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{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Saukanians
| group            = Saukanians
| native_name      = Saukani
| native_name      = Tokaura
| native_name_lang =  
| native_name_lang =  
| image            =  
| image            =  
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| image_alt        =  
| image_alt        =  
| image_upright    =  
| image_upright    =  
| total            = 27,000,000
| total            =  
| total_year      = 2020
| total_year      =  
| total_source    =  
| total_source    =  
| total_ref        =  
| total_ref        =  
| genealogy        =  
| genealogy        =  
| regions          =  
| regions          =  
| languages        = Saukanian
| languages        = Saukanian
| religions        = Predominantly Saukanian polytheism <br> Christian and Muslim minorities
| religions        = Predominantly Saukanian polytheism <br> Sizeable Buddhist minority <br> Smaller Christian and Muslim minorities
| related_groups  =  
| related_groups  =  
| footnotes        =  
| footnotes        =  
}}
}}
'''Saukanians''' are a group of closely-related peoples native to [[Saukania]], including those living abroad in the [[Saukanian diaspora]]. Whether the Saukanians constitute a single ethnic group or a continuum of closely related ethnic groups is undecided. Of the Saukanian peoples, the largest regional populations are the "true" Saukanians (inhabiting the [[Sauka River|Sauka river valley]]), the Krianians, and the Aprianians. A greater number of smaller Saukanian populations live settled in the river valleys of the country, though there is often dispute as to whether a particular group is a sub-ethnicity of a larger group or whether it is independent. The closely-related and largely mutually intelligible Saukanian languages are spoken across Saukania.
 
The '''Saukanians''', also known as the '''Tokaurans''', are a broad ethnocultural complex native to the country of [[Saukania]].
 
Originating from a synthesis of nomadic Tokauran pastoralists with indigenous sedentary agriculturalists of the [[Sauka Valley Civilization]], the Saukanians emerge as a distinct culture between 800-500 BC. The aridity of Saukania combined with its formidable physical geography led to significant differences among Saukanian populations, and the emergence of distinct ethnic identities. Of these, the ancient civilization of [[Saukiana]], which derives its name from the [[Sauka River]], is the source of the modern exonym "Saukanian". The Saukanians continue to identify themselves and one another as Tokauran, which has a primarily ethnolinguistic and ethnocultural as opposed to a political meaning. As a result, it is disputed as to whether the Saukanians constitute a "nation", an "ethnic group", or a "panethnicity". Tokauran identitarianism became stronger in the 19th and 20th centuries, coinciding with the founding of the Saukanian Alliance.
 
Today, Saukanians are largely limited to the territory of the Alliance, which is typically synonymous with the toponym "Saukania" as a geographical area. The [[Saukanian diaspora]] is much smaller than the Saukanian population of the Alliance, which is predominantly inhabited by those who identify as Tokauran. Tokauran peoples that once lived to their potential [[wikipedia:Linguistic_homeland|''Urheimat'']] west and south of the modern Alliance have long since been assimilated into neighbouring populations.
 
Regional Saukanian identity is complex. Saukiana, alongside [[Apriana]] and [[Kriana]], continue to describe geographic subdivisions of Saukania and function as demonyms for their inhabitants. However, the traditional organisation of most Saukanians into politically independent city-states is a more relevant identity for Saukanian individuals, who are more likely to define themselves as Kulean, Khodanian, or Tushanian, than as an Aprianian or even a Saukanian or Tokauran. Among the population of Tokauran nomads, identity is more predominantly tribal and clan-based, a trait shared with a number of smaller Tokauran ethnic populations living in the isolated valleys of [[Ghuran Mountains]]. The diversity of economic lifestyles and methods of identification among the Saukanians have further complicated study of their people as a group.
 
