KHAND

It is the home of the Variags, fierce and numerous people of talatherim stock. Realm and Khaganate of Khand serves as the western anchor of the caravan trade routes running through Middle-Earth. Almost every kind of commodity must someday pass through Khand: Silk and porcelain from Cathay and Palisor, pottery and glass vessels from Gondor, furs and cattle from Rhûn, mead, honey and timber from Rhovanion, exotic herbs and spices from Chyan Empire, gold, ivory and luxuries from Sirayn, Raj and the Yellow Mountains.

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Khaganate of Khand is an unusual phenomenon. It is a realm originally built by savage, nomadic tribes; but in their heyday they had all the advantages of the developed countries: structured government, vast and prosperous trading, and a permanent army. In the 17th century, Khand is a major buffer state between East and West, North and South. Initially a confederation of Ioriag tribes with the good fortune to be situated in the crossing of important caravan routes, the Variags evolved from their closed nomadic society into a militaristic, urban and agrarian society. In the process they absorbed black númenoreans escaping gondorian and umbarean persecution, haradrim fleeing dúnadan conquests, chey from the east, ulgaths from the north, and other nomadic tribes.

Khand is ruled (at least symbolically) by a Khûdriag (V. "King of All the Tribes"), or Khagan. Current Khagan, Ovatha II, is of powerful Ito clan. Actual power is often wielded by the Beg (V. "general-regents"), who are senior generals and statesmans of the empire, chosen by proven success on the battlefield to serve as the supreme leader of the standing regular army, and who also manages all diplomatic relations, as well as internal governmental administration. Power is also wielded in varying degrees by the various tribal chieftains.

Variag cities are large and orderly, mostly built of bricks. Their rural dwellings are circular round-houses, symbolizing the transition from the nomadic to the settled, or rather semi-settled, existence. The whole khaganate is surrounded by elaborate chain of fortifications, robust and square in outlook.

HISTORY

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During the dark years of Second Age, the ioriag ancestors of Khand were nothing but savage horse-nomads in the service of the Shadow, and among Sauron's most trusted vassals. They were a brutal and bloothirsty race, a warrior people of great reknown. Khand was united as a nation by khan Ûvatha in the late Second Age. He was a powerful monarch and a long-time ally of Mordor. Natives of Khand were first civilized by Sauron and His dark legacy can be seen in variag culture even today. When Sauron was finally vanquished and his vast empire wrought to ruin by the might of Númenor and Elves, the battered ioriag tribes were free to develop in a way of their own making.

New variag nation slowly formed around the control of important trade routes across Endor. What had started as bare plunder, slowly turned into legitimized taxing, with nation full of trading posts, toll points, caravan organizers and suppliers, and bustling cities. Confederation of variag nations was loosely united under one Khagan, but in reality the power was wielded by Begs, generals and tribal chieftains. Khagans of Khand saw their fate as balancing force between East and West, a realm totally independent from others, enriched by trade and defended by her invicible professional variag armies.

Reduction of Mordor created a political vacuum in the Central Middle-earth, which the variags willingly filled.

WARCRAFT IN KHAND

WEAPONS AND ARMOUR

Lamellar is the typical armour of these regions, usually of hardened leather. Standing variag armies make a large-scale use of scale cuirasses and pointed metal helmets. As might be expected in regions completely dominated by cavalry, the horse-harness of variag steppe peoples are highly developed and often very decorative. Lamellar horse-armour is usually reserved for élite troops, but is very commong among the ruling Ito clan.

Hosts of Khand are armed with slings, spears, javelins and axes. Small one-handed axes are very popular in the cavalry. Horse archers and camel riders are armed with small composite bows with large, box-like quivers which can carry as many as sixty arrows. Straight double-edged swords of western form are preferred, but majority of blades are single-edged haradan swords.

TROOP TYPES

Variag War Wagon - Used to transport and protect the Khagan if he deigned to appear on the battlefield.
Variag Nobles - Superb horsemen, heavily protected by full scale, lamellar or mail, helmets and grieves, armed with composite bows, lances and curved single-edged swords.
Arsiyah Cavalry - Outstanding medium cavalry which forms the regular standing army of Khan. Scale cuirasses, armed with hand axes, lances and short bows.
Haruze Horse Archers - Haradan light cavalry, very fast. Lamellar armour of rigid leather, composite bows and scimitars.
Camel Riders - Variag light cavalry. Soft leather armour, javelins, axes and short bows.
Variag Guard - Variag medium infantry. Lamellar armour of rigid leather, lamellar helmets and grieves, battle axes, large oval shields and straight single-edged swords.
Variag Spearmen - Variag Light infantry. Soft leather or brigandine armour, helmets, pikes, spears and hand axes.
Nûrniag Levies - Light infantry, weak morale. Soft leather armour, clubs, slings, javelins and round shields.
Nûriag Levies - Tribal militias, fierce but uncoordinated. Soft leather armour, spears, hand axes and short bows.

