History of Prabhat

The History of Prabhat refers to events that occurred within the boundaries of the current Prabhat or his predecessor states. The History of Prabhat is characterized by being one of the oldest and most diverse, thanks to the existence of states in the region for 3000 years, which were happening through wars and other events until shaping the current Prabhat.

Prehistory (15000 BCE - 3000 BCE)
There are data on the presence of homo sapiens in Prabhat for 17,000 years. The first modern humans probably penetrated the territory around 15,000 BCE through the Anarattā jungle, where the oldest prehistoric remains are found. These humans organized themselves into hunter-gatherer societies which took advantage of the abundance of animals and fruits of the northeastern jungle areas, which existed thanks to the presence of the Devana Basin which provided water to these societies. Apparently the prehistoric clans tried to expand towards the south, but nevertheless various difficulties such as the climate, the wild nature and the diseases made difficult their passage and they ended up isolating themselves in the areas around the Devana Basin. This is assumed due to the small amount of remains found in the south, which fade the further south you search. The idea that southern Prabhat was never populated in prehistoric times was discarded when archaeological remains were found in Maliba, apparently originating from nomads from South Kesh who temporarily settled in the area.

The knowledge of this time exists thanks to the large number of existing archaeological samples, which include petroglyphs, dolmens, tombs, cave paintings and other remains. One of these places with a great presence of archaeological remains are the Edabetka Caves in Anarattā, which have the oldest petroglyphs in the Prabhat territory, dated around 9,800 BCE. The cave paintings found in the Rhakavira and Latyanssa caves date from around 14,000 BCE. The funerary traditions of these societies have made it possible to find numerous fossil remains of humans with which it has been possible to explain the common origin of the Bhāgyan-Devanasūnan ethnic family.

First Civilizations (3000 BCE - 1200 BCE)
The first Neolithic civilization is the Devana Basin Civilization, which was established in 3000 BCE on the Devana River and Devana Lake, which give this civilization its name. This civilization was based on fishing and rice-producing villages, which spoke Proto-Sanskrit. Around 2700 BCE, another group of nomads was influenced by the Devana Basin Civilization and began farming, creating a new Neolithic civilization on the Vidara River in present-day Vidarala. This gave rise to another of the first two civilizations of Prabhat, the Vidara River Civilization, which like its relative carried out agricultural activities to subsist. The peoples of these two cultures were ethnically differentiated over time to give rise to two different ethnic groups but from the same family: the Devanasūna (“from Devana”) to the north and the Bhāgyavāna (“fortunate”) to the south. This ethnic divide occurred in approximately 2100 BCE. These two cultures were developing during the Bronze Age and expanding over nearby territories. The Devanasūna encompassed the present-day Nāngara, Bhitora, and Anāratta regions, while the Bhāgyavāna encompassed Vidarala, Tughluka, and Bhāgya. The slight commercial and cultural interaction between these two cultures was the antecedent of a future route that would be key to the development of the later kingdoms that emerged from these two cultures.

Devana Basin Civilization
The Devana Basin Civilization was established around 3,000 BCE with the founding of the first Neolithic cities, established thanks to the influence from the north from which farming techniques came. Their societies took advantage of the monsoon system that produced mild flooding in the Devana River to plant rice, which became the staple food of this civilization. Access to these large bodies of water also allowed the development of fishing, mainly fishing for fish with spears on the coast of streams. Livestock was kept somewhat secluded, however it is known that buffaloes were raised for consumption in the cities.

As for the organization of the Devana Basin Civilization, it was made up of several city-states which were led by councils of elders, although in its first decades of existence there was no government. The most important cities (which are now protected archaeological sites) were Haddjpur, Vaskidu and Pashuthit-Wali, all of them located in coastal areas. The cities of civilization were noted for their urban planning, fired brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-residential buildings, advanced craftsmanship, and metallurgy (copper, bronze, and tin). These cities were walled and connected under commercial networks which fostered the cultural unity of this civilization, based on artistic similarities in terms of ceramic styles, ornaments, paintings and urban designs. The Devana Basin Civilization at its peak probably reached 1 million inhabitants, and the aforementioned 3 large cities probably grew to contain between 20,000 and 50,000 people.

Vidara River Civilization
The Vidara River Civilization was established around 2700 BCE in the Vidara River basin after local nomadic clans adopted agriculture thanks to the influence of the Devana Basin Civilization. The agriculture of this society was also based on rice, although it is known that they also planted millet and barley. Not having the same privileged hydrographic system as their northern neighbors, they had to further develop livestock, specializing in raising and grazing buffalo, cows, bulls and chickens. The Vidara River Civilization reached the coast to the ocean and built canoes for fishing in deeper waters, which favored the founding of cities on the ocean coast.

The Vidara River Civilization organization differed from its neighbor in that the city-states were led by despots, who were sometimes worshiped as gods. This sparked an expansionist ideal in the city-states that led to numerous wars for control of rangelands. These conflicts delayed its society in artistic expressions compared to its neighbor, however they favored technological innovation, being an advanced civilization in metallurgy and military tactics. The main cities were Varmonaha, Jaringa and Ralavis-Yaka.

Five Kingdoms Period (1200 BCE - 711 BCE)
The prosperity of the cities of the Vidara and Devana Civilizations prompted the creation of organized states. At the end of the Bronze Age, the city-states of each region formed cultural and commercial ties between them, and led to the creation of federations and confederations. As early as 1200 BCE, when the Iron Age began in Prabhat, what were once numerous city-states concentrated in two civilizations formed the Five Kingdoms of Prabhat, the earliest existing states in Prabhat's territory. These five kingdoms were: Pascātya, Nānga and Anārah in the territory of the Devana Civilization, and Tughluka and Vidarala (the same names as the current regions) in the territory of the Vidara Civilization. It was during the early years of the Five Kingdoms of Prabhat that strong commercial and cultural ties were forged between the two regions. The language that the two civilizations shared, proto-Sanskrit, evolved into Sanskrit thanks to the appearance of the Devanagari script in Pascātya, which spread to the rest of the kingdoms establishing the linguistic union of all of them, although having north and south its own dialect. The relationship between the kingdoms was strengthened thanks to the Malimāra Route, a trade route that crossed the territory between the Devana and Vidara regions, which favored the economic development of the kingdoms and facilitated cultural, scientific and technological exchange. The Five Kingdoms of Prabhat were despotic states, led by kings who held all power in their hands and inherited it from their ancestors, thus creating the first dynasties. The existence of these kingdoms, despite the bonds forged, was not entirely peaceful. In fact, researchers have managed to document a war between Nānga and Anārah around 900 BCE to control the fertile lands of the Devana River, which ended up as a victory for Nānga after 1 to 3 years of warfare. In the Period of the Five Kingdoms the first religions were also formed, which were shamanic and animistic beliefs typical of each kingdom. In an ancient Sanskrit text called Sanskāra Sūcanā, written around 850 BCE, the religious rites of a town in Tughluka are detailed, including prayers to spirits of people and animals and praises to the forces of nature.

The economic activities of these kingdoms went beyond agriculture and fishing originated in the first two civilizations. Several evidences have been found that indicate a great mining activity that includes the extraction of gems to be turned into jewels, in addition to the extraction and casting of iron for tools, weapons and armor. In Vidarala the creation of jade jewelery and sculptures was common, while in Nānga the sapphire was considered of high value and widely used in jewelry. This mining demand led groups of people to disengage from the kingdoms and form their own villages in the interior of Prabhat, where there were more mineral deposits due to the existence of mountain ranges. These independent communities traded minerals with the kingdoms and at the same time brought about the arrival of civilization in lands further from the coast. While this was happening, the coastal kingdoms developed the first sailboats to expand fishing operations and collect shells and sea pearls, which served as replacements when there was a shortage of gems.

In 800 BCE, something important happens that would seal Prabhat's fate. In a city east of Anārah called Abhayā a religious doctrine called Viśvāsa appears, embodied in a group of texts in Sanskrit that defines certain religious dogmas such as "karma", the "reincarnation cycle" and "enlightenment", in addition to be the first polytheistic religion of Prabhat since it establishes a trinity of gods to worship: Jnānī, Kharē and Majabūta. The Viśvāsa religious texts spread throughout Anārah and then throughout the rest of the Five Kingdoms, their dogmas being adopted by a large part of the population, although clashing with the animistic traditions of each kingdom. The main source of expansion of this doctrine is the oral route, orally transmitting the teachings of the Viśvāsa. By 710 BCE the first complex rituals and shrines appear, and the city of Abhayā becomes an important religious center.

The cultural, linguistic, economic and more recently religious union of the Five Kingdoms of Prabhat sparked the desire for unification. In 715 BCE, Tughluka and Vidarala were unified thanks to a dynastic union, so the Bhāgyavāna people united under the authority of King Ēkasandha, who began a military campaign to unify all the kingdoms into one empire. In 714 BCE, a great Bhāgyavāna army with weapons and iron armor marched to Nānga, besieging its capital, the majestic city of Tāndūlara, and taking it after a few weeks. In 713 BCE a noble coup sponsored by King Ēkasandha is perpetrated against the King of Pascātya, and this nation is integrated into the dominions of Ēkasandha. Finally in 711 BCE, Anārah is completely taken after 3 decisive field battles. This year is when King Ēkasandha would found the Vidarale Empire and end Five Kingdoms Period.

Vidarale Empire (711 BCE - 537 BCE)
The Vidarale Empire was established as an absolute monarchy, constituted by a caste system that can be said to be Prabhat's first caste system. The initial territory of this empire ranged from present Anāratta to present Bhāgya. The imperial capital was located in the city of Impīryia, a city on the banks of the Vidara River in present-day Vidarala, with imposing walls for its time. The location of the imperial capital and the composition of the noble class favored the Bhāgyavāna ethnic group and the southern region of the country, causing airs of rebellion in the northern regions. To prevent the outbreak of insurrections and promote national unity, King Ēkasandha carried out several reforms, including the establishment of a Devanasūna nobility in the north, the creation of roads to connect the cities of the south and the north and the creation of the School of Āciriya, a movement of teachers and writers that was responsible for the spread of the Sanskrit language throughout the empire and the gestation of Sanskrit literature. The years of life of the Āciriya School, which operated from 708 BCE to 685 BCE, managed to promote the use of Sanskrit as never before, improved its grammar and literature proliferated, creating literary works such as poetry, short stories, legends, epics, chronicles and biographies. One of the most widespread literary works of that time is the Epic of Rakṣaṇaka, an extensive epic and mythological text including stories of war and adventure involving the gods of the Viśvāsa texts, which has become in an important religious text and one of the most famous symbols of the Vidarale Empire's historical period. Thanks to the educational activities of these teachers, the noble class was able to access education and learn to read and write, which would lead to the formation of future schools of thought.

Arrival of the Tylakians and Rendoshians
In 689, the initial peace of the Vidarale Empire was shattered by the arrival of a group of barbarians known as Rendoshians, who hailed from the hot, desert steppes of the west and settled in the present-day Rendozeshah region. The Rendoshians were very different from the peoples of the Vidarale Empire: they had their own language (the Rendoshian), their own ethnic origin, and a warrior culture that was not compatible with the rational and peaceful culture of the Vidarale Empire. Due to these large differences, the first encounters were hostile and soon the Rendoshians began looting the border villages of Bhitora. The Vidarale Empire had a difficult situation in the early years due to the Rendoshian warriors having something they did not have: horses. Thanks to the horses, the Rendoshians made quick raids to the villages of the Vidarale Empire, avoiding head-on battles with the Vidarale army (which had superior numbers) and wasting their economy and defenses. The situation changed in 687 BCE with the arrival of another group of barbarians: the Tylakians. The Tylakians came from the northwest and had a warrior culture and weaponry similar to the Rendoshians, however, they agreed to collaborate with the Vidarale Empire marveling at their organization and began to attack the Rendoshian camps. The allied forces defeated the Rendoshians at the Battle of Sarapa in 685 BCE, and finally defeated them at the Battle of Tanētis in 683 BCE. The Rendoshians agreed to make peace and took refuge in the western parts of Rendozeshah, while the Tylakians migrated south on a long journey to present-day Tylakolia, where they founded the Kingdom of Tylakolia, a federation of clans led by a king in 678 BCE. Relations between the Vidarale Empire and the Kingdom of Tylakolia were quite friendly: they established commercial and cultural ties. The Tylakolians, who spoke a great variety of barbarian languages, adopted Sanskrit and elements of the empire's culture which was spreading rapidly thanks to trade with the empire. To strengthen interactions with the south and gain new hinterlands, the Vidarale Empire colonized the present-day Szattara and Nandūrashi regions, while Tylakolia expanded into Tangli. Peace and economic collaboration between Tylakolia and the Vidarale Empire led to a long decade of economic bonanza, population growth and cultural flourishing in the following decades.

End of the Vidarale Empire
In 545 BCE, a large unknown epidemic (experts estimate it was probably tuberculosis) struck the Vidarale Empire and to a lesser extent the Kingdom of Tylakolia and the Rendoshian tribes. This epidemic killed 21% of the imperial population, which despite being a not so high number, had fatal consequences on the economy and society of a nation that had not had experiences of previous epidemics. The trade routes that connected the imperial cities were emptied by fear of the disease, the army had to be demobilized to prevent it from spreading, the king and his court isolated themselves in the palace, ordering that no one enter what isolated the government of communication with their territories, and the famine quickly spread through areas without food self-sufficiency. This scenario was exploited by various pretenders to the throne and separatist movements, which exploded in 541 BCE once the worst of the epidemic was over. These insurrections were: the throne pretender Uttara from Tughluka, the throne pretender Maēnli from Szattara, and a separatist movement from Nāngara made up of ethnic Devanasūna people who sought ethnic primacy. The civil war was bravely faced by the imperial government which mobilized its men to crush the rebellions. However, the army had been plagued by famine and disease, and their numbers were drastically reduced. Uttara and his troops defeated Maēnli at the Battle of Shazar in 540 BCE and again at the Battle of Traviniya in 539, in which Maēnli was killed by Uttara himself. Imperial troops defeated Uttara at the Battle of Tabhesit in 539, however the war was promptly stopped by a resurgence of the epidemic. The civil war was resumed in 537 when Uttara launched a fleeting campaign in which he crushed the separatists of Nāngara and besieged the imperial capital of Impīryia until it fell, at which point Uttara triumphantly entered and assassinated the last Vdarale emperor, to found the Uttarine Empire honoring his name.

Uttarine Empire (537 BCE - 114 BCE)
Uttara discarded all the previous political organization, since instead of declaring himself as the founder of a new dynasty of the Vidarale Empire, he founded a new empire on the foundations of the previous one, which was called the Uttarine Empire. He renamed himself Sāmarthyavāna Uttara ("Uttara the Mighty"), and claimed to be a divine manifestation to justify his right to rule. He established the capital of the new empire in the city of Kanēksana in present-day Malimarā, as a way to unite the northern and southern regions. He created a complex administration in which he appointed a consul as his right hand and a royal council made up of nobles, priests, and officials. He established a first-level division made up of prefectures, governed by prefects appointed by the king, and a second-level division made up of provinces, represented by councils of local nobles and a governor appointed by such councils. He abolished barter and other payment methods with the introduction of the first metallic currency, the "Muliya", made of an alloy of gold and silver. He ordered the creation of an imperial guard for the defense of the emperor, his family, and high-level officials, and established a complex military hierarchy in the army. These reforms during the first years of his mandate meant the stabilization of the empire after the epidemic and the civil war, a more efficient administration, a more developed economy and greater security for the dynasty, which saved the empire from possible rebellions.

Around 530 BCE, a curious episode happened in which Sāmarthyavāna Uttara visited a rural village of the empire, and in it he saw how the locals tamed and trained elephants. This gave him the idea of using them in the army, so he ordered to recruit elephant trainers to train them and be part of the army. Battalions of war elephants were formed, which had mounts on which archers and javeliners were placed. These elephants caused fear of the enemy on the battlefield, and they were a brute force with which enemy ranks could be broken with their thrusts and tusks. From taming wild elephants to elephant rearing, the Uttarine Empire grew to a staggering 3,000 war elephants. Elephants were also used as a means of transportation, both by the army and by civilians who could afford to acquire one of these beasts.

Foundation of Devanagism
Between 525 BCE and 500 BCE, various texts of a religious nature known as Bhavisyas were written and published, which were a continuation of the spiritual doctrine of the texts called Viśvāsa. The publication of these texts led the prophets and priests who preached the Viśvāsa to meet in the city of Abhayā (from which the Viśvāsa texts originated) at the request of the emperor Sāmarthyavāna Uttara, which was called the First Council of Abhayā. At this council the priests decided to make modifications to the doctrine of Viśvāsa by means of the new dogmas preached by the Bhavisyas. This gave rise to the first Prabhat religion, Devanagism. The contribution of the Bhavisyas to the previous doctrine was the formation of the concept "dharma", the devanagist cosmology, the avatars (different manifestations of the triad of primordial gods: Jnānī, Kharē and Majabūta) and the religious hierarchy of this new religion. Thanks to the positive results of this council, Emperor Sāmarthyavāna Uttara adopted Devanagism as the official religion of the Uttarine Empire and commissioned the construction of a great temple in the city of Abhayā, which would be considered the holy place of Devanagism. The construction of the great temple was commissioned to the architect Khandum, who did not come from the Uttarine Empire, but from the Kingdom of Tylakolia. It was planned as a brick structure with a 60 m high central tower and 4 smaller towers. The construction of this temple required the hiring of many workers, so Sāmarthyavāna Uttara preferred to buy slaves from Rendoshian slavers to lower costs. The temple, named as Utpatti Temple, was completed in 493 BCE (although it would receive modifications in the following centuries). Emperor Sāmarthyavāna Uttara died 2 months before the completion of the temple construction due to cancer, so he could not see his long-awaited work completed. Uttara's reign lasted 44 years and was one of the most prosperous of the ancient Prabhat empires.

Tylako-Uttarine War
Uttara's son and successor, Jaidev, entered the throne with ideals of territorial and religious expansion. His first decree was to compel all the ruling nobles of the prefectures and provinces of the Uttarine Empire to convert to Devanagism, to ensure their devotion and the conversion of the provinces to this religion. Most of the nobles accepted, however, a group of nobles rooted in shamanic beliefs from their local regions were reluctant to convert and interpreted the decree as an offense from the new king, thus forming a military coalition to overthrow him. These nobles ruled over territories in Szattara, Nandūrashi, and Vidarala, so the insurrection focused on the southern part of the empire. At that time most of the imperial troops were stationed in the north since the southern garrisons had joined the rebellion, so Emperor Jaidev had to ask for help from the Kingdom of Tylakolia, closer to the center of the insurrection, to stop the rebellion from the beginning and thus not generate major problems. The king of Tylakolia agreed and sent the fierce Tylakian troops to confront the rebellious nobles. The sagacious soldiers of Tylakolia were able to fight the smaller rebellions, but in Vidarala the nobles recruited civilians and captured military bases with which they armed themselves to the teeth. Finally, a large army commanded by the same Emperor Jaidev arrived in the conflict zone with large numbers of war elephants, which appeared for the first time on the battlefront giving very positive results, since they charged and destroyed the enemy ranks with ease. Thanks to this the elephants would become a fundamental part of the armies of the historical empires of Prabhat.

