Madeshir

Madashir
Motocir
3rd Century BCE–12th Century CE
Capital		Madashir
Languages		Madashiri
Government		Monarchy
History
•	Established	3rd Century BCE
•	Conquered	248 CE
•	Abandoned	12th Century CE
b.	...

Madashir (Madashiri: Motocir, Classical Algaz: Modocîr) was a city-state located in western Ekuosia from the 3rd Century BCE to 248 CE, when it was conquered by the Hafsighi Kingdom.

History

Early History

Located in the foothills of the Koklates Mountains, Madashir originated as a fortified settlement, either to provide refuge from hostile clans or to protect trade with the Letsatian Empire to the west. It therefore predated other early urban centers in the adjacent lowlands and Lake Wadan region by at least a century; its growth, however, took place at the same time, with the expansion and intensification of agriculture in the region.

Height

Madashir's highly defensible foothill location, combined with its economic ties with Letsatia, allowed the city to exert control over much of the surrounding lowlands. By the 2nd Century CE, Madashir had established itself as the dominant power in the region.

Hafsighi Rule

Under Hafsighi rule, the city largely remained an important economic and military center. Because of its importance and proximity to Hafsigh, the city was ruled directly by the Hafsighi king; Uftar II in fact styled himself as King of Hafsigh and Madashir, though the latter title was not used by his successors. For most of the Yurek and Sadhas periods, it was the second-largest city in the kingdom; the city's relative position began to decline in the middle of the Sadhas Dynasty, when coastal port cities grew in wealth, size, and power.

Decline

As the central Hafsighi state continued to weaken in the latter half of the Sadhas Dynasty, cities in outlying regions wielded an ever-greater amount of power and autonomy. Madashir, however, was by that time an integral part of the Hafsighi Kingdom's royal lands, and suffered as the monarchy declined. Civil war broke out in 1078, and the city was badly damaged by a series of battles and sieges in 1079, 1080, 1084, and 1086. The city was not rebuilt, and was ultimately abandoned within a few decades.

Culture

As a result of its close ties to Letsatia, Madashir had a long history of writing and a well-established literary tradition. While only a handful of complete texts remain, mostly monumental inscriptions, the Madashiri language remains the only other directly-attested Continental Argeyazic language.