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|conventional_long_name = Confederation of the Saukanians
|conventional_long_name = Confederation of the Saukanians
|common_name = Saukania
|common_name = Saukania
|native_name = <small>''Kuchaxa ka Saghandan''</small>
|native_name = <small>''''</small>
|image_flag =  
|image_flag =  
|flag_type =  
|flag_type =  
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|alt_map =  
|alt_map =  
|map_caption = Location of Saukania in Thrismari
|map_caption = Location of Saukania in Thrismari
|capital = [[Kula]]
|capital = [[Kula]] (winter capital) <br> [[Khodan]] (summer capital)
|largest_city = Kula
|largest_city = Kula
|official_languages = {{hlist|Eastern Saukanian (Kulanian)<br>Western Saukanian (Khodanian)}}
|official_languages =  
|regional_languages =  
|regional_languages =  
|ethnic_groups = 93.6% [[Saukanians|Saukanian]] <br> 6.4% Other
|ethnic_groups = 93.6% [[Saukanians|Saukanian]] <br> 6.4% Other
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|religion = 79.4% [[Religion in Saukania|Saukanian paganism]] <br> 10.2% {{wp|Christianity|Christianity}} <br> 6.6% {{wp|Islam|Islam}} <br> 3.8% Other
|religion = 79.4% [[Religion in Saukania|Saukanian paganism]] <br> 10.2% {{wp|Christianity|Christianity}} <br> 6.6% {{wp|Islam|Islam}} <br> 3.8% Other
|religion_year = 2020
|religion_year = 2020
|demonym = Saukanian <br> Sauka <br> Saukans <br> Saghans
|demonym = Saukanian
|government_type = Feudal confederation under Kulanian suzerainty
|government_type = Confederation of sovereign city-states
|leader_title1 = Saghand Wushrun
|leader_title1 =  
|leader_name1 = [[Shadaghar II Ghurdalghal Farukhid]]
|leader_name1 =  
|leader_title2 =  
|leader_title2 =  
|leader_name2 =  
|leader_name2 =  
|legislature = [[Confederation Council]]
|area_km2 = 1,116,863
|area_km2 = 1,116,863
|population_estimate = 27,214,000
|population_estimate = 27,214,000
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|calling_code =
|calling_code =
}}
}}
'''Saukania''', formally the '''Saukanian Confederation''' or the '''Four Nation Alliance''', is a country in northern and western [[Thrismari]]. A landlocked country, most of Saukania lies within the [[Western Thrismari Desert]] of northern Saukania, bounded on the south-western side by a mountainous region. Saukania shares borders with [[Bezuria]] and [[Shirua]] to its south and south-west, completely and partially through the mountains respectively. Saukania's northern neighbour is [[Sarocca]]. At 1,116,863 million square kilometers, Saukania is one of the largest countries in Thrismari, though very sparsely populated. Its population of 27.2 million people live primarily in the fertile river valleys of the south-western mountains or in the river-fed oases throughout the arid landscape. The seat of the confederation is Kula.
'''Saukania''', formally the '''Confederation of the Saukanians''' or the '''Saukanian Confederation''', is a landlocked country in northwestern [[Thrismari]]. Saukania is bordered by [[Bezuria]] and [[Shirua]] to its south and south-west, and [[Sarocca]] to the north. At 1,116,863 million square kilometers, Saukania is one of the largest countries in Thrismari, though very sparsely populated, with a population of 27.2 million people. The Confederation is broadly coextensive with the Saukanian physical region, to which the Saukanian peoples (identified by their speaking of the Saukanian languages) are native. It is an arid country, comprised almost entirely of desert and steppe.


Human habitation in Saukania began in the {{wp|Palaeolithic|Palaeolithic}}. During the {{wp|Neolithic|Neolithic}} and {{wp|Chalcolithic|Chalcolithic}}, Saukania was home to an indigenous archaeological culture known as the [[Geometric Band Culture]]. In the late Chalcolithic Saukania was invaded by [[Oskuri]]-speaking tribes who have remained ever since. In the 7th century the [[Saukan (ancient people)|Saukan]], Oskuri tribes from the southwest, expanded and conquered nearly all of the other Oskuri peoples and eventually assimilated them. The [[Four Nations|four Saukan tribes]] have subsequently ruled the land of Saukania, which takes its name from their people, as an intermittent religio-cultural confederation.
Human habitation in Saukania began in the {{wp|Palaeolithic|Palaeolithic}}. Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements centred on the fertile oases that supported irrigation and agriculture gave rise to city-states, which grew wealthy and powerful with their strategic position along overland Thrismari trade routes. Saukania's history is largely defined by wars between rival cities to establish hegemony and collect tribute, and conflict between the settled and nomadic populations of the desert. Modern city-states such as [[Acha]], [[Khodan]], and [[Kula]] have historically been the centre of these tributary empires. Conflict with neighbours beyond the limits of Saukanian civilization is another prominent dimension of their history.


The modern confederation established itself in the 18th and 19th centuries in response to significant foreign pressure and the risk of influence, due to the competing colonial interests of [[Nyalan]] and [[Riamo]]. Attempts by outsiders to conquer or establish authority over the Saukanians were met with a fierce resistance that has become the reputation and national character of the tribes.
The modern Confederation established itself over the 18th and 19th centuries in response to significant foreign pressure and the risk of subjugation, due to the competing colonial interests of [[Nyalan]] and [[Riamo]]. It is a decentralised body, with its constituent states governing themselves according to their own laws, but voluntarily ceding independent foreign relations to a corporate representation. The ancient and prestigious cities of Kula and Khodan serve as the Confederation's joint capitals, and are the two largest city-states by population. Since its foundation, the Confederation has grappled with internal instability arising from its tribal and multiethnic composition, limited economic development, and sectarian issues.


Saukania is a heavily agrarian country with a largely rural population. Organised at the basic level into city-states, urban centres are the location of industry. Exports of fruits, vegetables, and other cash crops are a major source of revenue, as is the export of material goods such as textiles, with [[Saukanian carpets]] being famed. Tourism to Saukania is common for its historic archaeological sites and unique, traditional culture, expressed through its cuisine, art, music, and entertainment.
Saukania is a heavily {{wp|Agrarian society|agrarian}} country with a large rural population and sizeable nomadic minority, with its urban centres serving as the core of industry and culture. Its native population, the [[Saukanians]], are a closely-related yet diverse array of ethnic groups with strong regional and local identities, a history of tribalism, and with profound linguistic, cultural, social, and religious distinctions. Exports of fruits, vegetables, and other cash crops are a major source of revenue, as is the export of finished material goods such as textiles, with [[Saukanian carpets]] being famed throughout much of the world. [[Tourism in Saukania|Tourism to Saukania]] is common for its historic archaeological sites and unique culture, expressed through its cuisine, art, music, and entertainment.


