Caďinas
From Almeopedia
Caďinas [ka ˈði nas] was the name of the ancient kingdom and empire which grew from humble origins to dominate Eretald, and then in concert with the Tžuro, to conquer the ktuvok empire of Munkhâsh. It is the cultural ancestor of Verduria and most other states of Eretald.
Etymology: Caď., from Proto-Eastern *kaduns, "river fork", Bar. Kadhina; Ax. Kazineli, X. Kazinel, Cuêzi Cazinoro; (Ver. Kaino is a cognate but the word refers to a particular region)
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Origins
The Caďinorians were part of the Central peoples who invaded Eretald along with the Cuzeians, starting in -375. For the first decades after the conquest the Cuzeians ruled the middle Svetla, as the kingdom of Metayu, while the Central peoples occupied the eastern third of Eretald. When the Inibeigō clan fell into civil war, and the Cuzeians occupied the Eärdur valley, the Central peoples occupied the Svetla, around -300.
At this time the Central peoples along the Svetla were divided into the Kahinisa in the north, the Caďinorians in the center, and the Arániceri in the south. Only Cayenas was an organized kingdom; the Caďinorians and Arániceri were divided into a sea of small squabbling baronies. Aránicer was organized around 100. Both of these kingdoms were under strong Cuzeian influence; indeed, their rulers conducted their official business in Cuêzi.
The Central people were polytheists, though the chief gods differed by region— indeed, the Arániceri had an entirely different set from the other tribes. The gods were in many ways the property of the baronial elite and their priests; the common people concerned themselves with the much more accessible fantit, spirits, who would take possession of aiďocliťuit, godspeakers. They also worshipped gesit or home idols, which they made themselves.
The calendar used in Almean studies, the zonî Erei, has as its base year the founding of Ctesifos, by the legendary hero Tanouvas, though even the imperial historians could not pretend that the city amounted to much at the time. Indeed, the town soon fell under the dominion of the Scadrorionit, a clan based in Nandaros, a town about 40 km downriver. It was not till 462 that Ctesifos, under Erbelaica, pushed out its Scadrorion overlord.
The kingdom of Ctesifos
The Munkhâshi invasion
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By this time they had a much more serious problem to deal with: the ktuvok empire of Munkhâsh poured across the Ctelm mountains in 440, and quickly conquered half of Eretald. The Munkhâshi had mastered riding horses in battle (as opposed to using chariots), and had iron weapons; both advantages helped them conquer almost all of the Central and Meťaiun peoples. The Caďinorians always boasted that the Munkhâshi never occupied Ctesifos; this is more or less true— though they did sack the city— but this was largely because by the time they crossed the Svetla, the Munkhâshi were after larger prey: the powerful kingdom of Cuzei. They besieged its capital Eleisa for three years (455-58), and it was the Cuzeians— with the assistance of 2000 iliu— who lifted the siege and pushed the Munkhâshi back across the Svetla.
The invasion and subsequent occupation were brutal— over 5 million Monkhayu and Caďinorians were killed on the battlefield or sacrificed to Munkhâshi gods in just the first sixty years, and perhaps 37 million over the course of the entire 710-year occupation. Society was reorganized to meet the military threat: all men were expected to be warriors; religion became an arm of the state; even the marriage ceremony included an appeal to the young couple to raise more soldiers to fight the demons.
Now there began a centuries-long struggle to push the Munkhâshi back. This was largely organized by Cuzei in the first two centuries. The Scadrorion states of Sisos and Sciael advanced more than 150 km from the Svetla; then, in 575-77, these advances were erased by a Munkhâshi counter-offensive. The Scadrorionit were greatly weakened by this, and Ctesifos blamed them and their disunity for the setback. The Cuzeians were uniting, taking over the traditionally independent Karazi states on its borders; the Caďinorians must do the same.
The Caďinorian League
In 590 the citizens of Sisos rebelled, and offered the leadership of the city to Ctesifos; but the elorion Kolandeor refused them, saying that he would not be a fomentor of revolutions; he sought a league, an alliance (cundetanda), not an empire. Caďinorian historians point to this renunciation as the proof of the disinterested virtue of the later Cundetanda caďina, the Caďinorian League; though others suggest that Kolandeor’s high-mindedness set back the formation of the League for more than a century.