The Saukanians speak a group of closely related languages called the [[Saukanian languages]]. Their mutual intelligibility lies somewhere along an areal spectrum, in that distinct dialects close to one another will be more intelligible to each other than to another pair of dialects further away. Regarding their own languages as Tokaura, they merely differentiate regional variations as branches of the same tree, and so speaking a Saukanian language, even one difficult for another Saukanian to understand, remains a core marker of Saukanian identity. In general, following the geography of Saukania, dialects can be classified at both a city-state level and a wider regional level. Religion has also historically played a significant role in Tokauran identity. To be Tokaura was to honour the same gods, performing the same rites, and following the same customs. This is a source of tension for modern Saukanians, most of whom follow their traditional religion, but with significant religious minorities of Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims. Some classify followers of these foreign religions as fundamentally non-Tokauran ''(aratokaura)'', regardless of their lineage or language.
 
Despite all regional variations and identities, there are some common cultural threads uniting the Saukanian city-states and peoples. A high regard for personal and familial honour permeates their society, with adherence to an informal code that mandates hospitality, generosity, courage, and retaliation. Blood feuds are a common phenomenon especially in mountainous regions or among nomadic communities. The cultural emphasis on family manifests as a patriarchal patron-client system with strict gender norms and a culture of vertical reciprocity, similar to a feudal system, where noble families and clans dominate politically with the support of a network of 'vassals' and clients. Many holidays and festivals are common to the majority of Saukanians, and cultural facets such as cuisine and fashion are broadly similar with regional deviations and innovations.


==Name==
==Name==
Saukania, prior to the 18th century, refers to the alluvial plain and surrounding land of the Sauka river. It is the largest of Saukania's rivers by volume and irrigates an enlarged, fertile area of land in the southern desert grasslands. The inhabitants of this valley called themselves Saukanians, and are the ancestors of the "true" Saukanians in modern times. The application of the name Saukania to the current extent of territory belonging to the Saukanian Confederation, and of the ethnonym Saukanian to all peoples of the same cultural background as the "true" Saukanians, is an 18th century foreign application. Explorers from [COUNTRY] visiting the country arrived first in the Sauka river plain, and learned of the name of the land and the people. Upon journeying further north to other valleys, these explorers found highly similar culture, polities, and customs, and so regarded these people as another branch of the Saukanians they formerly met. This is reinforced by the disproportionate impact on wider culture, linguistic, and artistic, philosophical, and customary trends that the city-states of Saukanian plain have long had upon their neighbouring, smaller, and less powerful cousins. While Krianian and Aprianian culture has to the present day preserved much of what made them historically independent, even they were subject to the influences of the Saukanians over many centuries.
The name "Tokaura" is an ancient self-designation of the Saukanian peoples. Its etymology has no consensus, but leading theories suggest either "those who speak the same language" (supported by the identity's continued linguistic relevance) or "bright".
 
After settling in modern Saukania, several distinct Tokauran civilizations emerged. One of these was concentrated along the [[Sauka River]], and is known to modern historians as [[Saukiana]]. This Saukiana is the origin of the name Saukania and the demonym Saukanian. While they are thus of Saukanian linguistic origin, they are not themselves Saukanian designations. Their use commenced from the latter half of the 2nd millennium, likely due to the disproportionate cultural influence and political power held by states in Saukiana, gradually becoming a synecdoche for the wider region of Tokauran-speakers, and finally a synonym.


