| abstract | - The kingdom of Makuran was an ancient kingdom and the only true rival the Empire of Videssos had ever known. While Videssos was once able to sack Mashiz the capital of Makuran, the only city that could even approach Videssos the city's magnificence, it was unable to conquer it fully. Likewise, despite successes of their own, Makuran had never succeeded in conquering Videssos. Due to the Makurani might, Videssians never called them "barbarians" as they did to other foreigners. The people of Makuran followed the teachings of the Prophets Four who preached in service of The God. The Four Prophets were: young Narseh who was described as just sprouting a beard, Gimillu the warrior, Shivini who looked like everybody's mother, and Fraortish, eldest of all. Just like Videssians, who laced religion with politics, Makuraners justified war with Videssos as an cleansing of heretical beliefs. The populace was divided into five castes: the King of Kings of Makuran and the royal household; the priests and the Seven Clans of high nobility; the lesser nobles or the "backbone of the country"; the merchants; and the peasants and herders who made up the bulk of the population. The Kingdom of Makuran was frequently at war with Videssos, with regions along the border between the two states, including Vaspurakan, often changing hands between them. The Makuraners fielded armies comprised of heavily armored lancers with light horse and horse archers in support, much the same as real-life Sassanid Persia. Makuran was invaded and taken over by the Yezda, a Khamorth clan influenced by Avshar. The country was Yezd from then on and had to live under the terror of the Skotos-worshipping steppe nomads. However, some Makuraner soldiers fought for the invaders as did the nobles give obedience to the Yezda khagan. Yezd resembles the Turko-Persian Seljuq Empire, which retained much of the civilized culture of Persia despite having been conquered by nomads.
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