Ovstylap wrote:WIP Nation Application - Marching Forward RP
Nation Name: Momelka al-Maharibin al-Sharfa/Embratoria al Malek (The Realm of Honourable Warriors, or the Empire of the Al-Maliks)
Name Shorthand: Al-Maliks, the Southlands, The Land of the Ka'Rahib.
Leader: Sultan Mussadiq Hakeem Al-Malik
Government Type: Semi-Centralised Elective Monarchy.
Ideology: Stratocratic bureaucracy, militarism, expansionist, mercantilism, caste-system
Capital City: Al-Artakah
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Language(s): Ka-Rahib, Lyrenacian, Murd (Arabic, Berber, Carthaginian Dialect, Bambara)
Faith(s): Kahari, Lyrene Pantheon, various local/folk religions/shamanism/spiritualism (Strict Sunni Islam, Punic religion, various Sub-Saharan minor religions)
IRL Culture and Ethnic Equivalent: A blend of Arabic, Berber, Punic, and Malian
Population: 14 million (a further 10 million exist in a blend of tributary and vassal states which drift in and out of rule)
Political Issues: Religious intolerance, ethnic divisions, competition between the cities, host to corsairs, unwilling tributaries
Religious IntoleranceAlthough the Al-Malik dynasty officially practices a doctrine of religious tolerance, that does not mean the population at large do. There is often a divide between the often Kahari adherent Ka-Rahib and Ashteribs, as well as the various peoples raised by them, and those of the cities who follow the Lyrene Pantheon. Even worse is the antagonism towards the various Murd faiths, which are looked upon often with contempt or as not fully formed religions by the Kahari. The use of faith to reinforce the subjugation of the Murd adds yet another point of contention to these peoples who are kept in line by threat of steel.
Ethnic DivisionsThe Ka-Rahib, and Ashteribs dominate the military, and are often the most trusted by the Sultan and those he appoints. Whilst the Lyrenes and other natives inhabit many of the cities, a whole mixture of minor ethnic groups inhabit various rural areas. But it is the Murd tributaries who are most brutally treated. The various divisions, which cross cultural, linguistic, and religious lines, undermine bureaucracy, taxation, and internal stability.
Competition between the CitiesFor a millenium have the Lyrene cities spread all along the coasts of the Southern lands, and throughout history have they rivalled one another. They may have a Sultan, a language, a ruling class, and a currency in common, but trade policies, tariffs, and friendship in common? Oh no, no they do not. Each of the Lyrene port cities competes to have more visitors, and to be more lucrative, and the rivalries can be very intense, to the point that the Ka-Rahib and their Ashterib secondaries often fail to understand. In the push to make more wealth, slave labour is increasingly used, putting yet more pressure upon the Murd tributaries.
Host to CorsairsFrom inlets and natural harbours, from caves, from small islands, come the Corsairs of the South. Though some might think their fast galleys are effective trade vessels, and indeed they may well be, many come to raid, enslave, and pillage. Even, have vessels from the United Provinces been beset (though increasingly rarely) in the past. Of course, whilst the language and ethnicity of these corsairs is often known, the ability to deal with them is fiercely contested by the realm, which requests evidence from foreign dignitaries, and is completely opposed to foreign intervention. Indeed, the corsairs can be useful indeed, but of course some are destroyed as they end up deterring honest trade, or to show off to foreign dignitaries, or because they brake the unspoken agreement and raid their own realm.
Unwilling Tributaries Mind you, since when was a tributary ever willing? Well along the peripheries of the realm lie a myriad of realms, towns, provinces, tribes and the like of varying sizes, histories, loyalties, and treaties. At large however the Murd ethno-cultural group is oppressed relentlessly; with tributes and slaves exacted regularly and occasionally pitilessly. Though revolts do break out, they are then suppressed harshly, occasionally leading to demographic issues.
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Military Information: Sultan Mussadiq Hakeem Al-Malik can call upon a military which is renowned for its skill and courage at arms, but not for its technology. Gunpowder and artillery is infrequently used, and fortifications are often very impressive, but not designed for use against cannon. Still, what adversary could even bring cannon to bare against the Sultan's loyal cities?
Even since the 12th century, not a great amount has changed in some ways. Excellent composite bows remain a weapon of choice, though Lyrene city garrisons often use crossbows. Skill with scimitar, mace, lance, and bow are what are prized. The trebuchet and ballistae tend to be the siege weapons of choice, whilst wagon-mounted scorpions grace the battlefield.
The Sultan himself can call upon his own forces, numbering some 12000, whilst his directly appointed governors and the Ka-Rahib hosts can bring a further 36000 to bare. But when one includes the great many garrisons, the fact that a great many of the nomadic peoples are a warrior class in themselves, and of course the large numbers of slave-soldiers, or rather, honourable warriors, there are, well then a much, much larger force can be raised.
