Alternative History
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Charrasuyu
Timeline: The Kalmar Union
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Capital
(and largest city)
Tabar
Language Charrua (de facto)
King Pirú III
Population 5,187,000 (est.) 
Currency TWP

Charrasuyu is a large decentralised monarchy in southern Tawantinland. It is bordered by Carjosuyu, Calchaquisuyu and Araucania. The population is around 5.1 million and the de facto capital is Tabar.

There is no official language. Varieties of Charrua and related dialects are mostly used. In the enclave of Ílmursbýl Vinlandic is dominant.

The de facto currency is the Tawantin Pachaka (TWP), though in the east the Vinlandic Krona (VIK) is widely used.

History[]

Little is known about Charrasuyu and its peoples before the arrival of Álengsk explorers mapping out the Tawantinland coast in around 1450. The Charrua and their related tribes were at the time semi-nomadic and dependant on hunting and gathering. With little in the way of tradable goods the land was pretty much ignored for two centuries. Even the Tawantinsuyu, busy conquering the rest of the continent in the 16th century ignored the area and supposedly the western Guenoa tribe would repeatedly defeat the small Tawantin scouting parties sent into the land, earning the region a reputation for fierce defiance.

Noting the lack of a settled government in the area, and eager to cement a hold on Tawantinland's trade routes, Vinlandic settlers would raise a fort at 'Mikillsléttborg' on an inlet to a lagoon in 1638 and claimed a modest area of the coast for farms and settlement. The Vinlandic Southern Company duly returned to Isafjordhur relating news of the settlement, asking Freydis III for a new earldom to be granted and began raising funds for further settlers to join the new venture.

However this presence did not last long; after only two years the settlement would be destroyed by the Charrua with a complete loss of life. Vinlandic militia would subsequently work in co-operation with Tawantinsuyu to seize the region and pacify it. Vinlandic traders, though mostly switching their attention to more peaceful Tupiniquimsuyu anyway, were granted sole trading access (with a refounded settlement near the original at Ílmursbýl) as compensation for the loss of people by the new Tawantin Kurakas (governors). Tawantin hold on the area was much tighter than in other eastern regions, not only due to the Charrua's supposed penchance for violence but the incoming administration found it could dominate the previously nomadic tribe relatively easily. The plains were perfect for raising horses and cattle and once the land was divided up into small kuraka or governorships the tribes found their freedom of movement much restricted.

Co-operation between the Kurakas would breakdown in late 18th century as Tawantinsuyu withdrew direct oversight and the hereditary Tawantin Kurakas, now ruling a foreign people without assistance, whipped up tribal animosities to secure their own powerbases. This conflict would be channelled into phyrric wars against its three more unified neighbours as well as between the kurakas themselves and even the Tawantin army when it attempted to restore order in 1796. Much of the 19th century would be taken up with tit-for-tat retaliatory wars or power-struggles, severely stunting the development of the country. It remains largely agricultural, dominated by undemocratic warlords and its populace impoverished.

Tawantinsuyu is adverse to simply invading the kingdom to restore order to the 'failed' state and would prefer to see a peaceful solution to the political anarchy which plagues it. It has pursued a vague 'non-intervention' policy in its neighbours' internal affairs since the Tawantinland Pact of 1937 and overt military action against Charrasuyu may set a precedent for other actions on the continent.

Republic of Caragua[]

Republic of Caragua
Timeline: The Kalmar Union
Subdivision of Charrasuyu
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Capital
(and largest city)
Acegua
Population 302,400 

An alliance of the lightly populated eastern governorships, and the autonomous quasi-Vinlandic city of Ílmursbýl, has created stable and peaceful government in this part of the country (and for all intents and purposes forms a entirely separate state, referred to as the Republic of Caragua). This area boasts considerably higher living standards as well as a railway, linking it to Carjosuyu and the coastal nations beyond.

Officially diplomatic efforts are concentrated on maintaining Charrasuyu's unity and so the state has limited recognition. Of the major powers it is only recognised by the Kalmar Union (thanks to urging by Vinland).

Government[]

Charrasuyu has little in the way of central government and, apart from in Caragua, each Kuraka tends to govern itself. Whilst there are frequent attempts, often brokered by Tawantinsuyu and Vinland, to create a formal Diet these tend not to last long before descending into petty squabbles, and indeed there is little appetite from many of the 'warlords' to relinquish any power. Neither is there a single vision of how the country should be organised; Tawantinsuyu preferring a singular unitary state, Vinland a more federal state.

There is a semi-recognised royal family centred on the Kuraka of Tabar. The original Tawantin administration deferred authority to Tabar giving it 'seniority' though this quickly evaporated as the country descending into internecine war.

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