==History==
==History==


===Origins and early history===
===Origins and early history===
The Saukanians are believed to descend from semi-nomadic pastoralists living in the grasslands of what is now northern and north-east Saukania. Evidence from various archaeological sites in what is now the desert of northern Saukania reveal burial mounds of a kind common to nomadic cultures, as well as various locations used as temporary camps and rest-sites, rather than permanent habitation. These nomads, speakers of the Proto-Saukanian languages, are thought through a combination of archaeological evidence and later Saukanian mythic tradition to have practised ancestor worship, polygyny, animal and potentially human sacrifice, followed a kind of fire cult, and upheld an honour-based warrior tradition among the social elite in which wealth and glory were rewards for military enterprise. Grave goods from Proto-Saukanian burial sites contain products considered to be of domestic manufacture and foreign imports, likely from trade conducted with peoples living along the Laxad river further to the southwest. The archaeological cultures of the Proto-Saukanians are divided into the [[Kelan culture|Kelan]], [[Marash culture|Marash]], and [[Abranash culture|Abranash]] cultures, lasting 3200-2800 BC, 2800-2500 BC, and 2500-1900 BC respectively.
The Saukanians have their origins in the [[Old Tokauran]]-speaking [[wikipedia:Nomadic_pastoralism|semi-nomadic pastoralists]] who are believed to have dwelt west of and within the [[Ghuran Mountains]] prior to 800 BC. Based on evidence from later Saukanian states and civilizations, it has been possible to reconstruct an image of this Old Tokauran society. They appear to have been socially stratified, with an established ruling class of warriors, a priestly class, and then the free men and women who performed a myriad of economic roles. The Tokauran tribes were led by hereditary chiefs or kings, though it is possible some were ruled by leaders elected from within the martial caste. Councils of respected nobles served as advisors and retainers to the chief, while an assembly of the free people appears to have been convened on an irregular basis to decide matters of great importance. These institutions are indirectly attested through later, more developed forms of monarchy, republicanism, and civic participation in later periods, which bear a high degree of similarity to one another.


Commencing in the late 3rd millennium BC, [[wikipedia:4.2-kiloyear_event|severe climate change]] saw the expansion of the northern Thrismari desert into the Proto-Saukanian grasslands, near the end of the Abranash culture. Increasing food scarcity caused by the gradual disappearance of grazing land forced the Proto-Saukanians into a southward migration. The inhabitants of the Laxad river valley at this time were also coming under stress, as aridification reduced the amount of arable land to smaller and more distantly spread oases situated in suitable microclimates along the river's course. The [[Lower Laxad River culture]] began developing stronger fortifications in its significant settlements from the beginning of this environmental stress phase, which alongside an increased number of weapon finds and an increase of male skeletons with healed and unhealed trauma, strongly suggests an increase in inter-communal violence.
By the 9th century BC, the [[Sauka Valley Civilization]] (SVC) was in decline, after over a millennium of prosperity. The cause of decline for this enigmatic civilization are as mysterious as their rise, though an increasingly arid environment is thought to have played a role, harming their agricultural-focused economy. Within the same century commences the earliest archaeological evidence for Tokauran migration into present-day Saukania. This [[Black Band Ware culture]] (BBW) continued for several centuries, diversifying as it expanded outward. The Tokauran migration is thought to have comprised of several waves, with later movements driving the initial waves further out. Whether this movement constitutes an "invasion" of the SVC, or was responsible for its end, is controversial. Some scholars hypothesise that early, smaller waves of Tokaurans were largely assimilated into the SVC, with their elites potentially employed as mercenaries or auxiliaries, and their pastoralist economy used to supplement the declining wealth potential of the native farming economy. This assimilation may be the basis for SVC cultural influence in later Saukanian civilizations, with the secondary waves of Tokaurans assimilating their culturally modified kin back into their own cultural and social spheres.


