History of Zilatra

The history of Zilatra spans over several centuries during which the region saw the emergence and fracture of ancient kingdoms, tribal conflicts and revolutionary movements, ultimately resulting in the establishment of the Xeroist Republic of Zilatra after the traveler's from Rathnir and Eldham arrived to Abexilas.
== Tribes of Dafa ==
The earliest known political entity in the region that makes up modern Zilatra was the Tribes of Dafa, also called A-Dafani qe Yabku. These rivaling tribes often went to war with one another and were led by petty kings, which in the local tongue were called the Sagun. Ultimately, one Sagun named Abusya si Tuqeli would overthrow the other Tribes of Dafa. 
After a devastating famine which drastically depleted the native population of the region, Sagun Abusya claimed to be the mortal incarnation of the sun; and that disrespect to his tribe would result in him unleashing further famine and destruction to the other tribes. Through war and the brutal collapse of other tribes, Abusya united the Tribes of Dafa for the first time in history. He then established the Baszku Kingdom, or the Baszku qe Sagungal. 
== First Baszku Kingdom ==
The Baszku Kingdom saw the rise of various leaders, and the persecution of ethnic minorities, namely the Villagers. The Baszku people took a predominate role in society, and ruled the lands. This Baszku Kingdom was shortly-lived however and while the Abusya Dynasty now led the country, the issue of succession would cause great conflict. 
=== Reign of Sagun Abusya ===
Sagun Abusya established the Baszku Kingdom as an economically and technologicaly powerful nation. The main way he established this power in those sectors was, firstly, with the construction of a Royal Capital whose name and location has been lost in the history books, but is known in the present day under the name of Lilunya, a name deriving from Baszku and meaning "like a whisper", likely a reference to the ancient history of the city and its abandonment. Lilunya is said to have been a city of relatively small population which remained crowded all-year round due to the large presence of merchants and traders in the city, most using it as a temporary trading post during certain seasons of the year. This caused the kingdom's economy to develop rapidly, allowing it to invest into the research and development of new civilian technologies. However, as the Baszku people became part of an elite known as a Insa Lasna Nayu (meaning "proto-middle class"); the Kingdom began using Villagers as slaves for anything related to manual labor.
The Sagun's reign saw little to no territorial expansion after the establishment of the Kingdom, but there were several military conflicts during it mainly against bordering nations or bandit armies known locally as the "Gaszya Yaja"; mysterious groups of warriors wearing golden armor who, for centuries, harassed the nations of the Baszku Kingdom's region. Among the Sagun's main missions as stated by him was to destroy the Gaszya Yaja, but by the time he died he failed to do so. The identity of the Gaszya Yaja is generally associated to be the various Aysari-people from across what would eventually become Ischanor.
Otherwise, the Sagun's reign was relatively peaceful. The only other major points of note are in the latter years of his rule, where the Kingdom declared that nearly 80% of Villagers had been integrated into the Laszuya Nayu, or "working class". Finally, Sagun Abusya si Tuqeli died 9 years into his rule from reasons still unknown.
=== Reign of Qudakya si Duhadi ===
After the death of Sagun Abusya si Tuqeli, his son Qudakya si Duhadi would rise to power and become Sagun. Qudakya, a veteran of the wars against the Gaszya Yaja, believed that the military should be given greater influence in the Kingdom. His philosophy was noted as "culturally liberal" as he wished for the King and the military to rule the nation but to mainly focus on ensuring the citizenry and merchants feel safe, and to supposedly give the military near-unlimited resources with the goal of ensuring that it is always strong and ready for battle, in exchange that both bodies keep away from the average citizen's lives. But of course he remained an ardent supporter of the oppression of the Villagers with his rule seeing the forced relocation of all the Villagers from Lilunya into "Working Villages", which were individually called Qabeya. This allowed them to enter the major cities only for their work hours. 
