History of Talahara

Prehistory (c. 8000-1500 BCE)

The first evidence of human life in the Adras Mountains dates to the ninth millennium BCE from the Mechta culture. Mechta groups relied on hunting and small-scale subsistence agriculture, eventually building villages and domesticating animals in both the mountains and along the coasts, initially traveling in migratory routes with some groups settling into permanent or semi-permanent agricultural communities. During this time, the region was more humid and sustained a greater level of vegetation than presently. Pre-Mechta cultures are speculated to have inhabited the region as early as 25,000 BCE, but direct evidence within Talahara is uncertain.

Pre-Mechta stone handaxe head from c. 23rd millennium BCE

Archaeological and genetic studies have shown continuity between the ancient Mechta culture and the modern Kel peoples. The mythology of the Kel Aman and Kel Hadar recites that their people arrived in Scipia by boat, led by Saint Kahina, the daughter of the Sun. The Kel Aman settled on the coasts with Kahina’s daughter Daya while the Kel Hadar continued onward to conquer the mountains, eradicating the original inhabitants with Kahina's son, Hada. Studies of a few Mechta remains have revealed haplogroups commonly found of Belisarian, East Scipian, and Ochranese origins with distinctions from Tenerians to the south. Modern Talaharans share many of these haplogroups, but also share genetic material from more recent migrations including from South Scipia and Malaio.

Statue of Saint Kahina in Maktarim

Mechta culture is held to have declined by the 3rd millennium BCE. The emerging northern Kel peoples began to rise with the advent of the bronze age. Some Kel groups settled into agricultural or fishing communities. Others settled into migratory cycles. These peoples mined copper from the mountains and created alloys with locally sourced zinc ore or imported tin. Little is known of the language or early religions of these peoples, though it is commonly held that Massanism was legendarily founded in the 26th century BCE.

Antiquity (c. 1500-253 BCE)

The presence of the Kel Aman was first attested in writing by the Aradians in the mid-second millennium BCE. Their interactions led to the passing of a proto-Aradian alphabet to the Kel Aman who developed seagoing vessels within a couple of centuries as well. The development of these vessels contributed to interconnectivity between the Kel Aman settlements

Manassa, a Kel Aman chiefdom, grew in size and power compared to its peers. The chiefdom formed a hegemony over the Kel Aman coastal settlements and exacted tribute from Kel Hadar dwellers in the mountains who relied on coastal access for trade. War broke out and many Kel Hadar fled into the desert to the south. The establishment of Manassa is one of the earliest attested events in Talaharan history. The exact date of the establishment is unknown, but 751 BCE is approximated as year one of the Talaharan calendar.

At the turn of the fifth century BCE, the Manassan hegemony collapsed and the Kel Aman fractured into independent city-states both on the coast and further inland on the plains. The Confederation of Tamazɣa expanded from the Ninva desert near the border with modern Talahara and exerted major influence over the Kel Aman settlements. This period also facilitated a major demographic exchange and the formation of a common Kel identity among the various groups.

Classical era (253 BCE-1056 CE)

Ruined monument, constructed c. 3rd century BCE

In 298 BCE, the city-states of Weskera, Manassa, Batana, and Rušadar broke away from Tamazɣa to form the Kingdom of Talahara, named after the local lion population. The new state expanded to control almost all of the coastal regions and began warring with neighbouring Aradian city-states. In the core settlements on the coasts, metalworking and tapestry weaving grew as major industries, bolstered by maritime trading. The new capital of Rušadar also began to expand and became one of the largest cities in the region.

Approximately 50 years following the establishment of the Kingdom of Aman, the chief of the Nefzawan confederation of the Kel Hadar, Neru N'Nefzawa, conquered the Kel Aman kingdom, assisted by an army of Aradian mercenaries. This has traditionally been regarded by historians as a coup by the Aradian merchant states. The Nefzawan dynasty effectively ruled over the coasts and foothills of the Adras Mountains as Aradian puppets. In the south, the Tamazɣa advanced northward and reincorporated a number of Kel Hadar clans into the confederation throughout the latter half of the third century BCE.

