Our darkest moments: The Muslim rebellion

[Markus]

Our darkest moments: The Muslim rebellion

OOC: I plan on writing a couple of short descriptions of historical events that shaped Tamora and explain in part its culture and why it evolved the way it did to present day.

Background:

in the late XI-th century, the Empire of Tamora was in its infancy. Only a decade earlier Tamora had finished conquering all of the Muslim Kingdom of Altai. The Manist religion, founded by Mani, which was the majority religion Tamora had a history of less than 150 years. Many of the customs and social moors of Tamorans were adopted from the Muslims of Altai because of the cultural and territorial dominance they exerted over Tamora in the previous centuries. 
The Prophet Mohamed and to a lesser extent Jesus were venerated by Manists as people who spoke the word of God as opposed to Mani which had never claimed to do so but was nevertheless a very influential philosopher and had status similar to that of a saint.

After the conquest of their long time rival of Altai, Tamora had been swept by a religious exuberance. Dozens of temples were erected in just a couple of years with many of them featuring paintings of Jesus, Mani and Mohamed. Some of these temples were constructed in the newly conquered kingdom of Altai despite protests from the Muslim community who greatly objected to the paintings of Mohammed.
 
The rebellion:

while Tamora's army was engaged abroad fighting the kingdom of Akkar, the Muslim of Altai rebelled against Tamora. The Manist temples in Altai are burned to the ground, Tamorans living in Altai, that did not manage to escape, are gruesomely killed. In the absence of any major resistance, the Muslim rebellion becomes organized, the local nobility joins the rebels and Altai declares its independence from Tamora.
The Tamoran army is called back home. However, when it returns the soldiers are exhausted and tired of fighting. When hearing of the brutality of the Muslim rebels they desert en masse and refuse to march against Altai. Upon learning of the weakness of its army, the kingdom of Altai decides to attack Tamora. The Emperor of Tamora is forced to resort to mercenaries in a desperate attempt to defend its kingdom. Tamora manages to defeat Altai's army and begins the slow process of reconquering Altai. It takes over a decade to finally subdue Altai.

Aftermath:

The Emperor of Tamora presses the synod of Manist Ayatollahs to change their policy on the painting of Mohammed. The Synod grudgingly agrees that paintings of the prophet Mohamed are no longer accepted and gives its consent to have them removed by the imperial Army. The imperial Army goes from Manist temple to Manist temple removing the paintings of the Prophet Mohamed. While they encounter little resistance in Djerb (the capital), in the rest of Tamora they meet bitter resistance. Local imams do not consent to what they see as a desecration of their temples and the army is forced to go against them and remove them by force. Some of the Imams resort to desperate gestures to protest including to set themselves on fire or to lock themselves in the temples and fight the Imperial Army. The support of the Emperor drops with each incident, the synod of Ayatollahs while never receding their consent, no longer give any public support of the measure. By the time the Imperial Army had removed all the paintings of the Prophet Mohammed from the Manist temples, it is seen by many clergymen and Tamorans as having gone on a war against their faith. The Emperor gains the nickname "the Betrayer" for launching a jihad against his own religion.

Impact:

- in the following decades the Manist clergymen begin advocating for the institution of the Emperor to no longer interfere in the affairs of their temples.
- the concept of religious freedom (present in the book of Mani) is given a higher importance. To this day, clergymen of all faiths in Tamora enjoy religious freedom and in their sermons can say almost anything (including hate speech) without any fear of censorship or repercussions. The concept of religious freedom becomes one of the pillars of Tamoran society.
- slowly the veneration of Mohamed falls into disuse and Mohamed is relegated in importance to that of Jesus (a minor prophet from the days before Mani).
- the Preacher Mani becomes the Prophet Mani in following decades and takes the place of Mohamed in veneration. Temples no longer feature Jesus or Mohamed in paintings and instead present only Mani. 
- in the following decades the Quran is no longer studied alongside the book of Mani. In less than a century, hardly any Manist school studies the Quran. The book of Mani becomes the sole religious book.
- Manists gradually shed away their identity as a Muslim branch or sect and instead develop their own identity as a separate religion.
- to this day archeological findings of temples prior to the rebellion which feature paintings of the Prophet Mohamed are taboo. Muslims and Manists are banned from entering them (despite being Manist temples) but private visitors from other faiths are permitted to visit for educational purposes. 
 