POLITICAL POWER

At its maximum extent in 1651 T.A., the realm of Khand Khaganate includes the geographical regions of Upper and Lower Khand, the Gap of Khand, Nûrn, and parts of southern Rhûn. Several other lands pay her annual tribute; khans, amirs and vizirs of Chelkar, Lurmsakun, Arysis, Siakan and Relmether are her vassals. Other Ioriag groups such as nûriads were subjugated under variag rule during the reign of great Khagan Ovatha I, before the Great Plague.

By acting as a buffer state between east and west, Khand has prevented numerous barbarian easterling tribes from spreading south of the Ephel Dúath or east from the Sea of Rhûn. This was accomplished thru a series of wars known as the Odhriag Wars.

While all positions of power are held by the variag warrior caste, inferior and menial labour is largely on the shoulders of the subject peoples: haradrim, nûriads and nûrniags. Most of the traders are either haruze or chyan stock; nûriads and nûrniags are kept as slaves in the mines and fields to provision the hungering Variag war machine.

Native variag religion is somewhat a mystery. It is strictly confined to variags themselves; ethnical minorities and slaves are forcibly excluded as heathens. Their religious apparatus is overseen by a collective of high priestesses; their gods are myriad and terrifying. Knowing this, variags are surprisingly tolerant to other beliefs. They consider themselves as a "chosen people" and are not interested in the observations of lesser races...

GEOGRAPHY

Khand is an arid region southeast of Mordor. Because of the altitude and availability of water, the natives of Khand are relatively numerous. Khand stretches between the southeastern flank of the Ephel Duath and the northwestern edge of the Ered Harmal. It occupies the semi-arid plateau bordering northeastern Harad and thus commanded the great Gap of Khand, the hundred mile wide pass facing southern Rhûn and eastern Mordor. Nûrad lies in the hills to the northeast.

Hot, dry, and windy, Khand is an unforgiving locale. Its flat, lowland areas afforded few means for stable settlement. Scrub and desert abounded throughout Lower Khand. Here, horse herders moved their lightly-encumbered bands around a circuit of periodic shelters and encampments, their routes dictated by the location of springs, seasonal pools, and intermittent streams. The only permanent settlements were lying along the broad, shallow Knife River, a tributary of the Harnen. Sturlurtsa Khand - the traditional capital of Lower Khand and the largest city between Umbar and the Talathrant - stands by the confluence of the rivers Knife (V. 'Noz Peka') and Gold-horse (V. 'Medlóshad Peka').

Upper Khand, which comprises the eastern and northern quarters of the region, enjoys a bit more rainfall and cooler temperatures. The more numerous tribes of the area are generally richer and more settled than their brethren to the west and south. Upper Khand's principal city, Ûbésêsh-ûta-Pavéter (V. 'Refuge from the Flailing Wind'), stands only about 170 miles east and upstream from Sturlurtsa Khand; however, it receives twice the precipitation and a lot less heat than its larger and more important counterpart.

PRINCIPAL CITIES

Sturlurtsa Khand
Khand Amu
Kyzilkum
Ûbesêsh
Ovatharac

The first Variag capital was Khand Amu. During the 720s, the variags transferred their capital to Sturlurtsa Khand, a bustling brick city by the confluence of the rivers Noz Peka and Medlóshad Peka. Ûbesêsh is the administrative center of the Upper Khand, and is located adjacent to Kyzilkum, a major trading center. In the early 17th century, ...

PEOPLES

Variags

Ethnic minorities: Nûrniags, Asdriags, Nûriags, Haruze, Chey.

ECONOMY

Variag jewelry
Variag jewelry and ornaments

Economy in Khand turns round taxing the north-south and east-west caravan trade, mining exports and herding.

The staple foods in Khand are corn and fish. Barley, wheat, melons, hemp, and cucumbers are also harvested in Upper Khand. There are many orchards and fertile regions around the Noz Peka, which the variags depended upon due to the infrequency of rain.

Khand is an important trade route connecting East and West. For example, the "Silk Road" is an important link between Cathay, Palisor, Kukyria, and Gondor. Among the things traded along the Khand trade routes were silks, furs, candlewax, honey, jewelry, silverware, coins, and spices. Radhanite traders of Chey passed thru Khand on their way to western Endor, Rhûn, and other locations. Sirayn also makes use of the Silk Road trade, and their letters method of writing have become well known in Khand. Khagan's subjects trade with the people of Kargagis Ahar and also with port cities in Bulchyades and Lyneria...