Hello everyone!
This week I have returned to tell you a bit more about the upcoming overhaul of the map of India and what it will mean for the northern parts of the subcontinent. These changes will be part of the 1.26 patch which is currently in development.
In 1444, almost 50 years later, Timur is now dead and his son, Shah Rukh is dying. Timurid influence in the subcontinent is almost non-existent and the many breakaway states are now consolidated kingdoms in their own right. The Sayyids have conquered the city of Delhi for themselves, ousting the old Tughlaq dynasty, but have been able to claim the wider Delhian empire as their own.
In 1.26 we have tried to better portray this hugely diverse region, both in the initial setup and in how it will develop over time. As before we will keep to mentioning countries that exist at the start of the game. There may however be countries in later starts and revolters (such as Sikkim, Rajkot or Makwanpur) that we won’t be discussing here.
Shortly after Timur left India in 1398, the governors he had left in charge of Multan seized Delhi for themselves. Founding the Sayyid dynasty they ended the Tughlaq dominion over India and laid claim to their empire.
Reclaiming Delhi’s lost lands has proven hard in practice however, the Sharqi dynasty in Jaunpur controls the old heartland of the Sultanate and the invading Langa dynasty has wrested away Multan itself. Punjab remains part of the Sayyid domain but is home to quarrelsome nobles with their own ambitions.
In 1444 an ambitious local strongman in Punjab, Bahlul Lodi, has united the nobles of the region behind him. With them he will march on Delhi to make his overlord, the Sayyid sultan, a puppet to his will.
In our timeline Bahlul succeeded. He imprisoned Mahmud Shah Sayyid in a fort a few kilometers outside the city and returned to his base in Punjab. Bahlul Lodi was not content with being the power behind the throne for long however, and eventually returned a few years later, seizing the throne for himself.
The talented and ruthless Lodis would then do what the Sayyids could not and reclaim much of northern India, only to eventually lose it to a wayward Timurid claimant, Babur.
In patch 1.26 we have replaced the old pretender revolt in Delhi with a Punjabi vassal ruled by Bahlul Lodi (4/5/6). Early on an event will fire allowing Delhi and Punjab (with Bahlul at the helm) to decide if they wish to go to war over who will rule the Sultanate.
A decision for all Sultanates in northern India to form Delhi has also been added if they should take the city, allowing them to claim many of Delhi’s former lands as well as their country specific content.
The Himalayan region has been revised, with a new Pahari culture added as well as a number of new mountain kingdoms to better portray the diversity of the region, which maintained its independence in the face of many empires during the era this game portrays.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
The central Gangetic plain is one of the most densely populated places in the world, in 1444 as well as today. It has often been the heartland of the great North Indian empires and the main source of both income and recruitment. It was therefore a major blow to the Delhi sultans when the eastern governor based in Jaunpur declared independence, styling himself the first of the “Sharqi” (literally eastern) sultans.
In 1444 the Sharqi dynasty is doing well. The capital of Jaunpur has gained a reputation as the ‘Shiraz of India’ due to their patronage of culture and art. Politically they have not only maintained their independence from Delhi, they have also moved aggressively towards conquering the city itself in a few recent wars.
In the Himalayas to the north, the region we know as Nepal is divided in a myriad of petty states (in reality many more than we can portray) and would not be united for centuries.
In patch 1.26 we have revised the Gangetic plain to give it the strategic depth it deserves in Bihar and Jaunpur. We have also broken up Nepal into a number of new playable countries. While it is impossible to truly cover the sheer number of states in this region we still believe this new setup better portrays the political realities of the region. If one of them conquers enough of the others it will be able to form Nepal, gaining access to its national ideas and claims on a wider region claimed by Nepal after it had been historically unified by the Gorkhas in the 18th century.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
Long before 1444, before the Muslim invasion of India, the north-western part of the subcontinent was ruled by Rajput dynasties. While their descendants are still present all over in Northern India, the richer lands are now all ruled by Muslim sultanates. Many Rajput dynasties remain in power however in the region colloquially known as Rajputana, roughly corresponding to modern Rajasthan with surroundings.
The most powerful dynasty in 1444 is by far the Sisodias of Mewar, who up until recently has been cooperating closely with the Rathores of Marwar. Joint rule has however ended with bad blood, intrigues and murder. Mewar has annexed Marwar in retribution and the would-be king of the Rathores Jodha is currently an outcast in the Marwari desert. Historically Jodha would found the city of Jodhpur and reclaim his kingdom, destined to be a long term rival of Mewar to the south.
