Lands of Red and Gold

[eschaton]

Probably Chinese, Indians, Indonesians, maybe some Japanese as well (enforcers, mainly; the sort of people who'd have been pirates before the ban on building large ships). Not sure if they'd try importing African slaves; possibly from the east coast, but given the aforementioned other sources of surplus labor I'd guess that it's more profitable to keep sending Africans to the New World and use Asians in Aururia.

The coolie system was substantially later however - the 19th century. If you go back to the 18th century, the majority of the crew on many European sailing ships in Asia were basically locals (Fujianese, Filipino, Japanese, etc). It will be harder, but not impossible, to bring in ethnic groups as bonded labor as long as they are also being used as the majority of free labor for Europeans in Southeast Asia. Once anti-malarial drugs come along, and whites have a more prominent role as mid-level functionaries in colonial ventures in South and Southeast Asia, things may be different.

A related issue is the long-term results of the Arurian plagues on East and South Asia. The plagues will hit this area just as hard as Europe, depressing the population slightly, and causing a long-term increase in infant mortality. As a result, the conditions for the average laborer in these countries will be comparably better (as was the case in Europe after the Black Plague), and it will be a comparably long time after the initial disruption has died down until famine becomes a serious concern in Asia again. Most coolies were recruited under false pretenses, but they were not forcibly marched into a boat. Maybe they can just boast of even higher (false) wages being offered, but they'll get less takers regardless.

My guess is you'd see something more akin to Blackbirding on a large scale. The emphasis will be on pre-state societies in Oceania which for one reason or another haven't been affected by plagues horribly. The best groups to utilize would be those in Papua New Guinea (or Melanesians from the Lesser Sundas), as IOTL they didn't get affected at all by Eurasian plagues, for some reason or another (while Aborigines and Polynesians were quite vulnerable), and so presumably will still be very numerous, and placed very close to the area they are most needed as labor.

 

[The Uchronian]

Been a while since I stopped by.

Taken from Intellipedia.

Absolute Monarchy

Absolute monarchy or supreme monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the monarch wields supreme governing authority. The monarch fills the role of head of state and head of government, with powers that are unrestricted by a constitution, law, or any other official constraints. An absolute monarch possesses full sovereignty over both the state and its people. Absolute monarchies are usually hereditary but other forms of succession are sometimes applied, such as elective (a designated body chooses the successor) or selective (the monarch chooses the successor). Absolute monarchy contrasts with bound monarchy, where the monarch’s authority is constrained by a constitution or other legal or religious limits.

Notionally, an absolute monarch possesses supreme, unrestricted power over the land and the people. Examples of such pure [questionable term: discuss] absolute monarchs are rare; in most instances the monarchy is still subject to political constraints from other social groups or classes, e.g. the aristocracy or clergy.

Some contemporary monarchies have ineffectual or façade legislatures or other governmental bodies which the monarch can remove or change without constraint...

Historical Examples

In the words of historian Matthew Perry: “The history of early modern Europe is the history of the transition from feudal contract to absolute monarchy.”

Among the most apt examples of an absolute monarch is James II of England [1], epitomised in his famous declarations: “I cannot break the law; I am the law.” and “In my heart, that is England.” While some modern historians [who?] criticise him for his opulent lifestyle, he ruled England for nearly half a century, and he is widely recognised [dubious: discuss] for his achievements both domestic and foreign.

As King of England, he held in his person the supreme executive, legislative and judicial powers. As head of state, he had the power to declare war and to raise war funds by any means he chose. He was the ultimate judicial authority, with final right to condemn men to death with no appeal. He considered it his duty to punish all crimes, and to prevent crimes being committed. While advised by the Privy Council, he alone retained the power to enact and repeal legislation.

Absolutism in early modern Europe first found formal written expression in the 1656 Kongeloven (“King's Law”) of Denmark [2]. The Danish monarchy already exercised absolute authority in its realm of Rugen, where as King of the Vends he had no constraints on his authority. The 1656 declaration extended this authority to all of the realms of Denmark and Norway, and ordered that the monarch “shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone.”

Under this authority, the Danish monarch removed all other sources of power. The most significant of these was the abolition of the Rigsraadet, the Danish Council of the Realm, which had been a long opponent of unfettered royal power.

However, testament to the limits of absolutism also came from Denmark. Even an absolute monarch turned out to be not so absolute after all. In the next year after the Kongeloven Declaration, King Ulrik sought to enforce his personal rule on the city of Bremen. Bremen had historically been a free city within the Holy Roman Empire, but Denmark had claimed sovereignty over the city at the end of the Twenty Years’ War. However, Bremen continued to hold itself to be a free city. In response to the absolutist declaration, the city council of Bremen declared that it was a free imperial city, paid homage to the Emperor, and sought a seat and vote in the Imperial Diet.

King Ulrik responded by ordering a siege of Bremen to force the city to acknowledge his rule. Heavily fortified, Bremen could not be easily conquered, and the city found support from the Netherlands and the Emperor, the one on the grounds of religion and commerce, the other on the grounds of imperial prestige, and the both on the grounds that Denmark already had too much power. With imperial and Dutch troops on the border, Ulrik had to abandon the siege. While Denmark did not yield its formal claim to absolute rule of Bremen along with its other territories, it did allow Bremen to remain de facto separate, with levels of taxes and duties paid that were minimal in comparison to the Danish norm, and the Emperor sought to preserve this peace by removing Bremen’s participation in the Diet.

Sweden under King Charles X instituted a form of government which was never formally called absolute monarchy, but which in practice conformed to that standard. Under Charles X and his son Charles XI [3] all other centres of power were systematically removed or reduced to impotence. The Riksrådet, the Swedish Council of the Realm, had served as a bastion of aristocracy with nobles who advised the monarch. The institution was rarely called under Kristina and was dissolved by Charles X in 1672, replaced by a Royal Council of bureaucrats who advised and were chosen by the monarch, and served at his pleasure. In 1675 the power of the aristocrats was further curbed by the Great Reduction which returned most of the noble estates to the Swedish crown.

