Surprised to see no location additions, but its hard to argue that Arabia doesn't already have a great density given its population. The tag border changes look really cool tho!
I do have some suggestions on which locations to add, taking from the current wastelands in places we know to have been inhabited with notable settlements - either caravan stops or fishing towns. This would help better represent the South Arabian language, add further incense producing locations to the Incense Coast, as well as reduce the location gap on the Southern coast and add some depth to it in places (so its not all just one location wide strip)- though I imagine most of these would have a rather low population
1. Dhank
Surrounded by many wadis/river valleys, this area was almost certainly settled during the period. The 19th century battle of Dhank, though outside the period, led to the unification of Oman and Muscat. Among the products of the area is Honey, so that would also be a very interesting tradegood to represent.
en.wikipedia.org
2. Duqm
A small fishing port before the oil boom, but still provides an additional location on the southern coast and shortens the corridor
en.wikipedia.org
3. Haima/Al-Ajaiz
Poorly populated before modern times (today its the capital of the governorate) due to a lack of water, but still interesting to represent due to the later existence local Harsusi language, a relative of the Mehri, which was historically more widespread across Southern Arabia (but gets kinda screwed here due to much of its spoken region being wastelands). Due to this permanent settlement only occurring in the 19th century, this is the least important addition
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
4. Al Halaniyyah
A settled island near the coast, largest of the Khuriya Muriya islands known since Ancient Greek times and later gifted by the Sultan to Queen Victoria, the stretch of the coast close to them (including the fishing village of Sharbithat) spoke Shehri/Jibbali, another southern Arabic language. Later extensively for guano, but fishing was generally its main industry
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
5. Saadha
Splitting of a small part of Mirbat to connect to Al Halaniyyah, a small Incense producing village where most inhabitants lived in caves, like in much of Southern Arabia. Another Shehri speaking area, so would also be of the Mehri culture
en.wikipedia.org
6. Thumrait
Going a bit inland in this most populated part of Dhofar, Thumrait was an important caravan stop and produced Incense and Fruit. Another Mehri location, probably the most populous of the locations I'm suggesting and should definitely be added.
en.wikipedia.org
7. Shisr/Ubar
Shisr was an inland oasis and trading post (mostly for Incense, of course) that many connect to the lost cities of Ubar, or Iram of the Pillars, the Atlantis of the Sands, one of the most famous "lost cities" in the world. Seems like another really cool location to represent, especially as it would further represent Mehri as well
en.wikipedia.org
8. Al Abr
An ancient fort and caravan stop that served as the base of several tribes thanks to its many wadis. Much like Dhank, I don't see why it wouldn't be represented as it's close to many settled locations
en.wikipedia.org
I was thinking of suggesting the addition of Khasab (the Omani exclave within the modern Emirates and an old port town) and Siniyah Island (an major pearl diving centre and one of the most important Christian communities in ancient East Arabia, with an old monastery (long gone by the game's timeline, of course), in today's Umm al Quwain Emirate. However, with no other additions in Arabia, I would simply represent them by
- making Jolfar a good natural port (representing Khasab's "fjords", which offer great natural protection)
-changing the tradegood of Ad Dayd to Pearls, to represent Siniyah's status as the premier pearl town of pre-Islamic Arabia.
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
If I were to add any locations from existing settled locations, it would be Al-Buraimi, an important Omani town and trade center that would take parts of the relatively large Al-Ayn location.
en.wikipedia.org
EDIT:
Based on a post from the original thread, I looked into the Usfurids/Bani Asfour and it seems clear they should still be present in the northern half of Eastern Arabia, as they had just lost Bahrain and Qatif to Hormuz and their Jarwanid allies/vassals (yeah Jarwanids should be much smaller and perhaps sworn to Hormuz)
English and Arabic wiki both agree they survived into the late 14th century, and in 1354 they were able to defeat the Mongols and seize Basra and the lands around it, until defeated by the Jalayirids, implying a significant degree of power persisted. They were also known to have very good relations with the Mamluks around 1340. As they were famous horse traders, some more Horses could perhaps be added to their lands
I drew a map of what their borders would approximately look like at the start, circled in red:
Hello everyone, and welcome to one more developer diary for map lovers! This is the second this week, after the review of Poland, Ruthenia, and the Baltic. Hurray! Today we will be taking a look at the lands of Arabia! So let’s start, without...
forum.paradoxplaza.com
en.wikipedia.org
ar.wikipedia.org
The post also mentioned Jabrids, but its clear they only emerged as a power in Eastern Arabia in the early 15th century. Their origins are pretty unclear, with some suggesting they came from the Bani Amer tribe that was a part of the Usfurid realm, and others that they came from the city of Zabid in Yemen, which Jabour, the grandfather of the dynasty's founder supposedly ruled until 1345 - however, given that Zabid was still a secondary capital to the Rasulids, this seems less likely. You could perhaps add him as a character in the Yemeni court, to represent this.
ar.wikipedia.org
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