Part Two: History
Myakkan history has been divided into several parts by historians beginning with Thomas Charka (1850-1936) who famously wrote Charka's Encyclopedia of History in 1887 in which the history of Myakka was divided into classical, medieval, and so forth in that fashion. We shall rely upon this division here so as to make it more easier for people to sift through the facts to find what they need concerning this nation's past. Myakkan history begins in the classical times when the first civilizations began to develop on the island nation under the auspices of wise and noble rulers or, at times, tyrannical overlords. The Encyclopedia stated that the first well known leader was Karjan, a chieftain who lived in the plains with his people around the time of Athens and Sparta's rises in Greece. Karjan famously claimed a vast stretch of territory and ruled as a king from the city of Tarzal amidst the rapid expansion of other leaders with their states. Karjan was hailed as a wise ruler who moulded his foreign policies on practical means rather than ideological purposes. Karjan lived from 427 BC to 347 BC and was well known for building a technocratic state as well as for his marriage to Arpana of Tzeketeti who would bear many children including Karjan II whose direct descendants included Myakka's founding father of the Middle Ages, Gaspard Varan. Karjan was well loved by the populace and respected if not feared very much by those who fought against him. It is often said that Karjan ruled over much of the island we know today as Myakka but that his nation collapsed after the rise of ambitious rivals many years after his death. Despite the destruction of the Karjanic state in around 356 BC, the Karjanic Dynasty survived not only in the memories of the masses but in the genes of the House of Varan due to the descent from Karjan's son. The Karjanic State's hegemony which had been founded on solid diplomacy and ruthless warfare was replaced by its division under the auspices of men such as Zarkan (400-326 BC) who founded his own state along the East Coast. Zarkan consolidated his power with his marriage to a princess of a minor branch of the Karjanic Dynasty and with his ruthless aggression towards his enemies which resulted in mass executions. Despite this bloodshed on his part, Zarkan has often been depicted as a rather goodhearted ruler who reserved executions for only the worst dissidents and criminals.
He also formulated Myakka's second code of law (succeeding the Karjanic Code) but it was mostly written under the direction of a court elder by the name of Tzekavi whose words generally reflect upon the rigid legalism of Zarkan's state. Legalistic thought eventually became the state ideology of the Zarkanic state and was formulated by men like Tzekavi who advocated a strict interpretation of the laws based on a love of protecting the common good. Tzekavi's treatise, On the Nature of Laws, has been quite influential on Myakkan law over the centuries although many criticize the strict measures it advocates. Zarkanic armies were instrumental in spreading legalism to other states through the medium of conquest although not all subjugated states were willing to accept it.
One of Zarkan's rivals was Arkas the Wise who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and who had a longer life than his famous ancient counterpart. Arkas was born into a small petty state that had been christened with the name of Tzekania after Tzekan who inherited the land as a fiefdom for his services. Arkas disliked the fact that his state was subject to forced mobilization and other measures by the Zarkanic state and he rebelled against them while unwittingly sparking rebellions in other parts of the land. Arkas eventually carved himself a kingdom during the rebellion and became well known for his mastery of military matters. His rebellion was the subject of an epic poem written by Andaras of Tatareo who became the favorite poet of Arkas once he had heard of his poetic masterpieces.
Arkas did not stay satisfied with merely having his own kingdom, however, and continued marching with his armies across Myakka without any defeats which has made him known as the Alexander of Myakka because no battle was lost for his state when he led the armies. The Arkasiad, a massive epic poem written by Andaras, has been hailed as one of the icons of Myakkan literature and is still read in schools and libraries to this day by many people. Arkas continued to wage war until he had conquered nearly seventy percent of Myakka according to Hozek's Encyclopedia. His death in 293 BC due to a viral infection, it is said, was the only thing that stopped him from conquering all of Myakka. His successors were unable to continue holding up the Arkasian state and it soon was divided among them; his successors were his closest generals and associates such as Kataphras whose state became the strongest and wealthiest of the successor states due to his shrewd political planning.
