Sirdabi

The Sirdabi are the dominant ethnic group of the Sirdabi Caliphate, descended from nomadic desert tribesmen of Near Ruleska. Many have roots in the home province of Rahoum as well as the immediately adjacent regions, but the bloodline is well dispersed across the caliphate.

The religion of Azadi originated among the the Sirdabi from the teachings of the prophet al-Azad, and while they are generally tolerant of those with different beliefs who live within the caliphate, they tend to be devout and conscientious practitioners of their faith. Theirs is a highly literate and generally well-educated society, with even modest villagers and farmers skilled in the basic literacy that allows them to read, memorize, and then recite their holy text, the Song of God. Although formal education fails to reach those who still live a nomadic life in the heart of the desert, it is these tribal wanderers who have the strongest love for the spoken poetry that is popular even in the opulent courts of the caliph and his provincial governors.

Appearance

A people of hot and sunny climes, Sirdabi generally have light brown to deep coppery skin, brown to black hair, and eyes drawing from a spectrum of earth tones from sandy beige to nearly black. Both women and men often have aquiline features and strong dark eyebrows, as well as thick eyelashes that are a boon in lands of bright sunlight and blowing sand. Sirdabi tend to be of medium height and build, with the nomads of the desert often a little taller than the people of farm and city.

Dress

Being spread out across the caliphate, the Sirdabi mode of dress can vary somewhat from one region or province to another. However, the standard Sirdabi costume consists of multiple loose layers: a long shirt (for men) or dress (for women) called a thawb worn over loose ankle-cuffed pants usually referred to as sirwaal, often with the tunic-like kaftan layered on top as an outer garment. An additional cloak may be added, for extra modesty or protection from the elements. For women this is typically the abaya, while for men it is bisht. Outer garments are usual solid and sometimes somber colors, black, white, and brown being common. But the lower layers of clothing can be brightly colored and patterned for both women and men, and often feature elaborate embroidery and fancy braid.

Hairstyles for both sexes tend to be fairly simple. Women almost exclusively wear their hair long, often in braids or a bun, while men may wear their hair either long or short but generally keep it tied back if the former. Most men wear a beard, usually well trimmed whatever the style, which varies from place to place and according to individual taste. Untrimmed beards are often seen in members of ascetic or mystical sects of Azadi. Being clean-shaven is less common, but is more often seen in North Idiri or in younger men.

Language

The native language of the Sirdabi is simply Sirdabi, which most are as proficient at reading and writing as speaking.

Culture

The origins of the Sirdabi people lie in the deserts of Rahoum, where many of them lived as nomadic pastoralists, traders, and warriors. In fact a significant number of Sirdabi still do live in this manner, spread sparsely across the arid landscape and keeping largely to themselves when not trading in towns and cities or conducting caravans through the wastes -- or raiding them instead. Many tribes are nomadic only part of the year, having sunk roots into scattered oasis communities where a few small gardens or groves of date palms are tended, and where horses and other stock may be raised. However, most people living around oases or in villages are fully settled communities of farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers, who view their nomadic neighbors with distrust which occasionally heightens into fear or open hostility. The nomads, for their part, tend to feel disdain for sedentary folk if not outright contempt. Both, however, rely on the other in order to maintain their very different ways of life.

Outside the home province of Rahoum, most people of Sirdabi heritage live in the cities and larger towns of the caliphate, and indeed a great many Sirdabi in Rahoum itself likewise dwell in urban areas. Urban life is highly developed in the caliphate, and the culturally sophisticated lifestyle of the great cities constitutes the Sirdabi ideal of a good life. However much the urban Sirdabi may romanticize their tribal origins and the courage and freedom of the desert dweller, their greatest love is reserved for city life and the many opportunities for learning, commerce, and high culture which the urban environment fosters.

Among people rich or poor, urban or rural, settled or wandering, the most treasured form of culture in Sirdabi society is poetry. Books and manuscripts of poetry are circulated freely and enthusiastically throughout literate society, and most settled Sirdabi society is in fact literate. But however valued such books are, to Sirdabi poetry is truly meant to be recited, not read. The poetic tradition arose far back among the wandering tribes, long before the days of reading and writing, and every man, woman, and child would both listen raptly to the poems of others and compose their own. This tradition continues to this day among the nomads of the desert, but has spread in ever more refined forms into every level of Sirdabi society. The courts of the caliph offer the most exalted venue for poets both amateur and professional to air their latest compositions and find fame and patronage for themselves, and the various provincial courts of the beys furnish the same opportunities around the caliphate. The best poems of court and street alike are shared across all social strata, and even street urchins can usually recite a few lines of the most famous poetry of the realm. In fact, a gift for poetry remains a means by which even society's poorest and most marginalized may rise to power, wealth, and fame.