Zaclaria: Difference between revisions

==History==

===Prehistory===

From the 10th to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the northern region of Zaclaria. The emergence of the ancient city Ankaraklar, as determined by radiocarbon dating, dates back to early 4,395 BC. There are dozens of prehistoric sites across the Zaclarian plateau, pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC. During the Bronze Age, the territory of present-day Zaclaria was home to several civilizations, including Diwaisa, Çyr, and Akçaabad. Diwaisa, the most prominent of these civilizations, developed in the southeast alongside those near Koushahr Bay, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Sultanates. By the second millennium BC, the ancient Zaclarian people arrived in what is now Zaclaria from the Central Audonian Steppe, rivaling the native settlers of the region. The sharing of early Audonian cuneiform in the 13th century BC advanced contact among civilizations as formal states emerged. Four major city-states rose to prominence towards the end of the second millennium BC; Diwaisa and Yahli in the south, Çyr in the west, and Gökçarreh to the east.

===Classical period===

As the Istroyan civilization began to slip into decline in the 6th century BC and retreat back to the eastern coast of Sarpedon, various Audonian city-states and empires emerged. In the first half the century, under Édoğukanton, king of Sainhahr, the city-states of Diwaisa, Çyr, and Ghah entered into an alliance with each other in order to stabilize the region. This alliance lasted approximately seven decades before Edoğukanton III ended the alliance, conquering them under the Sainhahrid Empire. Sainhahrid rule saw unprecedented economic and population growth throughout Sainhahr and a renaissance of culture and artwork, with the Sainhahrid kings conducting massive building projects, especially in the capital of the empire, Our-Orra itself, and bringing back many elements from the previous two thousand or so years of Diwaisan culture. The Sainhahr Empire would be short-lived, being conquered after less than a century by the Farsiwan Empire.

In early 4th century BC, the Farsiwan Empire began to decline and become unstable, with large portions of the empire governed by jealous and unreliable satraps and inhabited by disaffected and rebellious subjects. Iskander, King of the Istroyan Empire, invaded and conquered the remainder of the Farsiwan Empire in the 330s BC. During this era, the region of Diwaisa was renamed to its capital Zaishiyara by the ancient Istroyans, who referred to it by its latinized ''Zaklosia'', the center of pearl trading. Iskander had planned to settle Istroyans colonists in Zaklosia, and although it is not clear that this happened on the scale he envisaged, Zaklosia became very much part of the Occidental world: the language of the upper classes was Istroyan (although Classical Audonian was in everyday use), while Zeus was worshipped in the form of the Audonian sun-god Shams. Zaklosia even became the site of Istroyan athletic contests.

Zaklosia played a role in the commercial activity of the Istroyans, contributing at least two commodities: precious pearls and purple dye. Over centuries tribes from the east and north settled in Zaklosia , making a living by fishing, farming, herding or stock breeding, and many present day Zaclarian families trace their ancestral roots to other parts of Audonia. Zaklosia's pre-Islamic population consisted of Christian Audonians (mostly Abd al-Qays), Audonians (Zoroastrians), Jews, and Audonian-speaking agriculturalists. In the 1st century BC, the Istroyan Empire was subsequently divided into a number of small kingdoms and from the 1st century BC up to the 3rd century CE, large parts of modern-day Zaclaria were contested between the Istroyan Empire and Audonian kingdoms. An Audonian warlord named Safiq Al-Mutayed rose to power through an unprecedented military campaign through southeastern Audonia. Many campaigns were quick piratical raids, but others were large-scale attacks in which many Audonians were slaughtered and great wealth carried off or destroyed. In 267 AD, Al-Mutayed founded the Kingdom of Zaclaria, which dominated and controlled the region around Koushahr Bay. The formation of the Kingdom is considered to be the start of the ancient Zaclarian civilization associated history.

===Islamic period===

In the late 6th century AD, Islam began to spread throughout Audonia and by the start of the 7th century, it had expanded across the entire continent. The Kingdom of Zaclaria came into contact with early Islam in 611, where secret and infrequent meetings began led by Mu'taz el-Tamer, who was given important roles in the nascent Muslim community by the Prophet Muhammad. After several months of meeting in secret, el-Tamer was granted an audience with Ali Reza Qasemi, the crown prince of Zaclaria. Qasemi appeared to have readily embraced Islam and converted in 613 making him the first Zaclarian Muslim. By 622, Zaclaria had fully converted to Islam. Under Muhammad, the Oduniyyad Caliphate was established as the world's first Islamic empire after winning two decisive battles that saw Muhammad's armies being outnumbered four-to-one; this made many cities and settlements across Audonia pledged allegiance to Muhammad and converted voluntarily to the Islamic faith.