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[b]Realm[/b]
Great Kingdom of Svargiya
[b]Demonym[/b]
Svargiyani
[b]Race[/b]
Bandara
[b]Location[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/G4kOsSe.jpg[/img]
[b]Backstory-History[/b]
The Great Kingdom of Svargiya traces its origins back to the oral lore and mythology of the bandara themselves. The bandara believe themselves the descendants of a great and ancient mountain kingdom, where they lived in peace and tranquility among its hidden vales and rivers. The original name of this kingdom has, however, been lost to time thanks to the Vishput. For bandara legend also tells of the fall of their great kingdom, a time of war when the bandara refused to bow and pay tribute to the Vishput. And it was for this reason that the Vishput set upon the bandara, attacking the bandara and plunging their kingdom into a great war. The bandara believe that the war lasted for an extended period of time, with the Vishput's eventual victory coming only at great cost to their empire. But their are no records of such a massive war, and so if this legendary kingdom did once exist it was likely a small polity that the Vishput easily invaded and conquered.

The time that followed was the time of the bandara's enslavement at the hands of the Vishput. The Vishput were brutal and cruel masters to the newly enslaved bandara, oppressing them and destroying every part of their culture they could. Bandara legend tells that the Vishput refused the bandara the rights to even speak their very language. Whether that is true or not is unknown, but it seems that over the centuries of enslavement the bandara did come to adopt the language of their masters, as the current language spoken by the pople of Svargiya is similar to that of the Vishput. But it is a known fact that the Vishput were unkind to the bandara, sending most of them to work themselves to death beneath the earth in their mines and their tunnels and their pits. Others were pitted against one another in blood sports for the amusement of their master, to fight until they were killed in battle or were so old or injured that their 'performances' were no longer entertaining. It is from this treatment that the current Svargiyani word for the Vishput, Julamagaro, comes, as it translated to oppressor or tyrant.

This period continued for centuries, until the time came that the Vishput Empire came tumbling down. The Svargiyani believe it was a judgement from the gods, who had finally deemed the Vishput unworthy of continued existence because of their wanton cruelty and greed. The ancesotrs of the Svargiyani used the chaos of the sudden fall of the empire to rise up against their masters and escape once and for all. All the while slaughtering and killing any Vishput they came across, for centuries of mistreatment and oppression had not endeared the Vishput to them in the slightest and they killed Vishput men, women, and children with as much thought as one would give to swatting a fly. And thus began to next, considerably shorter, chapter of Svargiyani history.

Once they were free of the Vishput's crumbling cities, they faced a choice. They were now free and the masters of their own destiny, but that came with extra responsibilities. They had to decide for themselves what they would do and where they would go and how they would now live. Some decided to settle down where they were, while others took up a life of wandering. The ancestors of the Svargiyani were in the latter category, though they wandered across the lands with a purpose. They sought what remained of the great kingdom of their legends, they sought the land of their ancestors, where they had lived as masters of their own destiny in the time before the Vishput enslaved them. But such a goal was easier said than done, for they were far from the great mountains they held the legendary kingdom and they had no idea of where to begin their search. In addition they were not always welcomed with open arms by those whose lands they wandered across. Many a battle was fought between them and the armies of petty kings and natives who claimed the land they traveled over as their own. But while they suffered casualties from this, there were also those willing to join them. Other bandara who had escaped from other regions controlled by the Vishput and just those who saw safety in numbers joined with the group. And while they wandered and searched for over a decade, it seemed as though they would never find what they were searching for, and many of their number grew disheartened with their failures. Then when hope seemed lost, a youth named Girisa claimed to have received a vision in the night from the Gods themselves showing him the way to the old kingdom, which they had told him was named "Svargiya", Paradise in their new tongue.

While not all were willing to follow the so-called visions of one so young, most were convinced thanks to the efforts of Viswasa, a respected priest who openly embraced Girisa's visions as truly the work of the Gods. And according to legend, they were right in following Girisa as it was not long after they departed that they spied a great mountain range. Invigorated by this, they traveled farther and farther on, following the lead of Girisa deeper and higher into the mountains. And then they came to an uninhabited valley, with a great river flowing through it and it was then that they knew that Girisa was truly divinely-guided. They had found the home of their ancestors, and they declared Girisa their first Rana, or King. It was here that they established the first city of Svargiya, which would grow into the capital of the Great Kingdom of Svargiya, for Svargiya wouldn't stay small forever.

