Uluuchig Confederacy

Uluuchig Confederacy උලුඋඡිග් උලුස්᠋ (Uluuchig Ulus)
25 CE–203
Flag
Capital	Sarmin (84-203)
Religion	Satyism (25-125) Badi (125-203)
Government	Absolute monarchy
Khan
• 25-36	Shuugian
• 36-51	Belkeb
•	...
• 198-203	Budun
History
• Sack of Ulan-Khol	25 CE
• Sangama Wars	47
• Sarmin Khanate	84
• Badi Reaction	125
• Edict of Evicts	163
• Katdun uprising	184
• Second Sack of Ulan-Khol	203
Preceded by Succeeded by First Phuli Empire Oghuz tribes Yellow Robe Society Kindom of Kumush
...

The Uluuchig Confederacy was established in 25 CE when Shuugian, a member of the Mag tribe, led a small army of Mags and Bakharks to seize the town of Ulan-Khol (near modern Soltanabad) from the Satyist defenders. Ulan-Khol was one of the centrally located monastery towns that had been established by the Phuli Empire to direct trade and to collect tributes from the nomads who moved between the Sandsar hills and the wintering valleys in Mirghazab. Shuugian's forces destroyed most of Ulan-Khol and, while Shuugian did not take a title, exercised unquestioned authority over the tribes that wintered in Mirghazab.

Name

Uluuchig comes from the Proto-Oroqic උලු (ulu) meaning "great" and the suffix ඡි (-çi/çig) which forms an agent noun. A literal translation of the full name in Oroqic (උලුඋඡිග් උලුස්᠋) could be "society of great men", although this is normally translated with උලුඋඡිග් as a proper noun with උලුස්᠋ describing a state form. The term is comparable to "magnate" which has also been used as a translation for the officials of the Uluuchig government.

History

Tashuurin

Main article: Tashuurin

The Tashuurin (තස්හුඋරින්) were the men who originally joined Shuugian in his fight with the Phuli and their immediate successors. They enforced loyalty to Shuugian and his successors before the formalization of the state at Sarmin. Their most important role was to ensure that Shuugian's gifts of land and water access were respected by all of the tribes, but in order to avoid infighting, Shuugian told them not to kill anyone unless forced. For this reason, the Tashuurin carried long wooden rods, with which they beat anyone who attempted to resist Shuugian's distribution of pasture and water.

In the mid 1st century, when Shuugian's government expanded all the way to upper Bashurat, skirmishes with the Sangama quickly evolved into a large scale conflict. During this period, Shuugian's Tashuurin organized his new army to resist the Sangama. Many of them patrolled the Qizilshoh Gap for groups of deserters, a common problem in the loose confederate society, and returned them to Shuugian's camps in the Togot highlands.

Sarmin

After the loss of Togot to the Sangama, there was a period of recuperation and confusion as the army, a substantial percentage of the population, was allowed to return home. Belkeb did hold the loyalty of the Tashuurin as Shuugian had and so he sought to emulate the Sangama's more formal arrangement. The Tashuurin were, instead of being representatives of the various tribes, incorporated into Belkeb's household. They traveled with him and enforced his orders, but had lost their autonomy and status. At the time of Belkeb's death, the Uluuchig government had shrunk so much that Belkeb's household was more a "first among equals" than a commanding presence on the steppe. In order to change this, Belkeb's successor Dashur planned to establish a permanent capital to entrench his status.

Sarmin was a popular site for meetings between tribes, approximately midway between the ruins of Ulan-Khol and modern Ardakan at the edge of the Sandsar region. Sarmin's popularity came from the wild garlic that grows there and it takes its name from this. Dashur purchased great quantity of wood and had stones dug up in order to build his capital. He separated his followers into two groups; one to continue tending the herds and one to work. In this way, he was able to rotate the laborers to ensure that the work proceeded in spite of the dictates of pastureland. After the construction of the essential buildings and fortifications were completed in 59, Dashur and his Tashuurin moved into the site permanently. They collected tributes in the spring when herds were moving into Sandsar or offered those with no food the opportunity to joined Dashur's town. Dashur and Sarmin were both greatly enriched by this process.

Desiring to increase his father's work, Ludian established a ring of similar fortresses around the rim of Mirghazab. It was at this point that Ludian declared himself Khan of the Uluuchigs, to protect his supreme status over all of these new towns.