Raspur Khanate

Khānāt-e Raspur
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Blood Calls Out for Blood
Anthem: Behold, the New Dawn Rises!
Location of Raspur
Map versions	N/A
Capital	Raspur
Largest city	Raspur
Official language(s)	Babkhi (official) Khalypsine and Vey Greek most commonly spoken
Official religion(s)
Demonym	Raspuri
- Adjective	Raspuri
Government	Restricted franchise elective monarchy
- Khan	Tahmaseb II Osman
- Grand Vizier	Mir-Hossein Khan
- Legislature	Durbar
Establishment	07 June 2016
Area	N/A
Population	TBC
Currency	Dinar
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website
National forum
National animal	Mardyakhor
National food	Long Pork
National drink	Narcotic Wine
National tree	Cedar
Abbreviation	RUR

The Khanate of Raspur is a wiki-based simulated state set on the continent of Eura in the wake of the destruction of the Kingdom of Babkha. It considers itself to be a successor to the cultural identity (theme) of Babkha and also the short-lived Theocracy of Khalypsil, but in neither case to the polities themselves.

Geography

Administrative divisions

Outside of the capital district under the direct control of the House of Osman, the territory of the Raspur Khanate is divided seven-fold between hereditary governors, known as Satraps, who enjoy absolute power in their dominions save the fealty that they owe to the Khan who may, at any moment, call for their heads to be brought before him. Whether these heads would still attached to their bodies or not, being entirely at the Khan's sole discretion.

The seven satrapies (Ostan) are:

• The Ostan of Arslan
• The Ostan of Farzan
• The Ostan of Mihran
• The Ostan of Mitra
• The Ostan of Suren
• The Ostan of Varaz
• The Ostan of Zjandar

Government and politics

Government

In theory, the Khanate is an elective monarchy, however the franchise is limited to a Durbar comprised of the House of Osman and the Houses of the Satraps, named for their provinces, with the hereditary Grand Vizier bringing the membership of the Durbar to nine.

It is a curious system of government where the seven must elect the man in whom resides the absolute power of life and death over them. The House of Osman has preserved itself thus far by virtue of possessing the ruins of the Babkhan capital and also by the fact that none of the other house can abide the thought of one of their rivals acceding to the flayed-skin throne.

The hereditary Grand Vizierate is responsible for carrying out, in the Khan's name, the rudiments of public administration, the maintenance of roads and sewers, the taxation of the common folk, the culling of the bandaka and such like.

The single greatest item of expenditure for the government of the Khanate is the funding of the battalions of Immortals tasked with defending the person of the Khan and the seat of his government in Raspur.

Foreign relations

As an unrecognised state, the Raspur Khanate has no formal relations with foreign powers, and indeed in its values and conduct is considered to be actively antagonistic towards the wider international community.

Military

The Khanate relies entirely on repaired and reconditioned Babkhan military equipment recovered from the myriad of bunkers and arms depots lost under the desert fastness of the irradiated wastelands. The military organisation of the Khanate similarly reflects the legacy of that vanished Euran empire.

The Immortals are the Khan's pledged fidai, sworn to live and die in his service. They are the instruments of his rule. Eight battalions of the Immortals were raised, one to provide for the defence of Raspur and the person of the Khan, and the remaining seven garrisoned in the territory of his Satraps, to ensure that they are aware that they are never for a moment free from his reach. The Khan also enjoys the services of two salvaged attack-rotorcraft, commonly known nowadays as Whirdlebirds after the Minarborian fashion, with which he delights in leading personal raids on those wretched villages and nomad bands of the interior who have been tardy in paying the tribute that is his due.

The Diqhan, raised from the descendants of Euran nobility, are pledged to the service of the Satraps in whose name they were recruited and to whom their oaths have been given. The Diqhan battalions are both the bodyguards and the private armies of the Satraps and it is never entirely unheard of that they make war upon each other as much as they do upon the enemies of the Khanate. That Khan tolerates this fratricide, so long as it remains within tolerable bounds, as it keeps his subordinates fractious, suspicious and weak.

The Mutatawwi'a are religious troops who, inspired by their Zurvanist faith, have volunteered to fight. Untrained, reckless and fanatical, these troops are poorly equipped with primitive and improvised weapons. These wild warriors are more of a mob than a disciplined unit, eager to get into hand to hand combat with their enemy no matter the odds.

• Jundekhan (Companions of the Khan)
  • The Division of the Immortals
    • Immortals (x8 battalions)
    • Air Support Group (x2 Whirdlebirds)
• The Artesh-e Parcham Sabzi (Green Banner of the Army)
  • The Division of Arslan
    • The Arslanid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Farzan
    • The Farzanid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Mihran
    • The Mihranid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Mitra
    • The Mitraid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Suren
    • The Surenid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Varaz
    • The Varazid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)
  • The Division of Zjandar
    • The Zjandarid Diqhan (x1 battalion)
    • Mutatawwi'a (x6 battalions)

Economy

Exploiting the chaos that enveloped central Eura in the wake of the Euran War the clans and families of the Raspur Khanate moved to aggressively seize control of the network of caravans that crisscrossed the harsh desert and steppe like conditions of the continental interior carrying valuable and rare cargo and goods between the scattered and sparsely populated settlements that clustered around the ruined cities and those oases where safe drinking water could be found.

The single largest economic actor in the Raspuri economy is the House of Osman GmbH, a limited liability company whose members are protected against being held for the company's debts on account of their familial relationship with the ruling family. The controlling member of the company is Isabella Osmania, a Sxiro-Natopian dual-national and widower of the former head of the Shirerithian branch of the House of Osman.

