(NUMBER). A word about the marriage customs of the ruling families (and some history).
Originally, the Old World titles of nisa ['king'] and the other noble titles passed only to a first-born son. If the first-born happened to be a daughter, she would be passed over in favor of a later-born son. If no sons at all were forthcomng, it was a problem—usually solved by recruiting a husband from the ranks of other noble families' second (or later) sons, who had no claims on their family's holdings. Very rarely, a wealthy commoner's son would be chosen. The recruited man had to take the family name of his wife, thus continuing that name and lineage. But the wife held power and ruled the estate or realm, often with the assistance of relatives or other advisors. It occasionally happened that, for political reasons, two andisa ['crown prince(ss)'] or two mesa ['first-born' of lesser nobility] would marry. Since both were of equal birth, it could theoretically lead to the union of the two polical entities (a quite rare occurrence, in fact); in most cases, however, one of the partners was obliged, after much negotiation, to renounce any claim to his/her family's title/lands, usually depending on the relative size, wealth or power of one or the other entity*.
*Such a marriage brought about the union of the dukedoms Holunda Velu and Kanak on Yanatros in the 5th century p.v. Both karuns were elderly; Holunda had only a daughter, Kanak only a son. But Kanak had been misruled and was financially strapped at the time, while Holunda was the more powerful and wealthy, and much larger. And so mesa kanak married the mesa holunda woman and took the Naraman name, and Kanak became a province of Holunda. Part of the marriage contract, however, allowed for a collateral branch of Kanak's ducal family to remain as governor. But about a century later a new karukolunda conspired to oust the Karak-family governor, and appointed a favorite nephew of his own.
This was always the case when the two were of unequal birth, especially if the lesser person came from a distant country. Its ruler would certainly be reluctant to see one of his dependents' lands pass into the control of another ruler. But if, say, a female andisa married the male mesa of some local noble (thus a dependent of the andisa's father), he had to renounce his mesa-status and take the family name of the andisa. In very rare cases, he might be allowed to retain claim to his father's lands/title-- perhaps if he had no siblings who would otherwise move up in rank-- and he could assume his father's lands/title upon that man's death; and thus over time, his estate might well come to be part of the crown's property and inheritance. But all this had to be negotiated--later-born siblings, or their guardians, and uncles and cousins, would have a say in that process.
This was less of a problem in the Old World, were noble families were long-established and there were plenty of candidates for marriage. On Yanatros, however, few of the original settlers were of noble birth; and there was even some prejudice against the few second/third sons, and they often failed to prosper because they were unable to contest the land claims of more aggressive or better-connected commoners. Also, of course, most of the new "noble" families were self-appointed. Thus there was not a ready supply of truly "noble" children to marry a karun's first-born, and the result was that commoners had to be brought into the family lineage. In this way, the Naraman family of Holunda Velu has been "diluted" so that its connection with the Old World family if tenuous at best.*
Over the centuries, as new "noble" families have become established on Yanatros, it is no longer a problem, and the marriage of a first-born with a commoner, while not forbidden, is rather rare (it helps if the commoner happens to come from a wealthy family…)
Besides Holunda and Kavatu, the only other nation on Yanatros that is ruled by a karun is called çombala kakarunale 'royal lands', which was in fact founded as a colony of a group of Old World countries, with an imported nobility. Quite often in its history, its karuns, oddly, have produced only daughters, who have traditionally sought husbands from the Old World. The ruling family (and the capital city) there bears the name paniyanu. And though çombala is now officially independent, it is still closely tied to the Old World, which has some input with respect to its policies—and because its karun is viewed as primus inter pares by the other karuns of Yanatros, their policies can also be influenced.
The nation Andoli (which means simply 'port of call' in standard Kash) was originally a subsidiary of Kavatu, ruled rather capriciously by a cadet branch of that family, even though most of its population came from a completely different area of the Old World and spoke a different (Kash) language.This always rankled the people, and during the time of Gwr domination over much of Yanatros (roughly three centuries, ending some 100 years before The Destruction) and with Gwr encouragement, the ruling family was ousted in a revolution, and an independent republic of sorts was established. About 30 years before The Destruction, radical elements gained power and began to nationalize private lands and the few industries, which actually proved to be of benefit after The Destruction, when massive new agricultural efforts had to take place in all Kash lands, to produce food to feed the surviving Gwr population.
The nation Oroson*
was also settled from a different (Kash) linguistic area of the Old World, and came to have a karun and its own nobility, some of it imported but mostly self-styled. During the Gwr period, as in Andoli, a revolution was fomented and the Gwr military, in conjuction with the local military, took over. After the Gwr withdrew, the local military remained in power; there were attempts to invade the abutting plains of Holunda, which were repelled, and a successful land-grab of some mountainous terrain in the north, in the center of Yanatros (inhabited by Lañ-Lañ people), which Kavatu and Holunda ultimately decided was not worth fighting over. When the World Government was established, and national armies required to disband, the Oroson authorities complied in theory, but in practice simply renamed most of their Army "e:the national police", whose harsh rule persists to this day. Emigration is practically forbidden, and even movements within the country are tightly controlled; dissent is not tolerated. Political and commercial relations with the other states of Yanatros are minimal. Garrisons of the International Defense Force now keep watch over much of its borders with Holunda and Andoli. Its form of government is considered a disgrace by the entire Kash world, and even by many Gwr nations.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
((THIS GOES ELSEWHERE)) (NUMBER). Honorary titled persons (akoros, kandenar). In the old days, the title akoros 'baronet' had been changed from eldest to younger sons of an akro 'baron', and kandenar 'warrior, knight' were military men—often younger sons of nobility, or commoners—who had distinguished themselves in battle.
