History of the Shanhe Kurun

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/106kFTj5YPxOpeAMGjVOQzYxvCE9tIZYradhVNkeIzz4

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**Antiquity**
The modern Shan species are believed to have originated somewhere around the Ursai Nala (Ursai River) around 100 to 120,000 years ago. Starting off as hunter-gatherers killing animals on the plains or gathering fruits, nuts, and grains near rivers, they mastered fire and tool use and spread across Ahal. It is believed that Shan hunter-gatherers may have hopped across the sea to Bahi on islands created by mature uulnam (which of course are now gone).

**First Era**

Around 6,000 years ago, agriculture began to develop around the Shinzi, Lai, and Preta rivers. *Hez*, which had apparently originated around the Lai, rapidly spread as it was recognized as a far superior crop. The Lai river basin developed some of the first city states, and the area that comprises modern Tsalai, by far the oldest city on Amyu, began to be inhabited. The areas around modern Syrhet, Chansai, and Mingghan, ancient cities all, also began to see the spread of farming.
This new innovation spread rapidly around the continent. The Shinzi and Preta river systems in particular saw many increasingly complex city-states form begin to form around 5,500 years ago, and the cultures of Birtai and Namur rivers began to flourish as well.
Southward migration by Preta-Fatans and eastward movement by Shinzin peoples began to mingle in modern Feranji, creating the Ursai-Bardan group in that area. Northward migration from the Shinzi region and westward migration from Preta-Fatans, meanwhile, encountered the Birtai-Namurans, who mingled with both to create two distinct sub-regions that are today called Namurlan and Gunji.
From 5,500 years ago to around 5,000 years ago, the Shinzi river system, with increasingly complex states rising, began to fight among themselves, with states growing larger and larger as they absorbed defeated neighbors. A similar pattern occurred in the Preta river system, and Pretan states began expanding their reach along the Fata river. These periods of conflict led to the rise of Phulan and Aiji, both large, unified states. In between them, Feranji, Gunji, and Namurlan remained largely fractured and split among small nations and city-states. To the south of Aiji, during this period, the Serrjin people emerged as a distinct group and consolidated their hold on the land south of the Lirshi Lin, creating a confederation of city-states largely ruled by wealthy merchants.

Ancient Phulan and ancient Aiji were extremely different, but in both the intense warfare and conflict of this period, known as the Coalescence, saw bursts of innovation and new philosophical thought. In Phulan, the nation was led by a junta headed up by a single extremely powerful military leader or Cipha. Provinces were governed by subordinate generals, who would elect a new Cipha from their ranks every ten years. The Cipha held absolute power, technically, but often had to rely on military governors and local officers and officials in a very decentralized system. The military's higher ranking officers were frequently enfeoffed and given lands and titles in addition to their commands, and quarrels and factionalism between military governors or landed officers could chaos civil war and rebellion. Those seeking to hold high office had to rise through the ranks of the army or the navy first.
In Aiji, the nation was ruled by an emperor, who reigned for life. However, the emperor was counselled by the (usually) more powerful Cabinet, which consisted of bureaucrats (who achieved their ranks by passing examinations and then by merit-based promotion) and military officials. Imperial decrees could be overturned by the Cabinet, and the government was highly centralized. During the later phases of the Coalescence, in the First Dynasty, the capital was located at Tsalai, which housed great libraries and government offices. The role of emperor (the word in Shan is not a precise translation, but is close enough) in Aiji had sprung from the institution of local princes or rulers, and the idea that the emperor was the "prince of princes" led to the creation of the title.
The current Shan calendar is dated from the establishment of the First Dynasty, as the Aijin calendar is based off of this and was widely adopted for its accuracy and relative simplicity. For the Shan, the year is currently 6109.

From the year 0 to the year 1132, both states saw long periods of stability followed by sudden overturns of power and periods of bloodletting. These overturns often coincided with major volcanic eruptions on Kir that caused changes to Amyu's axis and thus to the seasons. This period saw the entrenchment of the hierarchies across Ahal, from the Feranji and Namurlah plains to the great river nations (and is thus, appropriately, referred to as such). It was in this time that the White Path emerged in Aiji, swiftly spreading across the continent. The end of the Entrenchment came with the rise of the Aijin Ninth Dynasty, centered on Chansai, in 1132.
The Ninth Dynasty had just picked up the pieces after the fall of the weak and unstable Eighth, and it heralded a new era of expansion and progress. At the time, two Ciphas were fighting for control in Phulan, one from the Fata and one from the Preta, while Gunjin raiders were plaguing the Aijin provinces south of Tashan Pass and Serrid merchants were slowly becoming more and more dominant, especially at sea. Their success had made resource-poor Serrjin quite wealthy, and with little to fear thanks to the weakness of Aiji and the barrier of the Lirshi Lin, they had focused on building a mighty fleet rather than an army.
The Aijin Ninth consolidated their power, and invaded both Gunji and Serrjin, overrunning Serrjin and reaching as far north as the Ula Birtai. They also sent troops to take over most of the Gap of Bardu, which had long been an important trade route and was a route for Feranji raiders as well. This conquest of their nearby rivals set Aiji up for an economic revolution. The School of Unrestricted Night emerged in Aiji at this time.
In Phulan, meanwhile, the Cipha of the Fata overcame his rival to reunify the country in one of the bloodier wars in Shan history, laying waste the country and killing millions. Phulan became embroiled in long and costly wars with the largest Feranji tribal confederation (a group of aristocratic families based out of Tagram), as well as with the Namurlai to the north.