The House of Kataphras would soon rule over most of western Myakka but was soon displaced by more stronger opponents such as the House of Thestanek. Kataphras' descendants, however, continued to live in splendor and continue to exist to this day in various families who can claim ancestry from the most famous of Arkas' successors. The House of Thestanek began as the humble family of Thestanek who was a minor nobleman who lived in one of Arkas' successor states. He rose through the ranks to become a leading general who won many battles but when his state collapsed, Thestanek became a warlord who carved himself a state around the southeastern coast with government centered around the city of Parvas. Thestanek developed the city into a bastion of culture where many philosophers and poets would reside and discuss their works with one another in meeting houses.
Bardan of Parvas, a well known scientist of the classical era, famously wrote his treatises on various topics such as the elements and nature in this city as one of its most famous inhabitants. Thestanek often consulted the philosophers of the city on various issues and sometimes, it is said, heated debates would arise during these consultations over the policies of the government. Thestanek's conquests in the middle years of his reign were instrumental in exporting the works of the philosophers of his state to subjugated lands with Bardan's works becoming famous with the rise of meeting houses all over the expanding dominion.
Thestanek ruled much of Myakka during his reign and he gained much more land with his marriage to Valasa whose father was a strong rival to Thestanek during his campaigns. Since she was his only child, Thestanek inherited his wife's lands after her father's demise. It was this expansionism that helped bring about a coalition of states against Thestanek in his last years of life on Earth. His death in 257 BC brought forth the rise of the Council of Twelve which was so inept that Thestanek II never came to power but was rather captured along with his mother and infant sister by Coalition forces. The Council of Twelve was forcefully disbanded by a local official by the name of Dirkelan but this did not stop the Coalition from conquering the state and dividing it amongst the members of the coalition.
Thestanek II and his sister would later become the stepchildren of Dirkelan who, it is said, lived with Thestanek's wife in a secluded countryside hideout. The city of Parvas maintained its image as the bastion of knowledge after the conflict had ended with many philosophers and poets rising out of obscurity with their unique ideas and well liked poems. The Coalition eventually dissolved once it was finished with destroying Thestanek's state and soon they all went their own ways which, at times, led them to warfare amongst themselves. 243 BC was the year that the House of Dirkelan claimed posession of Parvas and other areas to form its own state which was famous for the cultivation of Myakkan philosophy and literature during their rule which lasted until the Middle Ages when Gaspard Varan conquered "Dirkelania" during his campaigns.
Dirkelan II's rule of the land was essentially an experiment in meritocracy with elements of technocracy mixed with it. The old religious beliefs of Myakkans which centered around worship of the Sky Father and veneration of His associates experienced surges in popularity during these conflicts but were usually always popular whether people were fighting each other or not. There were debates about spiritual matters during these times as well with some parchments preserving the words of the participants who ranged from priests to the average citizens of whereever the debate took place. Debates were encouraged and often held in meeting houses in many cities. The Library of Parvas has preserved many old texts and accounts of these debates for many centuries and is open to the public to this day so that people may get a chance to study the texts. In 230 BC, the Arkasian Dynasty returned to power with the rise of Arkas IV who took power in western Myakka under the pretext of ending the corrupt practices of inept politicians. Arkas IV attempted to rebuild his well known ancestor's kingdom but he was unable to finish due to his death from an infected wound in 184 BC.
His half finished work did survive, however, under the reign of Arkas V who successfully blocked his enemies from gaining power over the mourning kingdom. The Arkasian Empire began to grow again during the reign of Arkas V but he was unable to unite all of Myakka during his reign. His successors were also unable to unite all of Myakka during their reigns and it was only after the death of Arkas IX the Childless that the Arkasian Empire fell apart to be replaced by a group of successor states who claimed lineage from the Arkasian Dynasty but who were gradually unable to reunite the states into the empire that they once formed. One of those states was the Kingdom of Arcalas which was founded by Heran of Arcalas, a governor of the Arkasian Empire. This state became the most powerful and wealthy out of all the states due to Heran's shrewed economic and foreign policies and it eventually expanded to cover most of the old Empire save for some places which were able to restrain Heranic expanisionism. The wars that Heran waged lasted for about seven to nine years and were ended after Heran negotiated peace unwillingly with his adversaries before he died in 134 BC. The Heranic Dynasty lasted until 45 AD when it finally collasped under pressure from external and internal influences.