In 490 BCE the last rebel stronghold surrendered, and Devaganism was able to be established as the dominant religion in the Uttarine Empire. To repay them for their aid in the war, the Kingdom of Tylakolia asked the Emperor Jaidev to pay a sum of coins, but he was reluctant to pay due to the expenses incurred in the war together with the excessive personal expenses of the emperor. The King of Tylakolia would request the payment of this sum several times more, receiving a no for an answer, which generated a cooling of diplomatic relations. In 488 BCE, Tylakolia sent an ambassador to Kanēksana to again request payment of this sum, this time aggressively. Emperor Jaidev saw such audacity as a great offense and slaughtered the Tylakolian ambassador, displaying his head in the central square of Kanēksana. This was reason enough for both nations to declare war on each other, starting a great campaign between the two main Prabhat nations. Despite the advanced numerical and technological position of the Uttarine Empire, it was having financial problems due to the rebellion of the nobles and the unnecessary expenses of the Emperor Jaidev, in addition to that the war was publicly frowned upon, so only a few regiments could be mobilized at the beginning of the war. For their part, the Tylakians were skilled horsemen and knew perfectly their flat subtropical terrain, in which they knew how to ambush and fast raids with their horses. In addition, they had managed to dominate the seas in recent decades thanks to the construction of light and fast sailing ships, with which they reached Anvēṣaka Island, which was colonized and became a key point for Tylakian maritime supremacy. The first maneuver in the war was the Naval Battle of Bhāgyan Bay, in which the imperial fleet was defeated and partially destroyed thanks to a rapid action by the Tylakians destined to render the naval forces of the Uttarine Empire inoperative, an objective that was successfully achieved. Furious at this initial defeat, Emperor Jaidev took command of his troops and marched towards the city of Jiṅgalsa north of present-day Tangli, to besiege it and thus destroy the border defenses of the Kingdom of Tylakolia. Although the city eventually fell after a long siege, Uttarine troops suffered setbacks, including the elephants' weakness to the sounds the Tylakians made to scare them away, causing the elephants to retreat in terror and many times they will crush the troops of their own armies. Uttarine armies were also frequently ambushed by horse troops on the flat lands of Tylakolia, making the Imperial advance difficult.

After the fall of Jiṅgalsa in early 487 BCE, the Tylakolian high command adopted a new strategy in the war, which was to avoid head-on battles, wear down the Imperial army, and cut its supply lines through coastal assaults with its powerful fleet. The coastal assaults succeeded in staggering imperial supplies, forcing Emperor Jaidev to demand food from the peasants of Jiṅgalsa. They not only refused, they also formed an armed resistance thanks to weapons infiltrated by Tylakian spies. Imperial troops had to delay their advances to crush these rebellions and take supplies by force. This time was taken advantage of by Tylakolia to recruit more soldiers and carry out more coastal assaults on Vidarala and Nandūrashi, which caused trade in the southern part of the Empire to collapse. Emperor Jaidev decided to divide his army to garrison the coasts, and sent emissaries to the center of the Empire to convince the rest of the nobles who had not mobilized to join the war. Once the imperial army was reinforced with these new troops, the emperor continued his march towards the city of Drāphṭavuḍa, an important city of Tylakolia due to the large number of ships being built there. Drāphṭavuḍa fell in 486 BCE after a lengthy siege, dealing a blow to the Tylakolian naval force as ship production declined. The situation forced the Tylakians to plan a massive assault to take back this city, organizing an army mostly made up of mounted troops and chariots. This decision however proved fatal as it led to the Battle of Vanaspa in 485 BCE, a pitched battle in which Imperial troops defeated the Tylakians thanks to their powerful ground force. After this traumatizing experience, the small army of Tylakolia set out for guerrilla warfare with many more coastal attacks and rapid assaults on supply lines and Imperial troops separated from the main contingent. This strategy caused significant casualties on the imperial side but only delayed the inevitable for a few years, since in 481 BCE the imperial troops commanded by the Emperor Jaidev himself put the great city of Tylajunā, capital of the Kingdom of Tylakolia, under siege. This attack was a real surprise as the Tylakians were not expected to attack the capital directly, since there were still several cities resisting in the front line. Emperor Jaidev decided to surround these cities and directly attack the capital to end the costly war at once, a tactic that turned out to be very successful. Due to the fierce resistance of the Tylakian troops who were assaulting the Imperial siege forces using rapid raids, the siege lasted until 480 BCE when the walls fell and the imposing Imperial troops entered the city where a bloody battle was fought, where many civilians they died due to the destruction caused by the elephants. The king of Tylakolia stayed to resist in the palace which was attacked by the imperial troops, who assassinated the king after a combat carried out by him and his royal guard.

The war officially ended in 478 BCE with around 230,000 killed in combat, and was delayed as Emperor Jaidev had to wage costly campaigns to destroy the Tylakian garrisons located in the cities that had remained standing, but nevertheless the crown prince of Tylakolia along with a large contingent of troops and civilians was able to escape to Anvēṣaka Island thanks to the fleet, which was still intact. It was on Anvēṣaka Island that the Tylakolian resistance was organized, ordering the new king to establish the necessary infrastructure to build a powerful fleet and thus dominate the seas. While this was happening, the pacification of the conquered lands became a complicated task for the Emperor Jaidev due to the hostility of the Tylakian inhabitants who did not accept the invading government. In addition, war spending forced serious budget cuts, including a reduction in army numbers. The situation was able to stabilize in 475 BCE, but a new problem emerged for the Uttarine Empire. Forces in exile from Tylakolia located on Anvēṣaka Island began raiding the trading ships of the Uttarine Empire, forcing the emperor to ban maritime trading activities, causing a collapse of trade. The emperor confronted this by financing the construction of causeways to improve land connections, with money made from the wood trade with the Rendoshians, who were short of wood. The hostility of the Tylakian inhabitants began to cease when Imperial missionaries began to spread Devanagism in their lands, which brought the Tylakians culturally closer to the empire. The remainder of Jaidev's reign was characterized by palace intrigues, surviving several assassination attempts. Jaidev finally passed away of natural causes in 465 BCE, his reign having lasted 28 years. Some remember him as a bad ruler, others see him as a great conqueror. The next emperors of the Uttarine Empire would have to take charge of converting the inhabitants of Tylakolia and dealing with the Tylakian naval threat.

Māsṭaralism Foundation
In the year 312 BCE, the religious leaders of Devaganism met again at the Second Council of Abhayā, due to a theological dispute in which some gurus interpreted that they should be seen as avatars because they had reached spiritual perfection and were the unique link between people and gods. Most of the priests completely rejected this idea and made it known at that council, in which they forbade the gurus to be treated as avatars. Some gurus refused to follow the dictates of the council and formed a new religious current called Māsṭaralism, in which they declared that the Devanagist gurus should be treated as avatars of the gods Jnānī, Kharē and Majabūta. The priests who had participated in the council saw this as an attack on the true religion and asked the emperor to persecute the followers of Māsṭaralism, which the emperor accepted. Many followers of Māsṭaralism were killed, while others managed to escape by moving away from urban centers. To survive in hiding, they began to develop an architecture based on the creation of artificial caves. These man-made caves display a high level of technical competence, the extremely hard granite rock having been geometrically carved and polished to a mirror-like finish. These caves were decorated by religious ornaments carved into the rock and became the hiding places of the persecuted. The architecture of these caves evolved over the following centuries to become architectural marvels.

End of the Uttarine Empire
In 117 BCE the end of the Uttarine Empire would begin. The emperor Rastadharta had earned the contempt of the people, the nobles and the priests, due to his indifference to the problems of the government, his sinful acts and excessive spending on personal luxuries. In addition, corruption in the administration system was at the highest levels ever seen, and some people had started circulating coins with less metal and counterfeit coins that were other metals and not gold and silver. These problems caused a severe economic crisis that brought poverty to the empire. In this year the commercials concentrated at the palace gates to ask the emperor to take measures against the crisis, but the emperor responded by expelling the merchants through the imperial guard. In 116 BCE, a large Tylakian fleet from Anvēṣaka Island landed at Tylajunā, former capital of the Kingdom of Tylakolia, and took the city which had no garrison. This began the reconquest of Tylakolia by the exiled Tylakians. The imperial army had not been paid in a long time so most regiments went on strike and did not mobilize for war, giving free pass for Tylakolia to be fully reconquered in 115 BCE. The inaction of the emperor caused the governor of Pascātya to declare his independence, which was followed by the rest of the governors who earned the loyalty of their military garrisons. The emperor could do nothing against this and was finally assassinated by the imperial guard in 114 BCE, the year in which the Uttarine Empire was ended. A great number of kingdoms and republics would originate from the former territorial divisions of the Uttarine Empire.

Kingdoms and Republics Period (114 BCE - 317 CE)
After the fragmentation of the Uttarine Empire, the old kingdoms of Pascātya and Anārah would regain their independence (the latter being renamed Anarattā). The eastern coast would be dominated by the republics of Ganta and Rattasha, which were formed thanks to the intellectuals convincing local rebels to form states governed by a senate. From the Szattara area the Kingdom of Herkata would be born. The Kingdom of Tylakolia would be re-established under the same dynasty, which survived in insular exile. To face the economic crisis that the Uttarine Empire had left them, the new states minted their own currencies and diversified economic activities. The rice monoculture began to be accompanied by crops of sorghum, millet, banana, mango and guava, among other fruits and cereals. The transport infrastructure built by the emperors was used for trade. Little by little, the economy of the nations was going up and the first investments were made in the political and social organization. While the kingdoms maintained a despotic system, the Ganta and Rattasha republics organized a democratic system based on citizen participation in politics through a Senate, which elected a consul to govern. This system gave rise to the formation of political factions which represented their political ideals in the Senate. While the kingdoms applied military repression or religious fanaticism (especially Anarattā, which had a very powerful clergy) to stay stable, the two republics enjoyed popularity with the multitude.

