Tsabo

United Tsaborite Principalities Μιατσ’αλ Τσ’αβοραν ᾽Ισχανυτ’υννερ (Tsaborite) Miats’yal Ts’aboryan Ishkhanutyun
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Να ἀσχατυμ ἐ μερ μιjοτσ’ο! Na ashkhatum e mer mijatov! (Anglish: "He works through us!")
Anthem: Σρβερι Κογμιτσ’ Τρορατς ῾Ογ Srberi Koghmits’ Trorvats Hogh (Anglish: "Soil Trodden By Saints")
Capital and	Hypropan
Official languages	Tsaborite
Ethnic groups (2020)	94% Tsaborite 2% Sapherian 2% other Tarandaran 2% other Parthenian
Religion	Southern Orthodox Christianity (Aszdorpan Patriarchate)
Demonym(s)	Tsaborite
Government	Bimarical Parliamentary Democracy
• President	Bishop Dasmaniam
• Vice President	Lev Val Pypar
Legislature	National Parliament
• Upper house	National Council
• Lower house	Premier Assemblies
Establishment
• Aszdor adopts Christianity	210 AD
• First occupation (Ibn Al Caliphate)	1111 AD
• Second occupation (Yerezhan Empire)	14th - 16th centuries
• First declaration of independence	1896
• Tsaborite War of Independence	1943-1945
• Independent Tsaborite Republic	1945
• United Principalities of Tsabo	TBD
Population
• 2020 estimate	10.1 million
Gini	4.0 low
HDI (2020)	0.839 very high
Currency	Tsaborand (T̶) (TSR)
Driving side	left
Calling code	303
ISO 3166 code	TO
Internet TLD	.tbo

Tsabo, officially the United Tsaborite Principalities (Tsaborite: Μιατσ’αλ Τσ’αβοραν ᾽Ισχανυτ’υννερ; romanized: Miats’yal Ts’aboryan Ishkhanutyun) is a country in Eastern Tarandra, located on the west coast of the Sofian sea. Tsabo is bordered by Yerezhan -and the contested region of Ruata- to the north east, Buraydah to the north and Kaviristan to the south. Tsabo covers a territory of [TBC] and is the [TBC]th largest nation in Tarandra. Its capital city is Hypropan, the nation’s largest city; other major cities include the port of Soda, the industrial centres of Aratoht and Surbnikolios, and the nation’s religious centre Aszdorpan.

Perhaps the earliest societies to inhabit the area of modern-day Tsabo were those of the Neolithic Quartz Pit culture, items belonging to whom have been dated to around 5,800 BC. The 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD saw many independent culturally proto-Tasborite polities solidify, particularly in the Vaszda and Aryi mountains, many of which would form the borders of later Tsaborite states; though most were relegated to vassal or client status between the warring Sapherian and Yerezh powers. In 210 AD Prince Castar I of Aszdor converted to Christianity, making his domain the first Christian polity on Elezia.

The inaccessible geography of the mountainous Tsaborite realm allowed the many petty kingdoms and fiefdoms of the region to continue relatively unscathed by the rise of Islam which penetrated and forced back both Sapherian and Yerezh imperial borders in the 7th century AD. In contrast to the reeling Empires, the following three centuries have often been cited as a golden age for Tsaborite architecture, iconography, poetry and theology.

In the 1111 AD much of southern Tsabo fell under the direct sway of the Ibn Al Caliphate who would occupy the Principalities of Sodarel, Golkhat and Magdalor for four successive centuries, despite flare ups of local resistance in the face of Muslim cultural assimilation. The remaining Tsaborite states would, in turn, be conquered by the resurgent Yerezhan Empire in a series of campaigns from the 14th to 16th centuries; under whose rule they would remain until the 1900’s.

Following nearly fifty years of armed revolt, Tsabo first gained de facto independence during the Great War, with a Government Under Occupation formed -and armed- by the Signatory Powers to resist the terminally decaying Yerezhan Empire. This first unified Tsaborite state collapsed quickly to infighting following the Great War and Yerezh forces reoccupied the majority of its territories in 1918; albeit far less comprehensively. The Tsaborite War of Independence launched in the immediate aftermath of the World War successfully broke the nation away from Yerezhan as the Independent Tsaborite Republic in 1945 following two years of conflict. Over a decade of instability and intercine struggle commenced until the installation of Bishop Kyprus of Aratoht as the head of government centralised power under a compromise cabinet. Following five years in office, Kyprus ratified a series of political reforms to create the United Principalities of Tsabo.

Since its independence, Tsabo has twice been involved in two further armed conflicts with neighbouring Yerezhan. The 1989 ‘Month War’ saw the near total collapse of all effective Tsaborite military resistance, with Yerezh brigades halting within sight of Hypropan due only to international pressure and the threat of UN intervention. The 2013 Yerezhan-Tsabo war, also known as the Ruata War, however, saw a much stiffer defence from Tsaborite forces, holding key defensive lines and even launching successful counter attacks, pushing the invasion forces back to the natural border of the river Aszd, though at the sacrifice of the now occupied region of Ruata.

