Arunid Empire

Arunid Empire Demāna Arun
782 CE–884 CE
Flag
The maximum extent of the Arunid Empire in ~350 CE
Capital	Sayendag
Religion	Zoroastrian, Hindi, Mazdak, Manichean
Demonym(s)	Aruni
Government	Empire
Emperor
Historical era	Classical antiquity
• Established	782 CE
• Capture and destruction of the Citadel of Sayendag by the Oduniyyad Caliphate	884 CE
Preceded by Succeeded by [[[NAME} Empire]] Oduniyyad Caliphate
Today part of	Battganuur Bulkh Kandara Tapakdore Peshabiwar Pukhgundi Umardwal
...

The Arunid Dynasty was a powerful Fravarti-Zoroastrian empire in the Daria region of Audonia during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages(~782CE-884 CE), following the collapse of the (DYNASTY NAME) of Daria in (DATE) and the Banner Wars. It dominated the trade networks of the Aab-e-Farus and its anded provinces stretched from modern day Kandara all the way to Battganuur. The state's founding background as part of a zealous religious movement led by the communitarian 7th Century prophet Fravarti led to later disastrous campaigns by its founding Padishah Aadesh The Conqueror to expropriate the lands of the Erezu class and to liquidate the Barsom Armies and directly centralize administration around the Crown. These campaigns, continuing under his successors, led to marked decline of Darian civilization, and its conquest by the Oduniyyad Caliphate after scarcely more than a century of existence.

Its origin, wartime capital, and powerbase was in what is now Pukhgundi, where the vestiges of its legacy can still be most obviously seen. While it was a very cosmopolitan empire made up of thousands of ethnic groups, religions, and languages, the ruling clans were from the [CLAN NAME] from modernPukhgundi.

History

The power base of the Arunid Empire was formed during the anarchic period following the collapse of the [EMPIRE NAME HERE] when the control of the Erezu class's 6th-8th century nominal control over the regional Banner Armies under the [DYNASTY] and [DYNASTY] disintegrated, Arun, leader of the [CLAN NAME] and commander of the Pukhgandi Barsom (Avestan for "Collection", "Bundle"), quickly established control over the [ETHNICITY] Barsom after his father-in-law died and he pressed his claim to headship of his wife's clan in 372 BCE. The pseudo-Kingdom carved out by the combined banner armies of Arun quickly became a powerhouse in the region and Arun's son, Aadesh, became a great general,diplomat, and then king in his own right. In [YEAR] CE, Aadesh (later known as The Conqueror) courted the Zoroastrian scholar and mystic Fravarti, who espoused a radical revision of traditional Darian Zoroastrian doctrine. According to Fravarti, God had originally placed the means of subsistence on earth so that people should divide them among themselves equally, but the strong had coerced the weak, seeking domination and causing the contemporary inequality. This in turn empowered the "Five Demons" that turned men from Righteousness—these were Envy, Wrath, Vengeance, Need and Greed. To prevail over these evils, justice had to be restored and everybody should share excess possessions with his fellow men. Aadesh, shrewd as he was, realigned Fravarti's teachings towards his own aims, reimagining his communitarian vision as a statist one, and using the influence of loyal clergy, he established Fravartism as a doctrine of Rigid Centralization of State, Religious, and Social bodies around the person of Aadesh, who was given a special theological role akin to the role of the Imperator-Pope in later Caphirian Catholicism. The religious fervor caused by the spread of Fravartism across Daria led to the heightening of civil strife in the region, with legions of fanatics often fighting alongside Aadesh in his campaigns against the other 10 remaining Barsom Armies.

With each new confrontation with the Barsom Armies, he was ruthless in their total liquidation, with mass executions of their clan leaders being commonplace. A notable exception to this rule, which later would prove to be key to the Arunid Empire's downfall, was Aadesh's sole defeat at the battle of [CITY] at the hands of Ardafravash of The [NAME] Clan, leader of the Adunishan Banner Army, who, after his retreat into the deserts of the interior would be the progenitor of the ruling family of the Oduniyyad Caliphate.

