Zeshinava

{{Infobox country Zeshen (adjective) Zeshens (plural) }} Zeshinava, officially the Neoteric Confederacy of Zeshinava, is a country in the Istroya region of southeastern Sarpedon. It is neighbored by the Sydona Islands and the Founders Sea. Zeshinava is a storied country inhabited by the, who migrated in droves to the southeast of the continent during the Crusades to aid the Iddyritine Despotate. The Zeshen and Iddyritine people assimilated with the establishment of the Zeshen Kingdom by the crusaders as the Oduniyyad Caliphate fell, though this saw resistance from the former exclusive High Sarpedonic ruling class. The falling Islamic powers took advantage of the squabbling peoples, leaving several independent emirates to take the lands of the Zeshens and Caliphate. The Fourth Crusade brought an end to the infighting, with the Zeshen Kingdom establishing itself in the northwest of present-day Zeshinava, the christening of the Absurian Empire along the south, and several other minor crusader states surviving in the east.
 * conventional_long_name = The Neoteric Confederacy of Zeshinava
 * native_name = Taz Nөvruvihn Sѧjioh-Tihnansyihӈ zat Zeжcihnωva (Zeshen)
 * image_flag = Zeshinava flag.png
 * alt_flag = The flag of Zeshinava.
 * flag_border = yes
 * image_coat =
 * alt_coat =
 * symbol_type = Seal
 * national_motto = Aжt dihmarz muvs yihnɛr өtuer ihnem!
 * englishmotto = To love one's home above all!
 * national_anthem =
 * other_symbol_type = Decorative Pattern
 * other_symbol = Zeshinava pattern.png
 * image_map = Zeshinava Locator.png
 * loctext = Zeshinava in the Istroya region of southeastern Sarpedon
 * alt_map = Zeshinava highlighted on a globe, displaying its position relative to other landmasses.
 * map_caption = Zeshinava (dark green) and the claimed but uncontrolled Sydona Islands {green) in Sarpedon (gray)
 * image_map2 =
 * alt_map2 =
 * map_caption2 =
 * capital = Kronzciny (Xronzsεnyy)
 * largest_city = capital
 * official_languages = Julian Ænglish, Zeshen
 * national_languages = {{wp|Greek|Istroyan}}, Zeshen
 * languages_type = Minority languages
 * languages = {{wp|Latin}}
 * ethnic_groups =
 * religion =
 * demonym = Zeshen (noun)
 * government_type = Semi-{{wp|Constitutional monarchy|Constitutional}} {{wp|Parliamentary system|Parliamentary}} {{wp|Unitary state|Unitary}} {{wp|Republic}} overseen by an unelected {{wp|Dictatorship|Executive}}
 * leader_title1 = Executive
 * leader_name1 = Amelia Al-Ahzmira
 * leader_title2 = Chancellor
 * leader_name2 = Vaeran Khiaseak
 * leader_title3 = Vice Chancellor
 * leader_name3 = Violett Venihravihc
 * legislature = {{wp|Parliamentary system|Parliament}}
 * upper_house = {{wp|Royal assent|House of the Advisory}} & {{wp|Senate|House of the Administration}}
 * lower_house = {{wp|National Assembly|House of the Constituency}}
 * established_event1 = Istroyan civilization established in Zeshinava
 * established_date1 = 800 BCE
 * established_event2 = Iddyritine Despotate conquered by Oduniyyad Caliphate
 * established_date2 = 900 CE
 * established_event3 = Zeshen Kingdom founded by crusaders
 * established_date3 = 1154 CE
 * established_event4 = Grand Duchy of Zeshinava founded
 * established_date4 = 1188 CE
 * area_km2 = 1,184,531
 * area_sq_mi = 457,350
 * percent_water =
 * population_estimate = 85,476,530
 * population_census = 85,450,000
 * population_density_km2 = 72.2
 * GDP_nominal = $1,901,083,512,000
 * GDP_nominal_per_capita = $22,241
 * Gini =
 * HDI =
 * currency = Zihase Ⱐ
 * currency_code = ZSH
 * time_zone =
 * date_format = dd/mm/yyyy {{wp|Common Era|CE}}
 * electricity = 120 V 60 Hz
 * drives_on = right
 * cctld = .zs
 * iso3166code = ZS
 * calling_code = +138

Zeshinava is a member of the League of Nations.

