Guntartar Khaganate

The Fifth Khaganate

The Fifth Khaganate's structure

The Great Khan is the ruler of the Khaganate. The khaganate was originally divided into four khanates. The Western Horde, the Great khanate, the Right Khanate and the East Frontier. The Guntartars don't usually live in cities because of their nomadic lifestyle and culture, a very small amount of them live in the cities in the empire. They mainly use the cities for trade, administration and storing vast amounts of wealth. They have been known to turn small towns into large trading hubs where they can make a lot of money off of taxation and tolls. The administrative capital of the Western Horde is Yunar, for the Great Khaganate it is the ancient city of Sun-Ra which was built the first ever khagan Sun-Ra I who founded the First Khaganate in 800 B.B to store his accumilated wealth and to bring traders who will trade them luxuries. The Administrative capital of the Right Khanate is Saloo which was a small small town in the middle of nowhere into a trading hub. It is located 600 kilometers away from Sun-Ra and it is around 75 kilometers from the administrative border with the Great Khanate. The administrative capital of the East Frontier is Rhudai which was a small fishing and trading center on the coast of the Rhuli lake which is used by the Rhuli tribes. The Guntartars turned it into a large trading hub as well. The khagan's brothers rule the other sectors of the empire, and when he dies, he passes the role of khagan to his son. The son's brothers replace their uncles in their roles as khans. The Fifth Khaganate operates in what they call "sway or slay". Meaning, if you don't surrender to them immediately and agree to pay taxes, tribute and needed resources and soldiers, they will go to war with you and they will loot your cities and villages and farms, kill a large amount of the population, rape all the women, burn the cities and villages to ground, and enslave the survivors. However, if you surrender at the start and do as you are told, they won't try to cause you any real harm.

Structure

At the Khaganate's head you have the khagan who is the khan of all khans, the khan of all the Guntartars. He usually has his brothers run the larger khanates of which the khaganate is made up of. That way the khagan will have less work to do and can allow himself more luxuries. The khaganate is usually rather loosely run and provides the tribes with relative autonomy but the are some iron-rigid rules which are strictly monitored (like inter-tribal violence).

Public Agenda

Peace, power and luxury to the Guntartars.

Assets

The khaganate which always has it's capital in the city of Sun-Ra in which all khagans must be appointed sits on a very important trade route that runs from the Saniri Mountains in the west to Rhudai in the east. control of this trade route gives the Guntartars a whole load of wealth which comes from taxing the traders traveling through, providing armed escort, banditry, tolls and trade. The Guntartars have the best horse ridden army because the Guntartars need to stay mobile and master horse riding because of the Uncatchable Philosophy which forces them to be master horse riders. The Guntartars have a very strong herding culture and as a result they have many sheep, goats, cattle, horses, camels and dogs and extreme sling proficiency among all genders and nearly all ages. They sell a lot of wool, leather and cheese. There is also a strong singing tradition and Guntartar bards are revered for their skill due to them knowing which word to say when it can be said in around 20 different ways.

Demography and Population

Mostly Guntartars in the open regions while the cities aren't populated with Guntartars but with other local ethnic groups. One of the most powerful ethnic groups in every incarnation of the Guntartar khaganate is the Palii, a kind of polar opposite to the Guntartars because they fight in rigid phalanx formation and are manderthals who live in cities as opposed to the mobile horse riding human Guntartars. There are tiny remnants of local ethnic groups that got crushed repeatedly like the Tarketi who wound up eventually assimilating. A lot of foreign traders settle in the Guntartar cities during times when the Khaganate is doing well because of the abundant trade and relative safety.

Military

Almost entirely cavalry. The majority of the army is usually horse archers and some mounted lancers and javelin throwers. Any infantry used by the khaganate is either from a vassal state or mercenary organization employed by the khagan or one of the khans. Good shock cavalry is also usually foreign sourced as most Guntartar horses are small skittish horses that will never charge into a line of infantry soldiers close enough for a lance to be used.

Technological Level

Advanced. Technology throughout the khaganate is relatively up to date as it has a steady flow of ideas flowing through it and the proximity to the technologically advanced states of the East Hu-Balai Defense Pact (EHBDP). which are easily accessible via the trade roads.

Religion

The official religion is the traditional Guntartar tribal religion but there is complete religious freedom as the Guntartars mainly care about their livestock, songs and luxuries. They won't usually cause their subjects any grief if they get from them what they want.

Foreign Relations

The khaganate usually has excellent trade relations with it's neighbors as a large amount of it's income is from foreign trade.

Agriculture & Industry

Mostly pastoral animal herding and bow and instrument making. The Guntartars are religiously nomadic and have a strong herding culture. Production usually consists of making bows, arrows, textiles, preserved meats, cheese, etc. A lot of these things are produced in the cities. There is a large gold panning "industry" in Chatal though...

Trade & Transport

Mostly foreign trade. The Guntartars buy a ton of foreign goods but they also export a lot of wool, cheese, bows, arrows, textiles and trading goods received from the other ends of the khaganate.
There aren't that many roads running through the khagante but main trade roads are well maintained to encourage traders to come and use them.

Infrastructure

There isn't much infrastructure in the khaganate as most of it's population is nomadic. However, each of the cities and kingdoms has it's own infrastructure and there are the trade routes and the kilns and smokers that people built in areas where a lot of tribes stop throughout the year to prepare preserved meats or make metal tools and weapons.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Major Exports

Wool, cheese, bows, arrows, textiles, musical instruments and trading goods received from the other ends of the khaganate.

Major Imports

Iron and luxury goods.

Location

North Yamuhi Steppe

Neighboring Nations

• Berini Empire

Related Ethnicities

• Guntartars

Military archery techniques: Guntartar horse archers use small recurve bows with an average draw weight of 150 pounds at 30 inches. This means that in order to effectively draw their bows, the warriors need to use all of their back muscles as well as their arm muscles and lean forwards and sideways to draw the bow and hold it for the 3 seconds or so needed to aim. This is where the stirrups come in handy because it allows them to keep balanced by spreading their legs and pushing them forward and out. However, they also know how to shoot without the aid of stirrups.