Military Level List
A viewset for viewing and editing Military Levels.
GET /api/sc/military-levels/?ordering=-polity
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An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection§REF§ “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” §REF§Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Military_level", "military_level_from": 0, "military_level_to": 0, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911, "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "new_name": "ni_nri_k", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 249, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " levels. Might have paralleled the administrative level (AD inference).<br>1. Khan (Khung Taiji)<br>2. Appanages (ulus or anggi) controlled by a noyod or taiji noble. - Military chief?3. Otog (a camp district composed of several clans and usually with 3,000 to 6,000 households) governed by zaisang officials. Otog military chief?4. Groups of 40 households governed by demchi officials. military chief?5. Groups of 20 households governed by shülengge officials. military chief?6. Individual soldier", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 3, "military_level_to": 6, "polity": { "id": 444, "name": "MnZungh", "start_year": 1670, "end_year": 1757, "long_name": "Zungharian Empire", "new_name": "mn_zungharian_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Zungharian polity was, according to Atwood, §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 622) §REF§ \"the last great independent power of the steppe\". The tribal name \"Zunghar\" first appeared in the seventeenth century, as part of the Oirat confederation of steppe tribes; their rise to dominance within the confederation began under the leadership of Khara-Khula (d. 1634), but it was only in the 1670s, under Galdan, that they officially became the confederacy's leading tribe, and recognised as such even by the Dail Lama, who gave Galdan the title of Boshogtu Khan. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 622) §REF§ At its height, the Zungharian polity included portions of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, western Mongolia, neighbouring areas of southern Siberia, and Xinjiang. §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 236) §REF§ In 1755, the Qing empire was able to annex the Zungharians following a relatively quick and bloodless military campaign; because the Zungharians had successfully repelled the Chinese army several times before, the cause for this sudden collapse can most likely be found in the conflict between the successors of the last great Zugharian ruler, Galdan-Tseren (d. 1735). §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 623-624) §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Zungharian ruler, known as Khung-Taiji, benefited from the support of an office (yamu) or court (zarghu) composed of four chief officials, known as ministers (tüshimed), judges (zarghuchis), or grand councillors (zaisangs). Galdan-Tseren, the only Zungharian ruler to also be known by the title of Khan, added six additional councillors. Each of the tribes that made up the Zungharian-led confederacy (previously known as the Oirat confederacy) and its own ruler who was himself supported by his own councillors, as well as minor functionaries such as standard-bearers and trumpeters. Finally, each tribe was itself subdivided into otogs, which were themselves subdivided into smaller units (of 40 and then 20 households) governed by local commoner officials. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 421) §REF§ <br>Sources say that the Zungharian polity included \"200,000 households\"; §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 421) §REF§ with a conservative estimate of 3-8 people per household, the population would therefore have been in the range of 600,000-1,600,000 people.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 24, "name": "Orkhon Valley", "subregion": "Mongolia", "longitude": "102.845486000000", "latitude": "47.200757000000", "capital_city": "Karakorum", "nga_code": "MN", "fao_country": "Mongolia", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 9, "name": "Mongolia", "subregions_list": "Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, the steppe part of Manchuria", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 52, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "1. King<br>2. \"Sar haTzava\" (commander of the army)3. \"Shalish\" (captain? deputy?), possibly descended from earlier position \"Nose' Keilim\" (equipment-bearer, attendant)<br>“Only scant references exist concerning the leadership of the Israelite and Judean military. The king was the head of the army. Offices like “captain” (Hebrew, shalish) and “commander” (Hebrew, sar) were important for the army and chariotry, yet the precise nature of these offices and how one achieved them remains uncertain.”§REF§Kelle (2007:44)§REF§ “At times, the rank of shalish designated a personal assistant to the king, but Pekah’s experience as a “captain” was more likely as a member of a group of commanding officers or elite warriors within the military organization. The office shared some of the functions of and perhaps developed out of the older position of the nose’ kelim (“armor-bearer”), which had been prominent in Israel during the early stages of military development before the 9th century.”§REF§Kelle (2007:140)§REF§ (Compare with II Samuel 11:3-9.)4. Commander (\"sar\") of the thousand. (It is difficult to know whether this position was distinct from that of Shalish.)5. Commander of the hundred.6. Commander of the fifty.7. Commander of the ten.<br>“The infantry had units of 1,000, 100, 50, and 10, and may have lived in garrisons in key cities.”§REF§Kelle (2007:71)§REF§ Compare II Kings 1:9.8. Common soldier.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 6, "military_level_to": 8, "polity": { "id": 105, "name": "IlYisrl", "start_year": -1030, "end_year": -722, "long_name": "Yisrael", "new_name": "il_yisrael", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "_Short description_<br>The ancient kingdom of Israel 1030-722 CE was a monarchy established by Israelite people that was eventually conquered by the Assyrian Empire. Initially a monarchic union with Judah, around 930 BCE the Northern Kingdom (Israel) gained autonomy. In the 9th century Israel entered an anti-Assyria coalition but from Jehu (841 BCE) paid them tribute and thereafter were frequently a vassal of the Mesopotamian empire. After a revolt against Assyria in 727 CE the Assyrians ended the polity sending many of its inhabitants into exile.<br>The century authorities ruled through administrative centers and fortresses sites that had \"public buildings and ... large open spaces.\" §REF§ (Finkelstein 2013, 104)Israel Finkelstein. 2013. The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel. Society of Biblical Literature. Atlanta, GA. Available online <a class=\"external text\" href=\"https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/pubs/9781589839106_OA.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>. §REF§ Local administration may have been through tribal elders who may have been responsible for tax collection. Our image of a centralized monarchy (for some of or the whole of the period) might be tempered by the ideas of Pfoh (2008) who has argued Israel was actually a \"patronage kingdom\" in which a monarchy did not control a truly unitary state. Nevertheless, Israel possessed a standing army with a strong chariot corps, and used weapons of iron and bronze. Fortifications were many and imposing, and the Palace of Omri was one of the grandest in the Ancient Near East.