Khutu-Taizian wars

The Khutu-Taizian wars, also known as the Emperors' Wars, were a pair of conflicts, the first from 351-354 IE and the second from 414-415 IE, between the newly independent states (former Omban provinces) of Khutu and Taizi. The central fact underlying the wars were tensions between, on the one hand, Emperor Eluli Ula in Khutu, and on the other hand, the Taizian Ebesnata lineage, who had adopted Kirtesh, a putative son of Ulirega Tirumfegla, and proclaimed him the first emperor of the Ebesnata Dynasty.

The first war began in 351 and was explicitly over the issue of dynastic succession. The Ebesnatas derided the Khutuans as being governed by priests and the dead and described Eluli Ula as 'Necrarch'. For their part, the Khutuans were quick to assert that Kirtesh was a pretender, a label that has stuck throughout many of the successor states. Most of the fighting took place in the north, along and across the Ujon River, which then (as now) was the border between the two states, with only minor exceptions.

The second war, decades later from 414-415, was much briefer but much bloodier than the first. It was initiated specifically by Eluli Ula over his perception that the Taizians were too tolerant of the Hulti and over access to maritime trade routes. Although the other successor states stayed neutral in it, Khutu was at least tacitly supported by its western neighbour, Omba. However, the Taizian military won several key battles in the south, forcing Eluli to seek peace by the summer of 415.