Khazaria, Kaganate of
The Kaganate of Khazaria is an independent tiny client state within the northern portion of the Ottoman Empire, situated 40 mi. east of the Black Sea, against the north side of the Caucasus range of mountains. The region occupies an area of 1,698 sq.m, contained entirely within the emirate of Kubanistan.
Contents
The population consists of a mixture of Kassog orcs and Adygeian half-orcs, the culture of which has grown progressively militaristic since the collapse of the Khazarian state in the 11th century. Originally, the Adygeians were a human people, but the invasion of the Kassogs — a Bulgarian (orc) people from the Central Asian steppe — steadily adjusted the region's racial mix. Orcs slightly outnumber half-orcs, but no social distinction is made between one or the other.
Trade is nearly non-existent; the only two exports, wheat and chestnuts, must be transported 180 miles west to the port market of Cherzeti, a matter undertaken almost entirely by foreign merchants.
History
The disparate tribes of the area began to coalesce after the founding of Maik on the Belaya river in 1004. The city became the seat of the kingdom of Zekchia, which united several orcish-held regions including Circassia and Daghestan. The larger kingdom collapsed after the Mongol invasion, though a kernal of the state survived by withdrawing into the Caucasus upon the upper Belaya, where they held out. A similar violent struggle took place against Tamerlane in the late 14th century.
Captured warriors from the region were so valued for their fighting skills that they were taken as mercenary slaves to other lands. In 1382, Zekchian slaves (Circassians) seized the Mamluk throne in Egypt, establishing a dynasty that ruled until 1517.
Wars against the Tatars to the north would strengthen the Khazarian's resolve to survive as a people. Prince Inal in the 15th century adopted the old name of Khazaria to the region and instituted the martial training of all young persons. This was accomplished so dramatically that nearly a quarter of the whole population possesses at least one experience level as a fighter. This made the area unconquerable by the Ottomans who were forced to concede Khazaria's ancestral lands in their tenuous control over Kubanistan, which the empire has occupied for only a brief span.
