Namayan
Sovereign Nation of the Namayanon Haring Bayang Kanamayanon | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: Dibdib at puso ko’y alay (Tagsapa) I offer my life to you | |
| Anthem: Dalit ng Anakbayan | |
| Capital and largest city | Maysapan |
| Official languages | Tagsapa Estmerish |
| Demonym(s) | Namayanon |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Lakan | vacant |
• Regent | Allan Gatdula |
• Prime Minister | Bayani Rendon Jr. |
• Supreme Commander | Sangunglo Untalan |
| Legislature | National Transitional Authority |
| History | |
• Establishment | June 2, 1762 |
• Protectorate | June 19, 1801 |
• Namayan Government Act | November 13, 1914 |
• Namyanon Transition Act | June 6, 1958 |
• Independence | June 6, 1968 |
| Population | |
• 2016 census | 850,741 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $1.011 billion |
• Per capita | $1,188 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $557 million |
• Per capita | $654 |
| Gini (2014) | 27.1 low |
| HDI (2019) |  0.567medium |
| Currency | Namayanon shilling (NAS) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Central Bahian Standard Time) |
| Date format | dd-mm-yy |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .nm |
Sovereign Nation of the Namayanon, also known as Namayan, is a sovereign state in Southeast Coius. It is situated in the east of Dezevau, off the continental coast in the Berhujan Sea. The capital and largest city is Maysapan. Namayan has a population of 850,741.
The native Namayanon were sea nomads up until 75 CE, when the Dezevauni introduced farming to the Namayanon. Trade helped established a sedentary lifestyle for the Namayanon society. The first coastal settlements sprung up and organized into thassalocracies. In 1511, the Aguda Empire conquered the island. Agudan rule was marked by the construction of public works and the spread of Badism. In 1762, island leaders elected Lakan Dula I as the first monarch of Namayan. But in 1801, Tagkan I submitted to Estmerish protection in the Treaty of Nuno-sa-Ilog. Estmere ruled the island as a protectorate until 1968 and Namayan became an independent republic. A mining boom in the 1960s-70s led to brief economic prosperity. In 1982, Katipunan ng Bagong Anakbayan (KBA) began its ongoing, violent insurgency against the government. Both the government and the KBA have been involved in severe human rights abuses. By the end of the 20th Century, Namayan inherited an underdeveloped, low-income economy with one of the world's poorest people, dependent on service industry and agricultural exports. It is plagued by a powerful black market, dominated by human and drug trafficking, mostly related to KBA activities. Reportedly, several high-ranking government officials have personally made black market dealings with the KBA. The government has refused to acknowledge any such allegation.
The government has nearly-regained most of its territories from the KBA. The rebel group is still in control of a few significant strongholds, notably the port city of Thurston. In 2010, the government formally announced the formation of the Namayan Transitional Authority (NTA). It marked the beginning of nationwide reconstruction efforts. Though commitments made at the time to restore democratic institutions and protect rights have regressed. As of the Batasan's (Namayanon parliament) dissolution in 2016, the NTA is the only existing form of national government in Namayan. Key concessions were made for a power-sharing agreement between KBA and NTA, including the restoration of the monarchy.
Etymology
The name "Namayan" is a corruption of the capital city's name, Maysapan. Maysapan was formed from the phrase "may sapa." It means "there is a creek here." "Sapa" is the Tagsapa word for "creek." The creek it references has been mistaken for several different creeks in Maysapan. Researchers generally assume it does not refer to a specific creek. Sapa was also adopted by the name of the Namayan native language, Tagsapa, from "taga sapa" or "from the creek."
From 1968 to 1970, the "Namayanon Republik" was used as the official name. Occasionally, it has been used in official announcements. Another term is "Bangsanamayan." It has been used in literary writing. It is a combination of "Bangsa" (Country) and "Namayan."
The island's name is "Bundukan." It means "mountain land." Bundukan has only been used in geographic terminology.
History
Pre-Colonial
Since 1,500 BCE, the native Namayanon people lived as "sea nomads" in houseboats. Their sustenance and economy was dominated by proto-aquaculture. The island interior was relatively uninhabited until the first recorded arrival of Dezevauni traders in 75 CE. Trade interaction exposed the Namayonon to a maritime trade network. It introduced pottery, farming, and iron culture to Namayan.
In 100 CE, the Namayanon built the first major settlements on the island. The island was divided between fortified, thassalocratic city-states called barangays. Barangays were led by datus, tribal chieftains elected by their respective clan elders. A lakan, an inter-tribal mediator, is elected by datus. They nominated fellow datus for the lakanate. The lakan often negotiated border and trade disputes. He also adjudicated tribal laws in judicial tribunals called "tanodbayan." Rural villages shifted loyalties between the barangays almost routinely. Slavery was practiced as punishment on criminals. It supplied wealthy and powerful clans with soldiers and labor force.
During the dry season, water can be scarce. Some unfortunate villages would spend months without drinkable water. In 1138, Lakan Dula led an effort to create a complex irrigation system. A network of canals and vast artificial reservoirs in the northern hinter-plains provided a steady supply of water.
In the mountainous southern hinterlands, the Iloko people settled in valleys. In 1619, to accommodate refugees from the Borderland Wars, the Iloko built the Ilokanon Rice Terraces.
The Namayanon people practiced Anitism, an animistic folk religion centered around ancestor worship. They recognized a multitude of nature spirits and deities. Household gods were commonplace. Anitists carved humanoid wooden figures, also made in ivory or stone, called "taotao," to represent the spirits they worship. A babaylan, an anitist priest, served as an intermediary between life and death. Babaylans regularly held seances. Anitist seances and its other acts of magic were referred to as "pag-anito." An ancestor or nature spirit was known as an "anito." An anitist deity was a "diwata."