Proto-Saukanian invaders arriving at this time engaged in conflict with various communities of the LLR culture for access to grazing land, and these conflicts may have entered Saukanian oral tradition as mythologised wars and events. Burials of men and women bearing intrusive haplogroups also indicate that a number of the Proto-Saukanian arrivals may have settled with LLR communities, perhaps taken captive after losing a fight, or exchanging military and economic services for uniting their communities. Successive waves of migration and invasion eventually saw the merging of the LLR and Abranash cultures, as the Proto-Saukanians took control of the lower Laxad river region by 1900 BC. Male Abranash haplogroups become much more dominant in burial finds in the prior century, with native LLR male haplogroups largely disappearing over time. Whether by force, peaceful integration, or a combination of both, the pastoralists appear to have emerged dominant in the new social scene, and subsequently monopolised access to females. The already highly stratified society of the Abranash culture compared to the relatively more egalitarian LLR communities may have factored into this successful bid for power. The later Saukanian institution of patronage and clienthood may have primitive roots in the Abranash culture as well.
Other scholars argue for a conquest theory, arguing that the decline in large urban areas (both in quantity and in actual geographical size) was the consequence of warfare, with Tokauran invaders razing large settlements and forcing a dispersal of the SVC population to smaller, more widely dispersed settlements. These peoples then supposedly became sedentary vassals to the Tokaurans, who slowly assimilated the SVC population through their complex patron-client network and dissemination of their religion and cultural practises.


Many of the Proto-Saukanians, by now diversifying in their own ways, combined their pastoralist lifestyle with the agricultural activities of the LLR culture. 1900-1200 BC is known as the [[Karthite Saukania|Karthite civilization]], named for a [[Karth (Saukania)|ruined ancient urban complex]] in southern Saukania. The Karthites developed over centuries from scattered tribes and villages in the Laxad oases into fortified and centralised urban states. Many other Proto-Saukanian tribes and clans however continued to practise the traditional pastoralist nomadic lifestyle, and likely came into conflict with their settled kin. Towards the end of the Karthite period, Saukanian goods, architectural styles, and other cultural hallmarks appear further up along the Laxad river, likely as a result of Karthite colonisation and expansion. Fragmented written records appear for the first time from this early Saukanian civilization, including personal names, the names of deities, and titles. Most deciphered fragments concern themselves with commerce and the economy of the urban centres. A severe drought at the end of this period c. 1250 BC is believed to have caused the decline of the Karthite period, resulting in what is called the [[Post-Karthite Saukania|Post-Karthite period]]. A number of formerly significant sites become abandoned, and are not resettled again for several centuries or in several cases ever. Destruction layers found at some, but not all, Karthite sites is taken by some Saukanologists as evidence of conflict between the declining sedentary states of the Laxad and the pastoralist nomadic Saukanians. It is postulated that the drought triggered a second major wave of Saukanian nomadic migration, leading to conquest and ethnic replacement of many of the settled Saukanian cities by their more warlike kin, as well as a continuation of migration along the Laxad to its sources in the Ghuran Mountains.
Whatever the case, the Tokauran tribes spread throughout the northwest [[Argan Basin]], occupying most habitable land in modern Saukania by the end of the 6th century BC. The [[Sauka River|Sauka valley]] itself became the centre of the BBW and the succeeding [[Sauka-Ardash culture]] (SAc), and was potentially a core vector for the movement of Tokauran tribes. The individual tribes became associated with individual territories as the migration period came to an end, and neighbouring or closely-related tribes began forming unions that would become the basis of the classical city-states and kingdoms. As these realms developed in the Sauka, [[Kria River|Kria]], and [[Apria River|Apria]] valleys, they became more regionally distinctive, laying the foundation for the civilizations of Saukiana, [[Kriana]], and [[Apriana]] respectively. Urbanization commenced again for the first time since the SVC from approximately 450 BC, as the Tokauran ruling classes centralised their rule in fortified strongholds and strategic centres, attracting trade and specialist crafts.


