Grand Republic of Annišāḫūtu
The Grand Republic of Annišāḫūtu is a Bidanite Ursumar nation (as well as that nation's capital) which runs along the edge of the great lake, taking advantage of its coastal position to leverage mercantile prowess. Fittingly, Annišāḫūtu is a nation run by these merchants, in a loose confederation of interests against their foes. A young nation, Annišāḫūtu was the first to jump ship from the decaying Divinity of Bēlqūašdu after the Third Rise of the Tögsgölgüi Ord and subsequent war from 1958-1974. This war "shook the confidence of the merchants and their faith in the divine blessing of the Empire". Or, in layman's terms, made them decide they could get away with declaring independence. A cabal of merchants was formed, a shadow government formed, and a grand declaration of independence was made. Annišāḫūtu's leading figures hoped they would ignite a chain of rebellions which would shake Bēlqūašdu to its core and see it fall to bits- bits which could be played off one another to scrounge up more power for the merchants and enrich the fat lakeside cities. While they were correct that Bēlqūašdu would be shook to its core, the nation did not fall. The northern lords, concerned with the centaur threat, and the eastern marches along the plains stayed loyal- for the most part. Yes, there was rebellion, and yes most of Bēlqūašdu was lost, but the actual core of the nation has remained, teeting on the edge of disaster but strong enough to not yet shatter. Worse still, Annišāḫūtu's plans for uniting the Bidanite merchants fractured. Those infernal plantation lords of Binašru-ku turned to vampiric help to keep there slaves in line instead of reaching out for Annišāḫūtu, and the province of Šapliḫīti, wedged between the two, decided that a neutral stance was best, spurning Bēlqūašdu and both new republics. Lastly, despite their secure control over the deltas, the Aḫīalbu region pulled itself together and unified under vampires, while the south decided to ignore all these factions and go their own way, proving that nobody was really willing to listen to Annišāḫūtu at all. Nobody in power, that is. But money still talks and Annišāḫūtan goods have a way of finding their way into all of their foes. Sure, they might be blackmailed and bribed in, but trade continues.
Before it was a country, Annišāḫūtu was just a city. A powerful city, however, as situated a few miles away from the swampy delta at a confluence of rivers, it has long been a seat of power. During the Divinity of (Latter) Bāblus, it was the seat for one of the ten dukes, competing for power and influence. When Bāblus fell, its ruler was deposed and a branch of the Ashērykan royal family placed in control of the city, but that did not last forever. During the Great Kinstrife, the Ashērykan royals were nearly entirely wiped out, and the merchants of the city stepped up to govern in their stead. Since the royal family remained small for the remainder of Ashēryku's existence, there was never any reason to challenge this, and the city retained its own autonomous self-governance. Their merchants prospered from 1700-1800, but prosperity was short-lived as the Great Death struck the city quite early. The death toll reaching 50% of the population, the city was in ruins- but ruins can be prosperous. Rallying behind the new Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, the merchants ensured royal meddling would be limited, and set to rebuilding the decrepid city- at least, those who survived did. With trade and commerce in the gutter after the plague, many expected total failure from the merchants, but without fail those who invested the most during this period became fabulously wealthy while those who were more conservative fell out of favor. Owning nearly the entire city, banking, and shipping industries, the most powerful merchants would soon rule the city both politically and economically, and everyone else would have to do what they said. Sure, Bēlqūašdu occasionally tried to interfere and break their monopolies, but the attempts were never really serious- they were not eager to repeat the excesses of the Ashērykans. Besides, some of these lords were vampiric in nature, and they had been playing this game for a long, long time. Such men are not lightly made enemies, though they constantly suffered the annoyance of the church.
That's why, when Binašru-ku was established as an autonomous region many of them deserted Annišāḫūtu and went to quieter places, where their manor houses could avoid the crowds. It's far easier to get privacy there than the bustling streets of what was by that point Bēlqūašdu's largest city. The other marchants didn't mind, though they did when these same vampires and the lesser mercant families that made the journey over turned out to have landed in a metaphorical gold mine. That is, those who didn't find their throats slit by the Aimaur resistance. Annišāḫūtu's merchants have always prided themselves on being the prime mover of trade, and the establishment of a rival for this role, and one that had formal autonomy to boot, made them very jealous. Sure, they were all Bidanites, but Annišāḫūtu's richest, weather dealing clean or dirty, have never liked sharing wealth. Binašru-ku, for their part, resented Annišāḫūtu for treating them like a lesser region, or as a younger brother. After all, technically the governor of Binašru-ku outranked the mayor of Annišāḫūtu. Technically.