Though the technology they use is not that impressive, generations of raising child-soldiers, of crushing rebellions, fighting civil wars, raiding petty kingdoms, oppressing the Murds, and refining the crafting of armour and weapons, as well as fighting in often rough, hot, or arid terrain, does mean a few things. The Al-Maliks can call upon excellent horses and camels, fiercesome war-elephants, a built up logistic system, and hardened warriors.
There exists a code of honour amongst the military. If a settlement fails to surrender after three separate negotiations, or once a substantial breach is made in a wall, if it does not surrender, it forfeits its rights to mercy. Prisoner exchanges, and the allowance of garrison passes, are seen as almost sacred. An enemy, or even a friendly general or leader who brakes these, loses all credibility, and often receives no mercy. The Sultan had his own third son exiled for ordering the execution of a stubborn rebel garrison after they had finally surrendered, which his own commander had refused to carry out- resulting in a duel between him and the prince, which although the prince won, could find no other officer willing to give the order. Further, trickery during a parley is seen as an absolute disgrace. If promises are made where blood could be spilled, or has been saved, then they are worth exactly that, life.
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Brief/Initial History: For many millenia have the Southern lands been inhabited by a great range of peoples. The area has seen a great amount of migration, conquest, and settlement, with a great mixture of ethnic groups having scatterings of their people here. Many settled along the coasts, or the rivers, or the oases, and in time, the populaces would grow.
Undoubtedly however, due to traders, travelers, and even a few colonial expeditions, much of the region would be influenced by the spread of various currencies, technologies, and iron, from an empire across the sea, which the city of Lyrene particularly capitalised on- giving tribute to this empire and receiving a technological edge over the native populations.
In 558 BC, the city of Lyrene sent out its first expedition, and by 423 BC, the cities of Tarkla, Bourze, Kassayid, and Umm Beyid had been founded. The Lyrenacians would settle many prominent towns along the coasts, with these often gaining their own independence, and forming their own relations with the other peoples living in the region. The most dominant of all of these was the cultural group of the Ash'ari, a nomadic group who could be found throughout the lands.
Over the following centuries, Lyrenacian city states would form, spread their own colonies, trade overseas, and collapse for various reasons, whilst other peoples loyalties swayed between them. The Ash'ari would splinter as some began to settle, and others merged with the newly migrating Terib people in the late 5th century AD.
The Ashterib peoples would gradually come to dominate the river-kingdoms and often peaceful peoples of the Murd cultural group, many of whom lived further away from the coasts. Some independent kingdoms remained, and the tensions between these existed for many a century. In the 900s a series of brutal wars between the Lyrenacian cities occurred, and in the 1040s, and 1070s, new migrations destabilised the region. It was in 1189 however that the history of the region truly changed.
A great host came from the North-East. Hardened, brutal, warmongering, but honourable. Their mastery of horse archery, their tenacity, and their skilful tactics would soon come to be feared. These men had come from deserts north even of the sea, and had conquered their way through other kingdoms, looking for new lands.
Their first act in 1190 was the complete destruction of Khazaouet, followed by Akhycheira in 1193. These cities had failed to pay tribute. One after another, these newcomers forced the various Lyrenacian cities into submission, playing them off against one another, and benefitting from the support of one until its turn also came. They stretched rapidly along the coast, not fearing to topple governments and appoint their own peoples, but returned with brutality if their tributes were left unpaid or their representatives harmed.
The Ashterib people were still very much nomadic, and had many similar customs, and even a faith of some compatibility in terms of its laws and spiritual theology. As such, though their roles as the mercenaries and enforcers of the Lyrenacian cities over the other local populace was reduced, they began to integrate with the newcomers. These newcomers, the Ka-Rahib, were here to stay. In theory, they owed allegiance to recently established Veyanithian Empire, but appeared to be conquering a realm for themselves. Still, these nominal ties remain to this day, even if often only on the highest levels.
By 1236, the Kusaif dynasty was established, the centre of a series of tributaries. For the Ka-Rahib, the issue was always the replenishment of their numbers, and overtime, they gradually gathered a larger host from taking the children of the vanquished as wards of their own, as well as practicing slavery on a great scale, with many child slaves brought up to be warriors.
Over the following centuries, the Ka-Rahib would spread their dominance, gradually subjugating the entirety of the Southlands, though centralisation never occurred. Many dynasties, rebellions, civil wars, and realm breakups occurred, until 1523, from which time the Al-Malik dynasty, itself arose from Warriors of Honour (Maharbo Charf- often termed Machar in common parlance), has ruled. With an expansion of the state bureaucracy, and the introduction of state monopolies on alcohol, salt, iron, gold, and paper, they have been filling their coffers. The cities are tied to the Sultan, enforced by his moving court and armies, and from their established strongholds along the coasts and rivers, the Murd peoples are kept under a particularly repressive rule, with many of their number taken as slaves, and forcible relocations often occurring.
The Al-Malik Dynasty seeks to safeguard its own dominant position, whilst economically expanding, increasing stability, and ensuring that the Murd tributaries continue to pay. Still, there are many fractures which could be exploited by cunning opponents.