Hatūb

Hatūb is major city in Amurón, located on the river Ajat. Hatūb has served an important part in the history of Amurón, as well as has been the centre of the historic Moroyan kingdom of Hatūbad.

History
The exact date of Hatūb's founding is not known. It is first mentioned in the 7th century (albeit with a different name). However, it is generally believed that the settlement is notably older and possibly pre-dates the Moroyan migration.

In the late 17th century, Hatūb became a major political player with the conquest of Baqaf the Fast from 1689 to 1700 which was an attempt to unify the lands around Ajat.

By 1926, Hatūb and the whole kingdom of Hatūbad had been fully absorbed by the expanding Burthāl. From 1945 onward, Hatūb has been an important economic and politic centre of Amurón.

By the 31st century, Hatūb has a population of approximately 300,000.

Economy
The city's primary source of wealth is the flow of trade goods along river Ajat (see: Road of Tea) from the mountains to the sea and back. However, the city itself is an important centre of production and agriculture; the primarily crop grown around Hatūb is cotton, which is used to produce textiles in large amounts. The textiles are often locally used to create clothing that is further exported to Gondala; the ingredients of Hatūb clothing are the local cotton cloth and imported silk.

Culture
Hatūb has a distinct culture due to its geographical location in the centre of the Ajat valley - it is the meeting point of the Western Moroyan and Eastern Moroyan cultures, languages and beliefs. The dominant religion is Ghanatism, but Tushātism is a significant minority. The primary language is the Moroy standart, but Eastern dialects are widely spoken.

Furthermore, due to the dual nature Machoric people settled the Ajat valley in prehistory, a large portion of the pre-migration population ended up concentrated in the areas around Hatūb. As a consequence, the city has a unique flavour to it, seen in its architecture and art, language (the local vernacular has a higher number of Ajatan borrowings) and demographics - the people of Hatūb have a markedly darker skin and a larger percentage of reddish hair, both features heavily associated with the Vargians, an ethnic group believed to be related to the now extinct / assimilated Ajatans.