Further south the rich Malwa Plateau, once the center of a great Rajput Empire, is now ruled by the Muslim Khalji sultanate. While Malwa is a rich agricultural land, with black volcanic soil, it is also on the main route between the northern plains and the great ports of Gujarat. Allowing it to tax trade but also making it a target for almost all of its neighbors, sultans as well as rajas. Rajput nobles remain a very influential group in Malwa and historically the Malwa sultans would come to rely greatly on them in its many conflicts with neighboring sultanates. This reliance would eventually be the end of the dynasty, as large parts of the kingdom more or less defected to Mewar in a later conflict.
In 1444 Malwa has subdued the Gond state of Garha to the east and set up a vassal kingdom in Kalpi under the Malikzada dynasty. An insurance and a buffer against the rival Jaunpur sultanate to the north.
In 1.26 we have done our best to better portray this varied and fiercely independent region. Both by adding new provinces and countries but also by better minding the political geography of the region. Bundelkhand has been diversified and both Mewar and Malwa have gained provinces to better portray their actual strategical depth (even though both states remain sensitive to attacks on more than one front).
Next to Gwalior the province of Ranthambore with its famous fort now also guards the region from northern incursions. Together these forts have been called the Gibraltar of India and their sieges in this era are legendary.
New playable countries in 1444:
The Sultanate of Gujarat is the dominant power in the far west of northern India. Its main source of income and influence is its access to the great ports through which so much of India’s trade flows west. Khambhat is quite possibly one of the greatest ports in the world in the 15th century. It is both a center of production, export and the main embarkation point for the Hajj for Indian Muslims. Like the other Sultans the Muzzafarids (or Ahmad Shahis) of Gujarat have recently thrown off their loyalties to Delhi and have been building a new kingdom for themselves.
The Saurashtra region to their west is still home to a great number of smaller kingdoms, most of which are still independent. While weaker than the Rajput states of Rajputana these small kingdoms could together still be a threat to the Sultanate and historically the Gujarati sultans would consider the conquest of this region one of the first priorities.
In patch 1.26 we have breaken up the old Kathiawar tag (now renamed to Kutch). Instead we now represent some of the other states on the peninsula, many of whom had old and very venerable dynasties. We have also separated Saurastri and Gujarati culture. As with the southern coast we have made sure that the Indian trade ports of the Gujarat and Sindh regions are given their proper representation, both because these would have been targets for any expansion in the region, and to allow European countries plausible footholds here.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
Now last but not least here is the promised a Trade Node map of India! This is one way in which the subcontinent has actually changed quite a bit as the one from 1.8 had some severe deficiencies. Both in how hard it was for Europeans to pull trade from the region and in its failure to properly capture the benefits of the Grand Trunk Road.
In 1.26 we have removed and renamed nodes as well as changed connections and the direction of the trade flow.
Changes include:
That was all for this week!
Next week I will be back to talk about changes to Bengal, Tibet and Burma! I will also mention some more of the new formable countries we have in store for India.
This week I have returned to tell you a bit more about the upcoming overhaul of the map of India and what it will mean for the northern parts of the subcontinent. These changes will be part of the 1.26 patch which is currently in development.
Northern India in 1444
Just as in the region under focus in Cradle of Civilization the political situation in Northern India has recently been reshaped by the actions of Timur, who invaded the subcontinent in 1398 and sacked Delhi. At that time Delhi was the capital of, more or less, the entire northern part of the subcontinent (in the south the Bahmani sultanate had already broken away 50 years prior). The day after the looting this, once great, kingdom had effectively been reduced to a few kilometers around the city’s periphery. As soon as news reached them the governors in Jaunpur, Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat and many vassal kings all broke away into their own independent states. Timur himself quickly left with only the local Sayyid dynasty placed in charge of Punjab and Multan.In 1444, almost 50 years later, Timur is now dead and his son, Shah Rukh is dying. Timurid influence in the subcontinent is almost non-existent and the many breakaway states are now consolidated kingdoms in their own right. The Sayyids have conquered the city of Delhi for themselves, ousting the old Tughlaq dynasty, but have been able to claim the wider Delhian empire as their own.
In 1.26 we have tried to better portray this hugely diverse region, both in the initial setup and in how it will develop over time. As before we will keep to mentioning countries that exist at the start of the game. There may however be countries in later starts and revolters (such as Sikkim, Rajkot or Makwanpur) that we won’t be discussing here.
Punjab, Multan & Delhi
Shortly after Timur left India in 1398, the governors he had left in charge of Multan seized Delhi for themselves. Founding the Sayyid dynasty they ended the Tughlaq dominion over India and laid claim to their empire.
