Peter Metcalfe:
>Most Carmanian fiefs are not hereditary. On the
death
>of the fief-holder, the head of the house assigns it
to
>another Carmanoi.
So the land is owned/controlled by the noble houses, who in turn distributes it among the Karmanoi? Funky! Is there any RW equivalent to this?
Wesley Quadros:
>IMO, land is not, officially, granted in perpetuity
to a noble house.
>The Padishah gives it to somebody - thus making him a
Karmanoi
> (or makes him a Karmanoi and thus having to give him
land) - and
>when that person dies then the land reverts to the
Padishah.
This is quite a different approach, but unless I’m mistaken it is contradicted by G:GCotHW (p31), isn’t it? ”Government: Five major families and several lesser ones rule parts of the region. Enfeoffment is the standard of determining social standing.” To me this would seem to support Peter Metcalfe’s view.
So, in conclusion, Carmania could be described as a feudal society where land (Satrapies) is granted by the ”king” (now replaced by the Lunar Governor, the Eye of the Padishah), not to individual nobles, but to noble houses, who in turn gifts fiefs to the Karmanoi of the house. The head of a house names his heir from among any member of the Karmanoi caste. The Viziers test male Carmanian children, to decide whether they show the required talents to become a Karmanoi.
Right?
/Peter Nordstrand
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