Muharib

Muharib (Arabic: مُحارِب‎ “warrior”) are the professional caravan guards and foot soldiers of the Merchant Republic of Sahraʾ, a desert‑jungle realm inhabited by the Qawm people. As the lowest formal rank in Sahraʾ’s mercantile hierarchy, Muharib are hired by merchants and merchant princes to protect trade caravans, tent‑cities, and rural estates from bandits, raiders, and rival factions. Though often regarded as a “necessary barbaric evil,” their services are indispensable to the flow of goods—spices, metals, timber, and textiles—that underpin Sahraʾ’s economy.
  Muharib typically equip themselves with scimitars, round shields, brigandine armor, and steel helmets, and they receive incremental pay increases based on years of service, battlefield experience, and the number of successful caravans protected. After guarding or fighting in seven campaigns, a Muharib earns the right to take on a spouse and begin the process of land acquisition—usually 200 silver per acre—to rise toward the status of a Mazarie (farmer or miner).
  Despite their essential role in securing Sahraʾ’s trade networks, Muharib occupy the lowest rung of social prestige, as their worth is measured solely by martial prowess. Nevertheless, many prominent families trace their origins to former Muharib who parlayed battlefield loot and caravan bonuses into the capital required for small farms, apprenticeships, or the sponsorship of artisanal workshops.