Herkata Holy War
Conflicts were not long in coming, since in 110 BCE the Kingdom of Herkata adopted Māsṭaralism as the official religion, challenging all other states which were deeply Devanagist. In 109 BCE a coalition formed by Pascātya and Anarattā declared war on Herkata accusing him of heresy, thus starting the first religious war in Prabhat's history. The coalition suffered serious setbacks to conquer Herkata territory due to the resilience of its soldiers. However, the religious role in the war managed to attract volunteers and mercenaries from Ganta and Rattasha who offered their services free of charge to fight against what they considered heretics. These mercenaries carried out raids and sabotage to wear down Herkata's army, allowing Herkata's strong border defense to be broken in 107 BCE and the great coalition army (which used a lot of war elephants, like its ancestor, the Uttarine Empire) started a breakthrough towards the capital of Herkata. By 105 BCE the capital of Herkata had fallen and the remaining soldiers took refuge in the artificial caves built by the Māsṭaralists. The coalition established the formation of a new government in Herkata from the reigning dynasty at Pascātya, which adopted the main branch of Devanagism as the official religion and began the persecution of heretics. However, this kingdom had economic problems and instability since its establishment due to the devastation of the war and the resistance of the Māsṭaralist population, so it had to be helped by Pascātya and Anarattā. This victory was applauded by the rest of kingdoms and republics that professed Devanagism which founded the first military-religious organizations to purge the heretics. The wave of murders after this war led to the fear of the non-professing population and was forced to convert by force, which caused the disappearance of several local shamanic and animist beliefs. Māsṭaralism was able to continue to exist hidden within its artificial caves and in small diasporas in the territory of Tylakolia and the Rendoshian tribes, where they were not persecuted.

Rise of the Rendoshian Empire
After the Herkata Holy War, a large group of Māsṭaralists who escaped persecution in the eastern lands came to the Rendoshian territories, which were divided into numerous tribes that controlled small territories and engaged in pillage and grazing. The refugees brought new religious ideas that clashed with native animism, but were nevertheless very well accepted by the local priests who set out to analyze their religious practices. In 97 BCE, a religious prophet named Brahnavira mixed the religious dogmas of Māsṭaralism with the animistic traditions of the Rendoshians to form a new philosophical doctrine and religion, called Arjatāism. Arjatāism is a non-theistic religion that denies the existence of any divinity, including a creator God, but includes the moral beliefs of Devanagism being described as an ascetic movement that promulgates self-control, non-violence, and liberation of the soul. Brahnavira's words ran through all the Rendoshian tribes and received such acceptance that Arjatāism was adopted as the official religion of the Rendoshian people. The religious unity that the Rendoshian people achieved led to the emergence of a feeling of unity, which erupted in 97 BCE when Rānattavana, leader of the Ugrana tribe, began a military campaign to unify all the Rendoshian tribes. His campaign won the support of Brahnavira and his religious followers, as well as other tribes who rallied to his cause. The unification was finalized in 95 BCE when Rānattavana crushed the last opposing tribes and was proclaimed emperor, this year being the creation date of the Rendoshian Empire.

The Rendoshian Empire went through a period of reform to return what had once been a land of barbarian tribes into an empire organized in the likeness of the eastern kingdoms. So that the tradition is not affected, Rānattavana made a nobility constituted by the old ruling clans of the Rendoshian tribes. The emperor had a large number of Arjatāist temples erected to spread his religion throughout the lands of the empire. He also ordered the modernization and expansion of the army, since Rānattavana planned to conquer the eastern states taking advantage of their divisions, designating as the first objective the unstable Kingdom of Herkata, which had consequences of the religious war that was fought in its territory. Herkata received a surprise attack in 86 BCE by a large Rendoshian army composed mostly of horse archers, who became the preferred force of the Rendoshian Empire for their combat ability. Mounted forces raided the villages of Herkata, wasting their fragile economy, and then ambushed their troops. The Kingdom of Herkata had to be aided by Pascātya, Anarattā and Ganta, who declared war on the Rendoshian Empire causing a large-scale war. The newborn empire had the head start thanks to its military innovations, managing in 84 BCE to take the capital of Herkata and occupy the entire kingdom for 3 years. However, the numerical and logistical superiority of the coalition caused the Rendoshians to withdraw from Herkata. The Rendoshians chose to carry out attacks on Pascātya, the main military power, to undermine the military capacity of the coalition. However, the vast majority of battles resulted in draws or Pyrrhic victories, losing many lives with little territorial advancement over the years. The sides, financially and morally worn out, decided to sign a peace treaty in 75 BCE, in which the status quo ante bellum was agreed. However, the instability resulting from two consecutive wars led to the collapse of the Kingdom of Herkata, which was divided between the Kingdom of Pascātya and the Republic of Ganta. In the Rendoshian Empire, the war served as a warlike experience and generated resentment towards the eastern states, forging a greater historical identity for the Rendoshian people.

Austronesian Invasion
While the northern states were engaged in a war, the Kingdom of Tylakolia began to have instability due to social conflict between the Tylakians who embraced traditional culture and the Tylakians who had adopted Devanagism and elements of the culture of the northern states, due to previous occupation and cultural assimilation by the Uttarine Empire. The King of Tylakolia failed to defuse tensions and civil war broke out in 83 BCE between the Traditional West and the East Devanagist. The king and his family went into exile to the Republic of Rattasha, which intervened in the war in 82 BCE in favor of the Devanagist Tylakians because they shared the same religion. The traditionalist side had numerical superiority, however thanks to Rattasha's support for the Devaganist Tylakians the war stalled, as both sides had serious casualties but there were no significant territorial advances. Finally a peace treaty was signed in 78 BCE, which established the division of the Kingdom of Tylakolia into Western Tylakolia (traditionalist) and Eastern Tylakolia (Devanagist). In 37 BCE, Eastern Tylakolia began a military reunification campaign with the support of the Republic of Rattasha, however, this conflict would be interrupted by a major event.

In 36 BCE, a large group of Austronesian peoples from the west (specifically the Yafans) settled in Maliba and attacked Anvēṣaka Island with a large fleet, coming into direct conflict with Western Tylakolia. The two Tylakolias agreed to stop the civil war to defend themselves from the invader. However, the Austronesians were skilled warriors and very numerous, so they were a much greater threat than expected. Through land and sea, the Austronesians managed to conquer much of Western Tylakolia and finally took the capital in 34 BCE, resulting in a very quick and easy campaign for the Austronesians. The Republic of Rattasha decided to support Eastern Tylakolia to face the invader, waging bloody wars on land and sea. The Austronesian occupation of Western Tylakolia continued until 27 BCE, when the Allied forces managed to completely liberate the territory. The spiteful Tylakians decided to continue the campaign to exterminate the invaders, fighting another bloody battles until the Austronesian peoples were expelled from the region in 23 BCE. Tylakolia was reunified again this time by adopting Devanagism as the official religion, and the culture became very similar to the culture of the Northeast. However, the Austronesian invasion left permanent marks on Tylakolia, such as linguistic elements, cultural practices, and groups of Austronesians who remained living in rural villages and intermingled with the Tylakians, forming a new ethnic group, the Austro-Tylakians. It was also the first foreign invasion of the Prabhat towns after the arrival of the Tylakians and Rendoshians that happened in the Vidarale Empire period, 653 years ago. When the news of the invasion swept through all the nations in the region, the first feeling of national identity was formed before Prabhat's existence, when all the peoples (including the Tylakians, Rendoshians, Bhāgyavāna and Devanasūna) expressed their support against the foreign invasion.

War of the Republics
The republics of Ganta and Rattasha were organized in a federal system in which the Senate gave autonomy to the cities that made up the republic, being a federation of cities led by a Senate in which they were represented. The two republics maintained a social, cultural and economic system quite different from the monarchical states. Their social hierarchy was based on a large and superior group, the citizens, who were all native men. It was followed by women and serfs who had limited rights, and finally slaves who had no rights or freedom. The use of slaves was quite widespread in the two republics, being the main labor force and composition of the armies. Culture underwent a re-flourishing in the period of existence of these two republics, thanks to the fact that a greater number of people could participate in art. Examples of arts with exponential growth in this era are music, painting, sculpture, architecture, theater and sports. Religion was also a fundamental part of the culture, erecting many Devaganist temples, especially those used for the worship of a specific god. Philosophy had its greatest growth at this time, with several schools of thought being born in the two republics (which later expanded to the rest of the states), characterized by a variety of proposals on how to understand the world and the place of man in it. This philosophy was always accompanied by religion, because instead of developing as a vision opposed to the dogmas of Devanagism, it served so that the priests could debate and arrive at better interpretations of religion. Ganta and Rattasha adopted an economy largely based on trade, for which they developed maritime fleets with which they traded with distant states of Kesh, selling at high prices the products they bought from the kingdoms of Prabhat for insignificant prices. The military side at Rattasha formed a strictly militarized society, while at Ganta a large naval force and the contract of mercenaries were relied upon.

