SHAJARKAND (Mumlyket of)

Location: Kingdom of Sind, west of the Atruaghin plateau.

Area: 25,000 sq. mi. (64,750 sq. km.).

Population: 65,000. This includes the capital of Naral (pop. 10,000).

Languages: Sindhi.

Coinage: Guru (25 gp), rupee (5 gp), bhani (gp), khundar (sp), piaster (cp).

Taxes: See Sind.

Government Type: Feudal monarchy. The Rajah of Shajarkand owes fealty to the Rajadhiraja (king) of Sind, Chandra ul Nervi.

Industries: Trade (salt, hides, goat milk). The rulers of Shajarkand also make a modest income from the export of tigers.

Important Figures: Ramanan Venkat (Rajah, human, male, F7).

Flora and Fauna: See Sind.

Further Reading: Champions of Mystara boxed set, previous almanacs.

Description by Ryuk-uk Tshaa.

The Land

Shajarkand encompasses a wide variety of terrains. The border with the Atruaghin Territories is heavy grassland, dotted with many small farming communities, from which most of the mumlyket's agriculture comes. There are some small forests along the border as well, which play home to a tiger preserve-the only one of its kind in the Old World.

The Asanda River forms the southwestern border, culminating in a great swamp. To the north of the province lay large stretches of desert and badlands-mostly uninhabitable, save for a few oases. The capital of Naral was built in the midst of one such spot, a miles-wide grassy valley.

The People

Much like Jalawar to the south, the people of Shajarkand have a more pronounced reddish tone to their normally brown skin colour. This is doubtless due to the closer presence and ties to the Atruaghin peoples to the east. Similarly, the majority of the population is rural, living in small farming and fishing communities along the Asanda and in the grasslands. The northern reaches of Shajarkand are very sparsely populated.

Foreign presence in Shajarkand is fairly small; most of the population is exclusively Sindhi, with a small minority of Atruaghin peoples along the grasslands and forests of the west. Naral and villages along the Asanda occasionally boast peoples of other ethnicities, but the reduced emphasis on trade and foreign contact has limited the admixture of non-Sindhi.

Recent History

Shajarkand won back its independence from occupying hordes of Hule in AC 1015. Together with forces from Jalawar and some northern mumlykets, the rajah led his army north to Sindrastan, where he participated in the liberation of the Sindhi capital of Sayr Ulan.

Currently, Rajah Venkat is attempting to rebuild his nation, root out any remaining pockets of Hulean intruders, and reopen trade ties with outside nations.

Don't Miss

Rajah Venkat reveres the tiger, and evidence of this can be seen throughout his palace in Naral. His soldiers wear tunics of yellow striped with black, like a tiger's pelt, and their standard bears a tiger's snarling visage. The rajah's throne is decorated with jewel-studded carvings in the shape of tiger heads, and pelts of the animals adorn the walls and floor of his bedroom. He also keeps several of the felines as pets-rumour has it that particularly unwelcome guests find their way into the tiger's pens for supper.