==Name==
==Name==
{{Main|Names of the Saukanians}}
{{Main|Names of the Saukanians}}
Saukania takes its name from the [[Saukan (ancient people)|Saukan]] or Saukani, an ancient [[Oskuri]] people who established their control over the region in the 7th and 8th centuries. The demonym 'Saukanian' in turn comes from Saukania. Proposed etymologies for Saukan itself are found in ancient legend and myth, though several accounts exist. Among the most widely accepted by the Saukanians themselves is a patronymic founding ancestor by the name of [[Saukan (mythical figure)|Saukan]], son of the Oskuri war god.
A common pre-Saukan Oskuri ethnonym for the territory of modern Saukania is [[Laxadia]], coming from the [[Laxad River]] which flows from the mountains.
Due to the historically disunited nature of the Saukanians, the names of constituent tribes of their nation have often been applied by foreigners to the entire group. Prior to Saukan rule over the rest of the Oskuri, these exonyms were far more varied, as different Oskuri tribes and peoples interacted with neighbouring communities. The Saukan are recorded in one Shiruan source prior to the 7th century, proving their existence at least as early as the 2nd century AD, and describing them as a warlike mountain people who regularly made war on their neighbours.
==Geography and climate==
{{Main|Geography of Saukania}}
[[File:Isukvillage.jpg|thumb|right|The village of Isuk in the uplands of [[Sakbia]].]]
At just over 1.1 million square kilometers, Saukania is one of the largest countries in Thrismari by total land area. It is however sparsely populated. Landlocked, and comprised entirely of desert and xeric shrubland, it is a very arid region of Thrismari, with most of its territory located in the vast West Thrismari Desert, locally called the ''Shana Amaxina''.
The bulk of Saukania's population of [NUMBER] lives in the oasis-rich regions of the south and along the fertile springs of the banks of the Laxad and Jagartes rivers. The desert grows more inhospitable trending from south to north, with a belt of rock and gravel desert giving way to open sand dunes. Though many settlements are found in this northern expanse, few are populated by more than a few thousand people at a time, with a significant proportion of these being semi-nomadic peoples moving from oasis to oasis.
The southwest region of Ghuran or Ghoran is quite fertile, comprised of a number of large river valleys nestled near the base of the Kedash, a mountain range forming a curved shield along the southwest border with Shirua and Bezuria. The four largest of these valleys — Ghar, Karshan, Sakbia, and Takhren — boast some of the largest populations in Saukania. This region forms the highest elevation in Saukania, inhabited by a small population of higher altitude mountain-dwelling pastoralists and a greater number of rural and urban peoples further down. The rest of Saukania trends to flatland, though with lower elevation to the southeast, towards which the rivers of Saukania flow.
[[File:WesternThrismariDesert.png|thumb|left|A photo of the Western Thrismari Desert at sunrise]]
The semi-arid belt of shrubland in the south, where the capital of Kula resides, is also more fertile, receiving greater amounts of rain than the desert, and is capable of supporting a larger number of people. Irrigation here has been far more extensive than anywhere else, save for the Ghuranian valleys, and the two regions combined are near enough the totality of all crop-producing land in Saukania. The aridity of the rest of the country leaves it suitable only for pasture of herd animals.
The Laxad and Jagartes, commonly nicknamed the Saukanian Arteries, empty into Arugal, the Saukanian name for the Khizuz Sea, the inland body of water shared with neighbouring Encessia. They are fed by mountains meltwater (the Laxad from the Kedash, and the Jagartes from Sarocca), flowing more in the summer and reducing in winter. Many fertile oases are found along their banks, and this region has had as much claim as the south to significance, with the ancient and powerful principality of Sardasar being located on the west bank of the Jagartes in the region of Vakhat. Of the two rivers, the Laxad is the largest, fed not only from its direct source in the northern Kedash but being joined (at least in summer) by the rivers of the Ghuranian valleys.


==History==
==History==
{{Main|History of Saukania}}
{{Main|History of Saukania}}
===Prehistory (Palaeolithic - c. 4th century BC)===
===Prehistory and antiquity (before 7th century AD)===
{{Main|Prehistory of Saukania}}
{{Further|Ancient history of Saukania|Archaeological sites in Saukania}}Examination of prehistoric sites in Saukania has yielded an estimation of human habitation as far back as 61,000 years ago. With northern Thrismari a potential candidate for the origin of the human species, prehistoric Saukania may have been one of the first areas early man spread to in a southward peopling of the rest of the continent. Artefacts typical of the late [[wikipedia:Middle_Paleolithic|Middle Palaeolithic]], [[wikipedia:Upper_Paleolithic|Upper Palaeolithic]], and the [[wikipedia:Mesolithic|Mesolithic]] have been discovered in Saukania. A number of sites yielded items from several eras, though the majority were confined to periods of (relatively) brief habitation in certain eras, before being abandoned. Changing climate and the somewhat cyclical expansion and retraction of the [[Western Thrismari Desert]] is likely to explain these differently situated habitation sites, and several sites were discovered in areas of modern Saukania which are sparsely inhabited if at all.
Anatomically modern {{wp|Early modern human|''Homo sapiens''}} are known to have arrived in what is now Saukania as recently as 32,000 years ago, with inconclusive evidence of earlier ''H. sapien'' and other {{wp|Homo|''Homo''}} genus habitation stretching back many more thousands of years. Most of this evidence comes from southern Saukania, as the sand dunes of the northern desert leave little trace. {{wp|Agriculture|Agriculture}} is thought to have begun at a limited level around 8,000 years ago, giving rise to sedentary communities who eventually developed metallurgy, producing {{wp|copper}} and later {{wp|bronze}} artefacts, known as the [[Geometric Band Culture]] (GBC).


Genealogical evidence suggests that the bearers of the [[Oskuri (ancient people)|Oskuri]] material culture and language were an immigrant population who arrived in the area c. 2500 BC and established themselves as the dominant group over the existing GBC population. This influx of people may have involved a significant degree of {{wp|Prehistoric warfare|violence}}, as indigenous {{wp|Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup|Y-DNA}} almost completely disappears in the subsequent centuries, replaced by the male lineage of the Oskuri. The {{wp|Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup|mt-DNA}} of both ancient and modern Saukanians is highly varied, including markers that immigrated to the region around the same time as the corresponding male lineages, indicating interbreeding between Oskuri males and both Oskuri and indigenous GBC females. An alternative theory argues against a violent takeover, interpreting the genetic evidence as the result of a largely peaceful integration of an Oskuri immigrant population which for unclear reasons maintained an advantage in subsequent intermarriage events. It is likely that the {{wp|Polygyny|polygynous}} tradition of the Saukanian male elite was already present in Oskuri culture at this time, with a small number of high status males monopolising access to females, at a ratio potentially as high as 10:1.  
Permanent habitation and [[wikipedia:Agriculture|agriculture]] in prehistoric Saukania is not detectable until the beginning of the [[wikipedia:Neolithic|Neolithic]] around 11,000 years ago. As with prior eras, Saukania's climate and ecoregions were likely quite different than they are today, as a number of ancient Neolithic sites are located in what are presently fairly inhospitable regions of Saukania. Other presently inhospitable regions have yielded little-to-no evidence of prehistoric habitation. The agricultural development of Neolithic Saukania have been associated with a population termed [[Early Northern Thrismari Farmers]] or ENTF, a somewhat diverse yet related genetic grouping of people who gave rise to numerous successive archaeological cultures across the Neolithic period. Traces of [[wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherer]] populations have also been detected, potentially conserving older Mesolithic subsistence strategies before gradually being forced out or assimilated into the ENTF cultures. ENTF cultures over the Neolithic period include the [[Lower Laxad River culture|Lower Laxad River Culture]], the [[Sharp Angled Pottery culture|Sharp Angled Pottery Culture]], the [[Keledan culture|Keledan Culture]], and the [[Mardan-Turana Cultural Complex]].


