Governorate of Siyachia
| Governorate of Siyachia | |||
| |||
| Motto: Besser tsu shtarben shtai’endik aider tsu leben oif di kni. | |||
| Anthem: | |||
| 250px|Location of Siyachia|frameless | |||
| Map versions | – | ||
| Capital | |||
| Largest city | Litkov | ||
| Official language(s) | Yehudi | ||
| Official religion(s) | Siyachism, Qara'ut | ||
| Demonym | Siyachi | ||
| - Adjective | Siyachim | ||
| Government | Theocracy | ||
| - Nāśī (Prince) | Issac Hakohen Glau | ||
| - 'ha'kohen ha'gadol (High Priest) | Mikha Paamon | ||
| - Legislature | Sanhedrin | ||
| Establishment | 1660 | ||
| Area | – | ||
| Population | 530,850 | ||
| Currency | Benacian sovereign | ||
| Calendar | |||
| Time zone(s) | |||
| Mains electricity | |||
| Driving side | |||
| Track gauge | |||
| National website | – | ||
| National forum | TBE | ||
| National animal | Black Eagle (Yehudi) | ||
| National food | |||
| National drink | |||
| National tree | – | ||
| Abbreviation | SFS | ||
A dependency of the Imperial Republic (1660–1665) established during latter stages of the Benacian Reconquest, dispossessed of its lands in the years immediately prior to the Kalirion Fracture, and later restored as a client-kingdom of the Black Legions and Benacia Command (1672–1679). Reorganised as a governorate of the Unified Governorates of Benacia in 1679.
Government
The Prince and the High Priest of the Free State, whose roles are presently combined, administer Siyacha in accordance with the halakha, a collective body of religious law that comprises the practical application of the 613 mitzvot or commandments derived from the Torah and codified in the Mishnah, of which there are six order - these being:
- Zeraim ("Seeds"), dealing with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws (11 tractates)
- Moed ("Festival"), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals (12 tractates)
- Nashim ("Women"), concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite (7 tractates)
- Nezikin ("Damages"), dealing with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths (10 tractates)
- Kodashim ("Holy things"), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws (11 tractates) and
- Tohorot ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of food purity and bodily purity (12 tractates).
In spite of being a small, backwards and sparsely populated territory, the Free State has attracted an appreciable contingent of meforshim and parshanim (commentaries & commentators) on the holy law - known collectively as the rabanim or "Great Ones", many of whom have have expressed what they deem to be a spiritual calling to combat the minim (heretics) of the neighbouring jurisdiction who have rejected the celestial power in favour of its infernal counterpart whilst maintaining the outward form of the faith.
Although suffering from association with the - in Siyacha eyes - pagan rulers of the Benacian Union, the Prince provides the semikhah (ordained authority) through which the Sanhedrin, an assembly of twenty-three or seventy-one rabbis appointed to as a tribunal, is convoked in Nackholm. Presently the Sanhedrin occupies the Kibitzer Hall of Litkov, in succession to the "All-Siyacha Council of Kohanim".
The Prince / High Priest has City Hall, the Beth Siyacha synagogue and the Ruzhin Palace reserved for his use, since the Prince, as Governor, exercises a dominant influence over the Governorate on behalf of the Unified Governorates.
