Role of the Imperial Monarch

The Empire is an absolute monarchy. It is ruled by an Imperial Monarch from the Khan dynasty. Officially this title is a lifelong commitment, but starting from Rajiv Khan, most of the Imperial Monarchs choose to step away from the throne and transfer power to their Prime Heir or Heiress as soon as the latter is deemed ready to rule. This successor must be one of the Monarchs biological children, and if no direct appointment has taken place, the title is automatically awarded to the oldest son or daughter of the Imperial Monarch.

The Cult of Personality

The Imperial Monarch is seen as an infallible, incorruptible being, and their Imperial Will is deemed to be above any law. Historically, the strength of personal cult have varied depending on the Monarch’s personality and demands of the time. Early rulers like Rajiv and Priya Khan were positioning themselves as honored disciples of Unmesh Khan. By their efforts, the figure of their forefather has gained a near-religious status in the Limmean culture.

This tradition was challenged by Anant Khan. He deemed himself as the originator of the “true” Khan dynasty, “free from corruption and weakness”, and focused on blaming his predecessors for all problems that challenged Limmean society. The godlike image that Anant was building around himself, got shattered by the civil war that culminated his tyrannic rule.

In order to maintain legitimacy and power over the planet, Anant’s son, Karim and his later successor, Priscilla have developed a distinctly modest ruling style. They denounced Anant’s legacy, and called back to the old tradition of worshiping the teachings of the First Monarch Unmesh Khan. This strategy worked and together with rapid liberalization has convinced rebels to cease the uprising.

After the success of Priscilla Khan, the humble rule from the shadow of the First Monarch has become a non-negotiable tradition in the royal dynasty. Partially of fear that if anyone of upcoming Monarchs reminds Limmeans of Anant the Terrible, a new civil war may erupt and the Khan family will lose the throne for good.

Everything changed once again when Surendra Khan II and the rest of royal family were killed by an adversarial orbital strike and Igor Khan rose to rule from their ashes. For most Limmeans he has become a face of hope and a long awaited reset from the old traditions. Igor has capitalized on this public love, and instead of worshiping his forefather Unmesh Khan, he focused on promoting the love towards his wife Sophia and son, Alec as sources of his wisdom.

After Sophia and Alec have perished during a terrorist attack on Zirkon, the Prime Heiress Khadijah Khan became the sole focus of her father’s praise. She has embraced the status of Empire’s New Hope and put plenty of effort into solidifying this image. There is even a branch of Oceanism that worships Khadijah as a prophetic deity. It must be a pure coincidence that any mentions of Anant Khan were outlawed as she continued to rise as a divine near-religious figure in the public consciousness.

Succession

Unrelated to their sexuality, each Monarch is obliged to commit to a sacred union with a suitor of the opposite sex in order to create multiple possible successors. Aside from that, the Imperial monarch is allowed to have multiple concubines of any gender to satisfy their true needs. Historically, multiple Emperors and Empresses of the Khan dynasty have spent their lives in deep relationships with their concubines while seeing their formal partner only during official ceremonies and celebrations. This practice is kept secret from the general public, but is completely accepted by the court.

Each Imperial Monarch is obliged to have multiple biological children. More than three is a rule and no adoptions are allowed. The reason for this is to preserve the genetic line of the Khan dynasty. There is an existing practice though that the identity of Monarchs children is kept in complete secrecy until one of them is being chosen for the throne. Rumors suggest that until that moment, Princes and Princesses are given away at a young age to the trusted families or institutions to be raised as common citizens on Capitol. The Imperial Monarch is observing their lives carefully and choosing the Consort based on their manifested ability and life merit.

List of the Imperial Monarchs

Before the Unification Wars, each nation on Limmea had their own calendar that was reflecting their distinct traditions. When Unmesh Khan united the whole planet under his singular rule, the New Limmean Calendar was established. It begins with the day when The First Monarch have ended the Unification Wars, crushed the White Uprising, and was recognized as the undisputed planetary ruler.

Events that take place Before the Unification are marked BLU and are accounted in negative numbers. Events that follow the Limmean Unification are designated as ALU. The time is represented in Limmean Years or Imperial Standard Cycles (ISC).

1. Unmesh Khan – The First Monarch

– Born: 44 BLU

– Crowned: 0 LU (715AE)

– Died: 14 ALU

The Conqueror of Limmea. Bane of the Oligarchs. Lover of the Ocean. Unmesh Khan became the first planetary ruler solely by his wit, merit, and willpower. The price for it was the life of his friend and lover, Alexander Denj. Unmesh Khan died only 14 ISC after his coronation. Allegedly The First Monarch was poisoned by his power-hungry wife, Anissa, who later became the Queen Regent of Limmea.

2. Surendra Khan I – The Eternal Son

– Born: 1 ALU

– Crowned: 14 ALU

– Died: 19 ALU

Surendra the First was the oldest son of Unmesh Khan and Anissa. By the early age of thirteen, he became the planetary ruler after his father’s unfortunate demise. During five years of his rule, Surendra was merely a puppet of his mother Anissa who assumed role of the Honored Queen Regent of Limmea. Allegedly Surendra Khan died of suicide caused by the inherent stress of his position.

3. Rajiv Khan I – The Warrior

– Born: 5 ALU

– Crowned: 19 ALU

– Abdicated: 65 ALU

– Died: 78 ALU

Rajiv was the youngest son of Unmesh Khan and Anissa. Disowned by his mother and raised by a Hand of a Monarch named Alec, since the youngest age Rajiv was trained in the military arts. By the age of fourteen, he led a military coup after the suicide of his ruling brother Surendra I. Rajiv’s loyalist troops have killed both his older sisters and apprehended the Honored Queen-Regent Anissa to be trialed for a treason.

Allegedly, Rajiv executed Anissa by his own hand to avenge the death of his father, Unmesh Khan. Rajiv the Warrior was first monarch to abdicate early in order to pave the way for his daughter, Priya Khan.

4. Priya Khan – The Beloved Mother

– Born: 30 ALU

– Crowned: 65 ALU

– Abdicated: 86 ALU

– Died: 121 ALU

Priya succeeded her father’s tradition of ruling with justice, and continued using radical reforms as means for prosperity. Her focus on welfare and social development in areas of Limmea that were still struggling to recover from the Unification Wars, gave Priya a title as the “Beloved Mother” of all Limmean people.

During her twenty years of rule, Priya has challenged Araszin tradition of slavery and regained the trust of Darfolk by relocating generational slaves back to their ancestral homes. Following her father’s principles, Priya retired early to transfer the throne to her only son, Farukh.

5. Farukh Khan – The Untamed

– Born: 50 ALU

– Crowned: 86 ALU

– Died: 126 ALU

Farukh was the sole son of Priya Khan. Raised under the constant supervision of an army of tutors and bodyguards, Farukh grew up as a passive hedonist and was completely unwilling to rule. When his mother abdicated, he became infamous for throwing a wild private party after the official coronation and crowning a random homeless person to become a “ruler for one night”.

Farukh’s wild lifestyle full of polyamorous adventures have threatened stability of the Kingdom and prompted his mother Priya to become a shadow ruler of Limmea in her son’s absence. As an enjoyer of parties and strong men, Farukh refused to marry, and produce a heir only when he was in his forties. Allegedly, Farukh The Untamed died of a heart attack in his bed with a young Araszin soldier.

6. Rajiv Khan II – The Lost One

– Born: 94 ALU

– Crowned: 126 ALU

– Died: 127 ALU

Rajiv II was the late son of Farukh Khan and the sole heir to the Limmean throne. By the age of three, Rajiv Khan II was taken from the Royal Palace and raised in seclusion by his grandmother, Priya. Historians speculate that she undertook this endeavor out of guilt for failing to raise her own son, Farukh, to become an appropriate bearer of her legacy.

By the age of fifteen, Rajiv II was seduced by a royal concubine and gifted with a son, Anant. He desired to marry her, but was denied by his grandmother Priya – she saw it as a reputational risk. Priya’s plan was to turn Rajiv into an early replacement to his negligent father. There are some documented rumors that multiple assassination attempts against Rajiv II were orchestrated by his jealous father because they stopped as soon as Priya Khan passed away, and Rajiv had to publicly pledge allegiance to Farukh Khan before returning to the Royal Palace.

Rajiv Khan II was crowned a day after his paranoid father’s death, but he did not rule for long. Allegedly he died of suicide after a year on the throne.