<br>At its height, Israel imposed tribute on many of the surrounding kingdoms, not only Judah but Moab, Edom, and perhaps others as well. The Israelite population primarily lived in cities and towns in the hills, with fortified cities protecting the frontiers on the plains and dominating major trade routes through the region. Trade linked Israel with its northern neighbor Phoenicia, particularly through the port of Dor. At the height of its power, Israel was also a significant military force, contributing the largest contingent to the regional coalition that turned back Assyria's first attempt to conquer the Levant.<br>At least some of the population was literate even before the 10th Century BCE, though the prevalence of literacy is disputed. While the majority of the populace lived in small towns and villages, a significant fraction lived in walled cities such as the capital, Samaria. Most of the economy was in agriculture and pastoral production; staples for export included grain, wine, and oil. In the eighth century BCE the population likely exceeded well over a quarter of a million people, a vast increase on the less than 100,000 people estimated for the earliest times.<br><br/><br>_Oren's long description_<br>How the Kingdom of Israel began is a matter of dispute. The Bible depicts it as originally being the greater part of the old Israelite tribal confederation, and then a part of the United Monarchy under Saul, David, and Solomon (c. 1030 BCE)—before seceding during the rule of Rehaboam, and forming its own state. This narrative is more or less accepted by some archaeologists such as Mazar, while others such as Finkelstein assert that Israel actually emerged first from a process of gradual state formation, with the southern kingdom of Judah emerging later. §REF§ Cf. Finkelstein/Mazar (2007). §REF§ <br>Regardless, the two kingdoms always had close interactions, and the northern kingdom of Israel was almost always the dominant one. At its height, Israel imposed tribute on many of the surrounding kingdoms, not only Judah but Moab, Edom, and perhaps others as well. The Israelite population primarily lived in cities and towns in the hills, with fortified cities protecting the frontiers on the plains and dominating major trade routes through the region. Trade linked Israel with its northern neighbor Phoenicia, particularly through the port of Dor. At the height of its power, Israel was also a significant military force, contributing the largest contingent to the regional coalition that turned back Assyria's first attempt to conquer the Levant. Israel featured a standing army with a strong chariot corps, with weapons of iron and bronze. Fortifications were many and imposing, and the Palace of Omri was one of the grandest in the Ancient Near East.<br>However, starting with the assassination of the Omrid king Jehoram by Jehu (c. 841 BCE), Israel's fortunes waned; and it spent the rest of its existence as the tributary of either Aram or Assyria, depending on which of the two empires were ascendent. Even when the economy of Israel flourished during particular periods of the next century (as attested to by the greater incidence of luxury goods in archaeological finds), Israel was still subject to the depredations of foreign powers, being invaded several times. Ultimately, following an ill-fated rebellion against Assyria, the polity of Israel was dissolved (c. 722 BCE), its people exiled, and the land turned into an Assyrian province.<br>Israelite politics were marked with instability. In contrast to the kingdom of Judah, which featured a single ruling dynasty that traced its beginnings to David, Israelite kings frequently met violent ends. These would typically be at the hands of rebellious military commanders who would seize the throne, though such rebels ran the risk of being deposed themselves in short order. Zimri, one rebel captain, would rule for only a single week before losing the support of the army to rival captain Omri, founder of the Omrid Dynasty.<br>At least some of the population was literate even before the 10th Century BCE, though the prevalence of literacy is disputed. While the majority of the populace lived in small towns and villages, a significant fraction lived in walled cities such as the capital, Samaria. Most of the economy was in agriculture and pastoral production; staples for export included grain, wine, and oil.<br>A word of caution is in order about coding methodology. Much of the evidence we have about this polity comes from archaeological finds. However, the brute fact of an archaeological artifact is often used as the basis for considerable interpretation and conjecture. Methods have been improving over time, but still some archaeologists tend to leap far ahead of what the evidence will support. Additionally, the meaning of many finds is hotly disputed by archaeologists, each faction insisting for its point of view.<br>Worse, scholars of this particular polity often operate with ideological motives - either to prove the essential historicity of the Bible, or to disprove it—which can distort their claims. Israel Finkelstein, for example, once claimed that King David never existed, before having to revise his view after the discovery of the Tel Dan Stela. §REF§ Cf. Finkelstein/Mazar (2007). §REF§ (He now <a class=\"external text\" href=\"http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2010/12/david-and-solomon/draper-text\" rel=\"nofollow\">believes</a>, as <i>National Geographic</i> puts it, that David was \"a raggedy upstart akin to Pancho Villa.\") His \"Low Chronology\" seems to have been motivated by the attempt to disprove the early existence of the United Monarchy, and the weight of the evidence now contradicts the chronology (while still inconclusive on the matter of the United Monarchy). §REF§ Mazar (2005) §REF§ In general, it seems that many archaeologists treat the absence of evidence as evidence of absence—risky to do, considering that new finds are unearthed practically every month.<br>In short, every data point that is backed up with archaeology must be considered provisional, and new discoveries can totally upend our picture of what happened. As can new interpretations that correct erroneous early interpretations, a <a class=\"external text\" href=\"http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst140/MotelOfMysteries.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">constant danger</a> with motivated archaeologists.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 10, "name": "Galilee", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "35.303500000000", "latitude": "32.699600000000", "capital_city": "Nazareth", "nga_code": "IL", "fao_country": "Israel", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 61, "name": "Levant", "subregions_list": "Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 187, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " levels.<br>(4) Imams and their advisers; (3) retainers; (2) Shaykhs and other tribal leaders; (1) Armed tribesmen<br>Political and military authority was loose and fluid. Accordingly, it is difficult to establish precise hierarchies and the code provided is only a rought approximation. Dresch describes the emergence of the Qasimid court, including the establishment of a retainer army: 'Besides the wealth to be extracted from the southern peasantry, the Imams of the period also had available, if they could retain control, taxes from a burgeoning coffee trade. The rise and fall of the Yemeni coffee trade with Europe matches almost exactly the trajectory of the Imamate's wealth (see Boxhall 1974; Niebuhr 1792). The English and Dutch established factories at Mocha in 1618; the trade was probably at its height around 1730; and the world price of coffee finally crashed at the start of the nineteenth century, at which point one gets mention of Imams debasing the currency (al-'Amri 1985: 59). This wealth, however, had always to be fought for; the rulers became wealthier and more powerful than hitherto, but still were liable to dispute among themselves.