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Civilization Quest

Orisha91 said:
Goleh Sylla, An overview of class and social stratification in the early Wagadou union, (University of Oulata, 1692)
​
Hooru( Free-men)-Citizens
* These classes are much more dominated and nearly monopolized but the great war changed many minds...​
​
1. Tunkalemu (Princes)
Only they can become king. A king can formerly adopt a prince that is not his son as well as pass it on to his own child, and occurred much more frequently in kingdom and empire as time passed years. The selection process for a king as well as the rule of a king was not at all the sole rule of a king, but care was taken to make the display of power seem so. A king made sure to take the advice and mood of other princes and the public very seriously into account in ruling and succession.

- The elders, the patriarchal heads of prince families, have the most powerful voices in the creation of law.

2. Mangu (Advisors)
They advise the princes and prince families. They'd be the current councilors, mediators, confidants and those who command judicial duties maybe less powerful chiefs and extended families of princes or less powerful princes around now. They descend from the Kuraleme, a warrior class the lead at the heads of armies during war in war and what we'll probably get once we organize our forces.

3. Kuraleme (Generals)
The heads of armies made once king Cissa organized his forces. Care for their soldiers needs and responsibility for enforcing law and order was their job. The most senior and powerful and loyal of them will form the backbone of the Mangu after retiring from being generals.

4. Modinu (Preists)
They perform prayers, rituals, ceremonies, teach religion and are responsible for the general education of the populace. Might have been among the first imams of modern day southern Mauritania and SSA.

Naxamala Hooru(Dependents Free-men)
* These jobs are dominated but not monopolized said classes

1. Tago (Blacksmiths)
Highest position of the Naxamala. Responsible for weapons, work tools, and jewelry. Respected for their knowledge of iron.

2. Sakko ( Woodsman)
Responsible for forestry and plantations. Are said to be respected for their knowledge of wood working. They have a friendship and mastery over devils.

3. Jaroo (Praise-Singers)
They are the most famous of the naxamala class. They act as griots for the important families of the Soninke, are in charge of singing, speaking, oration and animation. they are also authorized to say anything they want, and that might include political criticism without retribution. Many also enjoy the freedom of being assistant scribes for the priest class.

4. Garanko (Cobbler)
They made shoes, saddles, and sword sheaths and all the other manufacturing jobs that don't impinge on the other's territory. The merchant class and military soldiers make up the bulk here. They are also those who help assist the other classes.

-Those who make up the dependent freed-men class can move into the Citizens class by adoption, or being a Naxamalu hooru for 3 generations, an official marriage to a citizen family, and buying their way into citizenship (very expensive).

Wagadou Komo(Slaves of Wagadou)

Just as the name in implies. Hooru & Tunkalemu supposed to take care of and delegate duties to these temporary state owned slaves. They usually outnumber the free-men in the past and make up the major labor force as either the conquered or naxamale hooru or hooru who commit heinous crimes (like desertion, a sign of cowardice). The prosperity of the Soninke was due to their dominance in farming.

Their terms of State slavery are limited if their complete their services with good time or perform extraordinary work. Any offenses they commit results in extended sentences, but must be thoroughly documented with proof. Abuses against them were monitored by the kings shadow's to cooperate a slaves story in case their livelihood, possible freedom and safety was in peril. After their terms of services were up, they usually integrated into the naxamale hooru within a few years with some prodding and recommendation from the kings shadows.

All freed slaves rise to the class of dependent Freed-men. Any child of a slave is born into the dependent Freed-men class. Freed-men can rise to the status of Citizen by serving a certain amount of time in the military, buying it, or performing some deed worthy of advancement. Any child born to dependent Freed-men will not be considered a Wagadou Komo.

Social life of Soninke, especially among the Cissa

-Marriage between different classes was normally not allowed in the early years of Wagadou's kingdom, but after the great war, the dearth of males, a polygamous sex culture soon arose whether officially approved or not. For some, marriage across class lines was loosened and class lines blurred or fabricated to allow for women to have partners and make for the lack of men to support their daughters. The upper classes enjoyed this privilege especially.

-There was also sharp increase in adultery not just among the Soninke, but the Berbers who had been allowed to integrate, and especially Soninke men and the substantial number of Berber women that were then occupied by the Soninke. These marriage would soon produce an immense and loyal nucleus for the emerging kingdom.

Thoughts?​
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Do you mind if I go through and edit it a bit to make some things more clear and re-post it?
 
