Sind (Kingdom of)

Location: West of the Atruaghin Territories, Darokin, south- west of Glantri.
Area: 200,000 sq.mi. (Azadgal: 10,000 sq.mi.; Baratkand: 32,500 sq.mi.; Gunjab: 17,000 sq.mi.; Jalawar: 13,500 sq.mi.; Jhengal: 32,000 sq.mi.; Kadesh: 20,500 sq.mi.; Nagpuri: 13,000 sq.mi.; Peshmir: 12,000 sq.mi.; Putnabad: 11,000 sq.mi.; Shajarkand: 25,000 sq.mi.; Sindrastan: 13,000 sq.mi.)
Population: App. 550,000 plus hordes of occupying goblinoids and other minions of Hule. (Azadgal: 45,000; Baratkand: 40,000; Gunjab: 12,500; Jalawar: 65,000; Jhengal: 40,000; Kadesh: 30,000; Nagpuri: 60,000; Peshmir: 35,000; Putnabad: 75,000; Shahjarkand: 65,000; Sindrastan: 80,000)
Languages: Sindhi, some Thyatian Common (Darokinian dialect).
Coinage: Guru (25 gp), rupee (5 gp), bhani (2 ep), khundar (sp), piaster (cp).
Taxes: Each mumlyket imposes and collects its own taxes. The occupying forces of Hule demand an annual poll tax of one Khundar per person, regardless of age, gender, or caste.
Government Type: Feudal monarchy (king and nobles called rajahs and maharajahs). The Master of Hule rules Sind through his puppet, Chandra ul Nervi, the current Rajahdhirajah.
Industries: Agriculture, trade (salt, silk, cotton, rice, and especially tea).
Important Figures: Chandra ul Nervi (Rajadhirahja, human, male, C13), Inay Paramesh, (Rajah of Jalawar, human male, T13); Drisana Madhar (former Rani of Jalawar now in exile, human, female, M9).
Flora and Fauna: Monsters that are found in the regions of Sind include animal herds, giant ants, bandits (in the desert), basilisks, camels, cockatrices, djinn, red dragons, efreet, elephants, ghouls, gnolls, giant lizards, lupins, manscorpions, mummies, giant scorpions, shadows, sphinxes, and trolls.

Description: by Ryuk-uk Tshaa [Ed. note: Ryu has been sending us descriptions of each of the various areas that he travels to on his way through Sind. Due to the chaotic situation in Sind during AC 1015, we have only been receiving sporadic reports from our Hsiao correspondent. The only entry we have yet received is on the Rajahstan of Jalawar, which we present here for our readers.]

The Land

The mumlyket of Jalawar is colloquially referred to as the "Gateway to Sind", due to its geographic location at the head of the Asanda river, one of the primary routes into Sind itself. The predominant features of Jalawar are its grass and farmlands; it is also home to one of the few remaining swaths of forest in Sind.

The waters of the Asanda bring generous deposits of silt down from its northern head in the Great Salt Swamp, making the lands along its shores some of the most fertile farmland in the Old World; certainly the most fertile in Sind. Hundreds of tiny farming villages line the eastern banks of the Asanda in Jalawar, where they produce more than enough food to support the mumlyket; the surplus helps to provide for the rest of the agriculturally starved kingdom of Sind.

Central Jalawar is populated by small families of cattle owners, who keep their livestock full on the short grasses that fill the landscape, and the forest to the far east provides the only elephant reserve within the borders of Sind.

The People

The main human stock of Sind is a blend of Atruaghin and Urduk racial stocks, a combination which has resulted in the nut brown skin tone often equated to the Sindhi. The people of Jalawar, in particular, are a more reddish brown than most Sindhi, likely due to a greater Atruaghin influence based on their geographical location. Almost two-thirds of the population is rural, living in the hundreds of farming villages along the Asanda river, or in the central grasslands. The rest live predominantly in the large trading ports along the southern shore.

There is a large foreign presence in Jalawar, due to its pre-eminence as a trading centre. As a result, there is a far greater portion of non-Sindhi to be found here than anywhere else in the nation. Peoples of all nationalities abound - Ierendi, Minrothaddans, Darokinians, Yavdlom; there is even a sizeable population of Sindised Atruaghin peoples in the outlying towns and villages.

It is primarily this large foreign element that has led to a relaxation of the rules of the Sindhi caste system; for decades, I am told, there has been a gradual transition to a more "easternised" system of belief in equality, a move endorsed by the Madhar family that has traditionally ruled Jalawar. Rajah Paramesh, from a more conservative branch of the Madhar line, has been attempting to reimpose the caste system in Jalawar, an action that has not served to make him any more popular among the people of this mumlyket.

Recent History

Rajah Inay Paramesh came to power in 1005 AC, with the aid of the elite troops of then-Rajadhiraja Kiritan Ul-Nervi, deposing his distant cousin Drisana Madhar. Drisana, one of the few rajahs to maintain their loyalty to Chandra Ul-Nervi in the face of the Master's invasion, retreated to the Yavdlom Divinarchy, where she helped rally Chandra to return to Sind. She remains in Yavdlom still.

Rajah Paramesh has slowly consolidated his power in the years since, and has only recently been able to reopen trade with the outside world, bolstering the economy of Jalawar once more. There is still much resistance to the new Rajah, particularly as he is still closely allied with the Hulean invaders. Jalawar is heavily occupied with Hulean forces, as much for the income provided by its trading as for its agricultural surplus, which serves as the main source of food for Hule's Sindhi troops.

Don't Miss

Though I was not able to visit it, I have been told that the capital city of Sambay (pop. 12,000) is quite a sight to behold. Traditional Sindhi architecture blends with a wide array of architectural styles from throughout the world - from as far west as Slagovich and the Savage Coast, to the easterly styles of Alphatia - and with a population as diverse. There is a large contingent of Hulean forces encamped in a shanty town just outside the northern gates of Sambay, along the banks of the Asanda, but that hasn't seemed to faze the foreign elements one bit. Life goes on as usual in the busy merchant town.