Shahr



Shahr is one of the territories of Equestria and a former country.

Its population is primarily made up of Cattle.

History
See also: Timeline.

See also: Cattle.

Shahr is the oldest place continuously inhabited by Cattle in Equus.

Its society was stratified into three castes: farmers, warriors and scholars. According to legend, the latter two migrated and only the farmer caste, the Goshorun remained. Because of this, the race of Cattle primarily inhabiting Shahr is called Goshorun.

In modern times, Shahr became one of the nations that fell to Equestria.

The brutal war displaced a lot of Cattle, causing a wave of refugees into the Equestrian mainland. This lead to the creation of Goshalas, Cattle communities in non-Cattle communities.

Economy
Shahr has a mostly farming economy and together with Gaia constitutes one of Equestria's major food producers.

Because of the relatively high milk production of pregnant Cattle, Shahr has a minor industry of exporting excess milk for mothers who lack the milk production for their babies. The birth of this industry has been enabled by the invention of the refrigerator, which allows the long-distance export of milk.

Culture
Body piercings are a common aspect of Shahr culture, and earrings and nose rings are a common sight.

Religion
The Shahr region and Cattle diasporas in Equestria largely practice a form of fire worship.

Beliefs are that when the first fire was lit, the Cattle kept that fire alive. Considering it secret, they built structures to protect it and used it to create new fires.

Cattle would build shrines to house the offsprings of the fire and eventually a great temple was built to house the original fire.

Fire priests work in those shrines and temples to keep the fire burning and they'd wear thick veils to avoid disturbing the fire with breath or saliva.

Fire worship discourages cremation as it'd disturb holy fire with impure corpses. Traditionally, only holy leaders could get cremated. It is because of that that cremation is common among the Aghnya but frowned upon among the Goshorun.

Instead, the preferred method of burial among the Goshorun consists of placing corpses in storage buildings far away from population centers and leaving them to be eaten by wild animals.

This keeps impure bodies from polluting the soil as well, as the soil is another holy element (but not as important as fire).