The great similarity between these two republics caused a rivalry to form between them, especially in the economic aspect. Ganta and Rattasha vied for dominance of markets in other states, prompting frequent squabbles between merchants from the two nations. In 22 BCE, Ganta blamed Rattasha for the assault and murder of a group of Ganta merchants in the border area, leading to a diplomatic crisis that nearly sparked a war. However, it was discovered that the assault had been carried out by a new group of bandits on the border, who carried out many more assaults on merchants since that year. This motivated the creation of a military alliance between Ganta and Rattasha to defend themselves against the bandits, carrying out joint military operations that managed to eradicate most of the bandits. However, diplomatic troubles were rekindled when in 13 BCE Ganta imposed high tax rates on foreign merchants to favor its own merchants. This action led Rattasha to do the same, generating an economic war until an agreement was reached in 11 BCE in which low taxes were established. In 3 CE, a slave rebellion broke out in Ganta, in which slaves seized power in 3 cities south of Ganta and declared their independence, forming a league of city-states to defend themselves from the Republican army. Ganta's senate asked Rattasha for help in crushing the separatists considering the military alliance they had signed, however Rattasha refused to help, causing Ganta to break the military alliance. In 4 CE an aristocratic coup occurred in Ganta that suspended its democratic system and formed an authoritarian government which crushed the separatist cities. The Rattasha government helped large numbers of rebels escape to their lands, prompting the Ganta government to declare war in 5 CE.

The beginning motivated the Rattasha senate to delegate greater powers to the consul, while in Ganta the aristocratic dictatorship remained in power and persecuted the democratic resistance to preserve institutional stability during the war. The war was divided into several expeditions on the part of the two sides to conquer the enemy cities. The first expedition (5 CE - 7 CE) was a campaign by Ganta to destroy Rattasha's border positions. Although most of the battles were victory for Ganta, they had to withdraw due to supply problems as they had not logistically prepared for a war. Rattasha called the Kingdom of Tylakolia to war, which was his ally due to helping him defend against the Austronesians. Rattasha and Tylakolia sent a large expeditionary force (8 CE - 12 CE) that managed to regain the territories taken by Ganta, weakened their naval force, and penetrated their interior territories. However, this expedition was stopped as Ganta financed rebellions of aristocrats in the eastern cities of Rattasha. This period of the war (13 CE - 19 CE) would be characterized by indirect conflicts, such as rebellions in the eastern cities of Rattasha financed by Ganta and a rebellion in Herkata, which had been annexed in part by Ganta, financed by Rattasha and Tylakolia. In this period the economy of the belligerent nations was seriously worn out, poverty increased and the monarchies of Pascātya and Anarattā took the opportunity to impose restrictions on the merchants of the two republics. The war was resumed thanks to a new military expedition (20 CE - 24 CE) by Rattasha and Tylakolia, which destroyed Ganta's army in several battles and besieged several major cities, until penetrating the capital which fell in 24 EC. The peace was signed after 19 years of war, resulting in Ganta's loss of regional power status. The victors forced the losers to grant independence to various city-states and a new republic in Herkata, in addition to granting very stiff financial compensation that ruined Ganta's economy. The exaggerated expenses of the war motivated a coup in Rattasha that established a dictatorship between 25 and 29, in which the harsh consequences of the war were experienced. After this stage, Rattasha established itself as the dominant republic, maintained a monopoly on trade with distant nations and established several independent city-states as its vassals.

Rattashan-Rendoshian Wars
The War of the Republics was seen by the Rendoshian Empire as a possibility of expansion towards the east, taking advantage of the attrition and instability left by the war. The Rendoshians had begun a process of technological and military development after the failure to conquer Herkata. This process included the adoption of heavy cavalry to charge against the compact infantry units that were common in the eastern states, and the adoption of siege engines to facilitate the taking of walled cities, something that was difficult in the invasion of Herkata due to because the Rendoshian troops had no siege weapons. The Rendoshian emperor established the Republic of Herkata as the first objective of conquest, taking advantage of the fact that they had already had experience in their land, and the attack was carried out in 59 when the eastern countries were being hit by a measles epidemic that appeared in 58 that was it expanded rapidly thanks to commercial connections. The advanced Rendoshian armies penetrated Herkata territory in a few days and endangered the capital. However, Herkata was aided by the Rattashan Republic which declared war on the Rendoshian Empire, initiating the First Rattashan-Rendoshian War. The declaration of war was taken by surprise by the Rendoshian who were not expecting a Rattashan intervention, however it was the justification for starting the recruitment of more soldiers, which was also done in Rattasha. The first campaign began in favor of the Rendoshian Empire, as its heavy cavalry massacred the compact infantry units causing serious losses to Rattasha. The sides chose to send more men to the front causing great bloodshed in small territories. Finally, in 67 the Rendoshian Empire besieged and captured several Herkata border cities, but the casualties on both sides were too high for which they were forced to make peace, yielding the captured cities to the Rendoshian Empire. This first war would be the beginning of the rivalry between the Rendoshian Empire and the Rattashan Republic, which would lead to the militarization of their states and a constant conflict of interest.

In 96, Rattasha attacked a city-state that had become independent from Ganta for failing to pay the corresponding tributes that had been established after the War of the Republics. The government of this city-state asked the Rendoshian Empire for help, which acceded and carried out a quick and fleeting attack on Herkata, Rattasha's vassal republic, which was the trigger for the Second Rattashan-Rendoshian War. This time, Rattasha's generals persuaded the Senate to carry out a military reform that included the adoption of units armed with long lances capable of stopping the Rendoshian heavy cavalry charges. However, Rattasha's troops were late to the front due to resistance from the city-state, and by the time they arrived several cities in Herkata had been taken over by the Rendoshian Empire. In 98 the capital of Herkata was put under siege, but by this time Rattasha's spear formations began to give positive effects against the Rendoshian heavy cavalry charges, not without having suffered serious casualties in the clashes between spearmen and cavalrymen. The capital of Herkata fell by 100 after costly raids, but nevertheless the Herkata government managed to escape and withdraw to the east of the country where it was protected by a large number of Rattashan troops. In 103, the Herkata government was assassinated by Māsṭaralist insurgents, which led to the annexation of the rest of the territories by Rattasha. The remainder of the war continued as a bloody campaign between Rattashans and Rendoshians over Herkata territory, with the Rendoshians managing to dominate the capital after repeated attempts at liberation by Rattasha. The two powers signed a peace treaty in 112 due to severe losses, agreeing that the west and center of Herkata, including the capital, would be annexed by the Rendoshian Empire while the east would be annexed by the Rattashan Republic. This second war caused adverse economic effects for the two nations, which led to their disarmament for several decades, until tensions reappeared.

In 172, a nationalist and expansionist government took over the Rattashan Republic, mobilizing the armed forces to regain territories lost to the Rendoshian Empire. In 174 the Third Rattashan-Rendoshian War was unleashed, this time started by Rattasha who had obtained the support of his ally the Kingdom of Tylakolia. The Rattashans attacked with war elephants and spear units which had longer spears than the previous war to slaughter the Rendoshian cavalry. The Rendoshians were not fully prepared for this war and began to lose territory in the early stages of the war as their cavalry was being decimated. In 179 the ancient capital of Herkata was put under siege and fell to Rattasha in 180, dealing a severe blow to Rendoshian morale. Tylakian reinforcements assisted Rattasha in reconquering Herkata finalizing the liberation of him in 185, and beginning to penetrate Rendoshian territory. However, the Rendoshian forces reorganized and began to use their mounted archers to ambush and wear down Rattasha's armies and supply lines, making it difficult for him to advance. Emperor Rendoshian himself led a counterattack in 187 that succeeded in driving the Rattashans and Tylakians out of his territory and returning the war front to the lands of Herkata. However, war weariness was very high and the Rendoshians failed to take the border cities, signing a peace treaty in 189 in which Herkata was fully annexed by Rattasha, ending the advantage that the Rendoshian Empire had in the conflict. The Rendoshian Empire had a deep resentment for this defeat so they planned a new campaign for several years, this time to destroy the Rattashan Republic. To achieve this, he contacted the small Republic of Ganta, which had lost much power after its war with Rattasha, to forge an alliance. He also forged alliances with the traditionalist remnants of Tylakolia, so that they could stop their intervention in the war. Lastly, the Rendoshian Empire adopted war elephants to break through Rattasha's spear lines. In 236 a traditionalist rebellion would break out in Tylakolia, very numerous and armed thanks to funding from the Rendoshian Empire. In 237 Ganta attacked the surrounding city-states, vassals of Rattasha, and would quickly reconquer them after losing them in the War of the Republics. As Rattasha's army prepared to face its old enemy, the Rendoshian Empire briefly attacked their positions in Herkata and seized the region's capital in 239, initiating the Fourth Rattashan-Rendoshian War. This caused a political crisis in Rattasha due to the inability of the army to fight against two fronts and without the support of its ally Tylakolia. The Rattasha government decided to focus on crushing Ganta achieving several victories, but neglecting its front with the Rendoshian Empire which completely invaded Herkata in 241. In 243 Tylakolia would completely suppress its rebellion, but would not enter the war due to attrition. caused by this. Ganta's naval forces began to attack Rattasha's trading ships, affecting their main source of income, while the Rendoshian army began to penetrate Rattasha's territory in the direction of its capital, the city of Chalaputra. In 245 the noble families, fed up with the losses that the soldiers were suffering and the ineffectiveness of the Rattasha military command, carried out a coup against the Senate, assassinating several of its members. This would provoke a civil war in Chalaputra between the garrisons loyal to the Senate and the aristocratic rebels, causing several units in the front to declare in favor of the coup and leave the front to march to Chalaputra. This helped the Rendoshians break through the Rattashan lines in 247 by capturing several cities and marching on to the capital, where a battle was being fought between the civil war sides. In 249 the Rendoshian troops finally reached the capital of Rattasha, which had its defenses worn down due to the civil war. His war machines razed the walls and his army entered and sacked the city, setting fire to large numbers of buildings and killing 30% of its population. The new Rattasha government, totally humiliated by the sack of Chalaputra, surrendered unconditionally. The signed peace treaty involved the return of the territories lost in the War of the Republics to Ganta, the total annexation of Herkata by the Rendoshian Empire and the payment of an exaggerated sum of money that led to Rattasha financial ruin. The Rendoshian Empire despite having definitively won the conflict was hit by an economic crisis due to the expense of 4 consecutive wars, and had to make financial cuts in the army.

