Saukanians

Saukanians

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

The Saukanians, or the Tokaura, are an ethnic continuum of people native to a multitude of regions in the present-day Saukanian Alliance.

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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