Dezevaunis

Dezevaunis

dezevauni
Total population
~350 million
Regions with significant populations
Dezevau	290 million
Lavana	30 million
Mabifia	6 million
Languages
Ziba
Religion
Predominantly irreligion, Badi and Sotirianity (Solarian Catholic Church)
Related ethnic groups
Gowsa

Dezevaunis (or, as a collective noun, Dezevauni) (Ziba: dezevauni [dəzəb̪aɯni]) are an ethnic group or group of related ethnic groups, numbering about 350 million people. If counted as one, they are the second largest ethnic group in the world (after Shangeans). Dezevaunis are primarily located in Dezevau and neighbouring areas in Southeast Coius (especially Lavana) and Bahia, though there are up to twenty million in the international diaspora in Euclea and the Asterias.

Definition of Dezevauni ethnicity is complex, owing to the varying subdivisions and conceptions (or lacks thereof) that have arisen since the medieval period. Dezevauni ethnogenesis is generally considered to have occurred just prior to or during the early Aguda Empire, albeit largely from a population of already related Zibaic-speaking peoples (themselves largely descended from the Dhebinhejo Culture and immigrants thereto). From the beginning, however, the class-influenced subgroups of Juni ("city people"), Geguoni ("rural people") and Domoni ("boat people"; or jaujeni, "river people") have been primary categories of self-identification and association. The disruption caused by colonisation partially collapsed these distinctions, even as they were maintained in law and administration, leading to a nascent Dezevauni nationalism, as well as significant regionalisms (or "tribes"). The socialist Republic of Dezevau, however, came to take a consistently hard line against nationalism, known as ethnothanasia. The efficacy and meaning of this policy have been debated, while outside of Dezevau, there have been various differing ethnic identifications closely related to or part of Dezevauni, such as the Dhavonis in Lavana or gowsa ethnicities in the Arucian.

The Dezevauni ethnicity is closely associated with the Ziba language and the Badi religion, which originated with them in antiquity. However, the relationship is complicated by the use of Ziba as a koiné since the medieval period, with the widespread collapse of diglossia and primary use of Ziba as a mother tongue only occurring in the early modern period. Ziba's regional dialects may also be understood as separate languages associated with separate ethnic subgroups. Badi, also, is practiced by large non-Dezevauni populations in Southeast Coius, Bahia and beyond, although it has nonetheless been identified as a form of ethnic religion by some. Moreover, under colonisation and socialism, large portions of the Dezevauni population became Solarian Catholic Sotirian and irreligious respectively, especially in present-day Dezevau, though Badist philosophies or customs still often remain relevant. Dezevaunis are also associated with other cultural practices including the art form of goaboabanga and cuisine such as xxx.

Terminology

In Estmerish (and many other Euclean languages), "Dezevauni" is both the commonly used name for the ethnicity as well as the most common demonym for the present-day country of Dezevau. These are different meanings that may be distinguished by referring to the former as "ethnically Dezevauni", or some variation thereon.

The word derives from the Ziba dezevauni, formed from the words dezevau (the country, and historically, the region) and ni, meaning people. In Ziba, dezevauni may be used in both senses as well, but the unambiguous terms are more recognised and commonly used than in Estmerish. The dezevaunazio (nazio coming from Gaullican nation) refers to the concept of Dezevauni ethnicity (especially connotating Euclean notions of nationalism), while dezevaubogani refers to people of dezevauboga, the Republic of Dezevau.

Note that owing to the nature of pluralisation in Ziba, a word ending in ni can either mean the entire collective group of people or an individual member.

History

Dhebinhejo Culture

Dezevauni culture tends to be traced back to the Dhebinhejo Culture, the earliest known agricultural society throughout much of Dezevau.

Origin of the Juni and Geguoni

The development and eventual primacy of the Juni and the Geguoni identity from and over the various mainly Zibaic peoples of Dezevau took place over a long period of time.

There is some evidence to suggest that the (theorised) influx of Proto-Zibaic speaking peoples settled in and were mainly associated with larger urban centres. In comparison, it is proposed that Geguoni and geguonhi are more continuations of the native Dhebinhejo Culture. Some medieval texts seem to refer equivocally to such a conception, while genetic studies have been inconclusive at finding any differences. Archaeologically, though there is strong evidence that immigration took place and that it resulted in changes to society, it is not possible to say whether the cities had any greater connection to the immigrants than the countryside. If anything, critics of the theory note, it is somewhat counterintuitive that less agriculturalised immigrants should have a greater influence on cities than the native agriculturalists with a long history of proto-cities. The academic shorthand name for this theory is Juni immigrationism.

