Empire of Uluru (Principia Moderni IV Map Game)

The Empire of Uluru is an iron-age monocratic state that inhabits the continent of Anangu (OTL Australia). Originally started as a stone-age civilization in South Australia, near Adeleid Valley, the anangu people there eventually established a full bronze age around the Murray River, starting in the mid 15th century AD. It continued as a series of rival city-states, until they were united together in the Anangu Kingdom (c.1560-c.1690). After the Anangu Kingdom collapsed into warring states, it was ultimately reuinited at the end of the 17th century as the Empire of Uluru, the only state known to its continent.

Prehistory
It is generally believed that humans first arrived on the continent during the Upper Paleolithic Era, as the first region visited by humans outside of the Afro-Eurasian hemisphere. At this time, the landmasses of "Greater Shengdia", including Uluru, Papua, OTL Tasmania, and islands in between were unified as one landmass under the tectonic plate known as Sahul. This formed a common land bridge between the Austronesian areas, with a thin string of islands between the two continents that was later known as the Majapihit archipelago.

The exact date and route of migration is subject to considerable debate. Some point to the genetic similarities between the people of Uluru and Tondo. Others consider a strong linguistic connection between people of Uluru and southern China, before the genocides of the early Jin Dynasty. It is hypothesized that the Mount Toba eruption in ancient times compelled people to first migrate southward, and it took considerably brief time for the entire continent to be inhabited. Even after the land bridge disappeared in the last Ice Age, much cultural exchange existed between the Angu and Anangu people which introduced the Dingo to the continent around 3500 BC. Right up until the establishment of Uluru, various Bejau peoples from the East Indies would visit the north coast as trepangers.

Fire was an important innovation early on in the continent, helping the development of hunter-gatherer societies. Shortly afterward, however, over 60 species of mega-fauna in Anangeia went completely extinct very quickly. This is considered to be a combination of hunting, climate change, and fires, but the exact cause is uncertain. Some have even suspected that mass use of fire had significantly altered the climate. As the Ice Age came to a close, water levels on Sahul quickly rose, and the interior of the continent faced less and less rain until the current Inner Desert was formed as it is today around 2000 BC. Oral traditions tell of great floods that wiped out peoples as the water level rose in that area.

Transition to Agriculture
The Pama–Nyungan language family quickly dominated across from the Torres peninsula all the way southward, and throughout its prehistory the people across the continent shared similar traditions. Prior to the introduction of agriculture, anangu people lived stateless and in tribal, hunter-gatherer societies. Most people shared the same rank, and all disputes were settled by complex tribal law. Kinship traditions and coming-of-age rituals still applied, as well as ritual cannibalism in some areas.

In total, there is estimated about 300-500,000 people in Anangeia in the 15th century AD. Enough food for a balanced diet was plentiful, making it easy to maintain a hunter-gatherer civilization. Various innovations were developed over time to make gathering food easier, such as boomerangs and baked mud masks. The most developed civilzation was the Murray culture in South Australia, using the fertile region to become semi-seditary. There particularly, fishing was an important means of hunter-gathering.

The prehistoric era established a tradition of reliance on memorization and mental pictures. Local shamans or Dreamspeakers would be walking encylcopedias of natural history with the information they internalized. As such, the native religion percieved the gods to exist in an unconcsious world known as Dream Time, physically located on Mount Uluru. Art existed as a series of simple cave paintings, which morphed over time with the climate.

Administration
The emperor of Uluru is the absolute monarch of the entire nation, and his personage singularly defines the existence of the state. The title of emperor evovled from the older title of "King of the Anangu", which is also added in the official title, but the purpose of the office is the same. The emperor is the single representative of not only all anangu people, but representative of the physical continent as well.

This office, as indicated in both its name and the name of the nation, is legitemized by the holy sanctuary of the White Chapel at Mount Uluru, as passed directly by the rule of the gods down to humanity. However, this does not indicate that the religious elite in the form of the Dreamspeakers have authority over the emperorship. There is no direct line of succession, but instead the office is willed manually just as any piece of property. All branches of the emperor's dynasty trace back their ancestry to Tjilbruke, the patriarchal founder of the entire Anangu civilization, who is revered above all other historical figures.

