| 1082-1155 (329-402 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) | 1155-1310 (402-557 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) | 1310-1376 (557-623 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) |
The Fall of the Satavahana[]
On the first day of spring in 1170 (417 AD) a merchant of the Satavahana who was transporting goods to the Roman Empire moved close enough to the coast that he saw the harbors and shipyards of the Maurya. When he returned to the Satavahana Kingdom the other merchants did not believe him but he insisted that they were real and that there were ships bearing the Maurya’s seal on them just north of their Kingdom. Dismissive as the people were, the government was less sure. A small group of boats moved out and to the area that the merchant had described, looking for these harbors. They came across Harishchandrang and were attacked by the Maurya navy.
The Maurya from these ports moved into the island of Madagascar directly rather than move into the territories on mainland Africa. The capital of New Thanjavur (Antananarivo) lied in the center of the island and thus had many areas that the invading forces would need to go through in order to reach the King in his palace at the center of New Thanjavur. The city of Antsiranana on the Northern coast was the first stronghold hit by the Maurya. This attack was brutal but the Maurya managed to push past this area and the Generals in New Thanjavur, who were confident in their security on the island prior to this battle, were beginning to panic. The city of Mahajanga, on the other side of the Northern Coast was mobilized to keep further armies from providing reinforcements. The soldiers
Cities of the Maurya (Orange) and those of the Satavahana attacked during the war.
in Antsiranana were ordered to engage in suicidal tactics, taking as many of their munitions into oblivion rather than allow the Maurya to take the Satavahana weapons and use them against their original owners. Antsiranana became an example to the cities throughout the island of Madagascar. People were preparing to a sacrifice their own lives and the King promoted such preparations
Mahajanga defended honorably and eventually contained the Maurya into a stalemate formation at a safe distance from the coast. In this window of time the Mainland African soldiers of the Satavahana Kingdom began preparing to move against the port cities of the Maurya, now that their locations were known. The Maurya contemplated asking for assistance from the neighbors on the continent but chose against this idea so that they would not be expected to share any of the gains they make. The cities of Satavang (Beira) and Ravishanga (Blantyre) were huge bases for the mainland military forces and they were almost entirely emptied in order to move to their ports, onto ships, and out against the Maurya. This was a day they had prepared for and were eager to complete. However the Maurya were also planning to move out their reserve forces to overcome the stalemate.
This mobilization made the situation of the war all the more problematic. The Satavahana were making gains of the stalemate and is seemed as though they were going to overcome the stalemate and push the Maurya off the African continent. This was transitory however. The Satavahana were soon overwhelmed by the Maurya coming from all sides it seemed. They fell back by in large and the forces heading towards the Maurya port cities were quickly subdued. The Maurya invaded the capital but they were shocked at the destruction that the people inflicted on their own nation against the invaders. The burning of the New Thanjavur was not done by the invaders, in fact, it was done by the residents of the capital city. This horrific scene where the mostly unarmed populace killed themselves and attacked soldiers of the Maurya in such a way that it repelled them from their mission in many ways.
New Thanjavur (Antananarivo) burning.
The Maurya leaders would not be stopped, by the time they chose to end their operations and declare victory, there were hardly any resources ripe for the taking. The projected cost and time to repair this damage was so high that the Samraat was livid that his war would not lead to a wealthy and prosperous land acquisition, as he expected. This being the case on the island of Madagascar, the situation on the mainland areas were not much better. Despite this the unprotected Satavahana territories fell to invasions by the Zulu, the Bantu, the Maurya and the Siddharthists. Only the Bantu had a border with the land their claimed now but they managed to establish rather secure routes to these new areas. The island of Madagascar, or the island of death as it was later called, was left unconquered and the Maurya troops, despite the objections of some saying that they were conquerors and deserved to own this land, returned to their lands on the coasts of Africa or to mainland India.
The Legend of Thenmobism and the Kingdom of Otjomouise[]
After the fall of the Srivijaya Empire in 915 (162 AD) the thenmobist religion, an offshoot of Buddhism, was essentially vacant from Asia. The Satavahana were the last vestige of the religion and many expected that this faith would be overcome as the Satavahana Kingdom was. This was not the case though. The people who survived the desperate struggle at the end of the war clung to their religion even in the face of conquest by nations of other beliefs. This in many ways made the people of these new areas connected despite the borders between them. Thenmobism, rather than be crushed by the conquest of the Satavahana, was spread. The Satavahana King had been restricting much of their trade and thus their religion was only head of as a foreign belief system. With the post-war conquests completed and in the proceeding years, the Thenmobists extended their reach to the new immigrants to the area and were eager to move into their new mother nations and preach in a way they never could before. It was mostly the Maurya who were opposed to this. The Maurya did not allow immigration out of the areas they now controlled but this did not keep them from speaking to those entering the colony.
