Golden Horde - Scourge From The East

J. Passepartout - A valid point. But this begs the question, will the architects be persecuted at some point for such a thing?

GrimPagan - Not just the ministry, we all need to be on the lookout for such things. Stairs can kill and nobody ever suspects them. I'm willing to bet they were highly involved in both the J.F.K assassination and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Falastur - Me for the chop for a thing such as that?! I better watch my back.

Battle bunny - Thanks. Do you ever plan to move to EUII and make an AAR for this game?

Chief Ragusa - The blessed 43, never thought of it that way but you are more than likely right. A good general is needed but how often does the Horde get what's needed.

Saulta - Land 26, Naval 7, Trade 3, Infra 3. Not a pretty sight.

Walter Model - As I say watch out for them steps. They're evil I tell you. Incidentally my daily walk home involves 190 in one go, perhaps thats why I cast them in such a villainous part.

SirruShan - A good point. He shall have to be.

stnylan - That he was but no longer at least.

Grundius - Maybe.....

1729 : The Year of Four Khans
In most history books you will find 1729 referred to as the year of four Khans. This is in fact due to a persistent translation error for it was in fact the year of five Khans.

The first Khan of 1729 was of course the ill-fated Chigakka II whose downfall (quite literally) has been discussed in the preceding chapters.

Ulugh IV
Chigakka II was succeeded by the pathetic, in every sense of the word Ulugh IV. He was exceedingly dull, lacking in any military skill whatsoever and even had a smaller skull and brain than any non-uzbek alive. To give the man some credit at least he lived long enough to reach his coronation. But that is where credit ends. As he sat on the throne after being crowned his smaller-than-normal head allowed the crown to slip down. Becoming lodged around his neck in the process he choked to death only forty five minutes into his reign. Ulugh IV therefore enters the records as the shortest lived Khan ever.

Muhammad II
Following the farce that was Ulugh IV, Muhammad II came as welcome relief. Having graduated from the world famous Murtada II Memorial Tatar Cultural Institute in Astrakhan he was a brilliant scholar with great skill in managing the administrative side of the nation plus the diplomatic affairs.

However Muhammad like his predecessor lacked even a hint of military know how. In a nation such as the Horde and especially given the nature of the times this was an extremely bad thing to lack.

Muhammad favoured a policy of defence for the military. For a start all the army was recalled to Astrakhan with orders to leave rebels be.
It was a highly unpopular move amongst the army who favoured crushing internal opposition before striking back at the rebellious nations to the east and south.

Thus in June they made the point quite clear by means of uprising, coup and inevitable beheading of Muhammad II.


Muhammad III
A fast learner Muhammad III was quick to delegate much of the responsibility for running the army to the army itself. It was a move that appeased the generals well and set up Muhammad III for what promised to be a good reign.

Ever concerned with the working population Muhammad III was keen to be seen as a Khan of the people. To this end he conducted numerous tours of the factories in the land. At one such factory, a meat processing plant, he had a tragic accident.

A poorly built handrail gave way whilst the Khan surveyed the sausage making machine. The machine, powered by uzbek slaves, was unable to be shut down before Muhammad III had been processed. It was a horrific and all too early end for the young Khan. But it did earned him a unique title, Muhammad 'the grated'.

His legacy took another turn for the worse when at his funeral a notable guest committed an extreme faux pas He confused the buffet and the casket by helping himself to a little of Muhammad remains with lunch.

After so many short lived Khans rumours began to circulate that the throne was cursed. Others went so far as to say that the Horde was on a downward spiral willed by Allah. Nothing could retrieve they claimed. Into this difficult and volatile situation stepped the fifth and final Khan of 1729, Chilaun.