Sardan

Sardan was a trading republic in Suren's Desert during the Age of Settlement. It encompassed the core of the desert, stretching from Halat to Qairi.

## History

Sardan was founded in the 3rd Century BCE as a trading republic. It encompassed the banks of the Spurnian River between its two centres of Bel Sarkah and Jafrehya, controlling the trade between the Cordic Plains and the Trade Lake basin.

Over time more settlements joined the republic. The country stabilised and grew rich, and corruption followed. By the 1st Century BCE Sardan had become large enough that a more centralised government was needed - beforehand it had functioned by means of an annual council, with three councillors from each city. But smaller settlements began to demand representation, and the council of 88BCE saw the gathering of over two thousand councillors.

The matter was resolved by a new law - only settlements with more than five thousand inhabitants could send councillors. This led to outrage among the smaller settlements, and some councillors were found taking bribes to disqualify cities from council rights - claiming a city was part of two different regions and thus two smaller settlements was not uncommon.

Matters came to a head in 52BCE - the towns of Jizan and Yabiq tried to secede and, when their request was denied, they rose up in rebellion. Sardan being a trading republic, it had no standing army and little knowledge of war. It was several months before the council decided on an action, and by then it was too late. The rebellion spread, and by 48BCE Sardan was in civil war.

The Fifty Year War was a low-intensity conflict but burned bright and hot for the next several decades. Sardan collapsed into innumerable city-states with intricate webs of truces and alliances, and their lack of overall communication brought the local economy to its knees. Suren's Desert never regained the prosperity it had had before the war.

The situation changed in 13BCE. Several of the larger cities had been militarising for some time, looking for some way to end the hostilities, and the warlord of Soran had the idea of importing knowledge from elsewhere. Shunning the insular, self-righteous thinking of his peers, he sought help from Kharos. The Kharosian king of the time, his name forgotten to time, sent drill instructors and siege engineers to help Soran.

In 10BCE the warlord Parham Vardanid, sent forth his new armies. He quickly conquered the surrounding area and, by ruthlessly uprooting resistance wherever it sprang up, he managed to end the war in the year 0. This is the event that defined the new calendar - the reunification of Sardan came as a shock to Reme and Kharos, the two major powers at the time, and seriously upset the balance of power. Over time Kharos waned, but the rivalry between Reme and Sardan only grew more intense.

Parham was now the supreme ruler of Sardan, and declared himself Shahanshah - the King of Kings. He transformed the country in every way - he appointed Farmandars and Valandars to govern in the outlying reach of the country and from Parham's ascendancy to the station of Shahanshah, the Vardanid dynasty was the foremost power - the name of Sardan faded and was replaced to reflect this.