An akoros rarely had an estate of his own (his father's estate and akro title passed to the first-born, now called mesa); sometimes an akro would give, during his life or in his will, a small portion of his lands to a younger son, but usually they had to go into business, government, or the military where, if they prospered, they might be able to acquire land on their own. Also, a nisa or karun might award an estate to an akoros who had served him, or the nation, well. But the title had little prestige; they were outranked in precedence by all but the youngest children of superior nobles. They were not entitled to use the numerics mesa, rona, sila etc.in the names of their children; nor could the akoros title be passed on by inheritance; their estate--if they had one--could, however. An akoros was typically named [given][family name] akoros [estate name], and his children were [given][family] anakoros [estate]. When the akoros died, the entire estate passed to the eldest child (this is no longer permitted, see further below), and that child (but not his/her heirs) was entitled to continue to style him/herself [names] anakoros [estate], but other children had to revert to simple [given][family], becoming, for legal purposes, commoners.
Kandenar was always an honorary title, and those who received it were usually commoners or younger sons of the nobility. A military promotion usually went along with the award, and perhaps a place in the government, a lifetime stipend, or a small estate—a rural town, for example, where they could enjoy a share of its produce and/or taxes. But kandenar was the lowest rank in the old aristocracy; the title could not be passed on, and the stipend or any granted estate ended with the death of the title-holder. Privately acquired lands, however, could be passed on to heirs. During his lifetime, a kandenar was titled kandenar [given] [family], and could be referred to either by title+given or, familiarly, by prefixing par-/pra- (the honorific prefix) to his given name. Children of a kandenar might be styled [given][family] angandenar, and after their father's death, they could continue to use that title—though this came to be viewed as pretentious. Their children could not use that title. Angandenar or some form thereof, however, does survive as a surname.
(NUMBER). The foregoing describes the customs prior to The Destruction. Shortly after that event, a number of changes were made to the system of nobility. As part of the negotiations at the international conference in 2704 p.v., Kash nations were called upon to increase agricultural production in the emergency, thus many uncultivated lands*
controlled by nobles were taken over by the govenments (bonds were usually offered in payment), competent farmers were enlisted, and production was increased dramatically to provide food for the Gwr lands (espcially Bau Da), since the last-ditch nuclear exchange between Bau Da and Li Puet Shaq produced a sort of "nuclear winter" in Bau Da, and much of its productive land was polluted by radioactive fallout, and later harvests in unaffected areas were often ruined by the ensuing unpredictable weather.
These changes most directly affected the Kash nations of Hanjomim continent, who were southern neighbors to Bau Da. On Nocaniki continent, only Li Puet Shaq on the east coast had been bombed (and essentially destroyed), but Gwr states in the northern part of that continent were soon affected by the fallout and weird weather due to prevailing winds. Kash states in southern Nocaniki thus did their part, too. Yanatros, isolated in the southern ocean, suffered no damage at all, but did have a great deal of unused land, so it too had to undergo changes. A side benefit was that shipping companies--a prominent part of the business community in most of Yanatros' nations--prospered as never before. The food emergency lasted almost 20 years, and established new trading practices between Gwr and Kash lands that in many cases still prevail.
These changes to land use and ownership produced a certain amount of turmoil and concern amongst the landowning nobility, but other changes were in the offing. Perpetual estate-trusts were ultimately disallowed (those already in existence were allowed to continue, but taxed rather heavily at each generational change). Property and income taxes in general went up, enabling Kash nations to invest in and build new industries, where previously they had relied on imports from the Gwr. Since Kash were now the majority population of the planet, they were able to replace Gwr influence in many areas of life.
Since akoros had always been the lowest rank in the nobility, and always subject to loss of status after the death of the title-holder, it was eliminated from the hereditary ranks. Because they were now legally commoners, inheritance law no longer allowed lands (if any) to pass automatically to the first-born, and they had to be divided up amongst the heirs. It became a strictly honorary title--valid only for the honoree's lifetime--awarded by nisa/karun to whomever he pleased for services to the state. A lifetime estate might or might not also be granted.
Similarly, as the necessity for national armies decreased (indeed, they were abolished by the World Government in the 6th Century p.v.) kandenar became, for all intents, a non-military honor that came to be awarded (often with a stipend, but no estate) to many men and women who excelled in their fields—artists, entertainers, architects, inventors, scholars, etc.; a feminine form of the title was created, kandendre. The title could still be awarded to the occasional Kash officer (usually upon retirement) in the newly formed International Defense Force, though hardly ever based on military prowess, since the IDF has rarely been involved in anything more serious than a border dispute.
* It has also happened, on more than one occasion, that a karun died without issue, in which case the local Council of Nobles had to choose a new karun, usually some relative from the karun's family, but sometimes even a member of a different family, who might or might not be willing to assume the old karun's family name. There were also a few coups d'état in which a ruling noble was killed or exiled, the winner took over and established a new family dynasty.
* Perhaps by an akoros, whence its name. This man later promoted himself to karun.
* And there were many such lands. Most nobles' estates produced only enough to feed the local population and perhaps neighboring towns, with a little extra to cover taxes; the rest of their land was fallow or forested. Not all noble lands were directly nationalized; those of karuns and nisas were exempted, although they and some other nobles took the lead by voluntarily offering portions of their extensive holdings. Generally speaking, before The Destruction, estates and private farms produced just enough food for everyone in a given nation; there was hardly any export trade in agricultural products.