Reclaiming Delhi’s lost lands has proven hard in practice however, the Sharqi dynasty in Jaunpur controls the old heartland of the Sultanate and the invading Langa dynasty has wrested away Multan itself. Punjab remains part of the Sayyid domain but is home to quarrelsome nobles with their own ambitions.
In 1444 an ambitious local strongman in Punjab, Bahlul Lodi, has united the nobles of the region behind him. With them he will march on Delhi to make his overlord, the Sayyid sultan, a puppet to his will.
In our timeline Bahlul succeeded. He imprisoned Mahmud Shah Sayyid in a fort a few kilometers outside the city and returned to his base in Punjab. Bahlul Lodi was not content with being the power behind the throne for long however, and eventually returned a few years later, seizing the throne for himself.
The talented and ruthless Lodis would then do what the Sayyids could not and reclaim much of northern India, only to eventually lose it to a wayward Timurid claimant, Babur.
In patch 1.26 we have replaced the old pretender revolt in Delhi with a Punjabi vassal ruled by Bahlul Lodi (4/5/6). Early on an event will fire allowing Delhi and Punjab (with Bahlul at the helm) to decide if they wish to go to war over who will rule the Sultanate.
A decision for all Sultanates in northern India to form Delhi has also been added if they should take the city, allowing them to claim many of Delhi’s former lands as well as their country specific content.
The Himalayan region has been revised, with a new Pahari culture added as well as a number of new mountain kingdoms to better portray the diversity of the region, which maintained its independence in the face of many empires during the era this game portrays.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
- Punjab - Delhi vassal. This is not a new tag as such, Punjab was always a revolter in this region but it is now playable from the start to represent Lodi domain.
- Sirmur - Rajput Mountain kingdom dating back to the 11th century.
- Kumaon - Mountain kingdom under the Rajput Chand dynasty, dating back to the 8th century.
Hindusthan - The Gangetic Plain & Nepal
The central Gangetic plain is one of the most densely populated places in the world, in 1444 as well as today. It has often been the heartland of the great North Indian empires and the main source of both income and recruitment. It was therefore a major blow to the Delhi sultans when the eastern governor based in Jaunpur declared independence, styling himself the first of the “Sharqi” (literally eastern) sultans.
In 1444 the Sharqi dynasty is doing well. The capital of Jaunpur has gained a reputation as the ‘Shiraz of India’ due to their patronage of culture and art. Politically they have not only maintained their independence from Delhi, they have also moved aggressively towards conquering the city itself in a few recent wars.
In the Himalayas to the north, the region we know as Nepal is divided in a myriad of petty states (in reality many more than we can portray) and would not be united for centuries.
In patch 1.26 we have revised the Gangetic plain to give it the strategic depth it deserves in Bihar and Jaunpur. We have also broken up Nepal into a number of new playable countries. While it is impossible to truly cover the sheer number of states in this region we still believe this new setup better portrays the political realities of the region. If one of them conquers enough of the others it will be able to form Nepal, gaining access to its national ideas and claims on a wider region claimed by Nepal after it had been historically unified by the Gorkhas in the 18th century.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
- Doti - Representing the kingdoms of far Western Nepal we have the Mallas of Doti.
- Jumla - The Baisi Rajya (22 principalities) region is represented by the tag of Jumla, ruled by the Chauhan dynasty in 1444.
- Dang - Small Nepalese kingdom ruled by the Chauhans of Tulsipur.
- Gorkha - Representing the many kingdoms of Chaubisi Rayja (24 principalities) and Palpa we have the Gorkha tag. At start ruled by the Sen Rajas of Ribidkot and in later start dates first the Rajas of Palpa and later the Shahis of Gorkha.
- Kathmandu - Kathmandu valley is home to one of the more influential kingdoms of Nepal and is ruled by the Malla dynasty. Within a generation Kathmandu valley would historically become divided into three rivaling kingdoms rather than one, losing much of its influence.
- Limbuwan - Independent Buddhist kingdom. The Limbu country is in 1444 led by the influential Morang state under the Sangla dynasty.
Rajputana & Malwa
Long before 1444, before the Muslim invasion of India, the north-western part of the subcontinent was ruled by Rajput dynasties. While their descendants are still present all over in Northern India, the richer lands are now all ruled by Muslim sultanates. Many Rajput dynasties remain in power however in the region colloquially known as Rajputana, roughly corresponding to modern Rajasthan with surroundings.
The most powerful dynasty in 1444 is by far the Sisodias of Mewar, who up until recently has been cooperating closely with the Rathores of Marwar. Joint rule has however ended with bad blood, intrigues and murder. Mewar has annexed Marwar in retribution and the would-be king of the Rathores Jodha is currently an outcast in the Marwari desert. Historically Jodha would found the city of Jodhpur and reclaim his kingdom, destined to be a long term rival of Mewar to the south.