Name and Etymology
The name Zeshinava translates literally to "Lady Ava". The country bears her name as she founded the crusader state of the Zeshen Kingdom, Queen of the Zeshen Kingdom, and later the Grand Duchess of Zeshinava.

First & Second Crusade
With preaching for the reconquest of Sarpedon's lost lands in 1084 as a Christian emergency thousands of Slavic men took the call to action and migrated from the Caphirian Slavic vassals of Central Sarpedon to the Oduniyyad-controlled southeast of Istroya. Though largely untrained, the collapsing Iddryitine Despotate made use of the influx of migrants to retake its lost lands. However, it would be some time before the masses could be made into an effective fighting force. The unskilled infantry allowed for the continued defense of the remaining Iddryitine lands, but the Odduniyad Caliphate maintained its hold on southeast Istroya through the first and second crusades. In 1120 during the Second Crusade Iddryitine forces were able to make minor gains in the Founders Sea. Forces launched from the Sydona Islands were able to capture Prevoy and Zavoy from local occupants. These islands and the surrounding archipelago weren't directly controlled by the Caliphate but were held by subservient Odduniyad merchants as trade outposts to reach other states on the south of the continent. The islands had to be sieged due to intense fortifications but were quickly forced to capitulate with Iddryitine naval superiority cutting off supply to the islands long enough. Tydoaea was seized in 1130 and led to a campaign to retake the islands of the Founders Sea for the Despotate.

Third Crusade
As the Third Crusade approached though the Iddryitine Despotate gained a significant indigenous Sarpedonic population with little to no ties to the High Sarpedonic culture and state. The Iddryitine Despotate was not a Catholic state and was only serviced by the crusaders to combat the expansion of the Odduniyad Caliphate. When it came time to remove the caliphate from lands further into eastern Istroya though the Catholic crusaders would not allow their state to be led by non-Catholics. While the remaining outer lying islands of the Founders Sea were captured for the Iddryitine Despotate by 1150, the territory of the mainland would be established as state led by the crusaders directly. This state would come to be stablished with the onslaught of the Third Crusade and the Siege of Kronzciny. The crusaders formed a beachhead at the tip of Kronzciny island and cut off the island from the nearby mainland via the Obkhovid Canal. The knights were led by Adam Fonsphorum, the apparent son of Chaplain Otislav Fonsphorum. Otislav led a failed siege of the Melian Islands in 1139 after the northern islands were reconquered by the Odduniyad Caliphate but was honoured and well-regarded for his devotion to the Catholic faith. His son seemingly did not join their father and was unknown to even those that survived the failed siege of the Melian Islands. They were chastised for not joining their father at an earlier age and remained a low-ranking knight throughout their service starting in 1150. They served in the capture of Diakrunum in 1151, but otherwise only saw action on the Iddryitine front-line on the mainland. This was until the Siege of Kronzciny in 1154. Now 20 years old, Adam was charged with leading a cohort of knights past enemy lines to secure passage of crusader forces across the Obkhovid Canal. They were able to land on the shores while the bulk of Caliphate forces were preventing crusaders from crossing over from Kronzciny Island. Though Adam was tasked with taking out targets and clearing an alternative path for naval forces to make landfall they instead aided the populace in escaping from the city before the siege made it to the mainland. Once the invasion path was clear, they sent their men back without them, and went to meet the occupying authority of Kronzciny, Addas al-Ahzmira. Adam removed their armour, and revealed they were in fact not the son of Otislav Fonsphorum, but the daughter.