Goleh Sylla, An overview of class and social stratification in the early Wagadou union, (University of Oulata, 1692)

Hooru( Free-men)-Citizens
* These classes were dominated, but not monopolized, by these jobs, and the great war changed many minds...


  1. Tunkalemu (Princes)
    Only they could become king. A king could formally adopt a prince that was not his son as well as pass rule on to his own child, and the first occurred more frequently in the empire as time passed. The selection process for a king was not dictated solely by the king, but public opinion was manipulated to make this seem the case. While the king was in theory an absolute ruler, the Princes ran much of the day to day affairs of the empire and were able to exert their influence on the King as advisers.

    - The elders, the patriarchal heads of prince families, have the most powerful voices in the creation of law.

    2. Mangu (Advisors)
    They advised the princes and prince's families. They'd be the current councilors, mediators, confidants and those who command judicial duties, less powerful chiefs, and the extended families of princes. They were often taken from from the Kuraleme after retirement, or a Kuraleme's family.

    3. Kuraleme (Generals)
    These were the heads of armies made once king Cissa organized his forces. They cared for their soldier's needs, and took responsibility for enforcing law and order. The most senior, powerful, and loyal of them formed the backbone of the Mangu after retiring from being generals.

    4. Modinu (Preists)
    They performed prayers, rituals, ceremonies, taught religion, and were responsible for the general education of the populace. May have been among the first imams of modern day southern Mauritania and SSA.

    Naxamala Hooru(Dependents Free-men)
    * These jobs are dominated but not monopolized said classes

    1. Tago (Blacksmiths)
    This was the highest position of the Naxamala. They were responsible for weapons, work tools, and jewelry. They were highly respected for their knowledge of iron.

    2. Sakko ( Woodsman)
    They were responsible for forestry and plantations. They were said to be respected for their knowledge of wood working. It was commonly believed that they had a friendship and mastery over devils.

    3. Jaroo (Praise-Singers)
    They were the most famous of the naxamala class. They told the history of the most important Soninke families, were in charge of singing, speaking, oration, and animation. They were also authorized to say anything, including political criticism, without retribution. Many also enjoyed the freedom of being assistant scribes for the priest class.

    4. Garanko (Cobbler)
    They made shoes, saddles, and sword sheaths and all the other manufacturing jobs that don't impinge on the other's territory. They were the ones who assisted the other classes, creating complementary goods.

    5. Shujaa (Career Soldiers)
    These were Free-men who dedicated their lives to the Military, serving most of their adult life. First as a soldier, then as adjutants and organizers. This position was well respected and rather popular with newly promoted Free-men, as it was possible to ascend to the Citizen class through extraordinary valor in battle.

    6. Mfanya Biashara (Traders)
    This was the smallest group in this class, and was somewhat looked down upon for how little they contributed to the Empire. This was the group who accumulated wealth through the buying and reselling of other's goods. They were the most likely to advance to Citizenship through a purchase.

    -Those who make up the dependent freed-men class could move into the Citizens class by adoption, being of the Naxamalu hooru for 3 generations, an official marriage to a citizen family, receiving a commendation from a Kuraleme, or buying their way into citizenship (very expensive).

    Wagadou Komo(Slaves of Wagadou)

    Just as the name implies, these people were taken as slaves of the State to be used as common laborers. Hooru & Tunkalemu were said to have taken care of and delegated duties to these temporary state owned slaves. They tended to outnumber the free-men after a major conquest, and made up the most major unskilled labor force in the Empire. This class was made from the conquered, and naxamale hooru or hooru who committed heinous crimes (like desertion, a sign of cowardice). They greatly aided the prosperity of the Soninke through their use in farming and civil construction.

    All slaves were forced to serve only a limited term of slavery, dependent on their original crime and their behavior during the period of slavery. Any further offenses committed resulted in extended sentences, but had to be thoroughly documented and proven. Abuses against them were monitored by the king's shadow's, and anyone found abusing one of the Wagadou Komo was harshly punished. After their terms of service finished, they usually integrated into the naxamale hooru within a few years.

    All freed slaves rose to the class of dependent Freed-men. Any child of a slave was born into the dependent Freed-men class. Slaves became Freed-men upon serving the totality of their sentence. Slaves could also be freed by one of the Tunkalemu for performing an extraordinary deed.