Defence & security
Garrison
The territory of the Siyachia, and of the adjoining protectorates of Lepidopterum and the Upland Confederation, is garrisoned by the Siyacher Hohm of the Benacian Union Defence Force, consisting of a single reinforced corps. This corps, the I Uihmanz "Siyacher" in turn comprises of two legions, the Salb III and the Salb IV Aurangzeb and the locally raised 3 Kossarfördelningen "Siyachia". Of these the Salb III is garrisoned at Litkov and the 3 Kossarfördelningen "Siyachia" at Daschau. Accordingly the force assigned to garrisoning the Governorate of Siyachia is as follows:
- I Uihmanz "Siyacher"
- Salb III (Litkov Cantonment)
- 4 Command & Control Regiment
- 4 Motorised Infantry Regiment
- 24 Motorised Infantry Regiment
- 44 Motorised Infantry Regiment
- 4 Area Defence Regiment
- 4 Inspectorate Regiment
- 3 Kossarfördelningen "Siyachia"
- 57 Taktiska Kommando Regemente
- 20 Grenadjärregemente
- 37 Infanteriregementet
- 73 Infanteriregementet
- 37 Ingenjörregemente
- 37 Artilleriregemente
- 37 Luftvärnsregemente
- 37 Signalregemente
- 37 Trängregemente
- 37 Sanitetsregemente
- 37 Garnisonsregementet
- 71 Inspektionsregementet
- Salb III (Litkov Cantonment)
This therefore provides for the following theoretical manpower establishment for the garrison:
| Regiment Type | Quantity | General Officers | Staff Officers | Regimental Officers | Squadron Officers | NCOs | Other Ranks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command & Control | 2 | 12 | 96 | 12 | 80 | 380 | 2,400 |
| Motorised Infantry | 3 | 2 | 16 | 19 | 120 | 570 | 3,600 |
| Light Infantry | 3 | 2 | 16 | 19 | 120 | 570 | 3,600 |
| Artillery/Air Defence | 3 | 2 | 16 | 19 | 120 | 570 | 3,600 |
| Combat Support | 7 | 5 | 40 | 44 | 280 | 1,330 | 8,400 |
| TOTAL | 18 | 23 | 184 | 113 | 720 | 3,420 | 21,600 |
- CV-56 Horjin – 136
- M1701 158mm MLRS – 16
- M1681 105 mm howitzer – 18
- HK-III M1675 155 mm mobile gun (wheeled)| – 35
- Light Trucks – 1,017
- Snatch Land Rovers – 5,508
Auxiliaries
The Governorate itself maintains the Volhyrian Kossar Brigade, which in spite of its name is a regimental formation, that serves as a gendarmerie and scouting force. Comprised of 847 kossar light-cavalrymen, the VKB is miserably equipped with weaponry and vehicles abandoned by the Imperial Forces in Siyachia prior to the Kalirion Fracture.
Law enforcement & internal security
Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices
Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels
Other forces present in the region
The Siyachia, owing to the hardiness of its folk and their relative cultural estrangement from the other ethnicities of the Unified Governorates and the Benacian Union provides a disproportionate of the manpower for the Land Forces of the Benacian Union. As such recruiting parties from the following formations are routinely to be encountered in the Siyachia:
- Salb VII Sikarikim, garrisoned in Highbloom;
- Salb IX Kokhba, garrisoned in Selfoss;
- Salb X Kana'im, garrisoned in Servopolis;
- 5th Manoeuvre Brigade, garrisoned in the Governorate of Litel;
- 12th Manoeuvre Brigade, garrisoned on Florencia.
Additionally seven independent regiments of kossars were raised by the BUDF in 1708 AN for various frontier duties and it is to be anticipated that they will also dispatch recruiting parties back to Siyachia as and when the need for fresh intakes of recruits and replacements will arise.
Demographics
| Bailiwick | Meritorious Subjects | Subjects Without Merit | Protected Persons | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yehudim | Others | Yehudim | Others | |||
| Daschau | 31,012 | 17,308 | 43,416 | 24,231 | 31,713 | 147,680 |
| Istenbruck | 4,967 | 107 | 9,934 | 1,041 | 7,604 | 23,653 |
| Kolmen | 8,988 | 97 | 17,976 | 436 | 15,305 | 42,802 |
| Leegveldt | 5,393 | 71 | 10,786 | 752 | 8,681 | 25,683 |
| Litkov | 53,650 | 8,654 | 107,300 | 20,769 | 65,107 | 255,480 |
| Sankt Elmo | 2,359 | 81 | 4,718 | 194 | 3,883 | 11,235 |
| Sankt Guy | 3,008 | 110 | 6,016 | 264 | 4,926 | 14,324 |
| Sankt Klaus | 2,098 | 59 | 4,196 | 141 | 3,499 | 9,993 |
| Total | 111,475 | 26,487 | 204,342 | 47,828 | 140,718 | 530,850 |
Culture
“Without the Torah, without the kollels, without the yeshivas, the revival will have no success.”
