Omrazir: History
Although neither so ancient as Fazhali or Qaysum, nor so celebrated as the caliphal capital Sirdab, Omrazir nevertheless has a long and colorful history and occupies a special place within the community of the Azadi faithful.
Origins
Omrazir began as Elam Rassi, meaning "the city of the Rassi" in the ancient tongue of these native people of Raziya. This name was only much later corrupted in Sirdabi to al-Umrazi, undergoing further metamorphosis over the years to become Omrazir. Both the city and province are named for the Rassi or Razi people, who were once a powerful and well-connected trading empire based in this area. The Razmani are the modern-day descendants of the Rassi, and still make their home here in significant numbers.
The City of the Rassi
Flourishing in the period between 1150 and 850 BD, the Rassi were the closest thing to a great civilization to inhabit what would become the province of Raziya, though like most of the other occupants of the area -- few as they were -- their origins were nomadic. Even in their early days they were heavily involved in trade through the area, which passed from both the Adelantean and modern-day Zalawi coasts to supply the population of the interior. In the days when the Marzum Despotate stringently controlled ship traffic through the Gulf of Adwa (then known as the Gulf of Marzum), attacking some vessels while exacting exorbitant passage fees from others, the Rassi trade route took on greater importance. More traffic began to bypass the now-perilous Gulf in favour of a land route through Rassi country.
To facilitate this traffic, and also to cow their age-old rivals who inhabited the ancient town of al-Sakhna, the Rassi established on the northern coast of Raziya the village that would swiftly grow large enough to be called Elam Rassi. Great hydrologic works tamed the River Tamrasset, diverting its sporadic and often violent flow into assigned channels and creating extensive cisterns to supply the new city's water. Gardens, orchards, and fountains sprang up in the middle of the barren desert, and the once tiny Sidi Mircasset Oasis bloomed into new life with the carefully controlled divergence of the river's water. The Rassi carved an intricate warren of tunnels deep within the eastern massif of the city, some of them containing homes and shops, others dedicated to the mystery of the goddess Nirzali.
Thus in a few short decades Elam Rassi became one of the wonders of the desert, a destination in its own right as well as a bustling entrepot of trade. Their neighbours in al-Sakhna, less wealthy and powerful than they, could only look on in simmering anger and envy as their rivals upstaged them in all things. It seemed that the glory of Elam Rassi was boundless, and its great destiny secure for all time.
The Ruveran Hegemony
When the Marzum Despotate finally fell, however, hollowed out by internal wars as well as pressure from the Irzali Empire, the fortunes of Elam Rassi entered into a slow reversal. With trade starting once again to flow freely through the Gulf, the profitability of the overland route quickly declined, and the beautiful garden city of the Rassi along with it. In the face of a losing battle for legitimate trade, the Rassi turned increasingly to smuggling and piracy instead, and soon became legendary -- infamous, in fact -- for their enterprising and rapacious corsairs. Often operating in partnership with Yehani pirates of the central Adelantean Sea, the Rassi made themselves into a significant headache for the Ruveran Empire, a rising power in the continent that would come to bear their name.
As the Rassi continued to expand their illicit operations, and the Ruverans still more inexorably expanded their territory, piracy eventually became a problem that the young empire could not ignore. When traffic between the Ruveran heartland and their lucrative new conquests in the Cadenza region became hopelessly disrupted by Rassi piracy, the empire resolved that the renegade city of Omrazir -- an enticing prize in its own right -- would be their next great conquest.
This endeavour was destined to be a difficult one, chiefly because of Rassi naval dominance inthe southeastern Adelantean and the discreet aid of those still more skilled seafarers, the Yehani. But eventually a Ruveran army was brought to the northern shore of Raziya, where their natural base of operations became al-Sakhna, conveniently located within striking distance of Omrazir, and still more conveniently willing to aid the Empire against the al-Sakhnans' age-old enemies. Soon Omrizar found itself beseiged by the well-trained Ruveran forces, supported, provisioned, and informed by the rival village. And yet still the Omrazi might have held out long enough for reinforcement to come from Alharat across the desert to the south. But this was not to be, for before any such aid could arrive, a traitor within the city opened up a gate for the invaders, and early on the morning of the last day of Nimrus, 741 BD, Omrazir fell neatly into the hands of the Ruverans.
However simple the finale of the conquest had turned out to be, the assimilation of the Empire's newest city would prove more challenging. The people of Omrazir, already inclined by nature to be intransigent and pugnacious, were little enough pleased to be under the rule of outsiders. Still less were they inclined towards the Ruverans' own particular sense of law and order. Besides this, the local elites of the city continued to wield an outsize influence retain hold of a power that had little to do with force of arms. Joined wholehearted by the ordinary populace, they proceeded to do everything they could to make life difficult for the conquerors.
Eventually relations between conqueror and conquered became so abysmal that the third Ruveran governer, Tarkas, moved the entire Ruveran base of operations to the other, western side of the River Tamrasset. Here he built a fortified enclave, high atop the western massif, from which he could govern with an iron hand. Gradually, then, a community of Ruverans and local people willing to join their fortunes to the Empire grew up around the fortified seat of government, forming a new city in its own right.
Eventually, over the course of many years, the Omrazi did in fact come to view themselves as members of the Ruveran Empire, especially as hostility on the part of the governing Ruverans eased as they themselves became more assimilated into the local culture, and the Rassi were even granted some of the privileges of citizenship. But rivalry between the new western city, the heart of Ruveran governance, and the original city remained strong though becoming significantly less hostile. The two cities entered into a long game of one-upsmanship that would carry on down through the ages, long past the fall of the Ruveran Empire, through the ascendance of the Kalentoi Empire that rose from its ashes, and into the present age under the rule of the Sirdabi Caliphate.