    Social life of Soninke, especially among the Cissa

    -Marriage between different classes was normally not allowed in the early years of Wagadou's kingdom, but after the great war, and the dearth of males, a polygamous sex culture soon arose, whether officially approved or not. For some, marriage across class lines was loosened and class lines blurred to allow for men to have multiple partners, often of a lower class, and make up for the small number of men compared to women. The upper classes enjoyed this privilege especially.

    -There was also a sharp increase in adultery, not just among the Soninke, but the Berbers who had been allowed to integrate, and especially Soninke men and the substantial number of Berber women that were at the time occupied by the Soninke. These marriages would soon produce an immense and loyal nucleus for the emerging kingdom.

I did my best to make it as clear and comprehensive as possible. Feel free to comment on the changes.

Edit: Made final edits to the class system for grammar and clarity.
 
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I like it notmi, cleaned up and much more streamlined than before.
I think its as merit based as the Soninke will allow, but I'll be damned if it ain't a pretty good improvement over what it is OTL.
I also made it a point to include the "* These jobs are dominated but not monopolized said classes" to allow for some class fluidity and not some caste and family based specialty to be monopolized.

I might have another omake up later. Its about any future tribes we might be fighting against. Its pretty confusing if you don't check these sources but its riducoulously interesting to find out that romans had influence and knowledge of not just the past the ancient Mauritania and Western Sahara, but Present day Mauritania, near Darr Tichitt.

All the way there!

History is stranger than fiction friends...
 
Civilization Quest Results

Soninke 303 AD

As you look upon the year's results, you reflect on how many things can change in just three years' time. The answer seems to be: a lot.

You order your Kuraleme to inspect your soldiers for any sign of the strange behavior, and order them to remove them from the service, at least temporarily. This is successful, as you get the most afflicted members of the army removed. The Kuraleme also have noticed that those afflicted with the strange behavior have usually experienced some form of death, whether it be killing another man or watching one of their friends die in battle. Because of this, the Kuraleme have named the behavior "Death's Curse." Interesting.

Despite the presence of Death's Curse, you still have some pity for the Berbers, those who by their very existence have caused your people to suffer. Perhaps it is because now they are different, outcasts in a land that was once their own. Just like you. At any rate, you wonder what is to become of them, as your people are still mad at them. Of course, about 90 days into the year the women and children of your tribe start talking to the women and children of the Berbers, out of sheer boredom and curiosity. The results are… surprising to say the least. Through dialogue, your people and the Berbers discover that they actually share very similar beliefs and values. In addition to this, your people discover that because of your initial mercy to them, you are actually respected, albeit grudgingly. Nonetheless, your people and the Berbers start to forgive each other.

There are deviants however, and some of the Soninke ones attempt to destroy the Berber writing. However, they are caught, and punished as traitors to the Soninke, and, well, you know what happens to traitors. At any rate, you capitalize upon the majority of forgiveness, and, with the help of your Soninke and few secret Berber advisors, draft the first document of your people: The social code and classes of the Soninke and Berbers. The codes detail the slightly lower initial status of the Berbers, but give them a chance to catch up, as well as detail the rights and responsibilities of all of your people according to their class. The document is celebrated as the true king's decree, and your rule is stable once again.

However, the year is not without failure and sadness. Your efforts to improve relations between the tribes and establish a shadow group take longer than normal. It is frustrating, but given some time, you are sure that it will work out. However you know that there is one thing that time will not solve.

When you are finally wed, it is a happy night. You like your wife, your wife likes you, and all is well. However, a young angry Berber man ambushed you as you walked to your home, and savagely beat you and your wife with a large club. You recovered fully and fought off the man long enough for your guards to seize him. Your wife did not recover fully. She now has the mind of a very young child, and will never produce children. When you discover this, you are furious, but aware that the wrong action could break the bonds that have developed between the Berbers and you. So you decide that the young offender shall be stoned to death by a crowd of both Soninke and Berbers alike.

Life can be very confusing. As a king your position is safe, but your wife is ruined! Only a king could see any benefit in this situation, which is the unification of the people under your control. Only a king, could be happy at this moment. Which is strange, because although you are a king, you are decidedly not happy. Such is life.
 
I wonder how an early acknowledgement on post-traumatic stress disorder will affect our development. PTSD wasn't really acknowledged until between World War 1 and the Vietnam War.
 
