Neraj
Neraj is the northern most province of the Kalmasan Samraj, north of Ishvalem. It is bordered on the west by the Rirha Mountains and on the east by the coast of the Torvalen Sea. To the north are the Cochicoatepetlan Mountains which also mark the northwestern border between the Neztlalpan Confederation and the Kalmasan Samraj.
Meaning New Raj or New Kingdom in Eshti, Neraj was the last raj to fall to the forces of Mahendran I during the War of Brothers, ending the war and leading to the establishment of the Kalmasan Samraj. Its first and only independent rajan was the great war strategist, Zarejan bas Talwar. After surrendering to Mahendran, Zarejan was appointed Saman, the supreme general of the new samraj.
Its current provincial rajan is Lady Savitra bat Talwar. The wise and ruthless granddaughter of Zarejan has governed Neraj for over three decades and has focused on developing its raw wealth as well as increasing its trade networks and diversifying the provinces sources of wealth.
The province contains vast hardwood forests and is the primary source of timber for ships in Kalmasa. It also grows large amounts of grain and other crops suited to its temperate climate. The Rirha foothills in the east are rich in iron and silver deposits.
The mining of this mineral wealth is the main source of wealth in Neraj and also the main source of its controversy. As part of the terms of its surrender, slavery was permitted to remain legal within the province. Most of the slavery is in the form of either sentenced prisoners or indentured servitude as a means of debt payment. Most of these slaves are Maxcaltecs native to the region who were tenant farmers fallen on hard times and into debt or who were servants accused of petty theft.
The mining in the province is brutal work and many do not survive long enough to pay off their debts or to the end of their sentences. Economically, the low labor costs this slave labor creates allows them to undercut mines in Ishvalem and Donava to the south, making more profits for the mining companies and the province.
This has created economic enemies to the south who regularly lobby in Solkar to rescind Neraj's slavery. To the north, Neztlalpan, particularly the western Maxcaltec kingdoms, considers the enslavement of their fellow Calmaxtec an ongoing outrage, despite the fact that many of their noble families owned slaves themselves before the founding of the Confederation.
For its own part, the nobles of Neraj have remained as defiant and fiercely independent as they dare to be. After the the samraj's loss in the War of Sovereignty and the backlash of tax increases to pay for it, many whisper of re-establishing independence and even conquering the Maxcaltec kingdoms to the north. Thus far, none has dared to utter such sedition publicly.
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