Arfica after the Fall of the Satavahana, notice that the area where the Satavahana Kingdom was is now carved up and the Purple nation representing the Kingdom of Otjomouise.
This was particularly true in the Bantu Kingdom where religion was never centralized or united in any meaningful way other than the supposed divinity of the King. The Thenmobists were not opposed to this and chose to embrace the Royalty of the Bantu. The Zulu had a similar situation and the Siddharthists were worried but not reactionary and chose to let the Thenmobists run their course. As for the cities in the desert that the Satavahana had, they were picked liked grapes and used as links to the coast that used to be closed to them.
On the West coast of Africa, the Bandit nation was splitting into factions around certain cities and the area was plagued by an intense civil war between rivaling warlords. This proceeded from the year 1160 (407 AD) to the year 1195 (442 AD) when one warlord proved particularly keen for uniting the city states. His name was Belay Kanguime and was born and made leader of the city of Otjomouise (Windhoek, Namibia). This area was not poised from the rise of Belay to be the powerhouse it became. Rather, Otjomouise was a small internal city that was rather separated from the other states around it. Belay changed this. He made deals with all his neighbors to give all the support he could if they would agree to make him an honorary part of their leading family. At the same time Otjomouise was attracting immigrants for the liberal and open minded ideals that Belay brought to the administration. The harsh punishments of petty crimes were revised and the more reproachable policies of his predecessors were by in large done away with. There were also significant investments in the people of the city and preparations for their protection. Seeing the amount of people this attracted, many neighbors chose to take similar policy changes.
The West Coast of Africa was becoming much more free and tolerable. At this same time the families in these states began to die precipitously. Though it was speculated that Belay orchestrated these deaths, many were happy that he was the only relative left to ascend to the throne of those cities. The people of these areas were tired of warfare and looked for stability in their lives. Belay knew this and promised this in exchange for the conglomeration of the militaries which he now had a hegemony over. This force was larger than any of the competitors at the time and non of those leaders were capable of banding against Belay. Before 1195 the competitors fell like flies and were taken over before they hit the ground. In the end Belay was King of the Otjomouise Kingdom as it was named and the times of Bandit control had subsided. With a cohesive government, the Otjomouise were looking to establish relations with the other African nations. The Otjomouise moved to the Siddharthist Kingdom and the Zulu republic first, due to proximity. Here they secured a favorable base of relations but were constricted to the areas they had and were not allowed to expand into these nations settlements. This policy led the Otjomouise to try and move out to areas that were not currently controlled. They intended to land between the Roman Empire and the Zulu Republic but were surprised at the unfamiliar landscape that they found. As facts would have it, these exploratory missions landed on the Eastern Horn of South America, a land that would cause great interest to the Africans and Romans alike.
Contact with the New World[]
The Otjomouise landed in what is today the Brazilian states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, and Sergipe. Here there were numerous geographic landscapes that made it clear to those who arrived that they were nowhere near any known lands. The main river of this area was named the Belay, after their leader, and is known as the Sao Francisco River in OTL. The exploration of this area led to the discovery of the Tupinamba, Caete, and Tabajara peoples. The diplomats and surveyors who were on these first ships mapped out a small aera but emphasized the fertility of their soil and the dense resources of wood that existed in their thick coastal forests The native people there were very simple and did not refuse to invite the Otjomouise or to teach them of the area. When news reach King Belay in the capital he was shocked at the prospect. He did not call off the explorations of the lands they were originally commissioned to search but many sailors were ordered out into the ocean in search of these new people, lands, and opportunities.
The lands on Africa which the Otjomouise had their eyes set on were taken rather easily and the port city of New Otjomouise (Douala, Camaroon) grew intensely as the connection between the Romans and the Otjomouise was forged alongside the exploration of these vibrant and enticing new lands.
The first city founded in South America by a nation of the Old World was named Kanguime City, also after the name of the King of the Otjomouise. Kanguime City (Recife, Brazil) was founded alongside the natives of this region in the year 1211 (458 AD) and this made a great impact in the relationship these nations had. As the connection between these areas allowed for the development of a centralized state. Because these tribes were part of the larger Tupi tribe in that region of South America, the new state was called the Tupi Cheifdom and was founded by the chief of the Tabajara sub-tribe. This Chief met with the King of the Otjomouise in Africa in the year 1217 (464 AD). The immigration to this area did not begin until the crops of some of the early Otjomouise settlers made it to the markets of Africa and were prized for their rarity and captivation. The Otjomouise set out for this area in droves and this move is what truly sparked the interest of their neighbors.