Qudakya was most renowned for his focus on strengthening the Royal Navy, and focusing the Kingdom's power projection on the Akus Sea, natively called the Akus qe Maqali. However, because of the limitations of territorial expansions on the ground with the presence of the Gaszya Yaja, Qudakya sought war with people across the sea who he hoped would be weak and unready for a Baszku invasion, and with this strategy he reached as far as the Southeasternmost lands of Abexilas such as Yebat, and far into the West of Rozakkora, building into the provinces of Baqigatri, Alutar, and both Upper and Lower Yedulinya. 
The conquests around the Akus Sea were, in great part, helped by the creation of a strong caste system within the Baszku Kingdom. Groups closely related to the ethnic Baszkus such as the Herlundian Humans and the Mokshoshu had equal rights, while others were heavily ostracized, and in the case of the lowest caste, placed into chattel slavery. The deeply evil caste system was used to strategically gain territory. The Mokshoshu were often placed as colonial governors in provinces such as Yebat, Yusaya Kema, Tahaba, and Sejus Hadul. The Herlundians were often used as governors and warriors in the Northern provinces such as Halutar, Gatriya, and Kaszilku. This alliance with other ethnic groups and segregation was opportunistically used by the Baszku to conquer large swathes of terrtiory they would've been unable to otherwise.
The most inland the Baszku Kingdoms ever would get into Kejafros would be the ancient province called Hatular. The Baszku Kingdom's settlements there lasted a very short amount of time, likely only a few decades, but attempted reconquests would happen throughout history.
Not much else is known as about Sagun Qudakya's reign, mainly because he spent most of it leading military campaigns, and Qudakya died in battle supposedly fighting a war in the mountains of the Vukhmir, who were the first nation to properly repel and defeat the Baszku military. He would have died on the borderlands of the Sejus Hadul, as the Baszku forces were largely kept to the coast because of the giant mountain where the Vukhmir lived inland. The Vukhmir reconquested places such as Sejus Hadul after only a few short decades of the settler colony being established and governed with assistance from Mokshoshu governors.
=== Reign of Abusya II si Ahuden ===
After the death of Qudakya si Duhadi, the lands of the Baszku Kingdom receded drastically across the other side of the Akus Sea following a brutal peace agreement signed with several nations which it had fought in that region such as the Vukhmir. Losses were also sustained in Alutar and Yacza Hadul provinces, keeping the Baszku Kingdom and its martitime empire largely in Kejafros and a few dotted settlements such as Caquzir, Yedulinya, and Baqigatri. This also had an incredibly negative effect on the resource extraction back to the Baszku "motherland" in provinces like Dalar, Anqedafa, and Szekyar, as provinces like Yedulinya were used almost solely for resource extraction of gold and other minerals; and also because the maritime travel from these provinces to the others were much longer and more grueling than travel across the Akus Sea. 
Succeeding Qudakya was Abusya si Ahuden, who was titled Abusya II. The death of a Sagun in battle proved to be devastating for the reputation of the Sagun to the citizenry of the kingdom, especially as Abusya was not a child of Qudakya but instead his brother. Abusya led a very conservative and weak government, delegating most of his powers to the military, which did nothing other than introduce population programs among villagers to increase the manpower in the workforce. 
Merely a single year into his reign Sagun Abusya II died very suddenly, with the cause being theorized as poisoning, with him lacking a legitimate heir. Thus the Baszku Kingdom collapsed with several illegitimate sons, daughters, a cousin, and military leaders trying to claim the throne; marking the beginning of the first Warring States Period, or "Daquku Zamus Alka", and the end of the period known today as the "First Baszku Kingdom". 
Ultimately, those Baszkus and their descendants who lived in Kejafros and the closely-knit communities that weren't lost by the end of the First Baszku Kingdom were known as the Dafaya, and these are the subgroup of Baszku people that make up the vast majority of modern-day Zilatra. The remainder are often grouped into one subgroup called the Gaqeya, meaning "diaspora", and exist abroad, mostly in modern-day Transaria, Sentara, Ischanor, Chimerian Empire, Bel'Hor, Rimefirth, and Nikaria, and other nations but also other local regionalities. The Gaqeya mostly live in very tiny numbers in most of these countries and do not make up significant percentages of the population.