Lady Ava & the Siege of Kronzciny
Lady Ava, otherwise known as Avanira Fonsphorum (Avenɛra Fөnzvюrum in Zeshen), was a Slavic migrant from the Principality of Truřov that immigrated across the continent when Pope Gregory VII called for the reconquest of Istroya from the Oduniyyad Caliphate. Her father, Otislav Fonsphorum (Otaꙉѧlѧv Fөnzvюrum in Zeshen), took the call to arms when she was only 5. Ava begged her father not to leave, but out of religious obligation he travelled to Istroya among countless other thousands of Catholic men beckoned by the pope, leaving his home empty of a patron. To Ava's dismay, she had to remain in Truřov to help her family. Upon a fatal incursion by Oduniyyad raiders however, Ava was left among the few survivors in her village, with the fallen bitterly contesting their homes and livelihoods. In the grief she was left in by her family's passing, she set out to southeast Istroya to campaign alongside her people and seek retribution against her father for his abandoning of the family. Answering the call for aid from Despot Abcis III, Ava joined the ranks of the Iddryitine army under the name Adam. She fought with her legion to retake the outlying islands of present-day Zeshinava and distinguished herself as a skilled soldier considering her small stature. She would set herself apart however in the Siege of Kronzciny, seeking to liberate the people of the caliphate rather than expelling them. Moved by the families left behind by soldiers like her own, she led the people of Kronzcony to the safety of the Iddryitine-controlled shores and pled for the mercy of the Iddryitine authorities. In both fighting the cowardice of the caliphate and commanding compassion to the army leadership she earned herself the respect of her fellow soldiers. She would go on to meet with the occupying forces at the behest of her superiors, wearing a hijab in a show of tolerance and revealing her womanhood. She negotiated the defection of the occupying Muslim forces, and upon bearing the legitimacy of the Iddryitine armed forces and local Muslim ruling class, she proclaimed the Zeshen Kingdom, with occupying-leader Addas al-Ahzmira becoming King Addas, and Ava becoming Queen Ava. The two married, and their kingdom would bear the name of the woman that negotiated its foundation: Zeжcihnω Ava, or in English, Lady Ava.

Grand Duchy of Zeshinava
The Zeshen Kingdom continued to aid in the reconquest of Istroya from the remaining Odduniyad Caliphate and independent emirates. As the crusades came to a close however, the Catholic Church cracked down on Zeshen Kingdom and declared Lady Ava a heretic for wearing men's clothes and marrying a Muslim man. She risked being tried for blasphemy and excommunicated from the Catholic world unless she repented for what she had done. She repented for her wearing of men's clothing and agreed to resign from bearing arms. The Church forbid her from divorcing despite her husband being a Muslim man, but the Zeshen Kingdom was restructured into a grand duchy with the Christian Despot of the Iddryitine Despotate, Theodoric Abcis. Theodoric was crowned Archduke of Zeshinava and converted to Catholicism. Lady Ava became Grand Duchess Ava, and her husband Addas Al-Ahzmira becoming the Grand Duke. Though on roughly equal footing, it was expected that Ava would lead the state with Theodoric rather than Addas, with the Grand Duke title only serving as a technicality on Addas' name. The Iddryitine Despotate remained in the form of the Free Cities of Sydona which would stay under the exclusive control of Archduke Theodoric. This situation allowed Lady Ava to avoid persecution, excommunication, and potentially revolution at the hands of a population angered by her heretical actions, she still remained out of the good graces of much of the Catholic world and was largely forced to resign to the more traditional role of the female leaders of the Middle Ages.

Southern Trade Dominance & Feudal Zeshinava
Following the collapse of the Caliphate in Sarpedon the new Grand Duchy of Zeshinava would assume the role of the trade hub of the south of the continent. While other major powers were mired by internal conflict through this period, the southern islands would maintain their place as trade hubs despite a new authority. While the Free Cities of Sydona shied away from interaction with the Muslim world, Zeshinava would lean into its position as a bridge between cultures and continents. This served to placate the subservient Muslim population of the officially Christian country and allowed conflict like the inquisitions through the rest of Sarpedon to be avoided, though not without disapproval from the Catholic Church. Though formerly at odds with the Caliphate, Audonian rulers would remain amicable with the Grand Duchy as to maintain a semblance of influence on the continent. This further angered the religious population, and the Church used this to their advantage to gain influence against the Caliphate. The Church, for its part in the Crusade, proclaimed control over the lands the crusaders of the original Zeshen Kingdom recaptured. This once again divided Zeshinava's government but ensured a pause to the accusations of heresy against the royal family of the Grand Duchy.

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