Perhaps because it had not been a direct participant in the Scadrorion drive to the east, Ctesifos was now one of the largest towns along the middle Svetla. Like Aránicer upriver, it had adopted the Cuzeian invention of the market, without the Cuzeian reservations about the morality of trading; the entire Svetla was a strong trading zone. Aránicer, which had long used Cuêzi for administration, adapted the Cuzeian alphabet to write its language by about 650, and the middle Svetlan states followed by 700.
Around 720 the Munkhâshi began a new offensive, and in response the elorion Prigediset revived the idea of the League— largely by acting as if it were already in place. He organized an army, led it to each of the Svetlan towns, and waited while they made the decision to contribute to it— under his leadership— or not. The ever-larger army camped on their outskirts was a most effective marketing tool; only Sciael turned him down. The combined army was large enough to repel the Munkhâshi, though no new territory was won.
Prigediset then turned to organizing the new League. In theory it was only a military alliance, with Ctesifos in charge only during a campaign; but campaigns were frequent, and Ctesifos took a broad view of military necessity. It was also made clear to the members that secession was not an option. When the League turned to conquest, new land belonged to the League— which in practice meant that it was distributed by the elorion. Within a few decades, there was not much practical difference between the government of the League and that offered by (say) Aránicer: both were patchworks of towns and barons’ estate, with a good deal of internal autonomy, but strongly directed from the capital.
Through the 800s the League steadily pressured the Munkhâshi, pressing perhaps 140 km to the east— but the League developed an equal interest in the west. (In the same period, Aránicer made it almost to the Ctelm mountains.) The Nimoicū established their independence as Cuzei declined, and almost immediately tried their luck at raiding the now wealthy Svetlan towns; the League first mounted counter-raids, then co-opted nearby clans, and finally ended up conquering them.
The king of Ctesifos was also commander of the Caďinorian League; it was no stretch to call him the king of Caďinas, especially as the specific institutions of the League fell into disuse. At the same time Ctesifos began to sound insufficiently grand, and was increasingly replaced by the augmentative Ctesifon.
The conquest of Cuzei
By the late 900s, the decline of Cuzei had become scandalous. It was ever more prone to civil wars, to corruption, to extremist cults; but its high culture was just as baffling and even annoying to the practical Caďinorians: its cultured nobles seemed unmanly, its theology and philosophy unworldly (though these judgments did not prevent imitation).
When the general Bēgisios rebelled, the emperor Zeilisio IV asked for Caďinorian help. The king, Nusisponos, was willing; when he marched into Eleisa in 1012 he was acclaimed as a liberator. The rebels proved difficult to defeat, however, and the Cuzeians tired of the occupation; yet the Caďinorians could not see their way to leaving, which would seem like a defeat. Repressive measures were needed, and intensified under Nusisponos’s son Besclaies. Finally Cuzeian theism was outlawed (1052), Cuzeian law was replaced, and even Cuêzi was officially banned.
“Eärdur province” settled into a resigned stability, but at the cost of its prosperity and its high culture. The Eärdur, even once the Cuzeian element was watered down by Caďinorian colonization, was generally a headache for Ctesifon; and the episode had cemented Aránicer’s lead in the race to the Ctelm Mountains. Indeed, the Meťaiun had pulled ahead, establishing Awoilas on the far side of the mountains.
Mopping up rivals
Even after the conquest of Cuzei, Caďinas was still only one of the Central states, and the smart money might have been on Aránicer or Kaino (Cayenas). The Kaino were the middleman between the trading networks of the Svetla and the Mišicama littoral. They were rich as a result, and the Caďinorians accused them of cheating. The two states fought several small but inconclusive wars.
