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 Saukans Saghans
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. 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

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.

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.

Society

Social structure

Family and kinship

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.

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

Behind the dast is the legacy of the old Sauka tribes. Though these tribal identities persist nominally, their influence over Saukanian identity was long ago replaced by the formation of the oasis city-states, organising many clans together under the hierarchical political leadership of the laklan. Nevertheless, these tribes gave their names to regions of Saukania which, owing to natural geography, have often remained culturally or politically aligned. Ghuran in the southwest, Vakhat between the Laxad and Jagartes, Tur Saghand around Kula, and various others. The city-state social instructure introduced a permanent social hierarchy in which noble warrior clans dominated the politics and the religion of the state, creating beneath them a caste of middle-class clients who filled out the state armies, owned land and flocks, and worked in artisanry, and beneath them the caste of peasantry who worked the land itself. By and large this tripartite system of social division remained intact for centuries into the present day, sustained by a reciprocal relationship of patronage from the highest to the lowest.

Women in Saukanian culture

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 and honour, and they do not have an independent existence 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

Sanghandadret 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 less the romantic chivalric ideal, and more suited to its history of tribal 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.

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 dast and not to compromise it with infidelity or immodest display of the body.