Bakir Sahabaharadad Sultanate

The Bakir Sahabaharadad Sultanate is a prosperous kingdom east to the Bagdassi Confederation. It was first funded by wandering nomads that lived off of trade between the many small cities that cover the land, too isolated from each other to offer a serious resistance to the expansion of the nomad tribes, desperate for resources after a deadly plague had destroyed most of their cattle. After the conquest of the land was stopped by an alliance of bagdassi chiefdoms, the need to restore the land's prosperity forced an uneasy alliance between them and the bagdassi: Each one would allow the passing of camel caravans from coast to coast, crossing the frontier undisturbed (but not untaxed) to allow trade between the different seas that would otherwise require sailing the entire continent. This proved immensly successful, and it now provides for most of the sultanate's profits. However, the ever ambitious sultan family has its eyes on the Bagdassi lands, wanting to conquer them once and for all to monopolise the trade. Tensions come and go from both sides, but neither one ever does anything that could become something serious enough to kill the business...
== History ==
The lands of the Dirihadarir Desert have been essential for trade in Southern Giantstep. Its position between the Sea of Fog and the Sea of the End means that many routes have been created, the harshness of the desert being worth it in comparison to sailing all around the step. This caused the creation of many city-states around the desert, close to the oasis. In this places where agriculture is possible, traders and travelers can rest from the hot days and cold nights of the desert. This has made the cities quite prosperous compared to their size, since food production is limited and it cannot maintain great numbers of people. The original city-states were ruled by noble families, keeping the lands under their influence protected from bandits, and watching over the caravans so they paid the taxes from crossing their territory. The nobility had lasted many centuries, until very recently, when the nomad tribes rose up and took their place.
The nomad tribes in the Dirihadarir Desert have always being outcasts in the eyes of the cities. Barred from entering the protection of the walls, the nomads had the job of keeping the cattle of sheep and goats well fed by crossing enormous distances and finding any place where the animals could graze. Over the many centuries of fighting against bandits, they became excellent warriors, launching quick attacks on their war camels. Despite their skill at arms and their importance to the local economy, they were considered little less than pariahs, due to the cast system prevalent in the cities. This system marked every single profession with a different level of worth in the eyes of the gods, and those who worked with animals ranked very poorly. Over time, many of them abandoned their herding ways and began serving as traders, exchanging goods from city to city, though due to their origins, their stigma did not go away.
The apparently eternal stability of the region was broken around the year 3.066 ABE, when a mysterious plague began to spread between the nomad’s cattle. Leaving humans unaffected, but causing sheep and goats to stop eating and drinking until starvation killed them, this strange plague ended with more than half of the cattle of the nomad tribes. The way it spread was unknown, many believing it was a disease that took years before the symptoms began, but it suddenly let the nomadic tribes in a precarious situations. The threat of starvation and the lack of help from the cities ended up with an explosion of wars between the tribes, fighting for the surviving cattle. After three years of all-out war, a warlord had risen up and unified the different tribes: Sahbahaid Sahabaharadad, leader of the Sahabaharadad tribe, had managed to launch a lightning war against his neighbors, and reunite under his umbrella a great army of raiders. Once he had enough manpower, he launched an attack to the cities, capturing them one by one. By the year 3.073 ABE, he had unified all of the cities in the Dirihadarir Desert, and took the title of Sultan of the lands of Sahabaharadad. But he had amassed a great army, both with the desert raiders and with the mercenaries paid with the captured treasures from the cities, and launched a campaign to conquer as many lands as possible. They launched a massive campaign against the recently created Bagdassi Confederation, which started with great success, taking many of the eastern chiefdoms of the bagdassi. However, this burgeoning conquest was cut short in the Battle of the Silver Oasis in 3.077 ABE, where the bagdassi managed to inflict great losses to the sahabaharadadians, and even Sahbahaid Sahabaharadad died in battle. During the power fights that followed in the sultanate, the bagdassi managed to recover all the lands lost during the previous years.
After the son of the Sahbahaid took over the throne, he signed a peace treaty with the bagdassi chieftains, reestablishing once again trade through the Dirihadarir Desert. The end of the war meant the return of the caravans, which brought enough wealth to pacify the sultan, who saw that trade was a much more profitable source of wealth than conquest. From that point onwards, they have wanted to monopolize the trade between the two seas, wanting to control a strip of land connecting the two. This has led to a dangerous game of diplomacy and warfare between the Sultanate, the bagdassi to the west and the Mona Ki Ngi Xica to the south.