Prior to this immigration the other nations of Africa as well as the Roman Empire were much more concerned in
The beginnings of the Zulu Colony in Blue and the Otjomouise Colony in Purple on the continent of New Africa.
Very soon the areas that had been peacefully settled by the Otjomouise was now being fought over by the Africans. Despite the objection of the natives and their leaders, these people were helpless against the power of these armed Empires. The east coast of South America was now the subject of a largescale warfare that would be fought on both continents. By the end of the war, in 1230 (487 AD), the coast was divided in very general terms and skirmishes on this faded border were common.. The Zulu were given the small Northeast Coast and the Otjomouise entitled themselves to the lands to the south. The Zulu were considered the losers at the time but the limitation actually worked against the Otjomouise because much of the resources were north of the lands claimed by the Otjomouise. Despite this there was a peace in the area for some time; that is to say until the arrival of the Roman Military. The whole continent of South America was named ‘New Africa’ after the Otjomouise’s native continent. This name became an intense subject for the nations of Africa and would be very important for the Europeans once they had word of it in the year 1225 (482 AD).
The Potiguara and Tremembe Wars[]
The Potiguara were a large tribe which were largely settled in the hinterlands directly behind the Zulu and Otjomouise colonies. The leader of these people made a deal with the leadership in the Otjomouise colony and allowed for a favorable trade agreement between them. The Zulu, requesting an even better agreement than was given to the Otjomouise, threatened to take the Potiguara lands if their demands were not met. The Potiguara, who expected to receive the Otjomouise Army’s assistance against the Zulu, declined the Zulu and their bold proposition in the year 1237 (494 AD) which marked the start of a conflict in the jungles of New Africa. The Zulu,
Expansions with the defeat of The Potiguara Tribe.
Such being the case the Otjomouise moved against the Potiguara just two years into the conflict and this was the last nail in the tribe’s coffin. Though when compared to the vastness of the continent of New Africa the land that was gained does not appear to be much, it should be noted that the Otjomouise and Zulu had no fathoming of how far this land stretched. The land gained was more valuable because it set the precedent of African domination on this part of the continent and the smaller tribes in the surrounding area rarely refused any of their demands for fear of being annihilated like the Potiguara. The word “Potiguara” came to be synonymous with someone close to death in the common language of the Africans, Romans and natives of New Africa. Another change that this set was the fading out of the treaty agreed to earlier by the Zluu and Otjomouise about the boundaries that were to be set between them with regard to any expansion into the continent.
The Tremembe War[]
There was a time of peace for around a decade following the Potiguara War, a peace from 1240-1249 (497-506 AD), in which there was a steady stream of immigration from Africa into New Africa and a steady economic growth by both nations. This era was prosperous and remarkably rare for the Africans, who were so used to the constant timeline of fights and depressions. The Zulu, who were still insisting on their superiority over the native people, continue to march across the coasts of New Africa and eventually foud a tribe of around similar size to the Potiguara who they intended to subjugate in a similar manner.
The Tremembe, as they were called, were very different from the Potiguara. Most noticably in the range of
The Tremembe and Tupinamba buffer states between Roman and African colonies. The Tremembe in dark green.
The Tremembe were the first to be attacked by the expansion minded Zulu colonists and military. Without hesitation they moved into their lands expecting to make the same gains that they did against the Potiguara. The Otjomouise were similarly expected to come in and assist the Zulu were similarly expected to be given a small area of the conquered territory. This would not be the case. The Otjomouise, who were not concerned with the two Roman buffer tribes who had maintained trade and good relations with the African nation, would not attack alongside the Zulu. With this lack of reinforcements the Zulu were defeated in their early battles with the Tremember and did not advance further north along the coast. This lack of expansion would greatly reduce the Zulu’s confidence in their government back on the continent but there was by no means any severe threat to the nation at this time.
The Time of Tremors[]
The lack of support by the Otjomouise for the Zulu attacks upon the Tremembe lead the media of the Zulu Republic to begin slandering the Otjomouise. Stories circulate through Africa about how the Otjomouise are a threat to all established and essential powers and are trying to derail all industry and progress in Africa. The Otjomouise’s lack of support is construed as an attack in itself upon the Zulu and the idea that the Otjomouise only fight for the bandits and thugs that their nation was founded by is very common. With strategy in mind, the Otjomouise retaliation described how the people of the other African nations are being led astray by their establishments.
“If the leaders of the union of the Zulu, and indeed all other nations, were to universally have their way without question or hesitation; we would see useless and unprovoked conflicts like that which the Tremembe suffered happening all the time and with no end in order to keep their people in an unstoppable state of fear.” - an Otjomouise newspaper response to the Zulu attacks.