== First Warring States Period ==
Although there dozens of nations and factions that fought during the Warring States Period, there were three main factions which survived its entirety who fought to claim the throne.
The Baszkuya Umbanya, translating to "Baszku Alliance", was created as an alliance between moderate and "liberal" elements of the royal military, the BU for most of its existence served as a confederation made up of ethnic minorities and the dominant Baszku people. The Umbanya is noted for having been the first Baszku nation to have introduced any form of progressive policies and the first to have (at least attempted) to abolish slavery within the Kingdom. Even though it sought to ensure equal rights for all and to re-establish the Kingdom as a more fair nation, the BA was de facto a military dictatorship ruled by a junta. In another thing that sets it apart from the other nations of the period the BA was ruled by only two rulers; General Fidakya (ruling from 15 to 54 BKC) and General Pruba (ruling from 54 BKC to 85 BKC). When it comes to territory, throughout the entire period it was the smallest of the major factions.
Historians still debate the name of the faction commonly named the "Szya Dynasty" due to its penultimate ruler being Szya si Abusaja the mother of Qudakya si Szya, who became a very important figure in the late years of the period and its aftermath. The Szya Dynasty ruled its territories on the principles of moderation and "slow-and-steady progress". Out of all the factions, it was the one that fought the least actively as its leadership focused on building the faction up internally. One of the main ways the Szya Dynasty kept itself strong was continuing the usage of slavery of Villagers, although it strengthened the rights of all other ethnic minorities. It was ruled by 4 leaders: Abusya III (ruling from 15 to 24 BKC), Ahudenya (ruling from 24 to 35 BKC), Szya (ruling from 35 to 75 BKC), and Qudakya (who ruled from 75 to 87 BKC).
The Delya Baszkuya Atab, translating to "Holy Baszku Order", was the most extremist faction to have fought during this period. It was a fundamentalist group established by radical elements of the royal bureaucracy and military that worshiped King Abusya the first and sought to re-establish the kingdom as a theocracy with the Baszku people as a "superior race". For most of the Warring States Period, the capital of Lilunya was occupied by the Delya Baszkuya Atab. The territories under them were known to have been very hostile to any non-Baszku people and several genocides were committed by the Baszku Order, especially against Villagers.
The period between 80-87 BKC is known as the "Alka Dujan" in Baszku and Zilatran history ("[the] Era to Change"), as it saw several wars and political and economic reforms that led to the re-unification of the Kingdom. Most importantly, Qudakya si Szya led the Szya Dynasty into a 4-year-long war in an alliance with the Baszkuya Umbanya to annihilate the Delya Baszkuya Atab. This war led to the Szya Dynasty taking control of 60% of the former Baszku Kingdom. After this, Qudakya established a constitutional rule in hopes of convincing people to defect from the Baszkuya Umbanya, which she had planned to invade. And thus the position of "Premier" was created in the Kingdom; with Balic si Yadal being the inaugural holder. But this constitutional rule was only by law, and the Sagun remained as the holder of all executive power.
Qudakya's constitutional reforms only succeeded slightly but she still proceed to invade the Baszkuya Umbanya. The war between the two lasted for the remaining 3 years of the Warring States Period, and saw some of its fiercest fighting as the ethnic minorities and Villagers fighting for the BU fought with greater valor and enthusiasm knowing they were fighting for their freedom. However, in the end, Qudakya won.
== Second Baszku Kingdom ==
=== Reign of Qudakya II si Szya ===
Qudakya si Szya named herself Qudakya II, reuniting the Baszku Kingdom, and formally declaring the Second Baszku Kingdom. She would found the Qudakya Dynasty in his name. Qudakya II would not return to the fiery conquering of her ancestors, instead she chose to focus her policies on helping the Kingdom recover from the decades of civil war. She granted more power to the "Council of Ministers" when it came to economic and military policies, while she focused on streamlining the Kingdom's bureaucracy, although she also oversaw the strengthening of the ethnic-Baszku aristocracy as they became more economically influential.
