Qbandaus

Qbandaus refers to a historical highland polity and the people who inhabited the Elarin Highlands from roughly the 9th to the late 13th century. The name appears in neighboring inscriptions and chronicles, though the precise ethnogenesis remains debated among scholars. The Qbandaic language is known only from a handful of inscriptions and word lists, and it is considered poorly attested. The term is often used by modern historians to describe both the people and their political jurisdiction during this period.

Geography and society: The Qbandaus occupied a chain of river valleys and terraced plateaus, leveraging hillside agriculture and seasonal transhumance. Society was organized around clans and chieftains, with power concentrated in a loose confederation rather than a centralized state. Craft production included ironworking, pottery, and beadmaking; the economy depended on agriculture, animal husbandry, and regional trade with lowland polities and coastal traders. Ceremonial centers and fortified sites indicate a public landscape oriented toward lineage memory and seasonal rituals.

History: Origins are uncertain, but by the 9th century the Qbandaus formed a recognizable political community through alliances among local clans. They maintained settlements, granaries, and ritual precincts, participating in regional exchange networks. In the 12th and 13th centuries they faced growing pressure from expanding southern powers and were gradually absorbed into larger neighboring realms, with many sites later abandoned or repurposed as administration shifted to the dominant polity.

Legacy and archaeology: Excavations in the Elarin Highlands have yielded stone enclosures, dressed-stone architecture, and metallurgical remains. Inscriptions hint at a ritual calendar and ancestor cults. The Qbandaus are studied for insights into highland-state formation, mountain economies, and cross-regional exchange in the broader history of the region.