Chapter 43: The Defeat of the Demon Kings
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Chapter 43: The Defeat of the Demon Kings
In Shawnee histories written after Maa’igan’s prophecy of universal conquest, foreign rulers are referred to as Maji-jiibay Sagamos, which means something like “bad spirit ruler” but is most often translated as “demon king”. The period from the prophecy of Maa’igan (around 661 AD) to Kokoma’s coronation (in 726 AD) is referred to in the historiography as the Defeat of the Demon Kings. It was the final phase of the expansion of the Shawnee Empire.
During Kinkash’s reign (661-674 AD), the Shawnee Empire began to economically and politically dominate the Black Swamp Confederacy, which lay to the north of Shawnee territory. Kinkash sought to influence the clan leaders of the Black Swamp Confederacy. He would give loans to some clan leaders, helping them to get elected. Other clan leaders, he would simply bribe after they were elected. Still others freely converted to Mozism and helped the Shawnee out of religious conviction. The Kingdom of Miyamee [Detroit, MI], which had long dominated the Black Swamp Confederacy, resented the Shawnee interfering on what they viewed as their turf.
After Kinkash’s death in 674, his son Zhingaabewasin inherited the throne and, at first, continued the policies of his father. In 686 AD, Zhingaabewasin paid for the building of a Mozist temple in Wathipi [Toledo, OH]. This was the last straw for the Miyamee Kingdom. The next year, a Miyamee army occupied Wathipi and refused to leave until the Mozist temple was torn down.
In response, the Black Swamp Confederacy asked the Shawnee for aid. Zhingaabewasin marched his army north. Rather than attempting a frontal assault of Wathipi’s defenses or settling into a siege, Zhingaabewasin instead ordered the construction of a canal that would flood the city. This distressed his Black Swamp allies but he ignored them.
In the end, the Miyamee army retreated rather than be drowned with the city. Zhingaabewasin entered Wathipi in triumph but did not destroy the partially completed canal, just in case. This annoyed the people of Wathipi greatly and the city did not celebrate it’s “liberation”.
With the Miyamee gone, Zhingaabewasin crowned himself King of the Great Black Swamp, complete with a silver crown made to look like elk antlers. The nobles of the Black Swamp Confederacy were, again, greatly distressed by this but could do little about it while surrounded by a Shawnee army.
Only a few years later, in 692, Zhingaabewasin died of natural causes. The nobles of the Black Swamp Confederacy used this as an opportunity to rebel against his son and heir, Bizhiki. Though the Miyamee Kingdom aided the Black Swamp Confederacy, Bizhiki was able to bluff the army of the Black Swamp Confederacy into surrendering without a fight. Afterwards, he replaced the nobility of the Great Black Swamp with new aristocrats picked from among the Shawnee.
But Bizhiki was not finished. He began raiding into Miyamee territory every year, seeking a direct confrontation. Initially the Miyamee were content to raid back and forth. They feared the Shawnee’s fierce military reputation.
In 697, Bizhiki sent a personal message to the King of Miyamee, challenging him to a duel. The King accepted. The two met outside the walls of Wathipi. There have been many stories told and songs sung about this duel. Most of them are highly embellished. The only thing known for sure is the result: Bizhiki died and the King of Miyamee won the duel.
This did not stop the raids for long, however. Tamakwa, Bizhiki’s Uncle, took up the title of King of Mozcala and carried on raiding. In 702, finally fed up with small time raids, Tamakwa launched a full scale invasion of Miyamee territory, occupying a number of lesser cities that Miyamee controlled. This forced Miyamee into the confrontation they had tried for a decade to avoid.
The Battle of Waapakisko [Battle Creek, MI] was the only large scale battle of the Miyamee-Shawnee War. Miyamee, as they had predicted, lost and most of their army was destroyed. Shortly afterward, the Shawnee besieged the city of Miyamee. By the end of the year, the city had surrendered. With this victory, Tamakwa asserted the newly created title of Ba Mishigami, the Lord of the Great Waters. The Miyamee Kingdom, which had existed since the early Classical Period and had dominated the Mishigami since the time of the Winter and Summer Chronicles (mid-400s AD), was gone.
Map of the Shawnee Empire Circa 703 AD
By absorbing Miyamee, Tamakwa had created an unstoppable juggernaut. There was no city-state, confederacy or kingdom that could stand against the Shawnee Empire. For the next twenty years, all the wars the Shawnee fought were mere formalities. Like a snowball rolling down a mountainside, as the Shawnee Empire got bigger, it expanded faster. By this point, the Shawnee were no longer a snowball, they were an avalanche destroying everything in their path.
In 705, the Minesing Kingdom [Barire, ON] surrendered without a fight. That same year, Tamakwa died of natural causes. He was succeeded by his son, Kokoma. Kokoma continued the conquest, starting a war against the Milliokee [Milwaukee] Empire.
