A timeline of Syldavian history - Part One: From earliest times to the founding of the Kingdom

Prior to 2000 BCE: the region is populated by a Neolithic culture known as the Bucket Burial Culture after numerous grave finds of dismembered skeletons buried in large bucket-shaped clay pots.

2000-1000 BCE: Bronze tools, elaborately engraved stone stele and amber and jet beads indicate the arrival of a more sophisticated culture from eastern and central Europe. The remains of stone-walled villages from this date were found by archaeological digs carried out in the 1950s. Some later Mycenaean pottery has been found along the coast, particularly around the southern town of Nokosz (ancient Neocosa).

c. 900 BCE: Artefacts, elsewhere in the Balkans associated with Illyrian tribes are found in the regions of Klow, Tesznik and Douma.

5^th century BCE: a fragment of a lost work attributed to Herodotus records that black pelican feathers from the Land of the Sylvans are much sought out for helmet plumes and that the tribes of the country are “warlike, tall, well-built and fond of feasting, hunting and drinking in the manner of the ancient heroes of the long-haired Achaeans”, their lords live in “great hill-top palaces girt with tall walls built by the Cyclopes” and that the people “honour Chthonic gods unknown to the citizens of the cities of Hellas”.

c. 337 BCE: Alexander the Great is said to have campaigned against a number of tribes of the region. These are listed as being the Goganidae, the Calippians and the Donantae.

281 BCE: an army sent by King Pyrrhus of Epirus is defeated by the Goganidae in a battle in a place known as Xalippium.

87 BCE: The tribes of the north are defeated and subjugated by the legions of Gaius Hilarius Pollo.

86 BCE: The region is split into two provinces, Syldavia Superior and Syldavia Inferior. The cities (colonia) of Klovinus (Klow) and Istriodunum (later Istrow, modern Istow) are founded by veterans of Legio XXXXII Invictus.

171 CE: An incursion by the Marcomanni and Quadi lays waste to much of Syldavia Superior. The tribes are defeated in 172 CE by a Roman army led by Quintus Nasus Pendulus.

268-270: Syldavia Superior and Syldavia Inferior become part of the shortlived breakaway Imperium Illyriorum. This is ended when Gaius Fabulus Maximus defeats the pretender Marius Asinus Fatuus.

271: Gaius Fabulus Maximus is raised to the purple by his legions. Six months later he is defeated in battle by the Emperor Aurelian and commits suicide.

306: Severus II orders the rebuilding of the walls of Klovinus, which had fallen into disrepair.

313: Constantine the Great visits Istriodunum and dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus and to the Kyrios Christos. A plaque celebrating event this is now in the Museum of Antiquities in Klow.

329: Both Syldavian provinces are incorporated into the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

379: Syldavia Inferior is laid waste by Gothic and Sarmatian tribes. The Sarmatians settle in the north of the region.

401: The Christian basilica of Christ Pantocrator is built in Klovinus. This church was destroyed in the earthquake of 1134 and rebuilt between 1135-44 as the cathedral of St Budvar.

411: A Gothic army attacks the Sarmatian tribes in Syldavia Inferior and defeats their leader. Gothic settlement follows.

447-8: Syldavia Superior is occupied by the armies of Attila the Hun.

494: The provinces of Syldavia are incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Theoderic the Great.

Early 6^th century: Slavic tribes, described by Procopius as Sclavini begin to attack deep into Syldavian lands. By the middle of the century, Slavic and Avar tribes settle in Syldavia. The city of Klovinus becomes the capital of the Slavic ruler Budvar (recorded as Budvarios Sclavenios in a document from the reign of the eastern Roman emperor Tiberius II Constantine).

614: A document from the reign of Heraclius mentions the visit of an envoy from “the Klovinioi” to Constantinople. There is also a mention in the Vatican archives of a mission to “the Klovinians and Istrovians” by a friar called Mendacius.

723: The Notitia Syldaviarum (copies in the National Library of Klow, the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna) proclaims that the peoples (populi Syldavari) of Upper and Lower Syldavia are comprised of the Illyrian Ghogs, the Syldavi, descended from Romans colonists, the Gothic Tervingi and the Slavic Istrovni and Hvegi.

807: A Carolingian manuscript chronicles the submission of Muscarius, Dux Kloviniorum to Charlemagne. The manuscript records that Muscarius rules over the duchies of Klovinia, Zympathia and Istrovia.

937: Invading tribes of Turkic-speakers sweep westwards from the Black Sea and defeat the Slavic rulers of Klovinia, Zympathia and Istrovia.

942: First documented record of the Khanate of Klopçu.

981: Modbag, Khan of Klopçu is defeated in battle by Pandulf of Ragusa, following his unsuccessful siege of the city. He dies of his wounds and is succeeded by his son Subar.

981-1009: Subar extends the borders of Klopçu to the north and west, capturing the coastal city of Dobronium from its Lombard rulers and accepts the vassalage of the tribes to the east of Istrovia.

1009: Subar is assassinated by his son, Grum, who is proclaimed Khan Grum.

1015: The people of Klovinia rise up against the rule of Khan Grum and proclaim their leader Ottonicus, who claims descent from an old Roman patrician family, Dux Syldavianum. An army led by Grum is defeated. Grum is killed. The Khanate splits into separate entities and by 1024 almost all of old Roman Syldavia Superior is reunited under the rule of Ottonius.

1125: The last male descendant of Dux Ottonius dies in a hunting accident without leaving an heir. His young Venetian wife Caterina Faliero is locked up in a nunnery by Baron Jaskvar Olmaszny, the most powerful magnate in the Duchy of Klovinia. Jaskvar takes control of the Duchy but his oppressive rule turns the people against him

1127: Muscarius Hivegiorum (Muskar Hveghi or Muskar of the Hvegs), later King Muskar I, with the help of Venetian and Carinthian mercenaries defeats the last Turkic khan of Lower Syldavia and his army at the Battle of Zileheroum. Legend tells that the night before the battle Muskar dreams of a giant black pelican who flies out of the dawn bearing in its beak a scroll inscribed with the words “in hoc signo vinces nigrum onocrotalus”.

A cabal of Klovinian and Zympathian nobles invite him to join an uprising against Jaskvar and after a short campaign Muskar and his allies are victorious. He marries the widowed Duchess Caterina and is proclaimed King Muskar I of All Syldavia. At his coronation, Muskar adopts the black pelican as his coat of arms.