Sedentary life continued as previously established under the Oskuri, with particular population centres growing to significant sizes on the back of both crop farming and herd pastoralism. It is likely that many of the Oskuri arrivals practised {{wp|Nomadic pastoralism|nomadic pastoralism}} around this time, albeit impossible to prove with any certainty, due to the limitation of their oral histories and the lack of material evidence.
===Middle ages (6th - 16th centuries)===


Though the exact founding date of what would become the Oskuri city-states is largely unclear, it is known that sites that would become [[Kula]], [[Khodan]], [[Sardasar]], and many others were inhabited at this time.
===Modern era (16th century - 1950)===


===Ancient history (4th century BC - 7th century AD)===
===Contemporary Saukania (1950 - present)===
{{Main|Ancient history of Saukania}}
With domestic records extremely limited in this time, it is from neighbouring lands that the first sources on the Oskuri are known. The earliest surviving documentations are from [[Shirua]], dating back to the early 4th century BC. From these documents and their successors, it is understood that the Oskuri were organised as city-states belonging to independent tribes, comprised of several cantons with a number of cities each, a model that has persisted for their whole history.


The best documented of these tribes by the Shiruans are the [[Bartari]], the [[Kossines]], and the [[Saulani]], closest to the Shiruan [[Miryar Confederation]], which was often attacked by raiders from these tribes. At other times however, diplomatic relations of a kind were clearly established, as the Miryar period contains other documents about tribes and cities more distant from their territory, including a city conclusively identified with Kula, a town of the [[Sarkares]]. Other sites of importance known to have existed at this time include [[Acha]], largest town and capital of the Saulani; [[Khodan]], a town of the [[Arsalines]]; and [[Turshor]], belonging to the [[Akkasenes]]. The [[Saukan (ancient people)|Saukan]] themselves are also documented by the Shiruan records in the early 1st millennium.
==Geography and climate==
{{Main|Geography of Saukania}}Saukania has an area of 1,116,863 square kilometres (431,223 sq mi), and is one of the largest countries in Thrismari by total land area. It is a dry and landlocked country, bordering [[Sarocca]] to the north, [[Shirua]] to the west and southwest, and [[Bezuria]] to the south. Though the country has no outlet to the sea, Saukania comprises approximately half of the coastline of the inland [[Argan Sea]].


A warrior elite prevailed in the cities and tribes, noble clans that dominated the politics and the religious spheres of Oskuri culture. Sources describe the Oskuri as a "bellicose and rude race", conditioned by the desert lifestyle into a hardy and tough people. They are noted as engaging in fierce internecine wars over land and livestock, with a small and sparse population that gathers only to celebrate shared festivals or to form an army.
The country lies between longitudes 43° and 59°W and latitudes 22° and 32°S.


At the end of this period, a second wave of migration transpired. The Saukan and tribes closely connected to them began a series of military migrations and conquests in the 7th century, conquering rival Oskuri tribes, and eventually assimilating them under an enlarged Saukan identity.
==== Physical geography and georegions ====
Saukania has a diverse physical environment. The relatively flat, desert topography that comprises the majority of Saukanian land area gives way in the south to grassland and shrub-steppe, and then to the forest-steppe foothills of the Ghuran Mountains and the montane grasslands and shrublands of the mountains proper.


===Feudal Saukania (7th - 15th centuries)===
The vast [[Western Thrismari Desert]] dominates the northern and central portion of Saukania. There are a few large [[wikipedia:Erg_(landform)|ergs]] in the Saukanian region of the desert trending north, while much of the desert is comprised of [[wikipedia:Desert_pavement|desert pavement]] and bare rock.
{{Main|Saukanian Medieval Age}}
The [[Saukan migration]] of the 7th and 8th centuries changed the political landscape of Saukania. Despite the spontaneity and apparent cohesion of the invasion, no permanent unifying polity emerged from this great conquest, and the Saukan identity itself was lost as it became transferred not only to their initial allies but the peoples they conquered. The tribal names of the conquered Oskuri survived as regional units, cantons, and tribes that now branded themselves as Saukan as opposed to Oskuri.


A result of the conquest was the formation of four dominant tribes: the [[Arimazi]], the [[Kanthali]], the [[Lukarani]], and the [[Tukari]]. By the 10th century, a handful of smaller tribes that had remained separate from the four began to be counted within it as cantons. These tribes acted as confederations in their own right, as the leaders of cantons and their cities could gather to elect a supreme commander in times of war. When faced with significant foreign adversaries, all four tribes, which became known as the [[Four Banners]], could unite under a single leader for the sake of common defence.
In the south and south-west of the country is the [[Saukanian steppe]], forming a wide U-shaped arc. Receiving more rainfall than the desert to the north, the steppe is comprised primarily of grass and shrub, with some forest steppe interspersed. This forest-steppe is more abundant along riparian zones formed by the rivers that descend from the Ghuran Mountains, and in the foothills of the mountains themselves. The elevation rises from the broadly flat surrounding landscape at the foothills and up to around 3500m at the mountain range itself. This area is known as the [[Saukanian uplands]] or highlands. Montane grass and shrublands replace the temperate steppe regions as the elevation increases.


More often than not, however, the Saukan tribes fought each other in competition for the rare oases of fertile land to support their population, and control over the trade routes that passed through them.
==== Climate ====
Saukania is possessed primarily of an arid continental climate. Average rainfall is low, and the majority of the country is comprised of desert and steppe climate. The highlands to the southwest receive a larger amount of rainfall than the lowlands, owing to their high elevation, which comprised with snowmelt in the summer, provides the waterflow of Saukania's rivers. The steppe climate borders this highland zone, and has more grass and vegetation than areas further northeast.


====The Crusader War====
==== Environmental issues ====
A fragile ecological area, Saukania faces a number of major environmental problems, such as land degradation in farmed areas and increased desertification. These issues are felt most keenly by the country's nomadic population, who face losing pasture land to encroaching dunes or harsher desert conditions which they need to graze their herds. Deforestation of Saukania's already limited supply of wooded areas is also a major concern.