The wars between petty states and kingdoms continued for many years and bloodshed occured during the mass conversion of Myakkans to the Christian faith thanks to the efforts of shipwrecked missionaries who found solace in the tolerance of the "honorable heathens" of Myakka. The Old Religion still maintained its importance despite the conversion to Christianity and has experienced a resurgence in popularity among intellectuals and young people. One intellectual quipped that Christianity was essentially worshipping the Sky Father but under the pretense that he had an executed son. The Catholic Church was, however, unable to own land except for that land which the churches it owned were built upon and thus didn't own much land like their brethren did in other nations around the world. Massive churches and chapels were built over the years all over the Myakkan nation under the direction of political leaders such as Marjan the Great who built the massive St. Mary's Cathedral in the city he christened Marianopolis after the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
The coronations, weddings and funerals of Marjan's successors would always be held at this cathedral and it would soon become the holiest place in Myakkan Christianity as well as the icon of royal power and authority over the masses. It was in 1278 AD that calls for the unity of Myakkans began to be heard more often than before. One of the first references to Myakkan unity would be in the sermons of Peter Abkhazek whose sermons advocated transcendence of the political boundaries of states in favor of service to God and one another in Christian love and for Myakkans (He was one of the first to call everyone a Myakkan) to end their rivalries and bloodfeuds. Abkhazek's sermons would become the gospel of the religious supporters of Myakkan unification as the years passed.
It was Paul Hazek who formulated the secular movement for Myakkan unification with his series of Discourses on Blood Unity in which he extolled the merits of a united Myakka. Hazek's Discourses would not only influence many of his contemporaries but would also be held as part of the canon of Myakkan nationalism in later centuries. His successors known as the Hazekites would promote Myakkan unification and eventually come to power in Varania, one of many warring states of the time. The Varanians, led by Lucian Varan, began to consider the merits of Hazek's ideas and eventually adopted them as state ideology amidst the petty states and kingdoms around the land. Lucian Varan was the descendant of merchants rewarded with land for their services by past rulers and he would expand his nation rapidly over Myakka but was unable to unify the island. It was up to his son and heir, Gaspard Varan, to do this. Gaspard Varan's campaigns would bring Myakka not only to unification but to the brink of total chaos as the entire island became engulfed in a chaotic and bloody period of warfare.
Gaspard Varan's first campaigns generally were based on the pretense of eliminating the threat of bandits who were constantly raiding and looting Varanian villages for food, money and women. Gaspard appointed one of his best generals, Paul Grizeldek, to lead the Campaign Against The Bandits in 1304 which was a complete success as Grizeldek brutally punished and routed the bandits who were discovered to have been paid and hired by the neighbouring Kingdom of Dossand which was soon attacked by Grizeldek's armies after war was declared by the Royal Court. The King of Dossand's armies were routed after months of battle with Dossand's capital falling in 1306 to Paul Grizeldek's armies. In reward for his services, Grizeldek was ennobled and given much land and wealth. He would soon become one of Gaspard's greatest generals and would be well known for his mastery of military strategy and tactics. The Hazekites of the Court under the patronage of Linus Pardek would declare the annexation of Dossand to be a victory for their cause and urged Gaspard to follow his dream: the unification of Myakka.
