The Horsemen of Harabi--

[_Michael_]

So, I've got a small kingdom I'm building called Azkarra, and it's sort of a situation where urban-centric nobles rule over steppe-land horsemen tribes that are similar to Cossacks. The Harabi are happy because they are given access to markets to sell their horses, based on the Akhal-Teke but colored like Weimeraners, which are supposed to be prized the world over. They only sell gelded males and owning one is considered a mark of distinction. Most are usually bought up by nobles and royalty, as they are expensive.

I need to formulate a government for this kingdom, which will likely be sort of chimera of nobles and royalty who tentatively rule the kingdom while leaving the Hills of Harabi region to its own semi-autonomy so the horsemen tribes continue to breed horses and enrich the entire kingdom. I need ideas on how this government might look and what might be its characteristics. I'm hoping to draw real-world inspirations, but I'm out of my depth and figured I'd ask those more knowledgable than myself. I'm sort of envisioning a Cossacks/tsar thing, but it's very evanescent at this point, and I'd like to get it down to brass tacks.

Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Gurkhal]

Well, there would be severals ways but if I'm being honest then maybe the government isn't the key thing here but rather the bureaucracy and policies of said government. The main question is thus how a government, be it a king or a council of nobles or whatever, that is based on a settled and urban base can extend their authority to a nomadic population?

A few ideas I can come up with are:

Keep the leaders of the nomads bribed with prestigeous titles (along with nice salaries) and luxurious townhouses where they can spend time now and then to enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of a big city. This would also allow them to associating with the urbanized elites, thus let them form links between them.

Give gifts of weapons to keep the loyal leaders in power

Gifts of gold and silver that the nomadic leaders can pass on to keep themselves attractive for warriors to serve

Shared religion so that there are ties of religion between the nomadic and settle populations

Intermarriage between nomadic and settled elites to bind them together

Other will probably have other suggestions of point out flaws in my suggestions but here they are.

 

[_Michael_]

Well, there would be severals ways but if I'm being honest then maybe the government isn't the key thing here but rather the bureaucracy and policies of said government. The main question is thus how a government, be it a king or a council of nobles or whatever, that is based on a settled and urban base can extend their authority to a nomadic population?

A few ideas I can come up with are:

Keep the leaders of the nomads bribed with prestigeous titles (along with nice salaries) and luxurious townhouses where they can spend time now and then to enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of a big city. This would also allow them to associating with the urbanized elites, thus let them form links between them.

Give gifts of weapons to keep the loyal leaders in power

Gifts of gold and silver that the nomadic leaders can pass on to keep themselves attractive for warriors to serve

Shared religion so that there are ties of religion between the nomadic and settle populations

Intermarriage between nomadic and settled elites to bind them together

Other will probably have other suggestions of point out flaws in my suggestions but here they are.

All excellent fodder for ideas to be put in. Love it.

To clarify things a bit more, I'm adding a map of the area. To the north is Danar Lake, and the ruined citadel to the south is Morthengäl, destroyed by the forces of the Evergloom (the Ebynai elves--my version of the drow with a twist) as they came up from below and waged war on the dwarves. The east is not actually open, the mountains form a solid wall just beyond the edge of the map: the Karolus Mountains to the northeast, and the Anwâld Mountains to the south (the same chain that Morthengäl is in). Agnita is a silver mining town with ingress points into the Evergloom itself, though this isn't a major hotbed of conflict since the Ebynai don't really come to the surface en masse.

The entire Azkarran cavalry would probably all be on Harabi horses, and the nomads themselves would likely enjoy some of those profits, so there's not too much conflict between the horse tribes and the nobles. I'm sort of picturing that the horse tribes would keep the goblins and orc populations in check to the east, using raids on them as rites of passage and a way to keep their martial skills sharp.

I could also see the nobles engaging in public works projects such as building wells and reservoirs at strategic points along migratory routes with more modern engineering for the horse tribes to further ingratiate themselves and ensure continued good will. I haven't quite worked out the religions, yet, but I imagine it would sort of be like a Rome situation pre-Imperium where Caesar didn't care whom you worshipped so long as you didn't engage in human sacrifice and paid your taxes. I'd even go so far as to say that the horse tribes might be granted a semi-autonomy so that Azkarra benefits from them without the need to garrison troops or have expensive and slow bureaucracies installed. I was planning on doing something similar with Cantemir, too, as that is a trading fort where humans and non-humans mingle (the good races had all retreated into their lands and sealed their borders, though they do occasionally show up at trading forts on the edges of civilized lands).

Azkarra: