Kamadyu the Magnificent

Kamadyu
Basilissa (Hellene) Bāmbusht (Khaltian) Virajni (Classical Kankrit)
Artist depiction of Kamadyu in battle gear.
Reign	259 - 299
Predecessor	Hritsvashaya
Dynasty	Kadipsus
Religion	Buddhism Kalaism

Kamadyu of Hannashka, commonly known as Kamadyu the Magnificent, was an empress in the latter half of the Hannashka Empire's sovereignty over parts of Tennai and a large expanse of southwest Siduri. She was the daughter of Hritsvashaya and her mother was Amba.

Before her accession, Kamadyu served as a low-ranking officer in the Hannashka army. She served in numerous battles against the Makedonian Empire and other smaller nations. Kamadyu also traveled extensively outside of the battlefield and was tutored extensively in many subjects.

Under her rule, the empire enjoyed great military success, reconquering lands lost to the Makedonian Empire in prior wars and also expanding into new territories. The terrirorial gained under Kamadyu's rule would, for the most part, remain under Hannashka control until the Rideva Empire conquered much of the Hannashka Empire's territory in the last decade of the 4th century. Kamadyu's territorial expansion secured the section of the Spice Road that linked the Sabri Sea with the Varuna Ocean and allowed for the safe passage of merchants across a vast expanse of southern Siduri.

Background

Kamadyu was the youngest child of daughter of Emperor Hritsvashaya and low-ranking concubine of northern Tennaiite descent, Amba. From her mother she had three brothers named Bhoja, Satrajit, and Pathina. She also had three sister named Satyabhama, Devaki, and Karenumati. Almost nothing is known of her mother's family except that they were from the city of Ajmer, modern day Sewa. Ajmer was known at the time for its excellent ironworking. Many historians postulate that Kamadyu's mother was from high ranking family and was made a concubine to help maintain the the loyalty of Ajmer and thus secure a supply of high quality iron goods. It was not uncommon for Hannashka emperors and empresses to taken wifes, husbands, and concubines from the powerful and wealthy familys of its subject peoples to help maintain thier loyalty.

Early Life

Military

At the age of 17, Kamadyu was given command of a small contingent of troops by her father and sent to engage with Makedonian forces at the frontier of the two empires. With her small contingent of 250 heavy cavalry, 700 horse archers, and 1000 levy infantry she managed to inflict heavy losses on the Makedonian forces that greatly outnumberd her own. The account of one battle describes Kamadyu squaring off with a Makedonian force of 7,500 and inflicting severe casualities in the number of 3,100 dead and 3,000 wounded on the Makedonian side and only 150 dead and 100 wounded from Kamadyu's force. The accuracy such accounts can be held up to scrutitiny, but both Helene and Kalkrit sources agree that Kamadyu was highly successful.

Two years later at the age of 19 and after continued success, Kamadyu's force was reduced to that of 300 medium cavalry and she was sent out again to engage the forces of both Erani petty kingdoms and Makedon. Lacking the numbers to engage in pitched battles, Kamadyu engaged in hit-and-run warfare, skillfully utilizing the flexibility and skill of her medium cavalry. Using this style of warfare she was able to inflict significant losses over time while suffering very few casualties herself.

Scholars have debated the reason for Kamadyu being given such small commands and subsequently engaging far supior forces for many centuries. The most prominent theory holds that as the daughter of a low ranking concubine and possessing great charisma and ambition she was viewed as a threat by Hritsvashaya and his potential heirs. Thusly, sending Kamadyu to engage much larger forces with very limited resources was intended to kill off a potential rival to the throne without having to execute her and causing unrest within the imperial household and among subject populations.

Education and Travel

Prior to and during her early military life, Kamadyu was educated by a group of three Buddhist monks headed by Mahanta and the Kalaist purohit and scholar Narumai. It is through this group of scholars and teachers that Kamadyu was educated in topics such as history, art, mathematics, statecraft, military strategy and tactics, diplomacy, and of course religion. Narumai is said to have had an especially profound influence on Kamadyu's future diplomatic and administrative endeavors. It is also through her teachers that Kamadyu gained a great appreciation for education which would manifest in the form educational policies that would have a lasting impact on southern Siduri.

While out in the field, Kamadyu was sent across the width and breadth of Hannashka territory. When not planning or engaging in combat, she would visit the cities, villages, and encampments of the locals inhabitants of whatever territory she was operating in. Kamadyu would listen to and discuss the issues concerning both the wealthy and common people equally and then would seek to craft solutions for those issues in locales she visited. Through these interactions with a wide variety of cultures, Kamadyu gained a greater understanding of those she would rule over in the future, a fact that helped her maintain the peace and stability of the empire througout her reign.

Rise to power and Ascension to Empress

When Kamadyu was 21 Emperor Hritsvashaya was struck ill with "the plague" during an outbreak of the disease in Halram. Despite the efforts of the court physicians, the emperor's condtition worsened and his condition rapidly declined. Normally, a Hannashka emperor's eldest living child would inherit the throne with the children of wives being regarded more heavily. At the time of Hritsvashaya's illness though, all of his sons and daughters from his wives had either died in battle or had also contracted the disease that afflicted him. Following the children of wives, the children of favored and politically imporant concubines would then have been considered but, with the exception of Kamadyu, all these children disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Ancient and contemporary sources theorize that Kamadyu engineered the disappearance of the concubine's children and also the deaths of many of the children of Hritsvashaya's wives.

With no children of his own left to follow him, Emperor Hritsvashaya declared his brother's eldest son, Kohada, as his heir. Soon after Hritsvashaya's declaration the emperor died and Kohada was granted the emperorship. A week after taking the throne though, Kamadyu entered Halram with a contingent of 10,000 of the Empire's most elite cavlry and delegations from subject peoples across the empire. It was initially thought that Kamadyu was entering the city to overthrow her cousin Kohanda, but she and her soldiers dismounted their horses shortly after entering Halram and instead quarterd themselves in the city. Kamadyu declared that she was entering the city to safeguard the emperor's safety and that she had also entered the city to protect the subject delegations as they traveled. Kohada, unsure of what was occurring, allowed the delegations from the Hannashka subject peoples to enter the imperial abode. Once inside the palace, the delegations declared that if Kohada continued to sit on the throne, his empire would rise up against him with the spears of a million sons and daughters if he did not step down and declare his cousin Kamadyu empress. Fearing a civil war and knowing that Kamadyu controlled the loyalty of many important military and tribal leaders, he acquiesced to the demands of the delegations and declared Kamadyu empress in his place. At the age of 21, Kamadyu was enthroned as empress of the Hannashka Empire and declared that she would restore the empire's lost lands and ensure its safety from foreign invaders.