Dharasī
The Dharasī are a major Jhasdic ethnic group mostly found in the Apastajai region. Known as fierce warriors, the Dharasī have long been sought after as mercenaries by other Jhasdic peoples, leading to some small Dharasī communities in other parts of southeastern Ærellion. Despite their powerful and sought-after martial skills, the Dharasī are politically disorganized and have long been organized into caste-based clans, reminiscent of western-style feudalism but without monarchial interference. They are also religiously diverse, with around half of the Dharasī peoples professing Adhavāda faith, with the remaining half mostly composed of followers of Bāla, but also containing significant Vishalaan and Hymarian Pantheon communities, concentrated in the west and east, respectively.Despite their political disunity, the Dharasī are not a particularly culturally divided people group, with only 3 divisions; Rānhaṇārat, Lēkhiā'ḍan, and Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan.
The Rānhaṇārat are most populous and dominant, dwelling in a thick band from the foothills of the Tiāoyuán Plateau to the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan Plateau and eastern lake. Rānhaṇārat communities have long been significantly more poweful than the other Dharasī, having never fully submitted to an outside foe, even during the time of the Dudurian Empire. During the heyday of the Karadatra Empire, most of the Rānhaṇārat tribes were forced to pay tribute, with the Bāla of the west being specifically targeted. However, due to their value as mercenaries, the tribute demands would quikcly be dropped and by the 1800s none of the tribes had paid anything in a hundred years, marking their de facto independence. This period would also see the rise of the powerful Rānhaṇārathan confederation in the east, a collection of warlords who had grown rich on trade from Hymar and centralized their power. By the late 1900s, the confederation would be the dominant Rānhaṇārat state, though there remain many warlords who resist them.
South of the Rānhaṇārat, mostly found in their namesake plateau and its foothills, the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan are similar to the Rānhaṇārat in many ways, but they retain key differences in lifestyle and economic activity, as well as having been politically separated from the Rānhaṇārat for many years. The Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan, though never conquered by the Dudurians (unlike many Rānhaṇārat) would fall under direct control of the Karadatrans and were often drafted to fight in the anti-Mapinguan wars. Due to this, the region was a stronghold of Mamalk dominance during the waning years of Karadatra, and the state of Vietparat has continued this trend. Since the Karadatrans withdrew in 1965, the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan have found intermittent wars with Vietparat as well as with one another, having failed to unify.
Finally, found along the western lakeshore, sitting at the far east of Apastajai, the Lēkhiā'ḍan are a less warlike branch of the Dharasī. Heavily influenced by Hymarian ideas and boasting a close relationship with their northeastern neighbors, the Lēkhiā'ḍan have nonethless been under the control of the Rānhaṇārathan confederation since the 1700s, as their lakeside states were simply too valuable for the growing confederation to ignore. Since then, they have largely been left as their own caste within Rānhaṇārat society, filling the middle roles of craftsmen and merchants which so often went underappreciated in Rānhaṇārat society.
The Rānhaṇārat are most populous and dominant, dwelling in a thick band from the foothills of the Tiāoyuán Plateau to the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan Plateau and eastern lake. Rānhaṇārat communities have long been significantly more poweful than the other Dharasī, having never fully submitted to an outside foe, even during the time of the Dudurian Empire. During the heyday of the Karadatra Empire, most of the Rānhaṇārat tribes were forced to pay tribute, with the Bāla of the west being specifically targeted. However, due to their value as mercenaries, the tribute demands would quikcly be dropped and by the 1800s none of the tribes had paid anything in a hundred years, marking their de facto independence. This period would also see the rise of the powerful Rānhaṇārathan confederation in the east, a collection of warlords who had grown rich on trade from Hymar and centralized their power. By the late 1900s, the confederation would be the dominant Rānhaṇārat state, though there remain many warlords who resist them.
South of the Rānhaṇārat, mostly found in their namesake plateau and its foothills, the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan are similar to the Rānhaṇārat in many ways, but they retain key differences in lifestyle and economic activity, as well as having been politically separated from the Rānhaṇārat for many years. The Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan, though never conquered by the Dudurians (unlike many Rānhaṇārat) would fall under direct control of the Karadatrans and were often drafted to fight in the anti-Mapinguan wars. Due to this, the region was a stronghold of Mamalk dominance during the waning years of Karadatra, and the state of Vietparat has continued this trend. Since the Karadatrans withdrew in 1965, the Ḍōṅgradēśtīlan have found intermittent wars with Vietparat as well as with one another, having failed to unify.
Finally, found along the western lakeshore, sitting at the far east of Apastajai, the Lēkhiā'ḍan are a less warlike branch of the Dharasī. Heavily influenced by Hymarian ideas and boasting a close relationship with their northeastern neighbors, the Lēkhiā'ḍan have nonethless been under the control of the Rānhaṇārathan confederation since the 1700s, as their lakeside states were simply too valuable for the growing confederation to ignore. Since then, they have largely been left as their own caste within Rānhaṇārat society, filling the middle roles of craftsmen and merchants which so often went underappreciated in Rānhaṇārat society.
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