Gylic peoples

Gylic peoples

Total population
c. 15 million (2020)
Regions with significant populations
Tyran
Languages
Gylic languages
Religion
Concordianism and other ethnic religions

Gylic peoples are an ethnolinguistic group who speak the various Gylic languages.

Proto-Gylic peoples originated in Siduri and other locations some time between the 10th and 7th millennia BCE. They relocated to south-east Siduri as a result of pressure and expansionism from the emergence of states.

Gylic peoples constitute the autochthonous population of Gylias. Most of them live within the borders of Gylias since ancient times, with a limited diaspora outside of them. Within Gylias, the Gylic peoples are classified based on geographic location, which has influenced the branches of the Gylic languages.

Most Gylics practice Concordianism, their native religious tradition, and other ethnic religions present in Gylias. Religious wars such as the Quliyasi Jihad and Xevden's adoption of a state religion have fueled deep-seated hostility against monotheistic and universalist religions.

Ethnonym

The term "Gylics" is a modern one, adopted during the Gylian ascendancy. Following the widespread adoption of "Gylias" as a term for the country and its inhabitants as a whole, "Gylic peoples" was adopted as a term for its autochthonous ethnic groups.

The Gylic peoples used various autonyms in the ancient and post-ancient eras, and there was an awareness that they shared similar languages and customs, despite differences in descent and membership of Gylic states.

Certain Tyranian countries referred to the Gylics as "Liúşaians" and similar terms in the past, derived from the name of the Liúşai League.

History

Origins

The Gylic peoples do not have a single ethnogenesis. They originated in different locations and migrated to what is now Gylias in ancient times. The nothern and western Gylics — Tanans, Rezakans, and Tomesians in particular — are of Persian descent, forming part of a continuum of peoples stretching from eastern Mansuriyyah to Gylias.

Apart from the Eşari and Dalak, who arrived by sea from an unclear origin, it is known that the majority of Gylic groups originated in Siduri and migrated to the south-east. This movement came about from pressure caused by the emergence of complex societies and states, such as Arkoenn, Tennai, and Quenmin. During the Gylian ascendancy, certain figures advanced an explicitly anarchist interpretation, seeking to root Gylic ethnogenesis in deliberate statelessness.

Settlement

A transition to settled agriculture took place between the 7th and 4th millennia BCE. By this point several Gylic groups had a well-established presence, including the Eşari and Dalak on the southern islands, and the Yaskans and Zinerans in the north.

The Yaskan control over the Mytin Pass and western plain served as a barrier for migration by land for a long time. Between the 4th and 1st millennia BCE, the Varan people emerged as a split from the Zinerans, and the first sea contacts took place, including with Cacertians and Miranians in Kirisaki.

A series of wars caused the Yaskan loss of control over the continental gateways in the 9th century BCE. This allowed other populations to settle in the region, including the Tanans, Rezakans, Tomesians, and Aréş. These groups either shared similar languages and were assimilated into the Gylic sprachbund, or were Gylicised through a process of cultural assimilation.

Federation

Gylic states that formed in antiquity were shaped by geographic and demographic factors, primarily the low population relative to the large area they had available. Most of the population concentrated around rivers and coasts. These made wars between Gylic states impractical, and influenced relations in a cooperative direction.

The Bronze Age collapse and expansionism from the Arkoennites and Ainetui sparked the formation of various alliances among the Gylic states, which were consolidated into the Liúşai League in 390 BCE.

The League successfully defended Gylic independence for over a millennium. Its maritime-oriented cultures, broad prosperity, and democratic evolution proved attractive to migrants, and various non-Gylic peoples settled in it as well, including Miranians, Hellenes, and Italians.

The League encouraged increased closeness among Gylic peoples. Aided by improved transportation and infrastructure, greater admixture among Gylics took place, helping bring the Gylic languages closer together and develop a Gylic koine language. Concordianism emerged as a fusion of various Gylic religious practices, becoming a loosely-organised and syncretic tradition that contributed to peace and mutual contact.

Subjugation

The arrival of Ŋej settlers beginning in the 17th century caused tensions and conflicts. These culminated in the Colonisation War of 1695–1704, in which the Ŋej conquered the League but lost their homeland in a separate war. Forced to take refuge in Siduri, they constituted the state of Xevden.

The Ŋej imposed themselves as an alien elite in Xevden, instituting authoritarian rule and a more feudalistic economy. The non-Ŋej populations were marginalised in private life, and turned to armed resistance. They fought against the Xevdenite state as kyðoi — bandits and guerrilla fighters — and through a series of rebellions, the most consequential being the Rebellion of 1749. The rebellion caused a palace coup, making Senalta the queen of Xevden.

Senalta negotiated the Treaty of Aðnat, which produced a tenuous peace. The Gylic and non-Gylic populations of Xevden received limited benefits, but lacked citizenship. Xevden underwent modernisation and became a constitutional monarchy. She devised a monotheist state religion, a policy which worsened tensions. Gylics and non-Gylics held on to their native religions in defiance.