The Siddharthist Colony[]
The Siddharthists, who were a people that knew through their long history the abuses possible from established powers, found the Otjomouise to be a very forward minded nation. The Siddharthists and the Otjomouise became very close over the next few years and the Otjomouise even went as far to give their partner nation exclusive rights to trade with their colony. The Zulu were outraged at this move and as a greater affront to the Zulu, and their presumptuous leaders, in the year 1260 (517 AD) the Otjomouise Colonial Company invested in the Southwest
New African Colonie sin the year 1277 (534 AD) With the Siddharthist Colony in Green at the far south.
The Siddharthists had little experience in colonizing these lands. They tried many settlements from the years 1261-1275 (518-532 AD) but the only successful one came in the final days of 1277 (534 AD) when the settlement of Nirvanaya (Buenos Aires, Argentina), from the Buddhist word Nirvana which is the highest religious attainment, on a new river was established. The river was named Charrua River after the native tribe that the Siddharthists met there. Though the Charrua were rather hostile, and small sub-tribes had attacked them before, when the Siddharthists came to Nirvanaya with a large and imposing ship the Charrua decided to no longer resist their settlement. This change was not universal but the settlement of Nirvanaya was the first success of the Siddharthist in the new continent.
Division[]
In the year 1278 (535 AD) the Zulu had made a new conquest in the area below what the Romans had claimed as the New Zion territory. There resided the Tupiniquim tribe and they fell rather quickly to the Zulu military. This action
Lands gaine by the Zulu from the defeat of the Tupiniquim.
The Zulu Civil War[]
The Siddharthists and the Otjomouise, seeing the expansions of the Zulu, quickly acted to contain what more they could do. The only remaining possible ally for the Zulu would be the Bantu Kingdom and both the Siddharthists and Otjomouise moved to court the Bantu and force them to declare neutrality. The Bantu did so but were also accepting treatment and gifts from the Zulu, their neighbors. This maneuvering made the Bantu very unpopular and the other powers only dealt with then because of the strategic position they were in. The Zulu declared that they would seek to take all the land of New Africa an with this the Otjomouise and the Siddharthists began to mobilize blockades in an attempt to pacify the radial leadership that appeared to be controlling the Zulu Republic’s policies. This began a war between these several powers and would change the outlook of Africa for years.
Firstly, the Otjomouise attempted to exploit the resentments between chiefdoms that had been brewing and with this came the start of a civil war in addition to the attacks by the foreign nations upon the Zulu Republic. Though this sounds like a very precarious position to be in, the industrial areas of the republic as well as those who were not enthusiastic about dissolving it, remained together and their military was able to defend effectively enough to keep the whole nation from collapsing. Most of the nations the tried to leave were those on the border as they were in the least favorable position in the Republic as a whole and had been brooding such intentions for generations. This internal division and external opposition would lead the Zulu to appealing to their only ally, and even this was only a partial ally.
The Bantu Kingdom, who had been enjoying the special treatment that they had been given in the recent years,
Land Changes in Africa after the Zulu Civil War
limitations that do not threaten the livelihood of the Zulu Republic, its people, its trade, its rights, or its dignity.” This vague vocabulary would be the main source of contention in the aftermath of this conflict which became known as the Zulu Civil War. Blockades started in the year 1293 (540 AD) and the final treaty, which was only possible because of the
Territorial Changes made by the Africans that were solidified by the year 1310 (557 AD)
support that the Bantu brought to the Zulu, was signed in 1299 (546 AD) and this episode in history started the Bantu Colony and also would cause a great panic among businesses at the six-year slump in Transatlantic trade during this war.
Other changes made the economy adjust suddenly. The territorial gifts, which were made on paper before any person, other than surveyors, had even seen these lands that was being given away. The Bantu gained a huge swath of land in New and Old Africa with scarce effort and this encouraged the Bantu people greatly in immigrating to the New World. At the same time the peace treaty that ended the war provided that the Temembe and the Otjomouise share an border, which would close off expansion, essentially, for the Zulu from the lands connected to New Zaire. The Siddharthists also expanded in order to share a border with the Bantu territory before there were enough of then to begin their own expansions. The Otjomouise similarly expanded to the areas south of New Zion, with the Romans permission, in order to keep the Zulu in check from that position as well. The Zulu had trouble populating the Tupiniquim territories for though there were certainly people seeking to immigrate, they were not as many boats or money to transport them. Overall, Africa fell back in the world slightly, with the exception of the Bantu.
[]
By the year 1310 (557 AD) the Romans and the Africans had developed such a trade with each other that from this point forward their timelines shall be combined and the Africans and Europeans shall be spoken of together.
| 1082-1155 (329-402 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) | 1155-1310 (402-557 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) | 1310-1376 (557-623 AD) (L'Uniona Homanus) |