Magal

The Magal (probably from Daunic -kel, 'to bend, curl', or proto-Wiyang gálaŋ 'respect') was a confederation in northern Ausarea during the Reign of Lamps.

Magal was centred on kingdoms established by Dauns from Nesada in the course of their maritime expansion from the 18th century BCE, and was formally founded in 1355 BCE by a treaty of 9 states. Practically all Daun states of note had gathered under its banner by the 12th century BCE. The Magal's expansion was concomitant with the development of a political system based on access to sacred prostitutes known as pangagoms, which was used to co-opt affiliates from much of northern Ausarea, Daun and non-Daun, into its kasikan ritual systems and a common elite circle. The Hangan peoples of the Kataran were incorporated this way, and the inland plainsmen's economy proved a formidable augment to the Magal's strength though cultural exchange beyond the elite level remained limited. Nevertheless, rivalries and conflicts still took place between members, and several Daun states took the role of hegemon over the course of the Magal's existence. Against these upheavals, the Magal's ideals were successfully established as a distinct concern members were involved with and committed to alongside the pursuit of their own interests. Over time the pangagoms and their consorts assumed a greater administrative role, and kasikan was leveraged to build colony-cities in the interior known as karamasans, to reorganize the economy and culture of the Hangans to the benefit of the coast. As a maritime power, the Magal also competed with Pemantian Isnaria in the Togrian Wars.

Following the 9th-century BCE crisis the Magal seemed poised to assume the role of dominant power of the Confluent Seas. However, rising sea levels forced the Dauns to impose themselves on erstwhile clients and demand more in exactions from the Kataran, not to mention inflicting catastrophes on Nesada and other coastal possessions. Increased reliance on Hangan military and agricultural resources temporarily secured Daunic superiority, but among the Dauns themselves the upheaval caused kasikan to enter a crisis, with pangagoms being threatened by movements agitating for egalitarian participation in the system. The Daunic states holding the Magal together were driven to adopt localist outlooks such that the confederation broke down, while conflicts on the Kataran saw the rise of new dominant peoples among the Hangans who tore down the karamasan-led order and looked towards the weakened coast as prey for tributary raids. By 622 BCE, a major civil war had ended with the Magal's collapse into competing alliances. Over the course of the rest of the 1st millennium BCE invasions by Hangans, now without either a system of ritual relations or reliable economic ties to keep them in check, would put an end to Daun civilization altogether.