=== Classical period ===
=== Classical period ===
<s>In the 9th century BC, the Saukanians began their classical history, known as the Proto-Epic period. Wielding iron weapons and tools, the 'black metal' as it was locally known, powerful city-kingdoms were forged by the Saukanians along both banks of the Laxad, the Rhona, the rivers of the southwest, and the northern shore of the Argan Sea. A handful of these, possessing larger populations and more warriors, quickly became dominant over their neighbours, and set themselves up as the capitals of 'nations' ruling indirectly over neighbouring cities. Many Saukanians continued to remain nomadic, though their influence was checked by the increasingly sophisticated and warlike iron kingdoms, whose chariot-borne warrior aristocracy proved itself more than a match for the desert hordes in direct combat. The nomads quickly adapted, and different groups offered their services as mercenaries or caravan guards, or enriched themselves through hit-and-run attacks on villages and outlying towns.</s>
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<s>Literacy from the Proto-Epic period is limited, but rises in the Epic period itself. This later phase of the Saukanian classical era, beginning 550 BC, is named for the written recording of oral epics and legends, which are the dominant forms of literature until 400 BC, when administrative, economic, and military sources become more abundant. From 150 BC, the kingdom of Turshor rose to prominence in southern Saukania, from its heartland on the coast of the Argan Sea. Having overcome its primary rival Kula in a series of [[Kula-Turshor Wars|wars]], it was able to force many rival cities along the lower Laxad and near the Ghuran Mountains into vassalage. Indirect hegemony over all of Saukania was established in 85 BC, when [[Ithor plar Nushte]], the king of Turshor, defeated Khodanean king [[Tarxi plar Beder]] at the [[Battle of Gola]]. The Turshor Hegemony lasted until 102 AD, when an alliance of Acha, Khodan, and Mardasar defeated Turshor in the field at [[Battle of Ladath|Ladath]], resulting in a number of its vassals rising up in rebellion.</s>
 
<s>No new hegemony was established by the kingdoms, however, as a new wave of drying conditions saw drought, famine, and disease reduce the populations of all major Saukanian states, enabling the rise of a coalition of nomadic powers.</s>


=== Middle Ages ===
=== Middle Ages ===
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===Symbols===
===Symbols===
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===Naming conventions===
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===Riverfaring===
<s>The [[Laxad river|Laxad]] and [[Rhona river|Rhona]] rivers of Saukania have long been the lifeblood of Saukanian civilization. Those cities and communities that dwell on its banks or watered plains are known as Laxadites and Rhonaites respectively. Navigable rivers for much of their course, these riparian Saukanians have developed a curious niche as riverfarers in a desert, and have for millennia used the waterways of the desert as a highway of trade, communication, and war. The Laxad empties into the Argan Sea, an inland body of water that is the receptacle of much of the Saukanian drainage area. Piracy was common in the Laxad and Rhona all throughout recorded history, though it has been largely eliminated in the last century.</s>
<s>In modern times, these rivers still serve as a highway of trade, and ships with engines naturally prove more capable at pushing upstream than pre-modern vessels.</s>
<s>The rivers of the Ghuran mountain valleys and foothills that do not join the Laxad are only partially navigable in stretches, limiting the importance of these waterways beyond their use in irrigation. The inhabitants of the Ghuranian high and lowlands are less familiar with water navigation than the dwellers of the Laxad and Rhona.</s>
===Nomadism===
<s>Approximately 2 million people still live a nomadic lifestyle in Saukania. This includes semi-nomads, who have permanent yet not-continuously occupied dwellings, where they grow crops in alternate seasons to animal pasture. The true nomads have no fixed residence, migrating seasonally from pasture to pasture. Typically nomadic groups will travel to the same sites every year, and every group has a recognised pasture area. Times of drought or other hardship can sometimes lead to competition for available grazing, and violence between nomadic communities.</s>
<s>The nomads often see themselves as keeping to the Old Way, though in truth they are as varied between themselves as they are from their settled cousins. Little of the earlier history of nomadic groups is known, as they are generally illiterate and their oral histories comprise part of the wider Saukanian mythology, making it difficult to tell what is fact or folklore. Nevertheless it is well known that these groups descend essentially in an unbroken line from the original Proto-Saukanian nomadic pastoralists who arrived in or invaded Old Saukania over the 3rd millennium BC, and that they have continued that traditional lifestyle of movement ever since, though typically within the confines of Saukanian cultural influence. Nomadic groups have at times throughout history launched incursions or invasions into neighbouring, non-Saukanian lands, either to raid and plunder or seeking new pastures for their herds.</s>
<s>More often than not, relations between the nomads and the villages they frequent in and around the deserts are cordial. Trade is common between the two, exchanging goods the others produce for what they cannot make themselves. Manure from the nomadic herds are often sought as fertiliser by farmers, and so it is quite common for nomads to graze their herds in non-farmland nearby to the villages. Tensions however can and do flare up and may result in violence in times of economic or environmental hardship, or as the result of real or perceived insults and offences between the two groups. Northern nomads in particular are stereotyped and feared for a reputation for kidnapping women and girls, and are historically less diplomatic than nomads from central or southern Saukania.</s>
<s>The nomadic groups have representation in the Confederation, and are free to follow their own laws in their own communities, but are obligated to respect the law of the land in any settlement they arrive at. Simultaneously, anyone who enters the camp of a nomadic community is deemed consenting to abide by their laws and customs. In the last century it is thought that nearly half a million nomads have abandoned their way of life and settled down, either as individuals or groups.</s>