Uluru runs on a feudal system, and the feudal nobility under the emperor has individual responsibility to submit tribute to the monarch. The nobility also exists in a heirarchal structure: the majority of nobility are local Bakans, which best translates as "Duke". The Bakan rules over a state-unit, which encompasses multiple cities, but centered at his personal city-state of origin. Under the Bakan, each individual city-state or village complex is run by a local Tjila, or "Lord". There are occasionally also client "Kings" in the feudal system, mostly in the far north such as the Yolgnu Kingdom, but for the most part Bakans operate independently.

Kinship to specific cities is very strong, and royal families and dynasties are usually tied to their home city. The cities of the largest population are all clustered to the south, arround the Murray River Valley system: Ngarrindjeri, Merkani, Ngadjuri, and Nukunu. Other important cities include Noongar, Eora (OTL Sydney), Dandiri (OTL Brisbane) and Tiwei (OTL Darwin). Complex road systems help connect the major cities together, and runners are among the most important civilian job of the empire. Having very little literacy, oral messages by runners are the most important means of fast communication, which since c.1650 were conveyed on horseback.

Law codes are also kept orally, but major cities would also inscribe outlines of the law on central pillars in the Murray Script. The oldest complete law code was developed in Nukunu in the early 16th century. Legal processions are dictated by local monarchs, and can vary between feudal lords as well as between local and national governments. Superceding the national law code, there are more sacred laws that have existed since the dawn of civlization known as the Tjilbruke laws, which are recorded in the Ochre Chapel.

Military
The royal army of Uluru is divided into individual military units, with each unit led by a prince of the royal court. As the princes by blood were not necessarily trained in military strategy, they would always appoint captains from civilians to lead the command the unit in their place. Feudal nobility have private military as well, which are obligated to serve the Emperor first. The soldiers of the military are drafted from peasent classes between farming seasons, with the exception of the more elite Burnum class of soldiers who serve year-round.

As with most societies, warfare has existed on the continent since agricultural structures existed, starting with the mythological "Hungar Wars" in the late 15th century that supposedly led to the creation of organized government. As the civilization became more centralized, warfare was more directed against nomadic barbarians until the entire continent was unified by 1771. After that point, the royal army of Uluru was directed more internally to maintain control over the feudal lords.

Defensive tactics mainly fall under high city walls and fortifications, built mainly on baked mud bricks as well as granite. Due to the effectiveness of this defense, much military technology is built on the ability to besiege cities, such as the crow and the siege tower developed in the 16th century. Personal weapons mainly rely on the use of forged iron, including short-swords, spears, and javalins. Long range weapons have more variety, including arrows and non-returning boomerangs. The use of the boomerang is a very sacred tradition among the Uluru, having been passed down to each generation since long before recorded history. Chainmail armor has also existed in Uluru since the late 17th century, and is standard at least among the royal army.

Naval warfare was very significant in the predynastic era, during the rivalry of Ngarrindjeri and Noongar over control of Kangaroo Island. Although a modest navy of war-canoes still exist on the southern coast out of tradtiion, for the most part Uluru has no naval tradition and focuses its military entirely on land. In more recent years, larger barges from Yolgnu have also been designed to convoy navy.

Economy
Uluru is primarily an agricultural society, and as such the economy revolves mainly around the production of agricultural products. Since the beginning of their history, the anangu have produced sugur, yams, and taro as the most important cash crops. Starting in the predynastic era, taro have been used as a stable currency. Ochre plants are also cultivated, but they are largely traded as a ceremonial dye and much less often consumed. In terms of protein, the Uluru mostly raise wombats and emu in captivity, breeding them for maximum fattening. Fishing is another source of meat hunted by communities on the southern and northern coasts. Large fishing ports are found along the coast of Adeleid, as well Kangaroo Island and the Yolgnu Kingdom. In ancient times, communication between Papua and northern Anangeia was common, but that had ended many millennia ago.

