Kingdom of Hamitas

The **Kingdom of Hamitas** was a Redguard principality in southern Hammerfell.

## **Hamitas, Jewel of the Abecean**

The eponymous capital of Hamitas was a bustling metropolis situated in the very heart of the Abecean Sea. Its wealth was famed, earning it the title *Jewel of the Abecean*.

The city was largely contained within three great walls, sometimes referred to as the *three rings of Cemal* or the *Cemaline Rings*. A total of eight gates dotted the outermost wall. Clockwise, these were the: Northern Gate, Princes Gate, Gate of the Vizier, Eastern Gate, Southern Gate, Kings Gate, Western Gate, Star Gate. Custom and law regulated who could and could not pass through these gates.

The central ring of the city was reserved for the royal and the elite. It was home to several palaces and gardens, a grand library and two temples, and the residences of princes and politicians. The middle and outer rings of the city housed its significant population, the former inhabited primarily by noblemen, their households, and their attendants.

Beyond the Cemaline Rings, the city sprawled out in all directions. Farms and vineyards occupied much of the south and west, while to the north and east buildings stretched to the coast.

### **Trading Capital of the Abecean**

While climate, new techniques, and the use of magic, would eventually allow for the growth of a thriving winemaking industry in Hamitas, the dry and rocky terrain it occupied was not well suited to viticulture. Neither was this land very arable. This absence of good farmland required the rulers of Hamitas to adopt one or both of two approaches to generating food and wealth: piracy and trade.

The Kings of Hamitas favoured the latter, encouraging trade in the city. A great deal of the Hamitasi legal codes were developed around mercantile practice. The city became famous as a place with strict laws to protect domestic and foreign merchants. Official weights issued by the crown were to be used in the bazaars and at the docks. A force of city watchmen patrolled the markets carrying these weights. The punishment for cheating someone, or for wrongly accusing someone of cheating, was severe: during some periods, this punishment was death.

Hamitas was usually open to all merchants, even from cities it warred with. While this occasionally allowed for spies to slip into the city, it brought great riches also. It was once said that Hamitas could burn its farms and survive solely on the food it bought, and this was probably no exaggeration. This policy of open tradeports remained in place even when Hamitas rebelled against Imperial authority in 3E 269. The Abecean Company continued to be a major trading force in the region.

The wealth, resources, and workers brought to Hamitas by its place as *'the trading capital of the Abecean'* allowed it to support an incredible population, well above what it could have otherwise reached.

### **Landmarks**

* Court of Sages
	+ House of Erudition
		- Hall of Medicine

## **Geography**

The Hamitasi peninsula exhibited a wide variety of terrains and climates. The North was dry, as arid waste met desert. Savannah blended into the jagged rocks and mountains of Raqaba. The southern coast was lush, dotted by bamboo forests and jungles.

## **Recent History**

For much of the third century, Hamitas enjoyed the stability created by King Sharukh I and his brothers. Piracy was significantly reduced. His aunt, the dispossessed Princess Feyza, was persuaded finally to renounce her claim to the crown. Sharukh’s successor, Temur I, acceded to his throne unopposed and it seemed as though the *Baburids* were truly accepted as heirs to Murad I.

When King Temur died in 3E 257, he had but one surviving son: his youngest and namesake. Temur II was just eleven and so a regency became necessary. Wary of his *Feyzid* and *Temurid* cousins, the King’s uncle Imad could not countenance granting any of them access to or influence over the King. As he was commander of the palace guard, it was easy enough to seize the role of regent for himself.

Though he could take power uncontested, Imad could neither effectively use it nor could he hold onto it. He could not rely upon the cousins he had so quickly excluded. The men he appointed to various posts, all chosen for their loyalty and not their ability, proved inept or simply incapable of executing his will. When time came for the King’s coronation, Imad summoned his cousins to swear their fealty; they simply refused unless he would comply with numerous demands. Imad was disgraced, his efforts as regent futile, and after just one year he requested the right to retire.

The officials installed by Imad would not surrender to the treasonous Feyzids and Temurids. A second regency was formed once more in the palace. Afdal al-Qamaris, the seniormost of these officials, proposed that a request be sent to the Emperor for someone to lead the council. By this move, the King’s contemptuous relations could be forced to submit to the palace and the Kingdom could garner imperial favour.

The Elder Council received the Hamitasi petition and deliberated on it for a week. Although unanimous in approving the request, the Council struggled to agree on an appropriate regent. No one faction was prepared to allow any other to seat their own man and win the vast wealth of Hamitas. Eventually, a compromise was struck: Marcus Tarius. He was a minor official who had served in the Legions, who had some experience in Abecean politics, who had no great scandal or controversy to his name, and who (most importantly) did not have clear loyalties. Tarius was, he himself later joked, *‘the second pick of every Councillor.’*

Near the close of 3E 258, accompanied by an Imperial legion, Tarius arrived in the city of Hamitas. He bore an edict from the Imperial City appointing him as *Governor of Hamitas* for a period of ten years. This was catastrophic for al-Qamaris and his supporters, who did not intend or foresee that the Elder Council would take such direct control. Tarius quickly entrenched himself as the ruler of the city. He began to send significant tributes to the imperial capital the following year and every year thereafter. Attempts to unseat the Governor were half-hearted.