This was not a fantastic turn, but definitely not the worst. We didn't roll high enough on Shadows, or alliance to finish in one year, but we also didn't roll badly enough to be detrimental to future chances. The integration of the Berbers was a huge success, and our popularity is high again. The biggest problem is the marriage. If we had a character sheet, we'd probably have the depressed trait now. We may want to spend a personal action mourning or something like that. Although I am much more confidant about dealing with the surrounding tribes now that we have such a large population.
@Bobalo18
So, some questions.
What happened with the language here? It talked about how some people tried to sabotage it, but failed, but it never said whether we succeeded in learning it. We did however create a "document", so I assume we needed writing to do so. But some clarification would be nice.

When are we going to be able to pick more than one option for a category? Maybe we can get an option to appoint an official adviser of a category and delegate a bit.
 
I'm just glad our rule is stable once again and the class system took off without a hitch. Hell secret Berber advisers is great! I think you did good coming up with those class innovations notmi.

We just gotta get that Berber script passed through the tribe and then we'll be able insert our influence up north in a more subtle manner. I can't wait to decipher the secrets the Berbers have locked up or are waiting to be rediscovered.

That's the greed talking...
 
Yes you succeeded in learning the Berber writing.

As for the option category, the answer would be whenever the game or the time period becomes too complicated to justify only one option.
 
Here's my omake. This is actually a real book too, but I think it's been proven to be a little exaggerated.

Pliny The Elder's , Natural History V

Deep beyond the the sands and where grass grows once again, the might of Roma spreads forth to do battle with the likes of the Berber tribes in war that has gone on for centuries. Triumphant though the sons of Roma are against the barbarians of the sands it is a long, tiresome, and troubling occurrence for the mighty legions to have to beat them back from her territories of Libya.

The majority of them were beaten back, one by one as their cowardly raids gave them no quarter against the discipline, organization, and strength of the sons Romulus. I will share with you the names of the vanquished so that you will know of the many enemies that were humbled before the emperor's legions, ones which you should do well to remember.

After all, their defeat was another sign of Roma's enrichment and proof of civilization.
I will start with a description of the cowards who flew away from us without giving battle unlike the unruly Garamantes. They must be spoken of first in order to provide you an idea of what better and more truly battle tested enemies challenged the security of Mare Nostrum.

Now there were once existed a few tribes that assaulted Mauritania Tinigitana from the Atlas. They called themselves the Perusii, Pharusii and Nigritae. Now among these tribes was a degeneration of society that was that below human civilization. Those are near the tribe of Canarii are little better, for the few that did give battle crumbled before Roma, and Suetonius Paulinus with little more that a quick sputter. They too, like the other three did submit but there was a noticeable bulk of them that had mysteriously vanished over the course of a few months, probably cowardly withdrawing into the interior beyond the known world without much more resistance. Maybe it was fear that compelled them or maybe there were pragmatic souls among them that they knew they would receive even greater wrath should they continue.

It is of no major concern to us where they fled to, for a coward receives no mercy in our eyes or hearts.

I am reminded though that those lying Greeks though it possible that some city, mightier than even subjugated Carthage at its height was found hundreds of miles south from Tangier . It is a strange wonder why Cornelius Nepos swallowed such details from those weak easterners so, and especially about a tale of a city built upon by people akin to these Barbarian from the Atlas.

Who would believe such nonsense to be true?

Notes:
I believe the Perosi, Pharusii, Nigritae should be migrating into Senegal around this time. The Tebu or Teda tribes should be coming in from the Fezzan and getting into Northern Niger as well.
"​
"What is now Mauritania was a dry savanna area during classical antiquity, where independent tribes like the Pharusii and the Perorsi (and the Nigritae near the Niger river) lived a semi-nomadic life facing the growing desertification of the Sahara."

"Romans did explorations toward this area and probably reached, with Suetonius Paulinus, the area of Adrar. There are evidences (coins, fibulas) of Roman commerce in Akjoujtand Tamkartkart near Tichit[4]" (Right near the Soninke's former home after they were forced out ;))

"The Phoenicians built significant cities in Mauritania, including Lixus, Volubilis and Chellah. After Rome defeated Carthage in thePunic Wars, these Mauritanian cities became important regional centers of this part of the North African Roman Empire. The Romans did some expeditions south of their Mauretania Tingitana, perhaps reaching the area north of the river Senegal populated by the Pharusii tribe[10]"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precolonial_Mauritania#Early_history

EDIT: FunFact- The Canarii are the ancestors of the guanches that the spanish encountered on the Canary islands. They're also from where the name came from.

