Varshani historiography
 | This article is a work-in-progress because it is incomplete and pending further input from an author. Note: The contents of this article are not considered canonical and may be inaccurate. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. |
The history of Varshan is largely based on records, stories, epics, and sagas retained in the cultural memory and archives of Varshan. Many problems exist with recounting the history of Varshan. It is consistently characterized by inconsistencies, especially chronological problems that often put dynasties existing at overlapping periods where none exist at a sequentially earlier part. Occidental historians and scholars, given access to all Varshani records and arhives after the Final War of the Deluge, have been actively working to construct concise, legible histories of Varshan for global use; this process has run into significant difficulties due to the many historiographical issues encountered.
Cultural factors
Legendweavery
Legendweavery was a cultural expectation of all Varshani leaders and most high caste men to produce a historical recounting of their life's work as well as those of their predecessors and ancestors. The term "legendweavery" or "legendweave" is usually used to refer to this tradition, being an imprecise translation of a Hieratic Varshani term. Initially oral, the legendweaves became written by ca. 1200 AD. Most legendweaves were crafted by the individual discussing events with notable elders, including their own recounting, consulting other legendweaves and other written sources, as well as the introduction of fantastical events or even deliberately altering the facts and placements of events in order to complete the story. Consequently, legendweaves were viewed to be less concerned with facts and more with the major moral or theme of the story. Unlike Occidental histories, most legendweaves are not concerned with necessarily presenting an impartial view; many 17th-century legendweaves, for example, include a statement by the author that the description of events has been deliberately altered because the author wished it to be so and, with their version being more satisfactory, that is the "true history" of events. Legendweaves were not "published" in the Occidental sense, but commonly more than one written copy was created and distributed to all living individuals who participated in the events described there in. Friends and supporters of the legendweaver would also distribute copies of their legendweave and destroy copies of their rivals' works.
In pre-Deluge Varshan, no legendweave was more valued or given higher cultural authority than that of Zurgs, whose overarching legal authority included even legally binding positions on chronologies and historical events. This force of law often meant that earlier legendweaves, if known, were deliberately altered or destroyed if their account differed from that of a Zurgite legendweave. This practice left many extant legendweaves having confused narratives which often run contrary to the original theme. The alteration of legendweaves, already having fantastical chronologies in their unaltered state, often left a completely garbled historical chronology. These altered legendweaves were continually used by later legendweavers as source material. A post-Deluge survey of available digitized legendweaves in 2028 indicated that only around 15% had a "chronology which was half correct or better". Despite these issues, these materials remained central to the history and cultural memory of Zurgite Varshan.
Different concepts of history
Traditional Varshani historiography's focus differs significantly from that of Occidental historiography. Its primary document, the legendweave, is largely unconcerned with presenting itself as either objective or based on facts, instead recounting events in a way to support a central theme or moral argument and constructed in such a way that the author thought events should unfold, rather than how they actually factually occurred. Chronological adaptation is present throughout this methodology, as great rulers of completely different dynasties often precede the sitting Zurg author of a legendweave in order to portray the author as inheriting a responsibility of greatness; alternatively, a legendweave about a bad Zurg often sees him as the culmination of a string of historically bad rulers. Dynastic histories usually ignore any non-direct ancestor of that dynasty who ruled as Zurg, and these histories can often use different familial names or symbolic titles, and accordingly many histories of the same dynasty were viewed as recording completely different families and time periods when first encountered by Occidental historians.
Damnatio memoriae
Throughout Varshani history, the practice of erasing the historical record of deceased enemies of the regime, rivals of ruling Zurgs, or other individuals was common, peaking in the 18th century. In Varshan, this took the form of destruction of statues and carved names of those individuals, but also the significant redaction or rewriting of historical records, including and especially legendweaves. Most legendweaves dealing with the person would be destroyed directly, but in some instances of major religious significance the story would be rewritten without its major character. Legendweaves making ancillary references to an individual would often be simply redacted and that person's name would be replaced with that of the sitting Zurg, creating historiographical turmoil within their narratives. Destruction and redacted sources of erased individuals in Varshani history, especially before ca. 1700, have led to major scholarly debates about even the most basic historical events in early Varshan.
Dark time
"Dark time" is a period in Varshani historiography where no recorded events take place, not due to a lack of activity but due to chronological misplacement. Occidental historians in Anzo made great strides in the late 2020s in eliminating most incidents of dark time and many chronological contradictions, but the work still continues. As of the 2030s, most historians would still classify most of the period between ca. 1000 BC and 200 BC and a period between ca 750 AD and 950 AD as the existing consensus "dark time".
Žuqul problem
The Žuqul problem is the culmination of conflicting chronologies, dark times, and general issues with Varshani historiography. Most scholars agree with the assessment of P. G. W. Gelema Jr. who called it "the catastrophic center of Varshani history". It relates to the time of the reign of the Zurg Žuqul I. Žuqul is credited with functionally establishing Varshani social system that existed until the Final War of the Deluge, creating Orthodox Arzalism and entrenching the Death God at the center of Varshani religion and life. The majority of available outside sources from the North Songun civlization and a plurality of legendweaves place the reign of Žuqul in the 15th century, with his reforms occurring as a reaction to Aster's expedition. However, archaeologically verifiable plinths and monuments, as well as a minority of well-constructed legendweaves, place the reign of Žuqul during the iron age, in the period of dark time around 400 BC. Efforts by scholars to argue that sources simply conflate two same-named rulers have proven difficult to conclusively prove, since an iron age Žuqulid death cult is attested in the archaeological record. Arguments that the latter Žuqul patterned his reign after the earlier one have also proven problematic due to previously unknown archaeological sites attributing successes of the latter Žuqul to the earlier Žuqul. These same events are attributed to the 15th century Žuqul by North Songun contemporaries. Many historians hope that unknown sources and materials in Anzo will solve the dispute, but Žuqul remains a mystifying figure to most historians in the 2030s.