History of Indrala

Prehistory
Some reports have the earliest settlement in Indrala around 10,000 years ago, although this date is considered very early by most; the leading theory has it settled around 5000 years ago.

Mengmai and the Kingdom of Gemu-Erka
The city of Mengmai is considered the earliest city in Indrala. It was founded around 2600 BC. The area around the city was part of the Kingdom of Eesi. It was invaded around 560 BC by an unidentified people from the north, who ruled the area as the Kingdom of Gemu-Erka for over 600 years.

The Gemu-Erka are the people who first introduced writing to Indrala. The Indralan Syllabary (Yingdala Tizi), a system which had a symbol for each syllable, was used up until the late 1800s, when foreign influence caused the Latin alphabet to become the dominant alphabet.

Gemu-Erka rule was ended abruptly in 113 CE, the first solidly recorded date in Indrala. In the spring of that year, Mount Shomi, a volcano just outside of Mengmai, erupted. The city and much of its outskirts were destroyed in what is known as the "great burning", and the Gemu-Erka kingdom fragmented within a year.

It has been said that the Gemu-Erka created small colonies to the north on Vintalli and Ananto islands which remained relatively intact after the fall of Indralan Gemu-Erka, but these have since been destroyed by colonizers from mainland Seleya.

Indralan Dark Ages
The fragmentation of the Gemu-Erka kingdom started the Indralan Dark Ages, or Qin period. Due to the loss of almost all written work in the great burning, most Indralan culture was preserved orally or in monasteries.

During this period, a number of warlords controlled different parts of the island. These largely united under Venshi in 630, and the subsequent kingdom remained in control for about 300 years, but it never had control of the entire island. The government collapsed in 944 and the island fragmented into numerous city-states in what is now known as the Talmu period.

Short-lived unification
In 950, a peasant bandit leader by the name of Liu Ji rose up against a feudal territory located in between today's Mishari Karula and Quibashi and overthrew its feudal lord, claiming that the leader was unjust and a tyrant. Ji named the territory as Xinhan and proclaimed himself King. Three years later, King Liu Ji led his armies throughout what is now known as Indrala, conquering the various fiefdoms until they were consolidated into an empire. This massive empire was known as the Da Xinhan Guo and was ruled by an emperor-like ruler with the title "August-Sage King, Son of Heaven, and Lord of Ten Thousand Years and of the Present Time". After Ji had passed, many rulers from the Imperial Liu Clan reigned.

The empire reached its zenith until Emperor Liu Che, for whom Diguodang leader Liu Che is named. Under the reign of Liu Che, the Imperial Army was strengthened with then-state of the art equipment and training, and the empire began to trade with other peoples across the Schismatic Sea, becoming increasingly popular because of their cultural goods.

The Da Xinhan Guo was short-lived and the empire crumbled around the mid-1100s due to politically weak rulers and corruption amongst various members of the court. What remained of the empire fragmented into small feudal territories and city-states, which would eventually be reunited under Shuro Dureas and his United Indralan Commonwealth in 1213.

Dureas' United Indrala
Shuro Dureas was born in 1193 in a northeastern Indralan village of peasants on the outskirts of Beizhou. When he became old enough, he joined the army of the Lord of Beizhou and quickly rose the ranks and stature. The Lord of Beizhou adopted Shuro Dureas as his son and heir, and when the Lord died, Shuro Dureas succeeded him. Shuro Dureas was an ambitious ruler and skilled warrior. He sought to become the ruler of "All under heaven". He raised and trained large army to accomplish this goal. Shuro Dureas' Army unified all of Indrala by 1213, when he was just 20, and created the United Indralan Commonwealth (合众英大拉联邦王国 gezhong yingdala lianbang wangguo) and became the Zuigao lingdaoren (Paramount Leader) of the United Indralan state. In return for their service in uniting the island under his authority, Dureas granted territories and titles to the commanders of his grand army. One notable example was Deng Qihong of the Clan Deng, who became the Beiyi of Akuzia.

Elective monarchy and the Beiyis' Republic
When Shuro Dureas died at the age of 60 in 1253, he had no surviving children and did not create any mechanisms to determine who should succeed him. The Beiyi (regional-military chieftains), many of who were former commanders in Dureas' Army, decided that they would elect amongst themselves the new leader of United Indrala. Indrala essentially became an elective monarchy and a Beiyis' (Nobles') Republic. The first elected Paramount Leader was Deng Puqi, the 3rd Beiyi of Akuzia. He was followed by the Clan Tan of Quibashi, Clan Liang of Kathuran, Clan Li of Luratha, and the Clan He of Mishari Karula, before finally electing the 7th Beiyi of Akuzia of the Clan Deng as the last elected Paramount Leader before the collapse of the Commonwealth. This system of elected Paramount Leaders ended with the collapse of the United Indrala Commonwealth in 1450.