The Great Disaster
After the end of the Fourth Rattashan-Rendoshian War, several religious prophets began to profess that catastrophes unleashed by the gods would approach to end the bloodshed that the governments of the nations of the region were carrying out. Society had been traumatized by war and poverty had multiplied, but this did not stop the leaders who were preparing a new war by ignoring all the warnings made by the prophets. The first of these catastrophes would come in 282, when a much larger than normal monsoon caused flooding in the Devana and Vidara rivers, destroying large amounts of agricultural land in the coastal states and forcing many people to displace. The years following these floods had dry seasons throughout the year that caused drought in the fields, causing famine and death for many people. The Kingdom of Pascatya would not be affected by these events as it would have access to river water from the Navina Sub-Range and the monsoon would not have reached its territory as it was inland. In 285, when countries were recovering from these natural disasters, a strain of smallpox appeared in Rattasha that spread exponentially throughout all the states of the region, including distant countries such as the Rendoshian Empire or Tylakolia, and which caused the closure of trade and another wave of deaths in the peasant population. However, this plague also affected the elites of the countries, causing the deaths of nobles, senators, princes or even the king of Anarattā, whose death caused a civil war between pretenders to the throne that would result in new thousands of deaths. The smallpox epidemic lasted for several years, causing the economies of nations to collapse, which entered a period of political and social upheaval. When the epidemic gradually subsided in 298, it left unpopulated cities, abandoned fields and unmaintained infrastructure, as well as nearly empty governments that had to be filled through internal conflicts.

However, the worst was yet to come. In the year 303, the Tylakian navigators were the first to spot a colossal wind approaching from the ocean: it was Typhoon Vidhvansaka (literally “Destroyer”), which made landfall for the first time in Rattasha territory, destroying the ports and coastal cities and generating terror among the population. The news of the arrival of this cyclone could not go faster than the cyclone itself, which in a few days entered Chalaputra, which was destroyed for the second time. The typhoon then made its way to the lands of Ganta and Anarattā but not before affecting several towns in the Rattashan Empire, and destroyed the great cities that had been built on the Devana River. Once it reached this river, the typhoon weakened until it disappeared in the center of Anarattā, leaving behind a path of terror and destruction.

While the coastal countries collapsed as their cities were cut off by both the destruction of the typhoon and the internal conflicts and previous catastrophes, Pascatya had hardly been affected by the typhoon, and took the opportunity to carry out a military campaign and reunite the states of the region. In 305 the Pascatyan troops arrived in Anarattā encountering a second civil war for the throne, and supported a pretender to finally assassinate him and annex the kingdom. In 307 they marched towards Ganta finding a republican government that tried to reestablish their dominion, reason why they began an armed fight until conquering all Ganta in 309. When Pascatya tried to dominate Rattasha in 310, he found several city-states that resisted his advances and they allied themselves to face it. These city-states had received economic and military support from the Rendoshian Empire, making it difficult for Pascatya to dominate them. In 311 the Rendoshian Empire intervened in the war attacking the Pascatyan troops and obtaining several victories, but due to the warlike weariness of the Rendoshians the commanders forced their emperor to retreat, leaving Pascatya free to conquer the rest of the territory. The bloody campaign to crush the city-states was ended in 316, and in 317 the King of Pascatya triumphantly entered the destroyed city of Chalaputra, once the capital of the imposing Rattashan Republic, declaring himself emperor and founding the Pascatyan Empire, which it would reunite the northeast Prabhat nations and end with the Kingdoms & Republics Period.

Pascatyan Empire under Vishna Dynasty (317 CE - XXXX CE)
The Pascatyan Empire was founded knowing the errors of the previous states, so the first emperor, called Vishnaseva "the Great" of the Vishna Dynasty, created an administration and institutions very different from the previous states. To avoid separatist movement, Vishnaseva divided the territories based on the old states, calling them Princely States and naming the previous nobles of those states as Princes, endowing them with a high degree of autonomy and hereditary succession of their positions, like the feudal system that appeared in Artemia. The Princes would send representatives to the capital who would be part of the Imperial Council, which was a legislative body of limited power that would advise the emperor in his decisions. The idea of ​​forming this council came from Vishnaseva himself, who wanted to portray something of the republican legacy in his institutions. The official religion of the Pascatyan Empire was Devanagism, as in the previous states, but in this case there was total freedom of worship and prohibition of religious persecution, which greatly improved relations between the empire's inhabitants, but nonetheless not it altered the frictions between the clergy of both religions.

In 320 Emperor Vishnaseva called the clergy of Devanagism and Māsṭaralism to a meeting that became known as the First Council of Kanēk, in which the emperor asked the parties to resolve their differences. Despite not achieving the total unification of the two religions, it was a good starting point for the dialogue and the Devanagist priests were able to tolerate the Māsṭaralist cult in the big cities, which brought a long period of religious peace in the empire. This religious tolerance favored the construction of Devanagist and Māsṭaralist temples throughout the empire, unleashing a new architectural flourishing in terms of religious buildings that had not been experienced since the end of the Uttarine Empire.

The first years of the Pascatyan Empire's existence would be characterized by the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by natural disasters and lack of maintenance, the reactivation of trade, investment in new infrastructure resistant to natural disasters, the creation of public health care centers to combat epidemics and the colonization of the interior areas of the center of Prabhat that would be used for agriculture, livestock and mining.

Unification Wars
Vishnaseva knew that her war campaign was not over in 317, because there were still two states in the region that rivaled her supremacy: the Kingdom of Tylakolia, which prided itself on its full independence, and the Rendoshian Empire, an empire ravaged by famines and epidemics but still a threat and was preparing his forces to face Pascatya. In 322, Vishnaseva offered Tylakolia the formation of a coalition to confront the Rendoshians, a proposal that was rejected in an insulting way. This was sufficient argument for the emperor to decide to invade Tylakolia, and therefore to revive the costly campaign that Jaidev ‘the Conqueror’ had carried out at the time of the Uttarine Empire.

In October 322 a large force commanded by Vishnaseva entered Tylakolia territory. This country had suffered collateral damage from the famines and epidemics that hit the north coast, and some noble Tylakians supported being annexed by the Pascatyan Empire to form a unified state. These nobles rose up against their king in 323 taking several key points that made it difficult for the Tylakian troops to organize and allowed Vishnaseva to advance and besiege several border towns. The rebellious nobles managed to join the Pascatyan troops and defeated Tylakolia in the bloody Battle of Pavartti in 324. Vishnaseva prepared to march towards Tylajunā, capital of Tylakolia (and present-day Tyladabad), but when Vushnaseva arrived the Tylakian king surrendered and accepted the annexation of his country. Vishnaseva thanked him for his gesture, saved his life, and named him Prince of Tylakolia. Thanks to this action Vishnaseva gained popularity among the Tylakian people and the respect of the local nobles. This conflict was taken advantage of by the Rendoshian Empire who carried out border looting in 324 to weaken the Pascatyans and buy time to gather forces and launch into the conquest. It was a bad move, because Vishnaseva had left a large garrison on the border with the Rendoshian Empire that stopped these raids. In 326 Vishnaseva returned from Tylakolia, declaring war on the Rendoshian Empire and beginning a campaign commanded by himself to finalize the unification. In the first war, the Pascatyan troops advanced directly towards the capital of the Rendoshian Empire, but nevertheless the harsh desert climate and the organized defense of the Rendoshians caused them heavy casualties and prevented them from reaching the capital. A peace treaty was signed in 329, in which the Rendoshian Empire ceded some border towns, but remained independent. After this war, Vishnaseva called on his best strategists to carry out a master plan that would allow him to completely take over the Rendoshian Empire. The strategists agreed that the best plan was to surround the mountains and attack the Rendoshian Empire from the south, crossing the desert, where an attack was not expected. The emperor loved this plan, costly as it was to cross the desert, and began preparations to carry it out. It was in 337 when the new war began, this time being the initiative of the Pascatyans. A minor army carried out border attacks against the Rendoshians on the main border to get his attention, while Vishnaseva marches with his army through the harsh desert, surrounding the mountains. The crossing through the desert has been narrated in several chronicles and epics of the time, describing it as a great feat, which was hard for the soldiers who had heavy casualties due to thirst and sandstorms, but with a hope always in standing thanks to the charisma of Emperor Vishnaseva who always encouraged his soldiers to keep going. The troops arrived in 338 after several months of crossing, beginning the taking of the cities of the Rendoshian Empire in a surprising way. The Rendoshians did not expect an attack from the desert at all and their military high command collapsed due to conflicts between the government and the generals. Vishnaseva besieged the capital in 340 and eventually entered it, assassinating the Rendoshian emperor and causing the fall of the Rendoshian Empire, which was annexed by the Pascatyan Empire.

