by Tooey
I. Land and Climate
The Bazhir live in the Great Southern Desert. Much like it sounds, the Great Southern Desert is, actually, a desert. Full of sand and wind and dunes and heat. As far as we can tell from the books, there isn't a whole lot of variation in terms of climate and weather. Inevitably, where there is sand and high winds, there will be sand storms, which could probably wipe out entire tribes at times.
Additionally, we know that before the Bazhir lived in the Great Southern Desert, they lived on the other side of the Inland Sea, and that they had palaces there and buildings made of stone. This was probably before the Bazhir Wars, an event that we know next to nothing about, except for its name.
II. Fauna
Drawing from what we know of deserts, it can be pretty safely assumed that the Great Southern Desert houses a number of small animals, especially reptiles; geckos, lizards, iguanas, a number of different snakes. Small mammals might include gophers, ferrets, jack rabbits, porcupines, and prairie dogs. Large animals would include coyotes, possibly wolves, lions, bighorn sheep, and horses. The Bazhir also keep herds of sheep and goats for domestic use. It is possible that they have camels, though that was never mentioned in the books. We know as well that they raise small, extremely fast horses, and usually ride the mares.
III. Food
We don't know a whole lot about the way the Bazhir ate. But they probably drank goat milk and ate sheep and goat flesh. It seems possible that they ate lion, because they are not a wasteful people, and hunting and killing without consuming is incredibly wasteful. Persopolis had olive trees, which suggests that they included olives in some of their cooking. They also drank date wine, an alcoholic beverage made from dates, another fruit that they probably consume in large quantities.
The People
I. Appearance
As a people, the Bazhir are very dark. Dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed. They have been known to possess black eyes, which would be an oddity among other cultures. Their hair is probably pretty uniformly black, or dark brown on occasion. Their skin, while dark, is not the dark-to-black of Carthak and southern Carthak, but more a nutty brown to golden hue.
II. Clothing
The traditional clothing of the Bazhir is a burnoose, a cloak-like garment that actually clothes the entire body and forms a hood. It is tied at the waist with a cord, the color of which differs according to social ranking. A shaman, for example, wears a green cord around his burnoose. The Voice of the Tribes may wear a blue cord, as blue is a religious color among the Bazhir.
III. Religion
The Bazhir are a very religious and devout people, although no gods are directly referenced in the book. They believe in the Great Balance, that all will right itself in the end. Sounds an awful lot like karma, doesn't it? I will mention here the Voice of the Tribes, which will be discussed at greater length later in the tutorial. I mention it because the Voice seems to be equal amounts law and religion for the Bazhir tribes. Each night, the men of the tribes commune with the Voice as one, which you could imagine must be a very religious experience. They also give honor to several gods whose names are read during important ceremonies, but we are not told who they are. It may be assumed that Mithros at least is included. Their dead, rather than being buried in the sand, are cremated.
IV. Language
The Bazhir speak Common universally, though they do have a language of their own. It is no longer used, except for during religious/arcane ceremonies. Most Bazhir probably wouldn't even know it, unless they were a headman or the Voice.
The System
I. Settlement
The Bazhir, as you probably already know, live in tribes. Their tribes have names like Bloody Hawk and Sunset Dragon; use your imagination. They pitch tents, probably moving very rarely, probably also picking their sites quite carefully. The tents they live in have removable sides so that they can open them to the air on most days. Furniture consists of pillows and rugs, nothing that's too bulky or heavy to move, and they sleep on piles of rugs and furs. The shaman's tent doubles as the village temple.
The Bazhir have only one city, called Persopolis. It was built for the express purpose of keeping an eye on the Black City, where the Ysandir, up until a couple decades ago, made their unholy home. Persopolis is where the Bazhir's records are kept, as well as meetings held and other official business.
II. Ruling and Laws
The ruling system of the Bazhir is very loosely structured. Each tribe has a headman, to whom the entire tribe answers. Headmen remain the headman of their tribe until they die or their right of leadership is stripped of them by the Voice of the Tribes. Above headmen is the Voice of the Tribes. This is an incredibly spiritual position. He is described as the first among the Bazhir, and the most powerful. Each Voice has a small gift of prophecy, and carries the thoughts and wishes and feelings of all his people within him until he dies and a new Voice is selected. The selection of a Voice is, to the Bazhir, even more important than the crowning of a new King. (Remember that the Great Southern Desert is a part of Tortall, and so technically, the Bazhir are under the rule of King Jonathan.)
A person may become a member of a Bazhir tribe by surviving trial by combat, as in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. There is a ritual to initiate a person into the tribe: the wrist of the initiate is cut open, as is that of the headman. Their bloods are combined, and ritual words are spoken: "Become one with our tribe, and one with our people." That person is then considered a member of the tribe in all ways. It is notable, however, that women are not legally permitted to perform in legal ceremonies.
III. Classes
There's not a whole lot of class differentiation among the Bazhir, except between men and women. Women are incredibly downtrodden: they wear veils after puberty for the rest of their lives; have marriages arranged for them at the age of twelve; are no permitted to participate in ceremonies or commune with the Voice of the Tribes; and have little to no say in most matters. They are also generally not allowed to become shamans, though when Alanna joined the Bloody Hawk tribe, she set quite a few traditions on their ears.
Not perhaps a class in and of themselves, but hillmen bear mentioning. They are the bandits of the Desert, the worst of the desert raiders. They live for killing and looting, and have no code of honor. They ride shaggy desert ponies and steal and raid and kill and plunder wherever they can.
IV. Relationship to Tortall
It varies from tribe to tribe. Some tribes are loyal to King Jonathan and follow his rule. Some reject it entirely, and those could technically be called rebels. The only rulership those tribes would follow would be the Voice of the Tribes. When a traveler meets a Bazhir tribe, it's a toss-up as to whether they're Tortall-friendly or not, so it's always best to be careful.