Tagazhi Tenesa ya Masabea

Tagazhi Tenesa ya Masabea was a historical leader of Poroma, accredited with the establishment of the modern republic and the unification of Poroman lands stretching as far north as ~20° south. Born in the modern capital city of Masabea, she began as a teacher in her local community at a young age. She was a major proponent of education, especially the importance of reading and writing. Her campaigns for unification began after her selection by the previous Tagazhi of Masabea as a new Tagazhi candidate in 1387, when she was roughly 30 years old. Her journey to Magananyatia and subsequent meeting with the other Tagazhicha taught her of the lack of education and poor standard of life present in much of the Sawuchan lands. It is thought that this first journey was the beginning of her unification campaign, in which a system of governance was proposed to the other Tagazhicha whereby all of the Sawuchans could elect officials to represent them at conventions, where the needs and excesses of each community could be discussed. This initially appealed to the people of Anukari, as they were close neighbors of Masabea and knew of its wealth. By 1398, the entire island of Anukari had been unified under the Republic of Poroma. The true unification of these peoples was of the upmost importance to Tagazhi Tenesa ya Masabea. The standardization of Tsafea, the language of Poroma, was a major goal of the campaign. The republic emphasized the funding of schools and use of a standard currency. Under the republic, resource sharing allowed Anukari to grow in wealth substantially relative to other Sawucha dominated regions. While some mainland regions joined in subsequent years alongside the islands of Kavalu and regions of other islands, a notable hold out was the island of Ganatu. This island had historically been another center of power in the region. It was only through the use of small skirmishes and trade conflicts that Ganatu was pressured into joining the republic as four separate municipalities. The borders of the Republic of Poroma, following this campaign, were at the greatest historical extent recorded, only to be reduced to their current size following Agar colonialism in the region. Tagazhi Tenesa ya Masabea, at the age of 58, retired and appointed the new Tagazhi of Masabea, though she retained the title. It was also at this time that she retired from politics. Reforms in the following years would establish more rules surrounding political office in Poroma, one of them being that current Tagazhicha were not permitted to hold office. This practice persists today, and was done to ensure that neither job was being neglected. While she had retired from politics, she did continue to teach and organize community events into her old age. She passed away in her home town of Masabea in 1431 at the age of 73.