After the conquest of Tylakolia and the Rendoshian Empire, Vishnaseva began a process of cultural assimilation that included the creation of a unique national identity for all the territories that were part of the empire. All territories enjoyed autonomy and freedom of worship was respected, but the cult of the emperor's personality and the national identity of the Pascatyan Empire was established. It was in this period of time that the word "Prabhat", which means sunrise in Sanskrit, began to emerge, alluding to a period of sunrise that began at that time for the peoples of the region under the yoke of Vishnaseva 'the Great'. Vishnaseva passed away in 348 being remembered as a benevolent emperor and the one responsible for the unification of Prabhat under a single state after 4 centuries of division after the fall of the Uttarine Empire.

South Kesh Campaigns
Vishnaseva's son Nyramitra ascended the throne of a unified empire with high expectations of him. The emperor quickly demonstrated his expansionist ambitions, which included revenge for the Yafans' invasion of the Kingdom of Tylakolia in 36 BCE, a revengeful sentiment that earned him popularity among the Tylakians. In 350 the emperor sent ambassadors to the Yafan and Manan kingdoms, offering them conversion to tributary states of the Pascatyan Empire in exchange for protection. The proposal was rudely rejected, giving Nyramitra the opportunity to justify a future war. Nyramitra ordered his strategists to draw up a plan to invade the western lands and devoted much of his money to expanding the Pascatyan Army. Despite these expenses sparking complaints in the Imperial Council, Nyramitra managed to convince his advisers to start a new campaign and won the full support of the Princes. The emperor waited several years to start the campaign, knowing the custom of the South Kesh kingdoms to unleash wars between them, so he took his first step in 354 when a war broke out between Yafan kingdoms and Manan kingdoms over agricultural lands. In 354, the Pascatyan Empire declared war on the Yafans on the basis of their unwarranted invasion of Tylakolia in 36 BCE, and signed a temporary alliance with the Manans. The Yafans were cornered and forced to recruit civilians to defend themselves. In the first battles, the cohesive Pascatyan army managed to decisively overcome the disorganized Yafans troops, however, the ignorance of the territory they were entering forced Nyramitra to slow down the advance so as not to fall into natural traps. As these states were located on the coast, several naval battles took place that initially were not favorable for the Pascatyans due to the advantage that the Yafans had in knowing their coasts. However, the Tylakian navigators, specialized in navigation and naval warfare for centuries, managed to subjugate their enemies. In 357 the capitals of the Yafan kingdoms were besieged until they fell into the hands of the Pascatyan Empire, which completely annexed the Yafan territory, occupying the areas that had been conquered by Manans and where they had shed much blood. This action led to diplomatic complaints from the Manans which led to the breakdown of the alliance and allowed Nyramitra to declare another war, this time on the Manans, to seize more territory. The second war was much more bloody as it sparked uprisings by the Yafan population that forced the emperor to divert part of his troops, and on the way, carry out bloody massacres of Yafans civilians that generated the fury of his enemies. The Manans managed to advance territorially thanks to skirmishes in the jungles and hills, but nevertheless a large part of their troops were led into an ambush on the plain that ended in the Battle of Garabang in 360, in which 60% of the Manan coalition army was destroyed by the joint force of elephants, cavalry and heavy infantry. After that bloody battle, Nyramitra advanced with his troops towards the capitals of the Manan kingdoms, which surrendered in 361 before being completely conquered thanks to Nyramitra's request to surrender in exchange for sparing the lives of their soldiers.

Sparing the lives of the soldiers was a bad decision, since it provoked the uprising of these soldiers against the Pascatyan occupation, which materialized in guerrillas located in rural areas that generated several casualties to the Pascatyan army. Furthermore, the death of many peasants in the two wars led to a general famine in the region, which affected both the natives and the Pascatyan Army that was stationed there to quell the rebellions. Nyramitra was forced to allocate food and money to rebuild the infrastructure from the mainland, which managed to improve the general situation but only caused the native Yafans and Manans to intensify their resistance. These rebellions provoked the anger of the emperor who ordered in 364 the murder of men suspected of being rebels and their families, carrying out a bloody civil massacre that damaged his prestige throughout the region, but calmed the air of rebellion. The following years were characterized by the beginning of the exploitation of the resources of the conquered territory through the use of native slaves, measures taken by the cruelty of Emperor Nyramitra. Nyramitra died in 371, his great feat being the conquest of two kingdoms, but at the cost of having carried out cruel civil slaughters and mercilessly enslaved people.

Pre-Golden Age
Nyramitra died childless and succeeded by his cousin Skandaseva, who had to take over the bad reputation that civil slaughter and mass enslavement had left for the dynasty. Skandaseva freed large numbers of slaves and diverted surplus food to feed the starving Yafan and Manan population. However, a period of droughts in the Devana Basin caused the production of food to be reduced and the food that was sent to the conquered territories to be consumed again in the metropolis. Skandaseva tried to direct the princes' eyes to a new war, this time against the small Galuh Kingdom, which controlled a small island outside the territories conquered from the Austronesians. In 373 he led a large fleet to take the island, initially winning various naval battles. However, the Galuh naval skirmishes sapped the strength of the fleet and 6 months after being dispatched the siege began, which ended in a resounding defeat. The island of Galuh ended up being an impregnable fortress that Skandaseva's fleet could not cross, ending the war in 375 with several human casualties and serious economic losses. The expenses of the war derived to a financial deficit for the empire, reason why Skandaseva increased the taxes generating in discontent of the population. The Princes planned a coup to overthrow him, but before it was carried out, Skandaseva abdicated in 379, his son Kumaratya succeeding him. Kumaratya was a much more fearful and determined king than his father, and to calm the population he reduced taxes, but at the cost of re-enslaving large numbers of Yafans and Manans by force. This sparked a slave rebellion in 384 led by Purnama, who mobilized large numbers of Yafans slaves by murdering their enslavers and taking their estates. Kumaratya started a military campaign to crush this rebellion, but was nevertheless only backed by 2 Princes. The campaign was bloody due to the resistance of the slaves that ended in the Battle of Tebingan in 387, in which Kumaratya was pierced by a spear and died in battle. This was a severe blow to the Pascatyan Empire which had no king because Kumaratya's son, Bhagabhata, was only 3 years old. The Princes decided to establish a regency represented by themselves meeting in an assembly, which would have power until Bhagabhata is 16 years old. In the period called "Regency of the Princes", the revolt of Purnama was crushed and he was executed in 389, partly thanks to the exploits of General Govisha Kananda, who would later be Bhagabhata's tutor. During the Regency of the Princes the economic situation began to rebound thanks to periods of abundance of food and the production of spices that were traded to other nations.

In 400 Bhagabhata was appointed emperor ending the Regency of Princes. The young emperor, advised by the elderly General Govisha Kananda, began a process of cultural assimilation in the Yafan and Manan territories, but in a peaceful and gradual manner. The emperor respected local customs, completely abolished the mass slavery established by previous emperors and invested in the reactivation of the agricultural sector, which made the area self-sufficient again. These actions made him gain popularity among the crowds, but nevertheless, some Princes missed the power they had during the Regency of Princes and began to build a plot to assassinate Bhagabhata. The main promoter of this plot was the Prince of Nandūrashi, Sunetra Kshamalat, who had been a friend of Bhagabhata during childhood, but who had been consumed by his envy and ambition. Sunetra hired hitmen to assassinate Bhagabhata, which was attempted in 406 but failed because the hitmen were discovered and killed by the Imperial Guard. The assassination attempt turned Bhagabhata into an irate and paranoid person, who he ordered a thorough investigation to find the perpetrator of this plot. Bhagabhata's paranoia led to the murder of 7 councilors, 4 generals and 2 innocent princes (those of Rendozeshah and Szattara), and the reduction of the powers of the Princes transforming the empire into a monarchical dictatorship. Prince Sunetra Kshamalat was found guilty and executed in 408, yet Bhagabhata did not stop there and search for more culprits. Haunted by the evil deeds of the emperor, General Govisha Kananda, who had watched over the welfare of the empire for several years, murdered Bhagabhata in 410 by poisoning his drink. Who would inherit the kingdom would be his cousin Brihatkala, who would end a period of instability and give way to the Golden Age of the Pascatyan Empire.

