Djaladjie

A Euclean depiction of Omer Maal, the Hourege of Kambou influential in the early Djaladjic period.

Djaladjie, from the Ndjarendie word meaning "net", was the dominant political order within Bahia during the Bahian Golden Age, marked by competition between various houregeries for hegemony through overlapping spheres of influence.

Features

Axial Houregery

The key actors within Djaladjie were the Axial Houregeries, the great powers of the subcontinent. These ruled over vast networks of clients while paying homage to no higher power themselves, with the occasional exception of diplomatic formalities with other empires outside of Bahia. The roster of axial houregeries remained more or less stable throughout the Bahian Golden Age. Key axial Houregeries included Kambou, which dominated the Boual ka Bifie and contested control over the Ahirengeïe with their longtime rivals the Rwizi Empire who were centred on the Gonda river. Beheira, Damaxato and Galassa are also considered to have been axial houregeries.

Spheres of influence

Houregeries were fundamentally borderless entities defined by all who came under the hourege's hegemony in some form or another. Of the large houregeries, traditional hierarchies used to order smaller states were no longer directly applicable, allowing powerful vassal rulers to emerge. This freedom of action abetted vassal ambitions, who would often form alliances or fight amongst themselves, while still retaining their nominal alliegance to their hourege, as part of a regional diplomatic system; it also allowed for variable relations between vassals of different houreges that differed from the conduct of their superiors.

As this complexity made the process of raising an army and attacking another axial Houregery all but impossible, Houregeries focused instead on the spreading of soft power. This often came in the form of religious proselytization. This was a key part of the Lourale ka Maoube, as the axial Houreges sought the final proof which would convince their enemies of their religion's superiority and therefore sway them to their side. Marriage pacts were another avenue for grand strategy, while bribery and assassination was regularly employed.

Warfare

A Euclean depiction of a Mourâhil horseman during a Tetere.

The main form of warfare under Djaladije was the raid, a limited attack that both seized resources from victims (such as cattle and slaves) and called into question the ability of rival lordships to protect those victims. A community like a sare could either defect in search of stronger lieges or in more rare cases be captured and forced to swear a new allegiance outright. The taking of slaves later became an economic goal in its own right as the importance and profitability of the Transvehemens slave trade grew for local rulers.