Copake: Difference between revisions

{{Main|Polar Captaincy}}

In [[1652]], forces from [[Varshan]] arrived in [[Venua'tino]] and established loose control over the territory, with Varshani cities and outposts on the coast serving as nexuses of control and centers of tribute for the rest of the territory. This occupation took the form of the Polar Captaincy, primarily focused on exacting tribute and exporting a limited number of slaves to Varshan rather than directly administering or colonizing the territory. Accordingly, the nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of northern and inland Copake were not significantly disturbed by the establishment of Varshani rule, though occasional parties of raiders or unofficial "tribute collectors" would periodically plague the area for the next several centuries. The Copaish cities on the Wappinger Peninsula, however, now fell under direct Varshani rule. The period between the 1650s and 1960s would see significant, Varshani-influenced changes to Copake's most urbanized region. The local population was generally treated as a subservient caste, but unlike mainland Varshan they still held major economic and even administrative posts in service of the Captaincy. The small number of Varshani settlers in these cities generally required higher standards of living than previously existed, creating complex temple, administrative, and leisure structures which are now iconic sites within Copaish cities. The Captaincy period had significant impacts on Copaish culture and likely was the origin point of the [[Venua Faith]]'s divergence from mainstream [[M'acunist]] religion, incorporating significant [[Arzalist]] themes. The Captaincy also created an implied sense of hierarchy within Copaish cities and a cultural inclination towards deference to perceived social betters, a trait that still exists within urban Copaish society but is absent among the range people.

The Captaincy is noteworthy from a historiographical standpoint as it is the first time in which the various peoples and regions of Copake were documented. A group of four surveyors from Varshan traveled throughout modern Copake and the modern [[International Nature Preserve]] from [[1652]] to [[1659]], meticulously documenting nomadic groups they came across, villages, languages, local religious practice, and the viability of various groups to be procured (by traditional deportation or by trading goods) for slavery. These documents, now collectively known as the "Great Survey", have proven an invaluable tool both to Occidental scholars as well as those in Copake attempting to define a shared and antique national identity.