Mirites

The Mirites, sometimes rendered as Mereyits, are an ethno-religious group descended from the historical caste of the same name which arose amongst the southern Machaï of Mabifia. The Mirites were a nomadic people, eventually becoming a class of warriors and merchants with the adoption of the Hourege system in Bahia in the tenth century. They specialised in financial transactions, due to their adoption of a written alphabet and literary culture as opposed to the oral-based cultures of southern Bahia.

The emergence of the Mirites is directly linked to the adoption of Sotirianism by the Machaï peoples in YEAR. Kartolaos Makianos, the bishop of Koupanni, led his followers on a self-styled "exodus" following their persecution at the hands of the Orthodox religious authorities. They sought refuge amongst the neighbouring fetishist Sâretic entities, where they used their interconnectedness and written language in order to establish a basic banking system. This network eventually spread among the Ndjarendie villages and even further across Bahia. With the emergence of Hourege the Mirites flourished as nomadic merchants and mercenaries, cementing their acceptance amongst the courts of Karanes across Bahia. While some Mirites were involved in anti-colonial resistance movements, the vast majority were accepting of Euclean colonisation and they filled many of the local administrative positions under the new regimes. This led to their villification by many Bahian nationalist movements, with Anti-Mirite sentiments growing especially among the Irfanic community in Mabifia. This led to the community being targetted by the socialist goverment of Fuad Onika and by Irfanic groups during the first second civil wars in Mabifia. Many fled the country, causing large diasporas in Rwizikuru and Euclea.

Etymology

The name Mirite is a Gallicisation of the Classical Machaï word ⲙⲓⲣⲓⲏⲧ, mirieit meaning "new person". This was the name that the first Mirites used to self identify themselves, as a manner of distinction from the other Machaï who they held as not fully embracing the Sotiran faith. The name was simplified to "Mirite" by Gaullican missionaries, though Mereyit/Mereïet have also been used in the past. The current spelling was standardised in 1704.

Role

Under Sâre

Due to the highly decentralised nature of Saretic society, the Mirite community was initially separated across several villages. They lived nomadic lifestyles and their literary culture allowed them to pass messages between each other, which meant that villages would often attempt to recruit the Mirites to act as spies in other villages. Merchants would often hire Mirite scribes in order to handle their finances, which attracted a degree of respect and acceptance to the group who were initially considered to be heretics by the fetishist villagers. Constantly on the move and religiously exhorted to be a self-sufficient community, the Mirites were also renowned as warriors and were often hired as mercenaries to defend villages from bandits and other threats.