Assim Asteris
Assim Asteris | |
|---|---|
 Posthumous portrait by Jean-Philippe Donnet, 1848 | |
| Born | Hashim ibn Ashtar 11 August 1447 |
| Died | 19 June 1511 (aged 63) |
| Occupation | Maritime explorer, merchant |
| Known for | Discovering Asteria Superior and Asteria Inferior for Eucleans, opening the continents up for colonisation. |
| Spouse(s) | Mairenn O'Niall (m. 1491; died 1511) |
| Children | two children |
Assim Asteris (Rahelian: هاشم ابن عشتر, tr. Hashim ibn Ashtar; 11 August 1447 – 19 June 1511) was a Rahelian[a] explorer, navigator and merchant who completed three legendary voyages across the Vehemens Ocean to the Asterias in the service of the Crown of Caldia, bringing the continent to the attention of Euclea and opening it up for widespread Euclean exploration and colonisation. He is the first documented person from the Old World to make confirmed contact with the Asterias.[b]
Asteris is believed to have been born in the city of Madinat in the Sultanate of Madinat, but spent much of his adolescence as an apprentice to a merchant on the Niserian coast. He became a proficient sailor and navigator and eventually was impressed into the Barbary corsairs which operated along the Rahelian coast. Asteris escaped from his captors in 1473 and left Rahelia permanently, working as a travelling merchant across the eastern coast of Euclea. Asteris struggled to find consistent work on the continent, and eventually made his way north to Caldia where he became embroiled in the Caldish War for Independence. He was a firm supporter of Maeve II and gained a solid reputation among her court for passing the blockade of Shanbally and relieving the defenders. He established a strong relationship with Maeve II which lasted her entire reign and contributed to rumours he was one of her lovers. In recognition of his actions, Maeve II funded an expedition to the east in 1489 based on his wishes, which set off later that same year.
The first expedition consisted of three ships - the Reverence, the Duty and the Mary Ellen - which Asteris navigated across the Vehemens Ocean. He landed in the Barrier Islands and claimed them in the name of the Crown of Caldia. He returned to Caldia with tales of the land and was showered with praise, knighted, made a citizen by royal decree, and married the Caldish noblewoman Mairenn O'Niall. Asteris made a second expedition in 1493 which charted the coast of northwestern Asteria Superior, followed by his third and final expedition in 1496 which charted the coast of New Caldia. This was his final expedition and afterward he retired to a manse in Spálgleann, where he would live with his wife and two children until his death in 1511.
Assim Asteris has a complex legacy. His expeditions initiated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonisation which elevated Euclea in geopolitics and brought the Asterias into the Euclean sphere of influence. He was celebrated in the centuries following his death, but his legacy was downplayed by many early modern Euclean philosophers who argued that his role in Euclea's rise was minimal. His legacy is now also being revelauted due to the negative impact of Eastern colonisalism, including the genocide and mistreatment of Indigenous Asterian peoples. Places across the world have been named in his honour, including the Rizean state of Assimia, the Assimas Islands in Imagua and the Assimas, and most notably the two continents of Asteria Superior and Asteria Inferior.
Notes
- ↑ Asteris predated the existence of a pan-Rahelian identity, but the term is still considered accurate given his disputed citizenship prior to entering the service of the Caldish monarchy. It is believed by most scholars that he was born in the Sultanate of Madinat in modern-day Nise.
- ↑ There remains speculation that the Marauder explorer and missionary Saint Bréanainn reached the continent almost four hundred years earlier, but there is no known archaeological evidence to support this claim.