Razan

State of Razan ᛒᚣᛃᚣᚴᚴᚮᛌ ᚢᛚᚢᛌ Büyükkoş Uluş (Chal)
National flag Symbol
Anthem: "Even Blossoms Eventually Scatter"
Capital	Shaghirsenir
Largest city	Sekizbulut
Official languages	Chal
Recognised national languages	List Altiqor Chabur Qisir Chalgan Orogur Kichchal Sachak Chiggit and various others...
Ethnic groups (2023)	20% Chals 20% Altiqors 14% Chaburs various others
Religion (2023)	75% Gregorianism
Demonym(s)	Razanite
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
• President	Eren Sekizmiy
• Prime Minister	Aydar Kizilay
Legislature	Congress of Razan
• Upper house	States-General
• Lower house	Communes-General
Formation
• Independence	1785
Area
• Total	6,587,948 km2 (2,543,621 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate	160.0 million (2nd)
• Density	24.29/km2 (62.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$4.48 trillion (2nd)
• Per capita	$28,000
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$1.92 trillion (7th)
• Per capita	$12,000
Gini	39.2 medium
HDI	0.81 very high
Currency	tenge (RZT)
Time zone	UTC-2 to -5
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+937

Razan (Chal: ᛒᚣᛃᚣᚴᚴᚮᛌ, hernicized: Büyükkoş), officially the State of Razan (Chal: ᛒᚣᛃᚣᚴᚴᚮᛌ ᚢᛚᚢᛌ, hernicized: Büyükkoş Uluş), is a sovereign state in northern Abaria, and the largest country in the world by land area. It is bounded by the Tayan Sea to the east, the North Sea and the Glacian Ocean to the north. Its capital is Shaghirsenir and its largest city is Sekizbulut. With a population of approximately 160 million people, it is also the second-most populous country in the world.

Before the first millenium CE, southern Razan was populated by the cities of the Sargian civilization, an entrepot for trans-Abarian trade, while the east was dominated by the nomadic Rasians. The Berkic migration resulted in the conquest of much of northern Abaria by Berkic peoples, who reached the shores of the Tayan Sea. Several major states including both sedentary and nomadic empires were established by the Berks, the most powerful of which was the Artuchid Empire that dominated the Abarian continent in the 14th century following the Catabole and the subsequent crisis. From 1444 onwards, it fragmented into several successor states.

The east coast of Razan, which hosted Calesian commercial outposts since antiquity, consolidated into the Triumvirate of Razan in the 17th century, an ally and then client of Waldrich against the Saqlaganid Empire to the south. Tensions between the Triumvirate and the Waldish during the 18th century resulted in a declaration of independence in 1785, followed by the Twelve Years' War, which resulted in the establishment of a fully independent Razanite state by 1797.

Perceiving itself as a state rooted in and hinged upon the Calesianization of Abaria, Razan undertook campaigns of expansion against its post-Artuchid neighbors and north-western frontiers in the 19th century, defeating the Saqlaganids in the 1810s, expanding across the Cascay by the 1840s, and annexing central Abaria by the 1870s. The country's rapid expansion emboldened its entry into the Transmedan War as a Sydenham Power, which it withdrew from following an internal change of government. The Postbellum period of 'Young Razan' saw various factions competing for power, whose power struggles reached a height in the Lycanthropy of the 1970s, which was followed by the establishment of a relatively stable dominant-party political system that prevails to today.

Razan is one of the world's great powers and a superpower of the Abarian continent; it also has a close relationship with Calesian powers such as Waldrich. Its developed economy is the world's second-largest one by PPP and the seventh-largest one by nominal GDP. It is a member state of the United Congress, the Abarian Regional Forum, the W3 Initiative, and the Nordbund.