The Swedish legislature, the Riksdag of the Estates, was not formally abolished, but became ineffectual because the Swedish monarchs treated it as having authority only in the pre-1618 borders, and not in the lands acquired during the Twenty Years’ War. In the new territories, Sweden broke the power of the local aristocracy, with most of their lands falling under the rule of the monarchy, leading to Kristina and Charles X being absolute monarchs within those dominions, which comprised the majority of the population of the Swedish empire. With these lands and resources at their command, Charles X and Charles XI reduced the Riksdag to a rubber stamp that approved their decisions, when they bothered to assemble the Estates...

For most of history, absolute monarchy found its theological underpinnings via the Divine Right of Kings. European monarchs such as those of Russia claimed supreme power by divine right, with subjects having no rights to check monarchical authority. The House of Stuart (James I, Charles I, and Charles II) imported this concept to England during the seventeenth century, leading to political dissension, rebellion, and ultimately the English Civil War during the reign of Charles II and the beginning of the era of English Absolutism. However, Portugal [flagged for irrelevance: discuss] never had a period of absolute monarchy in early modern Europe [citation needed].

Even where the concept of Divine Right had been abandoned or become outmoded, except in Russia, absolute monarchs continued to claim their supreme sovereignty on the grounds of the State; the monarch was the state. This doctrine of personal sovereignty first found explicit expression in France: “L’état, c’est le roi” – the State, it is the King. The same fundamental concept was adopted during the Absolutist period in England, and in most other European states, however, Russia retained the explicit trapping of Divine Right.

Objections to the doctrines of divine right and personal sovereignty were prominent in the ideas expressed during the Age of Enlightenment...

Saxony

Saxony had a nearly unique political framework in early modern Europe: a de facto absolute monarch in a de jure limited monarchy. The emphasis in Saxony was on the Elector (and later, the king) in the role of “sovereign servant of the state”, rather than possessing explicit supreme authority. Despite this, over the course of the seventeenth century, especially during and after the Twenty Years’ War, Saxony developed in a way which paralleled the rise of Absolutism.

John George II (r. 1628-1667), the Musician-Elector, acquired enormous new territories during the later part of the Twenty Years’ War, and in keeping with the trends of the time, these became part of the dominion of the sovereign rather than being awarded to nobles. These new estates supported the extravagant expenditure of the Musician-Elector, who made Dresden a major centre of music and the arts and attracted composers and performers from across Europe [4]. His son John George III had a strict Lutheran education, focused on the duty of the Albertine Wettins as the protectors of the Reformation (as they saw it), and learned more about fortification and warfare than he did about music; those same incomes were used for more martial pursuits. Under John George III and his successors, the “sovereign servant” became simply sovereign, and in time each of the representative assembles of ancestral Saxony [5] granted the monarch the authority to levy taxes without needing their consent: a mark of Absolutism.

Sicily

Sicily is the most well-known example [dubious: flagged for discussion] of the replacement of absolute monarchy by limited monarchy within early modern Europe. Insular Sicily had been an absolute monarchy under the Aragonese and Spanish crowns since 1409. However, the Sicilian Agricultural Revolution, starting circa 1660 [6], dramatically increased agricultural productivity, & in turn sent population increasing and economic strength was boosted.

Lacking in any local sovereign representation, Sicily was ruled by the distant absolutist sovereigns of Spain, who never visited the island except in time of war, and viewed it merely as a source of funds. Discontentment and dissension followed, particularly over arbitrary decisions of Spanish-born magistrates about taxation and sometimes confiscation of the newly-productive lands. Lacking systematic land tenure or inheritance, discontented younger sons turned to agitation, and in time to revolution.

The Advent Revolution was ignited by objections to the absolutist rule of Spain, and led to the establishment of a new, native monarchy. Lorenzo Piazzi claimed the title of monarch in 1729, and won international recognition of his rank in 1736 with the culmination of the Revolution, but what he could not claim for himself was the role of an absolute monarch.

Sicily was independent, but reliant on foreign support that constrained it from overseas adventures that might have been used to distract the populace. Lorenzo I had no legitimate claim to royal birth, and thus no hereditary authority to use as sanction for Absolutism. During the revolutionary era, local assemblies had raised both troops and funds to support the rebellion. These assemblies did not willingly disband after the Revolution was successful, but instead demanded a form of permanent recognition. While Lorenzo I would have preferred to establish an absolutist monarchy [citation needed], circumstances forced him to create a constitutional monarchy with a permanent representative assembly...

* * *

[1] Not the historical James II of England / James VII of Scotland (b. 1633), who was son of Charles I of England. The historical James II of England does not exist because his father died from the Aururian plagues in 1631. This James II (b.1652) is the allohistorical son of Charles II of England and Luise of Hesse-Kassel (herself the allohistorical daughter of William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel).

[2] Denmark made a similar declaration historically, but nine years later (1665). The enhanced monarchical power of the Twenty Years’ War leads to the earlier introduction of the King’s Law.

[3] The allohistorical Charles XI of Sweden (b. 1650) is the son of Charles X Gustav of Sweden (while still only Duke of Öland and heir presumptive to the throne) and his wife and cousin Queen Kristina of Sweden.

[4] Historically, John George II’s expenditure on music and the arts nearly sent him bankrupt, and he was forced to grant much revenue-raising power to the nobles and burghers. Allohistorically, the income from his new estates lets him indulge his heart as patron of the arts without needing to make any concessions.

[5] i.e. the pre-Twenty Years’ War territories of Electoral Saxony.

[6] i.e. the introduction of new Aururian crops and farming methods into the island of Sicily, and the consequent agricultural development with increased output and new farming technology.

* * *

Thoughts?

“Duty is doing what others would have you do. Integrity is doing what you know you must do.”
- Bungudjimay proverb

* * *

My pen feels heavier than a mountain. Perhaps duty is what weighs it down, but I must hold it, all the same. The world must know what passes here.

Gold brought us to this land. Lucre was what the Company sought. We found it here. This place is a land of gold. Some of it is ripe for commerce, with natives who are if not welcoming, at least willing to consider trade. Gold, peppers, greater tobacco, jeeree, will please any Director of the Company.

Alas, some of this land is much, much worse!