As Qudakya aged, she delegated more and more of her power to the Council of Ministers and the aristocracy until the kingdom officially entered its first constitutional era (95-100 BKC). What began this era was the Council of Ministers' decision to hold elections and introduce suffrage to all Baszku males above the age of 25, but in reality they were only voting for which members of the aristocracy should have more power. This period saw a growth in rebelliousness among the merchant class, as they rose to be equal to the aristocracy, and this was the beginning of the Republican movement in the Kingdom as more extremist merchants began advocating for the establishment of a Merchant Republic, or "Herus Saqegal". Because of this, on the same year that the 2nd elections of the Kingdom were meant to be held, Qudakya decided to ban elections and dissolved the Council of Ministers, calling it a "failed experiment". In its stead she created the "Royal Council", a body closer to an advisory council to the monarch. 
A year after the end of the constitutional era, Qudakya died of old age. And she was succeeded as Sagun by her son Kabli si Qudakya.
By this point, the colonies in Baqigatri, Yedulinya, and Alutar were almost entirely pushed out of the peninsula. The Baszku Kingdom at this point was much more focused on matters on Kejafros than those outside of it, though a strong colony is known to have persisted on Tahaba with strong relations to the motherland. There also remained small outposts on Yusaya Kema and as far North as Gatriya dotted along the coastline. While these were colonies with the same strict caste system, locals often put up with these outposts as they used them to trade their goods to wealthy Baszku merchants. In exchange things like weapons, minerals, and more would be exported to the locals of these regions.
=== Reign of Kabli si Qudakya ===
When Kabli was inaugurated, many in the kingdom had hoped for the return of the constitutional period as he showed greater liberal tendencies than the rest of the royal dynasty. Unfortunately, he died barely a year into his reign of what is believed to have been a stroke. And thus he was unable to implement even a single one of his reforms.
He was succeeded by his own son, Hacze si Jaya, who later became known as the "Sagun of Terror."
=== Reign of Hacze si Jaya ===
Sagun Hacze was a near total opposite to his father: a radical nationalist and conservative who believed in the superiority of the Bakszu ethnicity as superior to others. His first act as Sagun was to announce the beginning of an ambitious land reform program which he claimed would "put power back where it belongs." The first stage of the land reform saw the confiscation of any land remaining in the hands of small farmers, ethnic minorities, and members of the lower class to be distributed among loyal nobles, military officers, and wealthy supporters of the Sagun.
Those who refused to cooperate or wished to talk things out were violently kicked out of their lands, and were relocated to barren regions where the government asked them to establish farms as punishment for their "disloyalty." All the former lands were given to wealthy investors who could fund large-scale agricultural products as Hacze wished to diversify the Bakszu economy and keep it from entirely relying on the merchants: who only became further opposed to the crown. In an attempt to ensure loyalty of the ever-growing slave workforce of the kingdom; Hacze decreed the introduction of "serfdom", binding the peasants and especially those from ethnic minorities to their lands. Military units were deployed to protect and oversee the largest estates, and any slaves who wished to escape were to be killed on sight.
To make matters even worse Hacze began monopolizing the agricultural industry, handing most of the best land to his allies. This resulted in many among the merchant class to become fearful that Sagun Hacze would lead a crackdown on them to put the rest of the economy under his and his allies' control. And so was formed the Merchant Block, or Herus Umbanya; a de facto political faction with the goal of fighting the increased authoritarianism of the Sagun. 
The conflict between Hacze and the merchants resulted in an espionage war, as neither side wanted to plunge the Baszku Kingdom into another civil war. Several leading merchants were assassinated by agents of the Sagun while the Baszku military slowly crumbled, caused by the merchants using mercenaries to assassinate high-ranking officers. Merchants at this point had more control over the distant Baszku colonies than the actual governors did according to some sources. And just before the conflict was thought to de-escalate, Hacze died of a heart attack and was succeeded by his more authoritarian daughter; Hada si Alu.
