Kingdom of Rhodanthian

The Kingdom of Rhodanthian (Rhoda: umbuso amaRhoda, "The Kingdom of the Rhoda"), was a in modern day Rhodanthian. It was established in 1788, after the last of the Rhodantine Tribes was conquered by Nkosana Oluwaseyi and he was crowned King of Rhodanthian. Ruled by a series of Kings and Queens for almost a century, it was conquered by Zusea after a bloody succession crisis known as the Brothers' War.

Today, the Kingdom of Rhodanthian serves as a symbol of Rhodantine heritage and unity, hearkened back to by numerous political groups and propagandists. Though the monarchy endures under a descendant of Nkosana Oluwaseyi, it has lost nearly all of its politcal power, and serves now only as a cultural artifact.

Prior Kingdoms
The origins of the title Inkosi amaRhoda Bonkwe, or "King of all the Rhoda", are hard to pin down due to a lack of written records, but reach back at least 900 years, to the Kingdom of Tzonga, which emerged as a powerful, centralized state in the Indawabanzi around 1100 A.D., and lasting until around 1200 A.D. Transforming the plains tribes from nomadic hunter-gathers into professional skirmishers and mercenaries, the Merchant-Kings of Tzonga set the standard for their successors, seizing key resources and control over the Omkhulu River. This in hand, the Tzonga could stretch their influence from the jungles of Gwavu to the Dwandwe marshland.

Unfortunately for the Merchant-Kings, their military innovations spread rapidly across eastern Osova, and their vast wealth attracted jealous rivals. After decades of decline, their kingdom was overthrown by the Lion-King Kweku Opeyemi, establishing a revolving door of petty kingdoms, as countless tribes fought and died in a centuries-long period known as the Ukuvuna.

The Brothers' War
(Thokozani Ayodele at Idwalalokuzi, Sekani Ayodele at Izwelenko))

Zusean intervention
Worried by the rising chaos around them, the colonists of Greater Kaapstadt had been arming themselves since the Battle of Indaka Ridge, amassing rifles, cannons, and calling to the Vordic States for aid. Though the Zuseans had so far remained neutral, Prince Sekani sent a delegation to Provinzvizekönig Sascha Lafrenz, offering the rights to any captured land if the colonists would fight on his side. Lafrenz leapt at the opportuniy, mustering a force of 10,000 kolonialkommandos and marching directly at Idwalalokuzi while Sekani continued to hold his brother along the river.

Caught off guard, and underestimating the force of arms that Zusea could bring to bear, the garrison at Idwalalokuzi was swiftly crushed in the Battle of Konnigspitze leaving the royal treasury and harem to be captured. His prestige damaged, the Prince attempted numerous counterattacks across the Omkhulu, but was gradually pushed farther and farther into the foothills of the Amabheji, encircled by Rhoda Impis and ever growing numbers of Imperial soldiers.

After a final battle at Umhume we-Noxolo, Prince Thokozani surrendered on September 17th, 1864. In the ensuing peace treaty, Prince, now briefly King Sekani, found himself bullied into compliance by the vastly better armed and supplied Zuseans, and was forced to cede that since Lafrenz's forces had captured his brothers' capital, the entire kingdom was included in her spoils of war, as set out in their treaty. Now a subject of the Vordic Empire, Sekani Oluwaseyi was stripped of his royal titles and properties, and the Kingdom of Rhodanthian was absorbed into the new colony of Ostotzova.