Further south the rich Malwa Plateau, once the center of a great Rajput Empire, is now ruled by the Muslim Khalji sultanate. While Malwa is a rich agricultural land, with black volcanic soil, it is also on the main route between the northern plains and the great ports of Gujarat. Allowing it to tax trade but also making it a target for almost all of its neighbors, sultans as well as rajas. Rajput nobles remain a very influential group in Malwa and historically the Malwa sultans would come to rely greatly on them in its many conflicts with neighboring sultanates. This reliance would eventually be the end of the dynasty, as large parts of the kingdom more or less defected to Mewar in a later conflict.
In 1444 Malwa has subdued the Gond state of Garha to the east and set up a vassal kingdom in Kalpi under the Malikzada dynasty. An insurance and a buffer against the rival Jaunpur sultanate to the north.
In 1.26 we have done our best to better portray this varied and fiercely independent region. Both by adding new provinces and countries but also by better minding the political geography of the region. Bundelkhand has been diversified and both Mewar and Malwa have gained provinces to better portray their actual strategical depth (even though both states remain sensitive to attacks on more than one front).
Next to Gwalior the province of Ranthambore with its famous fort now also guards the region from northern incursions. Together these forts have been called the Gibraltar of India and their sieges in this era are legendary.
New playable countries in 1444:
- Kalpi - Muslim subject of Malwa and a point of conflict between Jaunpur and Malwa for decades. Was previously part of Bundelkhand (a tag that now represents the Bundelas of Mahoba and later Orchha).
- Kalinjar - Small kingdom ruled by the Chandella dynasty dating to the 9th century. Was previously part of the Bundelkhand tag.
- Idar - Small Rathore princedom in the hills near the neck of the Mahi river, often but not always subservient to Gujarat.
Gujarat, Kathiawar and Sindh
The Sultanate of Gujarat is the dominant power in the far west of northern India. Its main source of income and influence is its access to the great ports through which so much of India’s trade flows west. Khambhat is quite possibly one of the greatest ports in the world in the 15th century. It is both a center of production, export and the main embarkation point for the Hajj for Indian Muslims. Like the other Sultans the Muzzafarids (or Ahmad Shahis) of Gujarat have recently thrown off their loyalties to Delhi and have been building a new kingdom for themselves.
The Saurashtra region to their west is still home to a great number of smaller kingdoms, most of which are still independent. While weaker than the Rajput states of Rajputana these small kingdoms could together still be a threat to the Sultanate and historically the Gujarati sultans would consider the conquest of this region one of the first priorities.
In patch 1.26 we have breaken up the old Kathiawar tag (now renamed to Kutch). Instead we now represent some of the other states on the peninsula, many of whom had old and very venerable dynasties. We have also separated Saurastri and Gujarati culture. As with the southern coast we have made sure that the Indian trade ports of the Gujarat and Sindh regions are given their proper representation, both because these would have been targets for any expansion in the region, and to allow European countries plausible footholds here.
New Playable Countries in 1444:
- Jhalavad - Independent Rajput kingdom ruled by the Jhala dynasty.
- Palitana - Independent Rajput kingdom ruled by the Gohil dynasty.
- Junagadh - Independent Rajput kingdom in western/central Kathiawar ruled by the Chudasama dynasty. This kingdom has ruled the peninsula since the 9th century and still hold the ancient mountain of Girnar and its associated fort Uparkot.
- Porbandar - Independent Rajput maritime kingdom ruled by the Jethwa dynasty.
Other Indian Setup Changes:
Now last but not least here is the promised a Trade Node map of India! This is one way in which the subcontinent has actually changed quite a bit as the one from 1.8 had some severe deficiencies. Both in how hard it was for Europeans to pull trade from the region and in its failure to properly capture the benefits of the Grand Trunk Road.
In 1.26 we have removed and renamed nodes as well as changed connections and the direction of the trade flow.
Changes include:
- Bengal now gives trade to Doab as well as Coromandel (old Ceylon).
- Doab feeds both Deccan and Lahore.
- Deccan Feeds Coromandel and Gujarat
- Lahore feeds Gujarat, Samarkand and Persia.
- Gujarat feeds Hormuz, Aden and Zanzibar
- Coromandel feeds Gujarat, Aden and Cape of Good Hope.
That was all for this week!
Next week I will be back to talk about changes to Bengal, Tibet and Burma! I will also mention some more of the new formable countries we have in store for India.
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