Eleven years later, soon after the beginning of his second tenure as governor, Tarius met a violent end. The same Afdal al-Qamaris who unintentionally made him Governor of Hamitas, discontent now for years, plotted to see him unmade. It is likely Afdal had both personal and feal motives: the previous year, to celebrate the crowning of Uriel V as Emperor of Tamriel, Tarius sent a cripplingly large tribute to the Imperial City. A significant portion of Afdal's personal wealth, previously spared from tribute harvests, was seized for this gift.

During celebrations held by and for himself at the beginning of his second term, there was an attempt on Tarius' life by a small mob. The rebels failed to kill him and unwittingly set al-Qamaris back. Tarius increased his guard and restricted himself to the innermost ring of the city for some time. Eventually, however, al-Qamaris successfully lured the Governor to his home in the second ring.

Al-Qamaris, who had helped foil a previous scheme against Tarius, was among the few locals the Imperial truly trusted. He used this trust to bring Tarius into his home without any guards, arranging for these soldiers to be wined in a neighbouring building. Al-Qamaris and Tarius spoke for hours, the former laying one compliment after the next on the latter. A band of singers and dancers entertained both men as they ate and drank. Once Tarius was appropriately inebriated, al-Qamaris—who had been drinking water the entire night—drew his blade and approached the Imperial. Tarius could do nothing to save himself; he was swiftly murdered.

A violent purge followed the Governor's murder. The guards who accompanied Marcus Tarius to Afdal's home were killed; the Imperial legionnaires in the royal palaces were killed; the soldiers stationed at each of the city gates were killed. When this massacre became apparent to the city's citizens, large mobs formed and began to riot against the Imperial troops. The sound of slaughter rang throughout the city as sleeping soldiers were dragged from their beds and murdered. In this chaos, a section of the Legion managed to fight through the Northern Gate and break into retreat. Only some two hundred out of thousands managed to escape. Some fled into the north, while others sought to escape by sea. This disorganised retreat was perhaps indicative of how comfortable Imperial troops had become while stationed in Hamitas.

The Imperial soldiers who fled north vanished in the wastes of the Alik'r desert, perhaps killed or enslaved by the nomads that dwelled there, or perhaps succumbing to the harsh conditions of the dunes. Those who managed to escape on ships, just three vessels, were caught at sea and summarily dealt with.

In Hamitas, the purge of Imperial forces soon extended to Imperial agents of any kind. Some innocents were killed in the massacre, either mistaken for or falsely accused of involvement in various crimes and outrages. Not even Afdal al-Qamaris was safe. Though he had killed Tarius, it was he who originally proposed an Imperial regent be invited. It was also he who supported the despised governor, however begrudingly, for so many years. Afdal was dragged out of his home by rioters and killed alongside many of his servants.

On the morning following the massacre, Temur II emerged from his palace with a body of guards and bureaucrats. He was declared king before the masses, signifying an end to any regency, not only an imperial one, over him. Normalcy and order was quickly restored to Hamitas and by the end of the week preparations were already being made for Temur's coronation the next year.

[...]

## **Government**

### **Viziers**

In the Kingdom of Hamitas, the eponymous capital was governed by the Grand Vizier. This person was the King's seniormost advisor and official, possessing much of his authority. The mandate of a Grand Vizier was evershifting, bound to the King's wishes at any one time.

Beyond the capital, the King of Hamitas was overlord to a number of towns and cities. These were governed by Viziers, non-hereditary viceroys generally appointed for life, whose foremost responsibilities were the enforcement of law and the harvesting of tax. Unlike an Emir **[Not 100% decided - Emirs as traditional nobility (Could take inspiration from the Mughal system of mansabdars)** **with primarily military responsibilities, Viziers as royal pawns with economic/financial responsibilities]**, a Vizier was not required to perform military duties to the King. In fact, citizens within a vizierate **[?]** were given special protections in this regard: the royal armies could accept volunteers or hire soldiers from these vizierates, but it could not conscript them.

The King personally possessed very little crownland. He was dependant on the income raised through the viziers.

## **Baburid, Feyzid, Temurid**

The House of Hamit, which ruled the Kingdom of Hamitas, was divided into three principal branches following the death of King Murad I in 3E 180. These were the Baburids, the Feyzids, and the Temurids, each holding some legitimate claim to the throne.

The first of these, the Baburids, were the descendants of Murad I’s adopted son Babur. There is some mystery concerning Babur’s exact origins. The Baburids themselves claimed that he was a nephew of the King, fostered and designated heir. Opponents of the Baburids instead gave Babur a less royal, though it must be said not much less prestigious, background: a young captain rewarded for his meritorious service by a sonless King. In 3E 300, the head of the Baburids was King Temur II.

The second branch were the Feyzids, who descended from the eldest daughter of King Murad: Princess Feyza. Although she never took arms against her adoptive brother, Feyza maintained her rights to the throne for the entirety of his reign. It was only once her nephew by Babur, Sharukh I, came to the throne that she was finally persuaded to formally renounce her claim. The Feyzids remained entitled to the titular rank of Prince, part of the generous compensation bestowed by King Murad on his daughter. In 3E 300, the head of the Feyzids was the Prince-Admiral Hasan at-Zahir.

The third branch were the Temurids, who descended from King Murad’s brother and once heir: Crown Prince Temur. The Crown Prince was named Emir of Raqaba by his father King Cemal II. His descendants continued to hold this emirate after him, each generation increasing its size, and came to be the most powerful landholders in the Kingdom. The Temurids drew their second name, Raqabids, from this vast emirate. In 3E 300, the head of the Temurids was Anisa at-Junayd.