Shara
The land bordered by mountains to the west (the Aiel Waste is on the far side of them), and to the north by the Great Blight.
The Sharans, much like the Aiel, are secretive of their ways among outsiders. But the people of Shara take this a step further than their neighbors to the west. Outsiders are only allowed to enter several specially designated trading towns. These towns are surrounded by high walls, with no view of the outside world. Outsiders who attempt to ascend the wall, or leave the trading towns, are killed immediately. Seafarers who land on the Sharan shore, by choice or not, are similarly executed.
Jain Farstrider indicated in his writings that lying to outsiders actually seemed to be a part of Sharan culture. Folk trading with the Sharans have learned to check their purchases, as Sharans obviously believe they need not tell outsiders the truth about the goods they are purchasing. Trading with the Sharans is a dangerous business, though one that is extremely profitable. For the most part, the Sea Folk and Aiel conduct all trade with the Sharans. The Aiel permitted the Cairhienin to trade with the Sharans in return for an ancient debt, until King Laman cut down the Avendoraldera, a shoot of the Tree of Life, to make his throne, leading to his execution by the Aiel and the declaring of Cairhienin anathema.
Like everywhere else, there are those in Shara who can channel the One Power. These people are known as the Ayyad. They live in towns separate from the rest of the Sharan people; other Sharans intruding in these towns are killed. Male Ayyad are not killed immediately. Instead, they serve as breeding stock for female Ayyad. These males are kept in ignorance of the outside world, and are killed as soon as they reach the age of 21 or show signs of channeling.
The Sharans are ruled by a monarch, called Sh’boan if female and Sh’botay if male. The Sharan monarch dies every seven years, which the Sharan people simply accept as the "will of the Pattern." At this point, the monarch's widow(er) remarries and becomes monarch; the new spouse will be widowed in an additional seven years and reign in turn. Unknown to most, the monarchs are actually killed by the Ayyad, who are the true power in Shara.
Aspects of Shara seem to be based upon the lands of East Asia, such as their intentional isolation from the other lands as well as the presence of treaty ports and a "silk road".
Read more about this topic: Andor (Wheel Of Time)