Kem

Kem (Shinasthana: 咸, kem) was a state that existed during Themiclesian Antiquity and was ultimately destroyed by Tsinh in the Battle of Ku-ngwyan in 330. Its territories encompassed what is now northwestern Themiclesia and seems to have been ruled from Kengrak at some point.

The state's historical narrative is highly negative in received texts, described as a polity given to immorality, violence, and cruelty. The notion that has been challenged by historians in recent centuries based on more critical reading of historical documents dating to the time of the state's destruction and archaeological information.

The name Kem may not have been the historical name of the state and seems to be a derogatory slur.

History

Kem is notable as there did not arise a highly literate centre of administration within its territories supporting the development of a Ken-centric historical tradition. As such, virtually everything written about Kem has been through a lens at best foreign and at worst hostile to it.

The cultural centre of Themiclesian Antiquity was towards the east of what is now Themiclesia-proper, and it was there the earliest historical records appeared, first in Sin around 385 BCE and then in Tsinh in 320 and Qanar in 308 BCE. Literate history gradually spread west to the states of Qlwa and Kenhak in 294 and 281 BCE. Of the six major states vying for dominance in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, Kem was the last to enter datable history in 51 BCE. This lateness seems to have contributed to the notion that Kem's ancestry was unclear and barbarous, even though by all accounts its populace was of Meng stock and had comparable cultural preferences with other Meng states in Themiclesia.