Dingos, kangaroos and horses are the largest animals not used for consuming. Dingos are important for hunting and occasionally combat, having been ubiquitous on the continent since prehistoric times. Kangaroos as pets are kept as signs of immense wealth, but are also used as a source of milk. Leather is manufactured across the continent by stretching kangaroo hides with wattle acid, a substance also used in making houses. Leather clothes have been popular since the predynastic era, often studded with diamonds and other prescious minerals. Honey is also a large product, mainly in Western Anangeia, produced by collections of bees there.

Uluru's metalurgy is a very important facet of its civilization, and metals are gathered in a vast mining institution. Since the time of Tjilbruke, iron and copper are both used to manufacture all of anangu's weapons, including hammers, chisels, drills, and various weapons. In addition, diamonds and jewels are mined to create a plethora of jewelry, often colored in various dyes.

Due to difficulties in long-distance communication, a separate class of society are used as a form of salesmen, carrying manufactured products from one city to another for a persoal fee. The 17th century started seeing dramatic changes, however. The introduction of horses were immediately used to expediate both communication and expansion. The development of Murray Script as a pictographic langauge c.1660 started to see it used by civilian artisans as well as salesmen.

Religion
The religion of Uluru is a polytheistic, semi-pantheistic religion that derives from the older traditional anangu religion from the prehistoric era. In general, the anangu religion sees a continuity between both the humanity and nature as part of the same spirit, and many of the traditional gods are representatives of aspects of nature, if not the nature itself. In the creation myth, the gods or "First Ones" first came to anangeia and created each aspect of the land. As such, every piece of geography on the continent has a unique story of its origin and meaning, often directly connected to its real scientific background.

After the time of Creation, the evil goddess Kurreah (the Rainbow Serpent) tricked the First Ones to go to sleep underneath Mount Uluru, and there they have been imprisoned ever since. Even asleep, the gods continue to guide the world and go about their tasks through a mystical process known as Dreamtime. The exception being Ngintaka, styled Lord Ngintaka, who is also called "the Awakened God". After becoming the only truly awakened god, and thereby chief of the gods, Lord Ngintaka revealed himself to Tjilbruke according to Ulurun mythology.

Lord Ngintaka is considered the most powerful and absolute monarch of the gods, as well as the guardian of the Uluru Empire. Kurreah, his opponant, is the mother of all mythological monsters, and enemy of all Ngintaka's children. This dichotemy between Ngintaka and his spiritual foes defines the cult of Ngintaka within the greater traditional anangu religion. The Bunyip, Kurreah's worst creation, is representative of flooding disasters. Other gods include: Kunapipi, spirit of the Murray River, Guwingkop, god of the sun, and Wuluwaid, god of the dead. Rather than being transcendent, each of the gods are described as being basically anthropomorphic in description.

The highest religious offices in the religion are Dreamspeakers, attributed with the spiritual ability to communicate with the gods in Dreamtime. The ceremony to access Dreamtime is conducted within a local chapel, which act as miniature temples. The most sacred of these are the White Chapel, located at the top of Mount Uluru, but the oldest is believed to be the Ochre Chapel in Ngarridjeri, which according to legend was constructed by Tjilbruke. Late in Uluru's history, the Dreamspeakers would appoint local representatives in the form of Shamans and Moornoons ("Parson"). Each of these can perform religious rites on behalf of Dreamspeakers, with Shamans being more mystical and Moornoons being more traditional. According to mythology, Tjilbruke entered into a covenant with Ngintaka to obey a series of natural laws, and it is the

se that form the basis of Uluru's legal code. Cannibalism and common murder are forbidden, although many tribes outside the cult of Ngintaka are known to fall back into that custom. Marriage is basically polygamous, restricted based on class in society, although sex outside of marriage is forbidden. When someone dies, their body is placed outside for public mourning for a set period of months, which the entire community participates in. Afterward, the body and many worldly posessions undergo a smoking ritual in a local chapel, which is followed either by entombment or burning.

Based on a person's faithfulness to Ngintaka, his soul after death goes into the ground to live with the gods in Dreamtime, and Dreamspeakers have the ability to communicate with these souls as well. Souls in the afterlife also have the ability to return into the earth and be reborn as a new living creature.