===Early modern history (15th - 18th centuries)===
{{Main|Early modern period of Saukania}}
===Modern history (18th century - present day)===
{{Main|Contemporary Saukania}}
==Demographics==
==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of Saukania}}
{{Main|Demographics of Saukania}}The population of Saukania was estimated at 27.2 million as of 2020 by the Saukanian Statistics Authority. While the Confederation's members hold synchronised decennial censuses for the sake of accuracy, reliable numbers are often hard to obtain in particular districts and among the nomadic and highland populations. A combination of refusals to divulge information, isolated and hard to access terrain, as well as the mobility of the nomadic groups, makes assessment of the more marginal Saukanian communities harder. Many highland communities are known to give false information in the form of inflated male counts and underreported females in order to appear more threatening. In a 1980 census conducted by Khodan over the highland areas in its jurisdiction, one valley's reported population amounted to a gender imbalance of some 92% of inhabitants being male.
===Ethnicity===
 
{{Main|Ethnic groups in Saukania|Saukanians|Nomads in Saukania}}
Nevertheless, estimates suggest approximately 5.7% of the population, around 1.55 million people, live nomadic lifestyles in one of the numerous nomadic ethnic groups and tribes populating the country. Of the remainder, approximately 41.2% were urban, and the remaining 53.1% live in rural areas. Saukania's urbanization rate has grown significantly in the last half century, as economic modernisation increases opportunity for rural inhabitants. The share of nomads has also declined as individuals or family units adopt semi-sedentary and fully sedentary lifestyles. Population growth in all segments of society is high, with an overall average of 1.67% annually. Fertility is the primary contributor to this growth, though it has slowed in recent decades. In 1960 the estimated TFR was 7.6 children per woman, which fell to 4.3 in 2010. Many Saukanians seek work in foreign countries, leading to a steady rate of emigration, though not enough to offset growth. Healthcare improvements and the lowering of the infant mortality rate have also contributed to longer lifespans and greater overall population.
Ethnic Saukanians are the largest group in Saukania, representing over 93% of its total population. Minority groups include Shiruans, Saroccans, and Bezurians. Ethnic Saukanians identify themselves and one another by use of either the West or East Saukanian languages, through common bloodline and heritage (reckoned patrilineally as per the custom of Saukanian clans), and, to a lesser extent, participation in their polytheistic and animistic religion. Observation of Saghandadret, the Saukanian code of honour and body of customary laws, is arguably most essential to Saukanian ethnic identity.


To a large extent, Saukanians identify more with the historical sub-region of Saukania to which their clan is native, with Saukanian being more of a geopolitical identity than consistently ethnic. Though all these Saukanian regions have broader customs in common, such as the Saghandadret, they differ significantly enough in local customs and practises to give rise to entrenched regional identities.
==== Urbanization ====
Of the 41.2% of the population living in cities, just under half, or about 5 million, live in the four largest cities: Kula, Khodan, Acha, and Sardasar. Kula alone boasts a population of 2.1 million. As noted, urbanization rate is increasing with the influx of rural populations into the cities for work. This urbanization is not without tension however. The ethnic diversity of the cities has always been higher than surrounding countryside, but has intensified in recent decades with the economic potential. Tensions between different Saukanian populations are ever-present, and incidents of violence not unknown. Increased urban development in the highlands has also fuelled tension and even conflict, as enlarged population centres increasingly come to reflect the more cosmopolitan and lowland-style system of government and overall culture, antagonising the surrounding highland peoples.


More commonly expressed than ethnic identity in Saukanian history into the present day has been the distinction between a settled and nomadic lifestyle. Both the desert and the shrublands regions of Saukania are home to semi-nomadic pastoralists who either never settled or abandoned settled lifestyles in favour of regular migration between oases to graze their herds. These populations are still considered Saukanian, and speak Saukanian languages (albeit in their own localised dialects), but, as with the settled groups, identify much more strongly with their own clans and tribal associations.
===Ethnicity===
{{Main|Ethnic groups in Saukania|Saukanians|Nomads in Saukania}}Saukanians are divided into several [[wikipedia:Ethnolinguistic_group|ethnolinguistic]] groups. Saukanian-speaking peoples form the majority of the population, but adhere to a number of independent ethnic identities. The two largest ethnic groups are the Takhrians and the Arshanians, at approximately 34% and 31% of the population respectively. Both groups are Saukanian-speakers, of the northern-western and southern-eastern branches respectively. Takhrians and Arshanians form the political and economic elite of Saukania, and are the dominant ethnic group in most of the city-states (Takhrians in the north, Arshanians in the south). Around a quarter of the highland tribes are Takhrian. A third to half of the nomads consider themselves Arshanian. Smaller Saukanian-speaking ethnic groups include the Asmurians, Ghazanians, Khanorians, Sizerians, and Thagarians, none of which comprise more than 10% of the total population. Non-Saukanian ethnic groups include Arabs, Bezurians, Jews, Shiruans, and Turks, all of which are minorities.


===Language===
===Language===
{{Main|Saukanian language}}
{{Main|Saukanian languages|Arshanian language|Takhrian language}}Takhrian and Arshanian are the two dominant languages of Saukania. Bilingualism is common, either in the form of Takhrians being fluent in Arshanian, vice-versa, or speakers of another language knowing at least one of these. The two languages are also sometimes called Khodanian and Kulean respectively, after their most prominent dialects. The languages are closely related, though not mutually intelligible. Like most languages spoken in Saukania, they are Saukanian languages. Often, when the term 'Saukanian' is used linguistically, it is referring either to Takhrian or Arshanian, though these are not the only members of that family.


===Religion===
===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in Saukania}}
{{Main|Religion in Saukania}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb=right
|caption= Religion in Saukania (2020 est.)
|label1= [[Religion in Saukania|Saukanian paganism]]
|value1= 79.4
|color1= darkred
|label2= {{wp|Christianity}}
|value2= 10.2
|color2= lightblue
|label3= {{wp|Islam}}
|value3= 6.6
|color3= green
|label4= Other
|value4= 3.8
|color4= white
}}
===Major cities===
===Major cities===
{{Main|List of major cities in Saukania}}
{{Main|List of major cities in Saukania}}


==Government and politics==
==Government and politics==
{{Main|Government of Saukania}}
{{Main|Government of Saukania}}The Saukanian Confederation is defined as an alliance of eleven city-states, each of which is granted autonomy in domestic affairs, while ceding foreign affairs to a unitary body. This body is the Saukanian Confederation, recognised as a sovereign state. For recognition of their historic statuses and populations, Kula and Khodan hold the positions of joint-capital of the Confederation. For ease of administration, Khodan is the designated summer capital and Kula the designated winter capital.
===Kula suzerainty===
 
===Administrative divisions===
===Administrative divisions===
{{Main|Administrative divisions of Saukania}}
{{Main|Administrative divisions of Saukania}}
===Military===
===Military===
{{Main|The Saukanian Army}}
{{Main|The Saukanian Army}}


