Central Green Belt
The Central Green Belt Gaullican: Ceinture verte centrale, Kirobyi: Ahirengeïe) is a term used in human geography to denote the region which divides the Boual ka Bifie and Maccan plateau in Mabifia. The region has both a physical and human significance. It forms a highland between the Masamongo and Kolopegi ranges which attracts high precipitation due to its position on the windward side of the Kolopegi, which form a rain shadow affecting the Boual. The Central Green Belt is important in the ethnolinguistic plan of Mabifia as well, as its ethnic and religious diversity serves as a kind of transition zone between Inner Mabifia and Outer Mabifia. The Central Green Belt has been highly important historically, disputed between the Houregeries of the Boual and Plateau, before being dominated by the Kambou Empire in Late Hourege.
History
Prehistory
Some of the oldest evidence of sedentary agricultural settlement in Mabifia has been found in the Central Green Belt, which is believed to be the heartlands of one of the very first polities in Bahia, the Ndakunju civilisation. Ndakunju, which is attested by a small number of archaeological finds but which is described in large detail in the oral history of the Sewa people, is believed to have been a civilisation based around a theocratic method of social organisation with complex funerary rituals. As little is known of the Ndakunju outside of the Sewa myths, its decline is shrouded in mystery, but it is known that by the time of the Ouloumic migration it had been supplanted by proto-Bélé and proto-Sewa cultures. The twin migrations of Ouloume and Boualic speaking peoples in around 1500 BCE would eventually push these cultures back into the highlands of the Central Green Belt, and by the advent of the Saretic period the influence of such cultures was minimal outside of the highland region. The Hoore culture had a strong influence over the region, with some Archaeologists postulating a Central origin of this culture.
Hourege
As the closest reliably verdant zone to the Boual ka Bifie, the Central Green Belt was the favoured pasturage location of the Ndjarendie herders during the dry period of the Bifi and this yearly temporary migration brought with it an expansion of trade and inter-cultural exchange. Following the Irfanisation of the Ndjarendie during the 8th century CE, this trade would stretch as far as Pardaria. Under Asardaki Fakruddin Bâ, many Ndjarenie Bolonda coalesced to form the Founagé Dominion of Heaven, which led raids on much of the Central Green Belt and subjugated the majority of it. While Founagé was eventually stopped and retracted its control, it was in this period that much of the Bélé peoples were Irfanised and many of the Houregic entities which were left in their wake were similarly Irfanic. The Bélé rulers would often pledge alliegance to the stronger Irfanic Houregeries of the Boual, gaining prominence as local rulers of significant value due to their strategic location. Some polities, such as the Boké Kingdom, were independent Houregeries in their own right. However, with the Djaladjie period, the Central Green Belt was strongly enmeshed within the sphere of influence of Kambou. Its status as a frontier region meant that it did not see the same development as Kambou, Kangesare, and the other significant cities of Kambou. Slave raids against Fetishist polities were common, even when both parties swore fealty to Kambou.
Colonial period
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The significance of the Central Green Belt to the overall administration of modern-day Mabifia was seen to be minimal by the colonial authorities, who saw the region's myraid of ethnic groups to be less important to control than the larger Ndjarenie or Barobyi peoples who had held the bulk of pre-colonial political authority. A significant challenge to its administration was the widespread influence of initiatory societies, which had traditionally exerted influence as a kind of shadow government especially in Fetishist areas with Irfanic sovereigns. The Gaullicans viewed the Sotirian Catholic Church as their strongest weapon in the subjugation of the Central Green Belt, and like in the Maccan plateau evangelical missions saw significant success in attracting converts. Euclean colonisation also brought with it a push for urbanisation, as this was seen to be an effective way of removing Bahian populations from their traditional societies and forcing them to embrace Sotirianity and Euclean modes of life. The outbreak of the Sougoulie effectively halted this project, as it impressed upon the Eucleans a desire to strengthen their hold over the more restive regions and led to the relegation of the Central Green Belt to an even lower priority.
Modern era
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The political fortunes of the Central Green Belt saw a dramatic reversal under the Mabifian Democratic Republic, which gained much support from the poorer farmers in the region due to its breaking up of traditionally servile land ownership systems and land redistribution. This support was increased by the socialist government's decision to back sedentary agriculture as opposed to the pastoralist groups, which essentially cemented the control of the land of the local groups. However, heavy handed persecution of religious and traditional practices under Fuad Onika, coupled with economic stagnation as seen across the nation, meant that the region would eventually back the rebels. The importance of several central groups in the revolution meant that there were three central ministers within Hassan Babangida's transitional government. Despite this influence, the needs of the Central Green Belt would eventually lose traction due to political manoeuvering and, with the rise to power of Mahmadou Jolleh-Bande and the Bahian Renaissance Party, would backslide in the face of pressures from Ndjarendie ministers. The conflict between herders and farmers, which had been suppressed by the socialists, has become violent again, bringing with it sectarian trappings which have resulted in violence not only between Ndjarendie and local farmers, but also between Irfanic groups such as the Saban and Fetishist groups such as the Sewa. This has led to the rise of Insigahanga-esque militias in many rural areas, further undermining the control of the central government.
Geography
Human geography
The Central Green Belt is a region of great ethnolinguistic and religious diversity, peopled by a vast array of different ethnic groups. Unlike the Boual ka Bifie or Maccan plateau, which are dominated by an ethnic group with a clear plurality or majority, the Central Green Belt has no one ethnic group which occupies the dominant position. This is likely a result of the region's geographic relief, as the hilly country with many mountains and valleys facilitates greater independence of smaller communities by providing naturally defensible terrain. Ethnic groups present in the Central Green Belt include Ouloume groups such as the Ekole, Lolemo and Icibare, Bélé peoples, including the Saban and Anana people, and the Sewa. Tensions between rival groups is common, and while peace was violently enforced under the Mabifian Democratic Republic the region saw significant inter-communal violence during the Second Mabifian Civil War.
A feature of the Central Green Belt is the dominance of sedentary agriculture, particularly in the cultivation of yams, as opposed to transhumance as practiced on the Boual ka Bifie. The population of the Central Green Belt is predominantly rural, urbanisation having been abandoned following the ethnic tensions of the second civil war. The Central Green Belt is one of the poorest regions of Mabifia, as its needs are often ignored by the predominantly Boualic ruling elite. An example of this is in the herder-farmer conflicts in the Boual ka Bifie, which have been a recent flashpoint of tensions between Ndjarendie herders and the sedentary farmers of the region. This conflict has re-ignited many tensions in the region, especially along religious lines, but as much of the ruling Bahian Renaissance Party are also Ndjarendie they are unwilling to negotiate a solution which would jeopardise herder rights to pasturage.
As a barrier between the predominantly Irfanic north and Sotirian south, the Central Green Belt is highly religiously diverse. While Irfan is the largest religion in the region, with roughly 50% of the population of the Central Green Belt professing to Irfanic faith, the region has significant populations following both Catholicism and even Bahian Fetishism. This patchwork of religions, which are relativey evenly spread across the belt, has resulted in a large degree of syncretism and it is common for Fetishist practices such as the consulting of oracles to be one by both Irfanic and Catholic faithful. The rise of politicised Irfan in Mabifia has contributed to a wave of sectarian violence in the region, particularly in the urban areas which are majority Irfanic and where the rural Fetishist communities are seen with a degree of suspicion.