== Society and Culture ==
Despite how ancient the desert cities can be, the Bakir Sahabaharadad Sultanate is a very young nation, and as such, it still has many challenges establishing its power. In theory, the biggest power is the Sultan, a direct descendent of Sahbahaid Sahabaharadad. He is surrounded by an army of viziers and aides, all led by a Grand Vizier. The Sultan power is not absolute, however, since he depends on the leaders of the different cities to guarantee his rule. After the fall of the ancient city nobility, the tribal leaders of the nomads groups became the rulers of the cities, guaranteeing them not only power, but an immense wealth as well. The riches obtained from trade usually keep them content and within the confines of their new palaces, but from time to time an upstart will try to overstep their boundaries and obtain more power for themselves. However, those attempts are stomped out quickly, for there are still many nomadic leaders without the rule of a city who will gladly take their place.
The local population highly resent the takeover of the nomadic herders. Seeing them as both unrefined barbarians and pariahs by divine mandate, the fact that they now rule over them is scandalous. However, their ability to revolt is now quite limited. One of the first things the nomadic tribes did when taking over was to reinforce their control over the oasis and agricultural areas. Thus, controlling the supply of water and food, the population is forced to accept the power of the new rulers or face starvation. The new leaders have been trying to spread a new version of the traditional faith of the Dirihadarir Desert, eliminating the caste system altogether, but this has been received as a poor and transparent move to facilitate the new government.
The Sahabaharadad family knows that their power over the desert is very frail, and have taken as many measures to preserve power as possible. To avoid any possible attempt to usurp the Sahabaharadads’ power from the vizier, the role is chosen from eunuchs, educated from childhood to fit the role of administrators and bureaucrats. This guarantees competent service without the risk of another bloodline usurping the sultanate. The Sahabaharadad also spend a great deal of their wealth in shows of power, such as building many palaces and temples, and also to hire many mercenaries to add to their already great forces. These amounts of warriors in one place are not cheap, and from time to time they launch raids to the neighboring countries, enough to keep their men active and on guard, but not enough to spark an active war. These forces are also used to defend the borders, particularly from bagdassi raids, who cross the desert from time to time. Despite their power and wealth, the Sahabaharadad have become paranoid, barely exiting from the safety of their great and well guarded palaces, where they hoard some of the biggest and most valuable treasures that go through the desert.
Trade is, and pretty much has always been, the lifeblood of the region. The desert, while an arid and inhospitable land, is still much safer than the jungles full of murderous cannibals of Chakobsa or the savannah full of wild predators of the Mona Ki Ngi Xica. Many convoys cross each year the desert, in groups that range from 50 to 1000 camels. The cities in the coastline are some of the richest in the entirety of Southern Giantstep, and it’s where the Sahabaharadad hold their center of power. The cities are not only well fortified in case of rebellion and attack, but also have a powerful navy to protect them from piratical raids.
== Foreign Relations ==
The Sultanate needs contact with the outside to survive. Since trade is the main source of wealth of the region, they must maintain as good relations as possible with their neighbors to keep confidence high. Otherwise, trade might shrink down to an unacceptable rate. And yet, they need to keep their strength, to avoid losing their position in the local routes to other nation. In particular, the Bagdassi Confederation is the main source of tensions of the Bakir Sahabaharadad Sultanate. The main trade routes between the Sea of Fog and the Sea of the End go through both nations, and as such, both have the option to shut down the other’s trade by closing the ports on their side. However, that would be a self-defeating move, since they would lose access to the profits themselves, and as such, both sides prefer avoiding conflict. However, it’s very obvious that both the sultanate and the confederation want to monopolize the trade by annexing other territories and connecting the two seas through routes owned by a single nation. Since both the sultanate and the bagdassi failed to conquer each other, they have dedicated many resources into conquering nearby lands. In this regard, the Sahabaharadad has gotten the shorter end of the stick. To the north, the lands of the cannibal tribes of the Jeraxih and the Yaguara have managed to repel very successfully the attempts at annexation of the sultanate, thanks to both their fierce warriors and the dangers of the jungle. At the same time, the Mona Ki Ngi Xica are part of a balancing act between the sultanate and the confederation. Whoever attacks the Mona Ki Ngi Xica will be attacked in turn by the other faction, not to mention the difficulties of keeping the territories under control when both the population and the local fauna are hostile to you.
The sultanate needs to protect their trade in the sea as well. The Blind Bastard’s Domain control of the Strait of the Dead Emperor means that the sea trade will be harassed or even blocked at will by the pirate nation, a situation the Sultanate can ill afford. The sultans have been trying to establish a deal with Gilgemash to push back against the pirates, but many hidden gilgemashi interests keep delaying this, since their ties with the piratical nation is too profitable for them. The sultans have had much better luck trying to earn the favor of the Mumak Mahûdom, since they are threatened by the Blind Bastard themselves. The Mumak Mahûdom’s fleet is positioned to counter the threats from the sea, as well as having a direct land border from which pressure the pirates with their armies. The sultans have invested greatly in many of the Mumak ports in exchange of allowing the Sahabaharadad fleet to set anchor, increasing their range of action and monitoring piratic activity in the strait.
Category:Nations
Category:Giantstep