Going FAARther

Yes, yes, late as ever, I know. If it's any comfort, school's effectively over now, so I'll have much more free time in the next few months.
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The first action of the new king, even before he had stabilized his new nation, was to declare an unprovoked war on Sind. He was genuinely shocked when the people of his country resented sending soldiers to die fighting Muslims just barely within India, especially ones whom had never done so much as insult Maharasthra. He relented, for once in his life, and ignored the war for about 5 years.

Half a decade. To a man as impatient and impulsive as Rajamar, this was ridiculous. And yet, he never actively did anything about it. Yes, he sulked, he hid himself away, he refused to administer to the basic needs of his kingdom. But he was still not so arrogant as to believe that Maharasthra could survive without popular support for his policies. He never sent so much as a scouting party to Sind.

On January 1st, 1430, this changed.

His nerves seemed to have been steeled. He made up his mind to see the war through to its bitter end. He started by getting military access through Delhi. Next, he met with the leading generals of his army and took up command. The King was going to war. And he was bringing the largest army in Northern India besides Delhi's.



11,000 soldiers, trained to the point that they put the Rajputs, long famed for their martial prowess, to shame. This mighty force would be bearing down on a nation barely able to call upon a force half that size.



For months, this mighty host marched through Delhi lands, until at last it reached the Sind. Crossing the border, they marched straight into the capital city. The Sindi (?) king, Fath Khan Samma, a distant relative of Rajamar's, held his ground valiantly, but was ultimately beaten and forced to flee the capital. He was pursued to Kutch, and he surrendered on August 10. However, his son continued the war. The new king of Sind holed himself up in his capital as the country burned.



Kutch was taken on 13 December. Its capture was signaled by a comet visible from Sind to Maharasthra. This was taken as a bad omen, and stability throughout the empire fell. Nevertheless, Sind and Bikkar were taken on 21 July and 23 July, respectively. The war was over.





The first course of action was to begin converting the Sunni provinces. Missionaries began to operate throughout the area. This was notable because it was the first time that Hindus began to convert Muslims, rather than the other way around.

Despite what many had feared, the annexation of Sind did not unite the rest of the world against Maharasthra. The Hindus were more happy than angry, although they publicly denounced the King's actions. As for the Muslims, nothing could make them any angrier at Maharasthra then they already were. (In other words, I have a BB limit of 43!)

Unfortunately, the next few years were characterized by near constant Sunni rebellions. It is estimated that over 30,000 Muslims lost their lives, and as many as 10,000 Marathans.



(Play Yakety Sax here.)

However, by 1435, things were beginning to calm down. And- OH CRAP. THAT'S NO MOO- I mean, THAT'S NOT A REBEL FLAG.

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King_Richard_XI: Nothing. I declared war on them. I got the Horde CB, and they were allied with some Muslim Indian states, sooo...

Rizulica: That's the reason I declared war.

JDMS: Thanks! You can have your puppy back now. (Man, blackmail REALLY does the trick!)

Enewald: Of course.

I suppose I should quickly explain: I didn't declare war on the Timmies because I wanted their land. They were allied with a fairly large portion of Muslim India (Thankfully not including Delhi.) and they weren't any threat at all. Every single province they own is occupied by Khiva, Persia, or rebels. This is just a way to use a free CB on someone that I won't need to worry about a truce with to nab their allies' territory.

On 1 January, 1434, King Rajamar declared war on the Timurids. At first, many people were outraged, but he managed to convince them that he only wanted to roll back the Muslims in India, not Persia. He went to war with the Timurids because they were allied with Deccan and Kandesh.

Sadly, only Kandesh answered the call to arms, but that was more than enough for Rajamar- and his allies. Gondwana and Vijayanagar came to his assistance, and Bihar sent war subsidies.



In the first battle of the war, 3,000 Maharathans fought 2,000 Kandeshis. (?) Each army was led by its king.



The battle was a narrow victory, but it forced the enemy to retreat. 1,000 men were left to besiege the capital, while the rest pursued the Kandeshi soldiers into Maharasthra. A large number of battles were fought, all throughout the country. All were Maharathan victories, but all came at a high cost in manpower.



Finally, on 17 August, the Maharathans were beaten in a battle. By then, however, it was too late. Kandesh fell on 1 September, and the country was duly annexed on the 3rd. With no more reason for war, peace was made with the shattered Timurids on the same day Kandesh was annexed.



Surprisingly (At least to Rajamar...), Maharasthra's reputation was greatly harmed by his actions. He had declared war on three defenseless nations (Iraq was also in the enemy alliance.), and had annexed a nation who's only crime was being Muslim. As much as the other Hindu nations wanted to roll back Islam in India, they simply couldn't relate to the blatant zealotry that Rajamar displayed. They began to doubt the sense in allowing him to be the face of Hinduism. For the moment, however, he hadn't done anything drastic enough to require action on their part.

Indeed, the next year seemed to show how sensible Rajamar could be. He ended the excessive minting of money, certain that there was enough in the treasury already and that minting caused unacceptable amounts of inflation. Furthermore, he began to initiate trading in cities other than Kutch that year, specifically Bihar. He was stabilizing Maharasthra and insuring its prosperity in the coming years. In fact, he even assisted Vijayanagar by guaranteeing that he would come to its defense in an unprovoked war, even if their alliance should end.

But then, on 17 October, 1435, the time for consolidation came to an end. Delhi declared a Jihad on Maharasthra, which it claimed had sponsored the Hindu zealots that infested the nation. These same zealots had greatly weakened Delhi's army, and Rajamar saw an unprecedented chance to take back a huge portion of India.

He wasn't the only one who smelled blood in the water.



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Well, I think this was a pretty good update. Oh yeah, and

*POST #100!!!!*

King_Richard_XI said:

Congrats on the post, good luck in the war, and Congrats on what you are about to receive.



dinofs; for great services to India and the RotW, and for achieving a post count far from what I shall ever have again, I hereby award you the sixth ever Irish Shamrock Cookie ( ● )! May you wear it with pride upon your signature.

Click to expand...

Yay! Thank you!

Sybot: Pffff. Everybody knows that as long as you're less than 20 points higher than the BB limit, there aren't any consequences.