Shortly afterward, the Ontario Confederacy fell into civil war. Not wanting to waste a golden opportunity, Kokoma sent his most trusted minister, Miantonomo, to take advantage of the chaos within the Ontario Confederacy. Kokoma had started two simultaneous wars against the two most powerful remaining states of the Mishigami. Within a few years, both would be gone.
In the Ontario Confederacy, the mother and grandmother of the young king were warring with each other over who should be regent. Miantonomo told each side the Shawnee would support them if they surrendered some land to the Shawnee. Both sides agreed and were betrayed in turn. By 707, Miantonomo had defeated both armies and occupied the entire Ontario Confederacy.
Miantonomo’s conquest and occupation of the Ontario Confederacy was notoriously brutal. Sawcunk [Rochester, NY] never truly recovered and several other cities suffered severe damage. In 710 AD, Miantonomo led an expedition up the Micta River [St. Lawrence] and brought Hoshalaga [Montreal, QB] into the empire with similarly brutal methods.
Meanwhile, Kokoma had similar success (though with less brutality) in the lands of Milliokee. The city-states of Meskonsing [~Wisconsin], fearing the Shawnee, had joined together with their ancestral enemy of Milliokee. It did not matter. Kokoma defeated the combined armies in a trio of battles in 706, 709, and 712.
Shawnee Empire Circa 713 AD
By the year 713 AD, the Shawnee Empire controlled the entire Mishigami and Ohiyo valleys. But they weren’t done yet.
Kokoma marched west and south, flexing his military might. Everywhere he went, he met with the leaders of independent states. Those, like the Tunica, who refused to recognize the overlordship of the Shawnee were quickly destroyed. After a few years, there was no one left who dared to resist. Those who surrendered were mostly allowed to keep their lands (with some minor adjustments in favor of the Shawnee). But they became little more than vassals to Kokoma and the Shawnee.
The Manoomingamiing [~Minnesota], Ioway [~Iowa], Chitti [~Louisiana] and Muskogee [~Northern Georgia] kingdoms were large enough and powerful enough to retain some level of independence. Each agreed to allow the Shawnee to dictate their foreign policy and gave Kokoma veto power over their choice of heir. The Shawnee called these kingdoms Zhimaaganishii Aki, which literally means military lands, implying that they had independent command over their own military. In English this is often translated as “commanderies”. But make no mistake, they were part of the Shawnee Empire, just not as directly controlled as other places.
Map of the Shawnee Empire At Kokoma’s Coronation (Circa 726 AD) The Empire Proper in Red and the Commanderies in Pink
By 726 AD, Kokoma ruled the largest empire the continent had ever seen. In a single generation, he had doubled the size of the empire and then doubled it again. With this, he was finally satisfied.
Upon his return to Mozcala, Kokoma paraded his army down the streets, showing off the treasures of empire. He was carried on a litter the size of a boat, carried by more than a hundred slaves. Many of the so-called demon kings were marched down the street as prisoners. When the parade reached the marketplace, some were induced to commit suicide. Those that refused were placed in cages and starved to death over the subsequent days and weeks. This did not violate Mozist prohibitions on human sacrifice, as the men died of neglect rather than direct action.
Before he had returned, Kokoma had commissioned a huge (and impractical) golden crown made to resemble elk antlers. At the end of his parade, he placed the crown on his head and announced that Maa’igan’s prophecy had been fulfilled. The Shawnee were truly an empire without limit. The cheers of the crowd were deafening.
After this ceremony, Kokoma abandoned all the previous titles held by the Kings of Mozcala. He called himself (and insisted others call him) Bashaba, which is often translated as Emperor but more properly means “Lord of Lords”. Kokoma’s parade and coronation had cost ¼ of tax revenues for the year. In the future, it would be recreated by each new emperor, though none were ever as extravagant as the first.
Next week, we will discuss the Pacific Northwest.
Characters
- Bizhiki- son of Zhingaabewasin; King of the Shawnee, killed in duel with the King of Miyamee. Name means “Buffalo”.
- Kinkash- king of Mozcala, father to Zhingaabewasin
- Kokoma- son of Tamakwa; King and then Emperor of the Shawnee. Name means “Last of the Fighting Chiefs”.
- Miantonomo- chief boat builder of Kokoma. Conqueror of the Ontario Confederacy and Mictaang.
- Tamakwa- son of Zhingaabewasin and brother of Bizhiki. Name means “Beaver”
- Zhingaabewasin- son of Kinkash; king of the Shawnee, conqueror of the Black Swamp Confederacy.
Chapter 44: The Land of Rain and Fish (the Pacific Northwest) 6/8/24
Chapter 45: From Here to There (transportation in the Shawnee Empire) 6/15/24
We will pick up with the Long Peace after a break.
Comments? Questions?
