Siphria
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
Baha'i Republic of Siphria کۆمارا باحایی سںفںریە Komara Bahayî ya Sifirye | |
|---|---|
 Flag
Emblem
| |
| Motto: ازادی، سەروەری، باوەری Azadî, Serwerî, Bawerî Freedom, Sovereignty, Faith | |
| Anthem: وەلاتێ مە، قەدیم ۊ ازاد Welatê me, Qedîm û Azad Our Homeland, Ancient and Free | |
| Map of Siphria Map of Siphria | |
| Capital and largest city | Akrê |
| Religion | Baha'i |
| Demonym(s) | Siphrian |
| Government | Theocratic-republican unitary state |
| Yûsiv Bazîdî Selahedînê Cezerî Mistefa Îbrahîm Mesûd Merîwanî Husên Mihemed Şahînê Osmanî Elî Rehîmî Ebdulah Telebanî Silêman Xaliqî | |
| Selîm Helebceyî | |
| Nizamedînê Nazirî | |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly |
| History of Siphria | |
• earlier event | date |
• Current government | 1913 |
| Area | |
• Total | 195,632 km2 (75,534 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2015 census | 11,718,120 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate |
• Total | $137.992 billion |
• Per capita | $11,776 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2015 estimate |
• Total | $94.448 billion |
• Per capita | $8,060 |
| Gini (2015) | 36.7 medium |
| HDI (2015) | .725 high |
| Currency | Siphrian riyal (﷼) (SPR) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (CE) |
| Driving side | right |
| ISO 3166 code | SP |
| Internet TLD | .sp |
Siphria (Siphrian: سںفںریە, Sifirye), known formally as the Baha'i Republic of Siphria (Siphrian: کۆمارا باحایی سںفںریە, Komara Bahayî ya Sifirye), is a country in Esquarium, located in southern Nautasia. It is bordered by Sharaf and [LOREM] to the west, the Union of Nautasian Islamic Republics to the north, and the Gulf of Sirde to the east and south. Its capital and largest city is Akrê, located on the country's coast; other major cities include Keşvare, Şeqlawe, and Heskîf.
Siphria is sometimes considered to be a cradle of civilization within Esquarium, with evidence of agriculture and pottery existing in Siphria from the 4000s BCE; the rise of Aburrite civilization in the 2300s saw the development of writing, complex irrigation, and city-states within Siphria's coastal regions. These city-states, in turn, were unified into the Aburrite Empire in 1457 BCE, which existed for more than a thousand years before collapsing in the early 400s BCE. During this period, the Aburrites engaged in trade with neighboring polities such as the Naqabiri and Korazdan empires; they also went to war against the Korazdan Empire and the Bedouin tribes beyond the Khursaneh Mountains. Following the collapse of the Aburrite Empire in 435 BCE, power reverted to local rulers and city-states until the Siphrian migration, during which ethnic Siphrians- fleeing the collapse of the Korazdan Empire- destroyed Aburrite civilization and established a group of five local satrapies.
Siphria was again placed under a single government in 669, when it was conquered by Muslim armies. During this period a majority of the population was converted to Islam; initially, this Muslim population was composed primarily of Sunni Muslims, but a substantial Shi'a minority also developed. Siphria remained under the direct control of the early Islamic caliphate until 750 CE, when it obtained de facto independence under the Qasimid dynasty. Religious conflict between the Sunni majority and the Shi'a minority resulted in the deposition of the Sunni Qasimids by the Shi'a Ghitanids, and the subsequent deposition of the Ghitanids in favor of the Sunni Atassids. A peasant rebellion known as the Hesanî Revolt deposed the Atassids in 1001 and installed its leader, a peasant by the name of Hesan, as the first emir of the Hesanî dynasty, which remained in power for the following four centuries and saw Shi'a Islam become the dominant religion within Siphria.
The Hesanî dynasty was replaced by the Eyerî dynasty in 1394. In 1550, a landless but wealthy Ankoreni noble by the name of Mistefa Sabrî hired a mercenary force and deposed the Eyerîs, installing himself as the first emir of the Sabrî dynasty. Under the Sabrî dynasty, Siphria became politically dependent upon the Erkemen Empire, and an ethnic Ankoreni elite came to control the upper echelons of the country's government. The Baha'i faith was supposedly revealed to the Behaulah in 1844, and, mixing with Siphrian nationalism, spread rapidly through the country in spite of attempts to suppress it by Siphrian authorities. After the collapse of the Erkemen Empire, the Sabrî dynasty was deposed and a new government was established by the Council of the Faithful and General Fereydûn Sêlih. Since then, Siphria has continued to suffer periodic conflict at home and with its neighbors, including several military coups and the 1974 Heskif War.
