University of Kenamara, year 20XX
Ifon waited for his students to file into the lecture hall and turn in their essays before starting on his lecture.
Today we shall move away from western Empreca and look east toward the Bambari River. As many of you know and have written about in previous essays the nations of the Bambari River were perfect examples of the river valley civilizations. Situated in an area with some of the most fertile soil in the continent the new nations along the river were generally defined by their stable governments and trade. Amu Daria in particular was famous for opening the nations to the other great empires of the time after the voyages of Kalu.
After the temporary alliance between the Imimbi and Amu Darians against the Emorna relations were solidified between the downstream nations of the Bambari River. The Mbaragam who had close relations with the Imimbi gained by association close relations with the Amu Darians. When the three kingdoms opened their borders to each other it rushed through an unprecedented amount of trade along the river, however, the benefits of the trade were not equally spread out. The Amu Darians held complete control of the mouth of the river and thus gained a monopoly on foreign goods. The Mbaragam controlled the junction in the river that connected the Imimbi to the Amu Darians, and due to controlling the cross roads nearly all trade passed through them increasing their wealth. The Imimbi merchants, however, usually spent time competing with the Mbaragam traders.
Now can someone tell me some of the important effects of the trade?
Numerous hand were raised It encouraged the diffusion of ideas. It helped bring the different cultures together. It provided enough wealth to the upper classes to allow them to become patrons of the arts.
Ifon nodded All good answers and all correct. But there was also one other effect of the increased trade, the spread of religion along the Bambari River. The merchants from Amu Daria not only brought foreign goods up the river but also their religion. Unlike the holy wars of Khay Lat the religious conversions came peacefully, sometimes through merchants settling down in other nations and taking wives who they passed their religion onto. But more often it was due to other merchants from Mbaragam and Imimbi converting to Kodinani, they did this because Kodinani seemed very attractive to them. Unlike their religions which honored the warriors above all and often put the merchants lower than the farmers due to the fact that they only sold what other people made, Kodinani had no emphasis on the idealization of warriors due to their cynical view of how quickly any thoughts of bravery evaporated in the face of an elephant charge. Kodinani also gained many folowers due to how open it was to other believers, the merchants could still worshiped their old gods only now they saw them as manifestations of Ani-Chukwu. And finally the conversion to Kodinani made dealing with Amu Darian merchants much easier for the other nations who relied on them for pottery and as a buyer for their fruits and fish.
The conversion of the merchants was not an instant event but rather a slower process that was never noticed by the other nations until the followers of Kodinani were too numerous to simply persecute. And from the merchant class the religion spread further due to native preachers who would try to convert their countrymen and the marriages between merchants and other classes.