Over time the settlement grew, and Svaryani spread out into the surrounding area to found new towns and cities. This growth was aided by an effort to find any bandara still wandering the world and offer them a place in Svargiya. However, the Kingdom's growth would eventually bring them into competition with others. For the bandara were not the only ones living in the mountains; there were tribes of humans making their homes in the surrounding areas and most weren't exceptionally happy about the Svariyani incursion into what was viewed as their land. Raids and attacks were common, carried out by both sides who viewed the land as their own. However, Rana Girisa was not willing to declare outright war on them, hoping that their differences could be reconciled peacefully. Unfortunately, most of the tribes in the area weren't open to such reconciliation. And Rana Girisa would pass away, leaving Svargiya in the hands of his only son Ghirena. Ghirena was of a more martial persuasion, and was more than willing to wage war on the humans he saw as squatting on the Svargiyani's god-given land. And unfortunately for his enemies, Rana Girisa's efforts at diplomacy were not wholely unfruitful and those who he had convinced to live in peace with the Svargiyani were more than happy to join Rana Ghirena in his wars against the other human tribes.

Over time a combination of bandara migration in and a more warlike approach of Ghirena and several of his successors would expand Svargiya ever eastwards in the mountains, eventually resulting in the current borders seen today. The expansion ceased for several reasons, most notable of them being the Ranas taking a less militaristic worldview, a more accepting view of the humans in the region (most of whom had adopted Svargiyani ways), and a simple lack of need for more land due to the fertile valleys along the four Svargiyani rivers providing enough space and food for the population.

In the early times of Svargiya the Rana was elected from among the sons of the previous Rana, with the electors being those of notability in the Kingdom. The leaders of settlements were likewise elected, though in those cases they were elected from among the most influential of the settlement's individuals. Over time, there were several changes to the political structure of Svargiya. Eventually those who actually owned and controlled land began to dominate the politics of Svargiya, and more often than not the leaders of a settlement were from a group of the most prominent land-owning families. Eventually the Rana bestowed a noble title upon the head of a settlement, and began to take a role in the selection of the heads of the major settlements. Likewise, Svargiya would grow too large for the informal 'all influential individuals vote' election of the next Rana. And so the elections were limited and formalized as a system in which only those who held titles as the head of settlements voted for the next Rana. And as time went on, the Rana started to exert more and more control over the 'elections' of major settlements until the title eventually became a Rana-appointed official. However, as Svargiya grew larger and larger the Rana being so involved in the governance of small areas became more difficult and a measure of delegation was necessary. Over time the Rana would often appoint one of the sons of a previous title-holder as the new title-holder, until the position became expected to be hereditary and eventually actually hereditary. 

The next major change is the change from a Kingdom to a Great Kingdom; Svargiya had grown too large too maintain as centralized a system. So Rana Hitendra elevated the title of Rana to that of Maharana, dividing Svargiya into the Vadali Ran, Lala Ran, Sapheda Ran, and Pila Ran and granted a kingdom to each of his sons. Upon Hitendra's death his son Girisa, Rana of the Vadali Ran was chosen to ascend to the position of Maharana by all of the landed nobles of Svargiya. It was likely because of his status as the eldest son of Hitendra and his title of Vadali Rana; the Vadali Ran contained the settlement founded by Rana Girisa I (now known as Maharana Girisa I, despite the title not existing anytime near his life), and so it was considered a prestigious title. It was during his rule that he once again reformed the electoral system; now only the Ranas could vote for Maharana from among themselves, and the Ranas were elected by the nobility of their Ran in a manner similar to the pre-Maharana Rana of Svargiya. Most of the next several Maharana were also the Vadali Rana, to the point that the title became linked together. The electoral system for both the Maharana and Vadali Rana were abolished, with the titles becoming hereditary (though the Maharana chose which of his sons would succeed him).

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[b]Race[/b]
Bandara
[b]Basic Description[/b]
Physically the bandara resemble a cross between a human and an ape, though they resemble apes more than thy do humans. They are slightly taller than humans and walk upright like a man, but their bodies are almost entirely covered in thick hair; only their faces, finger, palms, and soles are bereft of hair. The colour of it differs, though most of the bandara of Svargiya have brown to black hair, and as they get old their hair begins to turn silver, usually beginning with the hair on their backs. Their faces are similar to that of an ape, with a pronounced brow and flat nose.

While they have no written history that is known prior to their enslavement by the Vishput, they have an extensive oral history of the time before their enslavement that they have written down and that they accept as essentially true, even if reality differs in the specifics. Though interestingly enough, there have been known to be small groups of bandara that weren't enslaved by the Vishput and most of them seem to not have the same extensive historical believes as the bandara that were enslaved by the Vishput, which lends credit to the accepted idea that they were a natural race enslaved by the Vishput. 

Though Svargiya is a major civilization of bandara, they are not the only place one could find bandara. Aside from the aforementioned bandara who appeared to have never been enslaved by the Vishput there are communities all across the continent of bandara who escaped the Vishput Empire during its collapse. Not all bandara were in the group that would go on to found Svargiya or migrated their later, and their descendants can be found all over the continent.
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