==Society==
==Culture==
Saukanian society is highly conservative, as Saukanians are suspicious of foreigners and foreign ideas. Tradition is central to their religion and way of life. The traditional code of conduct, [[Saghandadret]], is fundamental to Saukanian society. Its basic tenets include {{wp|Hospitality|hospitality}} for guests, bravery for men, modesty for women, and the necessity of {{wp|Feud|vengeance}}. Family is a pillar of their society, and Saukanians have a great concern for personal and familial honour. They are strictly {{wp|Patriarchy|patriarchal}}, and women adhere to an ideal of seclusion called [[Karsaiva|karsaiva]].
{{Main|Culture of Saukania}}Culture in Saukania is dictated as much by lifestyle (sedentary or nomadic) and living density (urban versus rural) entirely as much as it is by the distinct ethnic populations that inhabit the country, and the city-states that comprise these groups. While Saukanians do share many common cultural features, specifics are highly variable. The family is the pillar of Saukanian society, and the city-states regard themselves as comprised of families rather than of individuals. The family and its wider clan are older institutions than the city-states by far, and continue to hold a sacrosanct status that leaves many legal and formal responsibilities to kinship dynamics which in contemporary societies have been subsumed under the state. Saukanian families are patriarchal. In Saukania's many thousands of rural villages, families typically occupy mudbrick or stone houses, sometimes in compounds where extended families may live in several connected dwellings. Villages typically have a headman, the patriarch of the most influential or respected family. The rural population is overwhelmingly involved in agriculture, either growing crops or involvement in animal husbandry, with both subsistence and cash enterprises. Nomads frequent villages often, purchasing or trading for locally grown crops and manufactured goods, in exchange for wool, milk, and meat harvested from their flocks. Families are united in marriage, which is considered the exchange of a woman as the basis of alliance. The groom is expected to pay the bride's family. Wives are expected and raised to obey their husbands. Villages are often genealogical units unto themselves, populated by a small number of large, related families.
 
The urban centres of the city-states are the heart of Saukanian industry and political life. The rate of urbanization is growing, as younger people from the rural regions of the fertile oases migrate for work. Some nomads too are abandoning their lifestyles in favour of living and working in cities, while some groups stay for a while before moving on again. The city-states are the heart of Saukanian culture, producing large amounts of goods, jewellery, textiles, and art, as well as being centres of cuisine and music. Public life and presentation is important in the city-states, and Saukanians are conscious of their image and reputation. Honour, valued as reputation and standing, is very important to Saukanians both individually and as part of their corporate units; family, clan, tribe, etc. Saukanian tribal identities have endured for many centuries, more or less unchanged in their respective regions. Typically these identities are coextensive with dialects of the regional language, particular customs, as well as place of origin. As with familial descent, tribal identity is reckoned paternally.


Rural and urban Saukania differ in their particular customs, as rural Saukanians live a harder life in the desert, steppe, and mountains closer to their traditional roots. Customs also vary between regions of Saukania. Sedentary Saukanians again differ from nomads, whose pastoralist lifestyle herding sheep, goats, and camels from oasis to oasis has resulted in a unique expression of Saukanian identity.
===Social structure===
===Social structure===
{{Main|Social structure and class in Saukania|Walantacha}}
{{Main|Social structure and class in Saukania}}
====Family and kinship====
{{Further|Women in Saukania}}
Ancestry is supremely important to Saukanian identity, and intergenerational extended families and clans are the backbone of the broader social relationship between individual Saukanians. The Saukanian family dynamic is comprised of three hierarchical units: the ''dast'', the ''hal'', and the ''oska''. The ''oska'' is the nuclear household comprised of a male head, his wife or wives, and all their unmarried children. Sons found their own ''oska'' when they marry, and daughters join the newly founded household of their husbands. Related ''oskanan'' form a ''hal'', the basic patriarchal family unit. ''Oskanan'' associate in a ''hal'' based on patrilineal descent from the ancestor of the last four generations. The ''hal'' is led by the patriarch of the ''skut oska'', the first household. This first household is determined by the line of descent from eldest son to eldest son from the founding ancestor.


Encompassing any number of ''halan'' is the ''dast''. The ''dast'' is an even broader extended unit, approximate to a clan. Traditionally, a ''dast'' is reckoned from the ancestor of the three generations preceding the founder of the constituent ''halan'', though this can vary from region to region. Each of these units is named for the founding ancestor, e.g, the Targan Oska, the Sorosh Hal, and the Khuran Dast. Among noble houses, a clan name may just as likely be taken from the most significant recent ancestor, rather than strictly following the traditional formation, as is more common in rural areas and among the hill men of the southwest. As with the ''hal'', the ''dast'' is led by the ''skut oska'' of the ''skut hal'', forming an overall clan chief. Often, however, even in nobility and royalty, the influence of the head of the ''dast'' is rarely felt beyond his own ''hal'', and all subordinate units have a strong degree of autonomy.
===Honour===
{{Main|Sharaven|Karsavis}}