Etymology

'Razan' comes from the High Tissic name rāzana, which referred to modern day Kunyaty and also gave the ancient Rasians their name. This ultimately derives from the root *raȷ́ʰ- "to abandon, free", cognate with Neo-Tissic rāz 'mystery', and likely referred to northern Abaria's remote position relative to ancient Tissic civilization. The Berkic endonym is 'Büyükkoş', referring to the Great Yoke, a seal used by the Tashars that the Triumvirate of Razan adopted and which is depicted in modern Razan's state emblem. The state's full title is thus sometimes literally translated as 'State of the Great Yoke' although this enjoys no official recognition whatsoever.

Geography

Regions:

• Kunyaty - Chal northeast coast
• Nawdeh - former Saqlaganid territory
• Tatjaga - Altiqor midwest
• Cascay - Northern taiga
• Central Abaria, also known as Artuchia or Baltizinia

History

Antecedence

Ancient Razan (–700)

Central Abaria in antiquity was settled by the mercantile cities of the Sargian civilization, which were a nexus of overland trade through Abaria. To the north and east stood the expansive cultural sphere of the Rasians, a family of cultures originating from the Tatjaga steppe who established various states both nomadic and sedentary across Tatjaga, Kunyaty, and northern Nawdeh, as well as regularly exacting tribute from and occasionally invading Cascay and Sargia. The southern Rasian kingdoms later acculturated to the norms and styles of the Tissic civilization to their south, although Rasians also conquered Tissic states on several occasions and introduced their own influences to Tissic culture. Kunyaty conducted extensive maritime trade with Calesian civilizations, with even some Melian and later Hernician trade outposts established on its coast.

Early Berkic era (700–1350)

The Berkic migration in the 8th century established the Tashars in Kunyaty, who settled and converted to Principal Gregorianism shortly after their arrival. Eastern Razan became the base for Kechek invasions of Calesia by Berkic raiders in the 9th to 11th centuries, and the Tashar Principal kingdoms participated in the War of the Mantles of the 11th century on a more organized basis. At the same time, the Tashars were very receptive of influences from Calesia and southeastern Abaria: the emerging Chal people of Kunyaty in particular adopted a new urban communal identity modeled on the poleis of ancient south Calesia, centered on Principalist worship also reformed along the lines of Calesian and southern Abarian churches. Further west, the Berks established several powerful nomadic empires in the north Abarian plains, and also conquered Sargia to establish new Berkic-ruled kingdoms there. Trade spread Gregorianism westwards along with occasional conquests by pious warlords; by the 11th century most ruling elites in northern Abaria were patrons of the Gregorian religion, and Gregorian monasteries established a respectable presence in most the cities of the region.

Artuchid empires (1350–1600)

During the Catabolic Crisis, the Artuchid Empire emerged in central Abaria and conquered much of the continent before disintegrating in the 15th century. In Razan the most important successor state to the Artuchids was the Saqlaganid Empire, which spanned much of what is now Razan's south-east. In the 16th century, it extacted tribute from the Kunyaty cities of the northeast coast and the Altiqor confederacies of the midwestern steppe, dominating north-eastern Abaria. Other notable Artuchid states included the Baltizine Empire in the central Abarian desert and the Altiqor-ruled Dauyly Confederacy in the steppe.

Early modern Razan (1600–1800)

Resentful of Saqlaganid tribute demands while growing wealthy from trade with Calesia, the three Kunyatic cities of Arqa, Sekizbulut, and Yaghtoman established the Triumvirate of Razan in 1615, which allied with the Old Waldish Confederacy to resist the Saqlaganid Empire, and expanded in a series of conflicts and negotiations to incorporate other Chal communes. Over the course of the 17th century, Waldish presence expanded through merchants, missionaries, garrisons, and advisors which turned the Triumvirate into an effective Waldish colony. Under Waldish influence, Presterism was introduced to the Chal coast through the immigration of Presterist dissidents from Waldrich, which led to a movement of popular spiritual renewal. Presterism in Razan developed toward a distinctive Maximalistic interpretation, and the social reforms it promoted eventually strengthened local identity against the Chals' Cathedralist Waldish suzerains. The proximate political trigger for a Razanite independence movement, however, was rather the extension of centralizing Waldish policies to the cities, and attempts to restrain the cities from fighting the Saqlaganids on their own terms. In 1785 the Chal cities confederated and declared independence from Waldrich, triggering the Twelve Years' War, and their demands would be recognized at the war's end in 1797.

