Tahoua (Turning Tides)

Tahoua

Province of Brazil Flag Coat of Arms
Capital	Cararaca
Largest City	Macanaú
Other Cities	São Carolina, Tiro, Pirameira, Terepina
Language   Official	Portuguese
Others	Italian, Spanish, German, Arabic, Japanese
Religion   Main	Catholic
Others	Protestantism, Islam, Shintoism, Judaism
Ethnic Groups   Main	Mixed race of Portuguese decent
Others	Italian, Native, Spanish, German, Arab, Japanese, Indian
Area	561,012 km²
Population	20,000,000

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Tahoua is an island in the Atlantic and a province within the Empire of Brazil. It is the 4th largest province of Brazil by area and 3rd largest by population. It's capital is Cararaca. It's fertile land, mineral wealth and large population all mean that it's contribution to the national economy is immense.

History

Tahouan tribe, C. 1900

The natives of Tahoua had a stratified culture based around chiefs. They made pottery and built mounds while also having large-scale agricultural practice. They would have an artificial pond with a long path going from it in each cardinal direction, the surrounding land is then divided into 4 sections and each one grew a different crop. They rotated seasonally to replenish the soil. These large circular farms allowed the culture to support a population of 100,000. Their ancestors migrated from the South American mainland and they themselves came from the Andes. Their religion consisted of ancestor worship, celestial prophecies and a Mother Goddess, nonetheless the culture was generally patriarchal. Women performed the roles of religious leaders, one shaman per tribe, while the Chief was a man. They buried their dead and had a large warrior caste in each tribe.

Several nations, Portugal, Genoa and Aragon all started to explore this region of the Atlantic around the same time, with all three forming colonies in Tahoua.

Reconstruction of Portuguese Caravel

The Spanish charted the coast of Tahoua when sailing up the Amazon from Peru. Exploration by German/Czech missionaries established missions for the Moravian Church, the establishment of missions led to the creation of the "Praying Indian" caste.

Portuguese gave coastal cities to the English, French and Dutch. In these ports the vast majority of people were enslaved Africans. Sugar plantations were established in some places but they were not as common as on the Brazilian mainland. The interior was mostly unexplored and the coast only had scattered towns, most of the island was mostly lawless, bandeirante settlements, pirate ports and Gold Rush Camps became common sights in Tahoua. When the Dutch invaded Brazil they tried to eliminate all of these but failed due to the guerilla war. Some slaves escaped and became Maroons, some adopted the cannibalism of their native neighbours.

Tahoua sided with Pedro I during the Brazilian war of independence. After separatist armies were defeated the throne went to Pedro II. The economy began to modernise but Tahoua remained a backwater of the Brazilian Empire. There was intense fighting in the region during the Anglo-Brazilian war and the Brazilian Civil war. Pedro also created the Commision of the education of Tahoua (Comissão da educação de Tahoua).

Around this same time the rubber boom led to mass immigration to Tahoua, mostly from Brazil but also Iberia, the Caribbean, Poland, the Levant, Bohemia, Morocco, Italy, Ukraine, Balkans, Germany and Japan. Tahouan trade and manufacturing also started to boom both during and after the construction of the Panama canal by Isabel I of Brazil. During the reign of Isabel, Brazil and the United States vied with each other to be the dominant power in the Americas, resulting in what has been called "The American Gambit"

Isabel led the country to war against the central powers in 1915. The guerilla war in German Kamerun became unpopular. Tahoua is the closest region of Brazil to Kamerun so some areas were depopulated by conscription.

A strong military presence remains on the island due to it's proximity to Flashpoints of the Cold war in Africa such as Angola, Congo and Libya.

Demographics

Portuguese and Brazilian people have lived on the island since the 1600's. Major increases in this population include the 1740's and 1880's. White people of Portuguese decent mostly came before mass migration from the Brazilian mainland, there was also migration from Portugal after independence, most of these immigrants married eachother and their descendants remain mostly White. after that it was mostly mixed-race (Pardo) people born in an independent Brazil. Majority are Malato (mixed European-African), but smaller numbers are Cafuzo (mixed African-Native) and Mestiço (mixed Native-European).

Afro-Tahouans are descendants of slaves that were brought to Tahoua itself, not Brazil, to work as agricultural labour.

Italian students at school

Market in the Hispanic majority town of Medellin

Italians actually predate any meaningful Portuguese settlement on the island. Large-scale Italian immigration only started after the abolition of slavery when the need for immigrant labour increased dramatically. The desire to "whitify" the country also emerged as eugenics became fairly popular. In 1900, an Anti-Immigrant riot targeting Italians erupted in Macanaú.

Most indigenous Tahouans are descendants of Ancient Amazonians. Their closest ethnic relatives were likely the now-extinct Marajo culture. Genetic testing shows distant relation to Tupi-Guarani and Arawak peoples. The Aroã and Palikúr people of Tahoua are both fully Arawakan, with many other groups on the islands having at least some trace of Arawakan ancestry.

The overwhelming majority of Hispanic Tahouans are Peruvian in origin. The dialect of Spanish spoken in the rural Amazon, Amazonic Spanish, is the most common version of the language in Tahoua. Spanish Tahouans are quite mixed, there are White, Black, Native, Mulatto, Mestizo and Zambo Hispanics. When locals moved to Tahoua recent immigrants to that country often went as well, Italian, German, Croatian, Arab and Polish immigrants either joined their own community in Tahoua or stayed with the Spanish population. The city of Tiro was founded by Peruvian immigrants.

Germans were just immigrants who came during the rubber boom. Germans mostly created self-segregated colonies in the savannah and rainforest.

Arabs have lived on Tahoua as long as the Forvordes, but in much smaller numbers. More recent Lebanese and Syrian immigrants form the bulk of Arabs on the island.

In Japan the population was increasing and feudalism had ended so people could move more freely. Japanese emigration to the US ended when the Americans put racist immigration laws in place. Brazil was really the only option. Immigrant workers were still treated as slaves by their bosses, they worked in poor conditions under the threat of violence, and often with little (or no) pay. Japanese Tahouans today are known for their unique recreations of traditional Japanese cuisine using the flora and fauna of the Tahouan rainforest.

Central and Eastern Europeans, such as Croats, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Russians and Poles settled in Tahoua, especially in the savanna where agriculture was easier.

Many Afro-Caribbean workers arrived in Tahoua and northern Brazil during the rubber boom. They are referred to as "Barbadiano" (Barbadian) even though most came from other islands. Most Barbadianos today only speak Portuguese.

Forvordes are occasionally called "Black Indians of Tahoua", but they are not native to the island and are still part of the larger Fulani language family which is from the mainland of Africa.

Greek migration to Tahoua occurred at the same time as migration to the island from other European countries.

Moroccan Jews started immigrating to Tahoua in the 1810, first as merchants, and later as rubber-barons and explorers.

Indians came from Portuguese colonies in India as Lascars, wives, servants and slaves to European intercolonial migrants. Today they still speak Portuguese, Hindi, Gujarati, Konkani and Marathi.

Cities

1. Macanaú
2. Cararaca
3. São Carolina
4. Tiro
5. Pirameira
6. Terepina