=== Reign of Hada si Alu ===
Hada si Alu, the second woman to become Sagun of Bakszus, initiated her reign with a truce with the merchants despite everyone expecting her to double-down and officially declare war on them. In order to refocus the people's attention on national unity; she launched several long but small-scale conflicts against neighboring nations and allowed the merchants to live. This included the very temporary reconquest of lands bordering the Akus Sea, such as Yusaya Kema and Tahaba. 
However, she continued the expansion of serfdom/slavery, further terrorizing the country. Although she was one of the longest serving monarchs of the Bakszu Kingdoms, her reign was generally uneventful. She reigned into old age, and her children had already died, leaving her grandson Kabli si Hada to become Sagun, becoming Kabli II. 
=== Reign of Kabli II si Hada ===
While Kabli had no intentions of being even slightly as brutal as the two Saguns which preceded him, by the time he was coronated, the reputation of the Sagun had deteriorated among the peasantry on a level that the Royal Council itself began to plot a betrayal of the Sagun in hopes of winning the approval of the people and saving the nation from civil war.
Two years into Kabli's reign, just as he began an attempt to liberalize the nation's politics, a hatanya (folk doctor) by the name of Adaczili si Rahada assassinated him after gaining his trust and entering the royal court as a doctor. Kabli II bore no heirs, not even having a mistress, and thus the Qudakya Dynasty quickly collapsed in on itself, and again war erupted across the country.
== Second Warring States Period ==
After the death of Sagun Kabli II, the country was in disarray and the Second Baszku Kingdom had effectively died, making a Second Warring States Period. The capital of Lilunya was destroyed in the first year of the period in a massive act of arson committed by the woman simply named Kagusya, who was discovered to have done so out of pure insanity with some spiritiual leaders theorizing she was taken over by "evil spirits."
The destruction of Lilunya made it exceptionally more difficult for any faction that had risen to gain legitimacy, as the other major cities were not as important to the Baszku people as Lilunya. But after the event historians agree that there was temporarily a legitimate successor government to the Kingdom; the Second Baszkuya Umbanya, a de jure presidential republic established by the merchants of the Kingdom under the leadership of Hadali si Jaya. 
== Rule of the Second Baszkuya Umbanya ==
Between 132 and 135 BKC, the Baszkuya Umbanya ruled a vast majority of the kingdom's territories. With support from the military the Second Baszkuya Umbanya held elections across the territories in 132 BKC but only allowed men above the age of 25 who are in some way merchants to vote. As a result the Alus Baszku, translating to "Emerald Baszku", a liberal-nationalist party, won a plurality of seats in the newly-formed republican council. The AB faced an issue, though, as winning a plurality meant it had to win support from the other parties. The other parties were: "Ajin, Baszku" ('Rise, Baszku'; nationalist conservatives), and the "Baszkuya Amir" ('Baszku Oath'; militarist conservatives), at least out of the ones that could've given the AB the majority it required. It should be noted that this era saw a "proto-socialist" party called the "Bayaran!" (meaning: accuse!) party, which advocated for full universal suffrage for all men and women from the age of 25, radical land reforms, a democratic economy, and direct democracy system, although they failed to gain any sort of prominence.
Within the Baszkuya Umbanya there was a President and Prime Minister, as the merchants hoped to establish a parliamentary system. But the instability of the warring states period and the requirement to have a strong leader led to the President becoming the de facto holder of executive power. The President was elected by the Republican Council for a 7-year term with no limits, meaning who would become President was up to corrupt backroom deals between the rich rather than up to the people. And, while the opposition did indeed field its own candidates, Hadali si Jaya was elected President in hopes he would manage to establish a republic to rule over all of the former territories of the Baszku Kingdoms.
Hadali's plan was to keep the Baszkuya Umbanya neutral while the other warring states fought each other, and during this time the BU would develop its economic and political systems to become stable. And it worked, for barely 3 years, before Hadali was very suddenly voted out by a unified coalition of the "Ajin, Baszku" and "Baszkuya Amir" parties in a historic vote of no confidence. In his place, they were able to quickly organize a vote to plant Qudak si Husya, an ultra-nationalist general, to become President.