Siphria's government is a mixture of theocratic and republican institutions. Substantial power is accorded to the Council of the Faithful, a body consisting of nine senior Baha'i clergymen selected for life; while its authority formally extends as far as the ability to nullify laws and overturn election results, in practice the Council is primarily tasked with handling theological disputes, overseeing lower-ranking clergy members, and vetting political candidates. Most executive power is held by the president, currently Selîm Helebceyî; while legislative formally rests with the Legislative Assembly of Siphria, the Legislative Assembly has been reduced to an advisory capacity or suspended entirely at several points in Siphrian history. Siphria's secular judiciary, which deals with civil and most criminal cases, is headed by a High Court; however, the judiciary is relatively dependent upon the executive, raising concerns about its fairness.
Siphria has a heavily diversified economy, which has helped protect it from the issues facing rentier economies elsewhere in Nautasia. The production of cereal crops, citrus fruits, cotton, tobacco, and rapeseed, as well as the raising of livestock for meat and dairy, continue to be the backbone of the economy in Siphria's rural regions; the illicit production of opium is also a source of income in some rural communities, though the country's government has attempted to suppress this. Mining is also an important source of income in many regions of Siphria; minerals produced in Siphria include iron, copper, lead, zinc, phosphates, limestone, and marble. While Siphria has limited petroleum reserves, oil production does not compose a notable section of the economy. Within urban regions, industry- particularly textile manufacturing, though heavy industry has grown steadily in recent years- serves as the backbone of the economy. Tourism has become an important sector of the Siphrian economy in recent years as well, though it has seen negative repercussions due to instability in Siphria and Nautasia.
Ethnic Siphrians compose the largest and most powerful ethnic group in Siphria, consisting of roughly 84% of the population. This ethnic Siphrian population primarily resides along the country's fertile coast, on the eastern side of the Khursaneh Mountains. Small populations of ethnic Aburrites, the indigenous population of Siphria, also persist in this region, with Aburrites composing less than 4% of Siphria's modern-day population. Beyond the Khursaneh mountains is the desert region of Awiyyistan, inhabited primarily by the Arabic-speaking Bedouin, who compose roughly 11% of the country's population. A substantial Pasdani population formerly existed in the country's north, but the majority of this population fled the country at several points during the 20th century. Religious belief in Siphria is largely divided along ethnic lines; ethnic Siphrians overwhelmingly practice Baha'i, Bedouins continue to practice Sunni Islam, and Aburrites their traditional religion, known as Īnu Ebēbim.
Etymology
"Siphria" is generally considered to have been derived from sifir (سںفںر), the Siphrian word for copper. The name is generally rendered as Sifirye in Siphrian, Sifiryah (سِفِريَه) in Arabic, and Sipiru (Սիպիրո) in Aburrite. Proposed alternative etymologies include a derivation from the Aburrite šipir (meaning "artifact"), and from the Arabic ṣafira (meaning "empty" or "devoid") or iṣfarra (meaning "to turn yellow"); however, these are not widely accepted.
The area now known as Siphria was historically divided into two regions by the Aburrites. The land to the east of the Khursaneh Mountains- the center of Aburrite civilization- was referred to as Kibturu (Ellušitri: 𒄒𒌅𒊒; Nišēšitri: Կիբտորո), meaning "land of wheat", while the land to the west of the mountains- dominated by nomadic tribes periodically vassalized by the Aburrite Empire- was referred to as Ibiluru (Ellušitri: 𒉋𒇽𒊒, Nišēšitri: Իբիլորո). However, these terms largely fell out of use after the arrival of the ethnic Siphrians in the region and are now regarded as archaic in Aburrite and elsewhere. The first references using the term "Siphria", rather than "Kibturu", appeared in Pasdani and Arabic records detailing the conquest of the region by early Islamic armies.
History
Prehistory and antiquity
Archaeological evidence attests to a human presence in Siphria as far back as the Upper Palaeolithic, with artifacts from nomadic populations such as the Emiran and Aterian cultures found in Siphria dating to as far back as 40,000 years ago. These cultures were replaced by the Antelian and Kebaran cultures in the Mesolithic, and in turn supplanted by the semi-sedentary Şuqbiye culture in the early Neolithic; while the Şuqbiye culture was pre-agricultural, it left behind several archaeological sites speculated to be villages or towns, and evidence suggesting the domestication of the dog within the region.
There is a comparative dearth of archaeological evidence between the end of the Şuqbiye culture in roughly 9500 BCE and the rise of the Ulaş culture in 5600 BCE; the archaeological record explodes following the rise of Ulaş culture, however, with evidence of the development of agriculture, animal husbandry, pottery, and copper metallurgy evident during this period. The Ulaş culture was replaced by the Ranyê culture in 3900 BCE, which saw some further development in pottery, and the development of proto-writing and the wheel. The Ranyê culture collapsed violently for unknown reasons in the 2600s BCE, with few artifacts from the subsequent two centuries being found.
The gap in the archaeological record caused by the collapse of the Ranyê culture ends with the rise of Aburrite civilization in the 2400s BCE. Early Aburrite civilization was marked by several technological advancements that distinguished it from previous cultures; large-scale irrigation, crop rotation, and bronze metallurgy led to an agricultural boom that led to increased population growth and social stratification, the arrival of the domestic horse resulted in the rise of chariot warfare, and the development of the ellušitri script by 2100 BCE set the groundwork for future development of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and other fields within Aburrite Siphria.
Continuing population growth resulted in the rise of several city-states and the beginning of the first ālu period, typically placed by historians at 1800 BCE. Major city-states, or ālū, from this period included Ašnakkum, Kisurra, Purattu, Šušarra, and Tarbisu. While Šušarra and Ašnakkum were the dominant polities for much of the first ālu period, by the 1500s BCE the city-state of Kisurra was rising in power, having secured alliances with, and later fealty from, Purattu and Tarbisu; in 1469 BCE, Narkab-šarra-uṣur- then the ruler of Kisurra- launched a series of wars against Šušarra, Ašnakkum, and several other city-states not already allies or vassals of Kisurra; in 1457 BCE, after defeating most of these city-states, the Aburrite Empire was formed with Narkab-šarra-uṣur as its first emperor.
The Aburrite Empire would continue to dominate the region for several centuries, controlling almost all of the Siphrian coastline by the death of Anaslu-bēl-kala I in 1254 BCE; the empire also launched repeated campaigns in Awiyyistan, aimed either at repelling raids from, or at securing tribute from, the Bedouin population of the region. Political conflicts such as the rebellion of Lābubirqu-šumu-līšir and the Engurru rebellion intermittently destabilized the empire, as did natural disasters and famines; nevertheless, the general stability and security of the Aburrite Empire led to a flowering of astronomy, art, architecture, literature, mathematics, and religion. Aburrite law was codified across the entirety of the empire for the first time by Anaslu-kudurri-uṣur I in 920 BCE, and further reformed by Narkab-nāṣir-apli in the 600s BCE; the nišēšitri script, one of the first alphabetic scripts in Nautasia, was developed by the emperor Anaslu-bēl-kala II in the 850s BCE.
The Aburrite Empire also engaged in extensive trade with its neighbors, including the Bedouin populations of Awiyyistan, Afro-Nautasian populations to the west, and the Naqabiri and Korazdan empires in what is now the Union of Nautasian Islamic Republics. The Aburrites exported goods such as cedar wood, copper, iron, marble, olive oil, beer, and wine in exchange for tin, gold, silver, glass, dyes, incense, and ivory. There was also periodic conflict between the Aburrite Empire and its neighbors; the most famous of these was the Aburrite-Korazdan War, fought between 547 BCE and 543 BCE, in which the Aburrites, under the emperor Anaslu-rāim-nišēšu, successfully repelled an attempt by the Korazdan emperor Batarus to conquer or vassalize the Aburrite Empire; the war was concluded with a formal treaty, known as the Treaty of Marḫašu, of which copies survive both in Aburrite and in Old Pasdani.
