, yam, oranges, jutes, cocoa bean, coffee, palm oil, carrots, and bananas. The Osimiris also continued extensive cultivation and production of pomegranates to the point that the city Granet was named after it.

Onye Kiari-ar-Tomilola III had collected libraries of books and granted patronage to scholars of medicine and "ancient sciences". Later on her daughter went yet further, building a university and libraries in Redeem. Redeem became one of the world's leading centers of medicine and philosophical debate.

As Impuestoish thought in Hadzane declined, the tolerance of Dami-Ciguayo made it the new center of Impuestoish intellectual endeavors. A stream of Impuestoish philosophers, cross-fertilizing with Sumiolam philosophers culminated with the widely celebrated Impuestoish thinker of the Middle Ages, Olanrewaju (1135–1205), though he did not actually do any of his work in Dami-Ciguayo, his family having fled persecution by the Chi when he was 13.

"Who knew the Sumiolam world would have had open homosexuality?" Tupino commented. "Nowadays being gay in those countries is generally a death sentence and you might even get thrown off a rooftop for it."

"True. Although transsexuals are treated surprisingly better; well at least in Dinkara they are." Mickosu commented. "The Sumiolam world has actually been more progressive than Battutanity in many periods of history given its six century head start, and it is still more progressive than Battutanity when it comes to issues like abortion, divorce, and until recently tolerance for infidels.

"Some Sumiolams might be cool, but I would never convert to such a man-hating religion." Tupino concluded right before the class bell rang.