Serikorda: Difference between revisions

Serikorda was originally home to the Hottopik and Paksun tribes of [[Kiravite Aboriginals]]. Gaelic clans also inhabited parts of the area at various times. During the Coscivian Colonial period, in the course of dividing the still-unsettled areas of Great Kirav, Emperor Xorokaster II issued contradictory decrees granting authority over what would become Serikorda to both the Audiencia of Harma and the Captaincy-General of [[Róvidrea]], which would later be subsumed under the Viceroyalty of the Kiygrava and the Viceroyalty of Andela, respectively. However, neither colony exercised any actual control over the area, which remained populated mainly by the Paksun and Hottopik. Coscivian and Celtic immigration began in earnest during the [[Cromwelute Wars|Cromwelute Depredations]], with Serikorda's sheltered geography attracting people from coastal areas who moved inland to escape Cromwelute raids. These settlers came mainly from neighbouring Róvidrea, Harma, and the Gaelic lands that would become Irovasdra and Arkelly, and they succeeded in forming lasting settlements around the fringes of the Serikorda Basin while the Aboriginals retained control over the hinterland. Kiygrava administered the area as a countyship of Róvidrea and Andela as a countyship of Harma throughout the colonial period, and although the two governments were aware of immigration by each others' subjects and continued to assert their overlapping claims, the limited size of the Coscivian settlements and lack of contact between them prevented the territorial dispute from becoming a matter of concern until much later.

The Coscivian and Gaelic population of Serikorda declined after the defeat and eradication of the Cromwelutes, which allowed many of the colonists to either return home or move on to the new and often better lands that had become available in Upper Kirav. However, it would recover during the Viceregal period when mounting population pressure across the eastern seaboard increased demand for land and many people became willing to settle in highland, forest, and frontier areas further from the control of the increasingly corrupt and heavy-handed Viceregal governments. As before, the southern part of the state would be settled mainly by [[Kir people|Kir Coscivians]] and Sedhan Coscivians pushing northward from Róvidrea, the east would be settled mainly by [[Taństem Coscivians]] pushing westward from Harma and [[Fariva]], and the upland northern and western areas would be settled mainly by Gaels. However, unlike during the Cromwelute Wars, these larger waves of settlers with improved agricultural and military technology were far more successful in decimating the Aboriginal population and bringing large tracts of land under cultivation, creating contiguous zones of settlement that eventually collided with one another. This resulted in a great deal of violence between settler militias of different origins settling on tracts of land granted to them by their respective governments. Kiyrgava (later the [[United Provinces]]), Andela, and Arkelly sent troops into Serikorda on various occasions to evict "squatters", and more rarely to engage the regular forces of other claimants.

Owing to the strong localist traditions of both the Taństan community with its Andelan town meetings on one hand and the "croft and clan" orientation of the Highlander community on the other, as well as the fact that the state government has reliably been gridlocked and dysfunctional, Serikorda has very strong local governments, even by Kiravian standards.

*The '''First Pillar''' or '''Andelan Pillar''' was established by Coscivian settlers who came to Serikorda from [[Harma]] and [[Fariva]]. The majority of people in the First Pillar are ethnic [[Taństem Coscivians|Taństem]], though it has grown to include people of other ethnic backgrounds who regularly use the Taństan Coscivian language or were educated in historically Taństan schools. In modern times, non-Gaelic people who move to Serikorda from Harma and Fariva typically identify and register with the First Pillar, as do other newcomers who settle in predominantly First Pillar communities. Members of the First Pillar are most heavily concentrated in the east.