Empire of Trahana

A large, new, and powerful state in the eastern half of the known world, Trahana united a series of city-states in the region around the Kossai Mountains before launching a war of expansion northward against a kingdom on a similar upward trajectory -- Dehr. An alliance with the Haina allowed Trahana to gain the upper hand in that war, and they have since become the most powerful land empire south of the Dulama Empire -- and with the more or less complete collapse of the latter, are by now likely the premier power in the west.
= History =
== Early Times ==
Trahana is itself a rather old state, existing for at least five centuries in one form or another, though the cities of the heart of the domain are far older. Legend has it that even this early time was pre-dated by a peninsular empire that united the whole region under an iron fist, building a sophisticated network of roads and leaving artifacts throughout. This legend is largely unsubstantiated by any current scholarship, but serves an important role in Trahana's own lore -- the ruling dynasty claims ancestry from this ancient line. 
For much of its early history, Trahana was a fairly quiet state, isolated high in the Kossai mountains and at the southern tip of their known world. Their neighbors the Haina rose much faster, and much more noisily, plying the waters of the Airendhe and connecting most of the west into their naval network. The Trahana, initially only a tiny kingdom centered on the Kossai, began a series of expansionist wars around 300 SR. These gave it a border with the Haina, with whom they secured an alliance that would last for at least three centuries after.
== Rise ==
The small kingdom rose to prominence in a great war around 500 SR against the expansionist northern state of Dehr, an empire that tried to unite the central peninsula under its rule. "Allying" with the local city-states, Trahana effectively annexed them, and in a series of coordinated campaigns with the Haina, crushed Dehr completely.
Directing their energies westward, Trahana began to conquer the remaining independent states, and settled the unclaimed land there, constructing a number of fortified towns, and sponsoring the construction of dozens of monasteries to serve as bases for further expeditions. Though they came into conflict with local cities and tribes there, none posed a serious challenge to Trahana military might, and the expansion of the Empire westward continued unrelenting.
The Empire took its biggest gamble in the 580s SR, when it invaded its longstanding ally in the Haina. The war was almost embarrassingly short -- the immense Trahana armies simply overwhelmed the Haina's landward defenses, and once the mainland of the ancient empire fell, little resistance remained. The Trahana had spread across the peninsula, had no real challengers in the south, and were able to direct their attentions across the Airendhe, where they overran the Paitloma Empire and captured the ancient port of Saigh. The Airendhe had effectively become a Trahana lake. With the complete collapse of the remnants of the Dulama Empire shortly thereafter, the Trahana inherited a large portion of the Thala River valley and conquered its small peninsular neighbors of Sechm, Dehr, Tempe and Firotl. It is currently engaged in a war with the Vithanama Empire for control of the former eastern territories of the Dulama Empire, as the two major powers of the west struggle to claim the sole legacy of the Dulama.
==List of Rulers==
Kings:
#Jarmai I, r. 1124-1151 AR (Amure Reckoning)
#Lorian I, r. 1151-1166 AR
#Unall I, r. 1166-1199 AR
#Jarmai II, r. 1199-1220 AR
#Jarmai III, r. 1220-1231 AR
#Unall II, r. 1231-1277 AR
#Galann I, r. 1277-1281 AR
#Jarmai IV, r. 1281-1300 AR
#Galann II, r. 1300-1321 AR
#Riheshu, r. 1321-1354 AR
#Unall III, r. 1354-1363 AR
#Unall IV, r. 1363-1369 AR
#Lorian II, r. 1369-1372 AR
#Jarmai V, r. 1372-1374 AR
#Lorian III, r. 1374-1389 AR
#Arjannun I, r. 1389-1405 AR (as King)
Emperors:
#Arjannun I, r. 1405-1427 AR (as Emperor)
#Arjannun II, r. 1427 AR
#Arjannun III, r. 1427 AR-Present
Notes
*Much earlier rulers are known to have pre-dated Jarmai I in Traha. However, Jarmai led the conquest of the nearby coastline, including the port city of Mara, and is considered the founder of the Trahana kingdom as a substantial political entity. Additionally, Jarmai himself, as well as many later kings and emperors, claimed descent from a semi-mythical line of emperors pre-dating the kingdom by nearly a thousand years, whose names are not listed here.
*Arjannun I declared himself Emperor of Trahana in 1405 AR, dissolving the previous title of King of Trahana.
*Emperor Arjannun II, listed as such in official documents of the Empire of Trahana, outlived his father, Arjannun I, by only three days. He died before his coronation, and thus his status as an Emperor is somewhat in dispute. Even the regnal name "Arjannun" was conferred posthumously. His son, the current Emperor Arjannun III, succeeded him.
= Geography =
Trahana is a fairly large country in the modern era, but it still remains centered around its ancient heartland, at the very tip of the western peninsula. The Kossai are a rugged and rainy mountain range, the spine of the peninsula, and the home country of the Trahana. The city of Traha, the ancient Trahana capital from which the empire derives its name, lies nestled in a small valley high in this range. The Kossai is bordered by a series of depressions immediately to the east that separate it from the land of Haina (now a part of the empire) -- centered on Lake Normegha in the north, and running in a series of swamps and riverlands to the Bay of Morghes in the south.
Lake Normegha itself is a surprisingly deep body of freshwater, bordered on the north by extensive marshlands, with numerous feeder rivers from the northwestern foothills. The northern shore, dotted with isolated islands in reedy bogs, is home to a number of Machaianist monasteries, reachable only by flat-bottomed boats. The south has much more open waters, with a number of lakefront communities, the most notable of these being Ardebal (home to several winter palaces of the kings of Trahana). A series of rocky bluffs rise here, climbing to a level plain that lasts until the northern foothills of the Kossai. Towards the southeast, the land flattens considerably, and an outlet of the Lake flows lazily towards the Bay of Morghes.
Said Bay is one of the largest in the west -- its main body a wide, sweeping arc that divides the whole peninsula in two, opening into the famous white waves of the Airendhe. A huge inlet extends beyond this, a brackish estuary that washes the scattered docks of Mara -- the largest city in the Trahana heartland and the entry to the Kossai highlands.
To the west, new lands have opened up in recent years, all bounded to the southwest by the enormous sunset ocean. Of the myriad islands that lie to the west of Trahana, only the largest, home to the rough and tumble port of Vinithrissa, has been claimed by the empire.
= Culture =
Trahana bears many of the hallmarks of peninsular culture -- chief among them being the philosophy of Machaianism, a fairly spiritual religion claiming a life-force that exists in the whole of humanity. The religious is highly decentralized, but an enormous monastic culture has grown up around this faith, with numerous enclaves throughout Trahana, though particularly in the west and north. The monastic tradition has received particularly strong support from the royal and later imperial family, though the ties between religion and secular government have occasionally become strained. Otherwise, similarities in architecture, with ancient detailed, rock-cut temples, and in language bear witness to its ancient bond with the rest of the region.
Tea is a particularly famous commodity of the region, and Trahana is both its primary producer and consumer -- the drink is popular among all classes and walks of life, and recently tea-houses have become something of a fad in the cosmopolitan southeastern ports. Trahana is also one of the known world's largest producers of spices of all varieties. Its cuisine, at least in the pepper-producing southern heartland, is notoriously spicy and often difficult for foreign travelers.
Category:Countries