In 1076 a civil war broke out in Kaino, and the Caďinorian ruler Nouvaďora (widow of Baesonesec and one of the few ruling queens in Caďinorian history) saw an opportunity: she supported one prince, Selopos, against another, Ayodom . When Ayodom defeated his brother, in 1079, Nouvaďora, hearing that Selopos had been killed, denounced him as a murderer and invaded. Selopos was found to be alive, but Nouvaďora simply changed the charges to treason, executed Ayodom, and established Selopos as king in Cantiego— but only as a Caďinorian vassal.
In 1110 king Zolcruvos occupied the last Cuzeian state, Lānavo, blaming it for continued rebelliousness in Eärdur province.
The early empire
The liberation of Eretald
Zolcruvos's son Keadau dedicated himself to the fight against Munkhâsh. He pushed east along the Serea and Adel rivers; his campaign culminated in the decisive victory of Siloas Falls, near the Serea Canyons, not far from the Taucrēte Pass which the Munkhâshi had used in their original invasion. All of Eretald had now been liberated.
In celebration, Keadau declared himself atrabion (emperor). It seemed clear that the gods had destined the Caďinorians to rule the earth.
His descendants presed on into the Shkónoro valley, while also absorbing the minor Central states: Tel Neuor (1217), Arosd (1219), Sereor (1260), Beion and the Catafán (1331).
Civil institutions
The later kingdom had been largely a military enterprise; with the conquest of Eretald civil institutions were developed. Keadau's grandson Ponoborges created the first civil courts (1195), and his son Ceornactec issued the first codification of Caďinorian law.
Crusades against Munkhâsh were expected of an emperor, but also public service. Tevorandos built temples and theaters in the major cities, and roads to connect them; Benoras rationalized the system of conscription and abolished hereditary offices in the government; and Keadau II established an advisory body, the Sannora, the Council of Lords, and legalized the Arašei religion.
Hostile takeover of Aránicer
Aránicer, once a rival, resented for its control over trade with Xengiman, was now seen as an anachronism; the emperors searched for a pretext to annex it, while the Arániceri vacillated between appeasement and sullen defiance.
The emperor Decanos proposed a peaceful merger. Seeking to put him off politely, the Arániceri king Durririȟ proposed that, as a show of good faith, Caďinas should worship the Arániceri gods. Decanos called his bluff: he built grand temples to the 'First Pantheon' in Ctesifon, and returned in two years with a hundred priests dedicated to them. Durririȟ refused to honor the agreement; Decanos invaded and beat down Arániceri resistance (1497-99). Decanos brought Durririȟ to Ctesifon and named him co-emperor, but this was merely for show, though it allowed him to depose Arániceri nobles in the name of their own lord.
Aránicer was absorbed, and brought under Caďinorian law. Its religion survived, though Decanos instituted a fairly successful attempt to spread the worship of the Caďinorian gods in the south.
The usurpation of Sevurias
In 1604 the emperor Antaevon died, and his brother Sevurias— commander of the army— usurped the sash, and sent soldiers to arrest the 12-year-old rightful heir Ervëa in Eärdur province. The local garrison hid Ervëa instead, leading to a civil war. Meanwhile Munkhâsh had conquered Caďinas's northern neighbors, and was poised to invade to take advantage of the civil war. Ervëa precipitated their plans by defeating Sevuria (1625); Munkhâsh immediately attacked.
The golden age
The end of Munkhâsh
The war lasted a generation, till 1667, but ended in the complete conquest of Munkhâsh-- with the essential aid of Attafei, atej of the Tžuro. Ervëa's tactics have been widely admired every since; in both wars he attempted at all times to keep the initiative, keeping the enemy off guard, trapping the enemy with pincer movements, and avoiding battles he could not win.
The great empire
Caďinas now controlled not only Eretald but an equally large areas to the east, across the Ctelm mountains. Ervëa named this land Sarnaure (Sarnáe) and encouraged Caďinorian settlement there.
His son Ilďaneas revised Caďinorian law, and emphasized a strong, just administration, knit together with roads, protected by the imperial army, with nobles subject to central authority. The empire had a prosperous market economy whose scale and efficiency would not be matched for 1500 years. Literature and philosophy flourished; about the only prohibition was on treason or the worship of Gelalh.