The right of the head of an ''oska'', a ''hal'', and to a lesser extent a ''dast'', to govern his relatives as he sees fit, is effectively unchallenged by state law. A remnant of the tribal system that supported the very legitimacy of the emerging noble clans, the right of the patriarch is considered not just social, but religious. Each family maintains a sacred hearth in the primary home of the ''hal'', devoted to the ancestors, and the male head of the family officiates as its priest, performing rites that are the secret knowledge of each clan. No authority or precedent exists which can revoke this authority and responsibility, and no ''laklan'' has ever dared try.
Though essentially collectivist in terms of its genealogical structure, Saukanians strive a great deal towards self-sufficiency at the basic unit, that of the adult man himself, and his ''oska''. A soft form of segmentary opposition prevails in clan politics. These units behave autonomously at their lowest levels in competition with other segments at the same level. However, if one ''oska'' has an issue with an ''oska'' from a different ''hal'', it becomes a problem for the whole ''hal'', and the same is true for the ''halan'' and the ''dastya''. Nevertheless, they are not completely detached from one another in the absence of external opposition, as they were in their completely tribal days. ''Oskanan'' of the same ''hal'' often live in close proximity to one another, and may regularly associate.
====Class and status====
The old tribal system of the Sauka was replaced in the unwritten depths of antiquity with the emergence of the city-states that have defined Saukanian culture for centuries. With these city-states came entrenched social hierarchies centred on clan loyalty and the owning of land. These hierarchies continue into the present day in a system which the Saukanians call the ''walantacha''.
Dominating this hierarchy is the class of hereditary warrior nobility, the ''kishenya''. The ''kishenya'' are divided into sub-groups, an upper and a lower nobility. In addition to a history of elite warfare, the chief religious offices of the Saukanian city-states are held by these nobles. At the head of the ''kishenya'' of every city-state is the royal family. The patriarch of this family is the ''laklan'', the lord of the city-state and first-among-equals of the ''kishenya''. This title is often translated as a prince (as in principality) or as king.
Beneath the ''kishenya'', a class of land-owning clients who filled out the Sauka armies, lower government, bureaucracies, lower religious offices, and artisan craft industries served as the will of the nobles. This second rank are called the ''lewalan''.
Finally, underneath the ''lewalan'', are the ''tutallya'', the free labourers whose holdings were minimal and who typically worked for their income. A clear distinction has always been made between this lower class and slaves, who are unfree. ''Lewalan'' have always had the privilege of free assemblies to make their voices known on matters of importance, and to greater or lesser degrees are consulted in the running of government.
Mobility in this class sytem is possible, with ''tutallya'' rising to become ''lewalan'' and, though rarer, ''lewalan'' distinguishing themselves and being made into ''kishenya''. The distance between the classes is bridged by the patronage system, a reciprocal exchange network that is as essential to the ''walantacha'' as the classes themselves.  The ''lewalan'' seek the patronage of the ''kishenya'' for their business and political ventures or securing beneficial marriages, and repay their patron with public displays of allegiance to reflect the status and power of their noble benefactor. Using the resources he gains from this relationship, a ''lewal'' may serve as patron to a number of lower-ranking ''lewalan'' or directly to ''tutallya''.
====Women in Saukanian culture====
{{Main|Women in Saukania}}
The Saukanians are a strictly patriarchal culture, led by men in domestic and public life. Women are expected to be obedient without question, as control over women is essential to male honour and the perception of a man and his family's ability to protect women from harm. Female loyalty is first to her father and then to her husband, whose family she joins when she marries him. This transfer of allegiance is total, and her father ceases to have any legal control or say in her affairs once she has been given to her husband, who becomes her legal guardian and representative. Women then are thought of essentially as extensions of the male and his honour, and they do not have an independent existence or status of their own.
Marriage for women is the most significant event of their lives, not only for this transfer of allegiance and belonging, but also as it marks the proper transition between girl and woman. Marriage to a man in the same ''hal'' is prohibited as incest, though marriage to a man of the same ''dast'' is both accepted and preferred. Therefore even though these marriages are arranged, it is common that a husband and wife know each other prior to marriage. Marriage between different ''dastya'' however is common for the sake of forging alliances, mending rifts, or for purely economic purposes. Once married, a woman's job is largely the continuation of the duties she had as a girl: working with the other women of the family to maintain the domestic space and run the household. Polygyny is common for high ranking males, and so women may have a number of co-wives with whom to share duties. Typically it is the first-wed of these wives who has seniority. Nevertheless, status for women does not come from the performance of their work but rather their liberation from it. High-status women are tended to by servants, a lifestyle that women tend to softly pressure their husbands to provide for them.
Female honour demands their obedience and their absolute chastity. Even the suggestion of infidelity is intolerable to a family. Women are jealously guarded by their men against the very real threat of their kidnap or sexual assault. This often means they are kept indoors when possible, and conceal their bodies when out of doors, both to disguise their identity and their physical appearance, as beautiful women are far more likely to be targeted for abduction. Noblewomen may spend much of their lives inside lavish apartments reserved solely for their sex, their comfort and luxury envied by lower class women.
In all other areas of life, women are represented by their male guardians. Women may sit in the councils called by a ''hal'' or a ''dast'', but only to listen, and may not speak in their own voice. Often, however, a man may speak issues that his wife has discussed with him in private, though he will not reveal if this is so. Women then are capable of exercising a more indirect but significant influence on clan affairs if they have the trust and confidence of their husbands, which is gained by serving him faithfully. Beyond then the sufficiency of the fact that, being raised in their own culture, Saukanian women defend and revere the principles of the Saghandadrat that demands their obedience, their patriarchal culture affords them a significant degree of soft power that they would lack if permitted to express their views openly.
Mothers are instrumental in the raising of children with the cultural qualities and virtues they themselves grew up with, inspiring their sons with examples of their ancestors and of legend to be brave, strong, and protective of his female kin, and educating their daughters to be skilled in the running of the household and faithfully obedient to their husbands. A woman with many sons earns greater prestige than those who bear daughters, as more sons means a stronger family. Age also brings respect and authority to a woman, both from other women and from men.
===Code of honour===
{{Main|Saghandadret}}
Saghandadret is the male-centred code of conduct and honour that is regarded as essential to Saukanian identity, and its keeping is seen to separate the Saukanians from foreigners. Meaning approximately "custom of the Saukanians", it is an uncodified assembly of various virtues, responsibilities, and concepts that are components of the broader Saukanian ideal of honour.
Honour for Saukanians is not the romantic chivalric ideal, but the concern for 'face', reputation, and status, suited to its history of feudal and clan warfare. A man and his family have honour when none dare to cheat, insult, or attack him, and if any do dare, he keeps or restores his honour by pursuing vengeance without delay.
Vengeance is core to Saghandadret. Blood must be paid with blood, and a man must defend his land, wealth, and women to keep his honour. Feuds between rival clans are common, especially in more remote areas where access to non-violent arbitration is both unsought and unavailable. Brothers, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, and patrilineal cousins all take up the feud together, and unite around an injured party. Feeding the cycle of retaliation is that a man and his family may gain honour through the perpetration of these attacks to begin with, and proving superiority over an enemy group through the theft of their livestock or women. Honour is a finite currency, and gaining it almost certainly means someone else has lost theirs.
Sanghandadret however provides for hospitality, a reflection of the ancient days in the desert where turning away a stranger could mean their death. Saukanians pride themselves on their hospitality, and are gravely insulted if it is rejected. Saukanian legends are known for their theme of the virtuous host who dies to protect a guest he hardly knows from harm, demonstrating the centrality of hospitality to their expected conduct. Many stories of their gods likewise involve them taking a disguise as a poor traveller, testing the piety of the people.
The code of honour calls upon Saukanian men to be brave and zealous in the discharging of their duties for their clan, even in the face of death, and commands women to be faithful and obedient, to help their fathers and brothers in keeping the honour of their family and not to compromise it with infidelity or immodest display of the body.
==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Saukania}}
===Clothing===
===Clothing===
{{Main|Clothing in Saukania}}
{{Main|Clothing in Saukania}}
===Architecture and art===
===Architecture and art===
{{Main|Architecture of Saukania|Art in Saukania}}
{{Main|Architecture of Saukania|Art in Saukania}}
===Music===
===Music===
{{Main|Music of Saukania}}
{{Main|Music of Saukania}}
===Cuisine===
===Cuisine===
{{Main|Cuisine of Saukania}}
{{Main|Cuisine of Saukania}}
===Sport===
===Sport===
{{Main|Sport in Saukania}}
{{Main|Sport in Saukania}}