===Society===
===Society===
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==Physical appearance and genetics==
==Physical appearance and genetics==
A phenotypical study from 2002 assessing hair and eye colour of the Saukanian people showed that the self-reported frequencies according to hair and eye colour categories was as follows: 217 individuals – hair colour, 34 [[wikipedia:Blond|blond]], 62 dark blond/[[wikipedia:Brown_hair|light brown]], 68 [[wikipedia:Brown_hair|dark brown]], 23 brown red/[[wikipedia:Auburn_hair|auburn]] and 30 had [[wikipedia:Black_hair|black hair]]; eye colour, 86 with blue, 21 with green,  and 110 had brown eye colour. Curly hair is quite common.
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In general the Saukanians are a tall people, with an average male height of 5 feet 11 inches, and an average female height of 5 feet 3 1⁄2 inches. Heights vary however between different populations of Saukania, such as region, settled or nomadic lifestyle, and even class, making the mean average of questionable reliability in an insightful assessment. In addition to being tall, Saukanians are also typically quite lean. This is especially true for the nomads and rural settled people, whose more active lifestyle of movement, herding, and farm work burns calories. Obesity is uncommon. The height disparity between males and females is also variable, though on average quite high, due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
 
In skin tone Saukanians vary from light to bronzed, and generally have a warm complexion. As in most populations, Saukanian females are lighter than males, further exacerbated in many communities by men engaging in fieldwork and other outdoor activity, with women keeping more to housework and indoor activity.
 
Along with eye and hair colour, these differences are thought likely due to variations in genetic ancestry from the indigenous Pre-Saukanian agriculturalists and the pastoralist Proto-Saukanians. DNA studies have revealed a wide variety in [[wikipedia:Autosome|autosomal DNA]] heritage among modern Saukanians, with some having close to 50-50 ancestry and others having majority Pre-Saukanian ancestry. Saukanian nomads have the highest overall ancient pastoralist ancestry. The overwhelming majority of modern Saukanian [[wikipedia:Human_Y-chromosome_DNA_haplogroup|Y-DNA haplogroups]] originate from the ancient pastoral invader communities, as indigenous male lines were largely replaced. Saukanian [[wikipedia:Human_mitochondrial_DNA_haplogroup|mitochondrial DNA lineages]] are far more varied, indicating [[wikipedia:Interethnic_marriage|interbreeding]] between males of the pastoral invaders and females of the indigenous agriculturalists. [[wikipedia:Polygyny|Polygyny]] among the Proto-Saukanian elite may have driven bands of males to seek wives in foreign lands, either by peaceful intermarriage or [[wikipedia:Raptio|violence]]. Many Saukanologists believe this constituted the first of the migratory waves, with the secondary and tertiary waves bringing a greater number of Saukanian females and complete family units, bringing further mixing to an already hybridized pool.


