Sultanate of Binsharaz
Nestled in the north-western corner of the Kaldara Desert, the Sultanate of Binsharaz is the only beacon of true civilisation in that part of the continent of Euristan, and it acts as a gateway for those approaching the desert from the north or west.
Over hundreds of generations, its people have learned how to bend the desert to their will, irrigating huge swathes of the sands around their capital Binsharaz and extracting oil from beneath the dunes to turn into all manner of products which are shipped far and wide around Kelbonnar’s Material Plane.
Structure
As its name suggests, the Sultanate is ruled over by a Sultan. For the past 300 years the line of Sultans has been drawn from the Sal-Ishar family, who seized power following the death of the last Sultan of the Kes-Panish line, who died childless and without naming an alternative heir.
The Sultans rule as absolute monarchs, with the title being passed automatically to the eldest child, unless a ruling Sultan chooses to stipulate otherwise. The Sultan is supported by a court of advisors, who are almost exclusively drawn from the nobility of the Sultanate.
Demography and Population
Whilst the Sultanate of Binsharaz is a mixed species nation, the majority of its citizens are made up of Tabaxi, Lizardfolk and Dragonborn, a fluke of history purely based on the natural preference of these species for warmer environments.
On the whole the Sultanate’s socio-economic make up has little to distinguish it from most of the other geopolitical entities of Kelbonnar, with the majority of its citizens making up a lower class agricultural and industrial workforce, with a smaller more skilled middle class above them and a much smaller nobility sitting at the top of the socio-economic pyramid.
Territories
The Sultanate of Binsharaz claims dominion over the peninsula in the north-west of the Kaldara Desert that juts into the area of the Centric Sea known as the Kaldara’s Jaws.
Military
As the Kaldara Desert is a dangerous place to make one’s home, the Sultanate of Binsharaz has a large standing army to protect its major settlement and capital of Binsharaz, the irrigated agricultural hinterland it has painstaking created around it, the oil fields that provide it with its main source of income and the oases and satellite villages dotted throughout its territory.
The troops of the Sultanate’s armed forces are regarded as being the experts in desert warfare and they are highly trained in ambush tactics and desert survival. As their desert environment makes it so easy for people to slip back and forth over their borders, the vast majority of the Sultanate’s armed forces are constantly engaged in patrolling the area of the Kaldara they have claimed dominion over.
Religion
Whilst the Sultanate of Binsharaz does not impose restrictions on religious freedoms the majority of the religious devotion that takes place in the nation is highly influenced by their desert home, and tends to focus on three Divines the people of the Sultanate regard as having the most sway over the Kaldara.
Wresmella is worshipped for her sway over wild places, Zasgrall is worshipped in the hope of sating the most savage and ferocious parts of desert life and Breseis is worshipped to provide safe passage through the endless maze of dunes.
Foreign Relations
On the whole the Sultanate of Binsharaz maintains good relations with the other geopolitical entities of Kelbonnar’s Material Plane, but in reality it only maintains direct diplomatic contact with the nations have a presence on the shores of the Centric Sea. The Sultanate is careful to preserve cordial relationships with its two biggest trading partners, the Empire of Turelion and the Merchant Princedom of Hastellion, without whom it would have difficulty exporting to the rest of Kelbonnar.
Binsharaz has a particularly strong relationship with the Merchant Court of Alkashar, located on the south-eastern side of the Kaldara Desert. The two have long seen themselves as sister nations, and despite the hundreds of miles of inhospitable sand dunes in between them, they have always strived to work in each other’s best interests.
Agriculture & Industry
Despite its desert location, the Sultanate has gone to great lengths to ensure that it is able to provide a significant proportion of food for itself and through the extensive construction of irrigation canals, it is able to provide enough viable land around its capital Binsharaz to grow plantations of date palms, citrus groves and some cereal crops.
However, the main industry of the Sultanate of Binsharaz is the extraction of oil. Huge gangs of workers spend weeks at a time in the desert, manually working pumps that bring oil to the surface, which is then transported back to the outskirts of the city of Binsharaz for processing. This oil is refined into paraffin oil for use in lamps, paraffin wax which is used to make candles and a myriad of other uses. Oil based products are by far the biggest export of the Sultanate and homes cross Kelbonnar are illuminated by paraffin oil and candles made in the Sultanate.
Additionally, as the only bastion of civilisation in the northern reaches of the Kaldara, the Sultanate of Binsharaz makes a tidy profit through trading activities, particularly via the trade route known as the Dune Way, which traverses the desert and connects Binsharaz with the Merchant Court of Alkashar far to the south-east.
Education
Like many places in Kelbonnar, in the Sultanate of Binsharaz purely academic education is primarily only provided to those that can afford it. The Sultanate has no formal, state sponsored schools, but there is a large network of private tutors and governesses who are available to provide their services for the right fee.
Founding Date
600DP
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Demonym
Sharisites
Economic System
Mixed economy
Location
Neighboring Nations
Comments