Modern state

Beacon of Abaria (1800–1875)

Freed from restraint by the Waldish and now party to a grand entente of more aggressive Calesian interests in eastern Abaria, newly-independent Razan focused its efforts south on defeating the Saqlaganid Empire. In 1811, a Razanite incursion into Saqlaganid territory triggered Yedibelgi's War, which ended in 1817 with the ouster of the Saqlaganids and the division of their empire into Danash, Osershan, and Matar under joint Razanite and Calesian protection. Although there were consistent efforts to wrest influence over and eventually annex the post-Saqlaganid states in the south, it was not until the outbreak of the War of the Backdoor in 1838 that Razan was able to do so in the name of supporting a liberal revolution in Matar and defending it against Calesian intervention.

The more highlighted efforts of Razan's territorial expansion from the 1820s were focused on incorporating larger territories in the Cascay. The nomadic states of the continental interior were enticed with trade and protection to mostly submit peacefully, but some such as the Arkanjak Khanate offered stubborn resistance and were only annexed after bloody conquest. By the 1840s, with the annexation of the Narsuren, Razan's territory extended to its current western frontier. Razan also projected its influence toward the sedentary kingdoms of central Abaria such as Karadala, Aqqush, and Selgan, which by the 1840s had fallen into its sphere of influence. Though content to maintain them as independent client states, the spread of liberal political ideas destabilized their societies with pro-Razan republican dissent; in 1862 the outbreak of civil war in Karadala initiated the Razanite conquest of Central Abaria, as both filibusters and federal troops intervened to install revolutionary republics by 1868.

Through this period and concomitant with the expansion of liberalism abroad, the Razanite 'homeland' in Kunyaty saw the rise of politics that challenged the increasingly oligarchical Triumvirate patriciate. Grounded in spiritual revivals and adventurism to establish utopian societies on the frontier, they rallied around reversionist autonomy movements, which established hundreds of sizeable settled communities across Razan that exercised self-governance and seceded from state authority. The turn of these movements toward revolution in the 1860s alienated members of the new, freeholding middle class that developed over the course of Razanite expansion and economic growth, pushing them into a counterrevolutionary coalition with the patriciate, the landed gentry, and Cascay chieftains. Dominating the federal government due to the reversionists' abstentionism and abortive insurrections in 1868, this broad alliance entered a confrontation with the new central Abarian revolutionary states, refusing to accede them to the federation.

In 1872, the reversionist central Abarian revolutionaries purged sympathizers of the Razanite government and united into the Artuchian Federation. In response, the Razanite government cracked down on reversionism, initiated the Southwestern War in 1873, conquered central Abaria, and at last acceded the central Abarian states in 1875. With this, all the broad constitutive regions of Razan today became part of the federation; agreements and conventions to limit expansion in Abaria between the Calesian powers meant Razan would no longer conduct large annexations.

Champion of Abaria (1875–1940)

The conquest of central Abaria marked the shift of Razan into a country and power with an Abarian rather than Calesian self-identity. As had been demonstrated in the liberal revolutionary wars, Pan-Abarianism became increasingly influential, and participation in federal politics by the newly incorporated regions was increasingly united by the ideology of Abarian empowerment. Meanwhile, Razan's territorial expansion now made it a rival rather than partner of Calesian agendas in Abaria, leading to a vicious cycle of confrontation in eastern and southern Abaria where their spheres of influence abutted. Although the political establishment attempted to shut out the seemingly dangerously radical pan-Abarian 'Young Berks' on one hand and maintain goodwill with Calesia on the other, the exertions Razan made in continental politics to prove this ultimately further emboldened the former while consternating the latter.