Extortion

The Raspuri are infamous for offering "protection" to travellers venturing into the ungoverned territories of the Euran territory, whether travelling east to west or north to south. It goes without saying that the thing they are offering protection from most frequently is themselves. Fees can vary wildly in accordance with the caprices of the protectors, sometimes being as little as a token gift or modest payment or sometimes amounting to a full-scale hostage taking with extortionate ransom demands.

The prudent will, before venturing upon a journey, hire middlemen to establish contact with the Raspur Khanate, so as to receive, for a fee naturally, the Khan's blessing for their endeavour and a letter of introduction and safe-conduct issued under his warrant as a firman or decree. Those bearing a firman sealed by the Khan himself will at least have the assurance that the sovereign's wrath will fall severely upon any of his subject who harm one who is under the protection of the Raspuri state.

It is, however, still ill-advised for comely travellers, of either sex, to travel upon the dismal roads and caravan trails of the Euran interior, for the Raspuri pay little heed to the firmans, or passports and letters of safe-conduct even of the Khan himself, if they chance upon one whom they desire and wish to snatch up and carry away as an adornment for their own harem.

Oil

Oil production and smuggling is one of the major revenue makers for the Raspur Khanate. Oil extracted from fields controlled by the Khanate is mainly distributed within its territory but also smuggled to surrounding states.

Aside from petrol distillates, most oil recovered from salvaged wells tend to be of heavy grade and low quality, mostly suitable as a power source for the banks of generators that constitute the Khanate's main network of power stations.

Production from the Raspuri oil fields tend to average out at 40,000 barrels per day, generating a revenue of 1.5 million Shirerithian Erb per day, with the smuggled oil frequently being sold at below market value.

Oil exports pass through a number of independent merchants, so-called petrol-wallahs and self-employed cargo haulers. The deplorable, in many cases non-existent, nature of the road infrastructure of inner Eura, away from the governed spaces, tends to act as a limiting factor on the quantities that can be transported.

Slavery

Slavery is deeply rooted in the culture of the Raspur Khanate and plays a significant part in the ethnographic hierarchy of its society.

Slave status has been passed down in the Raspur Khanate for generations, dating back to the Babkhan era. The descendants of Mondesians slaves, imported from southern Apollonia, now live in central Eura as 'bandaka' or serfs. Slavery of adults and children in the Raspur Khanate primarily takes the form of chattel slavery, where the slaves and their descendants are the full property of their masters. Slaves may be bought and sold, rented out and given away as gifts. Slavery is prevalent throughout the entirety of the country but in urban areas more care is given to disguising the slaves as domestic servants or hired help. In the rural districts and out on the arid steppes such pleasant fictions are seldom observed.

Female slaves are especially sought, both for domestic work, for harems and for the breeding farms where new cohorts birthed each year. Female slaves, once their use for pleasure or procreation has ended, are usually assigned to domestic chores such as caring for children and household task, but they may also be expected to tend to the ubiquitous herds of scraggly Euran sheep. As may be expected in this set-up, female slaves are frequently, bordering on incessantly, subject to sexual assault by their masters. Long-lived masters have been known to enjoy successive generations of the same slave families in this fashion.

Slaves are typically uneducated, seldom accorded much more regard than might be given to livestock, indeed their living quarters are broadly comparable. Although physical coercion, arbitrary violence and constant surveillance is an inevitable part of the daily reality faced by slaves, there are also significant cultural and religious taboos that keep the slaves in their allotted place. To question slavery is deemed to be questioning Zurvanism, the state religion, itself.

The Raspuri, in addition to their penchant for land-piracy, also indulge in slave raids on neighbouring settlements. Fair-skinned Constancian women are especially prized and receive good prices, sometimes as much as 250,000 Shirerithian Erb for a specimen in prime condition. Passian women on the other-hand sell for considerably less.

Raspur also prides itself on its burgeoning market for catamites and eunuchs.

Opium

In 1651 AN (August 2017), 53% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the unregulated Euran markets originated in Raspuri territory. This amounted to an export value of about 1.5 billion Shirerithian Erb, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to Raspuri officials, brigands, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers. The trade was severely impacted by the outbreak of Alexandrian Flu in Luthoria which depopulated that province. Along with many communities of the Euran interior, the Raspuri were obliged to quarantine themselves for 40 days as a precaution against infection, causing a shortage and then a glut of supply as smuggling routes were re-orientated towards the lawless Constancian colony of Nivardom.

The main growing areas are under the protection of semi-autonomous clans in the south-eastern districts of Raspur, where long neglected irrigation networks had been brought back into working order by Sarhang Naik, the guardian of a functioning borehole and pumping station that has tapped into the Zjandarian sandstone aquifer system, which contains an estimated 150,000 km3 of groundwater.

The smuggling routes to Alexandrian Luthoria were formerly controlled by the Durrani brothers, Yaser and Rostam. However with the outbreak of the Alexandrian Flu on the Euran continent, the brothers, along with their families and dependants were put to death by the Khanate's security forces and their bodies incinerated to break the potential chain of infection.

The trade now falls under the control of the Darzi Clan who have obtained formal recognition as caravan guardians, escorting the convoys of illicit cargo overland from Raspur to Nivardom.

The harvesting of opium poppies and their subsequent processing is labour intensive and relies on both child and slave labour in order to harvest these flowers from the irrigated fields surrounded on each side by hard-baked mudbrick walls.