Truk: Difference between revisions

Eventually a tribe known as the Bagus that was directly descended from one of the noble families of the Melat era began forming alliances through marriage with other 'originator' tribes. King Eka of the Bagus proclaimed (as attested in clay tablets dated to 1101) anyone descended from the invading tribes as unclean ones, to be killed without exception. Thus the Bagus and allied tribes started a period of great bloodletting, including the ritualistic consumption of their enemies. The shocking violence reasserted the primacy of the older settled tribes over the newer ones but also greatly depopulated Truk. As one of the few settlements in habitable state, Imarli was chosen by the Bagus to serve as their new capital.

===Emirate of Truk===

[[File:Codice_Casanatense_Fartaques.jpg|thumb|A painting of the third Emir of Truk, Selim II and his wife Radwa]]

In the year 1251 an Islamic mystic by the name of [[Sayed Ali Qumi]] arrived by accident on the islands with a few companions after being shipwrecked in a storm. Qumi proceeded to successfully spread Islam to the people of Imarli by recounting the martial prowess of the Oduniyyad caliphs As the people of Truk did not have alcohol or pigs, forbbiding their consumption was not an obstacle to conversion. The King of Truk of the day adopted the islamic first name of Akhmat Bagusid to signal his new piety and began to style himself as emir, in imitation of Muslim rulers under Oduniyyad suzerainty. Under the Bagusids, the damage done to the islands during the Jaws of Hunger was undone and a prosperous merchantile society was built up as Truk began building bigger ships capable of ocean exploration. Imarli was known during this period as the Jewel under the Sun and the palaces and masjids of the Bagusids were adorned with fine carpets, mother of pearl and exotic woods and silks. Truk's relative geographical isolation in this early period allowed it to expand at its leisure to nearby islands such as [[Rapa Rapa]], taken under the Emir's protection in 1265. Traditional notions of clan loyalty and kingly veneration were useful tools in the consolidation of the Bagusids and their power; internal upheaveals were a rare thing and crisis only came with the arrival of foreign vessels on the [[Polynesian Sea]].  

Initially appearing merely as explorers, in the following decades Levantians, Sarpedonians and Daxians would sail to Truk to peddle their goods, petition the Emirs for transit rights and protection and also at times to deliver threats. To survive, Truk's wily rulers managed to tiptoe around the various powers and avoided committing themselves to any one side for too long, making Truk an important component of the [[The Southern Route|southern route]] and the [[Audonia]]-[[Sarpedon]] trade and taking advantage of the cultural and economic exchanges on offer. Beginning in 1642 Emir Mahmud Tidore II agreed to a loose compact with [[Daxia]] to counter encroachments by the [[Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth]]; a possible fatal misstep as the Daxian court saw the agreement as much more binding and formal than the Bagusids ever did. Mahmud allowed the Daxians to build a fort on the island of Anako; the emirate's forces also received some shipments of weapons such as muskets to increase their battle worthiness. In return for their protection, Mahmud sold them pearls, saltpeter, sago(a type of starch used for bread) and cassava at greatly discounted rates In time the Daxians would also station a permanent representative on to the Bagusid court to oversee relations with the emirate and steer its policies to a pro-Daxian stance. Emir Mahmud's foreign policy caused a split with his son and heir, Prince Akhmat, and when the emir got sick in 1674 his son took the opportunity to launch a palace coup and usurp his father's place.  

===Daxian Rule===

==Economy==

==Government and Politics==