The heart of the Siyachia was the shtetl - the self-contained villages into which the descendants of the Ashkenatzim had withdrawn following the collapse of their own empire, and that of Minarboria which succeeded it. The villages and small towns, protected against the depredations of the Lach and their own bands of kossars hailing from neighbouring shtetls, were agglomerations of wooden and corrugated iron houses set in a maze of winding alleys and unpaved, muddy streets where sewage ran in open drains.
Since its advent the Benacian Union has been relentless in its exploitation of the manpower of the Siyachia, drawing off purchased apprentices to serve in the regiments of the BUDF and calling upon any with the least semblance of rabbinical training to serve as kohanim, charged with enforcing the worship of the Highest Divinity in the manner permitted by the Union Covenant. For the remainder of the Yehudim their services are called upon as commercial middlemen, craftsmen, and traders. But like all other subjects their lives are bound by all manner of restrictions so onerous that they are in effect confined to their bailiwick of residence unless they have attained merit through service for the myriad forms of higher authority that have been set over them.
The heart of the shtetl is the yeshiva, the rabbinical school with its hospital and bathhouse, where rabbis - their phylacteries firmly bound to their flesh - lead broods of children in their rote-learnt singsong incantation of the verses of sacred scripture and holy law. The rabbi with seniority holds court over this institution from the attached synagogue where prayers and rites are performed and a constant stream of congregants beat their path to his door to seek advice on questions of law and religion, and the proper upbringing for their children.
Indeed for the yehudim, poverty was no excuse for not marrying, and childlessness a condition of shame inhabiting a position somewhere between a tragedy and a crime. However the obligations of educating sons and marrying daughters could be an enormous burden for those of limited means. The yehudim preferred to carry on educating their own - and any child who passed into the education system of the Unified Governorates was considered to be essentially and irredeemably lost to heathenism.
History
Timeline
- 1543-1605 - Heartland of the Republic of Ashkenatza, a major world power, noted for its conflicts with Ocia (Amokolian War) and Babkha (Euran Cold War), which established a hegemony over southern and central Benacia.
- 1605 - An electromagnetic pulse of an unprecedented size for a "non-nuclear event" knocks out the Ashkenatzim capital, Kolmenitzkiy, throwing the metropolis and the surrounding region for miles around, into chaos. Ground-zero was triangulated to the Yabotinsky Fortress but the cause and exact nature of the event remains unknown.
- 1605-1638 - Warlord era. 33 years of chaos and violence grips the heartland of Ashkenatza following the sudden collapse of its government. Yehudi territories fall under the control of warring bands of Kossars, veterans of the Ashkenatzer Militerischer Kraft who had turned to a successful life of brigandage in the absence of any semblance of central authority or discipline.
- 1638 - "Jollification of the Kossars" sees Volhyria and Porolia invaded by Minarborian forces, leading to the establishment of the Shophate of Siyachia.
- 1640-1644 - "Harvestfall Revolution" sees Minarboria begin its abrupt decline.
- 1648 - Final collapse of Minarborian aligned regime in Siyachia.
- 1649 - Pachad Emet ben Mavet asserts control over what remains of "Nackolom".
- XI.1652–XIII.1652 - The Mavet regime in Siyachia is drawn into conflict with the Imperial Republic.
- 1656 - Batavian settlers, fleeing the War of Lost Brothers, enter the Inner Benacian Green. Skirmishes with Yehudi inhabitants ensue.
- 01.VIII–14.XI.1657 - 1st Battle of Nackholm (Operation Way of Force). Vengeful Shirerithian forces attempt to kill or capture Pachad ben Mavet, laying waste to Nackholm in the process.
- 19.VIII.1657 - The Kasterburg Republic occupies the southern half of Nackholm.
