Luwite peoples

The Luwite peoples are a diverse ethno-linguistic group that comprise the speakers of the Luwite languages. Luwite groups make up over half the population of the modern nation of Snefaldia. There are five major modern, accepted divisions of Luwites: the Sringi, the Dayan, the Allashans, the Matoluwians, and the Hapallasehans.

Origins

The exact original origins of the Luwites are not known. According to the historical record, the Luwite people first appear between 300 and 200 BCE, when they crossed the northern Velnar mountains to enter what is now modern Snefaldia. Traditionally, there were 36 tribes that made the trek from the north and took part in the struggle against the "arahzena," the Mallash natives who inhabited what is now Sring Issa.

Tradition holds that the 36 tribe settled in various places- the first 18 in "Sarangissa", another 9 in "Dakam-wappu", 6 in "Andanatta", and 3 in "Mitiluwili." From 100 BCE to 110 CE these Luwite tribes expanded and sundered from each other according to geographical disparity, and during this period many modern cities were founded- Serasarda and Isaardlang in Sring Issa, Korsahad and Kand in Allasha, and Tavvakum in Dayan. The Tejaarans, the only major non-Luwite ethnic group in Sring Issa today, claim that they maintained their independence by absorbing two of the tribes of Luwas that came to their lands.

Archaeological findings in the form of temple dedications and votive offerings make it clear that for the early Luwites, clan association was very important. Offering tablets are usually marked with names like "Halpasulupi of the Dammara" or "Hattuziti of the Panzawatarna." Using carbon dating technology and instances of these ancient names, the movement of some tribes can be plotted across a period of two hundred years; some clans disappear from the historical record within 50 years of the crossing of the mountains. Originally pastoral and semi-nomadic in nature, the early Luwites eventually became sedentary, establishing cities and towns and taking up farming. Clan identification seems to have lost importance with the increasing emphasis on farming and city life, as identification with the city and its environs grew. Clan remained important only for the elites, appearing regularly on monumental architecture and temple dedications from kings and nobles until well into the 4th century CE.

According to written and oral histories and archaeological evidence, after the settlement of these groups there arose three major divisions in the early Luwite tribes: the Dankui-Luwiti or Black Luwites, the Miti-Luwiti or Red Luwites, and Harki-Luwiti or White Luwites. Broadly speaking, the Black Luwites inhabited Andanatta or ancient Allasha, the Red Luwites inhabited Mitiluwili (ancient Matoluwas, modern Bae province), and the White Luwites inhabited Sarangissa and Dakam-wappu (Sring Issa and Dayan respectively). The associations with colors is believed to be related to the climate of these regions and the belief that the land could affect the body; the rich red soils in Bae province and the dark sands in northern Allasha were therefore important for describing the people who lived there.

Conflict with the Mallash
An important aspect of Luwite identity was the conflict with the aboriginal inhabitants of the central, northern, eastern, and western lands; the Mallash people. The Luwite term for these ancient ancestors of the modern Mallash was "arahzena," or "Enemy." Ancient records cast the struggle against the Mallash, who were already farming and dwelling in towns and cities in 300 BCE, not as one of conquest, but of taking the lands promised by the Gods from squatters. Indeed, within several hundred years the Mallash would be almost entirely driven out of their ancestral lands and forced to live in the mountainous regions and and deep forests in the Velnars.

Some Luwite cities were undoubtedly built on the ruins of earlier Mallash habitations, but given the nature of modern development it is difficult to pinpoint with accuracy. The Mallash were viewed as traditional adversaries, especially in Sring Issa, of the Luwite people and form a key motif in epic poetry and song; the Epic of Muwatalli, the culture-god of the Sringi people, centers around Prince Muwatalli's defeat of a Mallash chieftain who had conquered the city of Sannà. As Luwite society developed, however, into independent kingdoms and regional identities this conflict became more historical and philosophical; rather than an "enemy" the Mallash became an "other," or "damai." Some Mallash tribes assimilated Luwite practices and intermingled, especially in the hinterlands and foothills of Sring Issa and Allasha; these "out-freyn" or half-blood tribesmen later would form an important ally for the House of Wagasanali in its conquest of the Kingdom of Isaardlang.