Latest revision as of 21:22, 10 June 2024

Confederation of the Saukanians
'
Seal of the Confederation of Saukania
Seal of the Confederation
Location of Saukania in Thrismari
Location of Saukania in Thrismari
CapitalKula (winter capital)
Khodan (summer capital)
Largest cityKula
Ethnic groups
(2020)
93.6% Saukanian
6.4% Other
Religion
(2020)
79.4% Saukanian paganism
10.2% Christianity
6.6% Islam
3.8% Other
Demonym(s)Saukanian
GovernmentConfederation of sovereign city-states
LegislatureConfederation Council
Area
• Total
1,116,863 km2 (431,223 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate
27,214,000
• Density
24.3/km2 (62.9/sq mi)
Date formatdd-mm-yyyy
Driving sideleft
Internet TLD.sg

Saukania, formally the Confederation of the Saukanians or the Saukanian Confederation, is a landlocked country in northwestern Thrismari. Saukania is bordered by Bezuria and Shirua to its south and south-west, and Sarocca to the north. At 1,116,863 million square kilometers, Saukania is one of the largest countries in Thrismari, though very sparsely populated, with a population of 27.2 million people. The Confederation is broadly coextensive with the Saukanian physical region, to which the Saukanian peoples (identified by their speaking of the Saukanian languages) are native. It is an arid country, comprised almost entirely of desert and steppe.

Human habitation in Saukania began in the Palaeolithic. Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements centred on the fertile oases that supported irrigation and agriculture gave rise to city-states, which grew wealthy and powerful with their strategic position along overland Thrismari trade routes. Saukania's history is largely defined by wars between rival cities to establish hegemony and collect tribute, and conflict between the settled and nomadic populations of the desert. Modern city-states such as Acha, Khodan, and Kula have historically been the centre of these tributary empires. Conflict with neighbours beyond the limits of Saukanian civilization is another prominent dimension of their history.

The modern Confederation established itself over the 18th and 19th centuries in response to significant foreign pressure and the risk of subjugation, due to the competing colonial interests of Nyalan and Riamo. It is a decentralised body, with its constituent states governing themselves according to their own laws, but voluntarily ceding independent foreign relations to a corporate representation. The ancient and prestigious cities of Kula and Khodan serve as the Confederation's joint capitals, and are the two largest city-states by population. Since its foundation, the Confederation has grappled with internal instability arising from its tribal and multiethnic composition, limited economic development, and sectarian issues.

Saukania is a heavily agrarian country with a large rural population and sizeable nomadic minority, with its urban centres serving as the core of industry and culture. Its native population, the Saukanians, are a closely-related yet diverse array of ethnic groups with strong regional and local identities, a history of tribalism, and with profound linguistic, cultural, social, and religious distinctions. Exports of fruits, vegetables, and other cash crops are a major source of revenue, as is the export of finished material goods such as textiles, with Saukanian carpets being famed throughout much of the world. Tourism to Saukania is common for its historic archaeological sites and unique culture, expressed through its cuisine, art, music, and entertainment.

Name

Main article: Names of the Saukanians

History

Main article: History of Saukania

Prehistory and antiquity (before 7th century AD)

Further information: Ancient history of Saukania and Archaeological sites in Saukania

Examination of prehistoric sites in Saukania has yielded an estimation of human habitation as far back as 61,000 years ago. With northern Thrismari a potential candidate for the origin of the human species, prehistoric Saukania may have been one of the first areas early man spread to in a southward peopling of the rest of the continent. Artefacts typical of the late Middle Palaeolithic, Upper Palaeolithic, and the Mesolithic have been discovered in Saukania. A number of sites yielded items from several eras, though the majority were confined to periods of (relatively) brief habitation in certain eras, before being abandoned. Changing climate and the somewhat cyclical expansion and retraction of the Western Thrismari Desert is likely to explain these differently situated habitation sites, and several sites were discovered in areas of modern Saukania which are sparsely inhabited if at all.

Permanent habitation and agriculture in prehistoric Saukania is not detectable until the beginning of the Neolithic around 11,000 years ago. As with prior eras, Saukania's climate and ecoregions were likely quite different than they are today, as a number of ancient Neolithic sites are located in what are presently fairly inhospitable regions of Saukania. Other presently inhospitable regions have yielded little-to-no evidence of prehistoric habitation. The agricultural development of Neolithic Saukania have been associated with a population termed Early Northern Thrismari Farmers or ENTF, a somewhat diverse yet related genetic grouping of people who gave rise to numerous successive archaeological cultures across the Neolithic period. Traces of hunter-gatherer populations have also been detected, potentially conserving older Mesolithic subsistence strategies before gradually being forced out or assimilated into the ENTF cultures. ENTF cultures over the Neolithic period include the Lower Laxad River Culture, the Sharp Angled Pottery Culture, the Keledan Culture, and the Mardan-Turana Cultural Complex.

Middle ages (6th - 16th centuries)

Modern era (16th century - 1950)

Contemporary Saukania (1950 - present)

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Saukania

Saukania has an area of 1,116,863 square kilometres (431,223 sq mi), and is one of the largest countries in Thrismari by total land area. It is a dry and landlocked country, bordering Sarocca to the north, Shirua to the west and southwest, and Bezuria to the south. Though the country has no outlet to the sea, Saukania comprises approximately half of the coastline of the inland Argan Sea.

The country lies between longitudes 43° and 59°W and latitudes 22° and 32°S.

Physical geography and georegions

Saukania has a diverse physical environment. The relatively flat, desert topography that comprises the majority of Saukanian land area gives way in the south to grassland and shrub-steppe, and then to the forest-steppe foothills of the Ghuran Mountains and the montane grasslands and shrublands of the mountains proper.

The vast Western Thrismari Desert dominates the northern and central portion of Saukania. There are a few large ergs in the Saukanian region of the desert trending north, while much of the desert is comprised of desert pavement and bare rock.

In the south and south-west of the country is the Saukanian steppe, forming a wide U-shaped arc. Receiving more rainfall than the desert to the north, the steppe is comprised primarily of grass and shrub, with some forest steppe interspersed. This forest-steppe is more abundant along riparian zones formed by the rivers that descend from the Ghuran Mountains, and in the foothills of the mountains themselves. The elevation rises from the broadly flat surrounding landscape at the foothills and up to around 3500m at the mountain range itself. This area is known as the Saukanian uplands or highlands. Montane grass and shrublands replace the temperate steppe regions as the elevation increases.

Climate

Saukania is possessed primarily of an arid continental climate. Average rainfall is low, and the majority of the country is comprised of desert and steppe climate. The highlands to the southwest receive a larger amount of rainfall than the lowlands, owing to their high elevation, which comprised with snowmelt in the summer, provides the waterflow of Saukania's rivers. The steppe climate borders this highland zone, and has more grass and vegetation than areas further northeast.