The mainstream view is that in the medieval period, many of the prerequisites for Juni and Geguoni ethnogenesis were established, though the conceptions of them were not significant until later. Peace, commerce and infrastructural developments, and the accompanying migration and synchronisation of business interests brought the cities closer, culturally and politically (e.g. in the adoption of Ziba). Urbanisation, more generally, created larger urban populations with less connection to the countryside. On the other hand, coordination between the village-communes to resist the growing power of the cities became more common. This was especially as population growth increased pressures on land and on traditional village structures, as well as spurring migration. Resistance against increasingly large-scale projects like slave importation or canalbuilding may have played an important role, particularly in contexts where Geguoni sought to resist disempowerment to the extent common to the peasantry in landed empires to the north and south. The terms "Juni" and "Geguoni" are first attested in the medieval period, implying a degree of identity attached to them (as opposed to constructions amounting to "people from the city" or "people from the countryside"), but they were not commonly or primarily used.

The Aguda Empire's establishment tends to be seen as the key catalytic moment in Juni and Geguoni ethnicisation. Through its unifying conquest of the city-states, it pushed the idea very hard that it was protecting and regularising traditional political and cultural life, rather than changing it; it maintained an administrative system heavily centred on cities, with surrounding villages individually affiliated therewith. Along with its erosion of migratory and commercial barriers, its infrastructural projects (especially navigational), and generally the population growth and expansion of agricultural land it oversaw, the Aguda Empire allowed geographically disparate populations to mix and find commonality. The spread and adoption of Ziba, especially as a mother language (rather than as a high language in a diglossia) was also particularly associated with these phenomena. Moreover, as a matter of policy, it actively encouraged Juni and Geguoni identity over more regional or separatist identities, though it did not necessarily go much beyond that; an ethico-religious ideology was at the heart of the empire, rather than an ethnic one.

A different line of thinking, however, instead emphasises Juni and Geguoni ethnic identity (or, at least, Juni and Geguoni ethnic identity as they are understood today) as being more the product of colonial administrative practices. Neither Estmerish nor Gaullican authorities adopted the Aguda sense of an ecumene defined by the Badist ethos; administration was much more about where extractive practices could be imposed without resistance, about preventing cross-class or cross-ethnic resistance against colonial rule, about minimising administrative expenditure, and such. Ethnic communities were therefore circumscribed in a more essentialist, stricter way than under the Aguda Empire, and their interests could be played off against each other. This was especially the case as the traditional role of the cities was lost, resulting in both deurbanisation and deindustrialisation; Juni lost much of their distinctive class character to simply become a cultural grouping, defined essentially rather than functionally. A lack of an urbanising influx also helped to harden the boundaries between Juni and Geguoni. Indeed, in the late colonial period, anthropologists noted many identifying as Juni, living in the vicinity of the old provincial capital cities, but in circumstances where the area was no more densely populated than the surrounding Geguoni areas. This was the case even at the end of the colonial period, when administration along ethnic lines had begun to weaken or go out of fashion (owing to a rise in more general racial-scientific theories, as well as the labour needs of the military and industry).

From at least the mid-Aguda Empire, Juni and Geguoni were primary categories of ethnic identification. Meaning, respectively, "city people" and "rural people", they had significant cultural (and legal) significance, rather than merely signifying the inhabitants of particular areas. Juni were most closely connected to the city-states or Aguda provincial capitals, having such practices and rights as presence at plenary city councils (buaga) and more complex social stratification. The central social structure of Geguoni life was the village-commune, which maintained autonomy in its dealings with neighbours and cities, and which pooled and distributed its land and resources among its members.

Juni were generally the native inhabitants of the main cities of city-states or Aguda provinces, and had accompanying political rights, such as presenting and being vocal at plenary council (buaga), and being within the city walls. They had greater stratification in social organisation, including prominently professional guilds. Juni tended to use Ziba to a greater extent than Geguoni, though diglossia (with Ziba as the high language) was common from the medieval period onwards.

Geguoni had the village-commune as the central institution of their social organisation, and were substantially matriarchal. Their practices included communal childrearing and differing, less institutional forms of Badi. Geguoni villages generally had an exclusive contract or link to a city-state or provincial city for protection and the exchange of goods, but at the same time, Geguoni defended their lands and status fiercely (such as against canalbuilding or slavery), through coordinated military action or embargo at times.

Domoni ("boat people") emerged later, perhaps analogously, being the (often) nomadic inhabitants of the waterways and marginal or liminal lands. The alternative name and endonym Jaujeni ("river people") contributed to the sense of legitimacy beside the Juni and Geguoni. The main unit of Domoni social organisation was the boat-household, though generally they had fluid social organisation and an egalitarian culture, perhaps the result of accepting many outcasts from the other two groups.

The concept of the Juni-Geguoni division is ancient, but it is hard to pinpoint exactly when they became as much ethnic as class identifiers (if one even accepts that contention). In any case, along with the Domoni, they were functional and recognised divisions by the late Aguda Empire, and were administratively preserved by later Euclean colonial governments, though traditional boundaries and roles were eroded by colonial rule.