 
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Orisha91 said:
Here's my omake. This is actually a real book too, but I think it's been proven to be a little exaggerated.

Pliny The Elder's , Natural History V

Deep beyond the the sands and where grass grows once again, the might of Roma spreads forth to do battle with the likes of the Berber tribes in a war that has gone on for centuries. Triumphant though the sons of Roma are against the barbarians of the sands, it is a long, tiresome, and troubling occurrence for the mighty legions to beat them back from her territories of Libya.

The majority of them were beaten back, one by one, as their cowardly raids gave them no quarter against the discipline, organization, and strength of the sons Romulus. I will share with you the names of the vanquished so that you will know of the many enemies that were humbled before the emperor's legions, ones which you should do well to remember.

After all, their defeat was another sign of Roma's enrichment and proof of civilization.
I will start with a description of the cowards who flew away from us without giving battle, unlike the unruly Garamantes. They must be spoken of first in order to provide you an idea of what better and more truly battle tested enemies challenged the security of Mare Nostrum.

Now there once existed tribes that assaulted Mauritania Tinigitana from the Atlas. They called themselves the Perusii, Pharusii and Nigritae. Now among these tribes was a degeneration of society that was below human civilization. Those near the tribe of Canarii are little better, for the few that did give battle crumbled before Roma, and Suetonius Paulinus with little more that a quick sputter. They too, like the other three, did submit, but there was a noticeable bulk of them that had mysteriously vanished over the course of a few months, probably cowardly withdrawing into the interior beyond the known world without much more resistance. Maybe it was fear that compelled them or maybe there were pragmatic souls among them that knew they would receive even greater wrath should they continue.

It is of no major concern to us where they fled to, for a coward receives no mercy in our eyes or hearts.

I am reminded though that those lying Greeks, though it is possible that some city, mightier than even subjugated Carthage was at its height, was found hundreds of miles south from Tangier . It is a strange wonder why Cornelius Nepos swallowed such details from those weak easterners so, and especially about a tale of a city built upon by people akin to these Barbarian from the Atlas.

Who would believe such nonsense to be true?

Notes:
I believe the Perosi, Pharusii, Nigritae should be migrating into Senegal around this time. The Tebu or Teda tribes should be coming in from the Fezzan and getting into Northern Niger as well.
"​
"What is now Mauritania was a dry savanna area during classical antiquity, where independent tribes like the Pharusii and the Perorsi (and the Nigritae near the Niger river) lived a semi-nomadic life facing the growing desertification of the Sahara."

"Romans did explorations toward this area and probably reached, with Suetonius Paulinus, the area of Adrar. There are evidences (coins, fibulas) of Roman commerce in Akjoujtand Tamkartkart near Tichit[4]" (Right near the Soninke's former home after they were forced out ;))

"The Phoenicians built significant cities in Mauritania, including Lixus, Volubilis and Chellah. After Rome defeated Carthage in thePunic Wars, these Mauritanian cities became important regional centers of this part of the North African Roman Empire. The Romans did some expeditions south of their Mauretania Tingitana, perhaps reaching the area north of the river Senegal populated by the Pharusii tribe[10]"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precolonial_Mauritania#Early_history

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Interesting, but I hope we can avoid Rome for as long as possible. The Sahara is between us and their African holdings, so it shouldn't be too hard so long as we don't go looking for them. I really think it would be better to expand to the south, the land is more fertile and there will be much less resistance.
 
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notmi said:
Interesting, but I hope we can avoid Rome for as long as possible. The Sahara is between us and their African holdings, so it shouldn't be too hard so long as we don't go looking for them. I really think it would be better to expand to the south, the land is more fertile and there will be much less resistance.
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Oh, of course it would be safer. Just thought it was interesting the romans reached that far after the Soninke were booted out. I beleive the next location the Soninke would find south would be Nema.
 
Orisha91 said:
Oh, of course it would be safer. Just thought it was interesting the romans reached that far after the Soninke were booted out. I beleive the next location the Soninke would find south would be Nema.
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It is very interesting. Just so you know, if you look at your omake quoted in my previous post, I edited it for you, fixed the few minor grammar errors in it.
 
Hey, just catching up. This is a fascinating civ game, I look forward to participating when this next turn comes up. Looks interesting, don't know much about the Soninke, though that'll change swiftly. :)
 
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