As the Aradian city-states began to decline in the final years of the third century BCE, the Latin Empire in Belisaria began to expand its influence in the Periclean. Beginning in the middle of the second century, Latin campaigns pressed on the peripheries of Nefzawan Talahara, culminating in the conquest of the coastal region in 129 BCE, though the fringes of the desert held by the Tamazɣa wouldn’t be wrested from their control until the third century CE.

Nefzawan coinage c. 200 BCE

The Kel Aman experienced repression under the governance of Latium at the turn of the common era. The Latin Empire integrated the territory of Talahara into a quasi-client kingdom based in the traditional capital of Rušadar. While the Nefzawan dynasty nominally held power, Latin law was instituted, Latin magistrates oversaw court proceedings, and Latin soldiers maintained law and order, assisted by local auxiliaries. In comparison, the Kel Hadar remained comparatively free, with their pastoral lifestyles unimpeded by Latin law.

The Kingdom of Nefzawa faltered in the second century CE with the extinction of the Nefzawan dynasty. Following this, the Latin Empire attempted to install a ruler from the Weskeran dynasty. The Weskerans were inclined to support the Latins but were poorly regarded by other Talaharan chiefs. The decision to install them as the rulers of what was now known as the Aro-Rusadarian Kingdom led to unrest and competition from other states. This resulted in insubordination and violence against Latin citizens and agents in the region.

By the fourth century, violence in the kingdom necessitated a major pacification campaign. The entry of Latin legions provoked even further unrest and the mobilization of rebel forces. As the Kel Aman organized to oppose the Latin rule, many Kel Hadar tribes were enlisted as auxiliaries by Latium. The supported legions swept through the region systematically, besieging and capturing city after city until control was restored half a decade later. Following the pacification of Aro-Rusadaria, the Latin Empire ended the pretense of the client state and integrated the territory into the neighbouring province of Aradia Ultima. The new inclusion was as a junior partner and, while it commanded a great deal of the repressive attention of the Latin governors, was neglected in terms of economic development and infrastructural improvements. This approach softened after another two centuries and the economic potential of the region was eventually restored and developed.

The last 300 years of Latin rule saw the gradual withdrawal of Latin authorities from Aradia Ultima. As the role of the governors diminished, indigenous administrators took up their tasks divided along the borders of the pre-Latin polities. Latin administrators had effectively evacuated from the province by the second half of the 8th century. In 762, the Kutaman dynasty asserted an independent state based in their capital Maktarim. From there, they gathered the support of the other chiefs to declare independence as the Second Kingdom of Talahara.

8th century CE Talaharan fortress or tiɣremt

After expelling the last of the Latin administrators, the first major confrontation that the Second Talaharan Kingdom faced was the arrival of Yen missionaries in the middle of the ninth century. While even prior to the Latin occupation religious diversity was officially tolerated within the realm, the Second Kingdom rejected the missionaries in an effort to assert a united Kel Aman and Kel Hadar religious identity. Several persistent missionaries were ultimately imprisoned and sentenced to hard labour or even death if they continued to preach in Talahara following the completion of their sentences.

Portrait of Queen Tiriɣa N'Kutama

The first Gharib invasion arrived in 902 CE. Spurned on by the mistreatment of the missionaries, thousands of Yen warriors assembled in a fleet and launched a surprise incursion on Talahara’s coasts. The cities of Menassa and Min Malela fell and became footholds for the invaders. A contingent of Kel Hadar tribes turned against the Second Kingdom, joining the Yen invaders and opening a second front from the hills against the defenders. In 906 CE, the Second Kingdom capitulated and the Kutaman dynasty was subjugated by Gharib governors.

Under the period of Gharib occupation, wealth and materials were extracted from the Talaharan hinterlands and concentrated on the coasts. Punitive taxes incentivized the local populace to convert to the Azdarin faith, but the majority of the population refused. The Kel population either managed the additional taxes or evaded them. At the same time, Gharib literature was spread among elite circles in the country and literacy amongst the general populace increased, though Gharib language and script failed to displace Tamaziɣt.

