Zhamara (Origo Mundi Map Game)

Everlasting Kindred of Zhamar
*Jī-Vân Okönīn Jâ-Xâmar*
Timeline: Origo Mundi (Map Game)
Everlasting Kindred of Zhamar; Jī-Vân Okönīn Jâ-XâmarTimeline: Origo Mundi (Map Game)
	627 - Present
	Location of Zhamara A Zhamarokin temple located in the rainforest
Capital; (and largest city)	Zhazhakara
Official languages	Zhamarokin
Religion	TBD
Demonym	Zhamarokin
Government	Patrimonial autocracy
Legislature	Taza'Zhazhanin
History
Area
Population
Currency	Akzun

The Everlasting Kindred of Zhamar (Zhamarokin: Jī-Vân Okönīn Jâ-Xâmar), commonly known as Zhamara (Zhamarokin: Xâmara), is a nation located within the tropical region of TBD. Zhamarokin is unique in that the majority of its population consist of women, who perform all of the tasks traditionally associated with the male role, while the male minority has the sole obligation of leading and providing spiritual guidance to the people. In line with the latter statement, the government of Zhamara is headed by a leader known as the Ta'Zhazhan, or "High Father", the senior-most member of the patrimonial civilization. Located at the mouth of fertile Shohun Delta, Zhamarokin civilization was blessed with rich soils, abundant crops, and relatively calm and predictable weather with a regular monsoon season. Zhamara did not spread outward following the unification of the patriarchs, but rather entered into a period of political stability that saw the emergence of a structured government, caste system, and system of state education in the kingdom.

Prior to this period of social and political stability, Zhamara had previously consisted of several dozen patriarchal statelets vying for power and farmland to sustain themselves in the then harsh and infertile tropical climate of the region. These were unified under Zhahotenudak I during the ancient "War of the Thirty Fathers", during which time all of the rival patriarchs were defeated and forced to acknowledge the supremecy of Zhahotenudak. He rewarded those who obeyed his authority by inviting them to join the Taza'Zhazhanin, or "Hierarchy of Fathers", which would serve as the new governing body of the united kingdom under Zhahotenudak's rule. With access to new land and resources in the immediate region, many of ills that had plagued the Zhamarokin people had largely be resolved under Zhahotenudak's reign.

History[]

Society[]

The native peoples of Zhamara call themselves the Zhamarokin, or "Children of Father's Land", and have inhabited the region for centuries.

Government and military[]

Government[]

Military[]

Law[]

Taxation[]

In line with the rest of the economy of Zhamara, taxes collected by the state are collected in the form of sutanin, a unit of rice determined to be sufficent to feed an individual for about one year. A single sutan weighs approximately 182.5 grams, and is divided into 365 units known as suyanin, each of which weighs a total of 500 grams. All okumarin are required by their resident zhazhan to produce a certain quota of rice on the lands allotted to them each year, so that the zhazhanin themselves can pay the sutan tax levied upon them by the state. Typically, this quota is about three sutanin per hectare of land. The tax paid by the zhazhanin to the state is based not on the amount of rice produced on the land, but the theoretical yield of the land and the amount of rice the state believes could be harvested from the fields based on prior history and soil quality. Historically, the levied tax on the land is about 40% of all rice produced in the fields, with the rest being stored locally and rationed out by the landowner.

Failure to achieve each year's the quota is punishable by mutilation or execution depending upon the level of deficency in the amount of rice harvested by the inhabitants. All taxes collected by the state are weighed and the surmised value of the yield is converted over into metal coins known as akzunin. These coins are traditionally minted from iron, and weigh about 5 grams each, providing a total conversion of one sutan to 36,500 akzunin. This sutan-based system in Zhamara was highly-efficent, as payment by the state to bureaucrats and soldiers could be provided in the form of rations, allowing the state itself to hold onto vital metal currencies for higher-level transcations with other nations or storage in the treasury. Rice yield could also be scaled with the acquisition of new lands, while the conversion rate and weight of the coins would remain the same, ensuring a degree of protection against inflation. As long as the annual rice yields remained balanced, the state would always have measure of financial security.

Economy[]

Agriculture[]

The most common occupation of the Zhamarokin people revolves around farming and fishing in the relative rich and fertile lands of the continent. The overwhelming majority of the population is employed as rice farmers who work the terraced fields of Zhamara's expansive rural landscape. The few who aren't grow exotic fruits and work in fields growing other tropical plants to help expand the number of foods consumed by the general population. Most of Zhamara's soil is arable, with the vast rivers of the nation bringing in rich silt from the interior highlands which contribute to the highly fertile soils of the Zhamara delta region. Within this region is grown the majority of the food crops vital to the survival of the population. Due to the mild tropical climate of Zhamara, most of the crops within the countryside can be harvested twice, while the primary staple crop in the country, known as Zhamaric rice, can be harvested up to three times during the year.

Zhamaric rice is hardy and grows in some of the most difficult terrain available in the region, as it can be planted in uncultivated land with rocky soil. Other advantages of this breed of rice include its drought and deep-water resistance, tolerance of water level changes, infertile soil, iron toxicity common in tropical regions, severe climate conditions, and human neglect. The large leaves of the plant are excellent for combating weeds, smothering the plants and greatly limiting the need for routine weeding of the rice fields. One of the most important boons of Zhamaric rice is that it is resistant to most rice-based pests and diseases, such as blast disease, gall midge, parasitic nematodes, the virus Striga, and other agricultural blights common to rice crops.

Currency and banking[]

By law, no woman is permitted to personally own gold or silver, or keep any of it in her possession beyond their extraction. Only men and women authorized by the state are allowed to handle either of the precious metals, with violation of this law resulting in removal of one's hands or execution.

Mining and metallurgy[]

Zhamara is located within an iron-rich region, where the majority of the metal is readily accessible in the soft soils in the hinterlands of the country. Due to ease of access and plenty of manpower, the majority of the iron retrieved from the ground is acquired through open-cast mining, an act that results in heavy deforestation in the mined locations. While other metal ores are located in the region can be sourced in the region, they are not as prevalent within the borders of Zhamara as is the case with iron. Gold, silver, and copper are rare, and must be imported from outside the country and smelted locally for any of the commercial or industrial needs of the Zhamarokin.

Virtually all industrial activity within Zhamara takes placed inside the capital city of Zhazhakara, where all of the skilled labor is located. As with most manual labor in Zhamara, mining and metallurgy are in the complete domain of the female population, who serve as metal workers, artisans, and engineers for all of the crafting needs the nation requires. The few women permitted within the city center work as smiths and artisans for the urban population and the peasantry in the fields. Wood, iron, and stone are the primary mediums for the craftswomen of Zhamara, while pottery making is the domain of the peasants beyond the walls of Zhazhakara.