Annišāḫūtu's economy is largely run off of three things: trade, shipbuilding, and cash crops. Of these, trade is by far the most lucrative. Annišāḫūtu's location allows it to monopolize the transport of several key industries, including most of the output of Bēlqūašdu's lumber, agriculture, and wool industries. Slaves are also a key export despite mostly being imported from other places. As slaves from the north have largely stopped arriving and and feuds with Binašru-ku exist, the inflow of slaves has largely ceased, thus stopping this industry for now. Another home grown industry reliant on imports of wool, many cloth workshops have also been set up within the walls of the city, or on estates a small distance away. Using the wood gained from upstream, Annišāḫūtu is able to corner the shipbuilding industry- highland wood is superior to the twisted jungle and savanna trees. This means that even merchants who don't reside within Annišāḫūtu come to see boats built, if they want the best. However, Annišāḫūtu has never been adept at producing warships, as naval combat is rather rare within the great lake. Finally, as the city an most of the nation's territory lies just within the tropics, a number of crops doing well in the heat and humidity are able to be cultivated throughout their lands. This includes sugars, fruits, tobacco, and palms, all of which have been lucrative. Although Binašru-ku is dominant in most cash crops and Šapliḫīti has been a longtime leader in sugarcane production, Annišāḫūtu has enough planations themselves to carve out a significant portion of the market.
Before it was a country, Annišāḫūtu was just a city. A powerful city, however, as situated a few miles away from the swampy delta at a confluence of rivers, it has long been a seat of power. During the Divinity of (Latter) Bāblus, it was the seat for one of the ten dukes, competing for power and influence. When Bāblus fell, its ruler was deposed and a branch of the Ashērykan royal family placed in control of the city, but that did not last forever. During the Great Kinstrife, the Ashērykan royals were nearly entirely wiped out, and the merchants of the city stepped up to govern in their stead. Since the royal family remained small for the remainder of Ashēryku's existence, there was never any reason to challenge this, and the city retained its own autonomous self-governance. Their merchants prospered from 1700-1800, but prosperity was short-lived as the Great Death struck the city quite early. The death toll reaching 50% of the population, the city was in ruins- but ruins can be prosperous. Rallying behind the new Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, the merchants ensured royal meddling would be limited, and set to rebuilding the decrepid city- at least, those who survived did. With trade and commerce in the gutter after the plague, many expected total failure from the merchants, but without fail those who invested the most during this period became fabulously wealthy while those who were more conservative fell out of favor. Owning nearly the entire city, banking, and shipping industries, the most powerful merchants would soon rule the city both politically and economically, and everyone else would have to do what they said. Sure, Bēlqūašdu occasionally tried to interfere and break their monopolies, but the attempts were never really serious- they were not eager to repeat the excesses of the Ashērykans. Besides, some of these lords were vampiric in nature, and they had been playing this game for a long, long time. Such men are not lightly made enemies, though they constantly suffered the annoyance of the church.
That's why, when Binašru-ku was established as an autonomous region many of them deserted Annišāḫūtu and went to quieter places, where their manor houses could avoid the crowds. It's far easier to get privacy there than the bustling streets of what was by that point Bēlqūašdu's largest city. The other marchants didn't mind, though they did when these same vampires and the lesser mercant families that made the journey over turned out to have landed in a metaphorical gold mine. That is, those who didn't find their throats slit by the Aimaur resistance. Annišāḫūtu's merchants have always prided themselves on being the prime mover of trade, and the establishment of a rival for this role, and one that had formal autonomy to boot, made them very jealous. Sure, they were all Bidanites, but Annišāḫūtu's richest, weather dealing clean or dirty, have never liked sharing wealth. Binašru-ku, for their part, resented Annišāḫūtu for treating them like a lesser region, or as a younger brother. After all, technically the governor of Binašru-ku outranked the mayor of Annišāḫūtu. Technically.
Annišāḫūtu's economy is largely run off of three things: trade, shipbuilding, and cash crops. Of these, trade is by far the most lucrative. Annišāḫūtu's location allows it to monopolize the transport of several key industries, including most of the output of Bēlqūašdu's lumber, agriculture, and wool industries. Slaves are also a key export despite mostly being imported from other places. As slaves from the north have largely stopped arriving and and feuds with Binašru-ku exist, the inflow of slaves has largely ceased, thus stopping this industry for now. Another home grown industry reliant on imports of wool, many cloth workshops have also been set up within the walls of the city, or on estates a small distance away. Using the wood gained from upstream, Annišāḫūtu is able to corner the shipbuilding industry- highland wood is superior to the twisted jungle and savanna trees. This means that even merchants who don't reside within Annišāḫūtu come to see boats built, if they want the best. However, Annišāḫūtu has never been adept at producing warships, as naval combat is rather rare within the great lake. Finally, as the city an most of the nation's territory lies just within the tropics, a number of crops doing well in the heat and humidity are able to be cultivated throughout their lands. This includes sugars, fruits, tobacco, and palms, all of which have been lucrative. Although Binašru-ku is dominant in most cash crops and Šapliḫīti has been a longtime leader in sugarcane production, Annišāḫūtu has enough planations themselves to carve out a significant portion of the market.
Founding Date
1974
Predecessor Organization
Demonym
Annišāḫūtan
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Thalassocracy
Economic System
Market economy
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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