Although United Indrala was not economically developed and was not wealthy, there was a major rise in art and literature in the 1300s, a period known as the Gudian Gudai or the Indralan Golden Age. This flourishing of Indralan culture lasted until 1450, when United Indrala collapsed. The influence of the Gudian Gudai has resulted in the usage of yingdalaren or simply yingren by Indralans to refer their ethnicity and culture, and the term "yingdalayu" or "yingyu" to refer to the Indralan language. The name Indrala derives the word "yingdala", which formed part of the Commonwealth's name, and was introduced by the Alorians who attempted to romanize the Indralan names and terms.

The fall of the United Indralan state resulted from a dispute over whether rice or corn should be served at state banquets (the ruling north said corn, the more populous south said rice). The United Indralan period was followed by the relatively peaceful Enzo period in which the country was divided and ruled by the various Beiyis (regional-military chieftains). This period in Indralan history lasted until 1744.

Company Rule
In the 1710s, a group of Alorian merchants decided to try to circumvent the Selayan monopoly. In 1718, a four-ship expedition led by William Prescott was the first Alorian contact with the island of Indrala. The expedition reached Quibashi, and the Alorians gained footing in Indrala in 1722, when the first permanent Alorian trading post on the island was established in Quibashi, after the Beiyi of Quibashi granted it the rights to establish a trading post near Hazhou. In 1725, another was established at Nanzhou. Next, in 1728, an Alorian factory was established on the west coast of Indrala, again after receiving such rights from the Beiyi, and Aloria now began its lengthy presence on the Indralan island.

In 1729, the newly found Alorian Eastern Trade Company was granted a monopoly over the Eastern trade by the Alorian government. The charter of the new company empowered it to build trading posts and conclude treaties with Indralan rulers.

During this time, other trading posts were similarly expanding in the region. This resulted in the domination of the sources of valuable spices that gained control over most of the Eastern trade routes. Indrala became a way-station for Alorian ships on the route between Artania and Dovani. The Company soon expanded its commercial trading operations, by setting up trading posts in Guozhou (where a factory was built in 1734), Zhongjing (1736), Jingzhou (1737) and Tianzhou(1741). By 1750, the Company had 21 factories, each under the command of a master merchant and governor if so chosen, and nearly 100 employees in Indrala.

The Alorian exploration of Indrala comprised a varied collection of Beiyidoms and City-States that were occasionally at war with each other but maintained significant inter-island and international trade. The company's mainstay businesses were by now in pepper, tobacco, silk and tea. All the while, it was making inroads into the Luthori monopoly of the spice trade in the Anantonese Ocean. Besides being great commercial masterminds, the Alorians were also great diplomats. Instead of the agressive and colonial additude of the Luthori, the Alorians were able to maintain peaceful relations with the inland rulers.

Their monopoly over the spice trade became complete after they drove the Luthori finally from Indrala at the end of the Great Artanian War (1764-1779). Richard Hayes, the Company's Governor General at that time, led the Company to an astounding victory against the Luthori forces on Indrala, and captured the Luthori settlements in the north in 1778. After this, Luthori ambitions on Indralan territories were effectively laid to rest, thus eliminating a major source of economic competition for the Company. In contrast, the Company, fresh from a colossal victory, and with the backing of a disciplined and experienced army, was able to assert its interests in Indrala without facing any further obstacles from other powers.

The Company's dominance of Indrala took a major form. This was the use of subsidiary alliances between the company and the local rulers; these agreements were essentially feudal in nature and under them the local rulers gave up much of their control on foreign affairs to the Company and in return had their independence guaranteed. This development created the Native States of the local rulers. Gradually their increasing influence led the local rulers to grant the Company permits for duty free trade in allmost of every part of the island.

Protectorate Governments


In 1795, the Governor General of the Eastern Trade Company Sir John Penn was instructed by King Peter and Queen Isabella to visit the Beiyi of Quibashi to arrange for a treaty which would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and build forts on the southeastern Indralan coastal area and rights to explore and to exploit the beiyidom's mineral and forest resources. In return, the Company afforded the Indralan leader Alorian protection. Loss of power deeply upset the Beiyi, but he was beholden to the Alorians for sending military aid to suppress a rebellion by a rival.