==Notable people==
==Notable people==
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Latest revision as of 10:49, 23 November 2024

Saukanians
Tokaura
Languages
Saukanian
Religion
Predominantly Saukanian polytheism
Sizeable Buddhist minority
Smaller Christian and Muslim minorities

The Saukanians, also known as the Tokaurans, are a broad ethnocultural complex native to the country of Saukania.

Originating from a synthesis of nomadic Tokauran pastoralists with indigenous sedentary agriculturalists of the Sauka Valley Civilization, the Saukanians emerge as a distinct culture between 800-500 BC. The aridity of Saukania combined with its formidable physical geography led to significant differences among Saukanian populations, and the emergence of distinct ethnic identities. Of these, the ancient civilization of Saukiana, which derives its name from the Sauka River, is the source of the modern exonym "Saukanian". The Saukanians continue to identify themselves and one another as Tokauran, which has a primarily ethnolinguistic and ethnocultural as opposed to a political meaning. As a result, it is disputed as to whether the Saukanians constitute a "nation", an "ethnic group", or a "panethnicity". Tokauran identitarianism became stronger in the 19th and 20th centuries, coinciding with the founding of the Saukanian Alliance.

Today, Saukanians are largely limited to the territory of the Alliance, which is typically synonymous with the toponym "Saukania" as a geographical area. The Saukanian diaspora is much smaller than the Saukanian population of the Alliance, which is predominantly inhabited by those who identify as Tokauran. Tokauran peoples that once lived to their potential Urheimat west and south of the modern Alliance have long since been assimilated into neighbouring populations.

Regional Saukanian identity is complex. Saukiana, alongside Apriana and Kriana, continue to describe geographic subdivisions of Saukania and function as demonyms for their inhabitants. However, the traditional organisation of most Saukanians into politically independent city-states is a more relevant identity for Saukanian individuals, who are more likely to define themselves as Kulean, Khodanian, or Tushanian, than as an Aprianian or even a Saukanian or Tokauran. Among the population of Tokauran nomads, identity is more predominantly tribal and clan-based, a trait shared with a number of smaller Tokauran ethnic populations living in the isolated valleys of Ghuran Mountains. The diversity of economic lifestyles and methods of identification among the Saukanians have further complicated study of their people as a group.

The Saukanians speak a group of closely related languages called the Saukanian languages. Their mutual intelligibility lies somewhere along an areal spectrum, in that distinct dialects close to one another will be more intelligible to each other than to another pair of dialects further away. Regarding their own languages as Tokaura, they merely differentiate regional variations as branches of the same tree, and so speaking a Saukanian language, even one difficult for another Saukanian to understand, remains a core marker of Saukanian identity. In general, following the geography of Saukania, dialects can be classified at both a city-state level and a wider regional level. Religion has also historically played a significant role in Tokauran identity. To be Tokaura was to honour the same gods, performing the same rites, and following the same customs. This is a source of tension for modern Saukanians, most of whom follow their traditional religion, but with significant religious minorities of Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims. Some classify followers of these foreign religions as fundamentally non-Tokauran (aratokaura), regardless of their lineage or language.

Despite all regional variations and identities, there are some common cultural threads uniting the Saukanian city-states and peoples. A high regard for personal and familial honour permeates their society, with adherence to an informal code that mandates hospitality, generosity, courage, and retaliation. Blood feuds are a common phenomenon especially in mountainous regions or among nomadic communities. The cultural emphasis on family manifests as a patriarchal patron-client system with strict gender norms and a culture of vertical reciprocity, similar to a feudal system, where noble families and clans dominate politically with the support of a network of 'vassals' and clients. Many holidays and festivals are common to the majority of Saukanians, and cultural facets such as cuisine and fashion are broadly similar with regional deviations and innovations.

Name

The name "Tokaura" is an ancient self-designation of the Saukanian peoples. Its etymology has no consensus, but leading theories suggest either "those who speak the same language" (supported by the identity's continued linguistic relevance) or "bright".

