1576 - 1578
The empire spends time to boost its stability, which had dropped from +3 to +1 from some obscure reason.
Muhammed Khodabanda 1578 - 1585
Trade posts establishments prove hard to obtain in India and West Siberia. The stability gets back at +3 yin 1580, so all investments get switched to infrastructure.
After lengthy consideration, Persia declares war on Turkey. The Indian kingdoms are a lot richer, but Turkey would most likely backstab us.
The initial battles go well. Of course Turkjeys allies, Georgia, Aden and Oman, also declare war. Georgia beats us and starts trying to recapture its previous province, but we break their grip on the city. Turkey starts to siege Sivas, and defeats all our relief armies of equal size. They also break the siege of Trabizon, with 3000 men against 15000.
Meanwhile, Sibir, Golden Horde and Crimea declare war on us.
In the south we capture Jordan, and Turkey offers a white peace which we accept, as it allows us to continue the war against Crimea, Sibir and Golden Horde. Sibir burns all trade posts in what we term the west-siberia area, spoiling the work of a decade. Persia raises war taxes.
Hamza Mirza, 1585 - 1586
The new year starts with a wave of obscurantism. Fine, just what we needed
Nubia conquers Jordan and demands this province in exchange for peace. Aden repeatedly offers a white peace. These offers are declined. In the north Uralsk and Volgograd are conquered on the Golden Horde, and regretly, or perhaps lucky, it GH cannot be annexed as Saratow is isolated and cannot be reached. Persia settles for Uralsk and 500 gold. Alas, only 57 ducats arrive!
New waves of obscurantism sweep the country. Amou Daria, Karabogaz, Kalath, Baluchistan, Mekran, Isfahan, Basrah, Iraq, and Kirkuk are revolting.
Abu Talib. 1586 - 1587
The war against Sibir gave us control of Orenburg and Irgiz. 1586 brings more obscurantism. Aden refuses a blank peace. Heretic revolt risks increase every month. In 1587, Hyderabad and Mysore declare war. Their first deed is to completely eliminate a 30000 men army in Bombay. It keeps raining revolts. The government does not realize its mission to control Jordan, and completely forgets to define a new mission, after which the King chooses to conquer Mysorian Deccan.
Poland offers peace for 5d. Poland? I must have completely missed their DoW among all those revolts. Sibir declines are peace offer for Orenburg, then suddenly offers Orenburg for peace. We gladly accept. Aden offers peace for 5d, which we accept. Aden is a vasal of Nubia, but when we accept Adens offer we turn out to be at peace with Nubia too. Every month 3-7 provinces revolt. Within a few months, 7-8 provinces revolt every month.
In 1587 the government is broken. Astrakahan, Mughal and Uzbek declare themselves independant.
Abbas I 1587 - ?
That rarest of all commodities - an able Persian ruler! All efforts go into the development of infrastructure, and in 1594 we attain level 5 and the ability to promote mayors to governours. This allows Persia to promote a long string of majors, and slowly inflation drops from 26% to 14% in 1597. Of course Spain gained this reform over 70 years ago. Numerous colonization attempts are made, but only one in Agra succeeds.
In 1597, Russia declares war. Theirt motives completely baffle our diplomats. They invade Kouban, but are easily repulsed. They attack again with the same result, and Abbas I himself pursuits them to Volgograd, the only adjacent province. We capture this province, continue with their gold mines at Samara. We offer peace for these two provinces, but they refuse. In February we march on to Kazan, and as soon as we have beaten their army they offer these two provinces themselkves. We gladly accept.
The renewed peace allows us to turn all investments into trade. We gain a new trade level, and enjoy further reforms until 1608, when Russia declares war again.
Our diplomats inquire, with some hesitation, about the Tsars mental health. "No, our Tsar does not suffer from insanity" the Russians reply "On the contrary, he enjoys every day of it."
The Persian armies rapidly conquer Kazan and we declare willing to accept peace in exchange for this small strip of land. The Tsar refuses, so we go on to besiege Vladimir.
Then, in 1610, Crimea declares war on us, followed by Sibir. After a small victory in Sibir, Russia offers kazan for peace. Again we gratefully accept the Russian peace offer, as Persia has always been a peaceful nation.
Just when the war is going fine, the Uzbeks declare war on us. They really want to play around, as Crimea offers peace for Lugansk, which we accept. Due to a slught diplomatic oversight, this also brings peace with Sibir, but at least it allows Persia to concentrate all its efforts on teh reconquesta of Uzbek.
Amou Daria is conquered in 1612, and annexed ruthlleslly.
1612. A lonely hilltop outside Isfahan.
"Sit down, my son. My end has drawn near."
"How do you know, my gather?"
"For centuries our family has been the backbone of the Persian throne, my son. I hand this task over to you, as my father loaded the task on my shoulders.".
"Yes, my father. I know you had monthly discussions with our shah, praised be his name."
"When your time has gone, make your son ask you these questions:"
"How large is our army?"
"How many provinces does Persia have?"
"What was last years national income?"
"What did your life achieve for Persia?"
"We have 33000 infantry, 37000 cavalry and 79 artillery peaces, my son. Persia has 42 provinces. National income last year was 1386 ducats."
The old man fell silent for a while. Then he continued: "Persia has gained 3 provinces. But I failed to steer Persia to greatness. I failed to steer it to peace. The religious revolts broke up the government, and the richest provinces have gone, perhaps for ever. Our reputation with our neighbours have not improved. Make the conquest of India your first priority, my son."
"How can I steer Persia while the Shah is on the many feathered throne?" the young man asked. The old man grinned.
"My father died just when I asked him the saem question. The shah in Shah is obliged to visit us every month and discuss the course of our country, it´s a tradiotional prerogative of our family. I have set Persia on a peaceful course. Have your wife agh!"
Shocked the young man looked at the arrow protruding the breast of his father. Looking around, he could not discover the murderer.
Tech levels: 7/4/3/5/5.
