Hirxhata

Hirxhata is a League of Nations located in east-central Crona, comprising former Varshani frontier regions along the former border with Telonaticolan and Titechaxha. The native peoples of this region suffered greatly under centuries of Varshani rule, being subjected to slavery, human sacrifice, cultural repression, and other atrocities, though the region's remoteness spared local peoples from the near-total destruction of their cultures and communities that befell most other conquered peoples under the Varshani yoke. The area was liberated by the Kiravian Army and Hailstorm Warrior auxilliaries during the Final War of the Deluge and was entrusted to Kiravian administration by the Treaty of Electorsbourg. The Treaty stipulates that a referendum on the trust territory's permanent political status be held in the future, empowering residents to opt for full independence or incorporation into Telonaticolan.

History
Mostly sad.

Governor S.E. Lanūren was dismissed in March 202 after delivering an unsatisfactory report on the territory's progress to the Executive College. He was replaced by D.L. Flósteren.

In February 2028, the Executive College issued a Collegial Order instructing the HPA to conduct the status referendum by year's end.

Demographics
The demography of Hirxhata is politically contentious and some critics cast doubt on the accuracy and interpretation of official figures. A report produced by Overseas Governance Executive personnel based on recovered Varshani records, land use patterns, random sampling, and anecdotal interviews estimates that the vast majority of the population, between 75% and 90% belong to Cronite tribes indigenous to the area, most of whom were previously enslaved or living under an encomienda-like system employed in many agriculturally marginal regions of Varshan. Between 10% and 20% are estimated to be ethnic Varshani (including enslaved Varshani), and around 5% are estimated to be Cronites of other origins, almost exclusively former slaves. The Varshani population is believed to have shrunk drastically since the war due to refugee flight and the occasional massacre.

The cultural affinities and higher-order group identities of the local indigenous are a matter of some controversy. The official position of the government of Telonaticolan is that the majority of the population belong to and identify with the larger Telontec nation and are in most respects indistinguishable from neighbouring communities across the border. The official position of the Hirxhata Peace Administration is that the area represents a "complex cultural mosaic that does not neatly correspond to any state-sponsored national identity", and stresses cultural ties between certain Hirxhatan peoples and highland-dwelling tribes in [name of other state] and Upper Atrassic Crona.

The main languages spoken in Hirxhata are Varshani, Choqochip, Chenantec, Telontec, and Kwinipiac. The latter four are officially recognised as the "historic and national languages of Hirxhata" and used in government publications. However, for the time being Varshani remains the de facto lingua franca most commonly understood by people from different linguistic backgrounds, despite being politically sidelined.

Politics and Governance
Hirxhata is a trust territory administered by the Kiravian Federacy under the auspices of the League of Nations. The Instrument of Government for Hirxhata, a collegial decree, creates the Hirxhata Peace Administration as a provisional government, specifies its structure, and lays out the territory's basic law for the duration of the mandate.

The civilian Chief Executive of the Hirxhata Peace Administration is appointed by the Prime Executive of the Kiravian Federacy and serves as the head of government. A Chief of Security, similarly appointed, has command authority over Kiravian troops assigned to the Hirxhata Security Assurance Force, and is responsible for defence and public order. The Governing Council is the apex institution of the HPA, acting as both a legislative body and an executive cabinet. It comprises the Chief Executive, Chief of Security, other government ministers, and a Tribune of the People, a native citizen who is elected each year by the local population in a two-round system. The Governing Council enacts legislation for the territory and formulates the policy direction of government agencies.

The territorial bureaucracy is staffed by the Overseas Governance Executive, which also implements and  programmes to prepare Hirxhata for self-determination.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Electorsbourg, a future referendum must be held on the question of whether Hirxhata should gain full independence as a or integrate into Telonaticolan.

The first elections to the Hirxhata National Assembly will take place at the end of 2025. The National Assembly will initially be an advisory and consultative body without legislative authority, existing mainly to acclimate an oppressed people to the norms and procedures of democratic governance. A declaration issued by the Executive College lays out a roadmap for assigning progressively greater responsibility and authority to the National Assembly over time. As of 2025, the current target is for the National Assembly to implement a revenue scheme and budget for devolved responsibilities by 2029 take over responsibility for all ordinary domestic legislation by 2032.

Law
A key priority of the Hirxhata Peace Administration is to provide a functioning modern legal system. According to the Instrument of Government, preëxisting Varshani and local laws remain in effect until abrogated or superseded for the sake of continuity, except where incompatible with natural law and rights, applicable Kiravian constitutional law and rights, and relevant international law and treaties. The HPA is actively working to replace what remains of Varshani law with a new Hirxhatan body of law.

The judiciary is manned by Kiravian judges, mostly federal sector court judges serving six-month assignments, assisted by native pundits nominated by indigenous community leaders to advise them on local conditions, customary law, and translation questions. Courts operate according to Kiravian federal procedure and apply Kiravian réstiálda ("cultivated law"), but judges are under instruction to treat the local customs and usages of the people as part of the territory's own cultivated law.

Economy
The prewar economy of Hirxhata was primarily extractive. Owing to its peripheral location and difficult geography, it was underdeveloped by Varshani standards. The most productive enterprises were large slave estates which occupied most of the good agricultural land and were owned by the state, nobility, or Arzali temple system. The non-enslaved population, which was proportionally larger in Hirxhata than most other parts of the country, mostly eked out a living on smallholdings, struggling to pay rent to Varshani tax-farmers. Coal, bauxite, and phosphate mining were also important local activities, but ceased under the occupation as their labour force was emancipated and the destruction of Varshani industry eliminated their market.

Development efforts by the Overseas Development Executive, League of Nations initiatives, and NGOs have focused on improving agricultural productivity and overhauling transport infrastructure to leverage the territory's strategic location. Pursuant to government decrees, most of the former slave estates are now state-owned but operate as village coöperatives. Civil protocols to convert these estates to private ownership, either as coöperatives or subdivided into smaller family-held parcels according to the wishes of the tenants, will became available in 2026 and just under 40% were privatised by the beginning of 2028. The Peace Administration attempted to grow the economy by subsidising improved agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides, and facilitating purchase of the territory's produce by the General Food Administration, Rations Bureau, Kiravian military. Production failed to return to prewar levels due to a reduced labour force and other disruptions, but official reports state that agricultural household incomes improved, due to the abolition of slavery.

Trivia

 * Officially, Hirxhata is a territory, a condition imposed by invading Kiravian troops to allow for safer passage of their vehicles and later formalised by gubernatorial decree. However, Hirxhatans previously drove on the right and local vehicles that survived the war had been designed for right-hand traffic. In practice, left-hand traffic is only enforced on a few key routes used by Kiravian supply trucks. Everywhere else is a shitshow and people just drive on whichever side they feel like, which usually isn't much of a problem because almost no one has a car anymore.