[Markus]

Our darkest moments: The rebellion of kings and the mother of the nation

Background:

Two centuries after the Muslim rebellion, a second major event took place that marked Tamora's history and later development. Tamora had expanded further and conquered a second kingdom (Akkar). The Manist Church was now a separate religion with only some connections to Islam. Tamora's rise seemed inevitable and the Emperor at that time was working at expanding further  by adding yet another kingdom to the two conquered in the previous centuries. It was during this time that the kings of Altai and Akkar joined forces in rebellion against Tamora. The Emperor lead the troops and attacked the combined army of the two kingdoms only to be severely defeated barely escaping capture. The rebel force marched towards Djerb (the capital of Tamora) in an attempt to crush Tamora for good. Times were desperate as there were few options available. Both the Manist high clergymen and the nobles were asking the Emperor to do something but records from that time say he simply stayed isolated in his private chambers refusing contact with all but his close family.

As time passed the situation became desperate. The Manist clergymen decided to take matters into their own hands, organized a militia and attacked the invading force. Since the Imperial troops would only listen to the Emperor, they didn't join the militia in their attack. Unsurprisingly, it provided a massive failure with many of the Manist high clergymen dieing in battle.
After two major victories, the rebel forces were now confident that Djerb and with it Tamora would be conquered. In less than two weeks after their major victory they were climbing the mountains pass that lead to Djerb. Even with the invading army at their at their doorstep, the Emperor still did not assume command or issued any orders to the troops. The Tamoran traditions made it so that the military was virtually paralyzed without the Emperor giving orders or at least allowing them to fight.
As the invading troops started their siege of Djerb, sources say the First wife of the Emperor, Alya, assumed leadership of the troops and ordered them to fight to defend Tamora. It is unclear exactly what sources meant by" assumed leadership " but all agreed that her act was vital it the defense and victory over the invaders.


The rule of the First wife

With Djerb having been successfully defended the nobles and what was left of the high clergymen gathered in an attempt to decide who to lead the country as the current Emperor seemed incapable and there was no process to force him to resign. The crisis had deep implication for the Manist faith as the book of Mani prescribed the nation was to be ruled by a king with the rest of the people having to follow. The Manist clergymen opposed any removal of the Emperor as they saw it similar to blasphemy. Sources are scarce and vague regarding what was decided at the gathering but the result was that the Fist Wife would rule in the name of the Emperor for "as long as he allowed it". This way the Emperor could always return and assume back control( something not possible were one of his sons be named as a new Emperor) and the Fist Wife, as a women, was probably expected to have little influence over the affairs of Tamora pleasing both the nobles and the clergymen.

However,  the Fist wife proved to make heavy use of the imperial troops (now under her command) to get heavily involved in the domestic and even religious affairs of Tamora, going far beyond what previous emperors ever did.

During her relatively long reign there were many reforms and changes in the regular order of Tamora. The most notables aspect were:
•   policing imams: any breach of traditions( like drinking alcohol, being late on prayer service etc) were severely punished.
•   banning the practices (which weren't widespread) of honor killings and FGM as they weren't prescribed in the Book of Mani and the Prophet never referenced them in his teachings. Those that were found guilty of engaging in these practices were sentenced to death by boiling alive. A cruel practice that had not been seen in Tamora since the days of the Muslim rebellion when it was practiced by the rebels.
•   she presided as the highest judge of the land over many trials and offered numerous rulings during her reign , many with implications till this day. She always offered the strictest interpretation of the teachings in her rulings.
•   she strictly adhered to Manist teachings: prayed in public every day, never missed religious service and despite her interface in domestic affairs never attempted to infringe on the authority of the Emperor. She always mentioned that she ruled in his name and only as long as he allowed it.
•   she was infamous for her lack of mercy and holding a grudge.
•   during her reign Tamora eventually managed to quell down the rebellion but after much effort and time. Some critics claim she needlessly prolonged the war by refusing to offer even the slightest concessions to the rebels.
•   using the excuse that she wasn't an Emperor she interfered in many affairs that generally Emperors did not interfere with.
•   the Manist Church decided that if the institution of the emperor was ever to recover its prestige and trust then it would have to be lead by a fruit of Alya's loins. That meant that the then current Emperor was not allowed to choose a successor from his sons and instead Alyra's only son became the successor upon the death of the current Emperor.