_(8704834191).jpg)
By the mid-400s BCE, however, the Aburrite Empire had been severely weakened due to crop failures, political conflict, and mismanagement. Frustration among the nobility and clergy with the rule of Bēlumē-šumu-līšir broke out into the Kalḫu Revolt in 441 BCE; an attempt to end the war by assassinating Bēlumē-šumu-līšir and installing his son Lābāši-Narkab as emperor failed, and the conflict ended in 435 BCE with the brutal sacking of Kisurra and the presumed death of Lābāši-Narkab. After the fall of Kisurra, the leaders of Ekallatum, Irītu, Kaštiliašu, and Purattu- which had become the de facto leaders the revolt- signed a document known as the Treaty of Four Kings in which they formally dissolved the empire and agreed to divide its lands between them.
In practice, however, the Treaty of Four Kings resulted in a reversion of power to city-states and other local polities, beginning what is known as the second ālu period. By the 300s BCE, Ekallatum had effectively established itself as the most powerful of the city-states, but it lost this title to Irītu in the wake of the Battle of Kuruḫanni in 71 CE. Conflict between the Aburrites and the Bedouin also continued during this period, with several inland cities suffering from raiding at the hands of Bedouin tribes.
The second ālu period continued until the 200s CE, when the Siphrians- a semi-nomadic people related to the Azkuris living in what is now Pasdan- fled turmoil in the collapsing remnants of the Korazdan Empire, resulting in the Siphrian migration. The Siphrians overwhelmed the Aburrite city-states, establishing their own series of polities known as the Siphrian pentarchy. These five polities, ruled by individuals styling themselves as satraps, were known as Armerdê, Gelale, Qelikonê, Seqiz, and Sînoriyê. During this period, many Aburrite cities were destroyed or abandoned, with new cities established by the new Siphrian population; the surviving Aburrite populations- long dictated by a rigidly-enforced caste system- were thrown into turmoil, and knowledge of the ellušitri script was lost for several centuries. After a long period of initial turmoil, these satrapies eventually securely established themselves over the Aburrites, marking the end of Aburrite civilization. The power structures built by these satrapies would remain in place until the arrival of Islam in Siphria four centuries later.
Medieval period
The religion of Islam, originally from northeastern Nautasia, came to Siphria with the rapid expansion of the First Caliphate. The small polities of the heptarchy lacked the manpower to effectively compete with the armies of the First Caliphate, which had also secured the support of Bedouin populations in Awiyyistan, and by the 669 Battle of Bexlê, the entirety of Siphria was under its control. The First Caliphate installed a primarily-Arab nobility in Siphria to oversee the region; this nobility, in turn, began efforts to convert Siphria to Islam.
.jpg)
Ostensibly, Siphria was under the rule of an emir who answered directly to the caliph; however, Siphria was separated from the centers of power of the First Caliphate by the vast deserts of the eastern Nautasian interior, which allowed its rulers to operate with extensive autonomy; in 750, Emir Abdullah I turned this autonomy into de facto independence. Abdullah's descendants, known as the Qasimids, ruled Siphria for nearly a century. During this period, substantial efforts to convert the inhabitants of the region to Sunni Islam were made, and had widespread success; however, a Shi'a Muslim presence also developed and persisted in spite of official attempts to suppress it, and Īnu Ebēbim persisted among the surviving Aburrite population in the region in spite of near-constant persecution.
Increasing conflict between the adherents of the Sunni and Shi'a sects of Islam within Siphria ultimately resulted in the downfall of the Sunni Qasimid dynasty and its replacement by the Shi'a Ghitanid dynasty. While Ghitanid rulers such as Hassan I attempted to centralize their power and strengthen the presence of Shi'a Islam within Siphria, the Ghitanids were wracked by conflict with Sunni nobles, periodic rebellions in Awiyyistan, and scheming within the dynasty that claimed the lives of several Ghitanid emirs. Continuing religious turmoil resulted in the overthrow of the Ghitanids by the Atassids, a Sunni dynasty, in 972, but the Atassids were never able to cement their rule, and continuing religious conflict, combined with overtaxation and a string of crop failures, caused severe turmoil in Siphria.
In 996, this turmoil boiled over into the Hesanî Revolt, so named for a Shi'a Siphrian peasant, Hesan, who became one of the de facto leaders of the revolt and a national folk hero. After capturing Akrê and killing Emir Muhammad III in 1001, the rebels acclaimed Hesan as the new emir and crushed an attempt by several minor lords to depose him; this would mark the establishment of the Hesanî dynasty, which would remain in power for the subsequent four centuries.
