The colony of Thayvia, under Mulhorandi rule, was in title owned by the Pharoah, and its productive lands in sublet owned by his nobles, with central government responsibilities, such as taxation, handled by appointed bureaucrats who may or may not have been nobles. In practice, the Church controlled all such appointments, and priest advisors to said bureaucrats ensured compliance.

During this period, the Red Wizards consolidated power over all aspects of Thayan government, but continued to delegate day-to-day responsibilities to the bureaucrats, essentially replacing the Mulhorandi Church.

They created the concept of the Three Estates, which explained their philosophy of rulership. The Three Estates were:

• The Nobility
• The Bureaucracy
• The Collegia

The Nobility

The nobility of Thay, in title, held the lands of Thay, except for the city of Eltabbar (a special administrative district, owned by the Red Wizards), and the entire tharch of the Priador, which eliminated their own nobility during their period of self-rule. In the latter case, the Tharchion of the Priador, and various of his Autharchs, were ennobled for the duration of their appointment.

The responsibility of the noble caste was to administer and protect their lands, to ensure their prosperity, and to pay rightful taxes to their Tharchions. They were expected to be able to raise their own armies in times of invasion, to be consolidated and led by the Tharchion.

Nobility were as kings on their own lands, with absolute power in matters of justice, taxation, and policy in what was considered "their affairs". This could be very confusing at times, since their lands would overlap with the administrative districts of Tharchions and Autharchs, who also held absolute power.

The practical application of the nobility was simply this: nobles hold the farmland, and pay their dues. The bureaucrats and the Collegia leave them alone. They have little to no power over major cities, especially Eltabbar and Bezantur.

The Bureaucracy

The Collegia, in place of the Church, divided Thay into administrative districts called Tharchs, and appointed as the leader of each a Tharchion, by consensus of the Zulkirs. Tharchions, in title, held absolute power over their tharchs, tempered by the knowledge that they were easily replaced by the Zulkirs.

They were expected to run the government's affairs, including taxation, crime fighting, raising armies, maintaining roads, regulating trade, and providing justice. To accomplish this, they delegated to Autharchs, positions they were allowed to appoint directly. Some positions, traditionally, required at least the tacit approval of the Zulkirs.

Throughout most of the Thayan Confederacy, the Tharchions had widely-varying styles of governance, with many incompatibilities between their borders. For instance, one tharch may outlaw killing another man's slave, while another may not, so to escape justice, one need merely relocate to the more permissive tharch.

Efforts among the Tharchions to standardize their laws and practices made some progress in the early period, with much more progress being made toward the end of the Confederacy. In the 14th century DR, it became the unwritten rule that tharchions should emulate the policies of Eltabbar, being as it was the most important tharch in northern Thay, and the closest to the Zulkirs.

The Collegia

The Collegia concern themselves only with academic affairs, except for the Zulkirs, who, in title, as a council, maintain the responsibility of "guiding" the policies of Thay at large. This simple but major tradition effectively made them the heads of the Thayan government, when indeed they could find any consensus at all.

In theory, the Collegia are an entirely academic organization, focused solely on the pursuit of magical knowledge. The laws of Thay protect Fellows of the Collegia from judicial oversight by any other estate, though do not necessarily protect their mundane property from administration by their rightful Tharchions. No rank of the Collegia held any titular power over anything outside their Estate, including the Zulkirs--only as a whole were they able to affect policy, by their ability to appoint Tharchions.

In practice, Red Wizards concerned themselves in political matters a great deal, when it benefited them to do so. Those who owned lands or property of any value would have great interest in how their Tharchion would administrate said property, so they would leverage what influence they had on the council of Zulkirs, if any, to nudge policy in their preferred direction. Though any given Red Wizard might have very little influence--only a fraction of the total influence over only a single Zulkir--every bit of influence counted, for Tharchions who wished to maintain their power and relative independence.

In Thayan history, Zulkirs rarely acted directly to affect Thayan politics. They would appoint Tharchions as needed, and rarely voted to remove them, as this required unanimity; in practice, it was far more common for interested parties to remove the Tharchion through less legal means. Ultimately, it was the raw, concentrated magical power and wealth of the Third Estate that gave them the power to dominate Thayan politics.

Empress Zahl restructured the Thayan government. She retains the structure of the Three Estates, but she has removed all political power from the Collegia, eliminating the position of Zulkir, and has instead restored the "original" Third Estate: the Church of Thay.

As monarch, she has provided something the nobility previously did not have: a court. As such, the noble estate has grown steadily in power and influence, and now rivals the bureaucrat caste. The Third Estate has little to do with governance; the Empress herself retains sole authority over the appointment of Tharchions, and retains the position of "Tharchion of Thay", which gives her an executive branch of appointed Autharchs, who work on a national level.

Autharch is a term for the head of a civil service bureau in the tharchs of Thay. They are both appointed by and report directly to the tharchions.

Daeron (masculine) and Daeroness (feminine) are general titles of nobility in the country of Thay. It is literally translated as "noble-born". Forms of address include "Your Lordship" and "Your Ladyship" as well as "Your Honor".

Khazark is the title of the leader of a foreign trade enclave. With authority roughly equal to that of an autharch in theory, in practice the khazarks wield an even greater degree of power since they speak for Thay in the courts of foreign goverments and control the flow of wealth and power that return to the homeland.

A Tharchion is a civil ruler of a tharch of the nation of Thay. There are eleven Tharchions. Tharchions can all muster their own private armies. Tharchions are appointed by the zulkirs.

Zulkir is a title of power among the Red Wizards of Thay. There are eight zulkirs, one for each School of Magic; together they rule the Red Wizards and, by extension, Thay itself. They do not directly control the country, as the day-to-day governing is left to the tharchions. However, they have the ears of the tharchions and what the zulkirs want, they get. This truth explains many of the failures of Thay—as there is no one ruler of the Red Wizards, the constant in-fighting among the zulkirs often results in ruined plans.

Zulkirs hold their positions for life, or until he or she renounces the title. When a position opens, wizards of the same school of magic appoint the replacement, but often other zulkirs try to sway the election, making the appointment an intrigue-filled and ruthless event.