In the wake of the Southwestern War, the 'reconstruction' of reversionist communities in central Abaria and elsewhere, and the cause of suppressing 'contrarian' ideology more generally, transformed Razan into a much more authoritarian and paternalistic society, based on local political machines, big men, and patronage networks controlling 'contrarianism-policing' offices that supported a reactionary oligarchy in Shaghirsenir. Coordinative efforts by the bureaucracy organized the Cervine Party which suspended Congress and ruled the country from 1895 to 1912 with an authoritarian, technocratic governing style, but confronting increasing dissent it was eventually forced to dissolve itself and reconvene Congress. The post-Cervine period however was mired by discoordination in the political elite, while as Razan entered increasing confrontations with Calesian powers the military was empowered and tolerated to act on its own politically, soon even overriding civilian government.

In 1936 Razan joined the Transmedan War on the side of the Sydenham Powers, expecting to establish its hegemony across the entire Abarian continent. It invaded several states in Shiraq and southeast Abaria on the pretext of pre-empting Hyacinthean-backed revolution, and later expelling the imperialist influence of the Transmedan Powers. Although it provided crucial logistical support to the Sydenham alliance, it remained reluctant to actually combine forces with its allies in other theatres, preferring primarily to focus on its ambitions in conquering southern Abaria. But as the frontline stagnated from 1938, participation in the war became widely criticized within Razan, and major military setbacks in 1939 caused the wartime government to collapse. By early 1940, Razan sued for peace with the Transmedan Powers, withdrawing its support of the Sydenham Powers. For this, Razan was able to negotiate very favorable terms for a country among the defeated countries, avoiding occupation and preserving its pre-war territories.

Young Razan (1940–1980)

Main article: Young Razan

The post-war government was led by the National-Civic Party, which was spearheaded by ultranationalists and national syndicalists sidelined and jailed during the Transmedan War, although they quickly made sweeping concessions to other elements such as established bureaucrats and liberal reformists to consolidate a stable coalition. Domestically the NCP promoted what were essentially national syndicalist reforms in the name of dismantling the pre-war oligarchy and aligning with democratic, progressive values, which even enjoyed broad support from liberals. Externally, the new regime enthusiastically collaborated with the new Teleon system and the rising Lisieux Pact's agenda of worldwide decolonization, offering aggressive support of Abarian national liberation movements in Pyinthar and Shiraq. Here its national syndicalist elements were to enjoy their greatest influence, continuing the pre-war Pan-Abarian policy, and imprinting Razan-supported national liberation movements with a model of totalitarian party-states and drastic state-led developmentalism that even NCP policies in Razan itself could not fully establish.

In 1950, an internal power struggle caused the unceremonious dissolution of the NCP and a period of competition between its three successors, which campaigned through various local mobilization organisations known as Wolfpacks that formed a kind of Razanite activist civil society, although their tactics quickly turned violent and terroristic. In 1962, rioting during elections provoked a coup that brought the Constitutional Union to power, which sought a longer-lasting one-party regime under the mandate of undoing national syndicalist excesses and suppressing contrarianism. The CU period also saw Razan reach out to the emerging Nordbund to counter Lisieux influence in Abaria.

The CU government was challenged by intransigent civil opposition and soon fractured itself, with factions attempting to manipulate the Wolfpacks and create a mass revolutionary initiative inspired by the Second Adanali Revolution and other concurrent movements that could dismantle local political machines in their favor. During 1972 this culminated in a wave of local power seizures by overenthusiastic Wolfpacks, at which point the movement, known as the Lycanthropy, became recognized as entirely out of control. Order was eventually restored by 1980 when a new big-tent party, the Society for Action, co-opted most of the by-then tired Wolfpacks, and established a new political arrangement based on the Society as a new broad-based, responsive, technocratic force.

Contemporary Razan (1980–)

A successful intervention in the Tragurian Gulf War of 1982–5 massively bolstered Razanite confidence on the world stage, and as the Deluge unfolded, Razan pursued an aggressive foreign policy to secure Abaria for the serial world. This led to a contest with Mizbeh for influence over Shiraq and Dositria in the wake of the Gulf War, which in the 1990s led to the Trans-Shiraqi War. The costs and unsatisfactory outcome of the conflict proved a humiliation to the Society for Action, which reshuffled its leadership. The overheating of the wartime economy and buckling of its underlying state-led system led to haphazard deregulation and contractionary policies by the government in an attempt to recoup support, which caused a period of severe economic crisis and social instability in the 2000s, and the defection of many local post-Wolfpack interest groups that the Society for Action had relied on.