By the middle of the 11th century, the Yen Caliphate's hold on northwestern Scipia was in decline, with uprisings against Azdarin rule amongst the western governates. In 1055, Queen Tiriɣa N'Kutama ousted the Yen governor, Isam ibn Khaled Al-Gada. The forces of the governor and the muqtis were likewise overcome by Kel Aman household guards and levies of Talaharan commoners. In the aftermath of the coup, Queen Tiriɣa proclaimed the restoration of the Second Kingdom and briefly attempted to outlaw the Yen religion and Gharib texts. These measures were ultimately undone within a year, though both foreign and Talaharan Yen continued to face intolerance from the Massanist majority.

Middle ages (1056-1432 CE)

Following the overthrow of the Azdarin Gharib occupation, the Second Kingdom entered into a period of rapid economic growth driven by patterns of interconnection between Periclean poles, trade across the Ninva, and a period of favourable harvests. By the beginning of the 12th century, the Second Kingdom had become a regional power in the Periclean, taking advantage of an independent economy to develop strong exports of metals, textiles, and slaves. The maritime influence of independent Tyrian city-states, however, began to eclipse that of Talahara.

The rivalry between Talahara and the Tyrian city-states, led foremost by New Tyria, escalated into a trade war, causing a sharp increase in state-sanctioned piracy in the region. The trade war escalated into a full-blown war after Talaharan authorities seized a Tyrian trade fleet in 926. The bulk of engagements was held on the open water where superior Tyrian warships were generally successful. Talahara relied primarily on commandeered civilian vessels complemented by unruly marines. The most successful Talaharan attacks involved subterfuge and capture along shallow coastal waters where fast and light Talaharan ships could strike quickly and withdraw. The war concluded in 933 CE when a Talaharan army was caught attempting to cross the Qeshet river into Tyrian lands. The Talaharans were massacred while attempting the crossing and the Kutamans were forced into peace on unfavourable terms.

The defeat in the war against the Tyrians left Talahara in a dismal economic and political state heading into the second millennium CE. Lost materiel and manpower had a severe impact on the economy and restrictions on commerce imposed by the treaty had a dismal effect on prospects for recovery. As the Kel Aman cities declined in importance, rural centres and subsistence lifestyles expanded, as did the internal practice of slavery. Some Kel Aman groups and individuals fled the cities and joined pastoralist Kel Hadar clans or moved to agricultural and industrial centres in the mountains.

Zwawan armies march to the north

The Second Talaharan Kingdom remained in a poor state leading into the 12th century and the Kel Aman’s weak strategic position was increasingly obvious to the outside world. In 1216, the Zwawan Confederation of the Kel Hadar launched an invasion from the mountains. Several Kel Aman chiefs, dissatisfied with the Kutamans’s leadership over the past centuries, supported the invasion and the Kutamans were deposed within a few years.

The Zwawan Confederation ruled in its own name and retained its seat of power in the arid city of Gawawa. While the Zwawan rulers ostensibly honoured the terms of the treaty with Tyreseia and ensured courteous diplomatic relations, the Kel Aman who sided with the Kel Hadar usurpers were given a great deal of discretion to conduct their affairs without intervention from the ruling authority. Toward the end of this period, many of these merchants determined that the Tyrian city-states had become less capable of enforcing the terms of its treaty due to growing competition from the crusaders-turned-merchants in the Republic of Aligonia. However, the Zwawan Confederation officially maintained deferential relations with its eastern neighbours.