After settling in modern Saukania, several distinct Tokauran civilizations emerged. One of these was concentrated along the Sauka River, and is known to modern historians as Saukiana. This Saukiana is the origin of the name Saukania and the demonym Saukanian. While they are thus of Saukanian linguistic origin, they are not themselves Saukanian designations. Their use commenced from the latter half of the 2nd millennium, likely due to the disproportionate cultural influence and political power held by states in Saukiana, gradually becoming a synecdoche for the wider region of Tokauran-speakers, and finally a synonym.

History

Origins and early history

The Saukanians have their origins in the Old Tokauran-speaking semi-nomadic pastoralists who are believed to have dwelt west of and within the Ghuran Mountains prior to 800 BC. Based on evidence from later Saukanian states and civilizations, it has been possible to reconstruct an image of this Old Tokauran society. They appear to have been socially stratified, with an established ruling class of warriors, a priestly class, and then the free men and women who performed a myriad of economic roles. The Tokauran tribes were led by hereditary chiefs or kings, though it is possible some were ruled by leaders elected from within the martial caste. Councils of respected nobles served as advisors and retainers to the chief, while an assembly of the free people appears to have been convened on an irregular basis to decide matters of great importance. These institutions are indirectly attested through later, more developed forms of monarchy, republicanism, and civic participation in later periods, which bear a high degree of similarity to one another.

By the 9th century BC, the Sauka Valley Civilization (SVC) was in decline, after over a millennium of prosperity. The cause of decline for this enigmatic civilization are as mysterious as their rise, though an increasingly arid environment is thought to have played a role, harming their agricultural-focused economy. Within the same century commences the earliest archaeological evidence for Tokauran migration into present-day Saukania. This Black Band Ware culture (BBW) continued for several centuries, diversifying as it expanded outward. The Tokauran migration is thought to have comprised of several waves, with later movements driving the initial waves further out. Whether this movement constitutes an "invasion" of the SVC, or was responsible for its end, is controversial. Some scholars hypothesise that early, smaller waves of Tokaurans were largely assimilated into the SVC, with their elites potentially employed as mercenaries or auxiliaries, and their pastoralist economy used to supplement the declining wealth potential of the native farming economy. This assimilation may be the basis for SVC cultural influence in later Saukanian civilizations, with the secondary waves of Tokaurans assimilating their culturally modified kin back into their own cultural and social spheres.

Other scholars argue for a conquest theory, arguing that the decline in large urban areas (both in quantity and in actual geographical size) was the consequence of warfare, with Tokauran invaders razing large settlements and forcing a dispersal of the SVC population to smaller, more widely dispersed settlements. These peoples then supposedly became sedentary vassals to the Tokaurans, who slowly assimilated the SVC population through their complex patron-client network and dissemination of their religion and cultural practises.

Whatever the case, the Tokauran tribes spread throughout the northwest Argan Basin, occupying most habitable land in modern Saukania by the end of the 6th century BC. The Sauka valley itself became the centre of the BBW and the succeeding Sauka-Ardash culture (SAc), and was potentially a core vector for the movement of Tokauran tribes. The individual tribes became associated with individual territories as the migration period came to an end, and neighbouring or closely-related tribes began forming unions that would become the basis of the classical city-states and kingdoms. As these realms developed in the Sauka, Kria, and Apria valleys, they became more regionally distinctive, laying the foundation for the civilizations of Saukiana, Kriana, and Apriana respectively. Urbanization commenced again for the first time since the SVC from approximately 450 BC, as the Tokauran ruling classes centralised their rule in fortified strongholds and strategic centres, attracting trade and specialist crafts.

Classical period

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Middle Ages

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Early modern period

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Modern period

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Contemporary period

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Definition and identity

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Culture

Language

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Religion

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Arts

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Symbols

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Society

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Physical appearance and genetics

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Notable people

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