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==History==
===Prehistory and Ancient History===
The region which now contains Alva has been inhabited by hominid life for millions of years. Elves as well as humans, lupines, and vulpines have existed in northern Yasteria since prehistory. While the exact time and location of the first elven civilizations is disputed, it is known that inland north-east central Yasteria was predominately populated by elves by the mid-to-late Neolithic period. Inscriptions on stone tablets and in pottery as early as 3400 BC feature a kind of proto-writing that is today called the Urgabom Script, named after the city in what is now Alva where it was first discovered. Urgabom Script is the first script known to be created by elves, although it has not yet been translated and scholars disagree on whether it truly encodes a language. The Urgabom Script Civilization is believed to have begun to build urban-like settlements before a drought or other disaster severely reduced the population sometime around 2500 BC.
While there was always elven habitation of the region, none of the people there used writing for several centuries after the Urgabom Script writers disappeared. Instead, a largely nomadic society arose, with small tribes moving across the steppes with grazing livestock such as goats and cattle. It was not until more than a thousand years later, in approximately 1200 BC, that
[[File:GenghisKhan&BörteGenghisKhanEquestrianMonument.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Wax figures of Gunghris Khan and wife in the National Historical Museum in Alvakot. Gunghris was famous for taking human wives from lands he conquered.]]
By approximately 800 BC, texts found in what is now [[Packlivania]] refer to "the tribes of Alva," and a leaders who were known by the title "Kaan." This date is used by most international historians to date the first formalized Khanate of Alva. The title of Khan was believed to be martial in nature, rather than hereditary, which whichever chief who was able to marshal enough support among other tribes gaining the title. In this era, there were typically multiple Khans, with one Khan gathering power in one particular region and engaging in hostilities against other Khans. Power tended to fluctuate between tribes in the more arid west and the tribes on the east near the sea. While tribes in both areas were nomadic in nature, the tribes in the east tended to move between established settlements on a seasonal schedule, whereas the tribes in the west rarely settled in the same location more than once. The west, while less populous, had one resource the east lacked: horses. Wild stallions are native to eastern Alva, and the warriors of the eastern Alvan tribes were famous for their connection to and skill with their horses. Alvan archers were known worldwide for their ability to shoot while on horseback.
Internal conflict among the Alvan tribes was the norm for much of early Alvan history. However, in the fifth century AD, a siege by united western tribes reached the coast near what is now Urgabom and managed to secure power over the area relatively permanently under one single Khan for the entire state. This began what is known as the Western Dynasty period, which lasted for seven hundred years, in which the formerly disparate west and east began to see their cultures merge. The title of Khan began to be hereditary, and the western tribes adopted the eastern tradition of moving seasonally between established settlements. In turn, the horse culture of the west was adopted by the east. Additionally, a formal bureaucracy began to form, inspired by systems of government from other areas such as Packlivania. By the 12th century AD, with the unity of Alva secured, Alva began to turn its attention outward.
===The Alvan Empire===
In 1125, a succession crisis arose when the Khan at the time had neither sons nor brothers to assume the throne after his death. A brief civil war ensued among various competing bases of power, but it was won very quickly by a young chief from the north known as Temuj who would assume the title Khan of all Alva in 1128. As Khan, he would use the name ''Gunghris'' and is often recorded in history by the name Gunghris Khan. This ended the Western Dynasty period and began a period known as the Gunghris Khanate. During the lifetime of Gunghris Khan, Alva would expand across central Yasteria, reaching the western border of Packlivania by 1175. Gunghris Khan died in 1199 and was succeeded by his son, who was called Tugri Khan.
[[File:Alvan empire.png|left|thumb|300px|The Alvan Empire at its peak extent, shortly before the death of Tugri Khan in 1254.]]
Under Tugri Khan, Alva expanded both to the west and the south, conquering territory on both coasts of the Sea of Alva and as far south as what is now [[Pyrovalia]]. Upon his assumption of the title of Khan, Tugri proclaimed that his lands would be known as the Alvan Empire. In addition to martially expanding the borders of the state to their largest extent, he also emphasized literacy and education among the population, not just among the bureaucratic elite. He also proclaimed that people living in conquered territories would have freedom of religion and that so long as they agreed to Alvan rule, they would be allowed full rights of citizenship. However, there were some among the leadership of the Empire who felt that Tugri was taking the people away from their traditional culture, as Tugri encouraged the establishment of permanent settlements in the Alvan homeland just as he saw in conquered territories. The city of Urgabom, a name meaning "rich port," was established by Tugri Khan in 1234. Tugri would eventually be assassinated by members of his royal guard in 1254, and the Empire would fracture with power going to five of Tugri's sons after his death.
From the 13th century onward, there would regularly be Alvan raids in central Yasteria as Alvan tribes - and Alvan states in some cases - competed for influence. While various states claimed to be the legitimate heir to the Alvan Empire, none would ever re-conquer all of the territories held by Tugri Khan. Historians use the term "Alvan Khanate" to refer to the state that existed where Alva exists today, which is the homeland of the Alvan tribes and was consistently the most economically dominant of the Alvan states. By the 17th century, all the former areas of the Alvan Empire would be under the control of non-Alvan regimes with the exception of the Alvan Khanate.
===Collapse and Decline===
As the world outside began to modernize, Alva began to see tension again build between the east and the west. The city of Urgabom had existed as a sedentary settlement for 400 years by the mid 17th century and was a major center for trade and commerce in the region. As essentially the only permanent settlement in the country, it was also the largest settlement and home to most of the political elite. The period in Alva after the collapse of the Alvan Empire is known as the Eastern Dynasty due to this cultural dominance by Urgabom. Western tribes began to resent the increasingly cosmopolitan east, believing they had shunned ancient tradition. In 1674, a conflict known as the Carriage Wars broke out, as angry western tribesmen attacked Urgabom over the popularity of horse-drawn carriages, which they saw as disrespectful and contemptible towards the horses. The Carriage Wars would eventually encompass the entire country, and within 20 years, the relative unity in Alva that had been in place since the fifth century collapsed. The government of the country dissolved, and from the late 16th century, there was no longer a single Alvan state. Instead,the region returned to control by competing tribes.
[[Category:Nations]][[Category:Yasteria]][[Category:Acronis]]
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