The people here have built a pyramid. Reaching into the heavens, and decorated with glass, it shines into the heavens when first seen with the dawn. As if Egypt of old has been reborn here. But step closer to it, and you will see the rotten heart of this land.

This pyramid is properly called Glazkul, for behind each pane of glass is a skull. No Egyptians are here. This is a place of barbarism, of some half-breed Mexicans who have crossed the Pacific to bring their pagan rites to this new land.

And, though it pains me to write it, this must be told. The Mexican king has declared that more skulls will be added to this pyramid. Our skulls, or those who kill us. We must agree to have two of us fight each other, and the winner fight a Mexican challenger, with the loser of that to give their skull in pagan rite. Or they will kill two of us anyway, and fight among themselves for whose skull will be added to Glazkul.

What sacrifice of mankind and blood unbound has brought Mexicans to this fatal shore?

(signed) William Baffin

* * *

Cultural clashes are hardly unknown in history, or even in allohistory. Even so, the divergent perspectives of the English and the Bungudjimay of Daluming were spectacular.

The Bungudjimay had built their state religion on collecting the heads of the worthy dead and interring them behind glass in the pyramid they called the Mound of Memory. The completion of the Mound, with its ten levels of skulls, marked the Closure, the end of the world.

Quite what the Closure meant was never completely defined. The priests had never built a consensus, although various sacred foretellings described a wide collection of events involving resurrection of the fallen, visitation from various supernatural and perhaps divine beings, and the creation of a new world order. It did not mean the physical destruction of the world as a whole, but the establishment of a new age where all that had gone before was overturned.

The arrival of the Closure had been long-awaited, but not hastened. Many of the existing priests, while fervent in their beliefs, did not want the Closure to begin until there were suitable signs. So as the number of empty niches in the Mound declined, they became more cautious about who was chosen to have their heads interred behind glass. That would let them respond to the right portents when they appeared, and discover what the end of the world involved.

Whatever the Closure meant, the last thing which the Bungudjimay priests expected was that it would be heralded by another group of traders come looking for spices.

An English expedition under William Baffin had explored Aururia, with discovery motivated by profit. The English East India Company had charged Baffin with finding new markets and new trade goods.

Baffin had fulfilled his instructions well, reaching what was an entirely new world to English eyes, and one which until recently had developed in complete cultural isolation. In time-honoured European fashion, Baffin tried to relate the inhabitants of Aururia into other peoples who were already known from the Old World, though he was often unsuccessful.

The early English contact with the other natives of Aururia – Mutjing and Islander, Yadji and Tjunini – found peoples with strange ways and beliefs, to European eyes. Yet at least these people were comprehensible, if unusual, and more importantly, showed receptiveness to trade. Or indeed, open-handed eagerness, in the case of the Islanders.

After this, coming to face to face with Daluming and its pyramid of skulls was the very model of a modern major culture shock.

Alien as the Bungudjimay were, the English sought for cultural analogies. Brief visions of Egyptians were shattered when Baffin first glimpsed the skulls in the Mound of Memory. To be replaced by fumbling explanations of Mexicans and human sacrifice. A forgivable misunderstanding, perhaps, given what followed.

Baffin and seven sailors had been invited as guests to the royal palace in Yuragir [Coffs Harbour, NSW]. While there, they were summoned to their first audience with the Daluming monarch, in the royal hall decorated with interred skulls. Those skulls were from previous princes and warriors who had chosen to be preserved there, but the English sailors naturally assumed that the skulls were from sacrificial victims.

In this same hall of skulls, Baffin and his sailors were informed that they were to name two champions to fight each other, with the winner to fight a Bungudjimay warrior for a place on the Mound of Memory. Or with the option of having two random sailors killed by Bungudjimay warriors instead, and those would kill each other as the price of admission to Glazkul.

The English reaction to this pagan rite needs little imagining. However imperfect their faith might be, Baffin and his crew considered themselves Christian, and more precisely as adherents of the Church of England. No Christian could countenance such human sacrifice. Even if the alternative was merciless slaughter of two of their own.

In the account which was recorded in Baffin’s journal, the dilemma was solved when two of his sailors, Jonathan Bradford and Nicholas Beveridge, volunteered to fight each other to save their companions’ lives. Baffin tried to dissuade them, but they remained steadfast in their desire. Bradford and Beveridge fought what was meant to be an even fight to the death, but Bradford deliberately stumbled during the duel, allowing Beveridge to kill him.

Beveridge went on to fight a Bungudjimay warrior, Weenggina – or Wing Jonah as Baffin misunderstood the name – who killed him with ease, and Beveridge’s skull was added to the pyramid of skulls. Bradford’s skull was given back to the English, where Baffin took it with him to be returned to England for a proper Christian burial.

With that challenge completed, Baffin fled with all haste from Daluming, and this time he was unhindered. He recorded in his journal that he hoped that the next English ships which came to “Mexico of the Orient” should send a volley of cannonballs into Glazkul. He charted the rest of the eastern coast of Aururia, including an island at the southern end of a great reef which would later bear his name [Fraser Island], but refused to set foot on the Land of Gold again. He skirted New Guinea and returned to Surat in India, where he gave his report and asked for a ship to be sent to rejoin the sailors who he had left among the Yadji. After that, he brought his ships back to England.

Of course, that was what was recorded in Baffin’s journal. The story was matched by every account ever given of the experience by the five remaining sailors who had accompanied Baffin onto land. Bradford’s skull was interred in Wells Cathedral in Somerset, where he quickly became venerated as a martyr and in time as a saint (hero) of the Church of England.

On Baffin’s eventual return to England, however, Nicholas Beveridge’s wife Mary refused to believe that her husband would have gone to his death in such a manner. She insisted that Baffin and the other sailors must have forced him into it, giving up her husband for a pagan rite, and that Baffin had effectively condemned him to death. She began a public campaign of letter-writing and denouncements which continued for as long as she lived; her efforts only ended with her death from smallpox in 1651.

No matter how many times Baffin denied Mary Beveridge’s tale, he was never completely believed. Opprobrium lingered on William Baffin. No matter how much of a plutocrat he became in later years, he never quite gained acceptance into wealthy society, thanks in part to the lingering suspicion which clung to him.