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 200§REF§ 'The state the Qasimis formed in the midst of this was none the less impressive (for the rulers' genealogy see Fig. 6.1). Al-Qasim himself, who early in his fight against the Turks had wept over his children starving at Barat, was wealthy when the truce was signed. He built the mosque at Shaharah, then built houses for himself and his followers, planted coffee in al-Ahnum, and amassed more land than the public treasury (Nubdhah: 258, 334-6). The court expanded with the southern conquests. Al-Mutawakkil received an embassy from Ethiopia and exchanged gifts of fine horses with Aurangzib of India (Serjeant 1983: 80-1), while his relatives expressed concern about his monthly demands for funds from Lower Yemen. Further criticism of his taxation policy came from Muhammad al-Ghurbani at Barat, but in 1675 the levies on Lower Yemen were redoubled (ibid. 82). Under Muhammad Ahmad, 'He of al-Mawahib'\" (1687-1718), the exactions became more severe still, in support of a grandiose court and a large standing army complete with slave soldiers (ibid., Zabarah 1958: 451, 457; alShawkani 1929: ii. 98).' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 200§REF§ Leading shaykhly families rose to prominence in this period, partly due to the military support they had provided to the Qasimids in their anti-Ottoman campaigns: 'At precisely this period, and in the space of a decade, the names of several great shaykhly families important nowadays all appear for the first time: al-Ahmar of Hashid, for instance, juzaylan of Dhu Muhammad, ani Hubaysh of Sufyan, Some of the lesser shaykhly houses, such as al-Ziyadi, al-Rarnmah, 'Irnran, ~lGhashrni, and al-Barawi, are attested as much as a century earlier (see e.g, Nubdhah: III, 121, 123, 175, 453). Many of the tribal divisions familiar nowadays had been present far longer, as readers will have gathered from Chapter 5, but the leading families now identified with them appear only at this later date. They were associated with the state and with events elsewhere than in tribal territory.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 202§REF§ The relationship between imams and tribal leaders could be supportive as well as hostile, in both political and military terms: 'Sali1}. Hubaysh of Sufyan is first mentioned in 1698 as putting down a revolt of Raymah and Wa~ab (south-west of San'a') against al-Mawahib's governor: women's earrings taken by his men were sold in San'a' with fragments of ear still attached, provoking certain 'ulama's» preach against Hubaysh's cruelty (Zabarah 195 8: 670). Then, after a disastrous attempt on Yafi' (in what is nowadays South Yemen), which resulted in Ibb being lost to the tribes of the eastern desert, al-Mawahib called to account the northern tribes who had failed him. In 1702 he sent his nephew to deal with 'Hamdan and their chief Ibn Hubaysh', but a truce was made instead (ibid. 428; Zabarah 1941: 297). Five years later, after another failure in Yafi', al-Mawahib sent al-Qasim b. al-Husayn and Sali1}. Hubaysh to Khamir to deal with Hashid, where the two fell out. In 1709 Hubaysh was again sent to Khamir by alMawahib, this time to deal with al-Qasim, but Hubaysh was finally tricked and killed there (ibid. 778-80; Zabarah 1958: 357)·' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 202§REF§ 'In the intervening period he had been placed in charge of an army to fight the tribes of the east and Yafi'. Al-Mawahib had ordered his minister to strike a balance between Hubaysh and Bin juzaylan of Dhii Muhammad (again, this is the earliest clear reference to this famous family), but the governor's own aim was to balance the pair of them with the eastern tribes whom the Imam wanted conquered. The result of his intrigue was that the two Bakil chiefs opposed each other and the easterners won (ibid. 875; Zabarah 1941: 773). Soon after this Hubaysh was sent with al-Qasim b. al-Husayn to Hiith, and the Imam's men razed a house nearby which belonged to Muhammad 'Ali al-Gharibi of Hashid (ibid. 778-80; id. 1958: 684; al-Shawkani 1929: ii. 46), who, as we shall see, is probably Bayt al-Ahmar's immediate forebear.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 202p§REF§ Conflict between rival imams also occurred and tribal military support could be decisive for the outcome: 'A few years later, in 1713, al-Husayn b. al-Qasim declared himself Imam in opposition to al-Mawahib, and 'Ali Hadi Hubaysh (probably Sali1}.'s brother) supported him (Zabarah 1941: 601-9). 'Ali al-Ahmar of al-Usayrnat was sent by al-Mawahib to oppose him (again, this is the first mention of the family by name), but the tribes preferred the new claimant (ibid. 356,607). The country was at one point divided among several of these rival Imams-although, significantly, none of them claimed control of the major tribes (ibid. 616)-and the struggle between.the different Qasimis dragged on, with the shaykhs holding the balance, until al-Mawahib died in 1718.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 203§REF§ 'Al-Mutawakkil al-Qasim then took the Imamate (Serjeant 1983: 84), and at this stage al-Ahmar was apparently on good terms with al-Husayn, the new Imam's son (Zabarah 1941: 539); but when alNasir Muhammad made a rival claim in 1723 al-Ahrnar and many other shaykhs went over to him. The leading sayyids were meanwhile divided among themselves over the perennial problem of taxation (ibid. 289). In 1726 the Dhayban section of Arhab cut the roads, and a group of them made trouble in San'a' itself (Zabarah 1958: 359). The Imam had them hunted through the streets, in response to which \"Arhab tribesmen invited Hashid and Bakil to join them in taking revenge and wiping out the dishonour they had sustained. The tribes responded. 'All b. Qasim al-Ahmar, Paramount Shaykh of Hashid, and Nasir b. juzaylan, Paramount Shaykh of Bakil, proceeded to 'Amran where they met al-Husayn, the Imam's son, whom they persuaded to join them ... (al]iriifi 1951: 181, trans. Stookey 1978: 151-2).' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 203§REF§ 'As Stookey points out, al-Husayn's combination with the tribes against his father availed him little since when his father died, in the following year, and he claimed the Imamate himself under the title al-Mansiir, they supported his cousin, al-Nasir Muhammad.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 203§REF§ 'But al-jirafi goes on, more importantly, to relate that al-Ahmar wrote al-Mansur al-Husayn a brusque letter demanding a meeting. The Imam feared an attempt at assassination; so he'assassinated alAhmar first, stuck his head on a lance, and galloped off with it through a hail of bullets from the shaykh's enraged tribesmen (aljirafi 1951: 182). In fact, al-Ahrnar, accompanied by Bin juzaylan of DhU Muhammad and by Ahmad Muhammad Hubaysh of Sufyan, seems to have come to 'Asir, just outside San'a', to seek a settlement (Zabarah 1941: 539 and 1958: 486). The details are probably lost forever, and we are told only that al-Ahmar 'had wished to make independent his own rule of part of the country' (ibid.), which he very well may have done; but al-Mansur alHusayn's view of the matter, as recorded in the histories, has all the vigorous clarity of the Zaydi tradition. The taunt to the tribesmen at the time was, typically, that they were no better than polytheists: he brandished al-Ahmar's head on his spear and cried 'this is the head of your idol'.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 203p§REF§ Dresch also mentions millenarian militant movements: 'In 175I, however, a millenarian rising broke out in the western mountains, led by Abu 'AIamah, a black 'magician' who preached a puritanical renewal of Islam. Accounts of the rising mention several forts in the west being taken from Bayt al-Ahmar: al-Qahirah at alMahabishah was lost, then Qaradah and al-Gharnuq at Najrah, just south of Hajjah, then Sabrah, and finally the fort near alMadayir that al-Mansur had bought several years earlier (Zabarah 1941: 53-5). During the forty years since al-Mansur al-Husayn b. al-Qasim (a rival of al-Mawahib) came to power in 1712, says a contemporary witness, the state had counted for little: \"The rule of 'All al-Ahmar and his sons after him and of other tribesmen from Hashid remained over-great and excessive until God destroyed what they had built and extinguished their flame, proclaiming their weakness and perdition by the appearance of this dervish. (Quoted ibid. 54)' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 206§REF§ Tribal leaders held lands, collected taxes, and defended forts, enabling them to form a power base in their own right: 'Whatever setbacks they suffered, however, Bayt al-Ahmar were not displaced permanently. In the year after Abu 'Alamah's rising, when the Sharif of Abu 'Arish and a rival claimant to the Imamate were active in the north-west, they were again a power to be reckoned with.\" Certainly they collected taxes as well as rents in the nineteenth century, and local memory credits them with taking revenue even from coastal towns in the north Tihamah, They retain considerable lands in the west to the present day.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 206§REF§ 'Nor were Bayt al-Ahrnar of Hashid the only shaykhly family in the area: Nasir juzaylan of Dhu Muhammad lost forts to Abu 'Alamah at al-Masiih, and a garrison from Dhii Husayn were chased out of al-Sha'iq in Bani 'Awam (again near Hajjah), but the shaykhly families of Barat retained or re-established a hold there. Al al-Shayif of Dhfi Husayn, for example, still own land in Hajjah province, and Bayt Hubaysh of Sufyan have considerable holdings near al-Mahwit (Tutwiler 1987). The picture which emerges between the lines of eighteenth-century histories and tariijim is of myriad forts in the western mountains, each garrisoned by twenty or thirty tribal soldiers and controlling an area for some shaykh of the northern plateau. As the eighteenth century wears on, so the same pattern comes more clearly to light in Lower Yemen too: in his entry for 1752, for example, al-jirafi records for the first time what will punctuate his history thereafter, Barat tribesmen at odds with the Imam south of San'a' (al-jirafi 195I: 183). They continued to appear there into the present century, leaving behind great numbers of tribal families and large shaykhly holdings of land outside tribal territory.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 206p§REF§ However, written records are often silent on these matters: 'These shaykhs are not the subject of Imamic history. Although the Imamate could not have functioned as it did without them, and although the granting of 'fiefs' to them went on for centuries, the details of their financial and administrative position are nowhere written up. Nor has local documentation come to light. Until it does, we must form what estimate we can by looking at the great shaykhly houses nowadays.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 209§REF§ In addition, sayyids also quarreled amongst themselves: 'AI-Mahdi al-iAbbas (1748-75) was very much a Sanani Imam, being based on the city throughout his reign. Among learned San'anis he retained a high reputation (al-Shawkani 19 29: 310-12; Serjeant 1983: 85 ff.), but it is plain that all was not well elsewhere. Abu 'Alamah's 175I rising in the north-west has already been mentioned. Two years earlier a campaign had been fought in Lower Yemen against a 'sorcerer' who promised his followers immunity against sword wounds and gun shots.V In the year before that, Hasan al-Tlkarn, of the qadi family from Barat and the north-east, was leading tribesmen at odds with the new Imam in Lower Yemen (Zabarah 1958: 684)Y In both the west and the south, the incursion of tribesmen over the preceding generation had not been quietly absorbed, and the affairs of the Barat tribes in particular (Dhii Muhammad and Dhu Husayn) became involved with those of the Imam's capital at San'a'.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 212§REF§ 'The connections of learning which were often important in an Imam's rise to power (Ch. 5) could also readily generalize a threat to that power if one emerged; and the language of equality, justice, and religious probity linked the learned with the tribesmen also. In 17 68, for instance, the 'ulamd' of Barat (particularly Bayt al-'Ansi) wrote to Zaydi centres such as Huth and Dhamar, calling for the expulsion of al-Mahdi al-Abbas and his Qasimi relatives on doctrinal grounds (al-jirafi 1951: 187; Zabarah 1958: 521-2; al-Shawkani 1929: ii. 134-5), though the Barat tribes' incursions in preceding years suggest that doctrinal detail was not the main motive force (see e.g. Zabarah 1958: 13).' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 212p§REF§ 'The Qasimis were accused of 'innovations' (bida'). Zaydism had always recognized ijtihad (the formation of new law by extrapolation from scripture), but in the mid-eighteenth century a pronounced movement of criticism was under way. Ibn al-Amir, for instance, a Zaydi scholar who kept his political distance from the Imamate, blurred the distinction between his own school and the Shafi'i,14 with the result that conspicuous details, such as postures of prayer, became matters of contention among those less learned than he. The Barat qadis blamed the Qasimis for supporting him. On at least one occasion, an intestine squabble among San'ani 'ulamd' over mosque appointments, phrased in these terms, led one faction to demand arbitration from al-'Ansi, 'the qadi of Hashid and Bakil' (Zabarah 1941: 617), rather than from their Qasimi rulers.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 213§REF§ Imams were often reduced to negotiate protection money with tribes under the threat of military incursions: 'Hasan al-'Ansi and the Barat tribes appeared outside San'a' in 1770. They were successfully driven off, which provoked some vainglorious poetry from the victors (Serjeant 1983: 86; d. alShawkani 1929: i. 459), but elsewhere al-Shawkani suggests (ibid. ii. 136) how this was achieved: an addition to the tribesmen's stipend of 20,000 riyals per annum, the implication being that they already received regular payment. These incursions and payments continued for several decades.P and the Barat tribes remained active in Lower Yemen until the Turks took the area in the late nineteenth century.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 213§REF§ 'Al-Mansiir 'All b. al-Mahdi (1775-1809) was, like his father, a San'ani Imam, and from the city's point of view was at first a considerable success (Serjeant 1983: 86-7; al-Shawkani 1929: i. 359 ff.). But at the state's periphery, Sharif Harniid of Abu Arish was forced south by the Nejd Wahhabis into territory the Imamate had held or at least had part access to. The resulting loss of port revenue was almost certainly serious. I? From now on, the Imams' ability to buy off the tribes declined sharply.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 214§REF§ 'At the centre, al-Mansur's grip on affairs failed when his sons fell out with each other, and the qadis of Bayt al-'Ulufi fell out with those of Bayt al-'Ansi, in part over stipends to the tribes (al-jirafi 1951: 192; al-tAmri 1985: 52-64; al-Hibshi 1980: 4; Zabarah 1929: i, 343-4). In 1818, in the time of the Imam al-Mahdi, a large body of tribesmen from Barat arrived at the capital in search of pay to fight in the Tiharnah (al-Hibshi 1980: 18). The Imam, having collected support of his own from Khawlan and Nihm, had 'All 'Abdullah al-Shayif of Dhii Husayn beheaded and the body strung up for three days, then thrown in the rubbish ditch outside Bab Sha'ub (ibid. 20-1; Zabarah 1929: ii. 66). But Bayt al-Shayif's call for support to avenge this was answered by Wa'ilah, Hashid, al' Amalisah, Sufyan, and Arhab, among others; in short, by tribes from as far away as what is now the Saudi border. They looted the city's outskirts and carried off enough plunder 'to suffice the son's son' (ibid. 23-4; al-Arnri 1985: 88-91).' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 214p§REF§ This lead to a gradual break-down of imamic authority: 'In 1823 a severe drought in the east forced a meeting of tribes at Jabal Barat, where they decided to seek aid from the Imam. When he refused and they turned on Lower Yemen, he seems to have been able to do nothing but warn others they were coming. 'When they reached Sarnarah [the pass that is sometimes taken to define Lower Yemen's border; see Chapter I], each put down his pledge on a place, and they divided it all up as if their father had left them the land as inheritance' (al-Hibshi 1980: 34). It is quite possible, of course, that many had indeed been left inheritance there, either property or presumed rights to 'fiefs' (quta'): they had been involved with the area for the best part of a century. From 1823 onwards, though, they are said to have held the area unopposed: 'they took control of it by force and coercion, then settled there, married there, and forgot the east until the Faqih Sa'Id threw them out in [1840]' (ibid.i.l\" Even that was not sufficient, and when a further drought struck in 1835, Dhii Husayn, under Muhsin 'Ali alShayif, began raiding the north-west, while their women and children moved westwards by themselves in great numbers (ibid. 60-2). The Tiharnah had meanwhile fallen to the Egyptians.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 215§REF§ 'At the centre, in San'a', the Imamate under al-Mansiir 'All b. alMahdi 'Abdullah lost not only its resources but its ~oral vigour: 'drunkenness was the prevailing vice among the higher orders, and ... the corpses of men, women and children lay about the streets, no one taking the trouble to bury them .. .' (Playfair 1859: 145)· Al-Mansiir squabbled with one of his relatives, who fled to Ta'izz and handed it over to the Egyptians. Al-Nasir 'Abdullah Ahsan was then raised to the Imamate by the soldiers in San'a', only to be assassinated at Wadi Dahr in 1840.19 Al-Hadi Muhammad took the throne and succeeded briefly in regaining Mocha and Ta'izz, but when the Egyptians withdrew-under indirect pressure from Britain (Baldry 1976: I6I)-the Tiharnah fell under the control of Sharif Husayn.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 215§REF§ 'The geographical pattern of power had now changed beyond recognition. Hashid (led in part by the qadis of Bayt Hanash), were in Raymah, as well as further north in the western mountains, Dhii Muhammad and Dhii Husayn were in the south, as well as in the Tihamah, and all were involved with Yam, whose homeland in Najran had usually been outside the field of Yemeni events but whose presence in Haraz and the Tiharnah was nothing new. The land of Hashid and Bakil, on the northern plateau, was itself a dead centre to the whirl of events involving tribesmen elsewhere. Sharif Husayn's movements in 1845 make the point: starting from the north-west, in the Tihamah, he moved to the south, around Ta'izz, then to Barat, in the extreme north-east (al-Hibshi 1980: 120-31). The Imamate, at San'a', retained a mere rump of territory.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 215p§REF§ 'There was -violence enough in the north itself, particularly in times of drought (see e.g. ibid. 306); but the tribal divisions, one should note, changed very little, and then rather in a longue duree than in the order of events recorded year by year. As we shall see in Chapter 9, the geographical detail even of sections within tribes changes hardly at all from al-Qasim's time (early seventeenth century) to our own, and where change occurs it does so by recognizable quanta. Inequality and movement alike are registered in other terms. The prominence of major shaykhs, for instance, whom the tribesmen followed much as they did Imams, derived from wealth in the west and in Lower Yemen, and this is also where the great non-quantum shifts in territorial control resulted from tribesmen fighting each other. Inequality, power, and geographical change all attach, not to tribal self-definition, but to the history of successive Imams, to the history of a tradition or of a dynasty; and the dynasty had, by this point, collapsed because it had lost control of non-tribal land.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 216§REF§ 'The Imams' attempts to regain the south met with little success. Ahmad Salih Thawabah of Dhu Muhammad, who had controlled a large ;wa~he of Lower Yemen, was defeated by al-Mutawakkil Muhammad and finally executed in 1848, to the delight of the Imam's supporters (Dresch 1987b). Within three years, however, his sons were formally granted land in much the same area (al-Hibshi 1980: 166). In the interim the Imam had been forced to send Dhii Muhammad horses as slaughter-beasts ('aqa'ir), which they took but did not have killed, and then pay them to fight again in the south (ibid. 146).20 Dhu Muhammad, Dhii Husayn, Arhab, Khawlan, and Hashid were also all fighting in the west, on the Imam's side, the Sharif's, or both; but the Ottoman Turks now seized the Tihamah. Hufash, near al-Mahwit, and al-Haymah were both contested, and several rival claimants to the Imamate appeared at once.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 216p§REF§ This enabled the eventual Ottoman re-conquest: 'In despair al-Mutawakkil asked the Turks to intervene in the highlands. They arrived at San'a' in 1849 with 1,200 foot and 500 horse, but a riot ensued and they withdrew after only three weeks (Zabarah 1929: ii, 346 ff.; al-Sayaghi 1978: 25-7). AlMutawakkil was killed by his rivals. One of the Ashraf of the northern Tihamah, supported by 'a large following from Hashid, was then bought off with a gift of 2,000 riyals, robes of honour, and a horse (al-Sayaghi 1978: 31). The combination of a Tihamah Sharif and Hashid at the gates of San'a' is symptomatic enough of the Imamate's weakness.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 217§REF§ 'From the summary histories one forms an impression of steadily increasing disorder through the next twenty years, until 'the people of San'a' and others' invited the Turks again to take the city 'after they had tired of the chaos which prevailed there, the dominion of men from the tribes, the cutting of the roads, and the lack of any ordered security' (al-jirafi 1951: 205-6). A more recently available, and more detailed, source gives a different impression (al-Hibshi 19 80: 29 6 ff.). But the Turks seem in any case to have had designs on the highlands: they had increased their forces on the coast 'until stores were coming ashore with San'a' printed on every load' (ibid. 315), and when they finally arrived, in 1872, they demanded the tax registers which would reveal to them the administration and resources of the whole country (al-Wasi'I 1928: IIO). They were to remain in highland Yemen until 19 18.' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 217§REF§ 'For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, then, Yemen had been plagued by disputes between rival Imams and by tribal disorder. The Imamate had taken the form of an elaborate dynastic state, yet failed to secure the means to support itself or to transmit authority without dispute. Al-Shamahi credits the Qasimi dawlah with surviving until the middle of the nineteenth century. In name it did. He rationalizes the great decline of its power by saying that al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad (d. 1686) was the last of the Qasimis to possess all the qualities needed of an Imam, and that the rulers after him were more like kings (al-Shamahi 1972: 144-6). Similarly, al-Wazir (1971: 50) attributes the collapse of the state to the appearance of 'evil Imams'. Authors writing nearer the time each choose some point at which the real decline starts, always simply by reference to the actions or fate of a particular Imam (e.g. al-Hibshi 1980: 193).' §REF§Dresch, Paul 1989. \"Tribes, Government and History in Yemen\", 217p§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 4, "military_level_to": 4, "polity": { "id": 541, "name": "YeQasmi", "start_year": 1637, "end_year": 1805, "long_name": "Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty", "new_name": "ye_qasimid_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The land now contained within the nation-state of Yemen, in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, has a long history of human occupation. §REF§ (Walters 2003, 2) Walters, Delores M. 2003. “Culture Summary: Yemenis.