The Kingdom of Pergael is currently ruled by an aristocracy headed by King Faelon II, father of Prince Faelon III. Pergael is a soveriegn state within the confederation called the Empire of Grodnus.

The majority of the subjects of King Faelon are of Gaelic descent, but the ruling elite in Pergael are primarily Persian. In Gneelund there are a few who still dispute the "kingdom" of Pergael.

The Pergaeli national color is green: the color of the shamrock and the color of Islam. The national symbol generally shows a Claddagh ring surrounding the Persian lion. This represents the Gaelic people surrounding the Persian leadership of Pergael.

History

At the time of the Androclysm, the area which would become Pergael was settled by people of
mostly Irish, Welsh, and Scottish descent. However, there was a small minority of Persians, Moors, Muslim-spaniards, Arabs, Kurds, Muslim-indians and afghans that settled as well (along with spanish/sephardic jews). The religious minorities clung to their religion as a cultural identifier in the largely Christian human populace. Though the actual Persians were a minority within the Muslim minority, the Persians were the most dominant cultural force. (The House of 'El-Masri' have an Arab name but think of themselves "Persian". )

Pergael was for many years ruled by the McDonegal clan, a corrupt xenophobic group that used religion, race and clan affiliation as an excuse to eliminate enemies and satisfy blood feuds. Eventually, the last of the McDonegal's (Duke Geoffrey the Cruel) was deposed in a bloody coup by Anwar Sayed El Masri, who replaced the all-Scottish court of the McDonegals with a court more reflective of some of the others in the region. His court included Irish, Welsh, a few Scots and a good many of the muslims from mixed backgrounds described above.

After the coup's success, Anwar was crowned by Archwarden Kelly Mulligan. After the coronation, Anwar renamed the Duchy of Gaellund and retitled himself. The Kingdom of Pergael and the line of El-Masri was born.

Of course at this time, Pergael declared independence from Gneelund. King Anwar declared independence because he felt some in Gneelund had not only tolerated but encouraged the vicious racial/religous policies of the McDonegals. Several wars were later fought to maintain independence from Gneelund.

Culture

Over time, this small minority of Muslims intermixed with the dominant Gaelic genepool and culture. At present, there is very little that is identifiably Persian except for the religion of Islam and some minor cultural trappings. Most Pergaelis are "Muslim Europeans" that look a bit like black/Munster Irishman. Generally, many of the nations richest, most educated citizens have Muslim, Persian, and Afghan family names. Still there are a large number of commoners whose names are more reflective of the British Isles. There are no McDonegals in Pergael, but there is a clan exiled to Gneelund which claims the throne of "Gaelund."

An interstellar time traveller might be struck by the similarities in Pergaeli culture to the cultures found in Muslim Spain or Sicily. In all three examples, all three monotheistic religions intermingled, intermarried, and got along. In Pergael, as in Spain and Sicily before, though the rulers are Muslim, some of the most powerful advisors and nobles are christian and jewish. (Palermo Sicily was once known as "the city of 1000 mosques' and the first University in Europe was in Muslim Spain. Later, in Spain, the Inquisition was mostly focused on Muslim Spaniards and to a lesser degree on Sephardic Jews.)

Religious Demographics

As in the rest of the Empire, Christianity is the majority religion in Pergael. However, the minority religions are much larger in Pergael than in other Provinces of the Empire.Jews make-up as much as 7% to 10% of the population in Pergael, but they are over-represented in the vocations of academia, science and even the Church. Islam is the religion of the ruling family and perhaps 10% to 30% of the populace. The remainder of the populace is Christian, though a good many of these "Christians" aren't particularly fervent or ardent believers.

Islam in Pergael

The Islam practiced in Pergael is related to the beliefs and practices of Islam practices in Europe during the Middle Ages. As in the Middle East and elsewhere during the medieval period, in Pergael tolerance and cooperation with Jews and Christians is the norm and scientific and cultural achievements are in many ways superior to the achievements of peer cultures. (For example, regular bathing and the use of eating utensils are still fairly rare practices in Gneelund.)

Islamic extremism and modern philosophies such as Wahabi and Deobandi are generally not present in Lharna most especially Pergael. This is most probably because the Androclysm plucked its human inhabitants from Earth before these philosophies fully developed in mankind. The strain of life on Lharna has focused Islam (and all Lharnese religions) a bit differently than on Earth.