Rusana: Difference between revisions

[[File:Gate of Pharod.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Gate of Pharod|alt=|left]]

The territory of modern Rusana has been continously inhabited since at least the fourth millenium BC when migratory waves of people possibly originating in the plains of north [[Audonia]] settled in the area. The civilization centered in the ancient city of Pharod dates at least back to 3890 BC according to radiocarbon dating. For much of antiquity the city of Pharod held a preeminent position and its people spread to other parts of modern day Rusana, founding new cities such as Nasrad, Khaton, Turaq and Rilban. All of these cities had their own kings but they still deferred and sent tribute to Pharod as the mother city. The kings of Pharod promoted agriculture and new methods of irrigation, created the regions first coinage made from hardened clay, instituted an alphabet and writing in clay tablets and began the first roads of hardened dirt to connect  cities. Pharodian civilization established diplomatic and trade relations with Daxian proto states to the east and with the polities of the Pukhgundi peninsula to the west. The Pharodians worshiped a pantheon of pagan gods, chief among them Dagan, a god of the sky, with the king serving as Dagan's head priest. This gave the pharodian line of kings  a dual role as both secular ruler and head of the state religion. In time this would lead to attempts to bring Pharod's colonies under more direct control, starting a series of bloody conflicts.

In 1020 BC an alliance between Nasrad and Khaton started a war against the mother city of Pharod. The Pharodian army was ambushed and all but destroyed at the Battle of Parnaza, leaving the city defenseless and leading to its brutal sacking by the Nasrid and Khaton armies. After this Pharod went into an irreversible decline, with the city no longer ruled by a native king but by bureaucrats from Nasrad and Khaton. Statues and religious icons from the cult of Dagan were moved to Nasrad, signifying the city's new status as the overlord of the region. The collection of cities under the overlordship of Nasrad is now believed by modern historians to have been called the Union of Nasrad and Khaton, as the two victors over Pharod were for a time equals. It's under the reign of King Xvim the Black in 935 BC that the union began to fall apart over disputes centered in religious and diplomatic protocol. Xvim demanded that envoys from Khaton prostrate before him instead of the customary bowing, thus acknowledging the supremacy of Nasrad over Khaton. This dispute broke out into fighting in Pharod between the rival camps, with the Nasrids being chased out of the city. In response Xvim marched his army and laid siege to Pharod, demanding that Khaton surrender control of the city to him.

=== Oduniyyad Caliphate Period (665-860) ===