Around this time, in Aiji, mostly around the Shinzi and Birtai rivers, industrial technology began to emerge, such as water-driven machines and the like. These were quickly transmitted around the world, and the 1300s and 1400s saw rapid industrialization of a sort (similar to Terra's Song Dynasty or early Industrial Revolution Britain). However, in 1487, a massive Gunjin rebellion led to the Ninth Dynasty losing control over most everything north of Tashan Pass, including the great industrial city of Sahaliyan. The Serrids, sensing opportunity, also rose up to overthrow Aijin rule.

**The First Overturn and the Dark Ages**

These rebellions, as well as an uulnam movement that destroyed much of the coast, led to the fall of the Ninth Dynasty. In Phulan, meanwhile, huge popular revolts broke out after another uulnam caused a tsunami that destroyed many cities of the Preta Delta, overthrowing the military aristocracy. In addition, harvests around the world failed as a major volcanic eruption in Kir shifted Amyu's axis yet again. The events of 1487-1499, when the last Ninth Dynasty emperor committed suicide and the last Cipha was captured and executed, are known as the First Overturn. Much of the industrial technology that had driven the world economy fell apart, leading to the Dark Ages. Lasting about a thousand years, until 2588, the Dark Ages saw significant technological regression, political fragmentation, and population shrinkage largely due to continued volcanic activity by Kir's supervolcanoes. It was towards the end of this dark time that the prophet Armaar arose in Feranji, preaching the word of God and spreading Zafir starting in 2588.

**The Second Era**

One century later, the rapid spread of the Submission and Zafiri pressed against the Sar Preta and the Sinir rivers. The Zafiri faith was tolerant of others, but they were harsh in their conquests, killing millions who resisted. The rise of the Zafiri Empire, which was ruled by a council of high-ranking priests, was countered by Gunjin expansion into Namurlan and much of Aiji north of the Shinzi in the 2400s and 2500s. The Zafiri and Gunjin Empires fought a series of wars from 2614 to 2739 over Southern Aiji and Serrjin, which gave the Gap of Bardu its modern name (the name of a Feranji general). In the end, neither was winning and both were being exhausted by war. The Twelfth Dynasty arose in Aiji in 2738, casting the Gunjins back north of the Pass and south of the Lirshi Lin, while Phulan began to become restless under largely Feranji rule in the 2700s. However, the two empires, though crumbling, had brought back a great deal of the technological development that had been lost in the Dark Ages and the First Overturn.

The Gunjin lost control of Namurlan to Phulan rebel invaders and Namurlai rebels in the 2750s, but Gunji remained unified under an aristocratic junta, and the land even became what could be called prosperous. Sahaliyan once again became a major industrial city, and with the by-and-large cessation of major volcanic eruptions on Kir during this time, as well as a lack of major uulnam movements, stability came to all of Ahal. The new Serrid government unified the country and established a sort of merchant republic, Phulan settled into a new feudal system not altogether dissimilar from the old reign of the Ciphas governed by assemblies of lords, Aiji's Twelfth Dynasty busied itself building up the country's infrastructure and economy, and Feranji and Namurlan largely returned to confused tribalism.
Trade and art began to flourish during this time, and in 2815, at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Roshan, Aijin explorers ended up discovering Bahi in a search for a new trade route to Phulan that could bypass the dangerous Chedana mountains and the hostile Gunjin and Feranji lands. This set off a frenzy of colonizing and empire-building, which basically completely annihilated or assimilated native Bahian states and cultures and peoples.