Environmental issues

A fragile ecological area, Saukania faces a number of major environmental problems, such as land degradation in farmed areas and increased desertification. These issues are felt most keenly by the country's nomadic population, who face losing pasture land to encroaching dunes or harsher desert conditions which they need to graze their herds. Deforestation of Saukania's already limited supply of wooded areas is also a major concern.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Saukania

The population of Saukania was estimated at 27.2 million as of 2020 by the Saukanian Statistics Authority. While the Confederation's members hold synchronised decennial censuses for the sake of accuracy, reliable numbers are often hard to obtain in particular districts and among the nomadic and highland populations. A combination of refusals to divulge information, isolated and hard to access terrain, as well as the mobility of the nomadic groups, makes assessment of the more marginal Saukanian communities harder. Many highland communities are known to give false information in the form of inflated male counts and underreported females in order to appear more threatening. In a 1980 census conducted by Khodan over the highland areas in its jurisdiction, one valley's reported population amounted to a gender imbalance of some 92% of inhabitants being male.

Nevertheless, estimates suggest approximately 5.7% of the population, around 1.55 million people, live nomadic lifestyles in one of the numerous nomadic ethnic groups and tribes populating the country. Of the remainder, approximately 41.2% were urban, and the remaining 53.1% live in rural areas. Saukania's urbanization rate has grown significantly in the last half century, as economic modernisation increases opportunity for rural inhabitants. The share of nomads has also declined as individuals or family units adopt semi-sedentary and fully sedentary lifestyles. Population growth in all segments of society is high, with an overall average of 1.67% annually. Fertility is the primary contributor to this growth, though it has slowed in recent decades. In 1960 the estimated TFR was 7.6 children per woman, which fell to 4.3 in 2010. Many Saukanians seek work in foreign countries, leading to a steady rate of emigration, though not enough to offset growth. Healthcare improvements and the lowering of the infant mortality rate have also contributed to longer lifespans and greater overall population.

Urbanization

Of the 41.2% of the population living in cities, just under half, or about 5 million, live in the four largest cities: Kula, Khodan, Acha, and Sardasar. Kula alone boasts a population of 2.1 million. As noted, urbanization rate is increasing with the influx of rural populations into the cities for work. This urbanization is not without tension however. The ethnic diversity of the cities has always been higher than surrounding countryside, but has intensified in recent decades with the economic potential. Tensions between different Saukanian populations are ever-present, and incidents of violence not unknown. Increased urban development in the highlands has also fuelled tension and even conflict, as enlarged population centres increasingly come to reflect the more cosmopolitan and lowland-style system of government and overall culture, antagonising the surrounding highland peoples.

Ethnicity

Main articles: Ethnic groups in Saukania, Saukanians, and Nomads in Saukania

Saukanians are divided into several ethnolinguistic groups. Saukanian-speaking peoples form the majority of the population, but adhere to a number of independent ethnic identities. The two largest ethnic groups are the Takhrians and the Arshanians, at approximately 34% and 31% of the population respectively. Both groups are Saukanian-speakers, of the northern-western and southern-eastern branches respectively. Takhrians and Arshanians form the political and economic elite of Saukania, and are the dominant ethnic group in most of the city-states (Takhrians in the north, Arshanians in the south). Around a quarter of the highland tribes are Takhrian. A third to half of the nomads consider themselves Arshanian. Smaller Saukanian-speaking ethnic groups include the Asmurians, Ghazanians, Khanorians, Sizerians, and Thagarians, none of which comprise more than 10% of the total population. Non-Saukanian ethnic groups include Arabs, Bezurians, Jews, Shiruans, and Turks, all of which are minorities.

Language

Main articles: Saukanian languages, Arshanian language, and Takhrian language

Takhrian and Arshanian are the two dominant languages of Saukania. Bilingualism is common, either in the form of Takhrians being fluent in Arshanian, vice-versa, or speakers of another language knowing at least one of these. The two languages are also sometimes called Khodanian and Kulean respectively, after their most prominent dialects. The languages are closely related, though not mutually intelligible. Like most languages spoken in Saukania, they are Saukanian languages. Often, when the term 'Saukanian' is used linguistically, it is referring either to Takhrian or Arshanian, though these are not the only members of that family.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Saukania

Major cities

Main article: List of major cities in Saukania

Government and politics

Main article: Government of Saukania

The Saukanian Confederation is defined as an alliance of eleven city-states, each of which is granted autonomy in domestic affairs, while ceding foreign affairs to a unitary body. This body is the Saukanian Confederation, recognised as a sovereign state. For recognition of their historic statuses and populations, Kula and Khodan hold the positions of joint-capital of the Confederation. For ease of administration, Khodan is the designated summer capital and Kula the designated winter capital.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Saukania

Military

Main article: The Saukanian Army

Culture

Main article: Culture of Saukania

Culture in Saukania is dictated as much by lifestyle (sedentary or nomadic) and living density (urban versus rural) entirely as much as it is by the distinct ethnic populations that inhabit the country, and the city-states that comprise these groups. While Saukanians do share many common cultural features, specifics are highly variable. The family is the pillar of Saukanian society, and the city-states regard themselves as comprised of families rather than of individuals. The family and its wider clan are older institutions than the city-states by far, and continue to hold a sacrosanct status that leaves many legal and formal responsibilities to kinship dynamics which in contemporary societies have been subsumed under the state. Saukanian families are patriarchal. In Saukania's many thousands of rural villages, families typically occupy mudbrick or stone houses, sometimes in compounds where extended families may live in several connected dwellings. Villages typically have a headman, the patriarch of the most influential or respected family. The rural population is overwhelmingly involved in agriculture, either growing crops or involvement in animal husbandry, with both subsistence and cash enterprises. Nomads frequent villages often, purchasing or trading for locally grown crops and manufactured goods, in exchange for wool, milk, and meat harvested from their flocks. Families are united in marriage, which is considered the exchange of a woman as the basis of alliance. The groom is expected to pay the bride's family. Wives are expected and raised to obey their husbands. Villages are often genealogical units unto themselves, populated by a small number of large, related families.

The urban centres of the city-states are the heart of Saukanian industry and political life. The rate of urbanization is growing, as younger people from the rural regions of the fertile oases migrate for work. Some nomads too are abandoning their lifestyles in favour of living and working in cities, while some groups stay for a while before moving on again. The city-states are the heart of Saukanian culture, producing large amounts of goods, jewellery, textiles, and art, as well as being centres of cuisine and music. Public life and presentation is important in the city-states, and Saukanians are conscious of their image and reputation. Honour, valued as reputation and standing, is very important to Saukanians both individually and as part of their corporate units; family, clan, tribe, etc. Saukanian tribal identities have endured for many centuries, more or less unchanged in their respective regions. Typically these identities are coextensive with dialects of the regional language, particular customs, as well as place of origin. As with familial descent, tribal identity is reckoned paternally.

Social structure

Main article: Social structure and class in Saukania
Further information: Women in Saukania

Honour

Main articles: Sharaven and Karsavis

Clothing

Main article: Clothing in Saukania

Architecture and art

Main articles: Architecture of Saukania and Art in Saukania

Music

Main article: Music of Saukania

Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Saukania

Sport

Main article: Sport in Saukania

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