7. Anant Khan – The Terrible

– Born: 110 ALU

– Crowned: 127 ALU

– Died: 187 ALU

Anant was a son of a concubine and Rajiv Khan II. While his young father spent all his time on being tutored by his grandmother Priya, Anant was raised by his mother and few selected Hands of the Monarch. Since his young age Anant Khan was induced with paranoia by his anxious and power hungry mother. She herself was living in fear to be thrown out the Royal Palace after multiple conflicts with his great grandmother, Priya Khan.

On the day of his coronation, Anant Khan have survived an assassination attempt that took life of his mother. As retaliation to hidden conspirators, Anant have invoked a perpetual martial law over the Capitol and commanded his troops to invade Araszi and Dar. Despite already being loyal subjects of the Kingdom, both regions have answered to the unprovoked aggression with armed insurgency. A slowly glowing civil war have erupted over the whole planet. Peace on Limmea was established only by the efforts of Anant’s granddaughter Priscilla, years after his death.

After sixty years of his bloody rule, Anant The Terrible was, allegedly, assassinated by one of his personal bodyguards.

8. Karim Khan – The Rising Sun

– Born: 131 ALU

– Crowned: 187 ALU

– Abdicated: 192 ALU

– Died: 220 ALU

Son of a tyrant, raised in a monastery on Dar. Karim became a driver of the largest reforms that brought Limmea back to stability after his father’s rule. Continued the tradition of his Great-Great-Grandmother Priya and left the throne to his daughter immediately after dismantling the oppressive system built by his father, Anant the Terrible.

9. Priscilla Khan – The Wise

– Born: 162 ALU

– Crowned: 192 ALU

– Abdicated: 230 ALU

– Died: 234 ALU

Stabilized the planet after her father’s liberal reforms. All of her children were assassinated by rogue operatives from the secret service. Consequently, she had to conceive a new heir rather late in her life, with one of her Hands as a father.

Priscilla Khan transferred the throne to her son when she deemed that he was ready to rule over Limmea. Four years later she peacefully died in her sleep.

10. Alexander Khan – The First Emperor

– Born: 207 ALU

– Crowned: 230 ALU

– Abdicated: 278 ALU

– Died: 290 ALU

The first Monarch to face Kingdom’s interstellar expansion in 245 ALU. While continuing his mother’s liberal policies on Limmea, he has successfully applied some of his great-grandfather’s praxis to keep the newly conquered worlds subservient to the Empire. Based on his mother’s experiences, he created a tradition of secret adoptions. He also has downsized and re-organized Hands of the Monarch into the Imperial Hand. Alexander Khan was not eager to select an heir out of his children, but was forced to leave the throne to his oldest son Rahul while dying of cancer.

11. Rahul Khan – The Calm

– Born: 235 ALU

– Crowned: 278 ALU

– Died: 308 ALU

The most calm and unremarkable of all Monarchs from the Khan dynasty. Allegedly died of a stroke, in his sleep.

12. Surendra Khan II – The Wild Pride

– Born: 267 ALU

– Crowned: 308 ALU

– Died: 324 ALU

Self-proclaimed Master of the Known Universe. A man of immense ego larger than the interstellar Empire of Limmea itself. Proud warmonger with no idea about military strategy. He began the Great War in 288 ALU while bearing the title of the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Nearly three decades after that reckless venture, Surendra Khan II was killed together with his family during a retaliatory attack on Limmea by the Adversarial forces.

13. Igor Khan – The Last Hope

– Born: 295 ALU

– Crowned: 324 ALU

Originally, Igor Singh, a fearless lieutenant of the Imperial Colonial Navy. Secret heir to the throne. He led the suicide mission to capture the Overlord-class dreadnought, the Avenging Might. During the coup that followed the demise of the Royal Family, Igor Khan hunted down and killed usurpers that tried to take over the throne. Loved by the Imperial people during the wartime, Igor is a brilliant strategist and a loving father to his people.

14. Alec Khan – The Martyr

– Born: 325 ALU

– Died: 336 ALU

Since the day of his birth, Alec Khan was regarded as the Prime Heir to the Imperial throne. Unfortunately, his days were cut short as he perished together with his mother Sofia Khan during the Shipbuilder Uprising on Zirkon. May the bright memory of Alec Khan unite the Empire through the turmoil of war and internal struggle.

15. Khadijah Khan – The Future

– Born: 327 ALU

As the only daughter of Igor Khan, Khadijah is considered the sole Prime Heiress of the Empire.

Sources:

Classified Accounts of the Khan Dynasty, Imperial Informatorium