Kakeuet Empire

Banner of the Kakeuet Empire. The colour is still holds importance and has inspired several Gôríhík banners.

### Capital

Oval (19 BCE - 6 CE)
Tûnn (6 CE - 441 CE)

### Language

Ancient Siturian
Ancient Gôríhík

### Today part of

 Carparia
 Situresk
 Danellia
 Thorilov
 Ovulangea

**The Kakeuet Empire** (/kɑːkæuːt/) was an empire between the eastern Tari Peninsula and southern Ikuna. It expanded to become one of the most massive empires in ancient history, with a noteworthy influence on the course of history in southern Ukes. The Kakeuet Empire is of much importance to the Gôríhík in particular, as it developed out of their culture. However, it has also impacted several aspects of the cultures around it, and it is credited with growing and advancing the civilisations around it to a great degree.

## Name

The name Kakeuet was taken from the Kakeuet fortress, which was a vital part in the formation of the empire and Att-Rishgunn's, the first emperor's, rise to power.

## History

### Formation (32 BCE - 2 CE)

The start of the Kakeuet Empire's formation is often considered to be when Att-Rishgunn made himself lord of the Kakeuet Lordship on 13 July 32 BCE. He did this in the aftermath of the battle of Funar, which turned him into the most influential man in the wider region. Through swift and extensive warfare, Att-Rishgunn was able to improve his position from a small lordship into an empire. This was mostly due to his military ability as well as his new army, and it's entire existence the Kakeuet Empire would always have an army. The true formation of the actual empire was on 1 October 19 BCE when Att-Rishgunn crowned himself emperor. Besides his feats as a commander Att-Rishgunn also made the empires first code of law, an operational tax system and an education system for nobles. He also created an efficient and stable state with the emperor as the supreme head of the state and a council of various statesmen assisting him and running most affairs. This form of state would remain almost identical in its existence, however the influence of the council would slowly but surely increase after the death of Att-Rishgunn.

### Consolidation (2 CE - 88 CE)

After the death of the warlike Att-Rishgunn a period of peace started, in which the empire would focus more on consolidation and administration. The empire replaced the expansionist policy with a more economically beneficial one. At this time, the council and the emperor would be in a constant power competition over the growing influences and authority held by the council. The council mostly resided in the capital, from which it would control the empires economy, law, administration and trade, while simultaneously the emperor would often travel around the empire with a small force on diplomatic and local affairs, to build cities and expand road networks as well as integrating and assimilating the various new peoples who were now part of the empire. While it was on the defensive the empire still kept a sizeable army, mostly to maintain control over the many vassals. These vassals, located outside the borders of the empire, would proffer part of their taxes and resources to the empire and in return the local leaders would be protected and keep most of their power which they held over territory.

### First Expansionist Period (88 CE - 202 CE)

In 88 CE Pík Párák III became emperor which would see the empire revert back to its old expansionist system, a system which would continue during the long reigns of his son and grandson. Pík Párák III’s rapid steps towards new expansion would see the people pressured with more taxes and more food production in order to fund the expensive offensives. This time in the Kakeuet empire's history would become known as the 100 years of austerity, because of the hard expectations people were to meet. However Pík Párák III would mend this issue by occasionally travelling through his lands and distributing some of the loot gathered in the wars. This time of constant war would also see the emperor step into the position of a commander while more of the political power in the empire would be handled by the council. Pík Párák III's many battlefield successes would make him immensely popular, both amidst the nobles and the amidst peasants. His warlike nature would also result in his epithet “The Bellicose”. These wars would resume under Pík Párák III's son, Poto, who would only see wartime in the 40 years he sat on the throne. Because of the demand for soldiers he was the first ruler to instate mostly mandatory conscription. His time as emperor would see personalities such as Kran "The Undefeated", a commander known for his spectacular victories which earned him a reputation as one of the most talented and most successful military leaders in ancient history. This time in Kakeuet history also saw a notable architectural advancement within the borders of the empire, and as a result several canals, statues and palaces would be erected. It was also around this time that potato came to the Kakeuet Empire from their homeland in the western part of the Tari Peninsula. This was an important factor in the expansion of the empire since it would help increase population and it would make it more easy to feed a much more numerous army. Poto would be followed on the throne by his bloody son, Opákáp, the longest reigning out of all Kakeuet monarchs with nearly 55 years on the throne. He was notorious for his bad temperament, harsh discipline and cruel methods of war, which earned him the vicious epithet, “The Bloodthirsty”. However he was also an enthusiastic ally of cultural advancement and he would, to a great degree, encourage literature, art and carving. He was as loved as he was feared because of the new lands he gave to his empire. He also set up several colonies and trading cities on the southern coast of Ikuna, although these would be abandoned during great crisis which followed his death.