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ml01-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ml01-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6KEQJQHU\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6KEQJQHU</a>. §REF§ Here, however, we focus on its more recent history. The Ottoman Empire gained control of the region in the first half of the 16th century CE before being overthrown by the Qasimi dynasty. §REF§ (Dresch 1989, 198) Dresch, Paul. 1989. Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford: Clarendon. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD</a>. §REF§ The Qasimi dynasty ruled until the 19th century, when Yemen was divided up between the Ottomans in the north and the British in the south. §REF§ (Safa 2005, 119) Safa, Mohammad Samaun. 2005. “Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Income of Small-Scale Agroforestry Farms in Hill Country Areas in Yemen: A Comparison of OLS and WLS Determinants.” Small-Scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy, no. 4: 117-34. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UJZUBQH3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UJZUBQH3</a>. §REF§ North Yemen became independent in 1918, while South Yemen did not gain its independence until decades later in 1967. The two countries were united in 1990. §REF§ (Safa 2005, 119) Safa, Mohammad Samaun. 2005. “Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Income of Small-Scale Agroforestry Farms in Hill Country Areas in Yemen: A Comparison of OLS and WLS Determinants.” Small-Scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy, no. 4: 117-34. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UJZUBQH3\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UJZUBQH3</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>During the Qasimi period, Qasimid imams and their retainers and courtiers co-existed and occasionally competed with tribal shaykhs and their followers. §REF§ (Dresch 1989, 200) Dresch, Paul. 1989. Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford: Clarendon. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD</a>. §REF§ Tribal leaders retained significant power, although the imams still collected taxes. §REF§ (Dresch 1989, 206) Dresch, Paul. 1989. Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford: Clarendon. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD</a>. §REF§ Tribal authority remained important even under British and Ottoman rule. Some Yemeni leaders sided with the colonial powers, while others continued to resist. §REF§ (Dresch 1989, 216) Dresch, Paul. 1989. Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford: Clarendon. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD</a>. §REF§ Nor did the new government supplant autonomous tribal power after independence: the tribes were stronger than the new imamate, although they remained fragmented. §REF§ (Dresch 1989, 228) Dresch, Paul. 1989. Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford: Clarendon. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4W92UNAD</a>. §REF§ After 1962, when the imamate was overthrown, the new government created a more structured bureaucracy. §REF§ (Mundy 1995, 2) Mundy, Martha. 1995. Domestic Government: Kinship, Community and Polity in North Yemen. London: Tauris. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DD3SKZCS\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DD3SKZCS</a>. §REF§ <br>Secure population estimates for the Qasimi or colonial period in Yemen are lacking. In 1990, the population of Yemen was estimated at between 10 and 11 million. §REF§ (Walters 2003, 1) Walters, Delores M. 2003. “Culture Summary: Yemenis.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ml01-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ml01-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6KEQJQHU\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6KEQJQHU</a>. §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "MB: has a different capital.", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-04-15T14:37:25.651335Z", "home_nga": { "id": 12, "name": "Yemeni Coastal Plain", "subregion": "Arabia", "longitude": "43.315739000000", "latitude": "14.850891000000", "capital_city": "Sanaa", "nga_code": "YE", "fao_country": "Yemen", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 44, "name": "Arabia", "subregions_list": "Arabian Peninsula", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 16, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 129, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " levels. \"The Shiji text describes a great many offices that supported rulership as well as a military-administrative decimal system of positions based on the number of horse- men a leader was responsible to mobilize, e.g., 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000, although there is some debate over the specificity of these actual counts (Kradin 2001: 208).\" §REF§(Honeychurch 2015, 224)§REF§<br>\"All of the adult men were members of the military-hierarchical organization of the Xiongnu society.\" §REF§(Kradin 2011, 82)§REF§<br>\"The most highly titled relatives of the chanyu were ten superior commanders of ten thousand warriors which were comprised of four and six horns respectively20. The first four of them were called “wang” (king) by the Chinese chroniclers. Besides the chanyu’s relatives there were other noble families (clans): Huyan, Lan, Xubu, and Qiulin were among the highest Xiongnu aristocracy (Fan Ye 1965, ch. 91, 7b; Zhong- yang 1958, 680-681).The next level in the Xiongnu hierarchy was occupied by the tribal chiefs and elders. In the annals, they are mentioned, as a rule, as ‘subordinate kings’, ‘chief commandants’, ‘household administrators’, “juqu” officials21. Probably, a part of the ‘chiefs of a thousand’ were tribal chiefs. The ‘chiefs of a hundred’ and ‘chiefs of ten’ were, most likely, clan leaders of different ranks. The economic, judicial, cultic, fiscal, and military functions were considered to be responsibilities of chiefs and elders (Taskin 1973, 9-11).\" §REF§(Kradin 2011, 89)§REF§<br>1. Ruler 'chanyu'<br>2. 10 commanders of 10,000 people 'wang' - or kings3. tribal chiefs and elders - subordinate kings - commanding 1000 people4. Commander of 1005. Commander of 106. individual soldier", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 6, "military_level_to": 6, "polity": { "id": 272, "name": "MnXngnM", "start_year": -209, "end_year": -60, "long_name": "Xiongnu Imperial Confederation", "new_name": "mn_hunnu_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Orkhon Valley lies either side of the Orkhon River, in north-central Mongolia. Between about 200 BCE and 100 CE, it was under the control of the Xiongnu Imperial Confederation.