Since the adoption of the 1951 constitution Tsabo has been a bicameral parliamentary republic -representing both Church and state- composed of six principalities further divided into 31 cantons; designated either metropolitan, industrial or agrarian. The nation is regarded as having relatively high political, cultural and economic centralisation despite its devolved lower houses.

The United Tsaborite Principalities is a developing nation with an upper-middle income economy. Its market economy is based primarily on the mining, tourism, energy and seasonal agricultural sectors. Though stable, the Tsaborite economy remains in a state of recovery in the wake of the 2013 Yerezhan-Tsabo War, and the subsequent loss of the north eastern region of Ruata. The nation’s growing population, ranking 0.80 on the Human Development Index, stands at 10.1 million according to the latest -2020- census statistics.

Etymology

The name Tsabo is commonly understood to derive from the archaic Yerezh ‘טג׳ד’ (tj’ad) meaning ‘peak’ or ‘height’, in reference to the region’s multiple mountain ranges, with suspected textual references appearing in tablet documents dating to the 3rd century BC as well as early Torah scrolls of similar age. A competing theory, largely founded on anecdotal evidence is that the name can be traced to the Sapheredic word ‘τζαμπο’ (tzampo) meaning ‘substantial’ or ‘large’ in reference to anatomy; a term first used to describe proto-Tsaborite tribespeople by Euphemdies, a 1st century BC naturalist and marnier from the coastal city state of Limassos. It is this, more widely dismissed theory that is favoured in domestic education and discussion.

History

Prehistory & Early Antiquity

Fragmented skeletal remains of Homo Neanderthalensis have been recovered from two archeological sites in Tsabo dated to approximately 55,000 years ago. These examples, consisting of at least one semi-complete skull, are recognised as the oldest examples of human activity in the lands of modern Tsabo. Archeological findings support that Homo Sapiens first appeared in the Vaszda range around 49,000 years ago, representing the first known modern human occupation of the region.

The Quartz Pit culture, first recorded by Anglish explorer Sir Francis Cunningham, the Marquis Lyneham, in 1917, arose approximately 7,000 BC and was the cultural locus for several Neolithic proto-societies in the region which successfully harnessed mining and early agriculture. Cultural sites of Quartz Pit and associated cultures can be identified by their eponymous burial practices, which involved the interment of the dead in caves rich in quartz and other precious stones, in what is thought by anthropologists to link to an early star based religious tradition.

The chalcolithic and later bronze age Aszd River cultures are associated with prodigious advances in smithing and the production of riverine and littoral watercraft, opening up trade routes for Tsaborite natural resources with neighbouring cultures and markets. Whilst the most advanced Tsaborite societies of their day, the Aszd River cultures remained tribal in nature; stateless until the arrival of expanding Yerezh and Sapherian borders. Antiquity

Tsaborite lands became marching grounds for the clashes between the 1st Yerezhan Empire (Ismailite, Davedite, Boazite dynasties) and the empires of the Sapherian city states between the 3rd century BC and 1st century AD. Many Tsaborite petty kings and warlords moved their holding from tribal to early feudal domains, offering submission and safe passage through their mountainous territories in exchange for martial aid and financial backing against local adversaries from the imperial powers. These centuries, while foundational for Tsaborite language and cultural development, were turbulent and extremely fractious,with both Sapherian and Yerezh contemporary sources bemoaning the mercurial nature of the ‘mountain lords’ and their ever shifting domestic and foreign political policies.

In 210 AD, Prince Vartan, ostensibly the most powerful of the Tsaborite rulers, converted to the nascent faith of Christianity following his recovery from a year long, seemingly terminal sickness. The prince credited his seemingly miraculous restoration to a visiting Christian evangelist. This conversion, and the subsequent conversion of Vartan’s lands and their vassal states, represents the foundation of the modern Tsaborite identity, and makes the Aszdor valley principality as the first Christian state in Elezia’s history.

Conquest by Yerezhan

In 299 AD, Yerezh general Ari bar Asher led his armies into Tsaborite territories, citing bandit attacks on Jewish travellers in the region, with the express goal of conquest. The ensuing 1st Tjadite War (known as the 1st Jewish War in Tsaborite history) lasted for approximately 8 years, with the invading armies hindered by terrain and logistical hardships, before the Fall of Aratoht and the death of Prince Kevork in May 307 AD. Following the end of conventional hostilities, Tsaborite land was divided into three provinces by imperial bureaucracy: ג'אדלנד מצפון לאסד (romanised.Tj'adlnd Mtspvn Lasd, Anglish.Tjadland North of the Aszd), ג'אדלנד מדרום לאסד (romanised.Tj'adlnd Mdrvm Lasd, Anglish.Tjadland South of the Aszd) and רחוק ג'אדלנד (romanised.Rhvq Tj'adlnd, Anglish.Far Tjadland). Each province was ruled by an imperial governor and, during the initial century of Yerezh rule,the Tsaborite citizens of each enjoyed the freedom to privately, if not publicly, practise Christianity. Despite apparent initial toleration, guerilla warfare and Tsaborite raids on Yerezh military and civilian caravans lead to increasing militarization and persecution in the provinces leading to several revolts and imperial crackdowns, often accompanied by forced conversions, throughout the ensuing four centuries.