It had been almost sixty years since the last Abhorian soldier had left Viharanpuram. Yet the darkness had not yet lifted from all of Ruvania. Indeed, Abhoria itself no longer existed as military power of consequence, but the savage of occupation and a systematic destruction of Ruvania's institutions had left the old republic severely wounded. From a confederacy of eight Janapadas and thrity one tribes, Ruvania had become a vast canvas over which anyone with any armed band could put it mark. The Ur still met in Viharapuram, and each federating unit still sent its representative. But neither the existence of a national President nor the efforts of the elders within the Ur could alter the fact the the land had splintered.
Janapadas which could, and most did, keep revenues for themselves and ran their own parallel administration. Often the the same bureaucrat would don the mantle of both national and republican administrator. More importantly, a national army existed on on paper. Eighty years earlier all the tribes and Janapadas with close to 200 million people couldn't field an army large or effective enough to deal with Abhoria.
The Abhorian invasion had come in the east and Viharapuram was in its path. The only permanent Ruvanian force was the 12,000 men that guarded the capital and the two passes across the Meru range leading to it. Hopelessly streched, the main army was easily overwhelmed. Subsequent tribal reinforcements sent piecemeal were easily dealt with by the the fierce and professional Abhorians.
With the eastern Janpadas and costal areas subdued, the Abhorians sought only to secure tribute from the rest. The tribes, always parochial, withdrew from further confrontation. While the eastern Janapadas of Kanush, Atri, Mitra and Viharapuram were ravaged, the western Janapadas remained at least physically untouched .
For twenty years Ruvania paid for the upkeep of 200,000 occupying troops. Then just as suddenly as they had come, the Abhorians disappeared. King Arjunvarma had fallen off a terrace has he reached to feed his pet kite on a bright summer morning. His death would set off a fight of succession which would suck in all troops deployed abroad.
Arjunvarma detested the confederacy and its republican politics. While the republics outlived him, he had fundamentally altered Ruvania in ways that he could not have forseen.
With the departure of the Abhorians, agriculture enjoyed a revival in the western Janapadas - Kausav, Kashyap, Lohit and Agtsya. Their rulers had also taken to heart the impact of organized armed power. In the old republic these Janapadas contributed least to any standing army, yet within ten years of the Abhorian each would field an army to rival the Abhorians.
