Ancient Era of Beiteynu

The Ancient Era of Beiteynu (< 2000) begins with the first Yeudi people, who were part of the Qedarite Migrations in Majatra and after the founding of Yeudism in Cildania they migrated to what is now modern Beiteynu, forming tribes under the Qedarite Empire. At some point, one of the Yeudi High Priests brought forth heretical ideas and was exiled, leading to the creation of Hosianism, which the Yeudis never accepted. After the collapse of the empire, the various Yeudi tribes united under a king's banner, establishing a sacred monarchy for a few centuries, which at some point was left with no heirs, breaking down into multiple kingdoms. Anarchy rose up, Yeudis began migrating away and crazy royalty made quite a few mistakes during their rule, worsening the situation. At some point in the 1500s, religious control of the government began to emerge, angering Pontesi, eventually leading to a full-fledged invasion, sacking most of Beiteynu's cities and depleting the Yeudi population.

The end of the period is marked by a massive earthquake which destroyed most of Pontesi's military capability, giving rise to the 2nd Yeudi Homeland.

< 908, Birth Of Yeudi Civilisation[]

The Yeudi people are part of the Qedarite (Semitic) group of ethnicities, and they trace their origins to the Qedarite Migrations (c. 3500 BCE - c. 500 BCE). The Yeudis became a separate ethnic group with the founding of Yeudism in Cildania in c. 500 BCE. Spurred on by their new religion of Yeudism they had left in search of the promised land eventually arriving in Beiteynu. The idea of a promised land had come from a revelation had by a young boy in which he claimed Elyon spoke to him.

It is unclear about whether Beiteynu was their planned destination especially seeing as olive trees are only prominent on the eastern side of the nation. This had led many recent historians to claim they were actually searching for what is now Pontesi. As the journey was done on boats via Malivia and Darnussia is quite likely they would have simply bypassed Pontesi and arrived in Beiteynu with it being their first experience of Western Majatra.

Whether the arrival in Beiteynu was planned or not the travellers arrived in approximately 484 BCE and quickly began settling down. The Yeudi tribes were soon afterwards brought under the political authority of the Qedarite Empire, but the Yeudi religion continued to thrive under Qedarite rule. Tribal groups soon began appointing high ranking members as High Priests. One such High Priest was Eliyahu, who was considered heretical by the Yeudi establishment, and deposed and exiled, leading to the creation of Hosianism as a distinct religion.

After the fall of the Qedarite Empire the Yeudi tribes regained their independence, and were brought under the rule of Rebbes, replacing the High Priests as the leaders of the Yeudi religion. In the west of Padrilka large groups began uniting under the banner of the recently pronounced Ishmael I and started consolidating power over the region. By the 900's they had secured all of what is now Beiteynu as well as a large part of northern Barmenistan and western Pontesi. In 908 the Chief Rebbe of Padrilka proclaimed Ishmael I to be Sacred Monarch of the Kingdom of Beiteynu.

908 - 1154, 1st Yeudi Homeland - Sacred Monarchy[]

Main Article(s): Sacred Monarchy of Beiteynu

Following the coronation of Ishmael I as King he proceeded to invoke his beliefs in the "Divine Right of Kings" and proclaimed himself a Sacred Monarch with rule over a Sacred Monarchy. Additionally to satisfy religious demands and to garner the support of the Rabbinical community for his new title he declared the nation to be a Yeudi Homeland. Following later events in the history of Beiteynu the Sacred Monarchy has come to be known as the First Yeudi Homeland.

Ishamael I reigned for 12 years until he died of old age and was replaced by his son Ishmael II. Ishmael II has in time come to be known as the great architect of the nation as it was under his 66 year reign that much of the nations infrastructure of future years was built. His crowning achievement however was the expansion of the city of Bira on the coast of Padrilka, the sacred city in Yeudism. This soon became the largest city in Western Majatra and a major trading port for Artanian merchants.

Following the death of Ishmael II the Sacred Monarchy was governed peacefully by four subsequent Kings. In 1131 and following the murder of Ezekiel III by a bandit Ezekiel IV ascended to the throne, he would be the last ruler of a unified First Yeudi Homeland. Under the rule of Ezekiel III the aristocracy had grown unpopular due to its numerous taxes on the peasantry as well as the high levels of witch trials. Additionally to this the idea of free market capitalism had begun to gain popularity in Beiteynu, an idea that ran contrary to the agricultural nepotism practiced by the monarchy. Combined these two factors had caused a dramatic increase in the level of rebellions against both the royalty and the clergy.