The Company, however, was greatly pleased with Baffin’s discoveries. While Daluming itself seemed to be a place to be avoided, establishing permanent relations with the Yadji was an immediate priority, with the gold of the Tjunini and the spices of the eastern seaboard also seen as promising opportunities.

The next English ship to visit the Yadji had been sent from Surat before Baffin returned to England, and it would not be the last. The English East India Company now actively pursued an interest in Aururia. A fact which greatly displeased the Dutch East India Company, for they considered the continent their private preserve, and the greatest spice island.

Within a handful of years, the two companies were in a state of undeclared war. The first blow was struck in Aururia itself; in 1642 the Dutch raided Gurndjit [Portland, Victoria], the first English outpost in the Yadji realm. But the campaign would be a much more wide-ranging one, fought across Aururia, the East Indies, Ceylon, India and southern Africa...

* * *

Thoughts?

Hey. It's been a while since I've commented on LoRaG. I definitely like what you've done here, good job as usual.

Too bad about William Baffin, though. Poor man had to witness the death of two of his mates in what's basically an Aussie Aboriginal version of a gladiator fight, only to come home accused of causing Beveridge's death, if not that of Bradford as well? What a terrible shame.

 

[Jared]

I'll confess that I've been longing to write a trailer for LORAG, but it's pretty hard, given the sheer amount of events that occur in it.

Would be entertaining to see if you can come up with something. I think a DoD trailer has been attempted, and that's at least 3 times the length of LoRaG.

Probably Chinese, Indians, Indonesians, maybe some Japanese as well (enforcers, mainly; the sort of people who'd have been pirates before the ban on building large ships).

Interesting point about the Japanese. There will certainly be trade between Aururia and Japan (via the Ryukyus). The Nuttana who carry out the trade will be keen to recruit Japanese experts, particularly gunsmiths and suchlike. I'm not sure how

For other types of labourers, quite possibly some Indonesians (or New Guineans), but as eschaton points out below, there's not going to be that much in the way of surplus population to call from.

Not sure if they'd try importing African slaves; possibly from the east coast, but given the aforementioned other sources of surplus labor I'd guess that it's more profitable to keep sending Africans to the New World and use Asians in Aururia.

It's possible that the Dutch, say, pick up some Africans from the east African slave trade and bring them to western Aururia - it's not that far out of the way for ships sailing from Europe. On the whole, though, I expect that other sources of labour will be found.

My guess is you'd see something more akin to Blackbirding on a large scale.

I certainly expect some variation of blackbirding to spring up, complete with sugar plantations in much of Queensland and maybe even northern New South Wales. Although it's still an open question how much of that will be from the Nuttana or other native powers, and how much will be from Europeans. The Nuttana, being Plirite, have odd views on slavery (see below).

Some variation of blackbirding may well be used elsewhere, too. Aururia can produce a lot of valuable spices. The crash in native population is likely to see lots of European efforts to force the remainder into cash crop plantations. Something like what happened in the Banda Islands in OTL with nutmeg and mace production.

And some other Aururian states themselves may, perhaps, start to recruit foreign labour, too.

The emphasis will be on pre-state societies in Oceania which for one reason or another haven't been affected by plagues horribly. The best groups to utilize would be those in Papua New Guinea (or Melanesians from the Lesser Sundas), as IOTL they didn't get affected at all by Eurasian plagues, for some reason or another (while Aborigines and Polynesians were quite vulnerable), and so presumably will still be very numerous, and placed very close to the area they are most needed as labor.

I suspect that New Guineans and the inhabitants of the Lesser Sundas were unaffected by Eurasian plagues because they'd already caught them over the millennia in contact with mainland Eurasia. The peoples further east, including Melanesians in places like New Caledonia (and probably Vanuatu) were hit by epidemics, presumably because the chain of contact with Eurasia was too infrequent.

Funnily enough, in OTL blackbirders even brought in plenty of labourers from places further east (Vanuatu, Tonga, etc). Even with the reduced population from plagues, there were still enough people to conscript. So I expect that this will be a case of "grab what labour you can, where you can".

Of course, ATL there's one big, convenient source of forced labour which didn't exist in OTL: Aotearoa.

The Maori already have a history of fighting each other and turning the defeated warriors (and/or captives) into slaves. ATL Aotearoa has a population large enough that even with Eurasian plagues, it's still going to have a largish population. If there are European or Aururian powers looking to pick up forced labour, Aotearoa will be a good place to do it.

Which makes things interesting is how Plirite Aururian peoples will cope with this. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Plirism [1] doesn't have a blanket ban on slavery or anything like that. There was slavery in pre-Houtmanian Aururia, although generally it was used for unpleasant jobs such as mining, and involved people who were punished for life.

Plirites didn't have a problem with that. Nor, necessarily, did they have a problem with the idea of people being born into slavery, depending on their parents' station.

What they did have, though, is a very strong objection to what in modern terms would be called breach of contract. Under Plirism, agreements are really, really meant to be binding. Reneging on a contract is a very bad idea [2].

So the question is how do you turn someone into a slave? Blackbirding in OTL involved a lot of false pretences, which the Nuttana won't have a bar of. Indentured servants for a term of years is fine, too, which is how the Nuttana actually got started. (Kiyungu labourers working on 5-year term). But once that term of years is up, the labourers get to go home or become free workers, unless they agree (and really agree) to serve another term. (Which is, incidentally, why the Nuttana went berserk about slavery in *South Carolina - indentured servants were told that they were now slaves for life).

The Maori solve this problem neatly: by being defeated in war, the punishment is slavery for life. Deal done. Plus, from the Nuttana point of view, they can sell the sugar grown by Maori slaves to buy more slaves, who can grow more sugar. It really is a buyer's market.

[1] Aururian Plirism, that is. Some other Plirites, e.g. the Congxie, because of their history, will not tolerate any form of slavery.

[2] Which will have its own effects on people who trade with Plirites. Bargaining hard is fine. Getting a cheap deal because you had inside information isn't necessarily a problem either. Selling something that isn't what it was described as, though, is very much not all right. Making a contract and then failing to deliver the agreed goods is about as bad as can be imagined.

