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 TBD of present-day Ihram. 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 veRwizi in Rwizikuru. This led to the community being expelled by the Rwizikuran government in 1966 under Izibongo Ngonidzashe, with the expulsion lasting until 1982, when they were allowed to return. Many fled the country, causing large diasporas in Satucin 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 worship of Ezekiel. 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.

Under Hourege

Mirite earthenware at a museum in TBD, 2019

It was with the centralisation that Hourege brought to Bahian society that the Mirites were able to fully thrive as a social group. The larger realms that were enabled with the introduction of Badawiyan administrative ideas required large numbers of literate and numerically proficient aides and functionaries. The Mirites were highly trusted in this regard, having served in similar roles during the Saretic period. While the Mirite monopoly over literacy was soon undermined by the adoption of the Adlam script for the Ndjarendie language, Mirite scholars and polymaths were regarded highly and often continued to hold dominant positions. With the advent of larger realms and greater trade, a new system was required for the processing of tributes and this led to the adoption of currencies and a rudimentary financial system. Wealthy Mirite merchants began to offer loans to Karanes and even Houreges in order for them to finance their military exploits, and the interconnectedness of the Mirite communities meant that such loans were able to be centralised and noted down. The constant need for soldiers by Houregic states allowed for Mirite men to form companies of mercenaries, who functioned in a manner similar to the loans accorded by Mirite merchants. These factors meant that despite facing the disapproval of large amounts of the clergy and common peoples, the Mirites played a key role in the environment of Bahian society.

During Colonisation

A Mirite messenger, 1934

As fellow Sotirans the Mirites were seen as natural partners by the Euclean powers, who needed local administrators who were able to speak the local languages and maintain their authority at a lower level. Many Mirites worked as clerks and in other administrative roles during this period. Their status as Sotirans meant that Mirites faced less persecution under the Euclean administration than they had under the Irfanic and Fetishist Houregic governments which had preceded them, which led to the tacit support of many Mirites for the Eucleans. This role of collaboration, in turn, led to an increase in anti-Mirite sentiment amongst the Irfanic communities who saw it as a betrayal. The Mirite acceptance of Euclean influences led to many going into eastern-style formal education, which led to their exposure to Euclean ideological currents and it was via this ideological connection that ideologies such as Equalism first made their way to Bahia. Many of the early leaders of the Pan-Bahian movement were ethnic Mirites, such as author Daniel Amankose whose essay The Revolt of the Métis is often seen as one of the first signs of a pan-Bahian national identity.

History

Exodus

Depiction of Kartalaos Makianos on an icon

According to Mirite tradition, the bishop of Koupanni, Kartolaos Makianos, received a vision from Ezekiel that the form of Sotiranity practiced in Koupanni was a "perversion of the ministry of Jesus Sotiras," and that as the sole descendant on the male-line, Makianos was the successor (TBD: ⲇⲓⲁⲧⲟⲭⲟⲥ, diatokhos), or diadoch, to both Jesus Sotiras and Ezekiel Khristo's teachings. Makiano promoted his vision, but was unappreciated by the Sotirians, who began persecuting Kartalaos Makianos and his followers. In response, in 457 CE, Makianos and his followers went on an exodus to the villages in Bahia, as despite their pagan ways, the Bahians would not be hostile to their beliefs. They would ultimately reach Munzwa in 531 CE, with Makianos' grandson, Apamoun Makianos establishing Munzwa as the seat of the diadochate.

However, according to archaeologists, the generally accepted view is that the Mirites left present-day Ihram around 600 CE, with their arrival in Bahia ranging from around 650 CE and 700 CE. However, it is believed by geneticists that only a small fraction of the Mirite population were ultimately descended from these migrants, with most Mirite ancestors in the Y line, and virtually all in the X line being of local Bahian origin. In addition, there is no evidence showing that the diadoch settled himself in Munzwa until around 1200 CE, when the veRwizi Empire emerged as the main power in eastern Bahia, which has led to controversy as to where the diadochs were initially located after their migration, with most scholars believing that the diadochs were nomadic, like the rest of the Mirites, although some scholars, most notably Geoffrey Chimutengwende, have argued that the Mirite diadochate only established itself around 1200 CE as a separatist institution.

Sâretic period

Depiction of Krystafer Makianos on an icon

In the Saretic period, the Mirite community splintered, as Mirites spread across Bahia. However, as the Mirite clergy were literate in the TBD language, they were able to send messages between villages, allowing the Mirites to remain informed and to keep track as to when to celebrate their traditional observances. This initially led to poor relations between the Mirites and the native Bahians residing in the villages, although it would improve over time as the Mirites assumed a greater role in Bahian society.

