History of Kesh

The history of Kesh can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as Eastern Kesh, South Kesh, and the Northern Kesh linked by the interior steppes.

The coastal periphery was the home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. These valleys were fertile because the soil there was rich and could bear many root crops. The civilizations of the Sonasindhu River Plain and Changan River shared many similarities and likely exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other notions such as that of writing likely developed individually in each area. Cities, states and then empires developed in these lowlands.

The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of the Southern Kesh continent. The centre and periphery were kept separate by mountains and deserts. The X mountains ranges and X deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could only cross with difficulty. While technologically and culturally the city dwellers were more advanced, they could do little militarily to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force. Thus the nomads who conquered states in the Middle East were soon forced to adapt to the local societies.

Kesh's history would feature major developments seen in other parts of the world, as well as events that would affect those other regions. These include the trade of the notSilk Road, which spread cultures, languages, religion, and disease. Another major advancement was the innovation of gunpowder in medieval Kodeshia, which led to advanced warfare through the use of guns.

The Bronze Age
Many of the world's first civilizations developed in the rich river valleys and coastal plains of the periphery of Kesh. In Sindhustan, the Ramaja civilization developed in the Sonasindhu River Plain; in Kodeshia, the earliest stages of Kodeshian civilization developed on the banks of the Changan River. As these civilizations grew, developing large-scale agricultural communities that later grew into cities and adopting hierarchical societies as the population grew, technological innovations such as writing, mathematics, and the wheel arose as trade networks eventually spread across the vast expanses of the continent, linking these civilizations together. These trade networks were the ancient precursors to the Silk Road.

One of the most important technological innovations during this time was the production of bronze from smelting its original copper and alloying with tin, leading to a period known as the Bronze Age, which is typically characterized by the development of bronze, writing, and urban society as well as the expansion of trade networks in early civilizations. The Bronze Age is said to have lasted c. 3000-1200 bce in the Middle East; c. 3000-1200 bce in the Sindhustani subcontinent; and c. 2000-300 bce in Kodeshia. In Sindhustan, the development of bronze is linked with the Hamalshanbe Civilization in the Sadehrud River Valley and the Ramaja Civilization in the Sonasindhu River Plain, which at its height reached four million inhabitants before its collapse.

While the central steppes of Kesh, many of which lie in the Sadehrud River Valley in Sindhustan and in the plains of Guurdalai were home to settled, agricultural societies that developed on the banks of major rivers that provided narrow corridors of fertile land in grassy, windswept steppes; they were largely home to nomadic horsemen who entered in and out of the historical record, separating from more ancient civilizations by the vast deserts and mountain ranges that provided a geographic barrier. Throughout Keshi history, many of these nomadic horsemen would play a large role in the history of the continent as they came to conquer many of the settled societies that they were once isolated from, establishing long-lasting states that would change the history of the region.

The Prelude to the Grand Campaigns (1900-1915)
The early 20th century was a time of socioeconomic upheaval for much of Kesh. Artemian Imperialism had spread through the continent with Kodeshia, Sindhustan, Asharistan, Naseristan suffering military defeats and losses of their territory against modern industrialised nations of Artemia. While the weakened states of Asharistan and Naseristan were unable to modernise or mount an effective counter to this Imperial threat strong local resistance remained to the Imperial forces of Tipreyn. However, in Kodeshia and Sindhustan, the threat of domination from foreign powers provoked massive and widespread reformers to encourage industrialization and modernization schemes. In Sindhustan, the reforms of Sultan Rahman Ramadi developed the Sonasindhu River Plain into the industrial powerhouse of the Sindhustan subcontinent and the Sadehrud River Valley into the agricultural breadbasket of the region as well as well as overhauling the government into a modern administrative bureaucracy. Coupled with educational reforms, these development schemes transitioned Sindhustan from a rural society to a cosmopolitan one, shifting the Sindhustani seat of power from the Khankurgan Mountains to the rich cities of Sonasindhu and Sadehrud.

In Kodeshia, a series of ambitious social, political, and educational reforms aimed at developing the country's military-industrial base took place. Following the example of Agrana y Griego, dockyards and arsenals were built across the country as Artemian military expers were brought in to oversee the modernization of the army and navy. Over the course of a decade, Kodeshia quickly became a naval power in the region. Combined with rapid industrialization and the expansion of commerce, Kodeshia's industrial base grew considerably during this period. The reforms were not universally accepted, however, and the changes led to a backlash from the conservative elite and the younger generations, leading to riots in major cities as influential figures denounced the reforms in favor of more gradual changes.

The result of these developments led to emerging feelings of national identity in both countries as rulers sought to unite their diverse subjects.

While the early 20th century saw the mass industrialization and modernization of Sindhustan and Kodeshia, allowing the rulers of these countries to strengthen their hold over the state through encouraging emerging feelings of national identity, the opposite was true in the Caliphate. While it was a historical power, competing with various Sadehstani states over control of the Sadehrud River Valley and later with the Sindhustani Sultanate, the Caliphate would soon enter a period of terminal decline. Over the course of the first decade of the 20th century, successive political crises coupled with the central government's failure to respond to socioeconomic changes relating to industrialization and the rise of nationalism led to a series of separatist revolts across the country. With much of the country in open revolt, the Caliph lost control over the Caliphate as foreign powers such as Tiperyn started to fund these revolts in the hopes of fracturing the country.

