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<h3>2440 — The Meťelyi triumphant</h3>
<h4>Fall of Ctesifon</h4>
In the course of the 24th century the Meťelyi, under their leader <b>Aččaw</b>, dominated almost the whole of the Barbarian Plain. He did not bother to occupy any civilized territory, but the resulting migrations of defeated groups— the Coruo, the Naviu, the Somoyi— were responsible for the present miseries of Eretald and Axunai, and for more momentous events to come.
<p>In Eretald, the great disaster was the <b>occupation of Ctesifon</b> itself by the Naviu tribe of the Bešbalicu (2435, under their king Ä<u>d</u>urunz). The Caďinorians may be forgiven for assuming that the end of the world had arrived, despite the fact that the Emperor had escaped to Verduria, and that the barbarian rule over the capital was relatively respectful. (The emperors had taken to wintering in Verduria, not only to get away from the intrigues and troubles of Ctesifon, but in order to keep the northern city in line.)
<p>Under the burden of barbarian raids and invasions, Caďinorian society was transforming itself. The cities were hardest hit: they were attractive sources of taxation for the emperors and loot for the barbarians, while their income plummeted as continental trade dried up. The result was a crash in urban population. The people clustered round the nobles for protection: freeholders gave up their land in exchange for the right to come within the castle walls in times of war. Nobles were required to supply troops to resist the barbarians; for now, at least, the threat was serious enough that they readily did so.
<p>The overriding priority of the Emperor was, of course, the reconquest of Ctesifon. Nothing could be done to counter the Coruo conquest of Hežina and Ruieta. <b>Sarnáe</b> found itself independent largely by default. The nobles met in Iďanieȟa and set up a monarchy; to avoid interference in their own affairs they made it elective and empowered only to defend the realm. Even this was too much for the coastal barons, who declared a republic, Mitigaoma.
<h4>Xengiman</h4>
<p>Times were even worse in <b>Axunai</b>. The Meťelyi pushed the remaining Naviu into Xengiman, and this in turn pushed the Sainor into the Xengi valley itself (2430-2440).
<p>The revived Axunai was reduced to little more than the Xengi delta, and was now threatened not only by the Sainor but by the Gurdagor. <b>Gurdago</b> had occupied the tip of the Tanel peninsula in 2380, destroying the kingdom of Dintarn (<i>Deinotaren</i>), and took advantage of the Sainor invasion to run rapidly through Niormen. Contemporary opinion was that it was better to be ruled by barbarians. The Sainor, having nothing better to replace them, respected Axunemi religious and governmental structures, and having no written language had to use Axunašin for administration. The Gurdagor imposed their own laws, ruled by decree, used their own language for administration, and for good measure destroyed the largest Endajué seminaries in each town they occupied, in order to eliminate a possible rival power structure.
<h4>In the east</h4>
<p>Žigral’s <b>Tokruji</b> successors pursued the reduction of the Kurundasti Tej, and even attempted the invasion of Čeiy (2340); but they had not inherited his genius, and the offensive soon passed to the Tžuro, aided by a revolution which established a vigorous new Tej (2375). The new <b>Anajati Tej</b>, under the Atej Barutra, recovered most of Skouras by the end of the century. The troubles of the Tokruji allowed the Sevisre to regain a precarious independence, while a breakaway clan, the Ejiji, ruled in the northeast.
<p>Where the Kurundasti had been orthodox, rigid, and tied to the nomadic past, the Anajati were sophisticated, tolerant, and unashamedly urban. They produced, for the first time in the history of Jippirasti, works of subtle theology, scientific treatises, and love poems; they also rediscovered the literature and learning of ancient Skouras and, through Čeiy, that of Axunai, and commented and expanded on it. Their writings on mathematics, grammar, and paradoxes, and their retellings of Tžuro folk tales and Axunemi myths, are read even today.
<p>The <b><a href="Javascript:parent.al('%C4%8Cisra');">Čisran</a></b> empire continued its advance up the coast of Barmund, conquering the Namal from petty Tžuro <i>ateje</i> around 2370. Its acquisition of <b>Kulapman</b> (Kolatimand), which controlled the southwestern Gelihur peninsula, had the character of a corporate merger. Čisra wanted the increased resources of Kulapman, and was eager to unify the Skourenes under its banner; Kulapman wished to share in the rewards of Čisra’s conquests. Negotiations continued for years, reaching their successful result with the Union of 2412. The nobles of Kulapman became nobles of Čisra, the people received payment in silver; in return the army of Kulapman was placed at the disposal of Čisra.
<p>The <b>Carhinnoi</b> are suffering a bit of a decline. <b>Demóshimor</b> achieved its independence in 2375, while effective control over the ktuvoks was lost by the turn of the century. The Demoshi, who can be said to have learned a market economy from the Caďinorians and monotheism from the Carhinnoi, are far more dynamic and self-assertive than the Munkhâshi ever were. They readily traded with their former conquerors, and their capital Ornakh became an important port.
<p>Less advanced nations were generally spared the ravages of the nomads simply because they were too poor to raid; but the Carhinnoi and Suböyi (northern Somoyi) were advancing to the edge of the steppe, and the Čia-Ša were penetrating further into Luduyn, now drawn by the profits of trading furs to the Gurdagor.
<h4>Nanese exploration</h4>
<p><b>Nanese</b> sailors had discovered that the ocean just south of the Zone of Fire was nearly windless, while a little further south the winds blew west; around 2400 intrepid rowers discoverd and colonized <b>Lascita</b>, and half a century later <b><a href="Javascript:parent.al('Moreo_A%C5%A1cai');">Moreo Ašcai</a></b>.
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