Colonial
In 1753, the Estmerish first arrived in Namayan seeking to consolidate greater influence in Coius. As Agudan regional power waned, the Estmerish convinced the datus to sign the Treaty of Nuno-sa-Ilog in 1801, negotiated as an alliance. It actually placed the island under Estmerish suzerainty. The island became a protectorate known as the Lakanate of Namayan. The datus and other members of the aristocracy formed the Batasan, an unelected parliament that advised the lakan and passed laws for the protectorate. Estmere also appointed representatives in the Batasan. Despite their minority numbers, Estmerish members commanded legislative agenda and debate.
For most of its early existence, the Batasan functioned as a rubberstamp legislature for Estmerish colonial authorities. Sotirian missions, mostly Solarian Catholic, Estmerish officials, and businessmen lived in conclaves across ports like Maysapan. Thurston was built in 1778 to serve as the new seat of colonial government. In 1801, native leaders began a crackdown on Anitism and Badism. Discovered adherents were forcibly converted to Sotirianity. Pag-anito and other practices considered occult were banned.
By 1820, there was an estimated number of 10,000 Estmerish colonists in the island. Most of them were landowners and planters. They owned tea, cotton, and tobacco plantations—the island's main industries. Native lands were appropriated by the landed Namayanon aristocracy. Either to acquire the land for themselves or sell them to wealthy plantation owners.
John Bayer, protectorate political officer and adviser to Lakan Tagkan II, drafted the Educational Act of 1870. It mandated the establishment of a free public school system in Namayan. Each town would have at least one primary school. In Thurston, separate schools were founded to segregate native and Estmerish children.
Independence and Present
Formed from the merging of the Thurston Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Thurston Volunteer Artillery Corps, the Namayanon Settlements Volunteer Corps (NSVC) was founded as the protectorate's unified military reserve force in 1908. In the same year, native NSVC Captain Theodore Bunyi was the leader of an underground revolutionary movement called the Katipunan ng Anakbayan (Society of the Nation's Children). Bunyi convinced his batallion to mutiny and killed their Estmerish superiors.
The Katipunan mutineers tried to take over a NSVC armory in Thurston but was stopped by the 3-batallion strong Estmerish garrison. Bunyi committed suicide before his surviving co-conspirators surrendered. Despite its failure, it was hailed as the birth of Namayanon nationalism. In 2008, during the 100th anniversary of Captain Bunyi's Mutiny, an act of parliament officially recognized him as a national hero.
In 1914, the protectorate was reorganized under the Namayan Government Act. The Batasan was reformed as a bicameral parliament. The hereditary lords were granted seats in a semi-elected Senate and the lower house (Kapulungan) was completely elected. But the act also instituted minority rule. The majority of Kapulungan representatives were Estmerish and other migrant minorities. After the 1916 general election, majority of cabinet ministers were Estmerish and the only native was Pangulo (Prime Minister) Timunan Gumabon, 8th Datu of Yangdon. Despite the Namayanon government's expanded role, the Estmerish ambassador effectively ruled the protectorate through advising the Lakan or the Pangulo.
Estmere funded infrastructure development to improve transportation and develop the growing tea, cotton, and tobacco industries. Combined with a series of educational reform, Namayanon was fully-industrialized in 1935. In 1969, the first silver vein was prospected and a mining boom followed in the 70s. A 1980 economic report reported textiles, cigars, and silver ore were the main exports of Namayan.
In 1965, Estmerish parliament passed the Namayanon Independence Act. It allocated 5 years for the Batasan to draft a constitution and prepare the transition for independent Namayan. In 1968, monarchist support dwindled when Lakan Dula VII abdicated as the last Namayanon monarch as an act of endorsement to the republican movement. Proposals to maintain minority influence through tricameralism and representation by ethnicity were rejected. Minority rule and hereditary senators were abolished in the new constitution. In 1972, the constitution was ratified and Estmere formally granted independence. Because it historically was never associated with pre-colonial nobility, the title "Lakan" was inherited by the elected Namayanon head of state. Theodore Bunyi II, Jr., Captain Bunyi's son, became the first elected Lakan in the 1971 general elections.
At the time of independence, 117,000 of the 684,000 Namayanon population were migrants. 53,000 of them were farmers who owned most of the countryside. Mass demonstrations in the late 70s tried to pressure the government for land reform and distribute land for native farmers. In the 1979 Luanne Farm Massacre, 8 native tenants were killed after the Estmerish owners found out they joined the ongoing demonstrations. The following year, Lakan Bunyi resigned in protest to the Batasan's failure to pass land reform bills. In 1982, the Katipunan ng Bagong Anakbayan announced its insurgency after the June 14 "Black Monday Attacks." Two separate bombs in Maysapan and Thurston killed 10 people.
Culture
National anthem
Dalit ng Anakbayan (Song of the Nation's Children) is the national anthem of Namayan. It was written and composed by Captain Theodore Bunyi, founder of the Katipunan ng Anakbayan. He wrote this in 1908 before the failed Katipunan siege of the Estmerish garrison in Thurston. When sung, it is usually repeated once. It is considered as one of the shortest national anthems in the world.
Lyrics:
| Tagsapa | Estmerish translation |
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Mabuhay, Mabuhay yaong Kalayaan, Kalayaan |
Long live, long live this liberty, liberty |