Mirites

The Mirites, sometimes rendered as Mereyits, are an ethno-religious group descended from the historical caste of the same name which arose amongst the southern Machaï of Mabifia. The Mirites were a nomadic people, eventually becoming a class of warriors and merchants with the adoption of the Hourege system in Bahia in the tenth century. They specialised in financial transactions, due to their adoption of a written alphabet and literary culture as opposed to the oral-based cultures of southern Bahia.

The emergence of the Mirites is directly linked to the adoption of Sotirianism by the Machaï peoples in YEAR. Kartolaos Makianos, the bishop of Koupanni, led his followers on a self-styled "exodus" following their persecution at the hands of the Orthodox religious authorities. They sought refuge amongst the neighbouring fetishist Sâretic entities, where they used their interconnectedness and written language in order to establish a basic banking system. This network eventually spread among the Ndjarendie villages and even further across Bahia. With the emergence of Hourege the Mirites flourished as nomadic merchants and mercenaries, cementing their acceptance amongst the courts of Karanes across Bahia. While some Mirites were involved in anti-colonial resistance movements, the vast majority were accepting of Euclean colonisation and they filled many of the local administrative positions under the new regimes. This led to their villification by many Bahian nationalist movements, with Anti-Mirite sentiments growing especially among the Irfanic community in Mabifia. This led to the community being targetted by the socialist goverment of Fuad Onika and by Irfanic groups during the first second civil wars in Mabifia. Many fled the country, causing large diasporas in Rwizikuru and Euclea.

Etymology

The name Mirite is a Gallicisation of the Classical Machaï word ⲙⲓⲣⲓⲏⲧ, mirieit meaning "new person". This was the name that the first Mirites used to self identify themselves, as a manner of distinction from the other Machaï who they held as not fully embracing the Sotiran faith. The name was simplified to "Mirite" by Gaullican missionaries, though Mereyit/Mereïet have also been used in the past. The current spelling was standardised in 1704.

Role

Under Sâre

Due to the highly decentralised nature of Saretic society, the Mirite community was initially separated across several villages. They lived nomadic lifestyles and their literary culture allowed them to pass messages between each other, which meant that villages would often attempt to recruit the Mirites to act as spies in other villages. Merchants would often hire Mirite scribes in order to handle their finances, which attracted a degree of respect and acceptance to the group who were initially considered to be heretics by the fetishist villagers. Constantly on the move and religiously exhorted to be a self-sufficient community, the Mirites were also renowned as warriors and were often hired as mercenaries to defend villages from bandits and other threats.

Under Hourege

It was with the centralisation that Hourege brought to Bahian society that the Mirites were able to fully thrive as a social group. The larger realms that were enabled with the introduction of Badawiyan administrative ideas required large numbers of literate and numerically proficient aides and functionaries. The Mirites were highly trusted in this regard, having served in similar roles during the Saretic period. While the Mirite monopoly over literacy was soon undermined by the adoption of the Adlam script for the Ndjarendie language, Mirite scholars and polymaths were regarded highly and often continued to hold dominant positions. With the advent of larger realms and greater trade, a new system was required for the processing of tributes and this led to the adoption of currencies and a rudimentary financial system. Wealthy Mirite merchants began to offer loans to Karanes and even Houreges in order for them to finance their military exploits, and the interconnectedness of the Mirite communities meant that such loans were able to be centralised and noted down. The constant need for soldiers by Houregic states allowed for Mirite men to form companies of mercenaries, who functioned in a manner similar to the loans accorded by Mirite merchants. These factors meant that despite facing the disapproval of large amounts of the clergy and common peoples, the Mirites played a key role in the environment of Bahian society.

During Colonisation

As fellow Sotirans the Mirites were seen as natural partners by the Euclean powers, who needed local administrators who were able to speak the local languages and maintain their authority at a lower level. Many Mirites worked as clerks and in other administrative roles during this period. Their status as Sotirans meant that Mirites faced less persecution under the Euclean administration than they had under the Irfanic and Fetishist Houregic governments which had preceded them, which led to the tacit support of many Mirites for the Eucleans. This role of collaboration, in turn, led to an increase in anti-Mirite sentiment amongst the Irfanic communities who saw it as a betrayal. The Mirite acceptance of Euclean influences led to many going into eastern-style formal education, which led to their exposure to Euclean ideological currents and it was via this ideological connection that ideologies such as Equalism first made their way to Bahia. Many of the early leaders of the Pan-Bahian movement were ethnic Mirites, such as author Daniel Amankose whose essay The Revolt of the Métis is often seen as one of the first signs of a pan-Bahian national identity.