|
|ethnic_groups_year = 2020
|demonym = Tavari
|government_type = [[wikipedia:unitary state|Unitary]] [[wikipedia:parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[wikipedia:elective monarchy|elective]] [[wikipedia:constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchy]]
|leader_title1 = King
|leader_name1 = Zaram V
|leader_title2 = Prime Minister
|leader_name2 = Žarís Alandar
|leader_title3 = [[Akronism|Matron]]
|leader_name3 =
|leader_title4 =
==History==
The land on which Acronis now sits was originally inhabited by several dozen loosely-affiliated tribes of elves that called themselves the Tavari. Tavari elves are believed to have migrated to the areaisland of Avnatra sometime between the first and fourth centuries AD, though recent archaeological evidence shows that other elves may have been present earlier. From time to time throughout history, various chiefdoms would unite under a single leader to gain strength and control over other chiefdoms. By the beginning of the 14th century AD, they were all united in a loose confederation under the banner of a single King.
Beginning in the 1470s, a religious movement known as Akronism after a deity known as Akrona, arose in the northwest regions of the country, particularly near the Crystal Coast.
Official state history says that some time between 1470 and 1480 AD, the Goddess known as Akrona appeared from the sea before a group of seven bathing women and blessed them, charging them with a mission to spread her word and her blessing. This religious movement, known as [[Akronism]], quickly spread among the Tavari, and within ten years several chiefdoms had defected from the Tavari King in order to form a new polity under the faith of the Goddess. Non-Acronian historians generally characterize the emergence of the Akronist faith as a charismatic movement based on northern Tavari local religious beliefs, but agree that the religious upheaval caused a splinter movement and then a civil war.
The beginning of the war, known in Acronis as the War of Foundation, is dated variously between 1475 and 1490, with most historians settling on minor skirmishes in the late 1470s and the emergence of major hostilities sometime between 1480 and 1485. On the one side was the emergent faction of Akronists (called Akronians, now spelled "Acronians") who gradually formed themselves into a state, and on the other were the Tavari chiefdoms united under the King. Contemporary Tavari accounts refer to the conflict as the "cultist uprising," and modern Tavari historians tend to refer to it as the Tavari Civil War.
On February 20th, 1496, a document known as The Pact was signed. The parties to the Pact were the group of seven women who had established the Akronist faith, known as The Elders, and the various leaders of the chiefdoms who had declared their faith in Akrona. The Elders selected one of their membership, known as the Matron, to be their leader. One of the chiefs, a man named Davras, was selected to represent the chiefs to The Elders. The Pact laid out the relationship between The Elders and the people, as represented by Davras, and more broadly, the responsibilities of both church and state. The Pact is still in force today, and has never been amended. The date of its signing, February 20th, is celebrated as Acronis' National Day, known as Foundation Day.
In 1499, Acronian forces reached the island off the southern coast where the King of the Tavari held his base of power. They prepared for a siege, but the King of the Tavari - named Zaram - ordered his troops to surrender. He gave an order for those loyal him to leave the country, and then appeared before Davras, who was leader of the Acronian forces, and offered his life in exchange for the safe departure of the Tavari loyalists. Davras agreed, with the Tavari loyalists departing unharmed after Zaram's surrender and death on June 10th of 1499. Davras would become the first King of the Acronian Empire and adopted the city as its capital, naming it Žrat Zaram ("the blood of Zaram" in Acronian) in honor of Zaram's sacrifice. The city, still named the same, remains the capital. The Acronian royal dynasty remains the House of Davras (known formally as Line Davras, which is one of 1,152 formally established clans among the Acronian people), with the current monarch, King Mital II, a direct descendant of King Davras and the 20th monarch in total.
The Tavari that refused to convert almost completely left Acronis, mostly by sea. There have been [[History of Tavari-Acronian Relations|several armed conflicts]] between Acronis and what is now known as the [[Tavari Union]], including five times within an approximately 100 year period from 1617 to 1714 and most recently during the [[Great War]]. To this day, the territory known as [[Metrati Anar]], an archipelago in the eastern Pacific north of Avnatra, remains contested between the two nations. Except for a period between 1908 and 1919 during the Great War, the territory has been administered by the Acronian Empire. An additional Acronian territory is [[Rodoka]], which was first settled by Acronians in 1620 and which became a province of Acronis in August of 2020 after a referendum.
The religious government still functions virtually identically to the way it did at the foundation of the Empire. The civil government has been significantly altered, with a once absolute monarchy having developed gradually into a constitutional monarchy. In the second half of the 18th century, the citizenry began to demand a more active role in the governance of the Empire and formed local Diets that were bodies elected to present grievances to the King. In 1763, the King agreed to form a National Diet and ceded to it lawmaking authority, in exchange for the imposition of a tax on income.
In 1790, the National Diet proposed, and a referendum ratified, the document known as the Instruments of Governance. The Instruments of Governance established the office of Prime Minister and a bicameral Parliament with a new Senate as the upper house and the extant Diet as the lower house. Under the Instruments the monarchy disclaimed the rights to unilaterally initiate legislation, impose taxation, declare war, and repeal civil law, but the monarchy was retained as the head of state and was granted established reserve powers. In contrast to The Pact, the Instruments of Governance have been amended several times.
===Modern History===
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