Aftermath and impact of heir reign:

•   in Tamoran history she is credited as saving Tamora when the Emperor couldn't do his job. Her reign has been romanticized as being something of a golden era with Tamora having withstood against all threats foreign and domestic.
•   her reign greatly perturbed the institutions of Tamora, the traditional separation of the institution of Emperor from the affairs of the Manist Church/ temple was obliterated as Alya enforced the laws of the book of Many upon the clergy. It is for this reason that, after her death, the Manist church greatly emphasized the need for independence from the Emperor and shunned religious laws. To this day things like alcohol, easting pork, wearing the hijab etc are not forbidden or mandated by law. It is considered a sign that the church cannot do its calling if it cannot convince the faithful to act in a manner respecting scripture.
•   the role of women in society continued to be reconsidered after her death. As Alya herself didn't advocate for equality and instead  accepted and promoted the teachings of Mani (that say men rule over their families) that was never considered. However, women started to be considered a backup to the head of the family, guardians of the faith, the ones responsible for teaching the faith to the children. As such a great emphasis had began on teaching women to read so they can understand and teach the book of Mani to the children. A century after her death not educating the daughters became haram and shunned. To this day, the literacy rate of women in Tamora is about 7% higher for than that of the men's.
•   following the example put forward by Alya herself, the position of judge became open for women and an accepted career choice for them. To this day the overwhelming majority of judges in Tamora are women.
•   Alya enjoyed a great deal of respect during her time which only grew after her death. That gradually turned into devotion and increased with each century reaching epic proportions by the XIX century. Her status grew from that of an extraordinary wife to that a saint like figure. So beginning with the XIX century the Manist Church officially allowed for her worship and raising of temples dedicated to her. She become a very important figure in the Manist religion, second only to the Prophet Mani. In present day Tamora her worship remains extremely popular ( especially among women) as is raising temples to her.
•   a century after her death, the Manist Church changed the official way of referring to her from First Wife to Mother of the Nation. They have also exhumed her remains and buried her in a mausoleum built especially for her. It is now the most popular pilgrimage site in Tamora ( the prophet Mani does not a have a burial place). As a further sign of respect for her and her popularity (especially amongst women), the access to her burial site was made exclusive for women in all but one day of year.
•   in her memory, the title Mother of the Nation has been given to a few select Fist Wives of the Emperor though the centuries. So far, aside from Alya herself, the title Mother of the nation has been given to only three other wives. The title itself gives enormous respect to the holder but it doesn't go near the level of worship Alya herself receives.
•   the massacre of the high clergymen and the militia cemented the idea among the Manist Church clergymen that the Emperor and its army are vital to the defense of Tamorans


Famous quotes by Alya:

" God forgives, the Emperor does not" used often in the court when the convicted asked for mercy, especially when facing death by boiling alive.
" Worry not for I am not Emperor " when responding to criticism regarding the fact she intrudes in matters no Emperor has ever attempted to interfere.


Trivia:

Alya is the most popular girls name in Tamora.
Alya is also the name of the current First Wife of the Emperor.
Around a quarter of the newly built Manist temples are dedicated to her while about a third are dedicated to the Prophet Mani.
In general, each Manist household or place of worship has a portrait of the Prophet Mani and one of Alya. The portrait of Alya must always be placed lower than the Prophet's. All portraits of other individuals must be placed lower than Alya's.
The three women whom have received the title Mother of the Nation are all buried in Alya's mausoleum.

Alya Safavid, Mother of the Nation