During this period, the diadoch continued to be passed down from father-to-son, while the bedrock of Mirite society was laid: in 703 CE, diadoch Krystafer Makianos decreed that staying in a village longer than seven years was "inherently sinful," as it would lead to sloth, and urged the Mirites to be as self-reliant as possible, so they would be better able to preserve their faith from Bahian influences. The Krystafer Principles also prohibited conversion to the Mirite Church, except "when a master enslaves a non-Mirite," in which case the slave must be converted, and required all men to teach their sons how to read and write the TBD language, so they would be able to communicate with "all Mirites, regardless of where they are."

The adoption of the Krystafer Principles helped ensure that the Mirites remained united, despite their dispersal across Bahia, as their continued nomadic lifestyle and self-reliance allowed them to remain distinct from the surrounding Bahian society, while their growing acceptance by the villages allowed the Mirites to assume a niche as a mercantile and warrior caste.

Bahian consolidation

A ceiling of a Mirite church near present-day Rutendo, Rwizikuru, 2008

With the start of the Bahian consolidation against the Founagé Dominion of Heaven in 898 CE, the Mirite community, like the fetishists, were worried about the further incursion of Irfan against the villages that they resided in. In this environment, while villages attempted to form alliances with one another to protect themselves, these alliances frequently collapsed due to mutual suspicions and demands of equality between the villages. However, the Mirites played a role in securing these agreements, and attempted to mediate in disputes, even though these efforts frequently failed to achieve much success.

As a result, with the rise of the houregic system, the Mirites initially feared they would lose their status and prestige, but instead, the Mirites became administrators, as there was a need for people who were literate and who had numeracy skills to help administer these newfound states. This not only allowed them to maintain their positions in society, but also play an important role in the fledgling trade networks between the houregic states and the rest of Coius.

With the establishment of the veRwizi Empire around 1160 CE, the first authentic records show the presence of a diadoch in Munzwa, which was the empire's capital. These records, penned by diadoch Tawadros Makaios around 1166, said that "the diadoch and his family have an obligation to stay in Munzwa" in order to protect and promote the interests of the Mirite caste in the empire.

However, even in the thirteenth century, many clergymen complained of the Mirites adopting the "vulgar language" spoken by the other castes, suggesting the start of a language shift from the TBD language to the local Oulume languages, such as weRwizi, with the first evidence of literary records written in weRwizi, known as khameos (ⲭⲁⲙⲉⲟⲥ, lit. commoner) dating to around 1250 CE.

By the time of the fourteenth century, diadoch Sarabion Makaios restated the Krystafer Principles, and condemned "many of our men for failing to teach their sons how to speak our language," with Sarabion complaining that "many of the potential clergymen have little knowledge of how to speak our language, though they know how to read and write its letters in the khameos style."

Bahian golden age

A Mirite crucifix from the Bahian Golden Age, as seen in 2017

With the beginning of the Bahian Golden Age in the fifteenth century, the position of the Mirites in the houregic system had effectively been cemented across most of the subcontinent. As Bahia's financial system began developing, the Mirite community assumed a position as moneylenders, with Mirite records of transactions greatly increasing during this period. This earned them criticism from the fetishist clergy and the commoners, leading to growing tensions between the clergy and the commoners, and the Mirite community.

With the publication of the Akrivia Nakosmos by Theodoros of Igitare, the Lourale ka Maoube, or the Contestations of the Elders began. During this period, the Mirites contributed extensively to the advancement of science in the region, primarily to the fields of philosophy, theology, and astronomy, with prominent Mirites being Evanderos of TBD, Ksystous of TBD, and Yeshak Makianos.

In 1491, a schism occurred, as Bishoi Sawiris published a letter criticising the then Diadoch Khristophoros Makianos, arguing that as Ezekiel went to heaven in 59 CE, it was "fundamentally impossible for Ezekiel to give a vision to Karatalaos Makianos," and that based on the Book of Nod and the Book of Eden, Bishoi Sawiris was the real diadoch. Although this schism was relatively minor, as only around five percent of the Mirite population sided with Sawiris, the Sawirites posed a serious threat to the Mirite faith that Khristophoros Makianos anathematized Sawiris and excommunicated "all those who follow Sawiris."

Despite this schism, the Mirites were able to maintain their position among the houregic society in Bahia, as the small size of the Sawirite community, combined with the latter's turmoil made it less attractive to many Mirites.

By the sixteenth century, as the golden age began to come to a close, and the fortunes of the veRwizi Empire began declining, the role of the Mirites continued growing, particularly as the veRwizi Empire became dependent on loans from the Mirites. As the Empire was unable to pay them back, mercenaries and funds began to be directed to other houreges and karanes, which while it benefited them, caused the reputation of the Mirites to diminish, particularly among the veRwizi, as they were seen to be duplicitous.

Demographics

Religion

Main article: Mirite Church

The Mirites follow a form of Sotiranity related to the Brethren Church, called the Mirite Church. Like the Brethren Church, they accept the divinity of both Jesus Sotiras and Ezekiel Khristos, accept the seven pillars, and believe that they are the one true Sotirian church. However, many of their practices have been influenced by fetishism, particularly Rwizi fetishism.

(TBC)