The Salijis were a people who lived on the Luxiterra coast, roundwards of the Sijis and Barits around the fertile mouth of the Badir River, but counterroundwards of the peninsula on which modern Destrapraj is located. The land here was not as fertile as the mouth of the Badir, nor as optimal trading location as Destrapraj, so the Salijis were less populous than the people of neighbouring regions, and largely survived off the fruits of the sea. The shallow coastal waters off of this land are rich in fish, coral and other such bounties. The Salijis were also known to partake in raids against the Ahquus, as well as fighting against but not being conquered by the Siquur Kings. The Salijh dialect is a form of Baritani, heavily accented but mutually intelligible, and several sea gods were worshipped here that later became part of the Gods of the Slaves pantheon.
With Sijivh brought into imperial fold, and Destrapraj operating as a trading port for over a century before, it is to little surprise that the Salijis would soon be conquered by the Magnapuri. Following her less than effective attempts at peaceful integration in Sijivh, Magna the Bloody set out to conquer the Salijis by force from the beginning. In 637 YM, she unleashed her newly bred shock troop of ogres upon the region, to devastating effect. Over a third of the native population was wiped out in the ensuing bloodbath, with the Magnapuri Empire introducing their own slaves to replace those who had been exterminated. It was not quite an unqualified success however, as control was lost over the ogres and many vanished Lightwards into the desert to make their own lives as nomads and bandits.
The newly conquered land was granted as a Thakurate to the Fleshweaver who had manufactured the ogre breeding programme (and who was later eaten alive by a group of ogre bandits having been captured on a diplomatic mission to Cintagar). The main export from these lands was plentiful salt, from the salt mines a little inland from the coast, in which the enslaved Salijis and imported slaves were put to work. The city of Salijh grew upon the main road that took the mined salt to the coast, a place for Magnapuri officials to collect their taxes and keep slaves away from the various port towns.
After the foundation of Salijh, the lands of the current Carab Oligarchy were mostly contained within the borders of the new Thakurate. These lands were dry and infertile, but contained the majority of the salt mines, causing the population to boom with imported slaves. The city of Carabai began to grow between the coast and one of the largest salt lakes, acting as a safer port for ships coming from Destrapraj to import slaves than those on the more exposed Darkwards coast. It grew haphazardly, with large sections consisting of crudely constructed shanty towns, with a few walled estates for the nobility and merchants to reside. Though a little better since the collapse of the Empire, it is still a mess of a city with a lot of ramshackle temporary constructions.
When the Pilgrim founded the Ignic Theocracy these lands became significantly less populated, as the newly freed slaves migrated lightwards away from the horrific conditions of the salt mines and slum of Carabai. These lands were governed by a Bailiff ordained by the Ignitor Primus in Salijh, acting as a vassal to the Theocracy. When the region was seized, and Carabai brutally sacked, by the Magnacy of Tombranajar, many slaves from the more centralised regions of the new Magnacy were transported to once again work the salt mines, as well as to remove them from areas where rebellion could prove disastrous. It seemed for a time that the dream of free Carabai under a Bookburner ruler would be a short lived chapter in history, until the Red Magnus' invasion of Cunabulum ended in failure.
Whilst the Magnus was still returning to his lands, Carabai rose up in rebellion under a human named Saltbane, declaring his allegiance to Salijh and the Bookburner faith. The resulting chaos allowed a cartel of individuals to seize control of the salt mines and the riches produced from them. Many of these were officials appointed by the Red Magnus, but some were newly emancipated and enterprising slaves, willing to engage in some violence and skulduggery to take possession of the mines they had once toiled in. Nevertheless, the newly rich mine owners largely slipped beneath the notice of the Red Magnus upon his return, with the distraction of crushing the revolt in Carabai.
Though this first revolt was beaten down, the city stayed on the edge of boiling over for the next decade, revolting with each of the Magnus' invasions, and a few times between. Each time it was led by "Saltbane" though officially Saltbane had been slain or executed at least a dozen times - whether he was truly lucky, or multiple individuals took the name over the period is unknown. Many of the mine owning oligarchs, losing patience with the taxes imposed by the Magnus to fund his unsuccessful wars, discreetly encouraged these revolts with coin and arms. Finally in 1033 YM, the Red Magnus was out of money and manpower to fight the revolts, and withdrew his surviving forces to Tombranagar.
This was not the end of Carabai's problems however. The withdrawal had left the region with no surviving legitimate governmental or legal structure, and some revolutionaries, now unimpeded by a military force, began to devastate Carabai. Others began to look hungrily to the oligarchs with their wealth inland.
Several individuals came up with similar plans to rectify this situation, including the most recent incarnation of Saltbane and several of the oligarchs. Without a Magnacy to provide legitimacy, they could turn to the church in Salijh to determine their rulership. Saltbane insisted on walking there himself from Carabai, but went missing somewhere along the coastal road - though a genuine accident is possible, for the road had never been considered safe, it seems likelier that there was foul play afoot. The richest of the oligarchs instead elected to send large quantities of wealth to Salijh, as a charitable donation, alongside the request that the Ignitor Primus select a new Bailiff of Carabai.
Unsurprisingly enough, the oligarch who sent the largest charitable donation was selected as Bailiff, with a mandate to reform the laws of the Carab "Republic" as he saw fit, with very little oversight from the Theocracy to which he nominally paid homage. Though slavery remained outlawed, paid workers and prisoners put to work in the mines faced conditions that had changed very little, with the shackled replaced by their need to feed themselves and their family. Carabai was partially rebuilt, with most of the emphasis in growing the dock to expand the ability to export goods, and little on making it more habitable.
Over time, and the appointment of more Bailiffs, it has become clear that the Oligarchy acts independently of the Theocracy, save for some lip service and sizable charitable donations. Each new Bailiff has almost invariably been the one to make the largest contribution to the Theocracy - usually financial, but occasionally in promises of military aid or diplomatic pressure. As such, it is almost invariably the richest of the Oligarchs to become Bailiff. It has engaged in its own wars, against the Sijivikh Rajdom, Ujavangar and Tombranager, sets its own laws, and manages its own diplomacy. However, by 1181YM a new threat to the oligarchs may be emerging - there are rumours of a new Saltbane, returned from the sea (or more likely a new person claiming the name) coming to reclaim Carabai in the name of the gods.