### The Great Crisis (202 CE - 255 CE)

After the death of Opákáp many years of bad fortune and infighting would damage the Kakeuet empire. In this period the power of the council reached its zenith and it would effectively choose who should be monarch, which would cause in many chaotic years of succession crisis. As a result of poor leadership and several disputes within the council the empire also became weakened and was simultaneously invaded by several neighbouring nations, among them the kingdom of Mor. A factor which was an important aspect during this troublesome time was the famine, known as the great famine, which occurred in 205 CE. This caused a massive setback for the economics of the empire and because most peasants were tenants, who the landlords could barely afford at all anymore, a lot of people, now workless and homeless, succumbed to starvation. Two of Opákáp's sons failed to solve the problems of the empire, which was now destroyed from war with a broken economy. However, Opákáp's third and much more deft son Nuhnádár, with the assistance of the council, took the throne. While his reign would also to be somewhat troublesome he managed to stabilise the economy and food crises by giving out resources from rich nobles and through granting foreign merchants lands and more benefits in return for new funds. This resulted in a greater foreign influence from the rich merchants and their families, however it also resulted in new knowledge and culture taking root. In order to avoid new wars, Nuhnádár would have the assistance one of the best most proficient diplomats of ancient history, Pynym "The Clever", who succefully to created somewhat friendly ties with most of the neighbouring nations. Pynym's charismatic character and his abilities as an orator, ensured that he could create clever treaties to preserve peace in the surrounding region. However, the relatively steady time of Nuhnádár would come to a swift end when he was assassinated by a discontent noble, who had seen many of his resources been confiscated and distributed to the poor peasants. Nuhnádár's only son would be overthrown by his cousin, who soon thereafter was overthrown by another cousin, who lastly was overthrown by his brother, Mosíkagog. Mosíkagog finally ended the crises and with him in power the empire would see a return to gloriousness and greatness, which earned him the apt epithet "The Restorer".

### Second Expansionist Period (255 CE - 294 CE)

After bringing the great crisis to an end, Mosíkagog asserted himself as emperor. He removed potential threats to his power and exiled as well as executed several troublesome nobles. This made him feared, but also resulted in new respect for his position as ruler and made it clear that the empire had a capable leader. He first reformed the administration in order to assume more control over the empire and assert personal power. He could then set his sights on regaining lost territories, and once again turned back to the old but considerably effective warlike systems. In order to afford an army with the empires disastrous economics he promised his nobles that for any sum of money or men which was given to assist the wars, he would give back some of the regained land to them in return. Mosíkagog proved an capable commander and after several decades of war he had not only taken back formerly lost territory, but also expanded the borders of the empire further than ever before, enacting a golden age at the time his death. While his wars would be successful they were also severely destructive, and a notable amount of the empire's population of men would die as a result of the numerous wars. However, he was and still is hailed as a hero, because he ended internal conflicts and made life easier for common people. Mosíkagog's great reign would come to a very unlikely end after he committed suicide due to grief and old age.

### Golden Age (294 CE - 401 CE)

After the death of Mosíkagog the empire was at its peak thus far and more prosperous than ever before. What followed was several decades of peace, in which the power of emperor increased massively in but a few years. The empire reached its peak and zenith under emperor Katët II, considered to be the one of the best out of all Kakeuet monarchs. In the early years of his long reign he broke the peace in order to expand the empire for strategic reasons. Since he was a good commander he victoriously made his way to the southern shores of the Tari Peninsula, as well as the coast of the Markaz Sea which cut off Ikuna from the Tari Peninsula. He would use this his powerful position in order to rearrange trade routes to go through the empires most expensive cities. This would result in more income and also meant learning, knowledge and new ideas spread into the empire much swifter. Katët II also advanced the administration of the territories and went through with a restructuring of the government in order to make it much less vulnerable to corruption and operate much better. He also had the fortune of a remarkable statesman, Bonádár, who helped reform the empire's taxes for the better. Bonádár instituted more effective censuses of the population in all territories in order to make tax collection easier and more thorough. He also changed and rotated the census takers so that they would not as easily receive bribery or be able to conspire with local nobles and hide population numbers to reduce taxes. Another notable achievement of Bonádár was the effective system which rewarded the efficiency of nobles. The idea of the system was that nobles who could earn more taxes would also get a greater cut as their income. This encouraged the nobles to drive the collection of taxes, something which did wonders for the economy. Katët II also modernised the now somewhat old and messy code of law and all of his successes combined with his diverse personal talents earned him the epithet “The Remarkable”. The golden age would also see many cultural advancements by Gôríhík poets, artists and architects, which helped to shape the culture and people of the empire.