 

[eschaton]

It's possible that the Dutch, say, pick up some Africans from the east African slave trade and bring them to western Aururia - it's not that far out of the way for ships sailing from Europe. On the whole, though, I expect that other sources of labour will be found.

The East African trade was dominated by Muslims, which makes me think it's pretty unlikely the Dutch will be heavily involved.

The one exception is Madagascar. IOTL it's known that the Malagasy not only interacted with Arab slave traders, but Europeans as well, with some Malagasy slaves making it all the way to the New World, while others became one component in the Cape Colored population. Madagascar is set up pretty well in terms of ocean currents to take a route which goes to Western Australia, after which more local traders could get the slaves to where they needed to go.

Some variation of blackbirding may well be used elsewhere, too. Aururia can produce a lot of valuable spices. The crash in native population is likely to see lots of European efforts to force the remainder into cash crop plantations. Something like what happened in the Banda Islands in OTL with nutmeg and mace production.

If a good cash crop can be grown in the former Atjuntja realm, it would be well-located for Malagasy slaves. Probably better located than New Zealand actually.

I suspect that New Guineans and the inhabitants of the Lesser Sundas were unaffected by Eurasian plagues because they'd already caught them over the millennia in contact with mainland Eurasia. The peoples further east, including Melanesians in places like New Caledonia (and probably Vanuatu) were hit by epidemics, presumably because the chain of contact with Eurasia was too infrequent.

Probably. The long (potentially 10,000 year) history of high populations in the New Guinea Highlands might have played a role strengthening immune systems as well. It's important to note that modern genetic studies suggest most of the Melanesian component in Eastern Indonesia seems to have been not indigenous, but the descendents of Papauan agriculturalists who were expanding just as the Austronesians overrun them. It would be an interesting POD for a separate TL where Papuans got a bit more of a leg up.

Funnily enough, in OTL blackbirders even brought in plenty of labourers from places further east (Vanuatu, Tonga, etc). Even with the reduced population from plagues, there were still enough people to conscript. So I expect that this will be a case of "grab what labour you can, where you can".

But in these cases, contact happened shortly before the blackbirders came, so some of the populations hadn't even been reduced yet.

Regardless, in the New World there was a clear division of bonded labor price based roughly on hardiness. Africans, who were resistant to malaria and yellow fever, fetched the highest price. European indentured servants died from these diseases, but were otherwise pretty healthy, and fetched middling prices. Indian slaves died in large numbers, and were thus very, very cheap. I'd expect the same sort of ranking to develop in Aururia, where the hardiness of different ethnic groups is recognized, and a premium is placed upon those least likely to die from epidemic or endemic diseases.

Of course, ATL there's one big, convenient source of forced labour which didn't exist in OTL: Aotearoa.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about this angle, because if anything, I see the Maori developing into the enforcer crew on slave ships, not the slaves themselves. Of course, many African peoples with as much of a martial history were successfully enslaved, and large-bodied Polynesians at least to external appearances would be better at hard physical labor than more gracile Asians, Melenesians, or Arurians.

The Maori solve this problem neatly: by being defeated in war, the punishment is slavery for life. Deal done. Plus, from the Nuttana point of view, they can sell the sugar grown by Maori slaves to buy more slaves, who can grow more sugar. It really is a buyer's market.

I wonder how the concept of racial hierarchy will develop in Europe with a darker-skinned group enslaving a lighter-skinned one. Will Europeans be horrified, or will they not gradate people's presumed intelligence on skin color at all?

[2] Which will have its own effects on people who trade with Plirites. Bargaining hard is fine. Getting a cheap deal because you had inside information isn't necessarily a problem either. Selling something that isn't what it was described as, though, is very much not all right. Making a contract and then failing to deliver the agreed goods is about as bad as can be imagined.

I can see why the Congxie develop their own form of trade unionism. It's a religion set up to enshrine collective bargaining.

 

[sahaidak]

I wonder how the concept of racial hierarchy will develop in Europe with a darker-skinned group enslaving a lighter-skinned one. Will Europeans be horrified, or will they not gradate people's presumed intelligence on skin color at all?

There were darker-skinned slaveholders with European slaves in Ottoman Empire and its North African dependencies in OTL. It did nothing to prevent the modern racial hierarchy from emerging in European colonies.

 

[The Uchronian]

There were darker-skinned slaveholders with European slaves in Ottoman Empire and its North African dependencies in OTL. It did nothing to prevent the modern racial hierarchy from emerging in European colonies.

That is true, and in fact, I think it could be argued that, perhaps, it might have provided a reason for such, and maybe even made it worse. (TBH, I don't actually know, but it's an interesting thought, IMO)

 

[ingemann]

I wonder how the concept of racial hierarchy will develop in Europe with a darker-skinned group enslaving a lighter-skinned one. Will Europeans be horrified, or will they not gradate people's presumed intelligence on skin color at all?

They will mildly not care, the Europeans at this point saw no difference between racial groups as target for slavery. The only reason we didn't see large scale White slavery was the lack of supply not lack of demands, it was only after 3 centuries of slaves primary being Black, the intellectual connection "Slave=Black" developed. So they really don't care that very dark pagans keep less dark pagans as slaves.

 

[eschaton]

There were darker-skinned slaveholders with European slaves in Ottoman Empire and its North African dependencies in OTL. It did nothing to prevent the modern racial hierarchy from emerging in European colonies.

They will mildly not care, the Europeans at this point saw no difference between racial groups as target for slavery. The only reason we didn't see large scale White slavery was the lack of supply not lack of demands, it was only after 3 centuries of slaves primary being Black, the intellectual connection "Slave=Black" developed. So they really don't care that very dark pagans keep less dark pagans as slaves.

To both of you: I was referring to the 19th century ideas of scientific racism, not the racial attitudes during the 17th century, which were notably more relaxed (even if societies were, at large, more amoral).

IOTL, the Ottomans, under European pressure, emancipated all "white" slaves, so the period of slavery of non-blacks and white supremacy had a very small overlap.

 

[ingemann]

To both of you: I was referring to the 19th century ideas of scientific racism, not the racial attitudes during the 17th century, which were notably more relaxed (even if societies were, at large, more amoral).