From 1310 to 1360, the Varanians would wage wars with other states for the sake of unifying Myakka as one nation with many leaders rising to fame and falling to their deaths in the many battles that were fought between them. One of these leaders happens to be one of Myakka's most famous folk heroes: Sabrina Saran. Originally a peasant girl with no experience in warfare, she would die with most of Myakka under her benevolent but iron fist. She would not only become Gaspard's greatest rival but would become an inspiration to many people even in the ranks of her enemies. Charka's Encyclopedia cites that the life of Sabrina Saran was recorded by a courtier named Andrew Taran who became her biographer during her campaigns. Taran wrote that Sabrina Saran was raised as the daughter of a village mayor who was one of her supporters although hesitant at first. The motivation that provoked Sabrina Saran to become a military leader was the raid of her home village by bandits; her family was killed during this raid. Sabrina Saran fled the ruins of her village to Tatareo, a nearby town where she demanded support for the destruction of the bandits. Taran's biography of his liege records that she was only fourteen when this all occured and that many people didn't trust that she was old enough to lead an army against the bandits. She did, according to Taran, get the support of Adam the Brave, a mercenary captain who led a massive army of hired warriors along with the Mayor of Tatareo who wanted to pass down the town to her since he had no child of his own. The Free State of Tatareo, therefore, became Sabrina's possession when the Mayor passed away amidst controversy in 1324 with Adam the Brave becoming her regent. Taran records that Sabrina's rule of Tatareo was essentially meritocratic and that she would often intervene when she saw fit and would, at times, debate policies with the Regent. She would even lead an army against the bandits at the age of sixteen which routed the "barbaric fools" completely according to Taran's Chronicles. Tatareo's territory soon expanded under her direction and became a formidable force militarily and economically during her reign. Taran records that Sabrina took him under her wing as her chief courtier during the first parts of her reign which was said to have taken place in the Age of Chaos which was a name given to this bloody period in Myakkan history by John Psarelt, a Myakkan bard who sang famous songs about the wars and the leaders like Gaspard and Sabrina. Psarelt's songs have become famous in modern times for their use by folk singers at festivals. Psarelt, Charka's Encyclopedia states, lived from 1567 to 1623 and was one of the best known traveling bards of Myakka.
Taran's Chronicles record that Sabrina Saran's style of leadership was essentially meritocratic and that she would pardon people whenever she felt that they had deserved it. It was even reported in the said book along with Charka's Encyclopedia and other books that she married a prisoner of war and had several children including her heir, Kash Saran, who became well known for his courage and emphasis on practical economics which Taran wrote as meaning: ".....The creation and maintenance of proper and practical economic policies."
Asbel Mournal was another military leader who became famous through expansionism with his political center at the city of Parvas where he developed a highly centralized bureaucracy that has often been likened to a massive tree. Parvas, at this time, still was a center of Myakkan philosophy and education and was highly sought after by many people including Gaspard Varan. Asbel made it his capital and called his nation the Kingdom of Parvasia after the fabled city of thinkers. The University of Parvas continued to grow extensively over the years with people from all over the land coming for a top notch education. Asbel Mournal's death in 1345 from a dehabilitating illness did not end the city's growth nor did it mean the end of Parvasia's life as it was soon taken over by Asbel II who was a graduate from the University of Parvas. Asbel II was a wise and noble ruler who kept Parvasia out of most conflicts save for those which threatened Parvasian interests. He would side with the Varanians when they annexed a massive stretch of land which created a border between Varania and Parvasia after a marriage alliance's clauses concerning the fates of the bride's lands were invoked. The Treaty of St. Paul's Chapel was signed between the Varanians and the King of Alonstrad whose daughter and only child married Grizeldek in a lavish wedding ceremony in the chapel. The treaty stipulated that Varania would inherit the lands after the King's death in the sense that the Queen of Alonstrad would become a firm member of the Varanian faction. All went according to plan and Alonstrad was eventually consumed by Varania and turned into a mere province after the Queen's death. Why did this happen? This is due to the fact that the Queen died childless from tuberculosis. Grizeldek would later remarry one of the Queen's cousins and have a family which soon became one of the founding families of the Myakkan peerage.