Aloria established closer bonds in treaties with the Beiyi of Luratha (1806), Karula (1808), and Kathuran (1812). The Beiyis agreed not to dispose of any territory except to Aloria and not to enter into relationships with any foreign government other than Aloria without its consent. In return, the Alorians promised to protect the Indralan states from all aggression by sea and to help in case of land attack.

This in fact led to the de facto control of Indrala by the Alorians. The local rulers became puppets to the Company, who ruled behind the scenes.

The Beiyi of Akuzia was the last of the Beiyis to sign the Alorian treaties in 1820.

Colonial era
The end of the Company was precipitated by a mutiny of Pundijuns (Native soldiers) against their Alorian commanders, due in part to the tensions caused by Alorian attempts to westernise Indrala. The rebellion took nine months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. Afterwards, in 1836, the Alorian government assumed direct control over Indrala, ushering in the period known as the Alorian Protectorate of Indrala, After the Alorian Eastern Trade Company was dissolved in 1836, Indrala came under the administration of the Alorian government, and an appointed viceroy administered Indrala and King James IV of Aloria was crowned the Emperor of Indrala.

Responsible Government and the Alorian Dominion of Indrala
In 1912, the native Indralans were granted partial self-rule and responsible government was introduced, thereby establishing the Alorian Dominion of Indrala. The new Alorian Dominion was still ultimately the responsibily of the Government of Aloria and its Viceroy, however, day-to-day administration was left to the newly established Lifa Hui (legislative assembly). This semi-independent territory and the Alorian presence lasted until 1938 when a Communist uprising began.

Communism in Indrala
When the Alorian Liberation Movement deposed King Charles XIV and proclaimed the Republic of Aloria in 1924, the Indralan Viceroy remained loyal to the Alorian monarchy. The Alorian Civil War prevented the metropolitan government from trying to invade Indrala, which remained under de iure Battenburg rule. The short-lived Socialist Republic of Aloria proclaimed the independence of all of Aloria's colonies and dominions, and funded the communist Yingdala Gongchandang movement in the south of the country to topple the Dominion Government.

The return of the monarchy in Aloria in 1933 allowed the Kingdom to send reinforcements to defeat the rebellion, but by this time the Gongchan movement had become very popular with the Indralans. Using guerilla tactics, the Communists managed to gain control of most of the island by 1937, and in 1938, the Gongchandang rebels gained control of the capital and imposed a Gongchan government. This effectively expelled the Alorians from Indrala and Indrala became fully independent. Due to the unpopularity of the war at home, Aloria recognized the independence of Indrala that same year.

While the Communists liberated Indrala from Alorian colonialism, their rule was quite authoritarian and they suppressed opposition until 1984, when a Gaduridos-led international force drove them from power and replaced them with a pro-capitalist dictatorial government under Arturo Shinohe. His unpopular government fell to communist rebels in 2031, who founded the Xingongchanguo (new communist state).

Minren Ziyou Revolution
In 2075, a popular, liberal revolution drove the communists from power. The revolution created the modern Indralan State and established Yingdala Gezhongguo (United States of Indrala).

Civil War
In 2404, the Workers' League of Indrala began the Indralan Insurrection, a rebellion against the Indralan state. Approximately 85,000 rebels and 53,000 government soldiers died in the conflict. The rebellion ended in March 2451 when the Workers' League collapsed and its militant arm surrendered. While general members and soldiers of the Workers' League of Indrala were granted amnesty, however, both its military and civilian leaders were tried and convicted on the charge of war crimes, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Annexation of Dalibor and of the Dovani Mainland
In 2459, the Indralan Minguo Lifa Yuan (Parliament) voted by a large margin to annex the as-of-then unclaimed island of Dalibor. The Indralan state subsequently annexed portion of the Dovani mainland, now forming Jinlian, when non-Dovani countries began claiming and colonizing territories on the continent.

Age of Dictators
The 29th century was a time when the fragile republican government of Indrala was overthrown the most times. In 2800, on the 6th of September, a coup d'etat known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants" removed Thomas Eddie from the presidency of the country, and installed a five-member anti-Eddie presidency. Soon, Diosdado Hortal became the kingmaker and the main political figure in Indrala. He decided to take advantage of this fact by runing for Head of State himself, winning in 2808.

