Vestiges in Sardinia attest to the fact it has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, though its stable settlements date back to the 6000 BC in the Neolithic age.
The settlements may have been established by different peoples, among them the ones in the northern area seem to have come from Tuscany through Corsica, the ones around Cabras and St Giusta perhaps came from the present Spain but the settlements on the Gulf of Cagliari may have been established by different peoples.
There are traces of commerce (such as Cydonian ceramics) with the trading centres around the eastern Mediterranean Sea which may have started in the 17th century BC.

The different peoples mingled as to language and customs but stayed separated as to control and sometimes allied or contended for control. For 15 centuries the nuraghi (nuraghes, nuraxis) were the centre around which villages grew up and battlements were added. The limits of each group were watched over by lesser nuraghi on high positions. At present there are about 8,000 on the island which may have been built by the nuragic people, the Shardana , a seafaring group.
About the 11th century, because of the need of safety and protection from weather along their trade routes the Phoenicians started landing in Sardinia. Their settlements in Caralis, Nora, Bithia, Sulcis, Tharros, Bosa and Olbia, where Phoenician traders and relatives lived and commerced with locals, were ports for further destinations.
In the 6th century there were several uprisings against the Phoenicians who controlled the towns on the coast. The Phoenicians were supported by other country people in Carthage and from then on for almost three centuries they and the local groups bloomed together on the island.
In the 3rd century BC the Romans took control of Sardinia thanks to the defeat of the Carthaginians in the First Punic War. Sardinia turned into a province. Rome founded new colonies such as Turris Lybissonis and Ferronia and other towns bloomed in this period but their dominion of the mountainous range was only in theory. Only the language could dominate the whole island in practice. For about seven centuries the Romans dominated Sardinia.
The Vandals took Caralis and other towns on the coast in the 5th century AD yet they were regained by Justinian in the Battle of Tricamarum one century later. Thus Sardinia was back again in the Byzantine Empire.
The organization of the island in districts headed by a judge who lived in Caralis (Cagliari) was protected by troops stationed in Forum Traiani (Fordongianus at present ) which was controlled by a dux. The Byzantines brought the Christian religion which did not catch on with Barbagia region where a kingdom which kept its local pagan religious traditions was established for not much time.
At the beginning of the 8th century the raids of Moors and Berbers started to harass the coasts of Sardinia. The increase and frequency of the attacks forced the islanders to leave the coast and the judges to establish some extra defences with four lieutenants. Two centuries later these lieutenants became judices (Sardinian judike, giudixi), kings of the area they controlled.
Each zone became a kingdom ruled by a king or queen who did not own it as the law of the land had many features of democracy with representatives enacting laws and affairs of the kingdom. Each kingdom had its own language, symbols, charters and parliament as well as fortresses guarding its frontiers. Between 1258 and 1288 the kingdoms of Cagliari, Torres and Gallura extinguished for they were engulfed in another kingdom or were taken by Pisa. However, the Kingdom of Arborea with its capital in Aristanis lived to be 520 years old. The tree on its coat of arms gave this kingdom its name.
To give an end to the Sicilian Vespers Boniface VIII created the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica (1297) that he would give to James of Aragon if he relinquished his rights to Sicily and took Sardinia from the Pisans’ hands.
Although the crown of Arborea knew about the plans of the Aragonese to take Sardinia they allied to oust the Pisans from the island in 1323. Aragon established its troops over regions such as Cagliari, Gallura and Sassari which were called as Pope Boniface had said but immediately after it Arborea decided to further its plans to join all the regions of Sardinia for one crown.
The plans to unite the Sardinian regions under one rule had began in 1164 with Barisone the First of Arborea who received the crown from Frederick Barbarossa. With a loan by the Republic of Genoa he thought he had all he needed to make this dream come true but as he could not repay his loan he had to face prison and never managed to unite the island.
The Kingdom of Arborea remained interested in uniting the island while the other regions were under the control of foreigners crowns. This kingdom organized all its institutions and even had a charter of the land (carta de logu), the legal code of Sardinia and believed Arborea enjoyed rights to protect Sardinians, the island and govern it. By the 14th century its code was very modern as accepted women could reject an arranged marriage and could have their own estate.
In the mid 14th century, as it was customary in the regions controlled by the Aragonese, the Kingdom of Corsica and Sardinia had its own parliament with some militaries, the clergy and noblemen. It could have some autonomy with its viceroy and judiciaries. The Aragonese island was also divided in fiefdoms.
Another modern feature of Sardinian kingdoms was that they did not establish themselves the feudal system as, for example, Arborea had a parliament where towns and villages also had their representatives. The parliament was able to dethrone a king and sentence him to death if he did not comply with the laws.
From 1365 to 1409 the Arborean dynasty of Eleonora of Arborea extended its dominion over the island but the castle of Cagliari and Alghero remained in the Aragonese’ hands. They were supported by Sardinians of all classes as they resisted the feudalism Aragon had been trying to impose.
In the Battle of Sanluri in 1409 the Sardinians who were many more than the Sicilians were defeated by Martin I of Sicily. The Sardinians had already been decimated by the plague which means that this massacre was a crushing blow to the island’s population. There is a field near the area which is known as the “massacre place”.
Arborea was finally wiped off the map when the noblemen swapped their submission for rights to land ownership or titles given by the new ruler of Aragon. Some time later the crown of Aragon was taken by a different dynasty. Feudalism was imposed in Sardinia by this dynasty when in the rest of Europe was disappearing. By 1479 Sardinia was already divided from Corsica. Under the rule of Charles V many towers were built along the coast to protect it from Berbers raids.
For about 4 centuries Spain dominated Sardinia giving it its legacy of customs, language and festivals and fiestas. In the 17th century famine about one third of the population was decimated.
Sardinia became an Austrian dominion after the War of Succession and passed to the House of Savoy in 1718.
The trigger for the revolt in 1794 was the murder of two Piedmontese officials. It extended to all throughout Sardinia. The towns and villages asked for their autonomy even though in 1796 a Sardinian was acting as deputy to the viceroy.
Cagliari became refuge of the dukes of Savoy escaping from the Napoleonic Wars. Half a century later Sardinia and Piedmont joined to create a common parliament and political organization. The Sardinian kings had a key role in unifying Italy in the mid- 19th century.
The swamps gained for agriculture when the fascism was in power made many towns were established. Mussolinia (today Arborea), Carbonia and Fertilia grew up here. Mining and swamp drying attracted people from Veneto, Istrians and Dalmatians.
Antonio Gramsci, one of the founders of the Communist Party, died in prison and Michele Schirru was sentenced to death for his assassination plot against Benito Mussolini.
When Italy was established as republic in the mid-20th century Sardinia got his statute of autonomy. It was then that the Sardinians focused on high end tourism and has attracted since then about ten million people a year. The 60s saw Sardinia emerging from the ashes like a phoenix, constructing dams and road infrastructure, gaining land to swamps and establishing oil and petro-chemical industries.
In the 70s and 80s because of joblessness, illegal activities such as kidnappings and terrorism augmented. Some of the separatist movements created in the 80s were established as political parties in the following decade and some of their militants took up office.
Sardinia has managed to overcome its separation from the mainland by inexpensive flights and information technology with the first website in 1991 and webmail in 1995. Several telecommunication companies and internet service providers have bloomed on the island.