Shanvan

Shanvan
Etymology: "White walled city"
Motto(s):  Ha Ṣağah Qakəz!
Country	Komania
Province	Oshar Province
Region	Qamadar
Earliest settlement	c. 430
Government
• Mayor	Qağali Şəğəz
Area
• Total	744.22 km2 (287.34 sq mi)
Elevation	10−300 m (−970 ft)
Population  (2016 census)
• Total	1,377,219
• Density	1,850.55/km2 (4,792.9/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Shavanese, Shanwanwár
Time zone	SCT-2
Website	www.Shanwan.km

Shanwan (Koman: /ʃɒβɒn/, /ʃɒwɒn/ or /ʃɒwᵝɒn/ in several dialects) is the capital city of Komania. It is located at the Qamadar sub-region on the western half of Komania, with direct proximity to the Ṣağderəm Delta and Lake Melkanchuta. With a booming population of 1,377,219 as of 2016, the city's population is the second largest in Komania, only behind Samadar. The city's economy is the largest in Komania and is one of the largest in the Vaniuan region. The city is separately administered from the rest of the country, thus making Shānwān a special city.

The city started as a small settlement built around 1000 CE. At the time, the city had only 1,000 people, according to archaeological evidence discovered in 1921. A Mahavic fortress was built shortly after 1297 CE using white coloured stones of local origin, with its walls reaching as high as 10 metres. Due to its strategic location on central Vaniu and with direct access to Lake Melkanchuta, the fortress rapidly grew to become a city with a sizable population, later to become the region's principal trade city. The fortress was used during the Sunrise Horde as a defensive fortification against Western Vaniuans in its proximity.

Etymology

The modern name of the city, Shanwan, literally translates in Koman to "white-walled city" shān- from shana meaning white and wan meaning stone city or simply fortress. It refers to Shānwān's former city walls, which were built using white coloured stones. Through time, the name evolved along the stages of the Koman language to finally adopt its modern form.

History

The first settlements have been dated to around 1000 CE, it's first inhabitants are thought to have been ethnic Ohan people who may have moved northwards after the incoming Mahavic invasions. The city is regarded to have been officially founded in 1297 CE during Kalkali migrations southwards. A guiding commander in the rows of the Sunrise Horde who was, in fact, an ethnic Mishar, ordered the construction of a fortress using the local white stone, after seeing it's strategic position along the Kāğāznār Delta. In one of his accounts he described the place as follows:

Here standing by the Great Lake of Māzēl (Melkanchuta) old stone houses left to the wind root in the hands of time, little of what remains can be seen above the tree trunks.

During the Golden ages of the Sunrise Horde, the city rose to become a prominent trade centre, known for having hosted a multi-ethnic population mainly comprised of Mahavic and Kalkali peoples while maintaining a strict policy of religious tolerance. The city has been widely described as having large stone towers, better known as şomorthāğ which simply translates as "sky tower" along religious temples and palaces while being decorated with colourful ceramics and rock-carved poetic inscriptions. By the end of the 13th century, following the collapse and successive fragmentation of the Sunrise Horde the city's population declined persistently, declining in power and authority, it maintained a stable population of 10,000 people, being mainly comprised of local merchants and fishermen.