The end of the Malasami dynasty was a tumultuous event lasting from 420-425 which ended monarchy in the city of Umam and ushered in the Republican Era.
Umam had supposedly been ruled by the Malasami dynasty since its foundation, but their ruling style, suited for the palace economies of the past, constrained the free artisans who comprised the majority of the male Umamite population. By the fifth century the palace economy had evolved into a semi-command economy which was controlled by an elite with only a weak grasp of how the sectors they controlled actually operated. A formal complaint from 411 still survives: "You [the informal group of priests and nobles who directed the economy] demand twoscore bronze vessels from my shop, but the tin I hunger for is unavailable." There is no indication that this complaint, or any other, was acted upon; despite their increasing wealth and numbers, free artisans were bound to obey every dictate just as they had done since the foundation of the city.
Religion played a factor in many elite decisions. The Temple, which claimed a monopoly on grain, refused to distribute food on [Fifth day of the week] and forbade the harvesting of the rich clay from the bank near the Queen's Mausoleum and various coastal shrines. Banning certain art, animal products, and even barter (rather than coin-based transactions) within sight of the physical temples antagonized the people further, and in 420 the artisans' riots began breaking out.
Over a dozen in five years drove many nobles to countryside plantations, but the Temple administration and king Dornte stayed put. This decision proved to be disastrous when a mob primarily composed of potters stormed Dornte's palace in 425 and threw him from its highest roof. The exact circumstances of the final riot are vague, but in A Time of Heroes, the poet Asurmanil says that "the greatest makers," presumably wealthier artisans, paid Dornte's personla guard to desert him, suggesting that the riot was more of a planned rebellion than spontaneous uprising.
When news of Dornte's death reached the Temple, the majority of the priestly caste, knowing that there were few other options, endorsed the event, but this did little to protect them during subsequent power struggles. Nobles located outside of the city were shocked and an army was gathered by Hader, a cousin of Dornte, to retake the city, but he was forced to give up after being repelled at Whitetower in 426 and then hit hard by influenza. Hader's descendant, Hasane Sardamin, would not retake the city for another four centuries, in which time Umam would develop the first republican government.
Umam had supposedly been ruled by the Malasami dynasty since its foundation, but their ruling style, suited for the palace economies of the past, constrained the free artisans who comprised the majority of the male Umamite population. By the fifth century the palace economy had evolved into a semi-command economy which was controlled by an elite with only a weak grasp of how the sectors they controlled actually operated. A formal complaint from 411 still survives: "You [the informal group of priests and nobles who directed the economy] demand twoscore bronze vessels from my shop, but the tin I hunger for is unavailable." There is no indication that this complaint, or any other, was acted upon; despite their increasing wealth and numbers, free artisans were bound to obey every dictate just as they had done since the foundation of the city.
Religion played a factor in many elite decisions. The Temple, which claimed a monopoly on grain, refused to distribute food on [Fifth day of the week] and forbade the harvesting of the rich clay from the bank near the Queen's Mausoleum and various coastal shrines. Banning certain art, animal products, and even barter (rather than coin-based transactions) within sight of the physical temples antagonized the people further, and in 420 the artisans' riots began breaking out.
Over a dozen in five years drove many nobles to countryside plantations, but the Temple administration and king Dornte stayed put. This decision proved to be disastrous when a mob primarily composed of potters stormed Dornte's palace in 425 and threw him from its highest roof. The exact circumstances of the final riot are vague, but in A Time of Heroes, the poet Asurmanil says that "the greatest makers," presumably wealthier artisans, paid Dornte's personla guard to desert him, suggesting that the riot was more of a planned rebellion than spontaneous uprising.
When news of Dornte's death reached the Temple, the majority of the priestly caste, knowing that there were few other options, endorsed the event, but this did little to protect them during subsequent power struggles. Nobles located outside of the city were shocked and an army was gathered by Hader, a cousin of Dornte, to retake the city, but he was forced to give up after being repelled at Whitetower in 426 and then hit hard by influenza. Hader's descendant, Hasane Sardamin, would not retake the city for another four centuries, in which time Umam would develop the first republican government.