In the mid-14th century, Kel Tenere tribes in the Ninva desert were mobilized under the Charnean warlord Ihemod. In 1360, Ihemod led his armies north, seeking to restore the borders of ancient Tamazɣa into the new Confederation of Kel Kaharna. By 1364, Ihemod's forces had conquered or absorbed Kel Hadar tribes as far north as Avana. While Ihemod and the Tenerians assimilated the desert peoples its conquered into its military society, Kel Hadar tribes that joined the invaders were allowed to maintain their traditions. In 1365, the Zwawan Confederation, which had retreated to Mestaɣanim, officially capitulated to Ihemod, who subsequently turned eastward to the Tyrian states, leaving local administrators to govern as his conquests continued.

17th century portrait of King Mayesar N'Zaraba

Kel Kaharna was short-lived and following Ihemod's death in 1410, the borders of the empire rapidly receded. The rump state of the Awakari Empire continued to occupy Talahara until 1432 when the Kel Aman revolted and expelled the Kel Tenere from the coast by edict, led by the Zarabans, a powerful noble family from Mutafayil.

The leadership of the Kel Aman states joined with the Kel Hadar to establish a covenant for the maintenance of political power, whereby the leader of each tribe and noble clan would meet in an Assembly of Chiefs. For the first assembly, King Mayesar of the Zaraba was elected the first ruler of the Third Talaharan Kingdom. Thereafter, the eldest chief in the assembly would rule as king until death. The succession of short reigns and rapid dynastic changes led to the increasing centralization of power within the assembly itself. The official treasury was finally relocated from the ruling dynasty to a central bank which thereafter paid a pension to the clan of each chief and a greater pension to the ruling clan.

Early-modern era (1432-1838 CE)

See also: Talaharan Civil War

Remains of the Assembly of Chiefs complex, Maktarim

The stability of the Third Kingdom and the primacy of mercantilist nobility in the assembly allowed it to flourish in a new era of commerce throughout the subsequent centuries. North-south trade across the Ninva and expanding commerce across the Periclean following the post-Ihemodian decline of the Tyrian states led to period of flourishing for the Third Kingdom. Major advents of the 16th century included the introduction of printing and the standardization of Talahara Tifinaɣ and the adoption of matchlock firearms from the east. By the turn of the 17th century, Talahara was growing into a centre of artisanal industry in the Periclean basin including tapestries and intricate metalworking.

17th century depiction of a Talaharan musketeer

Seeking to expand access to raw materials and increased control over trade with the western coast of Scipia, the Third Kingdom initiated a war of expansion against the Awakari Empire in 1611. The Royal Talaharan Army had a core of infantry armed with mukala muskets and Zaɣaya short spears, augmented with mounted archers and swordfighters. The forces of Awakar were slow to react to the invasion force, and while the Kel Tenere were adept at moving quickly through the desert and striking at vulnerable targets, the Talaharans were successful in protecting their supply lines and occupying the oases, denying the mobile Tenerians any reprieve from the desert. By 1615, the Third Kingdom controlled the major desert centres of Batana and Zedif, and controlled supply and trade lines across the desert and west to Anyanwu. In 1617, Awakar sued for peace, officially ceding territory to Talahara, though rogue attacks from Tenerians tribes persisted for decades.

The Kel Tenere living within the borders of Talahara were treated as an underclass by both the Kel Aman, who traditionally controlled commerce along the coast and the Kel Hadar who had longstanding privileges of mobility and control over mineral extraction in the hills. The Kel Tenere remained banned from entering the cities of the north by the Edict of 1432 and their clans had no official status or political power. Many Kel Tenere were enslaved and put to work in mines and farms to the north. Between 1620 and 1720, the proportion of slaves amongst the population doubled from 1-in-8 to 1-in-4. This demographic exchange led to major population growth in Talahara, both in growing industrial communities and the old urban centres.

As the chiefs expanded their wealth reserves, they expanded businesses from commerce and production to banking and private joint ventures both domestically and abroad. This growth was severely checked in 1722 when a second invasion of Awakar failed after three years. Several major dynasties were bankrupted in the effort. Independent lenders and merchants subsequently gained relative prominence at the expense of the nobles. The unlanded independent merchants expanded their influence and the prominence of wage work. Noble lands were parcelled off, sold, and enclosed for industrial purposes. Mining, mineral refining, and the textile industry became increasingly privatized, based on wage labour instead of rents or tariffs. Steam power was introduced to Northern Scipia and further innovations revolutionized metallurgy and the textile industry through the 18th century.

Damage inflicted on a tiɣremt during the 1763 Revolt

In 1763, a major revolt against private industry was launched by peasant farmers protesting the enclosure of land. Commoners rioted in factories, sabotaged industrial equipment and damaged commercial goods. The revolt, initially solely against private landowners, was eventually quashed by the government after noble estates became affected as well. The revolt soured relations between commoners, landowners, and the nobility.

Private industry continued to supersede the assets of the nobility who increasingly relied on them to finance projects and enterprises. On their part, the landowners began to clamour for additional political power while the vast majority of slaves and commoners languished under oppressive conditions. Despite the attempts of the nobles and the landowners alike to repress the lower classes, improved infrastructure and the geographic mobility afforded by wage labour expanded communication and mobilization. Further unrest and revolts pressured the upper classes who ultimately criminalized vagrancy and vagabondism at beginning of the 19th century.

The criminalization of vagabondism led to conflict with the minority of free Kel Hadar who had maintained nomadic pastoralist lifestyles for millennia. The cultural and religious elite, which included a large portion of the military, supported the preservation of the Kel Hadar’s rights to nomadism. Several clashes occurred between the nomads and authorities before the law was amended to carve out an exception for the Kel Hadar.

The results of the carve-outs for the Kel Hadar nomads had two major effects. The first effect was mass protests among the Kel Aman (nobles, landowners, and commoners alike) who begrudged unequal treatment in contrast to developing concepts of universal rights. The second effect was that many otherwise repressed Kel Hadar adopted nomadic lifestyles ostensibly as covers for fomenting unrest and revolutionary sentiment. Over the ensuing decades, violent outbursts and independent repression by landowners spread as the Assembly of Chiefs began to lose its grip over the state.

Liberal and revolutionary ideologies had become the dominant discursive forces in the nation among the religious, military, and common classes by 1833. Among all corners of the kingdom, the acceptance of the chiefs’ authority was rapidly waning. The liberal landowning class used their resources to spread their influence and agitate politically for abolishing noble privileges. While the wealthy landowners would be the primary beneficiaries of a new liberal order, their dogma was popular with many commoners as well, particularly those who were sold on narratives of opportunity and class mobility. The revolutionary ideology that was spreading among the peasants built on the theoretical foundations of rebels from the previous ceremony. While the revolutionaries agreed on abolishing privilege, it also sought to recentre the labourer as the core unit of society and redistribute wealth so that the landowners could not buy their own privileges at the expense of the poor.

Portrait of an Anarchist woman

In the spring of 1834, a group of wealthy landowners launched a coup as the Assembly of Chiefs was in session. The chiefs of 43 constituent states were rounded up and executed. The landowners consolidated their power in Maktarim, founding the Liberal Republic of Talahara. However, the coup was broadly opposed by the commoners, the religious elite, and large portions of the professional military. Thus, the kingdom descended into violence once again. The northwestern reaches of the nation were seized by the Kingdom of Yisrael which founded the Protectorate of Tarshish.

By 1836, the Liberal Republic had secured a foothold in Maktarim with a new private army to bolster the loyalist elements of the army and navy. Though their soldiers were not as uniformly well trained as the professional army, they had the benefit of clearer leadership and were bolstered in numbers by a great number of free labourers who were ideologically aligned with the Liberals. The religious and noble opposition to the coup had been swiftly dealt with, but revolutionary commoners, freed slaves, and sympathetic soldiers had banded together to oppose the new government, seeking to overturn the liberal order to create a more equitable society.

The anarchist revolutionaries officially coalesced into a single organization referred to as the United Communes of Talahara in 1837. The United Communes were led by a council of representatives from various clans and communities that coordinated to build a new society. Even before the war was won, thinkers and ideologues began developing the concept of their new society, inspired by revolutionary ideology from around the world, their own theories, and the cannibalization of the existing administrative state.

