Jamhediboga

The term jamhediboga is a term from Ziba which was used primarily to describe, motivate and justify the Aguda Empire, though it has also been applied in other contexts, such as in evaluating the Republic of Dezevau. The word is a compound of two parts, jamhedi, roughly meaning righteous, moral or holy, and boga, roughly meaning state, polity or government; the exact translation and definition of the term are controversial.

Broadly speaking, the premise of the Aguda Empire was that its conquests, hegemony and legality were legitimate, because they were highly morally beneficial, at least from the point of view of Badi. In this worldview, the Aguda Empire was a jamhediboga so long as it strove for and achieved righteous acts such as promoting public welfare, research and cultural exchange, and therefore its dominion had no natural limits: a remit to promote all which is ethical is effectively unconstrained territorially or politically.

The term predated the Aguda Empire, but it becamse most widely known and influential when it was adopted and propagandised by the empire some time after its founding. It continued to be a guiding part of the empire's self-conception until its decline and dissolution through Euclean (primarily Gaullican) colonisation. The term was used both during and after the empire to evaluate other regimes and their legitimacy, but because of its religious connotations and the decline of Badi in socialist Dezevau, it is not widely used contemporarily.

Terminology

The phrase jamhedi boga is first recorded in the medieval era, although only a collocation of two not uncommon words. Some early writers posited it as a kind of divinely inspired empire, comparable to the Heavenly Dominion or the legends that came from the direction of Xiaodong, which might create an earthly utopia. However, these sentiments were generally unusual, rare, and primarily inspired by comparison with empires to the east and south; while the phrase is of solidly Ziba construction, the idea was essentially a foreign analogy.

The compound word is most attested from the Aguda Empire itself, as it became a recognised term, and acquired a substantial presence beyond the meanings of its parts. At times, it was used as a title for the empire as much as a descriptor. It was mainly from the Aguda Empire that the term was translated into other languages: jamhedi was translated variously as moral, ethical, religious, divine, holy, sanctified, rightful, righteous or right, being the more controversial and operative word, while boga was taken as empire, state, polity, entity, regime, government or country.

In the colonial era, perhaps the most common complete translation in Estmerish was "moral empire", mirrored in Gaullican as empire moral. However, it has been suggested this translation was influenced by the imperialist ideology of academics of that time, and insufficiently conveys the sense of boga as a political entity which is not necessarily territorial, but regnant in some field, and an equal to other bogabo. Contemporary scholars have preferred translations such as righteous regime, or even government of good works, though the most common academic practice is now to explain and give various translations for the term at the beginning of a work, and then use it untranslated throughout the rest, to preserve nuance.

Goods of jamhedi

Someone or something which is jamhedi is not inherently holy; in Badi, it is primarily actions, knowledge, emotions, experiences, phenomena which are moral goods and deserving of reverence, and other things or people have religious importance in relation to these. The state that is jamhedi, then, promotes these religious goods; the term can be related to the idea of doing good works, or praxis, or ethical action (as opposed to the morality behind it).

Badist morality and ethics is complex, and had a variety of approaches, as well as a variety of beliefs about moral goods, even just within the Aguda Empire. However, on the whole, they tended towards consequentialism, and some widely recognised goods include knowledge about the world (especially practically or experientially), minimisation of unpleasant feelings or sensations, social connection and harmony, human life, development of culture, and reverence all of these therefor.

The Aguda Empire sponsored theologians to develop doctrines about moral goods which were in the direction of what it could or did provide, and also propagandised its own relevant deeds and achievements.