Vishna Golden Age
Brihatkala, known as "The Wealthy", was a fearless administrator and a prolific builder. He entrusted his royal architect, Narasim, to carry out important works focused on the renovation of ancient temples and palaces, equipping them with the new architectural inventions of the time. His most famous work was undoubtedly the remodeling of the Uttpati Temple, to which the central tower and the lower structure were expanded, the interior was decorated with sculptures of Devanagism deities and scenes from the Epic of Raksanaka, the Bhavysias, the Chronicles of Jaidev and other historical, poetic and religious texts were sculpted on the walls. Many historians say that the workers who participated in these works had broad benefits similar to the current ones, such as one of the first forms of pension on retirement in old age. During the second decade of Brihatkala's reign, he began a series of economic reforms that brought the Soneri (currency of the Pascatyan Empire) to one of the highest values ​​in history. These reforms were aimed at increasing the manufacture of products that were imported from other kingdoms, to reduce the extensive import costs. Luxurious products such as high-quality silk, ceramics and glass from the north, which year after year emptied the state coffers, began to be manufactured on Prabhati soil by order of the emperor. The import of these products was soon reduced and they even became export products to the western Austronesian kingdoms. Steps were also taken under the Brihatkala government to counter corruption in the provinces and to improve tax collection. Many administration positions were abolished as unnecessary, and examinations for civil servants were toughened in order to maintain an efficient bureaucracy. In the middle of his reign the highest surplus of that time was reached, much of which was invested in improving the infrastructure that connected the entire kingdom, creating a large merchant fleet and establishing defenses on the borders with the Austronesians and in the North. In 437, Brihatkala organized a maritime expedition commanded by himself and destined to explore the western lands beyond the Austronesian kingdoms of the east of South Kesh that had always been considered impenetrable, reaching the country of Pelankan in present day Heiban, with which friendly relations and a new trade route were established. The long journey was recorded in the Chronicles of Brihatkala, where the customs of the Austronesian kingdoms of Southern Kesh were narrated in detail. Brihatkala died in 450 at the age of 54, his reign lasting 40 years and his son Pulindaka succeeded him. Pulindaka, known as "The Poet", was an emperor with a great affinity for poetry and literature, the arts and sciences. With the financial surplus inherited from his father he built new learning centers in the Devanagist temples to expand education. The largest construction of it was the Tatvana higher education center, forerunner of modern universities, which was for centuries the largest educational institution in the region. Strategically located in Godavari, in the center of the empire, its construction began in 453 and ended in 460, requiring a large number of workers who received the same benefits that his father had established. The 15-hectare Tatvana compound encompassed temples, classrooms, lakes, parks, and a large five-story high library whose number of contained volumes is estimated at hundreds of thousands, manuscripts that included topics such as theology, grammar, logic, literature, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and medicine. This large number is due to the system established by the emperor whereby every important manuscript from abroad was requisitioned, copied by a large team of library copyists, and returned, enriching the library with much foreign knowledge. Tatvana received more than 5,000 students and 700 teachers, coming from all over the empire and even from as far away as Kodeshia. As far as we know the subjects taught at Tatvana include theology, philosophy, law, medicine, astronomy, and urban planning. The existence of Tatvana gave rise to new philosophical schools that triggered the revival of the Prabhati philosophy, and also contributed to expanding the scientific knowledge of society thanks to the arrival of foreign knowledge. Years after the Tatvana construction was completed, a new social class composed of intellectuals called Prakasita began to form, who would become an influential caste in the reign of Pulindaka. In addition to the construction of learning centers, Pulindaka was a famous poet throughout the region as he wrote famous poems such as the Kavyatvaka, as well as plays and chronicles thanks to which we learn details about the ancient history of Prabhat. During his reign the equestrian sport called “Pulu”, which was previously a privilege of the nobility, spread to the lower classes of society by order of the emperor, who encouraged the population to adopt the sport, becoming an iconic element of the Prabhati culture. Pulindaka died in 486, his reign lasting 36 years and his son Ghosha succeeded him.

Ghosha, known as "The Builder" and "The Explorer", combined his father's affinity for the arts and sciences with the great architectural and administrative skills of his grandfather Brihatkala. In 489 he moved the capital of Pascatyana to the ancient city of Impiryia, capital of the ancient Vidarale Empire, making it one of the most beautiful and imposing cities in Kesh through well-planned urban infrastructure and beautification works. The city became the center of the empire's road network, large buildings such as theaters and circuses were erected to increase the possibilities of entertainment for the inhabitants, and the city center was renovated with the construction of a large market that it included temples and parks. Works were also carried out in other cities of the empire such as aqueduct and sewer systems, libraries, sports centers and large public baths. He in turn encouraged many northern inhabitants to move to the south of the empire that was previously only populated by the Tylakians to exploit its agricultural capacity to the fullest. In 495 Ghosha followed the example of his grandfather organizing a maritime expedition to the west commanded by himself, which again reached Pelankan and also discovered the kingdoms of Cagayan, with which new trade routes were established. In 504 he led a new maritime expedition, this time to the north, making official visits to the Nan and Jie Dynasties of Kodeshia with which previously there was only indirect contact. He also discovered and visited the kingdoms of Selengeria and the Ame and Testu Kingdoms of Akiteiwa. The Emperor left numerous gifts in all the kingdoms he visited showing the economic prosperity of his empire, and he was interested in learning about the cultures of these countries, gaining a good reputation among the northern rulers. Once Emperor Ghosha returned to Prabhat in 505, numerous scientific and cultural knowledge was brought in and stored in Tatvana. Ghosha's fame as an intrepid navigator made him known in the region, but it also led to his death. In 520 he organized a naval expedition of 30 large ships to the southeast, attempting to cross what was known as the "Impassable Sea" to be remembered forever and ever. During the crossing a great storm sank many ships and separated the fleet. Some ships managed to reach the Ervlio Vorbeia Islands and return to the empire, but most of the ships along with the emperor disappeared. In 2007, what was allegedly Ghosha's ship was found at the bottom of the Thetys Ocean, with many of the relics it carried still intact. When the news reached Prabhat that of his son Cheraya, who had functioned as regent during his father's voyages, was crowned emperor, ending his father's 31-year reign. Cheraya, known as "The Besieger", acceded to the throne with a prior knowledge of the imperial administration thanks to his regencies during his father's travels. Unlike his predecessors, Cheraya was much more ambitious and his goals went beyond building beautiful temples or promoting the arts. The new emperor wished to expand the dominions of the empire, setting his eyes on the small Galuh Kingdom, which had been besieged by the Pascatyan fleet more than a century ago with humiliating results, being considered an impregnable fortress. This time the empire had a much more powerful fleet, a powerful economy, and a favorable opinion of the emperor. Cheraya commanded his fleet towards Galuh in 524 focusing on destroying flotillas that skirmished to weaken the fleet just as they had done in the previous siege. After that, the island was surrounded by the imperial fleet and its ports were blocked, leaving the small kingdom incommunicado. Rather than order an assault, Cheraya sent his best spies to infiltrate Galuh territory. Some sabotaged barracks, bridges and warehouses that left Galuh troops with few weapons and supplies, while others bribed politicians and officials to join the imperial side. Three months later the Emperor Cheraya sent an ultimatum to the King of Galuh offering forgiveness to the lives of all the troops, officers and rulers, who would keep their posts. The king of Galuh refused, but was overthrown by politicians and officials bribed by Cheraya who capitulated. In less than 4 months the entire Galuh Kingdom was occupied by the imperial troops and had been annexed as one more principality, giving public positions to the politicians who had supported the emperor. This clever way of besieging an island considered impregnable with almost no bloodshed resonated throughout the region, making Cheraya famous as a great strategist. After this war, Cheraya carried out military reforms aimed at improving the organization and armament of the army, whose most important innovation was the trebuchet. In 531 Cheraya called the leading clerics of the empire to the Second Council of Kanēk, 211 years after the first council was held, to definitively resolve the religious differences between Mastaralists and Orthodox Devanagists. The reason for this council was due to the fact that in recent years the number of devotees Mastaralist had risen disproportionately and this worried the emperor, who anticipated that religious conflicts would break out. Before this council an internal division broke out between the Mastaralists who worshiped the trinity of gods as a whole (Trinitarian Mastaralists) and the Mastaralists who worshiped a particular god (Henotheist Mastaralists), causing friction in their own communities. During the council, most Trinitarian Mastaralist communities were convinced by Orthodox Devanagism clergymen to reintegrate after heated theological debate. However, the Henotheist Mastaralists rejected any agreement and increased their hostility. The Emperor Cheraya decided to respect the existence of the Henotheist Mastaralists to avoid confrontation, but urban disturbances also occurred which had to be stopped by the army. The good diplomacy of the emperor managed to calm the waters and the situation returned to be peaceful a decade after the council, but the situation would explode again decades later. During the remainder of his reign, new constructions were made, especially military ones, such as fortresses in the Austronesian territories to tighten control of him and on the northern border to keep the Nanling Kingdoms at bay. Cheraya died in 584 with 64 years of reign, the longest of the entire Vishna Dynasty, being succeeded by Brihatkala II.

Brihatkala II, known as "The Humble One", was the last of the "Five Great Vishna Emperors" and therefore of the Vishna Golden Age. This emperor had a very humble, modest and supportive personality, which led him to visit the poorest areas of the empire at the beginning of his reign and donate large amounts of money to needy families. Under his reign, the production of an indigenous variant of Kodeshian silk, the Prabhati silk, was sponsored, whose knowledge of the production process was passed on to the poor classes so that they could subsist on producing high-quality silk. He also established favorable measures for widows and children, raised the salary of common soldiers, established the expropriation of wealth from the rich who committed crimes such as parricide, fought usury practices and granted imperial citizenship to Austronesians who cultivated the arts and sciences, in exchange for moving to the capital. These measures made him loved by the popular sectors but he generated misgivings in sectors of the nobility, who feared that his privileges would be violated. During the following years the economy was affected by unfair competition from foreign merchants. In 593 Brihatkala II established a series of import tariffs to protect the growing national manufacturing against foreign competitors, which helped small producers but affected many merchants who became opponents of his reign. In 597 a plot by the Prince of Vidarala to assassinate him and take power was discovered, supported by various merchants. Brihatkala II held a public trial in which all participants were executed, this being celebrated by the crowd. Religious violence erupted again in his reign, culminating in 605 with the murder of the Prince of Szattara by a group of Mastaralist rebels. Brihatkala II supported the use of public justice to duly convict those responsible, but the Orthodox population of that principality saw the murder of their Prince as a provocation by the Mastaralist majority, so there were acts of violence during the so-called “Szattaran Crisis". Brihatkala II had to intervene militarily in the principality, costing him several civilian lives in the process. The nobility asked the emperor to decree a new religious persecution, but Brihatkala II refused, limiting himself to condemning those found as guilty. The antipathy of the aristocracy towards the emperor reached a climax when he introduced a bill to establish large taxes on the nobility in order to invest in small producers. In 610, 200 years after the beginning of the Vishna Golden Age, it came to an abrupt end when a group of hitmen sent by the nobility ended their lives at the gates of the Imperial Council. The reign of the last of the Five Great Vishna Emperors would last 26 years and would be succeeded by his son Bhagabhata II.