Great Steppe

Location of the Central Coian Steppe in Coius

The Great Steppe, also called the Coian Steppe, Great Coian Steppe, High Plains or just the Steppes, is a complex geophysical, biogeographical and cultural area that stretches across much of the inland of the southern half of Coius. It is characterised by relatively flat topography, a wide variety of grasslands and shrublands, and a historical significance with regards to trade, religion, scientific exchange and empirebuilding. From west to east, it extends from the Amardian coast of the Mazdan Sea to the banks of the Batarak River in Cavunia; between them, the steppe covers large portions of the territory of Ajahadya, Kituk, Phula, Zorasan and Kumuso.

It is inhabited by the Duljunese, Yanogu, Oroqic, and Kituki peoples, many of whom have historic links to the trade across the region which linked South Coius, Southeast Coius, Satria, Bahia and Badawiya.

History

The Old Oroqic word translated as "confederacy" is kelekoltoi and means literally "to speak by the lake". This refers to meeting places that many tribes would share around winter pastures, which were often lakes. The kelekoltoi was almost never a formal government and confederacy, in the context of the steppes, almost always means a social order based on mutual recognition and shared resources. This contrasts with the khagan, which is a particular ruler of a particular people, although Khagans and kelekoltoi often coexisted.

Oghuz Confederacy

The Oghuz Confederacy was a union of several Oroqic tribes that controlled Qizsho, Mirghazab, and Togot from the 6th to 4th century BCE. This was the first kelekoltoi and occupies a semi-legendary status within steppe society. Records describing the Oghuz are mostly from their neighbors, especially the burgeoning Phuli Empire, which would eventually absorb the Oghuz society.

Depiction of an Oghuz camp under construction

Oghuz communities were characterized by a diarchy with a leader for both the men and the women of the tribe. The male leader was responsible for the organization of the tribe when moving, had authority over the herds, and control of trades with other tribes. The female leader was responsible for the construction and maintenance of shelters and was also responsible advocating for women during their marriage negotiations. Both were typically older, experienced members of the tribe and were each responsible for selecting the other's successor upon their death. When both died at the same time, the tribe was considered dead and new tribe had to be formed.

The diarchy was the basis of the confederacy--the mutual recognition of other tribes--because the women could organize the construction of the great lakeside camps even when the male leaders were engaged in bitter rivalries over water access and grazing rights.

Phuli Empire

The First Phuli Empire dominated the Great Steppe from the 4th century BCE until shortly before its collapse several centuries later. Often regarded as the first civilization to bring permanent settlements to the area, the theocratic government established several Satyist monasteries to act as administrative offices and constabularies in a disparate, tribal, and highly fractured region. The monks within these monasteries collected tribute from local tribes, offered protection over trade routes and neutral gathering points for trade and negotiations, and provided security for the construction of permanent settlements.

The Phuli period is regarded as a period of significant economic growth, as monastic towns would grow into trade offices by which the empire could conduct and participate in pan-coian trade. The Great Steppe was a vital trade lane, offering clear, flat path directly to Phula proper, with mountains, deserts, and forests disturbing continental traffic in neighboring areas. The permanent settlements also facilitated the spread of Phuli specialty goods, such as prayer items, books, silk, tea, opium, and early forms of waterproofed clothing and material. There may have also been an exchange of livestock such as yaks, but particularly the war and work horses of the Avanidhara native to the Phuli north.

Satyist material culture blossomed in the Great Steppe during the rule of the First Phuli Empire, and a process of mutual interchange between local tribes and Phuli society lasted throughout the imperial period. Examples of shared material culture include prayer beads, ritual items such as daggers, golden statues, and war masks. The iconic war mask commonly associated with Steppe cultures and also present within Phula is believed to have been invented by Satyist warriors as a means of displaying shame and avoiding humanizing features being readily seen during battle, in accordance with Adripathi Adhikari's Rebuke of the Kshatriya.

Uluuchig Confederacy

The Uluuchigs were the most prominent steppe society from the turn of the millennium until the 6th century CE. Their principal rivals were the Sangama of Satria.

Unlike the preceding Oghuz society, the Uluuchig population had expanded to the point that land management had become a serious challenge. In the Oghuz community, the seasonal migration could be as short as eighty miles. By the early years of the first century, however, the radius of pasture land around the lakeside winter camps could not sustain everyone. Moreover, because of the tribal arrangement in which extended families lived together for the whole year, the very young and very old could only travel a limited distance. The solution to this issue was called balkalgaz which means "to become solitary". Balkalgaz was the practice of the young and middle aged adults taking a small part of the tribe's herds with a small group of close friends and traveling a much further distance than the weaker members of the tribe. They spent the summer months away from their tribe and then reunite with them in the autumn. Young men especially demonstrated their strength and earned prestige for traveling as far as possible and waiting the longest to return.

Child rearing was the business of unmarried women and the elderly, who taught them the basis of husbandry. Male children came of age officially when they accompanied their parents on Balkalgaz. Another milestone of adulthood was going off away from one's parents, typically with a group of close friends. Female children came of age upon their marriage, at which point they joined their husbands on Balkalgaz. Having a child while out away from the tribe was considered bad luck, in no small part because of the relatively hard lifestyle. If a woman became pregnant, she had the option to stay with the tribe during the summer.

Kituki Khaganate

Main article: First Kituki Khaganate

The Kituki Khaganate was a short-lived, highly centralized state that emerged during the decline of the Uluuchigs.

Korshid Confederacy

The Korshids emerged in the 12th century during the decline of the Sangama Dynasty in Satria and maintained control of the steppes until the start of the 16th century. They were rivals with the Zorsani Gorsanid Empire and the Norzin Empire in Tava.

Togoti Khaganate

The Togoti Khaganate rose in the 15th century and greatly expanded in the 16th century, ultimately entering decline in the 17th century. It has been called a Gunpowder Empire.

Colonial Period

During the colonial period, the steppes were largely considered a waste since they were amenable to industrial agriculture and its inhabitants often caused trouble crossing new borders.

Pardals

The Pardals were a brief, but potent political force on the steppes in the 1940s.

Society

Culture

Transhumance

One of the most enduring qualities of steppe society is transhumance, or the movement between summer and winter pasturing sites for herds. It is a common misconception that all people on the steppes practice this kind of nomadism, but it has been an integral element of every steppe empire.