- 15.IX-25.IX.1657 - Battle of Stuyven between Batavian settlers and the Yehudi.
- 08.VIII.1659–06.XIII.1659 - Fall Schwartz-Tilman.
- 24.VIII.1659 - 2nd Battle of Nackholm.
- 22.XIII.1659 - August Baerdemans, and a small band of armed followers, enter the ruins of Nackholm and proclaim it the capital of the Transbatavian Free State.
- 22-29.XIII.1659 - Seven days and seven nights of air-raids on Nackholm by Bomber Command.
- 22.XV.1659 - Resolutions to protect Former Subjects in Inner Benacia and establish the Imperial Nackholm Observation Mission proposed by Imperial Mother in the Landsraad, supported by the N&H Party in Folksraad.
- 12.I.1660 - Recommendations by an international boundary commission favour Shirerithian proposals to occupy Nackholm.
- 14.II.1660 - Imperial Decree 1020 (Border Adjustment) & 1021 (Institutions in Siyacha) promulgated.
- 17.II.1660 - Fall Grunwald-Ulrich begins.
- 18.II.1660 - Adin ben Shmuel, a renegade Bergburger Kohen, is ordained as Prince and High Priest of Siyachia, under Imperial supervision, at a ceremony in recently occupied Heyburgh, where a Red Heifer was rendered unto Yahweh as a burnt offering with crimson dyed wool, hyssop, and cedar wood. The ashes were passed into the custody of the Prince as a symbol of his duty to conduct the purification of Nackholm.
- 1661–1662 - In response to the incorporation of Transbatavia into the emergent United Batavian States and the construction of the Batavergesp Railway offering a lifeline to the apartheid regime of the Voortrekkers in formerly Yehudi territories, regiments of Volhyrian Kossars are raised by patriotic associations throughout the Free State.
- 19.III.1663 - Imperial garrison in Siyacha scaled back to a single composite regiment of Auxiliaries and Marshals supporting the Imperial High Commission in Nackholm, in line with the new policy of deescalation towards Kalgachia.
- 02.XIII.1663 - Protests in Peretz Square ensued after Shirerithian officials attempted to read the articles of a covenant similar to that already promulgated by the Prince of Modan in Batavia[1] and Modan[2]. The offending articles in particular were those obliging the covenanters to make sacrifices to Agni and the Benac, a goddess and a culture hero respectively of the Shirerithian religion and to sign the covenant in their blood after making prostration before a portrait of the Kaiser displayed as a religious icon. Prince ben Shmuel was pelted with rotten vegetables and dung when he made an appearance to call upon the gathering crowds to disperse.
- 06.II.1665: Disestablished and replaced by the District of Nackholm–Rhineland upon the passage of a Landsraad resolution which united Siyacha with the Trans-Batavian Free State, itself recently annexed by Shireroth. On paper Nackholm–Rhineland was to remain an autonomous district, albeit subject to the Viceroy of Batavia. Faced by scenes of riotous disorder, the Prince of Modan consented for the institutions of the Siyacha Free State to continue in operation albeit now directly answerable to himself.
- 1710 AN: A temple compound dedicated to the worship of Asherah was established by renegade members of the priesthood who had given themselves over to forbidden teachings. Secluded in the dense forests of the region bordering Batavia and the Upland Confederation, rumours of the existence of the profanity soon began to circulate.
- 19.XI.1721 AN: Adin ben Shmuel passed from this life at the age of 93. His sons fell immediately to quarreling over the inheritance.
- 13.XIV.1721 AN: After an interregnum of a few months, the cattleman Mikha Paamon underwent the rites of purification and sanctification necessary to assume the office of High Priest and Prince, having gained the favour of Zacharias Avon-El through the payment of a generous donative taken from the communities of Siyachia.
- 20.II.1730 AN: Pleading infirmity, Mikha Paamon abdicated from the position of Prince in order to better focus his remaining years upon the performance of the duties of High Priest. The Rebbe Issac Hakohen Glau is declared to be his successor, pending the endorsement of authorities in Merensk.