During his stay in power, Hortal embarked on an ambitious program of economic reconstruction and agricultural reform, and greatly improved relations with Greater Hulstria. On the other hand, the Hortal presidency was marked by corruption, harassement of the opposition, and a heightened personality cult. His rule was ended when he lost the 2812 elections to the first Zen Socialist party, the Gekokujō. The latter quickly installed the world's first Zen Socialist state, the Enlightened People's Republic of Indrala, and invaded the independent state of Hanzen.

In 2833 Indrala was brought under the dictatorial rule of another member of the Nationalista Party, Bumipol Ran Pan.

Clan Deng and the Indralan Diarchy (2875-3020)
The year 2875 saw the rise of a new political force in Indrala: the Kuomintang. Within three years of their first election, the Kuomintang formed a majority government and implemented government policies that saw significant growth to the national economy. The Kuomintang has been consecutively led by members of the Clan Deng (鄧）who were the Beiyi of Akuzia during and after the United Indralan Commonwealth era.

With the appearance of the Diguodang, the country saw the rise of the monarchical movement that sought to establish their leader Liu Che as the Emperor of Indrala, a title historically held by the medieval Great Xinhan Empire, and by the the Alorian colonial government under the House of Battenburg until 1938 when the colonial administration and its institutions were expelled from the island by the Communist insurgents. The two movements eventually reached an agreement whereby Indrala would be divided in a diarchy, with the Paramount Leader of the Indralans ruling in the North, and the Emperor of the Great Xinhan Empire ruling in the South, with the expectation that the agreement would be temporary and end with the eventual unification of the ruling houses.

During the final years of the millenium the Cheng Socialist movement again gained a foothold in Indrala, with the establishment of the Kyouwakai party. In the year 3000, the party factionalized into one anarchist and one fascist organization.

The new millenium did not bring the long expected unification of Indrala. Instead, the disagreements between the Clan Deng and the Clan Liu postponed the creation of a single state indefinetly. This problem was further exacerbated by the radicalism of the two Cheng Socialist parties, and by growing political violence, which at several times even incapacitated the Lifa Yuan. Although this tense situation only persisted for around a decade, the issue of unification still remained unresolved.

Reunified Indrala (3020-present)
As a reaction to the loss of authority of the central government and to lingering tensions between the two monarchies and their inability to find a compromise solution to unification, Cheng Socialists in the South launched a rebellion against the Xinhan Empire, proclaiming the Monastic State of Indrala in 3018. The Monastic State managed to gain control over the entire Southern territory by 3020, which facilitated the opening of reunification talks. In May 3020, Indrala was officially unified under the Commonwealth of Indrala (英大拉王民國), a compromise between constitutional monarchy and parliamentary republic.

In 3031,the Imperial Clan of Liu returned to Indralan politics, and reestablished the Diarchy with Clan Deng by means of a coup d'etat. The Liu family was removed from the throne in 3065, and the Dengs attempted to merge the two families in February 3065, with the marriage of Deng Xiaodao and Liu Baihe resulting in the Imperial House of Deng-Liu. However, the marriage did not result in children, and the Deng clan was overthrown by the Lius in 3075, with the creation of the Great Empire of Indrala.

Ultimately, the Diguodang, the primary political supporters of the Liu Clan, prevailed in their overall goal to restore the Imperial Clan of Liu to the Dragon Throne. As a consolation to Clan Deng, they were given a commandery sized kingdom in Anlezhou.

In 3110, the Eunuchs Of The Crown proclaimed the exile of the Clan Deng, with the authorization of the Emperor. Thus, the Imperial Clan of Liu solidified its hold on Indrala, Dalibor, and Jinlian, effectively ending all rival claims to the throne. The destruction of the landed aristocracy, which had been the key supporters of the Deng clan, led to the establishment of the eunuchs and the Gao Clan as the power base of the Xinhan Dynasty.

The Gao Clan would revolt in April 3124, in the Jiaozhi Revolt, but the victory of the Imperial Army against the Kingdom of Jiaoshi led to the elimination of court eunuchs, and the development of a Jienist bureaucracy as the Empire's power base. The recovered stability of the Xinhan Empire allowed it to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy, manifested in its demanding the Great North Dovani Plain from Kazulia.

Due to the inability of the Imperial Clan of Liu to handle the Great North Dovani Plain Crisis, Ji Qiu, the two year old son of King Ji Bang of Yansheng, located in Han Province, was crowed the Emperor of Indrala, with the backing of the Imperial Armed Forces. The Royal Clan of Ji thus replaced the Imperial Clan of Liu as the legitimate holders of the Mandate of Heaven in 3236. The Xinhan Empire was restored in 3300, under Liu Qin.