Hardhiara

The Second Equiveprimya of Hardhiara Equiveprimya e Hardhiara
Flag Seal of the Equiveprim
Capital	Kujkë
Official language	Bashk
Ethnic groups (2010)	84% Hardhi 5% Hilmanians 5% Slavs 3% Hesurians 1% Iparinans 2% others
Demonym(s)	Hardhi
Government	Absolute Monarchy
Formation
Population
• Estimate	40 millions
Calling code	+44
ISO 3166 code	HRD

Hardhiara is a country generally considered to be part of the subcontinent of Daria, even if its northern regions are historically and culturally tied to both Cardia and Erdara. It is bordered by Dulebia to its north-east, Finium to its north-west, and Tayar to its south. Hardhiara is a diverse country, with habitats ranging from the dry summer climate of the coastal regions in the west to the mountain ranges extanding from the North to the South of the country to the cold and arid highlands of Thatëbakya in the south-east.

Historically, the country has been inhabited by a variety of cultures and civilisations. The Hardhi kingdom established itself during the 13th century and continuously expanded, until it was driven southward during the era known as the March to the South by a serie of military defeats against both Cornicae and the Dulebian Empire. It would reconquer its northern regions during the following century after having regained its strength in its new southern base.

The Equiveprimya is an Absolute monarchy often qualified to be totalitarian since the Great Generation and the rise to power of the current dynasty of Equiveprim. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, and agriculture. Enterprises are state-owned, helped by the protectionist policies in place and the heavily regulated market. There is little to no retailer for individual consumers, instead the State manage a large network of warehouses and reserves to be redistributed to the population, including free meals offered through various events, free healthcare, free public transports, free clothing, free education and other accomodation.

Global integration of the country has been difficult. It's totalitarian reputation, plus the regular accusations of human rights abuse and its lack of openeness toward the global market have greatly slowed down its efforts to improve its economic situation. It has a population of 40 millions, the majority of which are of Hardhi origin, but with many minorities including Iparinans, Slavs, Hesurians, and Hilmanic peoples. This diverse culture tend to be hidden behind the social organization of the country, known as the "Decimal Hierarchy", and the efforts made by the government to uniformized the multiple regions, without favoring one or the other ethnies. This hasn't stop the State to keep tribal institutions involved with local politics.

History

Thuashar Kingdom

The Thuashar Kingdom was a medieval state in modern day southern Hardhiara which lasted from the 7th to the 11th centuries. It flourished in the highland plateau of Thatëbakya. It’s economy was based on the exploitation of Lake Drë’s ressources, and herding both ovines and bovines. Despite the dryness and cold temperature of the region, they managed to produce great quantities of food by developing distinctive farming techniques and through the construction of an extensive irrigation system. The fame of Thuashar engineers was such that they would continue to play an important role in the administration of the region even after the fall of the Kingdom and the destruction of its capital by the Rhyukanids.

At first, the Kingdom was spared by the Turkish Rhyukanid who focused their attention on the Hilmaric city-states. But then, border conflicts escalated between the two polities and the Thuashar, already weakened by decades of droughts provoked by rising global temperatures, were crushed. Most of the Kingdom’s population was deported, leaving the Highlands of Thatëbakya almost entirely abandoned, beyond a few pastoral communities.

Rhyukanid Dynasty

The Rhyukanid were a dynasty of Turkish origin that conquered most of the Hilmaric Coast during the 10th century and ruled over most of what is today Southern Hardhiara until they were themselves conquered by the Muruddin Empire during the 15th century. They finalized the conquest of the Thuashari Kingdom and destroyed its capital during the 11th century, at which point they had already adopted many aspects of the Thuashar culture, such as its social stratification and centralized administration. Court advisers and local administrators were often of Thuashar or Hilmaric ancestry, even if all high-ranking statesmen and virtually all of the military were Turks. This would remain mostly true, even as the process of Acculturation blurred the line between the various groups.

The downfall of the Rhyukanids came after they were soundly defeated by the Muruddin with both the destruction of their fleet at the Battle of Imral, and then their crushing loss at the Battle of Vrinaj Gate.These two battles led to the collapse of the Rhyukanids military. In 1491, the last Rhyukanid ruler, Nevsheri Damat, surrendered to the Muruddin Emperor. His state was then divided in a number of principalities and integrated to the Empire.

The Hardhi Wars

Battle of Karçi (1739)

The Hardhi Wars were a serie of military conflicts that opposed the First Equiveprimya to either the Cornicae or the Dulebian Empires during the late 17thy and early 18th centuries. Much of this period was characterized by the partition of Hardhiara, shrinking in size after a serie of military defeats and treaties abandoning lands to the Cardian and the Erdarian powers. It culminated with the abandon of Kujkë by the Equiveprim and the relocation of the capital and the Hardhi institutions to the south.