19th century racism are irrelevant ITTL for the simple reason, that it evolve from the intectual connection of "slave=Black", here with lower supply of Black slaves that connection are unlikely to develop.

IOTL, the Ottomans, under European pressure, emancipated all "white" slaves, so the period of slavery of non-blacks and white supremacy had a very small overlap.

Of course they did, most White slaves was Christians.

 

[Jared]

The one exception is Madagascar. IOTL it's known that the Malagasy not only interacted with Arab slave traders, but Europeans as well, with some Malagasy slaves making it all the way to the New World, while others became one component in the Cape Colored population. Madagascar is set up pretty well in terms of ocean currents to take a route which goes to Western Australia, after which more local traders could get the slaves to where they needed to go.

Good point about Madagascar. With winds and currents, it's a very easy sail across the southern Indian Ocean to Western Australia. If anyone's looking to pick up slaves, that will be a good place.

If a good cash crop can be grown in the former Atjuntja realm, it would be well-located for Malagasy slaves. Probably better located than New Zealand actually.

'Tis a good question what cash crops can be grown in the Atjuntja protectorate (or whatever it ends up being). They could grow kunduri, but would need to "borrow" the crop from eastern Aururia.

Sandalwood is profitable but a very slow-growing crop, not really something that's suitable for short-term slavery-driven plantations. It's more a supplementary crop grown as part of other farming.

Various other Aururian spices could be grown there, too, but not any better than on the east coast, and in some cases, less viably.

Regardless, in the New World there was a clear division of bonded labor price based roughly on hardiness. Africans, who were resistant to malaria and yellow fever, fetched the highest price. European indentured servants died from these diseases, but were otherwise pretty healthy, and fetched middling prices. Indian slaves died in large numbers, and were thus very, very cheap. I'd expect the same sort of ranking to develop in Aururia, where the hardiness of different ethnic groups is recognized, and a premium is placed upon those least likely to die from epidemic or endemic diseases.

'Tis complicated. The worst tropical diseases - malaria, yellow fever - are not major problems in Australia. Malaria did exist there pre-European contact in OTL, but was not a major problem even during European colonisation because the mosquitos which carry it are less efficient at spreading the disease than comparable African ones. Yellow fever didn't make it there in OTL at all - though it may do so with African slaves ATL - but the mosquitos would be similarly less efficient at spreading it.

So Africans would have less advantage over European/Asian slaves than in OTL. The areas where African slaves would be most easily shipped (Western Australia) are also ones where malaria and yellow fever couldn't even get established.

There's also native diseases in Aururia to which the locals and Maori would be more resistant than Africans, Asians or Europeans. On the other hand, those same natives would be more vulnerable to Eurasian epidemic diseases.

Slaves from New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tonga etc would be vulnerable to everything, and so presumably fill the equivalent role to Amerindian slaves in OTL.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about this angle, because if anything, I see the Maori developing into the enforcer crew on slave ships, not the slaves themselves.

Nothing prevents Maori being both enforcers and slaves. Maori slavery wasn't race-based in OTL, nor will the ATL equivalent be in Aururia or Aotearoa. For the Maori, slavery is the price paid for being defeated in war or captured in a raid.

I wonder how the concept of racial hierarchy will develop in Europe with a darker-skinned group enslaving a lighter-skinned one. Will Europeans be horrified, or will they not gradate people's presumed intelligence on skin color at all?

Good question. The OTL European development of a racial hierarchy was based partly on what slavery turned into, and also the perceived level of "development" of various peoples when encountered. The "black" peoples of Africa, Australia, New Guinea etc were seen as being the least developed and at the bottom of the racial hierarchy, with "medium skinned" peoples like those of India etc somewhere higher up, and so on.

ITTL, there's not just the question of how slavery develops. There's also the question of whether any native Aururian societies can withstand the onslaught of Eurasian diseases and would-be conquistadors and develop (or preserve) a culture which even the Europeans recognise as having some reasonable level of development.

If any Aururian peoples can manage that step, and be part of the European consciousness by the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries (even if not in frequent contact) then the idea of a racial hierarchy is going to be a lot harder to develop. Although I suppose the Europeans may mentally come up with a box labelled 'special case' for those Aururian societies, a bit like how Japan was thought of.

19th century racism are irrelevant ITTL for the simple reason, that it evolve from the intectual connection of "slave=Black", here with lower supply of Black slaves that connection are unlikely to develop.

There was more going on than that. There was also the perceived inferiority of the societies developed in sub-Saharan Africa, Australia etc compared to those elsewhere.

Of course they did, most White slaves was Christians.

Even a lot of black slaves became Christians, but that didn't stop them being slaves.

 

[Beedok]

Aururians would be paler than Africans by a bit wouldn't they? They could just be seen as somewhere between Black and Indian by the European "ethnic hierarchy" things right?

 

[Petike]

Hi, Jared.

Do you plan to update the timeline's pdf any time soon ? Maybe after chapter 65 ?

 

[ingemann]

There was more going on than that. There was also the perceived inferiority of the societies developed in sub-Saharan Africa, Australia etc compared to those elsewhere.

Of course, but it was more than that, the people of Oceania or the American ingineous people (the ones not under European rule) was even more socialogical and technological backward than all settled African people, and Europeans never developed the same degree of scientific racism toward them. Europeans had learned to look at Africans as barely human for centuries. If Europeans hadn't had this habit, we would more likely see them being seen more like Asians (without the yellow danger element)

Even a lot of black slaves became Christians, but that didn't stop them being slaves.

Most African slaves was pagans, most White was Christians (or had been so at least a few decades before the abolishment). It do make a significant difference, when interacting with the Ottomans.

 

[Jared]

Aururians would be paler than Africans by a bit wouldn't they? They could just be seen as somewhere between Black and Indian by the European "ethnic hierarchy" things right?

The range of skin colours in Africa actually overlaps those of *Aborigines. Sure, there are Africans who are darker than anyone in *Australia, but there are some (sub-Saharan) Africans who have lighter skin tone than some Aborigines. Haile Gebrselassie or Desmond Tutu, for instance. (As far as I can judge from photos, anyway, and I work with a Kenyan lady who's no darker in complexion than one of the Aboriginal men in the office).