The great cities of the empire were Ctesifon, Aránicer, and Aites on the Serea; Octinila was the largest city on the Eärdur, and a string of cities were built in Sarnáe, notably the provincial capital Ilďaneas.
Almost as an afterthought, Kebri was conquered (1695-7). This was strictly business, as Michael Corleone would say; it was simply alien to the Caďinorian mind that a country would not be better off under Caďinorian rule.
The second civil war
The emperor Aknavar died in 1894, without children or even nephews; remote heirs jockeyed for position, found military champions, and ended in a full-scale civil war. It was not till 1910 that the general Caeva Hasunei reestablished order. During the war control over Demóshimor and Kebri was lost.
Unfortunately the precedent had been set. Caeva's dynasty lasted less than a hundred years, and by the 2000s, the death of an emperor would set off a violent struggle for the sash.
The Dark Years
The Red Cabal
In 2107 the infant emperor Ďallir and his relatives were murdered by the Red Cabal (Claetura Rugities); this rather than the later barbarian invasions is taken as the start of the Dark Years.
The Cabal was a clique of nobles and generals, claiming to act to preserve the security of the realm; in fact their program was simply to plunder the nation and to maintain their own power. There were nine Caballists, who never appeared unmasked in public; when one died, the remaining members appointed a replacement. They tolerated no opposition, not even protest; they took over all the institutions of Caďinorian power and turned them to their own ends.
The Caballists faced serious threats: the rival White Cabal; the Coruo conquest of Aránicer; the wizard Uhnonca's takeover of Verduria city. These were defeated, but after a century they began to lose control. Their loyalists dwindled, the army was restive, and increasing repression made people feel there was nothing more to lose in opposing them.
Irun's restoration
The noble Irun of Banda was named emperor by the nobles of Ctesifon in 2212; in the next eight years he continually grew his forces— and his, unlike the Cabal's, stayed loyal when he was away. By 2220 he had secured the Svetla valley and found and executed the known Caballists. (For some years new ones arose, but were quickly dealt with.)
The dynasty aimed at restoring the glory and virtue of the Empire. Irun's grandson Ervëa 2e pushed the Coruo back out of Eretald, and even raided deep into barbarian territory— mostly using Naviu mercenaries. There were attempts to shore up Caďinorian culture too: Cuomolondos ordered the compilation of the Aďivro; Suertorion chartered the University of Verduria.
Nonetheless, the golden age could not be brought back. Rougher times seemed to require tougher leaders, whose answer to most problems was either military or religious. Long-term trading started to seem perilous; for most people the economy shrank to no more than their own province. The tenuous trade with Axunai had long dried up. Garrisons became regional armies, moved only with difficulty, and more answerable to the local governor than to Ctesifon. As prosperity declined and the barbarian threat increased, cults formed and hermits or magicians appeared, seeking supernatural power, whether to restore the empire's might or simply to keep safe for a time.
Though there is little direct evidence, it is likely that ecological strain was a major factor in the empire's decline. Eretald had once been covered with rich forests; these were nearly all gone, and the remaining soil subject to rapid erosion. Poorly balanced crops and a shortage of animals for manuring depleted the soil. Crop yields declined in the thinner soil, making it impossible to support the huge populations and large standing armies of the golden age. The lack of wood affected not only construction but metallurgy, as wood and charcoal were the chief fuels. In the later Dark Years the population may have been half that of Ervëa's time.
The Bešbalicu occupation
Over the 2300s the Meťelyi under Aččaw occupied almost the whole of the Barbarian Plain; this pushed the Naviu tribe of the Bešbalicu into Eretald, and in 2435 their king Ädurunz conquered Ctesifon itself. The Bešbalicu were not as destructive as feared— Ädurunz indeed named himself emperor, promised to rule justly, and proclaimed his admiration for Ervëa. (The cultural gap between a barbarian king and a frontier noble such as Irun should not be overemphasized.) Nonetheless the continuity of Caďinorian institutions was shattered, and never really rebuilt.
