Avakhjad
The Avakhjad (අවඛ්ජද්) was a class of politically active males in steppe society who were allowed to own Oogkelens (a type of ceremonial lance), individually called Avakhjadin. The concept of political participation, status as a warrior, and the physical object of the Oogkelen were initially inseparable. The cost of an Oogkelen was very high when purchased from the Arha, the priestly caste, which generally governed who was eligible to receive an Oogkelen. Young men would often attempt to prove themselves by engaging in intertribal sporting events--such as racing, wrestling, or marksmanship--but they also sometimes undertook prestige quests. The costs being prohibitive and tasks exhaustive, a more common method to gain enough standing to receive an Oogkelen was military service.
One of the important elements of lordship in steppe society was that deserved loyalty, or more specifically that it was a virtue to demonstrate loyalty to a lord. As a result, and perhaps as a way for the Arha to extricate themselves from the unenviable task of determining just cause in war, the lords of the old Uluuchig Confederacy were permitted to grant Oogkelens to men who demonstrated their virtue in battle. The ownership of an Oogkelen was a vital step in every young man’s life and so generous lords could expect many volunteers to fight for them, but that also meant surrendering a fraction of authority every time a war was fought. The balance between the need for fighters and desire to remain powerful helped limit access to veteran Oogkelens.
The third and most reliable form of getting an Oogkelen was to simply inherit one from a father or other male relative. Owning an Oogkelen was not purely a privilege, it also entitled enemies or even strangers to challenge the honor of an Avakhjadin. Challenges were not casual, they could not be made after bumping into someone on the street, but they were nonetheless an intrinsic threat in the political system. Not all old men had angry violent enemies lying in wait for the next holy day that allowed challenges, but it was common enough that fathers would often pass down their Oogkelens to a favored son or nephew. Some Oogkelens thus accrued generations of owners over the years and became more valuable and more important to protect. In such circumstances, Oogkelens would be adorned with tassels or bands of metal to show their longevity. Large, successful tribes would have their internal competitions to inherit important Oogkelens, much like the inter-tribal competitions governed by the Arha.
Oogkelens could be lost much in the same way that they were earned. They could be taken by lords for disloyalty or be used in lieu of payment to a lord, which was common during especially hard years. As extremely valuable property, they were also exchangeable, though one man could only own one Oogkelen. Even lords with their capacity to issue an Oogkelen could only hold one personally. In wartime, they could be lost when an Avakhjadin died in battle. According to Uluuchig laws of war, a man who surrendered was distinguishable from a man who fled based on whether or not he threw down his Oogkelen. A man who declined to throw down his Oogkelen could be pursued and killed, but a man who gave up his Oogkelen had to be protected and returned home.
Oogkelen covenants
The most essential right conveyed by an Oogkelen owner was the ability to enter into contracts or covenants. Agreements made between two Avakhjadin were legally binding when they were Oogkelen-covenants, which were typically made in the presence of either a third Avakhjadin or a member of the Arha, but they could also be made secretly. The scope of such covenants was unlimited and could constitute a legislative act when performed properly. For example, two Avakhjadin might specify a quality of airag that they and their descendants would produce and trade with each other. As long as either family still held the Oogkelen tied to such a covenant, it would remain binding. Because of family and tribal obligations, even small agreements made as a covenant tended to spread. A tribe would attempt to ensure the honor of an individual family, for example, by elevating the quality of airag for everyone, and then eventually spread such requirements to other trade partners.
While it was not legally binding for everyone, everywhere to adhere to every covenant, there was a prevailing acceptance of the covenant as precedent. Since covenants were constantly being created everywhere at the same time, they tended to conflict. It was a matter of prestige for a tribe’s own covenant to take precedence over another tribe’s. Sometimes the Arha were invoked as adjudicators, which was expensive, occasionally mock battles or real skirmishes were fought. Challenges were also issued for personal duels, since winning a duel for an Avakhjadin’s Oogkelen would invalidate the loser’s covenant. Many conflicts were resolved more peaceably by coming together and, after some discussion, coming to a new agreement.
As these Oogkelen-based legal canons built up over the centuries, certain tribes began to accumulate legal experts and negotiators as well as warriors and duelists. The Mags, for example, were renowned for evaluating the value of horses, which was an extremely important status. The Arha might ask a Mag Avakhjadin to set the price for a particular ritual when the payment was in horses, as many were. Being called to consult was a great honor and show of respect, so tribes always sought to protect their own contributions to greater Oogkelen legal canon.
Encampment
Encampment was a kind of covenant that included a large number of Avakhjadin who were not all of the same tribe and therefore had more political weight. Encampments were typically organized in wartime to coordinate efforts or to address complaints against a monarch and on rare occasions to proactively dictate policy. These large meetings demanded a large amount of resources, which were typically provided by the clans themselves or the monarch himself when he wanted to curry favor with the representatives. Depending on the tribes’ relationship with the reigning monarch, encampments could be grand festivals or secretive huddles. Like with covenants, agreements reached in encampment were only legally binding to those who attended, so those who called for encampments typically made a point of ensuring that they were fun and lavish to attract the maximum number of participants.
Encampments also appeared on select holy days to oversee public events. An encampment-like organization also appeared organically around large inter-tribal meetings, markets, and other coincidental pooling of the Avakhjad. Traditionally these encampments refrained from political activity unless it was dictated by the order of the day, but formal policy encampments would often follow such gatherings. On holy days, encampments were instrumental for either awarding new Avakhjadin with their Oogkelens (as directed by the Arha), observing challenges to an Avakhjadin’s status, or providing the Arha with the material to perform a ritual.
Oogkelen quests
Earning prestige in the games or in war was not always possible, especially as the population grew and the standards of excellence increased dramatically. Certain activities, overseen by either lords or Arha could provide an ambitious youth with some status no matter the competition, but they tended to be much riskier. Stealing herd animals, especially horses, from foreigners was a common activity that had few rituals associated with it. Simply bringing the animals (or a portion of the animals) as a gift for the Arha would be enough to be granted an Oogkelen. Performing some insult to the graves of an enemy tribe would also be acceptable, though this was dangerous since, if taken too far, could result in a punishment from the Arha instead of a reward. A reliable choice was to bring horse blood and spill it over the grave markers. Kidnapping an adult from an enemy tribe and leaving them tied to stake around their ancestors grave was another, more dangerous and therefore reliable method. The prevalence of this activity eventually led to wealthier families posting a guard at the family burial sites. The phrase “checking on the dead,” which is taken to mean a necessary, but unwanted task on the steppe, also originates in this tradition.
Visiting a specific number of shrines (the number tended to increase over time) and making appropriate sacrifices at each was an appropriate quest. This was a slightly cheaper endeavor than simply paying the upfront cost to the Arha and more attainable for the poor. Many folktales in steppe lore begin with a young man setting out to visit all of the shrines in the land to prove his virtue. At the first or last shrine, the man is met with a spirit who sends him on additional quests and provides him with an Oogkelen for the journey or gives him one as a reward. There are also records of men giving themselves to the Arha as slaves, but this was not to earn an Oogkelen so much as to prevent an Oogkelen from being taken from a descendant. This is another common beginning to folktales. The Oogkelen quest was therefore both a fact of political life and also the basis of a vast mythology.
Legacy
During the early years of the Korshid Khaganate, only the Avakhjadin of the Khagan's own tribe were active in the imperial government. Over time, however, as the needs of the state expanded, more and more Avakhjadin were enfranchised. Eventually, the mystical warrior status was lost and the Oogkelen became primarily a symbol of office.