Do you plan to update the timeline's pdf any time soon ? Maybe after chapter 65 ?

The rich text document certainly needs to be updated. I actually had help with the pdf - I can't create them any more. I'll see about updating the website, including the rich text document, after the next instalment.

Of course, but it was more than that, the people of Oceania or the American ingineous people (the ones not under European rule) was even more socialogical and technological backward than all settled African people, and Europeans never developed the same degree of scientific racism toward them.

The Australian Aborigines would disagree with you about that, I think. Granted, the rest of Oceania may not have had it as bad.

Europeans had learned to look at Africans as barely human for centuries. If Europeans hadn't had this habit, we would more likely see them being seen more like Asians (without the yellow danger element)

Slavery and racism fed off each other in European views of Africans, certainly. However, nineteenth-century racism also had a large element of "we were able to conquer/colonise you, so you're inferior" which applied to other peoples besides those enslaved.

Most African slaves was pagans, most White was Christians (or had been so at least a few decades before the abolishment). It do make a significant difference, when interacting with the Ottomans.

However, most African slaves became Christian after being enslaved, and that didn't stop them being kept as slaves. The overt racism seems to have arisen at least in part because it provided an excuse to keep Christians as slaves.

 

[ingemann]

The Australian Aborigines would disagree with you about that, I think. Granted, the rest of Oceania may not have had it as bad.

Yes the Aborigine seem to have been treated extraordinary badly, even by the standards of the time. But the different population of the Pacific ocean was more backward that any agricultural people in Africa and they were treated much better.

Slavery and racism fed off each other in European views of Africans, certainly. However, nineteenth-century racism also had a large element of "we were able to conquer/colonise you, so you're inferior" which applied to other peoples besides those enslaved.

Yes of course, but it's a difference of scale, there was a element of Europeans really saw African as subhumans in ways they didn't extent to other people they defeated.

However, most African slaves became Christian after being enslaved, and that didn't stop them being kept as slaves. The overt racism seems to have arisen at least in part because it provided an excuse to keep Christians as slaves.

You're talking in America, I'm talking about why Europeans was intensely hostile to slavery in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

 

[The Uchronian]

Yes the Aborigine seem to have been treated extraordinary badly, even by the standards of the time. But the different population of the Pacific ocean was more backward that any agricultural people in Africa and they were treated much better.

Indeed so.....

Yes of course, but it's a difference of scale, there was a element of Europeans really saw African as subhumans in ways they didn't extent to other people they defeated.

And I think it may have largely had to do with the "Curse of Ham"; you know, that Biblical myth about a son of Noah seeing his father naked?

You're talking in America, I'm talking about why Europeans was intensely hostile to slavery in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

 

[mojojojo]

one of the Aboriginal men in the office

Have you told any aboriginals about this TL? I would be curious to know what they think of it

 

[Jared]

Lands of Red and Gold #64: From the Island to the World

“Mourn not for the past, learn from it.
Hope not for the future, plan for it
Complain not about the present, experience it.”

- From Oora Gulalu [The Endless Road], a text composed in Tjibarr in the fifteenth century, and widely respected by both Plirite and Tjarrling believers

* * *

Crimson Day, Cycle of Strength, 398th Year of Harmony (1.26.398) / 15 January 1638
Ngamotu, Lands of the Ngati Apa iwi, Te Ika a Maui, Aotearoa [New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand]

Life among the Maori in Aotearoa: a place where reputation had made them out to be barely better than the Yadji, bloodthirsty warriors ready to kill without provocation. As Nameless the priest had expected, that reputation held some truth, but only some.

The Maori had their own social code, their own customs. Within the limits of that code, they were hospitality personified: welcoming, generous, polite, helpful. Anyone who transgressed the bounds of the Maori code would be punished, though. Severely punished.

Nameless had learned what he could of their customs before visiting, based on what he was told by some Maori and Maori-speakers living on the Cider Isle [Tasmania]. That had helped. When he finally arrived in Aotearoa, the Maori were open enough for him to learn more.

In turn, Nameless started providing advice to the Maori. At first, he gave individual guidance to those Maori who had accepted the true faith, who followed the Sevenfold Path [Plirism]. The Maori being as they were, they soon started inviting him to speak at their communal meetings at their marae. And, in time, he found himself giving advice to the Maori king himself.

Ariki iwi [King] Arapeta proved to be far more thoughtful and open to proper guidance than Nameless had expected. Like any Maori chieftain, he was inclined to harshly punish anyone who transgressed the Maori social code. They believed that demonstrated a chieftain’s mana. But Arapeta was willing to think about things, to hear alternative perspectives even if he did not agree with them.

Nameless found, in fact, that he had become a private counsellor to the king. Sometimes on particular matters which affected the kingdom, but also about how to conduct life in general. To provide that advice, Nameless usually turned to The Endless Road – which in his opinion was the most helpful single text ever written – or one of the half-dozen other writings he had brought with him to Aotearoa.

There was no point in giving the king a copy of the book itself. Even if it could be translated into Maori – a feat beyond Nameless’ ability – the king could not read. Arapeta relied on scribes to record information and read it to him when needed.

In any case, this let Nameless choose the best passages to read to the king. Like any non-believer, too much truth at once could overwhelm him. Nameless chose those passages which were most appropriate to the king’s current level of understanding.

Among his preferred segments were about how the Good Man had lived, back in the long-vanished days of the kingdom of Lopitja. How the Good Man had wealth and power, and had abandoned it. How he believed that his mana – a word which Nameless translated loosely – would benefit all men, spreading his advice by words rather than by force of arms. The Good Man did not decry warfare, as Nameless was at pains to point out, but helped people to see how it fit into the broader pattern of their lives. The Good Man showed how everyone could order their lives to ensure maximum harmony for all, within their own stations in life.

The king seemed to be more and more intrigued, as Nameless chose other passages from The Endless Road which explained about how to live. Until, one morning, the king turned his attention to another of the endless feuds which dominated Maori life. Nameless had given advice before on resolving a vendetta between two subtribes [hapu] within the kingdom. This vendetta was more complex, involving an endless cycle of raids and revenge attacks between one subtribe of Arapeta’s realm, and that of the neighbouring Muaupoko kingdom.