First Hardhi-Cornican War

Between the years 1650 and 1670, the Hardhi began to occupy the Lartan Ridge (Lartajele) and the Hesurian Hills (Hesukodrat), fortifying them and directly threatening the Gulthaderes Basin. Petty Anx of the occupied regions demanded assistance from Cornicae against the Hardhi. Queen Mother Sibyl, the Imperial Regent at the time, agreed to it, and the united Cornic and Hesurian forces managed to reconquer all of the Hardhi strongholds in a long campaign of siege warfare. The Battle of Lartan in 1688 was the last attempt by the Hardhi military to counter-attack the Cornicans, but was a strategic defeat for the Equiveprim’s forces. The last bastion of Hardhi resistance would fall in 1691. The next year, a Cornicae offensive against the Carmine Gates was repelled. The two states, exhausted by the decade long conflict, signed the treaty of Lartan, which gave the Hesurian Hills, the Lartan Ridge, and the Guthaderes Basin to the Cornicae Empire.

First Hardhi-Dulebian War

Hardhi Fortresses proved to be difficult to take by direct means, often necessitating a bloody battle

During the period of chaos that followed the dislocation of the Ragucin Empire, the regions of the Haydushki Mountain Range and of the Volynsk Shield fell under Hardhi domination.

Until the reforms of Tsar Peter II, the Dulebian Tsardom proved to be too preoccupied by warfare with the Ragucin remnants to successfully repel Hardhi incursions in Slavic lands, as well as lacking the military capacity to do so. In 1715, Peter II launched his new, modernized, military against the Equiveprimya. In a serie of battles (Holmsk, the Siege of Murovanka, Ardë...), the Dulebians were able to defeat the Hardhi forces in the region. In 1720, a peace treaty was signed, in which the Equiveprim abandoned its fortresses in Haydushki and the Volynsk Shield to the Dulebian Tsardom. A few months later, Peter II declared the creation of the Dulebian Empire.

Second Hardhi-Dulebian War

After its creation, the Dulebian Empire launched a serie of campaigns against neighboring kingdoms to expand its territories. For a decade, it remained preoccupied by its northern and eastern borders but by the 1730s, “Hardhiara” caught once again its attention as it was still weakened by its previous military defeats and a serie of droughts. Using the threat of a potential Hardhi invasion, Emperor Peter launched a preemptive assault against the Equiveprimya positions in 1731. The second war was bloody, with important losses on both sides. But ultimately, the Dulebians managed to pierce the Hardhi defenses and launched a serie of military campaigns against the heartlands of the Equiveprimya. In 1737, the Equiveprim was forced to flee the capital, which was momentarily occupied by the Dulebians. The next year, an humiliating peace treaty, signed in Kujkë, forced the Equiveprim to pay war reparations and abandon a portion of its territories, alongside other obligations.

Second Hardhi-Cornican War

Seeing the weakened state the Second Hardhi-Dulebian War had left Hardhiara in, the Cornicae Emperor Pedro III, launched a rapid military campaign in 1738 to take the Carmine Gate and hopefully occupy the mineral-rich Hardhi territories. Despite the small size of the garrisons controlling the access to the mountain passes, The Cornicans suffered tremendous casualties before they were forced to retreat during the winter of 1739 that was especially harsh. A new summer offensive ended similarly ended with important losses and a retreat forced by climatic conditions. A third campaign was planned for 1740, but preparations were abruptly stopped by Marius’ death and the start of the 1740 Civil War. This Hardhi-Cornican War thus ended in a truce, giving the Equiveprimya the breathing space it needed to reorganize what strength it had left.

March to the South

The Ecni në Jug is a term referring to the conquest and colonisation of southern Hardhiara during the 18th century by the Hardhi peoples. In the official historiography, it began in 1740, after the Second Hardhi-Cornican War, when the Equiveprim definitively abandoned Kujkë with a sizeable part of the population and moved to the land of the Tosk tribe and from there organized the colonization of the Southern Mountains. But the March started as soon as the First Hardhi-Dulebian War, when Hardhi settlers had to abandon their houses in the Haydushki mountains and were sent southward to colonize new, albeit poorer, lands.

An important event of the war was the Thatëbakyian War, in which the Muruddin Empire tried to oppose the expansion of the Hardhi into the Thatëbakya region. The treaty of Rihap signed in 1756 would recognize the Hardhi sovereignty over the plateau and most of the Southern Mountains, and delimited the border between the two states.

The Equiveprim had already made Rihap, the “Sealed city”, his capital since 1748. It’s from this Southern Capital that he would lead the war effort and then the colonization and development of the Southern Mountains. The March to the South was characterized by the important public works that spread aqueducs, canals, drainages, paved houses, warehouses, fountains, and highways. The use of raised field farming and careful application of agricultural sciences allowed the Hardhi to turn the arid and impoverished regions they had settled into productive lands, with multiple harvests a year. Exploitation of mineral resources was also a source of wealth for the Hardhi peoples, alongside the export of wool, textiles, and agricultural products like wine and olive oil. Cotton also began to be grown after its introduction.