In the [Amount of years] of Aadesh's campaigns to unite the disparate frontiers of the former [NAME] Empire, he and his zealots forcefully dispossessed the estates of the Erezu caste, and installed loyal governors from the [NAME] class of bureaucrats in their place to administrate the growing realm. As the years progressed, Aadesh reached near total autocratic power over the entire region, with only the Imperial Capital under the rump [DYNASTY] Emperor and the Orthodox Zoroastrian clergy remaining the only obstacle to his total power as Padishah and King of Kings of Daria.

In [DATE, 782] Aadesh, in old age, laid siege to the city, and finally entered the Citadel in Sayendag, the ultimate symbol of divine and secular power in Darian civilization. On [DATE], Aadesh, now dressed in the sumptious robes of royalty, proclaiming the foundation of a new dynasty, with himself as the new Sublime Padishah of Daria. The Pukhgandi Barsom became the core of the new Aruni military, with conscripts from across the realm being integrated directly into its system, rather than the traditional disparate banner systems of old.

In the following years, first under Aadesh's nephew Aadesh II, and then his descendants, the reforms of Aadesh I, while momentarily advantageous to the greatly stratocratic state, would prove disastrous for the entire region, both militarily and economically. The alliance of the landowning class and the Barsom Armies, in hindsight, proved to be the key to the stabilization and state securtiy of the Darian Realm during previous Empires, a feature which the Arunid Empire completely lacked due to its liquidationist campaigns against both classes. Rudderless and with only the support of the [CLASS] of lowborn bureaucrats and extremist clergy as its base of support, the Empire quickly faltered domestically, with grotesque mismangement of the crops of [YEAR] {YEAR] and [YEAR] as well as the failure of the new [NAME] system of conscription instituted by Aadesh II to replace the banner army structure signfiicantly weakened control of the outer provinces. These failures culminated in the slow conquest of the Empire by the growing Muslim Caliphate throughouot the 8th and 9th centuries. The emperor met its final demise at the hand of an old enemy in a new guise in the year 884, with first Oduniyyad Caliph [NAME], grandson of Aadesh's old nemesis Ardafravash, who fled in to the desert and whose clan pledged allegiance to the Muslim cause in [year] and then rose to Caliphal authority following the Oduniyyad Revolution in the year 820.

Government

[WIIP, see above] The Arunid Empire was characterized by a strong centralized monarchy, provincial administration also dominated by a professional, court-educated bureaucracy, and a legal framework that promoted religious tolerance and social welfare. The empire's rulers, as preached by their Fravarti religion, played a significant role in fostering a rich cultural heritage and supporting the well-being of their subjects.

At its core, the Arunid Empire was a monarchy, with an emperor (King of Great Kings) at its head. The empire was led throughout its history by members of the Arunid Dynasty. The emperor held absolute authority over the empire, making key decisions related to governance, military, and foreign affairs. The line of succession was typically primogeniture, passing from father to son, although there were exceptions, occasional power struggles, and a few instances of non-familial regencies. The empire was divided into provinces and kingdoms, each governed by a king, and prince, governor, or viceroy appointed by the emperor. These provincial rulers were responsible for maintaining law and order, collecting taxes, and implementing imperial policies within their territories. Local customs and traditions were often respected to some extent, allowing for a degree of cultural autonomy within the provinces. To assist in the administration of the vast empire, a bureaucratic system was developed. This bureaucracy included professionals who managed various aspects of governance, such as taxation, justice, and public works. Prominent bureaucrats often served as advisers to the emperor and played key roles in policy formulation. The empire had a well-developed legal system with codified laws and regulations. Emperor Ashoka, in particular, is known for his edicts, which were inscribed on stone pillars and rock surfaces throughout the empire. These edicts promoted principles of justice, morality, and religious tolerance, and they provided a legal framework for the governance of the empire in its last days.

Economy

TBD. See above.