Khwarazm Empire
Sarna News
| Khwarazm Empire | |
|---|---|
| State Profile | |
| Founding Year | Prior to 3048; By 3152 (re-formed) |
| Dissolution year: | 3049 |
| Controlled system(s): | 4 |
| Government | |
| Military | |
Overview[edit]
The Khwarazm Empire was a small Deep Periphery proto-state consisting of four worlds—Herat, Nishapur, Marv, and Urgenj—located coreward from the Inner Sphere. All Khwarazmi worlds are rugged, with mountainous terrain and scattered deserts.[1]
The bulk of the Khwarazmi people were poor subsistence farmers, while the merchant ruling class lived in relative opulence. Khwarazmi technology was well below that of the Inner Sphere. As of 3049 the Khwarazm Empire possessed no standing army, no BattleMech-scale weaponry, and only small personal weapons.[1]
This lack of serious military power enabled Clan Jade Falcon to easily seize the Khwarazmi worlds and use them as a port of call along the Exodus Road during and after Operation REVIVAL. The Clan occupation resulted in little discernible change to Khwarazmi technology and social order; the chief exception was restrictions placed upon the native merchant princes' freedom of trade. As a result anti-Clan sentiment was strongest among the merchants.[1]
However, the handful of active resistance fighters possessed only small arms and were unable to challenge even the small Jade Falcon garrison of two Trinaries from the Twenty-fourth Provisional Garrison Cluster. Encouragement of these rebels by Explorer Corps-sponsored mercenaries did not alter this situation.[1][2]
Dark Age[edit]
In the 3080s the Jade Falcons took all Khwarazmi JumpShips and DropShips and left the Empire to its fate, leading to the belief that the proto-state must surely have collapsed thereafter.[3]
By the mid-thirty-second century, the Khwarazm Empire was considered a lost civilization, with even its location unknown to the wider galaxy. Seeker Galaxy's Star Commander Adam, an abtakha Goliath Scorpion warrior of Hanseatic origin, began seeking out the Khwarazm worlds upon learning of their existence. As of 3150, he sought to further his investigations beyond securing Khwarazm artifacts and intended to depart the Scorpion Empire in hopes of obtaining historical maps from the Jade Falcons via Trials to assist in his quest.[4]
However, a Clan Sea Fox Watch report indicated that the Falcons and Snow Ravens at least did retain the location of the Khwarazmi worlds, as Raven MechWarrior Nathan Howell was taken as a bondsman by the Falcons in 3134 when forces from both Clans encountered one another at Urgenj.[5][6]
ilClan Era[edit]
By mid-3152 the Star League had received reports, authored by Seeker Adam, that Clan Snow Raven Recovery Team ships had encountered recently built vessels of Clan design claiming to work for the Khwarazm worlds. Given that the Falcons had deprived the Khwarazmi of their ships decades earlier, the report raised the question of how the Empire had obtained new vessels.[3]
Notes[edit]
- Commentary from one of the BattleTech Line Developers suggests that the Khwarazm Empire was destroyed or depopulated during the Wars of Reaving:
Considering they were used by the Jade Falcons, and what has happened to the rest of the Coreward posessions of the Inner Sphere Clans....
With regards,
Øystein
Precentor Cartographic
However, more recent information published in Technical Readout: Dark Age and IlKhan's Eyes Only suggests that the Empire did survive or was re-established.
References[edit]
- ↑ a b c d Explorer Corps, pp. 98–99
- ↑ Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 107: "24th Provisional Garrison Cluster"
- ↑ a b IlKhan's Eyes Only, p. 149, "Khwarazm Empire: Returned from Oblivion"
- ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 19, p. 9: "Star Commander Adam"
- ↑ Technical Readout: Dark Age, p. 60: "Star Captain Nathan Howell"
- ↑ IlKhan's Eyes Only, p. 70, "Snow Raven Fleet Operations Report"