The demographic and economic boom, accompanied by many administrative reforms, allowed the Hardhi to turn their attention back to the North, which was lagging behind as it had been depopulated by wars and migrations. During the last decade of the 18th century, the Equiveprim sent new teams of settlers to the North, opening a new chapter of Hardhiara’s history: the “March to the North” or the “Reconquest”.

March to the North

Hardhi flintlocks from the March to the North

The Ecni në Veri began relatively peacefully as an expansion of the administrative and economic reforms that had proved to be successful in the south to the northern territories that had remained under Hardhi control. But the “return” of the Equiveprimya’s attention to what had been its core regions was a source of tensions with the nearby empires. Old fortresses and bastions were re-occupied, renovated, and new ones were built to strengthen the buffer regions.

The 45 years of peace since the Treaty of Rihap ended abruptly in 1801 when the Equiveprim, using the pretense of diplomatic and military provocations from the Tordo Emperor Vitor, declared war on the Catharic Empire. This Third Hardhi-Cornican War proved brutal for the recently created Tordo regime, which lost control of the Northern Valley and many strategic locations in the Hesurian Hills, before finally losing of all the fortifications it had managed to occupy in the Carmine Gate. Peace negotiations led to the Treaty of Lazhë which recognized the territorial gains made by the Hardhi.

Geography and Climate

The Southern Madhi Mountains

Hardhiara covers most of the Madhi Mountain range, with a coastline facing the Sea of Pomoria. Despite its length, it lies entirely above the Northern Tropic but the Pomorian Warm Current and the geography of the Madhi Mountains are what define the many microclimates of the country.

The Coastal Regions to the south-west is a narrow plain largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The Southern Hinterlands include the Thatëbakyian Plateau as well as the highest peaks of the country. It is generally both dry and cold, because of the altitude and the Madhi Mountains' rain-shadow. The North can also be divided in a number of region, with the Western Hills, the Northern Valley, the Eastern Foothills, and the Northern Highlands. The North, except maybe for the Western Hills, is more humid and colder than the South. Rain and snow become common during winter.

Government and politics

The Council Towers where hte Council of the Realm meet when summoned by the Equiveprim

Since the Glorious Regeneration, Hardhiara has returned to the model of an absolute monarchy, with a highly centralized bureaucracy and government. The Equiveprim is both the head of state and the head of government. The current Equivaprim is Mavik Cuzi. He appoints both ministers and high ranking officials, including the Viceroy (Nëmanx). The Viceroy possess minimal authority: he presides over Council meetings in which ministers advise the Equiveprim, each handling one of the 18 Ministries of Hardhiara. The Viceroy is also generally de-facto the designated successor of the Equiveprim, as Mavik Cuzi served in this position before his enthronement and has appointed his own eldest son, Tanush Arbadur after him.

The 105 highest ranking officials in the country are members of the Council of the Realm. These are the 11 Provincial Governors, the 86 Regional Governors, the 4 Representatives of Kujkë, and the 4 Representatives of Rihap, the historical "Southern Capital" of Hardhiara. The Council has a purely advisory role over the bills and decrees proposed by the Executive. Constitutional previsions exist allowing the Council of the Realm to pass a motion of no confidence, censure ministers, and redact a "Bill of Grievances" to be proposed to the Equiveprim.

As there is no election in Hardhiara, all government officials are appointed by their superiors, under the scrutiny of the Equiveprim and his most direct agents, the Inspectors. There are laws preventing Officials from nominating family members to administrative positions, and a number of criterias a candidate must match to be appointed. These include his rank at the National Examinations and/or his years of service. National Examinations play an important role in the life of Hardhiarans, as succeeding these Examinations is the first step toward a political career.

Regions and Provinces

Hardhiara is divided in 11 Regions and 2 Autonomous Cities, Kujkë and Rihap, the historic capitals of the country with Kujkë serving as the current political center of Hardhiara. At the head of each region is a Regional Governor, appointed by the Equiveprim. They plan regional development, manage the National Reserves, execute public investment projects, promote economic activities, and manage public property.

Beneath the Regions are the Provinces, led by Provincial Governors. They administer their jurisdiction with the help of Officers, Clercs, Functionaries, and their own personal Oathbound Retainers. The primary function of this provincial administration is to maintain state infrastructure, organize the census, and mobilize labor or military resources when called upon.

