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Do you two have to do everything together?
―Berdine, to Richard and Kahlan[src]

The D’Haran Empire consisted of D’Hara and all the lands of the Midlands that willingly joined with D’Hara, whose armies defend the New World against the Imperial Order. It was founded under Richard Rahl and first coined by Kahlan Amnell.

History[]

The D’Haran Empire consisted of the whole of D’Hara, ruled by Lord Richard Rahl, who upon discovering the invasion of the Imperial Order, took Aydindril, rallied the Midlands, created the D’Haran Empire, and brought all the military under one command: D’Haran Empire Army.

Though Richard Rahl was the Master of the D'Haran Empire, and was Supreme Commander of all the military, his wife, Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell, was his equal in every way.

Government[]

Leaders

Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell and Lord Richard Rahl

You two look like you should rule the world.
―Jennsen, to Richard and Kahlan[src]

The D’Haran Empire is essentially ruled by Richard Rahl, Master of D’Hara, and Kahlan Amnell, Mother Confessor. Although Richard was officially the dictator of the empire, as well as its head of state and government, his legislative and executive power was matched by Kahlan’s, and perhaps overridden by hers in military and judiciary due to her experience. In any case, Richard and Kahlan were basically two sides of the same coin, and therefore considered their titles and powers fluid.

Ideology[]

The D’Haran Empire fought for the freedom of all people, whether they possessed magic or not. It was believed by the D’Haran Empire that all people had a right to live in freedom, so long as they did not infringe upon the rights of others.

No land that surrendered to the D’Haran Empire would have their culture disrupted in anyway, so long as it did not breach the common law that applied to all members of the D’Haran Empire equally, regardless of wealth, status or population.

It was decreed by both the Lord Rahl and Mother Confessor that the D'Haran Empire would offer no mercy in their struggle against the Imperial Order, or indeed those who aided them. Neutrality was not recognized by either the D’Haran Empire or the Imperial Order.

Military[]

The Army of the D’Haran Empire consisted of the army of D'Hara and all the armies of the nations of the Midlands that were part of the Empire. Upon surrendering to D'Hara, these lands of the Midlands were required to give all relative information about their armies to the office of the Lord Rahl, so that their armies could be coordinated under the D'Haran central command. But in PHANTOM Richard Rahl changes the Army of the D'Haran Empire to the Phantom D'Haran legions, based on the idea that Shota, the witch woman, gave him.

Richard Rahl and his wife, Kahlan Amnell were the supreme commanders of the D’Haran military, though in their absence, it was Benjamin Meiffert, who commanded most of the Empire’s forces.

The army has the most experienced Officers as mentioned by all the generals that Richard encountered, each stating that the General in question was seasoned and highly experienced. This is seen by General Rebeisch who comments that the General who took his 50,000 soldiers to the side of the Imperial Order should not have been easily defeated by a force of 5,000 raw underage recruits. We also see that the D’Harans take pride in Kahlan‘s military prowess as she is recognized the type of ‘iron leadership’ they were used too.

The military appears to be divided into two types, heavy cavalry and infantry. The heavy javelins used by the cavalry indicates a middle eastern or Tartar appearance. The infantry wearing hardened leather is hard to decipher where exactly Terry Goodkind drew its origins. It’s possible the army is like the Norse men, but the Norse men favored chain mail and scraps they looted. Their discipline and light armor may suggest they are more like the roman legions.

Magical Warfare[]

Most of the gifted that fought for the cause of the D'Haran Empire were Sisters of the Light, lead by their Prelate; Verna Sauventreen. The Sisters worked hard to counter enemy magic, as well as create new and more deadly ways to thin the enemies‘ ranks.

Before Emperor Jagang split the army of the Imperial Order, Verna oversaw her Sisters‘ work to maintain the powerful shields, webs and dangerous magic that laced the mountain passes into D'Hara. Even Jagang's use of the Sisters of the Dark with their Subtractive Magic, proved unable to breach Verna‘s Sisters magic.

After Jagang split his army, many Sisters stayed behind to continue to defend the passes into D'Hara, however, Verna and a larger number of her Sisters made their way to the People‘s Palace, with the D’Haran army, where the larger contingent of Jagang‘s forces eventually arrived to engage in the final battle between the D’Haran Empire and the Imperial Order.

However the Order was defeated not by strength of force, but through Richard Rahl‘s use of uncanny magic, which banished them to a parallel world free of that which they so despised; magic.

Member lands[]

Lands of the Midlands that willingly surrendered to the D'Haran Empire include:

Galea was surrendered to the D’Haran Empire by Queen Kahlan Amnell, but upon Queen Cyrilla Amnell‘s reinstation as Queen of Galea, she withdrew from the D’Haran Empire and Galea was subsequently invaded by the Imperial Order.

Appearances[]

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