Akur

This shows the spread of the Akuri people from 5000 BK to 0 BK. Darker Colors are earlier.

The Akur are a population living in Southeast Amutet. Their languages are the Akuri languages. The Akur Urheimat is on the southeastern-most tip of Amutet. They would build several "empires" from 3000BK to 500BK, when a sudden collapse of their civilization would destroy most of their culture. It would take until 200 AK for the Akuri people to recreate a sovereign state, which wouldn't reach the glories of the old empires until 1200AK. The spread of the Akuri is believed to have been initiated by a tsunami, which destroyed maritime villages in the far east of the peninsula. This lead to an interesting expansion, where the Akuris avoid their homeland and the nearby coast, instead choosing to live inland.

Divisions

The Akur would be divided into three main groups,

• The West Akur
• The South Akur
• The North Akur

The West Akur would live around the river and the bays in the center of the map. The West Akur would develop the first Akuri writing, the Dalti script, named after where it was found. It still hasn't been deciphered yet. Due to the influence of the river, most of the innovations in Akuri would come from the West Akur.

This is a map of the three groups of Akur in 500 BK. The Green is South Akur. Mauve is West Akur. Yellow is North Akur

The South Akur would live in the peninsula and the surrounding areas. They are believed to be the most closely related to the first Akuri

The North Akur would live in the areas north to the river, and would colonize the islands to the north. They would be famed within the empires as master sailors.

Empires and States

The Akuri people would have many empires and states throughout their history. They are believed to have had a diverse history of empires, city states, warring subnational states, and other styles of government. Also limiting the stability of the many states is the fact that there was a wide variety of cultures throughout the area.

This is a list of the tentative history of Akur

• Early States and Chiefdoms (3000 BK- 1900 BK)
  • Pre-Agricultural Chiefdoms(3000 BK - 2200 BK)
  • Post-Agricultural City States (2300 BK - 1600 BK)
    • Chinaga
      • Malaga Islands Colony
    • Tetra
    • Sorwe Kingdom

Lifestyle

Nomadic to Sedentary

The Akuri people were nomadic until 2500BK, when they would find their first major staple crop, a rice-like plant called Pola. Prior to this, the Akuri people hunted small animals and fruits. Pola would grow during the wet monsoon season, and would almost always be bountiful in harvest. Pola allowed the Akuri to settle in the peninsula, where it was first found. Another crop (Etaru), similar to Pola but able to withstand more rain and heat, would allow them to settle further inland, where the forests grew extremely thick, and the wet monsoon and heat were worse. More crops would come to the attention of the Akuri people.

Agriculture

The Akur practiced a form of agriculture where crops were rotated, and every year, they placed seeds in the ground where the sun would strike the most. This method wouldn't use terraced farming unlike modern-day India and China. There were 4 main crops per region.

• West Akur
  1. Pola - Rice-like, produces bountiful harvest
  2. Etaru - Rice-like, produces less harvest than Pola, more resistant to climate change
  3. Ninga - Rice-like, stronger taste, less harvest than Etaru, not very resistant to climate change
  4. Ekir - Corn-like, strong sour flavor, hard to grow, resistant to animals, but not climate

     

     This is an example of Ikriba. A thick sweet liquid forms on the inside of the pitcher. This liquid is edible, and can be heated to produce sucrose. Interestingly, it has no leaf above the pitcher

• South Akur
  1. Ninga - Rice-like, stronger taste, less harvest than Etaru, not very resistant to climate change
  2. Etaru - Rice-like, produces less harvest than Pola, more resistant to climate change
  3. Pola - Rice-like, produces bountiful harvest
  4. Kika - Mushroom-like, large harvests, extremely resistant to climate, but not animals
• North Akur
  1. Etaru - Rice-like, produces less harvest than Pola, more resistant to climate change
  2. Kika - Mushroom-like, large harvests, extremely resistant to climate, but not animals
  3. Pola - Rice-like, produces bountiful harvest
  4. Ikriba - Pitcherplant-like, hard to establish a farm, produces bountiful harvests, has resistence to climate change and animals

Etaru, Ninga, and Pola appear to be related to Samanga, a crop domesticated by the Zempachi. It's unknown why agriculture took so long to develop in Akur, despite having a neighbor to the north having a domesticatable crop.

Social Structure

The Akuri hierarchy was complex within early tribal stages (7500 BK - 3000BK). The most important people would usually be a chief and his/her spouse. Women tended to be chief, and the most famous chiefs were consistently women who avoided useless bloodbaths. The third in command would usually be a shaman with the fourth being a decorated warrior. A tribe would generally grow to 200 people, and then suffer feeding problems. Marital ceremonies were held, and usually were accompanied by the tattooing of four lines across the neck to show that a person has been married.

In cities, the Akuri hierarchy was simplified to either a tyrannical rule or a direct democracy. By 700 BK, The Agiska Empire would be converted into a republic, the first of its kind. Although the republic would last a tremendously short 35 years, the republic would be remembered as a time of prosperity

Relations with other cultures

The Akuri people would have a positive relation with most of their neighbors. Regardless, wars did break out between traditionally pacific neighbors, usually over the rights of the three main divisions of the Akuri empires. The Zempachi people are believed to have mainly supported the nearby North Akuri Empires, and dynasties. The Umbrian people supported the South Akuri after the annexation of two major islands in the bay bounding the Umbric Peninsula from the Akuri Peninsula by the West Akuri dynasties. The West Akuri dynasties were not particularly interested in alliances, but did trade a lot with the nearby civilizations. The art of metallurgy was widely disseminated in North Akur due to trade with the Zempachi who developed iron-working, but due to West Akuri trade influences, West Akur was able to quickly develop metalworking similar to Damascus steel and Wootz steel only a few hundred years later, in 1400 BK. The art of metallurgy would prove useful in quelling a revolt in South Akur. The art would be lost with the invasion of an unknown group, described in historical records. This invasion began in 635 BK, and would cause society to disintegrate in Akur. In addition, many arts would be lost. These invaders would integrate with Akuri civilization much later, around 300 AK. During the invasion, which would be called "Se'Seranya" or "The Fall", many arts were lost, and the cultural significance of Akuri civilization would fade.

Soon after the Se'Seranya, around 200 AK, the Akuri city-states and regional powers would fuse into a large empire, called "Atrisa", or the Atrisan Empire. Around 350 AK, the Akuri people would invade the Tungwani continent, managing to control the uppermost fringe of the continent. After 450 AK, this territory would be lost to regional powers. During this time period, the Akuri attempted to Akurify the population by teaching Akuri history and mandating the use of the Akuri languages at this time period. While the attempt at Akurifying the area failed, some remains of the Akuri culture would continue to exist, like a small use of the Akuri languages on the coast of the Tungwani Continent, and the existence of a SVO language order in Modern Tungwani