In line with the dynasty's origins in a peasant revolt, early Hesanî rulers have been widely credited with improving the rights and conditions of Siphrian peasants, and often focused on reigning in the powers of the nobility, particularly Arab nobles. These efforts effectively eliminated Siphria's Arab nobility and saw it replaced by a comparatively new nobility composed of ethnic Siphrians. As time passed and the Hesanî dynasty grew increasingly distant from its roots, however, it reversed several of its early reforms and became increasingly concerned with religious issues, particularly the propagation of Shi'a Islam. Hesanî emirs such as Hesan III, Elî, and Hesan V spent large amounts of money on the construction of Shi'a mosques and madrassas, with the intention of guaranteeing the dominance of Shi'a Islam within Siphria; these efforts were widely successful among the ethnic Siphrian populations of Siphria's coastal regions, but were largely unsuccessful in converting the Bedouin populations of the interior.
The stability of Hesanî rule began to deteriorate after the murder of Hesan V in 1365, and by 1394 they had been replaced by a different Shi'a Siphrian dynasty, the Eyerîs. Eyerî rule persisted for several decades, but was ended abruptly by Mistefa I Sabrî, an Ankoreni noble who hired a mercenary army and seized the Siphrian throne in 1550, establishing the Sabrî dynasty. After seizing power, Mistefa I replaced native nobles with a new, ethnically Ankoreni ruling caste, and suppressed a collection of small revolts challenging his rule.
While the creation of an Ankoreni noble caste helped to secure the rule of the Sabrî dynasty, Sabrî emirs eventually began to seek additional support from the Erkemen Empire. Over time, Erkemen support became increasingly crucial to the Sabrî dynasty, and the Erkemen sultan began to wield increasing influence over Siphrian affairs; in 1613, Emir Selîm II formally sworn fealty to the Erkemen sultan. Siphria's status as a vassal of the Erkemen Empire would persist for the next three centuries.
Modern era
(siphrians not happy with sucking ankoren off, but can't do much about it; shaykhism takes root; shaykhism evolves into baha'i in 1844; efforts to repress baha'i have little effect and the religion rapidly gains converts as it spreads among the lower class and entagles itself in siphrian nationalism)
(erkemen collapse in 1913 leads to the fall of the sabri dynasty and the seizure of power by baha'i religious authorities, who establish a theocratic-republican government and then work to suppress islam and replace it with baha'i)
(detail various gov't instabilities and military coups and stuff here; Heskif War)
Politics
Governance
(theocratic institutions; baha'i clergy structure; council of the faithful, which has the legal right to overrule anything and everything)
(republican institutions; presidency, legislative assembly, secular judiciary; probably ostensibly some checks and balances but in practice the executive can do what it wants)
Administrative divisions
Siphria is divided into twenty-four governorates (پارێزگەحێن, parêzgehên), which are further subdivided into municipalities (شارەدارںیێن, şaredariyên); as Siphria is a unitary state, however, these subdivisions exercise little autonomy.
Largest cities
Foreign relations
(ambivalent or hostile to ankoren; entreaties towards ec were ignored)
Military and police
(primary duties: shooting bedouins, shooting ankorenis)
Geography
(big mountain range separates coastal plain from inland flatland)
Climate
(rain shadow effect means a nice coast with mediterranean - koppen csb - weather...)
(coupled with a desert where only fools and bedouin dare live)
Wildlife
Economy
Agriculture
(grains, olives, figs, dates, grapes, and citrus for food; cotton, tobacco, linseed, and rapeseed as cash crops; illicit opium)
Industry
(largest sector of economy; light industry and textiles)
(some heavy industry but it's rare) (talk about heskif?)
Resources
(copper, iron, phosphates, and limestone/marble)
(some petroleum, but not enough to make it a large sector of the economy)
Tourism
(please visit historic beautiful siphria part 1: aburrite stuff we stole from them)
(part 2: islamic stuff we're now ambivalent towards)
Media
(actually surprisingly diversified for a country as unstable as siphria, though this is under threat)
Infrastructure
Energy
(imported oil)
Communications
(radio, tv, internet, postal, whatever)
Transport
(roadways)
Demographics
Ethnicity
(ethnic siphrians)
(the bedouins)
(the aburrites)
Religion
(glorious and true baha'i faith)
(shia islam basically wiped out, but sunni islam persists among bedouins)
(aburrite paganism has survived, in defiance of all the odds; it's a very ethnic religion)
Language
(siphrian dominant; bedouins speak arabic, aburrites speak their own language)