Lore
The following is unorganized and should be taken with a grain of salt
The golden empire of Hok was founded several thousand years ago by the Hok, a now extinct humanoid race. It was founded in an era of confusion, when the Sith Empire was temporarily dying out and the Republic didn't even know of it's existence, the Hok, former slaves of the Sith Empire, rose up and defeated their masters, declaring their planet their own Empire.
Several thousand years of simultaneously emulating ancient Sith culture and Hok culture led to what we have today. An elective monarchy.
Nobles rule small pockets of land on the desert planet, these titles either being elected, purchased, or inherited depending on the local laws.
The emperor himself chooses a mononym (for example Xavus Saudelle became Emperor Xooper) and is taught all the knowledge from the former Emperor and former staff before that Emperor commits ritualistic suicide. The Emperor is elected once every hundred years.
There are three "castes" that are not very strict. Workers, priests, and warriors. One may move from caste to caste but it is not very easy. Workers can become warriors very often but it requires force sensitivity and an inherent lust for knowledge to become a priest.
Any member of any caste can become Emperor, Emperor Xooper was once a priest. The former Emperor, Krokel, was a pureblood warrior.
The Emperor is tasked with keeping sacred knowledge as well, he is the only one that has that knowledge and only teaches it rarely or to his successor.
Hok is a melting pot of many races, as many former slaves of the Sith Empire came together on Hok to assist the Hok Empire.
While one side of the planet is covered in sand (this side of the planet is almost always facing the sun, nights last at most two hours) the other side is covered in mineral-rich swampland and is lit only by the moon. The lowest members of Hok society live on that side of the planet. However it is not lawless, it is protected by the warriors just as much as the sandy side.
Force sensitives take a more neutral path on Hok. They don't strictly follow the dark or the light, instead they choose to do what would benefit the Empire and it's people the most.
Droids are given a relative amount of freedom that would not be enjoyed on other planets, as more intelligent droids are allowed citizenship. (Astromech and gonk droids however, are not)
The Golden Empire of Hok is in an alliance with their former masters, the Sith Empire. However, much of the Sith Empire does not know of the existence of Hok. Later Hok will, a shadow of it's former self defeated by some unknown means by this point, will become a Gran colony. Of course this doesn't happen until a couple hundred years before the Phantom Menace.