Varania and Parvasia went to war during the spring of 1337 after the two nations began feuding over the alleged mistreatment of emissaries and merchants with the Parvasians being one of Gaspard's most troublesome and stubborn foes due to their use of shrewd strategy and espionage which helped weaken Gaspard's armies significantly but not enough to prevent the annexation of their nation as a mere province. Asbel II's death in battle brought his nation under the control of a clique of inept generals who lost power after the Siege of Parvas which was recorded in numerous chronicles as being the worst event to occur in the history of the fabled city's life. Gaspard's personal orders to preserve the city's many texts were followed by all Varanian soldiers and no texts were lost during the siege according to many chroniclers and modern historians who rely on their powerfully convincing evidence. Parvasia became a mere province after the annexation with Gaspard's armies marching onward while a single but massive army was left behind to provide security in the case of possible rebellions against Varanian rule. Gaspard was fully convinced that he was fighting not for Varanians but for Myakkans as his letters to the love of his wife, Queen Lylana, suggest. Lylana maintained her husband's authority in the Royal Court while Gaspard was on his campaigns and was widely respected by many people all over the island nation for her modesty and virtuous life. She bore Gaspard three sons and three daughters and was the daughter of one of Gaspard's father's vassals whose lands were centered in the Jhildan Valley which has always been agrarian based. Theophilus Pindas, the author of the Varaniad, came into Gaspard's service a year or so after his first and only marriage and would soon become famous for writing the Varaniad during Gaspard's campaigns in which one may find a poetic biography of Theophilus' liege as well as references to various other people such as Lylana and Sabrina Saran who had the respect of many Varanians including Gaspard who paid for her funeral out of his own pocket. It was not uncommon for biographers to write about people other than their subjects with many of them writing all sorts of things about them ranging from respect to outright derogatory remarks. Theophilus Pindas and Taran are well recognized as being two of the foremost biographers of Medieval Myakka with their works still read and studied to the present time. Charka's Encyclopedia of History was based on books such as the Chronicles of Taran and Pindas with numerous citations and references to the books being found within Charka's volumes. In 1349, the Varanians and the Saranians (a name given to the followers and subjects of Sabrina Saran by Medieval Myakkan writers) became to feel more spiteful towards each other with skirmishes occuring on the borders between them. Both sides had the same goal and both sides knew they would eventually have to go to war in order to see who would come out on top and who would be annexed. Charka wrote in a letter to a colleague: "....It was inevitable that the peasant girl would end up fighting the merchant's son."
These skirmishes, according to Charka, escalated into full fledged war in 1351; bringing the two most powerful nations on the island against one another in a conflict that would last until 1360 and see the loss of thousands of lives according to Taran and Pindas whose works are often treated as being highly accurate and trustworthy when read. Pindas wrote in his Chronicles that the first battle between the two factions was the Battle of the Village and this is also mentioned as being the first battle in Taran's Chronicles. This battle ended in a Saranian victory and over the next eight or so years would many cities and positions be lost and gained. A stalemate emerged in 1359 which caused problems for both factions and which motivated their leaders to launch all out assaults in the hopes of gaining control and ending the war once and for all. The leaders of both factions would lead their armies personally and would meet at a small plot of land known today as the Field of Blood. It was here that Gaspard Varan and Sabrina Saran would meet for what both hoped would be the final battle of the conflict. Pindas and Taran pretty much agree on the same details of this battle so, for clarification, we shall rely upon a single account. The battle began on the 9th of October during the early afternoon and ended in the early evening after much bloodshed and chaos had passed. Both sides had very large armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands and led by the best generals available to them such as Grizeldek and Adam the Brave who, though nearing status as a noble elder, fought as wildly as he did long before. Myakkan military historians point out that the battle began when two groups of soldiers from each side charged at each other amidst a "great wave" of arrows and rockets. It is said that Gaspard fought Sabrina while being surrounded by their fighting soldiers; one need only look to Pindas and Taran for information about this. It is said, by Pindas, that Sabrina knocked Gaspard off his horse and was nearing the coup de grace when a peasant boy threw a javelin at her which went through the back and through the heart. This story was confirmed by Taran as well in his own Chronicles; both report how horrified Sabrina's soldiers were as she fell "to the ground in a sickly pale complexion" while blood gushed from the massive wound. It is said that she died while being pulled out of the battle by her soldiers with her last words being a prayer for peace with Pindas and Taran both testifying that this story is what indeed happened. The battle continued despite the loss of Sabrina but the stubborn Saranian armies eventually fell apart and were routed by Gaspard's armies while the peasant boy who killed Sabrina was not only unaware he had done so but also rewarded with land and wealth. He became, in essence, an aristocrat through the shedding of blood. Pindas wasn't captured by the Varanians after Sabrina's death; he was able to flee from the advancing Varanian armies with the clique of Kash Saran who took control as the King of Sarania only to lose the conflict one year later and end up in prison only to be released, later on, by Gaspard on the condition that Kash Saran serve the united Myakka and forsake hostilities. Kash did this and became a well liked nobleman in the Myakkan peerage when it was created. Pindas was eventually discovered by Varanian patrols but was also released as he was seen as a wise and goodhearted individual. Pindas would publish his account of Sabrina's life and of his capitivity in Varania before dying from an illness at the ripe old age of 96 in 1368 while his Varanian counterpart died in 1372.
