Husna

Revision as of 17:34, 17 February 2020 by Premislyd (talk | contribs) (Created page with "275px|right|thumb|An artist's impression of a Butari civilisation era benteng.A '''''benteng''''' ({{wp|English language|Estmerish}}: '''fortre...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
An artist's impression of a Butari civilisation era benteng.

A benteng (Estmerish: fortress) was a large type of fortified settlements found throughout Terangau beginning in the 2nd millennium BCE through the 18th century CE. The benteng emerged with the Pali culture, but became widespread over the island with the Butari and Neo-Butari Empires in the 4th century through 1200s CE. At the start of their history, bentengs were essentially city-states in their own right, controlling large amounts of people. Over the centuries, their economic and cultural power would wane as more centralized forms of governments rose. By the time of the Neo-Butari Empire in the 900s CE, the benteng had been reduced to little more than a noble estate.

Despite their comparison to castles by Euclean historians and anthropologists, the benteng was functionally quite different and there are some key difference between the two that make direct comparisons difficult. The biggest difference between the benteng and Euclean castle, was the entire population of a benteng would live within the confines of the fortress. The movement of the population in and out of a benteng was heavily monitored to ensure the benteng would always have a healthy male population for the defense of the city. Likewise, all economic activity of the benteng was structured around the military to ensure the survival of the benteng. Because of the inclusive nature of the benteng, strong cultural identities developed unique to each one. As Terangau centralized as a polity, these cultural identities have often become a source of tension, particularly between groups of people from historically rival bentengs.

History

Origin

Early Bentengs

Neo-Butari Empire

Decline

Common features