In this context, Razan experienced a religious revival known as the Millennium Awakening, and by the 2010s both the Society for Action and an emerging coalition of its opponents ran on a platform of Gregorian conservatism. The Society was eventually ousted from power in the 2015 elections by the National Covenant, which became Razan's new party of power. Covenanter rule has been marked by renewed commitments to militant confrontation against inversionist and solidarist powers abroad, and a range of contradictory populist policies at home that have effected a redistribution of power to the varied local powerholders and entrepreneurs-turned-oligarchs supporting the Covenant.

Politics

Razan is a federal parliamentary republic, composed of several self-governing states, and governed according to a collection of frequently-amended Basic Laws; the Razanite political system possesses many unique and distinctive features which originated in the governance of the medieval Kunyaty cities and the Triumvirate of Razan.

The Congress of Razan makes laws and appoints an executive cabinet headed by a Prime Minister, as well as a ceremonial President. The bicameral Congress consists of a States-General representing the states, which is elected federally every four years; and a Communes-General representing constituencies or 'communes' allotted across Razanite territory by population, for which each state holds the initiative in electing, meaning representatives rotate out past each other, though in practice states set their electoral calendars together to effectively create a system of staggered elections. The States-General holds the initiative in constituting cabinets, so cabinets and premierships follow their terms. Legislative acts have to be passed by both houses to be ratified, and the government needs confidence from both houses to remain in power.

Laws and governmental conduct are supervised and ruled upon by the Sagely Court of Razan, which serves as the supreme court. The Sagely Court is technically an institution entirely independent from the Razanite state: its justices appoint their own successors or admit new justices at will. However, the Court does not necessarily have the power to overturn the decisions of state or local courts, which historically have only been managed by introducing 'counteractive' federal laws.

The political system of Razan has historically often been dominated by a single party or broad church organization, currently the National Covenant, an anti-Delarueist coalition composed of dozens of parties, of which the largest sections are religious conservatives, populist technocrats, and ultranationalists.

Law and enforcement

Razan follows a proclamative law system, which it is usually held as the modern origin of; legal proceedings are centered on finding and establishing the rights of a plaintiff in an adversarial system. A mixture of statutes and Razanite case laws are used, primarily in an appellate manner, to establish claims within reasonable bounds. Legal jurisdictions in Razan are governed by a complex set of often contradictory customs and precedents.

Law enforcement is carried out by a wide variety of federal, state, local, and private agencies. Private justice and vigilantism is especially common in southern Razan, also a part of the country that has struggled with rampant crime since the 1990s. Organized crime is very powerful in southern Razan, wielding militarized armed wings and engaging in substantial collusion with the government.

States

The States of Razan are a collective of organizations defined by being the primary signatory parties to the Razanite federation. Only a few of these states, however, are complete territorial governments. Several states do not define their borders and territories, encompassing smaller self-governing subdivisions that proclaim their affiliation, which may change on a quotidian basis. A number of states centred in Kunyaty possess discontiguous territories scattered through the rest of the country. There are also states which act more as a unique category of corporation in Razanite law granted some privileges from their state status. States have been created and disbanded frequently in Razanite history, though most still claim descent from the Kunyaty cities.

Foreign relations

Razan is a member of the Nordbund. It is a close ally of Waldrich, and is considered the most powerful and important serial world player in Abaria. Its main regional engagements include a sprawling confrontation in the Shiraq and wider southeastern Abaria against inversionist states led by Mizbeh and Adanal, as well as the support of serial forces in west Abaria against Pyinthar and other inversionist regimes. Razan is also a member of the Abarian Regional Forum and the W3 Initiative.

Economy

Razan is a developed, high-income industrialized economy.