Charka writes in his Encyclopedia of History that the Varanians were able to unite all of Myakka under them after waging one final conflict with the hastily made League of States which was essentially all other states forming a coalition against the Varanians and their allies which were few but formidable nonetheless. Charka makes note of Taran's statements concerning how shrewd strategy on the part of the Varanians along with the ineptitude of the coalition armies' commanders led to the victory of the Varanians and the subsequent unification of Myakka with Gaspard Varan as the first Emperor of Myakka. Two years after the coronation of Gaspard Varan as the Myakkan Emperor, Andrew Taran passed away with his family and friends at his bedside. It is said that Gaspard himself visited the ailing Taran numerous times and that he thanked him for his hard work. Taran's Chronicles would become one of the best known history books of Myakkan literature and would be studied by many scholars and students for many centuries. It was also one of the foundations for Charka's Encyclopedia of History which he wrote in order to provide students with a clearer look at the history of their island nation. What happened after the unification of Myakka under the Varanians? We may look upon subsequent chronicles and the works of Charka for the information. In Charka's Encyclopedia, Gaspard is seen as the benevolent but iron fisted monarch who creates a bureaucratic meritocracy under his absolute authority and who helps formulate Myakka's first legal code based on the legal code of Varania but also on those of other states of old including precepts of law codified in Sarania under Sabrina's reign. Sabrina's legal codes were based on the concept of equality before the law regardless of gender and social status and this concept was imported into the Myakkan legal code. Charka writes that Sabrina was, in essence, a egalitarian woman who believed in the modern version of human rights and who worked zealously to prevent abuses of these. Courthouses were built all over Myakka to enforce the newly made legal code and to clarify parts of it when needed. The Catholic Church of Myakka was created to replace the individual branches of the Roman Catholic Church in the old states with little opposition save for anti-Varanian elements within the ranks of the church. Gaspard Varan's reign as Emperor lasted from about 1370 to 1390 when he died from a severe illness with a multitude of people at his bedside including his six children and many grandchildren. His successor, Gaspard the Second, was coronated days after his father's death amidst threats of rebellion and assassinations due to some people's ongoing hostility to the newly created Imperial Court. Gaspard II ruthlessly crushed opposition without relent and was cited as marrying one of Grizeldek's daughters in a lavish wedding ceremony which was quite opulent but yet simplistic. During his reign, Myakka went into a golden age of culture and technology while his wife bore him six children of his own including the heir to the throne who would be known as Gaspard III. The tradition of naming one's male heirs with the name of Gaspard was started around this time according to historians. Gaspard III would become famous for being the father of Princess Martha, who would become infamous for her role in a scandal that threatened to tear apart the House of Varan. This scandal would be documented by Asbel of Tatareo, a courtier in the Imperial Court who studied and analyzed the scandal.
Part Three: Military
(Under development)
Part Four: Culture
(Under development)
Part Five: The Imperial Family
(Under development)