Nameless saw his opening when the king mentioned that these endless raids were costing too many warriors from the subtribe for its subking to answer properly when the king called for warriors.

“What stops you from negotiating a settlement with the ariki iwi of the Muaupoko to end the raids?” Nameless asked.

“A raid cannot go unanswered,” the king said. “A leader of strong mana cannot afford to show weakness.”

“Doing nothing is not always weakness,” Nameless said. “Sometimes having the self-control to do nothing is the greatest strength of all.”

“And have my ariki hapu whisper that I lack the courage to respond to their weakness?” the king asked, but he sounded intrigued. Nameless had long since learnt how to tell when the king did not want to hear more on a subject.

“Sometimes revenge is not the best demonstration of mana,” Nameless said. “Sometimes the ability to ignore trivial raids shows your mana more: how better to show your strength that you do not need to waste your time with minor raids. All you need to remember is that if their raids continue for long enough, and that if they do not learn this wisdom, then you will punish them severely enough that they will be afraid to respond.”

“That is how your Island maintains its peace?” Arapeta asked.

“It is. We still have feuds from time to time – there are a couple now – but they are rare, and they can be ended if required. Or a bloodline is exterminated entirely, as has happened, if they would not learn when to end a vendetta.”

King Arapeta was silent for a long time after that. Nameless knew better than to interrupt. At length, the king asked one, rather pointed question. Nameless give the only answer he could give, in the circumstances.

“Accompany me,” the king said, then rose and walked to the entrance to the wharenui [great hall of the palace].

Outside, there were various clusters of Maori having whatever discussions they wished at the marae. They saw the king at the entrance, of course, and quickly fell silent as they assembled in a rough semi-circle, well back from the entrance.

King Arapeta stepped outside, paused for a moment, then took seven paces forward. He raised his voice. “Ta mal-pa Pliri, ni gapu-pa Bula Gakal-girri marang.” There is but one Harmony, and only the Sevenfold Path will give it balance.

* * *

Taken from: “People of the Seas: The Nangu Diaspora”
By Accord Anderson [1]
New London, Alleghania: 1985

3. Breakup of the Seven Sisters

Long the Seven Sisters [Eyre Peninsula, South Australia] had been the granary of the Island. Red yams and cornnarts [wattles] from Mutjing farmers came, endless-seeming harvest to sustain the people of an Island too small to feed itself. Rulership of the Seven Sisters remained with Mutjing, not Nangu, yet guidance and mediation came from the Island to ensure harmony remained.

The Island now riven with feud and discord, with plagues and Dutch competition rampant, failed to sustain the vital guidance. City-kings of the Seven Sisters strove now in waal [bringing discord], hatreds once old now renewed, and alliance with Dutch now contemplated by those who once revered the Island alone.

With legacy of friendship most ancient, no Mutjing would commit to war against the Island itself, yet catastrophe most severe could fall without one direct blow from Mutjing to Nangu. City-king Maralinga of Luyandi [Port Kenny] formed pact with the Dutch, and formed pride within himself, bringing the Seven Sisters into imbalance. Pankala [Port Lincoln], pre-eminent Sister for so long in reputation and commerce, to the Island remained steadfast.

Courage and rivalry dominated, wise counsel was forsaken. The Seven Sisters descended into war most troublesome. No longer could the Island’s influence quell bloodshed, with the confluence of Dutch supporting the western Sisters, and the Island itself riven, incapable of speaking with one voice.

Mutjing and Nangu alike suffered. Victory elusive, strife continued over years too numerous. Surplus harvest consumed by the fires of war, no longer could the Seven Sisters sustain the Island, and misery and famine took the helm as the fate of the Island shifted onto a new course. Population reduced already from European plagues, notwithstanding, no boldness from the Nangu remaining on the Island could conjure food from nothing.

Discord had previously troubled the Nangu, ancient bloodlines contesting over scraps of Dutch trade, dislocation of old trade markets, and loss of experienced mediators with the plagues. Famine looming, people of the Island cared little even for which faction won victory in the Seven Sisters; the war itself marked disaster. The Island now shattered, and the shards fell where they willed...

Where the Island could no longer provide, exodus now beckoned for those astute and for those defeated. The former knew opportunity and seized it, the latter hoped for opportunity and sought it. Some few bloodlines had fled already, in whole or in part, a trickle of Nangu across the waves, which uncivil war in the Seven Sisters pushed into flood.

Bloodlines four, more shrewd than most, already had established their Nuttana [trading association] on a coast most distant within Aururia [far north Queensland]. Two more bloodlines secured common purpose, Mudontji and Nyawala acceding to the syndicate previously formed. In union most beneficial, to the Nuttana came more knowledge, more workers, and a future where the old surety departed but new hope remained. Kiyungu of the Coral Coast joined them in numbers, whether volunteers for indenture or migrants most buoyant...

Across the Tethys Sea [Tasman Sea], another shard fell on ground most fertile and fortunate. Whether auspicious or prudent, years before the Kalendi bloodline gained trade connexions with Maori in Aotearoa. Missionaries had striven to prepare the way, until Bana [Nameless] guided the first Maori king into acceptance of the Seven-fold Path.

Vendetta driving them, and old trade routes fallen, Kalendi found new aspiration among the Ngati Apa in Aotearoa. To the Maori, they brought wisdom: the true faith, shipbuilding, iron, dyes, spices [2], and determination...

* * *

[1] Accord Anderson is a Congxie (see post #47) author who thinks that he speaks English fluently enough not to need a translator. He may perhaps be mistaken in that view.

[2] That is, those spices which could grow in Aotearoa. Some Aururian spices can, generally the ones which are native to historical Victoria and Tasmania or alpine areas further north (e.g. some sweet peppers, sea celery, river mint), though many Aururian spices are subtropical (e.g. lemon myrtle and other myrtles) and will not grow in Aotearoa.

* * *

Thoughts?

 

[CyberPhoenix001]

Very interesting, so if the Nangu (or a subset thereof) manage to re-establish themselves within the Maori, does this mean we could see the beginnings of a seafaring Maori empire?

 

[FDW]

Nice update Jared.