<br>This polity comprised several nomadic peoples from the Mongolian Steppe. By the 4th century BCE, the Xiongnu began raiding northern China, §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 222) §REF§ where their mounted archery overwhelmed the heavily armed but relatively immobile Chinese infantry. §REF§ (Marsh 2012, 500-501) Kevin Marsh. Xiongnu. Xiaobing Li ed. 2012. China at War: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. §REF§ The nomads were held at bay by a combination of tribute in the form of metals, finished products, and agricultural products, and China's numerical superiority. §REF§ (Barfield 1993, 157) §REF§ §REF§ (Ying-Shih 1986) §REF§ §REF§ (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007, 133) §REF§ Several Chinese victories against the Xiongnu in the 1st century BCE and factional conflict within the confederacy led to the confederacy’s breakup, and a new group of semi-nomadic peoples from the Northeast, the Xianbei, took control of the region. §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 222) §REF§ <br>At their height, the Xiongnu ruled over an area that included all of Mongolia, extending to the Ordos region in the south, and the boreal forests of Siberia in the north, for a total of about 4,000,000 squared kilometres. §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 220-221) §REF§ <br>Precise estimates could not be found for the empire's population, but estimates suggest that nomads living to the north of China did not number more than 1,500,000, §REF§ (Kradin 2011, 77) §REF§ and the best studied (but not the largest) settlement, Ivolga, likely had a population of between 2,500 and 3,000. §REF§ (Kradin 2011, 85) §REF§ The empire was divided into three kingships: a central one, directly ruled by the paramount leader, and a \"left\" one and a \"right\" one, to the east and west, respectively, distributed among twenty-four regional leaders known as the \"ten thousand horsemen\". §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 220) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 24, "name": "Orkhon Valley", "subregion": "Mongolia", "longitude": "102.845486000000", "latitude": "47.200757000000", "capital_city": "Karakorum", "nga_code": "MN", "fao_country": "Mongolia", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 9, "name": "Mongolia", "subregions_list": "Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, the steppe part of Manchuria", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 127, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " levels.<br>Nomadic polities of the Steppe usually employed a decimal system. Can we infer the Xianbi at their most highly effective must have used this system too?<br>1. Ruler<br>2. Commander of 10,0003. Commander of 1,0004. Commander of 1005. Commander of 106. individual soldier<br>Bu (a sub-tribe of the Xianbi who had 5,000 people§REF§(Kradin 2011, 201)§REF§<br>\"The chiefs of bu, tribes or simple chiefdoms, fulfilled the following functions:<br>1. Military: organization of the battle-worthy portion of the population for raiding, and to repulse neighboring tribes' raids (see, for example: Taskin 1984: 76, 80, 325). It is not accidental that “boldest” occupied the first place among the important qualities ascribed to the most outstanding Xianbei chiefs, such as Tanshihuai or Kebineng (fl. early third century) (Taskin 1984: 75, 324, 330). One can remember that the rise of Tanshihuai began after he had dispersed the robbers attacking his nomadic camp.\" §REF§(Kradin 2014, 144-145)§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 5, "military_level_to": 6, "polity": { "id": 438, "name": "MnXianb", "start_year": 100, "end_year": 250, "long_name": "Xianbei Confederation", "new_name": "mn_xianbei", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Orkhon Valley lies either side of the Orkhon River, in north-central Mongolia. Between about 100 and 250 CE, it was under the control of the Xianbei, pastoralists who also relied on hunting and, to a lesser extent, the cultivation of wheat, barley, and millet. §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 223) §REF§ By 170 CE, the Xianbei empire extended 3,000 km along its east-west axis and 1,500 km along its north-south one, for a total of approximately 4,500,000 squared kilometers. §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 223) §REF§ The most powerful Xianbei ruler, Tanshihuai (r. 136-181), divided his multiethnic empire into three parts (middle, eastern, and western); the nomadic peoples that occupied each part were ruled by the elders of the largest sites, though all elders were in turn subordinate to Tanshihuai himself. §REF§ (Kradin 2011, 200-201) §REF§ Not many population estimates could be found in the literature, though Kradin provides an estimate of about 500,000 people, based on the fact that, under Tanshihuai's rule, the Xianbei army included 100,000 horsemen: Kradin argues that a total population of 500,000 is possible because all adult men were likely potential warriors, and they likely made up one-fifth of the population. §REF§ (Kradin 2011, 201) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 24, "name": "Orkhon Valley", "subregion": "Mongolia", "longitude": "102.845486000000", "latitude": "47.200757000000", "capital_city": "Karakorum", "nga_code": "MN", "fao_country": "Mongolia", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 9, "name": "Mongolia", "subregions_list": "Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, the steppe part of Manchuria", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 329, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "1) officers eg Kinda-Acio, 2) soldiers. The Wukari Federation’s power was ritual/religious rather than militaristic: “Kwararafa under the Jukun ceased to be a warrior state; extant accounts portray the new state as a pacifist and religious one, made up of a collection of unwarlike people solely and strictly devoted to the maintenance of their innumerable religious cults and the veneration of their sacred kings, a people whose prestige and continuing legitimacy depended on their successful performance of their main ritual function, which was to guarantee good harvest and good health for the people.” §REF§Shillington, K., ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of African History (1st Ed., Vol. 1–3). Fitzroy Dearborn: 248. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/AWA9ZT5B/collection§REF§ “The next in the hierarchy was the kinda-Acio who was in charge of the administration of the palace and cared for the welfare of Aku’s premises. It was noted that this official was in the close counsels of the king, attended the royal rite each day, took a prominent share in judicial work, in keeping the walls of city and the fencing of the royal enclosure in repair, and could also be put in charge of military operation.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 126. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Military_level", "military_level_from": 2, "military_level_to": 2, "polity": { "id": 673, "name": "ni_wukari_fed", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1899, "long_name": "Wukari Federation", "new_name": "ni_wukari_fed", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 321, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "1) Chiefs/governors; 2) Soldiers. There is no clear description of the formation or size of the army in Whydah in the literature consulted, though clearly they had a military presence. “The governors exercised an independent local judicial authority in minor cases, acted as spokesmen before the king on behalf of those under their government, and transmitted their tribute to him. They also raised contingents of soldiers for the national army, and commanded them in battle.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “Whydah was probably already in rebellion against Allada by the mid- seventeenth century, when a contemporary source reports that the coastal village of \"Foulaen\" (as noted earlier, probably Glehue, the port of Whydah), although subject to the king of Allada, defied his authority, and even sent brigands by night to raid the coastal villages of his kingdom.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 213. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Military_level", "military_level_from": 2, "military_level_to": 2, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727, "long_name": "Whydah", "new_name": "ni_whydah_k", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 238, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "1. King<br>2. Dukes and Princes3. Generals for each of the Six Armies and Eight Yin Armies: Under the Western Zhou (about 1027-770 BC), the feudal lords each had armies of one to three jun, while the kings had at least 14, the Six Armies and the Eight Yin Armies. The strength of a jun is not certain, but a later commentator put it at 12,500 men.\"§REF§(Bennett 1998, 171) Bennett, Matthew. 1998. The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare. Taylor & Francis.§REF§4. level for c1000 men? <i>inferred level</i>: Western Zhou had a military aristocracy and a ritual code of honour (like chivalry).§REF§(Roberts 2003, 16)§REF§5. level for c100 men? <i>inferred level</i>: Lesser military officer called shi (captain).§REF§(Shaughnessy 1999, 326) Shaughnessy \"Western Zhou History\" in Loewe, Michael. Shaughnessy, Edward L. 2009. The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press.§REF§6. level for c10 men? <i>inferred level</i>7. Individual soldier", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 5, "military_level_to": 7, "polity": { "id": 244, "name": "CnWZhou", "start_year": -1122, "end_year": -771, "long_name": "Western Zhou", "new_name": "cn_western_zhou_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Western Zhou Dynasty was the first Chinese state to claim the Mandate of Heaven, the divinely bestowed right to rule. Zhou was a tributary state to Shang until the Zhou king Zhou Wu Wang defeated the last king of Shang in the 1046 BCE Battle of Muye. §REF§ (San 2014, 30) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ Zhou power was consolidated after the Duke of Zhou's defeat of the Rebellion of the Three Guards, led by Shang loyalists and separatist eastern nobles. §REF§ (San 2014, 31) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ In defeating the rebellion, the Zhou state was able to add a large area of land in eastern China to its territory. §REF§ (San 2014, 30) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ <br>The Western Zhou established their capital at Haojing, and the Duke of Zhou later established Chengzhou as a second capital. §REF§ (Theobald 2000) Theobald, Ulrich. 2000. “Zhou History.” <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/zhou.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/zhou.html</a> Accessed May 31, 2017. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V8ABGJAF\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V8ABGJAF</a>. §REF§ In 957 BCE, the Zhou controlled territory covering an estimated 850,000 square kilometres based in the central plains of China.<br>The period was peaceful for the first 75 years of Zhou rule. §REF§ (Shaughnessy 1999, 310-11) Shaughnessy, Edward L. 1999. “Western Zhou History.” In <i>The Cambridge History of Ancient China</i> edited by Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy. Cambridge: CUP. 292-351. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945</a>. §REF§ However, the decentralization of Zhou power into fiefdoms encouraged turmoil between states, popular unrest, and vassal rebellions. §REF§ (Shaughnessy 1999, 310-11) Shaughnessy, Edward L. 1999. “Western Zhou History.” In <i>The Cambridge History of Ancient China</i> edited by Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy. Cambridge: CUP. 292-351. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945</a>. §REF§ The Marquess of Shen sacked Haojing and killed the 12th Zhou king over a succession dispute in 771 BCE. §REF§ (San 2014, 34) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ The crown prince subsequently moved the capital to Luoyang and founded the Eastern Zhou dynasty.<br>The Western Zhou are noted for their introduction of the Mandate of Heaven, their kinship-based feudal system and their use of lineage law. §REF§ (Zhao 2015, 79) Zhao, Dingxin. 2015. <i>The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History.</i> Oxford: OUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5</a>. §REF§ The state's kinship-based feudal system encouraged the spread of Zhou writing, culture and identity. §REF§ (Zhao 2015, 80) Zhao, Dingxin. 2015. <i>The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History.</i> Oxford: OUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5</a>. §REF§ Some scholars have seen Zhou lineage law, with its emphasis on 'lineage rituals, familial ethics, and beneficent rule', as an intellectual precursor of Confucianism. §REF§ (Zhao 2015, 80) Zhao, Dingxin. 2015. <i>The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History.</i> Oxford: OUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5</a>. §REF§ The hierarchies, division of labour and meritocratic practices that emerged under the Western Zhou also helped lay the foundations for the introduction of bureaucracy. §REF§ (Zhao 2015, 80) Zhao, Dingxin. 2015. <i>The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History.</i> Oxford: OUP. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z4ASKKD5</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Western Zhou state was a proto-feudal monarchy in which feudal lords were supported by an extended family network. §REF§ (San 2014, 29) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ The first king of Zhou introduced the <i>fengjian</i> system, which made military leaders and members of the royal family into regional lords ruling over parcels of land. §REF§ (Roberts 1999, 9-12) Roberts. John A.G. 1999. <i>A Concise History of China.</i> Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945</a>. §REF§ These fiefdoms were then divided into smaller units and distributed to members of the local rulers' families. §REF§ (San 2014, 29) San, Tan Koon. 2014. <i>Dynastic China: An Elementary History.</i> Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ <br>Individual fiefdoms had their own taxes, legal systems, and currencies but paid dues to the king and provided soldiers in times of need. §REF§ (Roberts 1999, 9-12) Roberts. John A.G. 1999. <i>A Concise History of China.</i> Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945</a>. §REF§ This system eventually led to decentralization and the weakening of Zhou rule. §REF§ (Roberts 1999, 9-12) Roberts. John A.G. 1999. <i>A Concise History of China.</i> Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GEZH7945</a>. §REF§ <br>It is difficult to obtain population figures for the Western Zhou period. C. K. Maisels has given an estimate of 13.5 million people in 800 BCE. §REF§ (Maisels 2001, 260) Maisels, C. K. 2001. <i>Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, India, and China</i>. Routledge: London. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P9IXAB56\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P9IXAB56</a>. §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:30:09.450839Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 239, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " levels.<br>Decimal system - as with nomads generally?<br>1. Ruler<br>2. 10,0003. 1,0004. 1005. 106. Individual soldier<br>", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "military_level", "military_level_from": 4, "military_level_to": 6, "polity": { "id": 282, "name": "KgWTurk", "start_year": 582, "end_year": 630, "long_name": "Western Turk Khaganate", "new_name": "kg_western_turk_khaganate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T16:41:21.062942Z", "home_nga": { "id": 23, "name": "Sogdiana", "subregion": "Turkestan", "longitude": "66.938170000000", "latitude": "39.631284000000", "capital_city": "Samarkand", "nga_code": "UZ", "fao_country": "Uzbekistan", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 13, "name": "Turkestan", "subregions_list": "Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }