Abadani

A notable collectivist, secularist ideology, important within the Sashar-Pamushgar Cluster during the 10th Imperial Century. The primary focus is on the Common Purse, the Slaughter of the Elites, Redistribution, and obedience to the Fathers of Prosperity. Membership is restricted to humans, largely to Solomani East Indians. Numbers are currently in a sharp decline, which is showing signs of leveling off.

Within the Quarter, the strongest manifestation of secular politics as religion was with the Abadani party (Hindi: ‘Prosperity’.) Arising first on Indara (Empty Quarter 0837) in the mid- 890s, this utopian ideology focused on the concept of the Common Purse, the extermination of the wealthy Elites and corrupt Nobility, and the redistribution of their wealth under the wise guidance of the Fathers of Prosperity. Despite vigorous suppression by local nobles at the turn of the century onwards, the Abadani increased their support in both the general population and intellectuals.

Imperial propaganda to the contrary, they were never affiliated with the Solomani Party – the Abadani saw them as mere fronts for senior Solomani nobility and corporate interests, and intrinsically incapable of creating Prosperity For All. However, the Abadani were unofficially humanist, and pure- and near-pure-blooded East Indian Solomani dominated the better positions within the various Abadani organizations. Following the intellectual trends of the time, they were also anticlerical, and contemptuous of supernatural religions.

Naturalistic and materialistic religions were tolerated, if they didn’t challenge Prosperity and Party Unity.

Between the 920s and 950s, various Abadani and Abadani-influenced parties rose to power within the Sashar-Pamushgar Cluster, with a commensurate rise in law levels, decline in population, and stagnation in technology. Several attempts to create an Abadani interstellar shadow government failed, due to resistance from non-Abadani systems as well as aggressive action by the Nobility, the Diplomatic Corps, and – when push came to shove – the Imperial Marines.

From the 950’s to the 990’s, the attractiveness of Abadanism has fallen significantly. The ideology was not rejected due to trivialities such as bloodshed, oppression, or corruption: the problem was that, long term, Abadani consistently failed to deliver the goods. The reaction against Abadanism has powered:

• a strong rise in the prestige of local Nobility a general loathing of populism and democracy (outside of the Sashar-Pamushgar Cluster, the heartland of Abadani ideology)
• a sharp decrease in planetary law levels across The Empty Quarter (compared to most of Chartered Space)
• and a widespread if shallow recovery in the prestige of Islamic imans, Hindu priests, and the occasional Native American shaman within the Imperial Empty Quarter.

By the early 980s, the most dreaded arm of Abadani power, the covert PANs (Political Action Networks), had morphed into criminal organizations that use the ideology as cover more than anything else. The HRF (Hebrin Revolutionary Front), can be seen as an example of this. Other aftereffects include an increase in the number of democracies and crypto-democracies, and the widespread use of the Smiling Man – the old Abadani symbol – across the Empty Quarter.

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