The 68-year reign of the Emperor Roshan of the Twelfth Dynasty, from 2815 to 2883 (Aijin emperors are commonly used as points of reference by historians, as their reigns are clearly delineated unlike the reign of significant political figures in other realms) was a major turning point for all of Shan civilization. New agricultural techniques and new products and wealth from Bahi led to a population boom and frenzied technological development, and the consolidation of unified states of Namurlan and Feranji. Trade connected all societies increasingly closely, and even old enemies like Aiji and Gunji began to open up to one another.
However, in 2884 the movement of an uulnam destroyed a large area near and along the Ursai Nala. This led to chaos and rebellion in Feranji's Ahali territories, and ultimately led Feranji colonists on Bahi, along the Nissa Nala, to declare their independence in 2885. This spurred similar revolutions all across Bahi, leading to war there and recriminations and blame by the Old World powers among themselves.
In the end, the Bahian Revolution lasted from 2885 to 2903, and resulted in the loss of the colonial empires of all of the Ahali powers and the creation of a single new state of Bahi. Bahi ended up becoming a sort of feudal merchant republic, and because many of the old powers needed resources from it it retained trade relations with Ahal. The Ahali nations, meanwhile, began fighting as Feranji disintegrated fully towards the end of the Bahian Revolution. Both Phulan and Aiji were interested in intervening, leading to war breaking out in 2904 between the two superpowers. They would fight for the next eighteen years until Gunjin armies surprise-attacked both weakened states in 2922 in hopes of conquering large tracts of land. After causing initial devastation, their assault lost momentum and was repulsed on both fronts. By 2923 a combined Phulani-Aijin army menaced Sahaliyan and led to a partition of Gunji. The peace treaty also laid out a division of Feranji, in which Bahi received a particularly disputed coastal territory.
The Peace of 2923 left Gunji bisected, Namurlan largely in Phulani control, Feranji split, and Serrjin and Bahi both strengthened from selling arms and supplies. The two merchant republics would increasingly form closer connections until forming a union in 2999, while the Twelfth Dynasty and the Phulani Hunsa (their assembly of feudal lords) consolidated their holds over their respective territories.

The following centuries saw astonishing tranquility and slow, steady growth. All three powers established space stations in the 3400s, and new strategies were developed to deal with uulnam. The population continued to grow as food became increasingly abundant, and save for the occasional small war between Phulan and Aiji or the odd rebellion here or there, all was well. Trade, however, drew all three powers closer and closer, and their vast size caused significant intermingling of gene pools from different hitherto isolated regions. The three powers formed an association known as the Triumvirate in the 3600s, which grew in strength over the following 400 years. Expeditions established colonies on Aj and Mer and in Amyu's orbit, and soon explorers were visiting Badaling. The Triumvirate, to avoid colonial competition, organized a steady terraformation and colonization process on Badaling for the next nine hundred years after 3601 while it sent further expeditions out into the darkness of the outer system. During this time, linguists at the Triumvirate High Commission began the process of creating a standardized language for all of Amyu (although regional tongues like Aijin, Phulani, and Bahian are still widely spoken).
By the year 4501, Badaling was almost fully habitable and supporting a large colonist population, and many of the moons and asteroids in the outer system were colonized as well, feeding Amyu and Badaling with resources to support their burgeoning populations. Additionally, major projects had been undertaken in Kir to tame the uninhabitable continent, make it fit for life, and control its supervolcanoes.

**The Second Overturn and the Third Era**

However, mistreatment and corruption, combined with Triumvirate policies intended to keep the Outer upper class from gaining too much power, led to the Great Rebellion in 4502, also known as the Second Overturn. The Outer planets revolted against Amyr rule, and defeated the combined Aijin/Bahian-Serrid/Phulani fleet.
The Rebellion led to chaos on Amyu as the flow of resources was shut off. It was worst in the most overpopulated areas- the Bahian coastal plains, the Preta and Shinzi river systems, and the area between the Birtai and Namur rivers. The Triumvirate was suddenly incapable of feeding the alarmed and angry populace, and when Badaling was laid siege to and taken by Outer forces there was widespread panic. Phulan in particular saw violence towards landlords and landowners, while in Aiji a rebellion in Gunji threw the country into disarray. Gunji broke away and declared itself independent, and there was widespread unrest.

Eventually, the Outer advance was finally halted by Triumvirate defenses in Amyu's cislunar orbit. The leaders of the Triumvirate now were divided on a course of action. Some preferred to negotiate with the Outers, who had adopted a novel new truly democratic government, while others felt they should never negotiate with accursed rebels. In the event, the pro-war faction won out. The Triumvirate began reforming itself into a single world state (which, in practice, it already was). The following two centuries saw the new Sibe Kurun restore its control of Amyu and its moons, and subsequent campaigns to seize Badaling, the Inner Belt, and then the Outer moons.

The new Kurun (based off of a Gunjin word that roughly equates to "state", "regency", or "sphere (of influence)") pursued those Outers who had fled into the Outer Belt and to other star systems as well, and went on to colonize to modern core systems over the next six hundred years. In the year 5312, however, the government faced what the old Triumvirate had faced in the Second Overturn on an interstellar scale, as rebellion broke out in the colonies around other stars. Chaos ensued for another two centuries as subluminal fleets battled across the decades in the Six States period, and then, with the invention of the gimelspace drive in Sibe in 5534, it took a further century still for Sibe to reassert its authority. The government that was created in the Peace of 5672, when Qiu surrendered, is the one that endured to this day.