The Dothraki are nomadic horse-mounted warriors, who sweep across the vast centr

al plains of Essos in search of plunder. Most of their society is centered aroun

d their horses: even their name for themselves in their own language, "Dothraki"
, literally means "riders". Dothraki boys learn to shoot bows from horseback whe
n they are only four years old.[1] The Dothraki will abandon a sick or injured l
eader who can no longer ride a horse.[2]
The Dothraki are divided into several nameless clans known as khalasars, led by
a single leader, the khal . The khalasars roam the Dothraki Sea, always on the m
ove looking for new pasture lands and new targets for plundering. The Dothraki f
requently raid neighboring regions, such as Lhazar to the southeast or the Free
Cities to the west. The Dothraki live by taking what they need including supplie
s, valuables, and new captives to serve them as slaves. The Dothraki respect for
ce, and thus only respect those who are able to successfully resist them, while
conquered slaves deserve only contempt.[3] The Dothraki are usually dismissive o
f infantry (with the notable exception of the elite Unsullied warrior-eunuch leg
ions).
The Dothraki traditionally fight with curved swords known as arakhs, and also em
ploy bolas, daggers, whips or huge, recurved bows with impressive range and stri
king power that can be fired from horseback. They also shun armor, considering s
peed and freedom of movement to be more important in battle. Warriors braid thei
r hair and only cut it when defeated, so the world may see their shame. As ligh
t cavalry, their attacks are extremely fast and deadly, but they are vulnerable
to archers and on the ground they are less effective against armored infantry de
spite their speed. However, they seldom attack on foot except for individual co
mbat, so they usually retain the advantage.[3]
The only Dothraki city is Vaes Dothrak, located to the far north-east of the Dot
hraki sea. It is ruled by the Dosh khaleen, crones and wise women who were once
the wives of now dead khals. All Dothraki commerce (with fellow Dothraki and ot
her Essos peoples) is done in the marketplaces of the city, and all sacred ritua
ls are conducted there. Drawing weapons or shedding blood is forbidden inside Va
es Dothrak , although there are loopholes to the unspoken rule of not killing an
yone.[3]
Dothraki do not trust salt water, because their horses cannot drink it. The lite
ral term for ocean in the Dothraki language is "poison water". They refuse to sa
il in ships over the oceans. Thus they are not considered a threat by the Wester
osi because they will not cross the Narrow Sea. However, Drogo was willing to c
onsider it when provoked enough, and what was left of Daenery's khalasar (about
100 Dothraki) loyally made the journey across Slaver's Bay with her, though many
became ill because they were unaccustomed to sea travel.[3]