National awakening

Senalta's death in 1804 allowed the Xevdenite nobility to reassert power, putting Xevden onto the path of authoritarianism, corruption, and decay. Racism and social spencerism increasingly became prevalent among the elites as a justification for Xevdenite rule.

Notably, the Xevdenites' contempt led to a focus on simply maintaing the existing order, through violence if necessary. There were no serious attempts at cultural assimilation or religious conversion.

Excluded from public life but largely ignored and dismissed by the authorities, the Gylic and non-Gylic peoples had the opportunity to undergo a national awakening in the 19th century. The Gylian ascendancy resulted in the formation of a common Gylian identity that accommodated all groups oppressed by Xevden, the spread of clandestine education, the formation of a network of mutual organisations and cooperatives, and the spread of radical political ideas, including feminism, anarchism, socialism, and communism.

The notion of Gylian identification was politicised in this period with regard to the Ŋej. The arrival of capitalism, deficient industrialisation, non-existent public services, and rampant inequality contributed to a growing rift between the elites and ordinary Ŋej. Hardening diglossia added to the divergence: common Ŋej gradually transformed into a Gylic language through relexification and grammar changes, while elite Ŋej remained conservative and elitist, and thus increasingly unintelligible. The Gylian ascendancy encouraged this language secessionism, coming to define the Ŋej as a Gylic people while the "Xevdenites" were the elites.

Independence

The Glorious Rebellion and the disastrous Cacerta-Xevden War made clear the weakness of Xevden to the region. Cacerta's victory allowed it to annex Alscia, which as a province of the Cacertian Empire became the longest-lasting Gylian polity since the Liúşai League.

Experiencing rapid economic and social development, Alscia became a centre of Gylian publishing and media. It built strong ties to the Gylian resistance inside Xevden and encouraged it, playing a key role in further disseminating and popularising radical ideas.

Xevden's disintegration entered its final stage under the rule of Karnaz. Karnaz seized autocratic power and attempted to crush the opposition, only to reveal the depths of administrative decay that Xevden had reached. The repression destroyed remaining non-elite support for Xevden, confirming the Ŋej's Gylic status. The unofficial civil war culminated in the Liberation War.

The Free Territories were proclaimed in 1938, and went on to defeat Xevden in the Liberation War. The independence of Gylias was proclaimed in 1958, and a process of transition from the Free Territories to Gylias took place, commonly seen as ending in 1962.

Classification

The Gylic peoples are traditionally classified by geographic location. The most common subdivisions are:

• North Gylics — Tanan, Yaskan, Aréş.
• South Gylics — Aðunese, Dalak, Eşari, Ŋej.
• East Gylics — Zineran, Varan.
• West Gylics — Rezakan, Tomesian, Erlan.

Various other subdivisions are possible based on geography, culture, and language. Certain groups can be considered "transitional": Erlans as South-West Gylics, Varans as South-East Gylics, or Tanans and North-West Gylics.

Languages

Proto-Gylic is the common ancestor of most of the Gylic languages. There is no consensus what language family Proto-Gylic belongs to; various connections and classifications have been proposed.

The Gylic languages are part of a language continuum. They share common sound changes, phonetic traits, and a degree of similar vocabulary. Differences between them are the result of historical evolution and influences: for example, western Gylic languages have assimilated influences from Hellene due to Hellene settlement concentrated in Elena, while eastern Gylic languages from Latin and Italian due to contacts with Cacerta.

Religion

The Gylic peoples generally practice Concordianism, a system of syncretic religious worldviews within a broadly consistent framework. There is a strong tradition of multiple religious belonging, and it is common for Gylics to practice both Concordianism and other ethnic religions.

Historical religious strife has coloured the notion of Gylic identity. The Quliyasi Jihad was perceived as alien; Gylics who converted to gain Xevdenite citizenship were perceived as no longer Gylic. This tendency was amplified during the Xevdenite era. The important role opposition to monotheism played to the new Gylian identity developed into a generalised hostility, causing monotheist adherents to flee the Free Territories during the Liberation War.

While religious tensions have subsided as mass emigration practically eliminated the presence of universalist religions, the attitude of opposing Gylic identity and such religions remains common. The converted Ŋej and other groups who fled the Free Territories are not considered Gylic, but rather belonging to the countries they relocated to, such as Megelan and Nordkrusen.

Geographic distribution

Gylias

The majority of Gylic peoples live in Gylias. As a whole they constitute a slight majority of the population, at around 60%. However, no single group by itself constitutes a majority; the largest is the Aréş, at 10% of the population.

Diaspora

Census figures generally record the number of Gylians outside Gylias; estimating the total number of Gylics among them can be difficult.

Notable countries with Gylic diasporas include Cacerta, Kirisaki, and Megelan.