Emperor Renberac II had escaped to Verduria city. It was with the aid of Velto Cänen, the commander of Arcaln, that the Bešbalicu were pushed out of Ctesifon (2472). The emperor Calpirion of the new Cteranei dynasty named Cänen sanno (lord) of Verduria in gratitude, giving it virtual autonomy, and underlining the fact that the northern city, the empire's winter capital, was almost its only success story. Mistress of both river and ocean trade, its ships were traveling as far as Nan and Carhinnia.
Struggle against the Gelyet
The Gelyet, a Naviu tribe, were the rising barbarian power. They dominated the Barbarian Plain by 2476; the nomads they defeated were swiftly turned into allies. In the late 2400s they conquered Xengiman; in 2505 they turned their attention to Eretald, quickly conquering the southern third.
Their chief Länguraz was killed by a Caďinorian archer in 2525 as he was besieging Ctesifon; the Gelyet held games and test of strength on the outskirts of the capital to select a new anaraz. The winner was Aitän; but now news came of a rebellion among the Coruo. Ctesifon was spared as Aitän rode south to defeat the rebellion; when he came back north it was to conquer Sarnáe (2536-8).
As a sign of the Dark Years, Emperor Erbelaica IV didn’t even wish to play the game; he declared that the gods had abandoned Caďinas, and the Gelyet were unstoppable. He devoted himself to luxury and sexual pleasure— might as well enjoy them before the barbarians destroyed them. The emperor under Caďinorian law could do no wrong, but he maintained a strong secret police to ensure that criticism never got out of hand.
Unlike the Bešbalicu, the Gelyet were not respectful if alien monarchs; they were looters, contemptuous of the lands they conquered, all too eager to despoil them of their riches and appropriate the peasants' fields as pasturage for their animals. Southern Eretald and Sarnáe were permanently depressed as a result of their depradations. Urban life declined all over Eretald: where there were once two dozen cities over 10,000 inhabitants, there were now eight (in declining order of size, Ctesifon, Verduria, Aránicer, Ožnëa, Raizumi, Žrano, Zariaspa, Mituré). And the necessary concentration on war weakened civil institutions and encouraged
The Gelyet were weakened by the rise of Xurno; nonetheless, it took decades of hard campaigning for the Caďinorians to recover the upper Svetla, and this required co-opting nomadic cavalry. The reconquered territories were ruled by the victorious generals, who quickly became a new class of nobles.
The late empire
Eretald itself had been recovered, but peripheral regions had all drifted away: Érenat, Ismahi, Sarnáe, Sereor. There were still Curiyans, Somoyi, and Naviu in parts of Eretald. And even regions which professed their loyalty to Ctesifon were self-contained economically and culturally; even operations against the barbarians were largely local. There was no enormous difference between near-autonomous regions like the upper Svetla and Verduria, and friendly but independent states like Érenat. Only the middle Svetlan heartland was really directly answerable to the emperor.
The Gelyet returned their attention to the upper Svetla, and recaptured most of it from Erbelaica V (2604); Aránicer was barely held, thanks to the general Aerlupeȟ and lieutenant Mália (leader of the Naviu cavalry). Aertund II granded lands to Somoyi and recovered Ožnëa, but the Somoyi occupied Šerian. Mália prevented further losses there but in her absence Aránicer was briefly lost. She retook it, but now marched on Ctesifon. The barbarian general advanced in the name of Caďinas, declaring Aertund to be an unworthy incompetent.
She occupied the capital and maintained order, and did her best to act as a Caďinorian (2609). By the next year she had won public opinion over sufficiently to be named empress (Dascoro dynasty), but lost the Svetlan barons (2712).
The fall
In 2792 the Curiyan king Meugi conquered Ctesifon. When the emperor Melisör’s army was defeated, resistance to the invaders melted away— especially as Meugi made it clear that he was willing, even eager, to confirm accommodating nobles in their positions. Remote provinces simply became independent kingdoms.
Ctesifon rebelled against the Curiyans in 2917 under Bura. He proclaimed himself emperor, but his son Ertala's attempt to give this some reality by subjugating Caleon, lord of Verduria, was a disaster, resulting in the Verdurian occupation of Ctesifon. Later rulers more wisely spoke of themselves as kings (elorionî) of Ctésifon; at long last, the empire was over.