The Anarchist forces closed in on the Liberals and took Maktarim in June of 1838. Thereafter, the Anarchists proclaimed themselves victors and unveiled a constitution, the Supreme Consensus of Talahara, enshrining fundamental and universal rights for their citizens. The Liberals kept hold of the coastal states for several months longer until their naval assets were either defeated or mutinied to join the Anarchists. The last members of the Liberal government either successfully fled overseas or were apprehended by the fall.

Modern era (1838-1950 CE)

The first initiative of the new United Communes of Talahara was to reorder the social structure. In order to put the worker at the centre of the new society, the provisional government eliminated private property and appropriated private businesses which were subsequently redistributed to their respective workforces. The terms of redistribution mandated the implementation of a system of industrial democracy both in the workplace and in wider industrial unions.

The provisional government ended its mandate three years after taking charge, leading to the first elections in 1841. While the elections were intended to take place through a system of industrial democracy, the redistribution of property had not been completed in time. Thus, the provisional government introduced a second part to the Supreme Consensus that enshrined industrial democracy, universal voting rights for all persons above the age of 20, and the eradication of private property with provisions for the preservation of personal property. Most of the individuals who completed petitions for candidacy in the 1841 election were renowned figures from the revolution, though the result of the election decided sharply against militarist figures. The Executive Council completed part three of the Supreme Consensus which codified the role of the executive and established a separate legislature and judiciary based on a new criminal code and the traditional laws of the Kel Aman and Kel Hadar clans.

Talaharan ideologue and political leader, Mass Ziri Akli, 1860

In the decades following the revolution, the Talaharans' greatest obstacle was the geopolitical isolation and hostility of foreign regimes. Trade with most neighbours in the immediate region ground to a halt and the Talaharan military was dispatched several times to protect against hostile incursions and attempts at liberal restoration. However, commerce across the ocean in Norumbia and Oxidentale was at least partially preserved, providing a source of vital imports and markets for Talaharan products. The necessity for self-sufficiency drove the targeted development of specific areas of the economy. Incidental developments in food production and canning mitigated the major impacts of political isolation.

Geopolitical stability for the United Communes of Talahara came to be after Tyreseian syndicalists overthrew their government and unified in 1881. Talahara supported the coup and the subsequent restructuring of the Tyreseian military to prevent undue influence. The two nations rapidly became important partners, forming the Rubric Coast Consortium to enhance cooperative efforts in 1890.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Talahara was faced with a constitutional crisis that necessitated extensive reforms of part two of the Supreme Consensus on voting rights. The reforms lowered the voting age to 18, restructured the Executive Council, and introduced a system of proportional representation to count ballots. Further fundamental legal changes followed in the first decades of the next century. These included the abolition of the death penalty and the enshrinement of the right to medical autonomy.

Talaharan scout in the Amara region, 1919

The United Communes maintained their rivalry with Yisrael as the West Scipian Wars raged in Sydalon and Yisrael proper. Seizing on Yisrael's weakness, the United Communes annexed the oil-rich Timna Strip in 1919. As the 20th century progressed further, other socialist revolutions alleviated the geopolitical isolation that Talahara experienced. Where practicable, the United Communes attempted to assist global leftist political movements and revolutions, including in Ingsfold, Ostrozava, Ottonia, and Vardana. Technological advancements including radio and commercial flight also created more interconnected resource networks across the socialist world. The midpoint of the century was marked by the reannexation of Tarshish from a once-again weakened Yisrael.

Contemporary era (1950-present CE)

The second half of the 20th century presented a cooler perspective as the United Communes of Talahara engaged in fewer conflicts. While characterized by some as a period of détente, the internal politics of the United Communes were again in turmoil as statist influence declined and pacifistic influences drew the nation away from the global stage. Despite this, in recent years Talahara has shown signs of moving arriving at another political pivot, influenced in part by geopolitical strain in its immediate neighbourhood.