Qumir Canals

History

Creation

The first canals constructed in Canespa have been found in and around the Chawpi Valle and other sites around rivers. The earliest canals date back to before the year 100 BCE and are very rudimentary. Being only three meters wide and stretchy not far from the rivers bank. These canals were likely used specifically for smaller canoes and for irrigation in order to farm around the river. Details from roughly translated texts reveals that the king of the proto-tribe that inhabited the era ordered the construction of these small canals. It is roughly theorized that these were not the first canals and the king ordered their construction in order to match neighboring tribes whose canals have been lost to time and the river shifting over the landscape.

The true beginning of the glorious canal system of Canespa began much later in the Kanchi tribe who similarly inhabited the Chawpi Valle of Canespa’s northeastern most area. In the 760s the tribal leader of the Kanchi House known as K’anchay Apamuq instructed the builders of the tribe to expand the local irrigation system to accommodate for the passage of boats to the largest city of the house, Allpapamuy. While neither the city or the regional canals in this area exist anymore it was the start of a new era of transportation in Canespa, one that still continues to this day. After K’anchay Apamuq started building canals the other tribes soon followed as they realized the value of quick and easy transportation outside the boundaries of the rivers. The Papa House soon built canals and after that it was only a matter of time before every house had some sort of canal system. The canals built at this time were roughly 10 meters wide and 2 meters deep with wooden pikes holding the ground on either side from collapsing in. They were built going toward major cities and were extraordinarily efficient when it came to the location they were built in. The locals seemed to know exactly where to build the canals especially by modern standards. The early canals are even studied in Canespian schools around the nation for their ingenious nature. Farms soon popped up around these early canals that stretched kilometers out from the main river. This was the start of a new era for Canespa and it would influence the nation up to today with the pure ingenuity of the canals.

Enlargement

The soon to be known as Qumir Canals became a staple of Canespian society and by 1100 every major tribe in the region had canal systems with some even stretching out for almost a hundred kilometers. The next major phase for the canals was in the 15th century. The tribes in the region of Canespa were starting to be introduced to new technology from colonizers. In addition to this the complete unification of Canespa occurred with the Wasi King. Major changes were happening and major updates were needed. In order to bolster the image of the young nation the Wasi King ordered that all canals be expanded by 1 meter in every direction. Along with this came the official announcement that all canal walls would now be built with brick and hardened clay instead of the simple wood pikes that were prone to corrosion and would get washed away. This leads to better, stronger, larger, and simply better looking canals. Whether their mission of bolstering the nation's image occurred or not they certainly helped the economy of the tribal federation flourish. They caused urbanization on a new scale in the region and also caused the expansion of farms into previously un-watered areas. The canals were funded, maintained, and owned by the quickly consolidating Wasi King as they began to control more and more of the nation directly. The canals were the first sign that the Wasi King’s power was immense and would only continue to grow. Before this the Wasi King barely had any authority over the nation and was starting to fail as a unifying figure, even on a religious standpoint. The enlargement period of the canals was a new beginning for the Wasi King, and an opening into the future of Canespa.

Corporate takeover

The canals might have been the first major possession of the Wasi King but they would be one of the first to go. The canals can be seen as a driving force of change in Canespa. They lead to the Wasi King being able to capture the gaze of the people and centralize the state and they lead to the economic modernization of Canespa, a modernization that wouldn’t copy occidentals but instead it took the good from their systems and merged it with the inner culture of Canespa. By 1750 the first companies as they were called began to form. This was made possible by the adoption of food as currency in Canespa with certain paying standards and minimum food wages being made by the Wasi King. To help promote this burgeoning economy the slightly larger business owners who started to transport their products through the dams were given slightly lower passing rates to use the canals. This inspired many canal owners to start building their own canals after they saw the large increase in profits following a minor reduction, it became an arms race for who could build their own canals and reduce their own rates to 0. A few companies would end up winning the race in their respective areas but none could develop a full monopoly. Once new canals had been built up, bigger, better, and deeper than ever before, the companies started to offer to pay the upkeep on the canals for cheaper prices. This would only further develop into the companies outright buying the canals. Soon the original goods produced by the newly found Qumir Companies as they were appropriately named ceased to exist. Realizing the true profit of owning the canals the companies soon switched to a completely canal based income where they, instead of the government, would collect rates on all the goods shipping through.