President Qudak si Husya believed Baszku was unready for democracy, at least he used such a claim to justify his actions, and thus he used his exceptional executive powers to ban elections, all political parties, and declare himself "Provisional General of the Baszku Nation", establishing a military dictatorship. Qudak did not last long, as it took only 2 months for his territories to collapse into civil war, and by the time he died in 137 BKC there was no sense of a legitimate successor to the Baszku Kingdom among the factions.
The still living uncle and aunt of Kabli II, named Nadusz si Alu and Czusya si Alu respectively, went to war with one another both claiming the throne of the Sagun and claiming to be the rightful heirs to the Qudakya Dynasty. Both were twins, and had similar claims to the throne as they were the same age, and they refused to rule together.
== Zilatran Revolution ==
The war was devastating and neither side seemed to win, with over a quarter of the population fleeing to nearby countries. It was around this point that members of the peasantry began to receive dreams and revelations from a woman who claimed to be from another world. This was Arika Ronango'O, a Lo'Oix woman living in Eldham who had taken control of a Ring of Power and had a long legacy of researching the ancient texts of Villager Lore. These texts told prophecies of what would be the War of the Comet, and the fact that the Eldhamites and Rathnirians would be made to flee their homeland for a new one. Using her knowledge, spiritual prowess, and small amounts of the power contained within her mystic ring, she would make communications with people in Abexilas one-by-one for the next forty-five years. These prophecies fortold the knowledge of what Eldham and Rathnir were like and that their people would soon flee to Abexilas, and ultimately the lands of what is today Zilatra. Ronango'O called the people of both Abexilas and the other worlds the "fruit of destruction", at which point the native peoples of the Warring States, called themselves "people of the soul" in reference to the destiny they were foretold to have, or the Zilasaya. This would form into the modern word "Zilatra", which would come to be the name of the revolution which ensued.
The peasantry revolted, and fought a brutal war, first killing Czusya si Alu, and two years after finally slaying Nadusz si Alu. This brought an end to the era of the Saguns, and the peasantry formed their own country, called Zilatra, in 305 TE. This symbolized the overthrow of centuries worth of extremely racist caste systems, subjugation, chattel slavery, and imperialism across Kejafros and Rozakorra. The overthrow of the Baszku Kingdom is a symbol of pride for many nations of people across the region. When the Baszku peasantry overthrew the Baszku Kingdom, they named the nation Zilatra in part to distance themselves from the ethnosupremacist past of the nation, and to adopt a new national name; one without reference to ethnicity. The Villagers had been liberated from the Qabeya system, the various other slaves taken from across Kejafros and Rozakkora had been freed, and land redistribution had begun. The peasantry had grown so tired of the old system and imperialism, numerous old governors, soldiers, and Baszku Kingdom politicians were slaughtered in mass. With this, all colonies had also been libreated, and Zilatra only claimed the lands belonging to what had been called the "motherland".
An interim government was declared for Zilatra, with a power vacuum existing in the wake of the Kingdom's destruction. Over the scale of 15 years, Zilatra would form as a nation state and eventually pass its first Constitution. The Xeroist Union Party came to dominate politics in the region of the interim government, as Xeroism had been introduced to the peasantry decades prior.
Reforms began swiftly, and the peasantry arose to powerful positions, and the secret revelations with the woman from another world continued, and ultimately in 319 TE, Arika Ronango'O would sacrifice herself and use her Ring of Power, opening sixteen portals across Rathnir and Eldham. These people finally entered Abexilas, and in turn Zilatra, in 320 TE. Those who came to Zilatra largely arrived through a series of three portals, most notably one located in the Villager settlement of Iwidiihu Maa, near the commune of Taqa Najul.
Today the population of Zilatra is mostly the indigenous Baszku people, but contains many immigrant ethnic groups from Rathnir and Eldham such as the Lo'Oix and Druznoslavs. The Villager population also exists intact in some small communes dotted across Zilatra.
Category:Zilatra
Category:Lore