Tuanmali people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 34 million (2010, est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Tuanmali | 32 million |
 Sanmra | 80,000 |
| elsewhere on Sahar | 2 million |
| Languages | |
| Azen, Lorhan, Uunen, others | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sanmra people | |
The Tuanmali people, sometimes referred to as Tuanmalis, is a dalar panethnic group, referring to those dalar whose cultural roots are in the nation of Tuanmali in Boroso.
History
Like all dalar, the Tuanmali people are the descendants of the first dalar who reached Alpa approximately 150,000 years ago, spreading throughout much of the continent. Humans arrived at some point and began to dominate Alpa, steadily pressing into dalar territory. About 4,000 years ago, the nomadic ancestors of the Tuanmali found themselves pressed between both humans and other dalar groups, and ultimately migrated from Alpa to eastern Miraria. There, they became nomadic fishermen who slowly worked their way south and west along the coast of the Parshita Sea, until they reached Boroso approximately 1500 years ago. Around 500 CE, they began to settle in the area of modern-day Wīcos, which has been the center of Tuanmali power ever since.
At this point, the group split into two main divisions, one that maintained a close connection with the sea (the modern-day Tuanmalis) and one that moved into the sparsely-inhabited interior (the modern-day Lorhan and Uunen). While the Tuanmalis maintained partial independence throughout the Bavkir and Mwamban empires, both the Lorhan and Uunen groups fell under their control, a major factor in the divergence of their culture from the Tuanmalis.
Subgroups
There are a large number of ethnic groups that have maintained some degree of distinction within Tuanmali. In semi-technical terms, the group referred to as "Tuanmalis" (as opposed to "Tuanmali people") is a large ethnic group whose ancestors remained near the coast of Tuanmali and has controlled the Wīcos area almost since the dalar reached Boroso's shores. They primarily speak the language Azen and make up about a third of Tuanmali's population (~11 million). While they live most densely near the coast, there are many dispersed throughout the rest of the country as well. Most Borosan dalar living outside the country are Tuanmalis.
The Lorhan (sometimes called Lorhanis) generally inhabit the north of the country. Their ancestors moved inland after the dalar reached Boroso, and ultimately founded permanent agrarian settlements. Many Lorhan still have close links to agriculture. Today, there are about 8 million Lorhan living in Tuanmali; most Tuanmali people living outside of Boroso are Lorhan, including over 50% of non-Sanmra dalar living in Sanmra. They appear noticeably distinct from other dalar, due to their unusually pale skin (in rare cases almost as pale as inhabitants of, say, Haraku or Hux Kham), and may have been a distinct ethnic group leading all the way back to Alpa.
A third major group is the Uunens, who have a significant presence in Tuanmali's western states, especially in mountainous regions. Their ancestors also moved inland, but maintained a nomadic lifestyle centering on horse breeding and training; a small number are still nomadic. About 5 million live in Tuanmali.
All of these groups are fundamentally "Tuanmali", with similar political and social attitudes, but maintain separate historical cultures, including religious practices, cuisine, and language. Despite there being no single majority group (the largest, the Tuanmalis, only accounts for a third of the population), a constant feature of political discussion is whether or not smaller groups (e.g. nomadic Uunen) are being properly represented in the government, and maintaining the distinct cultural identities of these small groups is widely considered paramount by members of them.