In contemporary Dezevau, the significance of the tripartite division has been eroded not only by ethnic policy but by massive urbanisation. However, it is only for some in the youngest generations that the distinction has lost significance entirely; most adults still retain an awareness of their background, and demographic differences (or their traces) can be observed within cities still.

Ethnothanasia

Main article: Ethnothanasia

Distribution

The majority of Dezevaunis (more than three quarters) are located in Dezevau. There are about 290 million in Dezevau (comprising around 90% of the country's population) and around 60 million elsewhere.

Within Dezevau, Dezevaunis are the majority throughout the country, except for in the far southeast, which is predominantly ethnically Pelangi, and in the far northwest, which has minorities of Kexris and other smaller groups.

Outside of Dezevau, most Dezevaunis are adjacent—there are about 30 million in Lavana, mostly in the north, closer to Dezevau, and about 6 million in Mabifia, mainly in the southeast, which also abuts Dezevau. There are also smaller minorities established in Surubon (about a million, or 2% of the country's population), Capuria and Hacyinia.

There is a significant overseas ethnic Dezevauni diaspora, of up to twenty million; definition is difficult due to complexities around ethnic identification of gowsas, who by most accounts count for the majority of the diaspora (up to 15 million).

Around two thirds of gowsa descendants are in the Asterias, both in destination countries such as Satucin, Aucuria, Carucere and Imagua, as well as in primarily remigratory destinations such as Cassier, Rizealand and Eldmark. The other third are largely in Estmere and Gaullica, the metropoles of the empires that facilitated gowsa migration.

A further few million Dezevaunis are emigrants or descendants thereof from after the Great War. They are located mainly in Estmere, Gaullica and the developed parts of Asteria Superior.

Notably, the Dezevaunis in Amathia are a recognised minority, the result of the Amathian Equalist Republic (later the South Euclean People's Republic) inviting workers from Dezevau. There are more than 300,000 of them, around 1% of the population of Amathia today, making Amathia the country with the third-most Dezevaunis in Euclea.

Subgroups

Juni, Geguoni and Jaujeni

Main articles: Juni, Geguoni, and Domoni

Juni, Geguoni and Domoni are the primary Dezevauni ethnicities. They are themselves further divided into subcultures, known as tribes or terroirs. Juni means "city people", Geguoni "rural people" and Domoni "boat people" (Jaujeni, an alternative name, means "river people"). Historically, the groups were associated with particular environments, activities and legal statuses; they have been analysed by some as castes or ethnoclasses. Today, such distinctions are no longer significant, while developments such as the policy of ethnothanasia mean that the distinction between the groups is being eroded altogether.

Gowsa and diaspora

Gowsas were workers who were contracted and transported from the Aguda Empire to work in Euclean colonies (mainly the Estmerish and Gaullican), primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries after the abolition(s) of slavery. There were close to two million of them, mainly working in manual labour-intensive industries such as agriculture, mining, construction and logging. Records are sparse on how many of them returned home after their contracts expired, but many stayed in their destinations and produced descendants. Most gowsas were Geguoni, though a large minority of Estmerish gowsas were Kabuese. Very few were Juni or Domoni.

The ethnicity of gowsa descendants is a complex topic. In different parts of the world, different developments occurred.

Most frequently, some degree of ethnogenesis occurred among the gowsas and their descendants, such as with the Gosans of Carucere or the Coian-Imaguans of Imagua—this tended to be combined with intermixture with other Coian immigrant populations. These new ethnicities nonetheless still often consciously retained links to their ancestry, such influences from Ziba dialects, or the Badi religion, and some still do, though the trend is of increasing assimilation.

On the other hand, in other cases, a more-or-less Dezevauni identity was retained (or created), such as in Vinalia and Nuvania; accordingly, ethnic distinctions tended to be preserved for other groups (e.g. Lavanan-Vinalians and Kabuese-Nuvanians). In some sense, such identities were prototype sites for the development of Dezevauni nationalism along Euclean lines (as opposed to as an Aguda meta-category). Where such communities survived, they tend to blend into communities of later non-gowsa migrants. It may, nonetheless, be anachronistic to say that gowsas or their descendants were generally ethnically Dezevauni, even if some now identify that way.

In comparison, there is much less ambiguity about the ethnicity of postwar emigrants. Though some may prefer to identify as Dezevauni, others as Geguoni, Juni or Domoni, and a few even by tribe, there is clarity that the terms all refer to their recent roots in (or near) Dezevau. The postwar diaspora is not generally considered ethnically distinct in the way that gowsa descendant communities sometimes are.

It should be noted that though the word gauza ("bitter", referring to the difficulty and onerousness of such journeys) is still used to refer to overseas migration (and by extension diasporic communities), it does not mean that there is necessarily an equivalence between such populations and gowsas per se.