Decimal Administration

Taxpayers in Hardhiara are organized in Corvée units. These serve a double purpose: firstly, as a way to organize the workforce either in farms or in factories and secondly, it can also be levied to serve as manpower in grand public works or as a basic militia unit in time of war. Each level of jurisdiction above one hundred tax-payers is headed by a Magistrate, known as an Epërm. Originally, these were hereditary positions held by the head of a Fis, a Kryeplak, but the two positions have long since been distinguished and now the Decimal Magistrature is reserved for graduates of the National Examinations.

Groups of ten or fifty individuals are led by a Standard Bearer ("Bajraktar"). It’s these Bearers that are tasked with mobilizing the workforce and are also responsible for the general discipline. Bajraktaret are not selected from the pool of National Graduates, but nominated by their Centuria’s Magistrate.

Unit	Official in Charge	Number of Tax-Payers
Dhjetëmijery	Madh Epërm	10,000
Pesëmijëry	Toger Epërm	5,000
Mijëry	Kapten Epërm	1,000
Pesënjëqindy	Pesën Epërm	500
Njëqindy	Epërm	100
Pesëdhjetëry	Madh Bajraktar	50
Dhjetëry	Bajraktar	10

Demography

Ethnics groups

Hardhiara is a multiethnic nation which has known successive waves of different people thourough the past two millenias even if the ancient Ardians highlands tribes have transformed into the modern Hardhi. Other ethnies include Hilmanians, Slavs, and Hesurians.

Economy

Interior of a Magazinë

The economy of Hardhiara is based around a system of state ownership of industrial assets and farmlands, state control of investments, and central administrative planning. While there are some form of local exchanges, generally through barter and Reciprocity, counter-reforms pushed back against the liberalisation of the internal economy that had been put into place during the first half of the 20th century. The use of currencies is greatly limited, both by law and the general organization of the country's economy. Market places are almost absent, instead replaced by a dense network of "Magazinë". These warehouses store almost every goods produced inside the country, to be redistributed to the population.

The Magazinë system is the traditional organization of the economy in the Madhi mountains and found its origins in the high uncertainty of agriculture at high altitude and in the ressource-poor highlands. It's modern revival led to a great complexification of the supply chain. There are several kind of Distribution centers consisting of crossdock centers, fulfillment centers, sortation centers, delivery stations, military hubs and international hubs. Employees are responsible for five basic tasks: unpacking and inspecting incoming goods; placing goods in storage and recording their location; picking goods from their computer recorded locations to make up an individual shipment; sorting and packing orders; and shipping. A computer that records the location of goods and maps out routes for pickers plays a key role: employees carry hand-held computers which communicate with the central computer and monitor their rate of progress. Currently, some warehouses are being partially automated as part of Hardhiara's robotics program.

Originally, distribution of ressources happened through Rationing, written demands for more complex products such as cars or personal housings, plus privileges granted to people of certain ranks. today, A system of "social credits" has been put into place to complete the rationing, replaced the written demands, and to reduce perceived corruptions in the original method. Industries also benefit from the system, as board meetings, commissions, and inspectors regularly publish reports and resumes of the economic situation of a town or region and its needs. These reports of diverse origins serve as the basis of the country's central planning.

Culture

Cuisine

Uncovered Tenxhere Toke

Throughout the centuries, the Hardhi culture has been widely influenced by the various populations who settled in the Madhi Mountains. As such, different parts of the country enjoy specific regional cuisines. Cooking traditions especially vary between the north and the south, owing to differing geography, climate, and history.

Hardhiara produces many varieties of fruits such as lemon, oranges, figs and Olives, the latter being part of the Pomorian Triad. Herbs, from basil to Thyme are widely used, as are legumes and vegetables of all kind.

Tenxhere toke is one of the most famous traditional dishes from the Madhi Mountains. It consist of lamb, pork, or chicken marinated in herbs and spices and then baked in an earthen oven. Other vegetables and legumes are often included in the baking.

A bottle of Hardhi wine

Despite the better calorific intake of Wheat, Barley remain the most common crop cultivated in Hardhiara due to its adaptation to dry environements and poor soils even if it has lost a large part of the areas that were once dedicated to its culture through vast programs of territorial development aimed at improving the quality of the soils and yields of the cultures. Ultimately, agricultural planners have encouraged farmers to maintain a diverse production, including Millet , Oat, Rice, and Rye. The careful optimization of the exploitations of the country's diverse ecozones is one of the Equiveprimya's main concerns.

Wine is also common throughout the country, and has been cultivated for thousands of years. There is not much vintage variation due to the reliability of favorable weather with little risk of summer time frost or harvest time rains as the Coastal Ranges create a rain shadow effect which traps the warm arid air in the region. Intercropping is common in Hardhiara with Common fig, or Olive trees being grown on wineyards, as well as the culture of cereals and other crops in-between the rows of grapes. Hautain are commonly used in some regions of the country, growing the grapes directly using trees as support.