Sheven Empire

The Sheven Empire was once greatest state on the continent of Tulan. It rose to power as a conquerer, laying waste to many kingdoms, but fell to a foe it couldn't resist: the progress of technology. The empire originated in ancient Sheva, a city in what is now Lepu Ruma.

Structure

The Sheven Empire centralised power in the Sheva Emperor, a semi-theocratic figure. Both the head of the state religion and the ruling secular authority. The position of Emperor was passed down in the royal family by agnatic seniority, to the eldest living relative. A tradition that dated to the first Emperor, who distrusted his own sons and so gave the throne to his eldest brother.

History

The Sheven Empire arose from the kingdom of Sheva, which had itself arose from the port city of Sheva. Sheva had been subjugated under a series of external foes as a tributary kingdom, and was centered around a strong mercenary tradition. Many of its soldiers were immigrants who had come for the taste of wealth Sheva offered.
When the Six Tribe Empire fell to internal strife in 2251 YSB, Sheva seized the opportunity and filled the power vacuum. Its powerful professional army, that had been employed by the six tribes, took no side but its own. The tribes, with only small personal militaries, were overwhelmed and Sheva rose to power. The first Emperor was crowned when they took Gela, the capital of the Six Tribes, and burned it.
Unsatisfied with the territory of their old masters alone, the Sheven Empire grew over successive generations. Its last conquest was the Aiata of Elebih. In 2498 it took their last city, and declared itself ruler of Tulan from coast to coast.
Sheven dominated its conquered territories by centralising agricultural production in its northern homelands and supplying its colonies with food in return for a quota of pottery, bricks, ores, lumber and other resources. This system left most of the colonies helpless to rebel, though they tried.
Sheven's rulers ruthlessly enforced their own cultural principles on conquered populations, leading to several attempts to rebel. It banned traditional religions, and changed property ownership laws to favour Sheven citizens. This practice led to centuries of unrest, and the Empire would eventually fall when technology broke the shackle it held over its people.
The invention of golems reached Tulan in 2905. It set off a series of events that collapsed the empire in less than two years. Religious groups, native landholders, and traditional leadership - such as the Ar Pentin family, the historic Princes of Elebih - funded the construction of golems to replace Sheven control of agriculture, and threw off the shackles. The government attempted to ban this practice, but ultimately the collapse of international trade left them without the funds necessary to sustain their mercenary armies and enforce this law.
The empire collapsed into a power vacuum, leading to the Kutuhun War, which ravaged the continent for the next ten years, as competing parties attempted to replace Sheva. A white peace was finally signed in 2918, and new national borders drawn up. Finally ending the Sheven Empire's rule.

Territories

The territories of the Sheven Empire covered from northern Lepu Ruma to the Elebih peninsula, and across the sea it held minor colonies on Lissimo.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Demonym

Sheven

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Market economy