User:Rekiin/SARAMOSIR

Names

 * CUPMOSIR = The Big Northern Island (named for the first big kingdom there; sometimes used metonymically in the sense of 'aynumosir', and 'cup-un-kur' is the general name for ainu as A Civilization. Also called 朝地 Chaoji/Asaji.
 * SARAMOSIR = Politically, the state which occupies the island of cupmosir, the other northern islands, and a bit of the mainland in the present day. Geographically, an archaic/alternate name for the central basin of the island (also known as Tumuturkotan ('Central Land')).
 * There are numerous ethnic groups.
 * Saramosiri (Saramosir-un-kur, Tumutur-un-kur "people of the center"), Menasunkur (Menas-un-kur, "people of the east"), Sumunkur (Sum-un-kur, "people of the west"). Generally speaking, the peoples of the southern coast and interior basin. Saramosiri (Tumutur-itak) is the official state language, and is broadly hokkaido ainu with much heavier chinese and other external influences. Most regional languages in the south have largely been absorbed as dialects. Southern material culture is much more agricultural and sedentary than RL ainu, and Saramosiri in particular were heavily sinicized, so a lot of typical ainu customs like facial tattoos weren't super prevalent until the 19th century, when they were adopted from northerners by people trying to assert a common national identity.
 * Ay-un-kur, Sikot-un-kur in the north-northwest, Kunnekur and Repunkur in the northeast and islands, often bundled together as Pokkur (possibly from "pok" - underneath, below, referring to pit dwellings). Much closer to the ainu as they exist in our world; historical hunter gatherers with strong culture of trade and some strenuous relations with southerners. Kunnekur and Repunkur speak something like Sakhalin ainu, Ay-un-kur and Sikot-un-kur probably a conlang with loose kuril inspo because kuril ainu resources are impossible to find.

History
There are no contemporary written records of early history on Asaji, only fragmentary archaeological findings which give clues to the early state of the island. Sites such as Tannesir B and the Pirkai earth village imply that prior to around 100 CE the island was largely inhabited by pastoralist herders, fishers and gatherers, who lived in small villages consisting of earthen pit dwellings; some evidence of agriculture exists on the south coast, but was likely limited. The northward migrations of the Yezo may have introduced more permanent agriculture and settled living to the islands, and by 400 CE there is evidence of fortified settlements with sustained rice and millet farms sprouting up across the south coast, with large settlements also beginning to emerge in the Apasiri basin. Rempet and Macipet may have first been populated around this time, making them the oldest Saramosiri cities.

There was no central authority in early Asaji, save potentially for confederations of different city states which united to compete against eachother for territory and arable land. Huaxian records however indicate that several cities began to emerge as preeminent from the 11th century, when 'Three Kings of Chaoji' (朝地, read in Shirakawan, likely stemming from 日国 Cupmosir) began offering tribute to the Imperial Court. A Hua visitor to Shirakawa and Asaji in 1060 remarked: "Three kingdoms are ruled by three kings, who are of the same lineage, but are constantly at war. There is King Re of the North Valley, King Itu of the South, and finally King Ban of the East.' Of these, 'King Itu' certainly corresponds with Iteruy I of Haramosir, identified by later Kannaguru histories and corroborated by Shirakawan sources. King Re and King Ban are more difficult to identify, but may represent the rulers of ancient Nayoro and Sirokane, where Hua artifacts and inscriptions with early Kanita characters have been found. The reference to a common lineage among them may refer to recent shared descent, or perhaps to their common descent from the old Yezo aristocracy.

In 1065 Iteruy led a campaign into western Asaji, ransacking cities and villages and bringing the Karusi plain under the Haramosiri banner. The chieftains of tribes in Sumumosir were summoned to the Feast of Poynai, where they pledged loyalty to Iteruy and declared him kamuy, or God. Iteruy supposedly took this victory as a sign of his divinity, and began to propagate a within Haramosir centered on himself. From 1066 - 1083, possibly with support of the Sum un Kur tribesmen, he launched further expeditions to unite southern Asaji. By the time of his reported death, either in 1085 or 1088, he had brought the entirety of the Apasiri basin, the south coast, southern Sum un Mosir and parts of Menasmosir under his domain. The work of unification would be continued by his son, Ateruy I, who secured Menas un Kur between 1090 and 1104, and led raids onto the mainland, apparently reaching as far as Ninohe before being repulsed by Yashiman armies. Ateruy built a new capital at Apapet, known as Moikapa, and instituted numerous state reforms, including the adoption of Hua characters (kanita) and forms of dress. The beginnings of the Nispa aristocracy also began to develop at this time, as Ateruy relocated local chieftains and princes to his new capital to centralise his authority.

The Cupmosir kingdom achieved unrivalled dominance and peace in Asaji for over a century, and also maintained a string of mainland colonies known as Notenaymosir, which at the kingdom's peak stretched from modern day Minwa province to Boketu in Kuiju, and went as far inland as the north shore of Lake Dewa. Literature and the arts flourished, and the state established sophisticated systems of land distribution and taxation to encourage new cultivation. The Kutune Sirka, a poetic epic, and the Cupmosir Uepekere, the first original history of the kannaguru, were written in this time, while the style of Cupmosiri royal portraiture became increasingly mature.

However the centralised bureaucracy of Ateruy began to decline from the mid 1200s, especially as incursions from northern tribes and the Shirakawans to the south increased. Provincial governors were granted more powers, and lands began to be passed down through families, instead of governors being appointed by the central government. The necessity for fighting men also led to the development of the Ukik-kur, a military class under the nispa. The Cupmosiri monarchy increasingly filled a religious figurehead role, while a series of regents (Tonopo) from among the aristocracy began to dominate politics in practice. In 1274, the Kitay rebellion broke out. The revolt was started by peasants angry at abuses by local nobility, and feeling threatened by the growing migrations of Ashiwase to the east coast of Asaji, which the central government had largely tolerated and ignored. The rebels murdered ukik-kur, burnt down castles and tortured Royal officials. The royal court however was unable to take immediate action against the rebels, even after news poured in that they had marched north as far as Sumakotan, as there was an ongoing feud within the court between the two Kanna Nispa families of Osa and Osiri. This feud eventually erupted into the Moikapa war, which soon spilled beyond the confines of the Royal capital. The subsequent period of division and warlordism is known as the Seven Lords period.