In 1914, Sindhustan and Kodeshia signed a mutual defense and economic cooperation treaty in which they declared that they would help one another conquer territories lost to imperial powers and resist foreign domination. Sindhustan aimed to conquer the wealthy port city of Bandar Sonasindhu, which had been conquered by Agrana y Griego from the Gharzai Dynasty in 1674 and later by Tiperyn in 1754. Kodeshia aimed to conquer the Yuhai (Jade Sea) Islands, which had been lost to Tiperyn in 1655 and had been developed into major regional commercial centers. This alliance, combined with the collapse of the Caliphate and the ever-present threat of Tipslansk territorial control over its former domains set the stage for Kesh's role in the Grand Campaigns.

The Grand Campaigns (1915-1926)
During the beginning of the Grand Campaigns, Tiperyn formally declared war on the Caliphate, conquering various port cities on the periphery of the Naseri Desert. While it was able to conquer the coast with relative ease, the Shia revolts that it had funded during the previous decade coalesced into a national movement that aimed to create a religious Persian state in the mountainous interior of Naseristan, locked into a deadly stalemate with Tiperyn in its remote mountain valleys. Responding to the situation in Naseristan, Tipslansk forces in Sindhustan and Kodeshia were redeployed to Naseristan in order to combat the Shia revolt.

Fearing Tiperyn's advance into their northern frontiers, Sindhustan and Kodeshia declared war on Tiperyn. Sindhustan conquered Bandar Sonasindhu after a series of military victories while Kodeshia defeated the Tipslansk colonial defense force. This drew Oyashima into the war, which had allied with Tiperyn; followed by Guurdalai, which had allied with Kodeshia. After conquering Bandar Sonasindhu, Sindhustan officially supported the Shia rebels, fighting alongside them in order to push Tiperyn out of the mountainous interior after several years of drawn-out protracted mountain warfare. Under Sindhustan's protection, the Shia revolt resulted in the formation of Mihrashah [will be changed later], a vassal state of Sindhustan that constituted the mountainous interior of Naseristan and Asharistan. With the help of Sindhustan, Mihrashah was developed into a modern, semi-industrial state. The consolidation of Mihrashah led to a long-lasting armistice between Sindhustan and Tiperyn, which was agreed upon when it became clear that Sindhustan could not conquer the coastal plains of Naseristan and that Tiperyn could not conquer the mountain ranges of Mihrashah.

As the war went on, Kodeshia grew wary with Sindhustan over its unilateral actions in the former Caliphate and its unwillingness to commit to significant military support to Kodeshia, which was occupied with fighting Oyashima at sea and supporting Guurdalai on land. The rift between Sindhustan and Kodeshia led to the former funding and supporting a Shia revolt in Northern Kodeshia in the hopes of recreating its success in Mihrashah. No longer at war with Sindhustan, Tiperyn supported these revolts as well, supplying weapons and artillery to Shia militias. Following a costly naval defeat off the coast of the Yuhai Islands, Kodeshia was forced into the defensive, drawing its attention to the Shia Revolt. After a long, protracted, and deadly campaign in the north, Kodeshia defeated the Shia militias. However, a series of reformist mass movements that rose in revolt across Kodeshia in the wake of the Shia Revolt forced the Emperor to sign the first Kodeshian Constitution, ending thousands of years of absolute monarchy. Despite the new government, when details of Sindhustan and Tiperyn's support of the Shia Revolt surfaced after a dispatch was confiscated by Kodeshian authorities at the Sindhustani Consulate in Bukkai-ri led to the termination of the alliance between Kodeshia and Sindhustan. The Kodeshian Constitution is seen as the end of the Grand Campaigns in Kesh in Sindhustan and Kodeshia.

The Interwar period (1926-1949)
Following the Grand Campaigns, the Interwar Period was a time of social change in much of the continent as the advancement of industry and the social conditions created by a decade of continuous warfare left long-lasting political, demographic, and socioeconomic changes in many of the countries that fought in the war. In Kodeshia, Sindhustan funneled money into Republican revolutionaries who were dissatisfied with the government, placing a strain on a fledgling Imperial Republic burdened by debt. The situation worsened as disagreements between the Conservative elite and Liberal reformists divided the Imperial Court, forcing Parliament into gridlock, resulting in a government that was unable to respond to the multiple crises that threatened Kodeshia's internal stability. In 1927, Parliament was dissolved, the Imperial Republic collapsed, and a civil war between royalists and Republicans raged across Kodeshia, causing the Emperor to abdicate and flee the country, fearing for his life. The conflict continued for a year until a Democratic Republic was declared in 1928, ending thousands of years of official Imperial rule. However, the Democratic Republic was weak and prone to foreign influence, particularly from Sindhustan and Tiperyn, and was often subject to long intervals of military rule. Soon, a succession of military dictatorships came to rule Kodeshia, each purging the country of influence from Sindhustan and Tiperyn, effectively closing the country off from the world due to the reign of terror in Guurdalai, which threatened the security of the new state.

The Wars in Kesh (1949-1959)
In 1949, the Yazidis of Asharistan invaded Mihrashah. While the Yazidis, who were supported by Tiperyn, were initially successful, the war quickly escalated into a deadly stalemate with Sindhustani forces in the lofty mountain passes of the Keshi interior - a stalemate that would continue for several years, costing thousands of lives as both sides continued to pour troops into the battlefield with little success. The war went on for five more years, with neither side managing to make much progress in one of the deadliest military standoffs in history until Kodeshia, which managed to re-establish itself as a regional military power, supported a military coup led by General Sozin Hafiz overthrew the Sultanate, exiling Sultan Firdaus Ramadi and declaring the Worker's Republic of Sindhustan. As the military withdrew from the northern front in order to secure the Sadehrud River Valley from opposition forces, Mihrashahi resistance collapsed, allowing Tiperyn and Asharistan to conquer it, leading to the formation of what is now Naseristan and Asharistan.