Daeva and Djinn history

Daeva is the original name of the magical souled beings created from fire and wind. Djinn is the human word for these beings.

Created long, long ago, Djinn were known as Daeva. They were long-lived, immortal in every sense, and were masters of wind and fire. They made their home in the scorching hot deserts of the world. They wielded powerful magic and were able to assume any shape, possess any animal or being. After humans (beings of earth) were created, Djinn began cruelly interfering in their affairs. They would treat them as playthings - creating mirages to trick them, summoning storms to destroy cities, possessing or seducing them, creating offspring -- the half-human Shafit -- who would cause havoc with magic their hybrid bodies could not properly control. Because of such gross and extreme interference in the Creator's chosen beings, they were punished.

The prophet Suleiman the Great was chosen to bring the Daeva to heel. Using his powerful, magic-deadening seal, he summoned all Daeva before him and gave them a choice. No longer would they enjoy such phenomenal power. While they would still wield magic, they'd have bodies that lasted only centuries. They would be divided and scattered throughout the world, with languages that would divide them and specific limits on their powers. As penance, they would serve humans and build a splendid capital city for Suleiman, and erect a temple for the creator in his name. It was either accept this or be stripped of their powers forever. The vast majority accepted this judgement. However, some refused to submit. These recalcitrant few were cast out of Daeva society and were forever known as the Ifrit.

Suleiman appointed his most trusted Daeva advisor, Anahid, with his magical seal to rule over the Daeva and see to it that they never interfered in human affairs again. She took her reeling people to a remote land, far from humans, and using the power of Suleiman's Seal, she raised an island in the middle of a Marid lake.

Because the Daevas had been scattered throughout the world with different appearances, languages, and customs, they began to grow apart through the centuries. However, Daevabad remained a central place they would congregate and pass through. The city, in turn, grew large and prosperous -- taking on a wild variety of architecture as Daeva came and went and settled in the city. Anahid's descendants, the Nahids ruled in Daevabad. Fearful of another harsh judgement, they enacted increasingly draconian enforcement against interactions with humans.

However, with Daeva flung all over the world, they grew ever closer to the burgeoning human population. Believing that humans were the Creator's chosen people, many Daeva began to take on human customs. They adopted the name Djinn, the human word for Daevas. The Nahids were incensed at this development and with their Afshins -- a family of Daeva fanatically devoted to the Nahids -- leading the way, they attempted to eradicate the shafit (part human, part Djinn people) and any Djinn who may care for them. This culminated in the brutal sack of the Tukharistani city, Qui Zi, which prompted a fervent uprising against the Nahids. This rebellion, led primarily by the Geziri and Aayanle tribes from Arabia and North Africa, sacked Daevabad and overthrew the Nahids and their followers.

Zaydi al Qahtani, the leader of the Geziri, stripped the Nahids of Suleiman's seal, ascending the throne and begetting a dynasty that would last for over a millennia. Many Nahids and their followers -- who decided to retain the name Daeva as the name of their tribe -- were slaughtered. The remaining Nahids were bound to serve the al Qahtani family and the Djinn as healers. Never again would they be able to wield the power of Suleiman's seal and rule the Djinn. Many Daeva remained in Daevabad, partly because the city was within their tribal lands, but also to serve their venerated Nahids. They continued the old Daeva religion of worshipping the eternal flames that had given them life eons ago. They shared the city with an ever increasing population of shafit. Though they had risen up specifically because of the Nahid pogrom against the shafit, the Djinn recognized that it was still dangerous to openly interact with humans. And a policy of rounding up shafit to bring them to live out their lives in Daevabad was enacted.

This uneasy detente lasted for centuries, with frequent clashes between the Daeva, the shafit, and various Djinn tribes. All the while the Nahid family toiled under the rule of the al Qahtani family, which zealously held onto power. This culminated under the rule of King Ghassan ibn Khader al Qahtani. The Daevas had long held themselves apart from the rest of Djinn society, but King Ghassan hoped that by marrying one of the last Nahid siblings, Manizheh, he could potentially end centuries of conflict between the tribes. It was not to be, as Manizheh and her brother Rustam were killed by Ifrit. This did not just end Ghassan's hopes for peace with the Daevas, but also the entire Nahid line. This caused an enormous uproar amongst the Daevas not only at the loss of their revered Nahids, but also because there was no one in Daevabad who was now able to effectively heal magical maladies.

His last hope for peace amongst the tribes gone, Ghassan forcibly acted to suppress all dissent.