Since the death of Solomon I in 1027 it had been customary for Sacred Monarchs to refrain from actual combat and instead encourage military separation. Ezekiel IV however, largely thought to be insane, believed in personally defending his nation and so engaged in nearly every battle that he could. In 1154 a major revolt began in Endild and the King naturally chose to participate in quashing it. However whilst in previous battles generals had been under instruction to keep him away from serious conflict this time around they were unable to do so and he was eventually killed by an arrow to the eye.

As news of the death reached Bira so did reports of further revolts across the nation. This was only made worse by the fact that Ezekiel IV had no sons and so a struggle for power emerged between his two brothers. With the nobility unable to find a successor the royal army became demoralised and devoid of effective governance. Eventually following mass desertion the palace at Bira was attacked and looted with nearly all of the royal family, including the feuding brothers impaled in the town square.

Following this the various tribes under Beiteynuese rule each seized an area of the nation and proclaimed themselves as rulers of it; the largest of the successor states of the Sacred Monarchy was the Hosian and Kathuran Kingdom of Arakhim. It was at this point that the wife of Ezekiel IV, who had somehow managed to avoid death, stood on the balcony of the royal palace and proclaimed the death of the Sacred Monarchy and the First Yeudi Homeland before jumping headfirst in the street below.

In 1160 the son of the eldest brother of Ezekiel IV, living in southern Tadraki, declared himself the rightful monarch of Beiteynu. However by now the nation had descended into effective anarchy and he had nowhere near enough support to gain power.

It was also around this time that Yeudi emigration away from Beiteynu began. Those that move south end up few in number as the meet the growing power of the Deltarians, but large Yeudi communities formed in Pontesi, Selucia and Cildania.

1500s, Sacking Of Bira[]

Following the fall of Ezekiel IV central government in Beiteynu collapsed and a period known as the Anarchy took over with the idea of localised tribes resurfacing. However over 300 years later in the 15th Century it a resurgence of the Sacred Monarchy became a distinct possibility as various tribes began to unite under King David.

However in nearby Pontesi anti-Yeudi sentiment was high and pogroms were commonplace. Yeudis had also been forced into small villages and a “Pale of Settlement” created. Following the Great Yeudi Revolt of 1490 in Diar Elahmar rumours spread of a Yeudi conspiracy to take over the nation. Seeing an opportunity to win support from an increasing disenchanted population the then leaders of Pontesi decide to take pre-emptive action and unite the nation in a patriotic Holy Crusade against Beiteynu. Troops immediately began the march through the Pale of Settlement destroying many Yeudi villages on the way and in late 1492 entered the nominal state of Beiteynu

By June 1493 troops finally reached Bira and proceeded to burn it to the ground. Yeudi citizens were routinely massacred and the nation annexed into the Pontesian state. The mass murder of Yeudis caused a one third fall in the population of Beiteynu a problem that was only exacerbated by an increase in the Diaspora as emigration continued on a large scale. In 1500, seven years after the sacking of Bira a basic census on the lands was carried out which estimated that 47% of the collapsed population were Yeudi, to this day it is believed that this is the only time the Yeudi population of Beiteynu has fallen below half.

1600s - 2000, Fight To Return[]

Starting in the late 16th Century the Pontesian policy on the "Yeudi lands" switched from repressing the population to building it up as a sixth province. Whilst the Yeudi population remained large they were treated as second class people and never given Pontesian citizenship thus making them effectively stateless. They were forced into the far west of the nation and guarded by a large brick wall and a system of military barracks. Despite the apparent danger well off Pontesians continued the move west and by the 18th Century it had a name as the best holiday destination due the sunny nature of the north.

However in 1800 an enormous earthquake hit the north east of what is now Fruskila destroying many Pontesian settlements and killing an estimated 80,000. Immediately Catholic leaders in Pontesi major declared the entirety of Beiteynu to be cursed and nearly all Pontesian settlers made a quick return back east. Many Yeudis were now left in the position of no longer being prisoners but still living as stateless individuals. Many moves were made to address this however the most successful occurred in 1864 when a group of newly appointed teachers formed the World Yeudish Council and put forward the idea of a second Yeudi Homeland.

The biggest issue they faced was dealing was the remaining royalists who simply wanted a return to the Sacred Monarchy. Eventually they were able to come to an agreement in which there would be no official restoration of the monarchy but the Yeudi faith would play the highest role in the legislative process. The agreement was signed by 1940 and the Council immediately began recruiting local men for a so called "War of Liberation".