Khuzait

The tribes that live in the great sea of grass east of the Empire have many names: Nachaghan, Arkits, Khergits, Karakhergits. Outsiders, however, usually refer to them collectively as the Khuzaits, after the clan that in the last two generations forged them into a conquering army. When Urkhun the Great accepted the surrender of the trading cities on the edge of the steppe, he ordered his noyans to give up their wandering lifestyle. They were given fiefs and money to build fortresses, and encouraged to turn local farmers into their tenants. Yet the tribes of the Khuzait confederacy still retain many of their nomadic traditions, and felt yurt tents stand next to mud-brick towers in settlements that are half-village, half-encampment.