Great Tangarani Empire

The Tangarani Flag

The Great Tangarani Empire, also known as the Horselordship of the Tangarani, was a mighty Empire that ruled large sways of the Lateral Continent between Evum Sitador and the purple sea.

### Rise

The Great Tangarani Empire was founded by Hakan Kursad, a legendary figure that united the tribes of the Tangarani by defeating each of their Hakans and taking control of their obas. Uniting all of the Tangarani into one oba, he managed to create a new nomadic era for the Tangarani and went on a campaign of conquest. The regions around Evum Sitador had been conquered in the time of Hakan Kursad.

### Empire

#### Rule

The Tangarani Empire had been multiethnic and religious, and therefore their rulers, called Hakans, were generous to the people they conquered for as long as they had submitted peacefully and remained loyal subjects. The empire was fully autocratic, with subjugated peoples able to rule themselves after paying homage to the Hakans. Hakans would typically hold the children of submitted governors hostage, and then release them as loyal vassals once their time to rule has arrived.

#### Economy

The Tangarani Empire were the only Empire in history that used paper money (but possibly the Atazan Empire still do). Paper money was authorized in 883 BL. It was backed by precious metals and silk. To initiate the transition from other forms of compensation to paper currency the government made refusing to accept the bill punishable by death. To avoid devaluation, the penalty for forging or counterfeiting was also death.

Tangaranian government and elites invested in commercial enterprises using metal coins, paper money, ingots, and tradable wares for partnership investments and primarily financed money-lending and trade activities.

The Tangarani had a strong history of supporting merchants and trade. Hakan Kursad had encouraged foreign merchants early in his career, even before uniting the Tangarani. Merchants provided him with information about neighboring cultures, served as diplomats and official traders for the Tangarani, and were essential for many needed goods since the Tangarani produced little of their own. The Tangarani sometimes provided capital for merchants, and sent them far afield, in a merchant partner arrangement.

Spices were a commodity grown in the Western parts of the Empire while furs and hides and silk were procured in the eastern parts of the Empire. This prompted the Tangarani to construct the Great Spice-Silk Road, that connects the two halfs of the Empire and shortened travel for merchants, while making it safer to travel. Army travel also decreased and the Tangarani were able to reinforce the extremities of their Empire much better.

#### Military

The Tangarani Military was diverse and contained soldiers from all regions of the Empire. It had been mostly of males only, but high born females did occasionally join the military as well.

The Tangarani had developed stirrups and the saddle, making their mounts much more effective and able to be used safely while the rider used a bow and arrow. The Tangarani eventually deployed unicorns into their forces, but the majority of the unicorns had remained in Evum Sitador. Unicorns had more endurence than horses and were swifter, stronger and better suited to Tangarani war doctrines.

The Tangarani military numbered anywhere between 50,000 to 100,000. Most of them were either horse or unicorn riders.

The Tangarani military provided their soldiers with leather sacks and files. The leather sacks were used to carry and keep items such as weapons dry. They also could be inflated and used as floats during river crossings. The files were for sharpening the arrows. Any soldier found missing his weapons would be punished. Methods of punishment included whippings, doing very hard physical activities, or possibly having to leave the army.

Even though the military of the Tangarani Empire provided weapons for every soldier, armor was available only to the wealthier soldiers. These individuals wore iron chains or scales, protected their arms and legs with leather strips, wore iron helmets, and used iron shields. The horses of the more well-to-do were also protected to their knees with iron armor and a head plate. The majority of the soldiers in the Tangarani Empire were poor. Therefore, many walked into battle with minimal protection. However, this was not always an issue as almost every soldier had a horse or unicorn.

### People

#### Religion

The Tangarani worship natural mountains and the sky, performing rituals around a fire. They believed in an afterlife of glory and endless fighting and victory where the Tangarani will fight side by side with their ancestors. The horse or unicorn were considered a bonded soul with their rider, so they too would be given a quick death and burried alongside their rider if possible.

The Tangarani were highly tolerant of most religions and had encouraged public debates, which drew much attention and sometimes even the Hakans of the Empire would watch as these debates unfolded. Under the administration of the Hakans, all religious clerics were exempt from taxation, and from public service.

#### Women of the Tangarani Empire

Women in the Tangarani Empire were viewed and treated differently depending on the region of the Empire. The Tangarani state did not interfere much with local customs and therefore the general rule of thumb was that the further West one goes within the Empire, the less a woman enjoyed rights.

Compared to other civilizations, Tangarani women had the power to influence society and enjoyed much more freedom in general. Even though men were dominant in society, many turned to women in their lives for advice.

However, a group of women found to form abnormal bonds with feline animals were prosecuted for most of the reign of the Empire. Many women were falsely accused of bieng a witch. Those accused would often be trampled by horses without trial. One famous witch called Cher would escape Tangarani captivity and found the city of **Merve Ceren.**

Typically, married women of the Tangarani Empire wore headdresses to distinguish themselves from the unmarried women. Although this was not the case throughout the entire Empire.

As cultures intermingled, Tangarani women gradually lost their freedoms towards the latter stages of the Tangarani Empire.