Bactria, India and the Tarim Basin
Hello everyone! I realized I haven't shown the full map yet, so here's some more of it.
Let's take a look at Bactria and India, as well as some of the surrounding regions. Bactria is ruled by
Eukratides the Great, who had restored the
Diodotid dynasty by conquering almost all of the Euthydemid rulers of Greco-Bactria. Though his kingdom once stretched all the way to the mouth of the Indus River, he was recently defeated by the
Indo-Greek king
Menander of the
Euthydemids. Now, his kingdom is limited to just Bactria alone.
Bactria is also pressured by the
Saka and
Yuezhi tribes to the north. Bactria will be faced with migrating Saka as well as Saka invaders, many of whom may have already migrated as south as the Indus by 150 BC. The Yuezhi, even more numerous than the Saka, are also a major threat, and a weak Bactria without the great Eukratides on the throne will be vulnerable to a Yuezhi invasion event chain. Fortunately, since Bactria recently warred with the Parthians and the Indo-Greeks, Bactria starts with a truce with both powers.
Besides external threats, however, Eukratides must also be careful of threats from within. While his son Plato may have co-ruled with him in his later years, Eukratides' other two sons secretly despise their father and wish to have the throne to themselves. Thus, after the year 145 BC (609 AUC), if either son's loyalty drops too low, they will take
extreme action against their father, greatly affecting the stability of the kingdom.
To the east of Bactria is the
Indo-Greek Kingdom, ruled by the famed king
Menander I Soter. Having restored Euthydemid dominance over Greco-Bactria, Menander has advanced further east and has acquired tribute from the Indian subject states of Patalene, Mathura, Kaccha and Saurashthra. Menander has conquered even more of India than Alexander the Great, and coinage shows he likely pushed east as far as Pataliputra, the capital of the Shunga dynasty (and the former Mauryans).
Another thing that Menander is famous for is his conversion to
Buddhism, which is noted in Buddhist texts. Thus, not long after the game starts, Menander will have the chance to adopt the religion after his famous discussion with the Buddhist sage
Nagasena. If he becomes Buddhist, several events will also allow the player to turn the Indo-Greek kingdom into a distinctly
Greco-Buddhist state. The kingdom will also acquire a new
treasure, the
"Ashes of Menander," upon his death if Menander chooses to convert.
The Indo-Greeks' main threat is the
Shunga Empire of Magadha. In 189 BC,
Pushyamitra Shunga overthrew the last Mauryan emperor in a coup and established himself as the emperor of the remaining Mauryan lands in northern India. The Shunga and Indo-Greeks often clash in large wars (which is a perfect time for the Bactrian kingdom to retake its lost lands from Menander). The Shunga emperor Pushyamitra is also in the process of performing his second Ashvamedha, the horse ritual sacrifice that an emperor performs to prove his divine legitimacy and right to rule the land. All Shunga and Magadha empire rulers must also perform this ritual when a new ruler ascends to the throne, and this event chain has varying degrees of success. The ritual can also be performed by any Hindu nation with at least 100 territories via decision, once per ruler.
Besides the Shunga empire, another major power in India is the Early
Satavahanas. The historical situation of India in 150 BC is very muddled due to a relative lack of sources and conflicting interpretations. Although scholars are not in total agreement of the Satavahanas’ exact geographical and ethnic origins, nor the exact time it began, for gameplay reasons I have chosen to go with the theory that the dynasty rose from a crumbling Mauryan Empire. This interpretation would mean that the third Satavahana king Satakarni I ruled over the western Deccan at this time, though the Satavahanas are threatened by Kalingan expansion. Funnily enough, scholars aren’t in agreement on whether a certain historical inscription says that the kings of Kalinga and Satavahana were enemies or that they were friends during this time. So I guess it’s up for the players (and AI) to decide.
Speaking of
Kalinga, the great ruler
Kharavela may have been a contemporary of Pushyamitra Shunga. A patron of Jainism and one of Kalinga's most powerful rulers, Kharavela waged war to retake a Kalingan Jain artifact that had been seized by the Nanda Empire three centuries ago. Kharavela had even expanded so far west that he once defeated an Indo-Greek king. However, the Hathigumpha Inscription, our main source of Kharavela's rule, has very different interpretations between scholars, and most of his achievements were likely exaggerated, so it is difficult to accurately paint Kharavela's Kalinga Empire on the map in 150 BC (if he even ruled during 150 BC at all). Whether he ruled during 150 BC or not, gameplay-wise he is definitely a ruler who can prevent the Shunga from being the uncontested rulers of northern India, so he’s a perfect ruler to balance the subcontinent and provide an interesting start as a Jain empire.
Southern India also has many more new countries compared to the vanilla start. After the collapse of the Mauryan empire, numerous kingdoms became independent across the southern Deccan and Tamilakam. The once-powerful Andhras have been all but conquered by the Kalingan emperor. Further south, the three Tamil Kings of Chola, Pandya and Chera continue to reign as the dominant powers of the Tamil country, each ruling over various Tamil chiefs in their lands. Expansion by the Tamil Kings is also attested in this period, most significantly by Pandya.
The island of Sri Lanka is ruled by King
Dutthagamani of
Anuradhapura, which is one of few Buddhist countries at game start. Although Anuradhapura was conquered by members of the
Chola dynasty decades ago, Dutthagamani successfully defeated the Chola ruler Ellalan in an elephant battle and liberated Lanka from Tamil rule. Anuradhapura can also construct a
Great Stupa, which historically began construction under Dutthagamani.
Anuradhapura also has many talented generals under its banner. Dutthagamani's brother Saddha Tissa had waged a civil war against him but lost; though Saddha Tissa fled, he later reconciled with his brother and became one of his foremost generals. Dutthagamani is also accompanied by his Ten Giant Warriors, ten great warriors who had served the royal guard since the rule of his father Kavan Tissa.
Lastly, let's look back up to the north. The Tarim Basin now has several more city-states compared to vanilla to represent the more divided nature of the region. By 150 BC, many of the city-states had fallen under Sakan/Khotanese rule, and some notable states are Shule (Kashgar) and Loulan. However, a key difference between these states from 304 BC and 150 BC is that the city-states are now under the suzerainty of the
Xiongnu.
The
Xiongnu at this time are the largest steppe confederation the world has ever seen. Though looming just outside of the vanilla map, they can still influence the affairs of the states within the map. The Tarim Basin states will pay a yearly tribute to the Xiongnu; in return, the Xiongnu shall send an additional cohort led by a
Xiongnu culture general in defensive wars. However, if one of their Tarim State subjects grows too strong, or if a foreign power completely annexes these tributary lands, the Xiongnu may lead a direct invasion of their own to retake the land themselves.
(Work on the mechanics of this off-map power system is still very early, so things may change in its implementation).
However, the Xiongnu are not the only off-map power that can influence the game. The prosperous Han dynasty will seek trade relations with the nations in Bactria, the Himalayas and Persia. Besides establishing trade relations and the first Silk Road, the
Han dynasty of China may also intervene militarily for a particular type of heavenly horse in Ferghana…
Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions so far, I greatly appreciate it!
