Saukania

Confederation of the Saukanians Kuchaxa ka Saghandan
Flag of the Confederation Seal of the Farukhids
Location of Saukania in Thrismari
Capital and largest city	Kula
Official languages	Eastern Saukanian (Kulanian) Western Saukanian (Khodanian)
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 Sauka
Government	Feudal confederation under Kulanian suzerainty
• Saghand Wushrun	Shadaghar II Ghurdalghal Farukhid
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 format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.sg

Saukania, formally the Confederation of the Saukanians, is a country in Anteria located on the northwestern side of the continent Thrismari. Situated almost entirely within the Thrismari Desert, Saukania is bordered by Bezuria to its south, Shirua to its west, Sarocca to its north, and Encessia to its southeast. An extremely arid country, Saukania is landlocked, with the most significant body of water being the inland sea the Saukanians call Argal. Sparsely populated, Saukania is home to a little over 27 million people. This population is concentrated however into the small patches of fertile land lying within the oases of the Laxad and Jagartes rivers, known as the 'lifeblood' of Saukania.

Human habitation in Saukania dates back to the Palaeolithic. Agricultural communities began establishing themselves at significant sizes throughout what is now Saukania in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. At the end of this period, a migratory period ensued, giving rise to the proto-Saukanian culture and language. These invading tribes set themselves up as lords of the lands either side of the Laxad and Jagartes, and mingled with the existing population. Little is known of Saukanian culture or society from this period due to the lack of written sources. By the 1st millennium AD, Saukanian city-states began to emerge. From an early date, these cities were centred politically on Kula, which lies on the leftmost bank of the Jagartes Delta where it empties into Argal. Rarely united however, these city-states were prone to infighting, periodically unified under the lordship of a powerful dynasty, typically based at Kula, Khodan, or Sardasar.

A feudal, clan-based culture emerged in this time which has endured into the present day. A warrior nobility descended from the invading Saukanian tribes of the prior millennia set themselves up in a complex systems of lords and vassals, ruling over estates of peasants and tenants. A city-based merchant and client class emerged as a middle rank between these two extremes. Outside of the scope of these city-states, nomadic tribes traversed the desert. These tribes would both trade with and raid the settled peoples of Saukania, moving from oasis to oasis to graze their herds. To the southwest in the region of Ghuran, ferocious hill-men resisted the authority of the cities nestled within the fertile valleys of its river systems, and launched raids against not only the cities and each other, but over the border into Shirua.

Modern Saukania took shape over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. Divided again after a period of Khodanian overlordship, Saukania was split among six principalities and their constituent city lords. Kula, long a political and cultural symbol of all Saukania, nurtured an ambition of power yet again, and its laklan (lord or prince), Sarvar, of the ruling Farukhid dynasty, embarked on a series of conquests to bring the rival princes under his authority. Nyalan, seeking to counter the colonial influence of Riamo to the north, and Shirua, desiring a more stable frontier with their fractious and warlike neighbours, backed Kula with modern weapons and logistics. In a mere seven years between 1882 and 1889, Sarvar won the submission of the five opposing principalities, Khodan included, and all swore fealty to the Farukhid dynasty as overlord, wushrun. An uprising against Targhur I Sarvarghal, heir and successor of Sarvar, led by Khodan, was put down in 1904. More rebellions followed, each of which were crushed and led to the further solidification of Farukhid power.

In this model of feudal confederation, Saukania is governed with relative autonomy by the lords of the subordinate principalities. Their princes hold seats in the Royal Council, convened under the leadership of the laklan of Kula, wushrun of all Saukanians. It is a middling economy in the region, known primarily for its domestic exports such as textiles. Saukanian culture has proven resilient to change, remaining feudal and clan-based. Politics and economics in Saukania are dominated by the noblility and their clients. The Saukanian way of life is known as Saghandadret, a code of honour emphasising hospitality, vengeance, and loyalty.

Name

"Saukania" is a transliteration of the Khodanian name "Sakhand" into Common. Owing to the superior prominence of Kula, however, and its own branch of the language, the name "Saghand" is most commonly cited as Saukania's translation.

The adoption of the name by all in its current borders occurred by an unattested process. It is known from the earliest stages that "Saghand" emerged as effectively a synonym for Kula, or otherwise the name for the territory east of the Jagartes river, where Kula is situated. Likely owing to the cultural, religious, and political prominence of Kula, those rival principalities that it brought under its suzerainty at various points in history adopted the name of Saghand for their own lands, transforming the label into a broadly geoethnic designation. Khodan, ever the rival of Kula, may have perpetuated a rival West Saukanian identity for some time, though by the time of Medieval records, Saghand is unambiguously attested as referring to the whole modern understanding of the Saukanian ethnic group.

Etymologically, Saukania is also rather unclear. Theories have ranged from the initial land around Kula being named after an early chieftain or king, to various connections to the Saukanian words for "spear", "lantern", and "lizard", none with strong certainty.

As an identity, Saukanians possess a consciousness of their being such. For the most part however, individual Saukanians stress their identity as a member of a particular principality or domain, and beneath that, a province or sub-region and then their own clan. The introduction of Saukania into the vastly more globalised and internationalised modern world has brought the idea of a common Saukanian identity back into the fore however, assisted by the most recent and ongoing period of Kulanian dominance over its traditional opponents. The Saukanians are, barring expats, politically unified under a feudal hierarchy once again, and so 'Saukania' as a whole has once again acquired more specifically political connotations than merely geographical.

Geography and climate

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.

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.

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

Modern history

Rise of the Farukhids

The Farukhids of Kula emerged as the dominant dynasty in the late 19th century, a pedestal they remain on into the present day. Having ruled as the Kula Laklans for some time prior to the ascendency of Sarvar Zamardarghal, they had consolidated and strengthened the principality following the the civil war in which their family had taken power.

A power vacuum had emerged in Saukania as a whole. Khodanian influence, which had been largely dominant a century ago, had waned significantly as a result of economic crises and numerous uprisings. Sarvar Zamadarghal, who became the Kula Laklan in 1876, planned an ambitious conquest of his neighbours.

Demographics

Ethnicity

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.