Erani-Eracurans

A possible origin point and migration pattern of the Erani-Eracuran people.

The Erani-Eracurans were a prehistoric ethnolinguistic people who spoke the Early-Erani-Eracuran Language (EEE); the ancestor to the Erani-Eracuran language family that is forms the largest language family in Tyran.

The Erani-Eracurans most likely originated in central Siduri and were a continental people, lacking root words for "boat" and "sea". While their exact homeland is uncertain, the most likely candidate would by the steppes of southern Arkoenn, forming sometime around 5,000 BCE. By 4,000 BCE they had spread out across Siduri and crossed the Sundering Sea into Eracura. The Erani-Eracurans quickly became the dominant linguistic group in Eracura by 2,000 BCE, the most prominent being the proto-Nordic/Gothic tribes that would eventually form the Acreans, Shalumites, Æsthurlavs, Delkorans, and Dellirians. Sometime prior or concurrent to this the more sea-faring of the Erani-Eracurans split off and went west and east, the former likely moving north-west to the Arzells, and eventually Ossoria, while the others went east to settle Meᵹelan and Cacerta.

An alternate theory posits that the Erani-Eracurans originated in southern/central Eracura, before migrating south across the Sundering to Siduri. This would explain the relative scarcity of Erani-Eracuran languages in Siduri, which are only naturally dominant in Syara and Gylias, the latter which has become intermixed with a variety of different language families due to immigration. Nonetheless substantial numbers of Erani-Eracuran language family speakers reside in Tennai and Mansuriyyah. Concrete proof of the origin of the Erani-Eracurans is virtually impossible to discover with complete verification. As nomads they left little behind for archeologists to discover, leaving historians to deduce their origin based on estimations of language evolution and migration patterns neither of which can be accurately measured to a credible degree of certainty.

The Erani-Eracurans likely succeeded due to their early domestication of the horse, which allowed for easier and faster travel across large distances. Determining what paths the Erani-Eracurans took in their migrations, or long the migrations lasted, can only be estimated. This also holds true for the rate by which their language diverged; it is estimated by around 4,000-3,500 BCE the Early-Erani-Eracuran language had splintered into multiple groups. The largest of these was likely the proto-Nordic family, which settled western and eastern Eracura. Proto-Ossrai/Cacertian split and diverged in different directions around 2,000 BCE. Proto-Svinian/Syaran emerged around 2,500 BCE, splitting from Proto-Siluan and migrated into south-west Eracura.

In Siduri two primary groups emerged, the proto-Erani/Ridevan and proto-Khotoi/Hayren. The Erani and Rideva split off between 3,000-2,500 BCE, the Erani settling central Siduri and Mansuriyyah, while the proto-Rideva settled around modern day south-west Tennai. The ancient inhabitants of Gylias are believed to have split off the proto-Erani roughly around the same time frame as the Rideva, but the exact nature of this departure and subsequent linguistic evolution remains a contested topic among Gylian historians. The Khotoi and Hayren split early on after arriving in Siduri, with the Khotoi settling west of the Kurilla Mountains in modern-day Ruvelka, while the Hayren spread out across south-western Siduri, including in some parts of Nalaya. Despite their relative infrequency in Siduri, the Erani-Eracurans were highly successful. The Erani would inspire and form many empires, arguably the most prominent being the Sardaranian Empire which dominated most of western and central Siduri throughout the 1st Millennia BCE. The Khotoi would split off into several tribes, the most prominent being the Aleitians, from whom would descend the Makedonians. The Rideva would eventually form their own empire, and from 200 BCE - 1200 CE most of Siduri would be controlled by groups descended from the Erani-Eracurans.

Despite their immense impact of history, little is known for certain about the Erani-Eracurans; their entire existence is only known based on linguistical studies of their daughter languages. The Erani-Eracurans left no distinct writings of their own, and as a nomadic people their archeological remains are rare. Much of their culture remains a mystery beyond their knowledge of agriculture and domestication of the horse. The history of the Erani-Eracurans remains limited and is often supported by circumstantial evidence and assumptions on the part of linguists and historians. There remains a great deal of academic debate and controversy over certain aspects of the Erani-Eracurans, such as the link between the Khotoi and Hayren peoples. Another ongoing debates centers on the Ruvelkan language and its possible relationship to the Erani-Eracuran family, which has not been established to any significant scientific consensus.