Darshistan

Republic of Darshistan د دارشيستان جمهوریت
Flag of Darshistan Flag Emblem of Darshistan Emblem
Motto: یو د ځمکې د ټولو لپاره One Land For All
Location of Darshistan
Capital	Sar Rawẕah
Largest city	Melanay
Official languages	Darshi
Widely used languages	Darshi, Farsi, Denikertic
Ethnic groups (2012)	93% Darshi, 7% Other
Religion	Heqanatic Mazdaism 52%, Zoulvisian Mazdaism 48%
Demonym(s)	Darshi
Government	Parliamentary Democracy
• Prime Minister (Head of Government)	Amir Hosseini
• National President (Head of State)	Siddiq Barmak
Legislature	State Assembly (د دولت شورا)
Formation
• Annexation by Amathia	1875 CE
• Independence	1935 CE
• Darshistan Civil War	1988-1993
• Gayneva Accords	1994
Area
•	447,820 km2 (172,900 sq mi)
Population
• 2016 estimate	14 million
• Density	31.2/km2 (80.8/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	14.5 billion
• Per capita	1,036
Currency	Darshi Rial (DAR)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.dr

Darshistan (Darshi: دارشيستان), officially the Republic of Darshistan, is a nation in southern Badawiya. It is bordered by Denikert to the north and Fars to the south. For much of its post-independence Darshistan was ruled by military dictators support by either Fars or Denikert, after the last of these, Marshal Taner Akçam died, the country fell in to the three year Darshistan Civil War between Zoulvisian and Heqanatic militias supported by Denikert and Fars respectively. Following the end of the war and the Gayneva Accords in 1994, the country has been run under a democratic system with power sharing between the Heqanatic majority and Zoulvisian minority which has kept peace for over twenty years. Despite this religious tensions continue to run high and many see Darshistan as a possible flash-point for war between the Coian League and SCDI. Darshistan maintains an army and national police force, in part funded by both Fars and Denikert but the state has stayed out of world affairs since the Gayneva Accords.

Long serving as a buffer region, the modern territory of Darshistan was under Farsi rule for much of its history, including under the Susa dynasty. It also came under the rule of some Denikertic dynasties in the late 17th century. Wars in the latter half of the eighteenth century devastated the country and decisively ensured Farsi control for the future.

The political history of the modern state of Darshistan began with Fars's selling of the land to the Caesenan Empire in the 1870s as part of a deal between the two powers. Until the Great War, Darshistan was part of the Caeseni Empire until the Democratic Alliance backed 1932 invasion from Fars which drove out the Entente forces and gave Darshistan to Fars as part of a "sphere of influence". Until the 1968 Farsi August Revolution and subsequent Farsi isolation, Darshistan was absorbed in to the Denikert sphere until the 1988-1994 Civil War which ended in a power sharing agreement between Darshistan's Heqanatic majority and Zoulvisian minority.

Brief History

The Republic of Darshistan has had a long and often violent history, despite being a relatively new country. For most of recorded history the region was part of various Farsi Empire, and one Darshi dynasty, the Gurganj, even ruled all Fars during the Crusader period. During the Susan period of Farsi history, 1400-1875, Darshistan became the center of conflict between the Farsi Empire and the Denikertic Sultanate with the two empires fighting numerous wars (collectively known as the Gunpowder Wars which ran from 1650 until 1800) over the region. For most of this period, Fars had control over Darshistan however in 1713 the Sultanate annexed Darshistan and held it for almost four decades until they were expelled from the region by a joint Farsi-Hejan force. It was during this period that the seeds of the Darshistan Situation were sown, with the Denikertic Sultanats moving thousands of Zoulvisian in to Darshistan and encouraging the conversion of many native Darshi peoples, especially in the northern regions. By the middle of the 1830's Denikert had lost much of its power and was annexed by the Caeseni Empire, but Fars had also been weakened during the Gunpowder Wars and the bankrupt Susa Dynasty were forced to sell Darshistan to the Caeseni Empire to prevent an invasion.

After the collapse of the Susa Dynasty, the Gurham Shah's were unable to exert any authority over Darshistan until the Great War when, under pressure from the Democratic Alliance, Fars invaded Darshistan in 1932 driving out the weakened Caeseni forces. After the end of the War, Fars was given Darshistan as part of a "sphere of influence" with the Shahanshah appointing a Heqanatic dominated military dictatorship supported by Fars. However, with the fall of the Farsi Shah's in the August Revolution of 1968, Fars entered a period of isolation during which Denikert sponsored a rebellion against the Heqanatic regime, and put a Zoulvisian dictator in place. Darshistan was now in the situation of having the Zoulvisian minority rule over the Heqanatic majority.

In 1988, the Zoulvisian dictator died and central authority in Darshistan collapsed with each religious group fighting to dominate the country. Soon two umbrella organisations developed: the Farsi backed, Heqanatic Coalition of the Revolutionary Army of Darshistan (CRAD) which dominated the south along the shores of Lake Lavid and the city of Melanay, against the Zoulvisian Free Darshistan Army (FDA). These forces were respectively backed by Fars and Denikert with both sending arms, money and as the war progressed, soldiers. On paper the CRAD was the stronger force with 150,000 fighter's to the FDA's 140,000, the CRAD also dominated the richer south-eastern flatlands of the country. However, despite initial success the CRAD was unable to progress into the mountainous north where the FDA had their strongholds and were aided by Denikertic mercenaries. By 1990, Fars had sent an estimated fifteen thousand soldiers of the Revolutionary Guard Expeditionary Corps to fight in Darshistan and this Fars-CRAD force put the Zoulvisian city of Gul Darah, the country's third largest city, under siege in summer 1990. It was during the year-and-a-half long siege of Gul Darah that the war's fiercest fighting took place with CRAD artillery shelling the city almost constantly and the Farsi People's Air Force routinely subjecting the defenders to air attack. However, the city did not fall and by later 1992, the CRAD forces were forced to withdraw. Despite this victory the FDA were too weakened to exploit the CRAD retreat and a counterattack towards Melanay failed.

In 1993, a ceasefire was declared and the next year a lasting peace was brought in with the Gayneva Accords. The Gayneva peace established a system of power sharing, a complex quota system in which political, judicial and administrative power is distributed among religious groups. Under this, the National President of Darshistan is Zoulvisian and the Prime Minister is Heqanatic. This system, along with deals regarding Farsi and Denikertic interests in the country has brought peace to Darshistan and has prevented any large scale inter-religious violence