### Downfall (401 CE - 441 CE)

The downfall and collapse of the Kakeuet empire was almost as swift as its rise, which can be attributed to several factors. The most important of these factors is considered to be that the power of the emperor had grown too large, and was now far more massive in contrast to the power of the council, which lost its purpose. This made the empire and its territories much harder to control and the emperor would face several difficulties in this period, since he was now the sole holder of power. This problem also proved to come at the worst of times, since the empire was now at its peak in terms of size, and had expanded and overstretched. All these burdens also rested on the shoulders of some of the least competent emperors that the empire would ever have, and these few men devoted more time to their own personal pleasures than they did on efforts to fix the broken system which controlled it. The empire was kept intact for some more years nonetheless, mostly because of the incredible statesman Ittehnon. He would help run the empire and is considered to have been the de facto leader in the last period of the empires existence. However, after his death, no individual was left who possessed the respect and competence needed to lead the empire, and soon it collapsed into a civil war. After the death of the last emperor, the empire existed for only four more years before it finally collapsed under all of the pressure in 441 CE. Most of the previous lands of the empire was soon integrated into neighbouring states, among them the Gôríhík Kingdom, which is considered to be a successor in the east.

## Military

The Kakeuet Empire possessed one of the most feared military forces in ancient history, the Earthquake Army. The army mostly recruited men between the ages of 17 and 49, although the most common age for a soldier was between the ages of 23 and 31. The army did not utilise much infantry, and instead relied heavily on heavy cavalry, which suited their style of warfare and their battlefields. Their forces also had a smaller number of pikemen and spearman, who were easier to train and fought better in rough terrain. Finally, they also had a very small number of archers, however these were more often than not in the reserve.

## Culture

The people in the Kakeuet empire were very distinct from one another when they were initially conquered but all people who were robbed of their lands were assimilated into Kakeuet society. However several languages were still widely spoken throughout the empire, the most prominent being the proto-situran language and the proto-tenesparian, both of whom are predecessors to the modern languages spoken in Situresk and Carparia respectively. Another language spoken was the Gôríhík language, the language of the Gôríhík people, which spread thanks to it being Att-Rishgunns native language and because he decided that everyone in the empire should learn it so that he could promote his propaganda to them. As sheeps and cows were plentiful in the empire most people wore clothes made out of wool and leather. The inhabitants of the empire were also big in architecture, building mighty structures, cities and towers. Music in the Kakeuet empire was also a very important part of peoples lives with most families owning several drums and flutes. Music pieces would be passed down through several generations in some families, playing an important part of your cultural background and origin. Another important aspect of Kakeuet culture was religion, the biggest one being the Gemen religion. The Gemen religion was the primary religion of the Kakeuet empire for most of its existence with most emperors adhering to it. Before becoming popular it had existed at a small regional scale for around 400 years and only had about 30 000 followers located in an isolated community at the edge of the empire. The spread of the religion can be attributed to emperor Agonuhow who along with his family converted to it in 72 CE during his travels through the empire after a Gemen priest preached to him. He would bring a number of Gemen priests along him on the rest of his travels in order to convert the people of the empire and in only a few years the religion had become popular amongst most people. As a result Gemen was made into the state religion in the year 87 CE.

## Legacy

The Kakeuet Empire is considered to be among the greatest in history today, with the likes of the Kori Empire and the Markazi Empire. The Kakeuet Empire hast left a prominent mark on the histories and cultures of its former territories, with the Gôríhík people in particular. The empire helped to spread new information and knowledge to the regions under its control and advanced civilisation tremendously. It also advanced the state of warfare on the Tari Peninsula and southern Ikuna. The trade networks, however, is considered to be the most important marks that the empire left, since these had much importance in the later histories of the Tari Peninsula and Ikuna.

## Map Gallery

The Kakeuet Empire at the end of Att-Rishgunns reign.The Kakeuet Empire at the end of the first expansionist period.The Kakeuet Empire at the end of the second expansionist period.Kakeuet Empire at its most powerful under Katët II “The Remarkable”.
## Literature

Ekuhowrík, Farydyk (2014), *Historical Re-Evaluation of the Kakeuet Empire and the Impact It Had*, Tëpp University Press, Tëpp.