Tuhamaha

The Tuhamaha was the tribute system that governed most of the Celestial Empire for most of its history. Likely first established in the 12th or 13th century, the system would grow to incorporate the entirety of Sublustria by the 16th century. Following the Yocatullic Civil War, the systems was reformed and gradually implemented across the region across several decades, and further nominal reforms would create the Celestial Empire as it exists today by the late 20th century. Although traditionally understood in foreign discourse as a tributary network, indigenous Sublustrian rhetoric considers the Tuhamaha to be instead a system of mutual exchange and benefit.

It has been theorized that the idea of mutual exchange surrounding the Tuhamaha may have its origins in the geography of Sublustria itself. The Celestial Isles are a particularly sizable archipelago and lie the furthest north of any islands in the region. Being firmly within the tropics and close to the equator, the Celestial Isles have a continuous year-round growing season with abundant rainfall. Goods that would be difficult to acquire in other Sublustrian archipelagos, such as pelts, furs, particular dyes or feathers, or an abundance of fruit, vegetable, and grain crops. Tributary payments would allow merchants and travelers access to these goods, while also providing the Celestial Isles with regional specialties and even temperate goods such as feathers from temperate birds.

Tributes also served a ritual purpose. A portion of the tribute collected was most typically offered as holy sacrifice, or otherwise accompanied by sacred rituals after payment. The payment of tribute was a means of acknowledging the authority of the Celestial Empire and the nature of its rulers as demigods, and so like other demigods in Sublustrian legend, tribute was also considered a form of sacrifice or prayer for the Yocatullic demigods of the contemporary era to deliver good fortunes, prosperity, and safety to subject nations. Thus, the payment of tribute was both a direct sacrifice, as well as payment for intercession with divine entities, alongside their mere political function.

Nomenclature and definition

The Yocatullic term Tuhamaha is considered a medieval neologism by scholars of Sublustrian linguistics, comprising two distinct parts: tuha and taumaha. Used in common speech across Sublustria is the informal term Waena and variants thereon. The sociolinguistic consensus on the coinage of Tuhamaha centers upon the unique cultural circumstance of Yocatullic imperial divinity, and it is believed that the imperial cult required a new term to use for its tributary collection rituals than had been used prior, while also avoiding violating a taboo on affording any living person a truly divine status.

Tuha is translated as a "division", and contextually as an "allotment". In regular speech, this most frequently has redistributive or reciprocal connotations, and this may reflect what was perceived as a common ritual service provided by the Yocatullic chieftains to tributary subjects. It may also refer to the redistribution of wealth and goods that was commonly conducted in traditional Sublustrian societies by political figures, especially to loyal followers, but also on a broader scale. During the early Confederate period, the redistributive model may have been standard practice within the Celestial Isles regarding goods and labor gained through tributes.

Taumaha is the Yocatullic term for a ritual involving sacrifice to divine entities such as spirits, ancestors, or gods. During the 16th century, this word was also used to translate the Eucharist into Sublustrian languages, and in many languages it refers specifically to food sacrifices. As it is considered taboo in Yocatullic society for a living person to be directly compared to a spirit, deceased ancestor, or god, it is possible that tuha was added as a corruption of taumaha to avoid invoking this taboo. When the two words are put together, it roughly translates as "The share of the gods", and may attest to Yocatullic nobility acting as ritual conductors as well as using portions of the collected tribute in sacrifice to various divine entities. It may also afford the tribute collectors a semi-divine status, while carefully avoiding the explicit language of a truly divine sacrifice.

The alternative term, waena, is a common term for a portion, allotment, or share. In some languages, it may also refer to a plot of land, a garden or farm, as well as being a generic word for the center or middle of a selection. This term is not used in official records, and is considered a vernacular description of the tribute, that being the imperial fair-share, rather than a legal or ritual term as employed by priestly or noble castes in formal settings. The distinction is important due to the culture of high poetry and rhetoric developed in pre-contact Sublustria.