History of the Empire of Týrýng

The history of the Týrýng State is tied to the Reyang peninsula, which has been inhabited by the Týrýng people since roughly 1300~ BEKE. The Týrýng state itself would be only founded roughly 500 years later, and the scarcity of historical records makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact date and circumstances of the founding of the state.

Before statehood
Before the Týrýng people, the whole of the Reyang peninsula was inhabited by Pepetoka people, who formed farming communities and city-states (see also History of the Pepetoka). It is universally agreed that the Pepetoka are the indigenous people of the Reyang peninsula - since time immemorial, the frog-faced Pepetoka have claimed the whole of the Reyang peninsula as theirs, peacefully trading with all nearby polities, including the Shár Empire.

This all changed roughly around ~1300 BEKE, when the Týrýng people arrived onto the north-western shores of the peninsula, first as raiders and pirates, then as settlers, gradually driving out the Pepetoka from the north-western portions of the island, restricting them to the south-eastern coastlands, where local Pepetoka polities have formed coalitions to prevent further enroachment by the Týrýng.

Until roughly 800~ BEKE, the Týrýng tribes would wage war among each other, while simultaneously engage in piracy. During this era, the Týrýng consolidated their presence at the north-western coastlands of the peninsula.

The First Independent Týrýng Kingdom (800-607 BEKE)
Around ~800, the Kingdom of Týrýng was formed, with Queen Kwi Sytína being its first ruler. Reportedly, she was aided by the Principality of Gabyr, which supported her ambition of uniting the Týrýng people in exchange for a promise to curtail piracy. There have been claims that she hired foreign mercenaries - using gold borrowed from the Gabyrians - to help to fight her war against the other tribes.

However, some other historical records seem to conflict with this claim, as she was reportedly also attacked by the Gabyrians, and had to repel a Gabyrian invasion when they came knocking to redeem the loan she refused to pay back. In fact, after she unified the Týrýng people, piracy would not only continue, but in fact increase in magnitude. Just like the Free City of Gabyr, the Kingdom of Týrýng would become infamous for being a safe haven for pirates all around the world.

For almost two centuries, the Týrýng would be a backwards, barbaric and unstable state whose economy relied on a mixture of fishing, farming and piracy - direct trading was not an option, so piracy was the favoured method of acquiring needed goods, with some indirect trade through mediating third parties. Despite the instability and general lack of prosperity in the young kingdom, the foundations of the Týrýng national identity were set in stone during that period, with previous tribal allegiances and rivalries gradually eroding in favour of a view that holds the Týrýng people as one united nation - nevertheless, tribal identities wouldn't fade away completely until the First Shár vassalage.

First Shár vassalage (607 BEKE- 110 AEKE)
In 632, the Shár Empire was reunified under the rule of the Jing Dynasty, who - after spending a decade or two consolidating their rule, draining the swamp and doing house-cleaning among the ruling class - decided not to tolerate piracy in any shape or form. Therefore, the Jing decided to root out the problem at its source, and declare war upon the Týrýng Kingdom in 613 with the end-goal of annexing or vassalizing their land.

After six years of war, the King of the Týrýng finally submitted and agreed to accept Shár suzerainty, essentially making Týrýng a tributary state of the Shár Empire - a vassal.

The following 717 years would have a tremendous amount of impact on the Týrýng way of life and identity, in ways perceived as both negative as positive.

On the positive side, under Shár suzerainty, the Týrýng became civilized, stopped eating of specimen sapient races - such as Pepetoka people -, they stopped being illiterate, they began to build similar structures as the ones the Shár built, and began to wear similar clothes as the ones the Shár wore. The religion of the Ten Heavenly Principles also spread to the Týrýng during that era. Trade was opened up, nonviolently exposing the Týrýng to the rest of the world for the first time. Technological innovations travelled southwards from the heartlands of the Shár Empire to the Týrýng people, drastically increasing their quality of life. As a result of Shár influence during this time period, rice became the staple food of the Týrýng people. Týrýng tribalism was replaced by a Shár-like feudal system once and for all.

On the negative side however, the Týrýng people endured a great deal of national humiliation and duress: they were forced to pay taxes and tributes to the Shár, Týrýng kings were forced to bow and kneel to Shár ambassadors. Daughters of the Týrýng kings and noblemen were taken away to be concubines of Shár emperors and noblemen, as a form of "tribute" - commoner Týrýng girls were also sought-after as prostitutes in the Shár Empire. In wars that the Shár fought against the foreigners, the Týrýng were forced to fight for the Shár. Despite all the positives that came to the Týrýng during those 717 years, that era was seen as an era of national humiliation, when Shár yoke was on Týrýng neck.

During that time, there would be many attempted revolutions by populist leaders to depose the weak kings and proclaim independence from the Shár, but none would be successful. There were even attempts by some Týrýng kings themselves to proclaim independence, but all would be succesfully squashed by the Shár Empire's superior navies and armies.

Independence (110-492 AEKE)
The Jing Dynasty - the dynasty that brought Týrýng under Shár fold - formally fell in 12 AEKE, but the Týrýng nominally remained a Shár vassal, even as the Jing dynasty got replaced by the Bur Dynasty. They stopped paying tributes and taxes, but when the Týrýng king at the time formally declared independence, he got crushed - soon after the Bur finished with unifying the Shár in 43, they re-subordinated the Týrýng under the fold, and old shame continued.

The Týrýng were forced to endure for 67 years. However, in 110 AEKE, they finally have had enough. Under the rule of their charismatic king, who proclaimed himself Emperor, the Týrýng successfully wrested away the Shár yoke and won their independence. This rocked the Bur dynasty's rule over the Shár Empire to its foundations, resulting in two peasant revolts - in 117 and 122 respectively - that would spell the end of the short-lived Bur dynasty and mark its replacement with the Jiuk Dynasty.

However, not all was well. In 140, the civil war in the Shár Empire was finally won by the Jiuk, who had interest in once again bringing the Týrýng back to the fold. During that time, the Týrýng heavily invested in their navy to prevent a Shár invasion from happening at all cost. They also built impressive fortifications in their coastal cities to further deter the Shár. Nevertheless, the Jiuk still harboured thinly veiled ambitions to make the Týrýng a vassal of the Shár again, therefore, relations between the two sovereign states remained icy at best.

Freed from influence by any overlords the Týrýng were now free to decide their own fate: and that is what they did, starting to create their own vassals by projecting their power on the rest of the peninsula. They also developed ties to the West via trade with the Gabyrians - with whom they were ironically starting to develop a form of rivalry, as both are maritime nations. In most regions of the Orient, the Týrýng became serious rivals of the Shár in terms of trade.