The Reign of Padishah Sayyd Khidr I Thuqluqid (996-1021 AH) (1588-1613 in the Christian calendar) (A/D/M 3/6/7)
also known as Sayyd Khidr, the silver tongue or Sayyd Khidr, the learned.
Part 1
Sayyd Khidr was a very charismatic figure, even though he wasn’t much capable in administrative affairs. He was over 6 feet tall, looming over his contemporaries, and liked to ride very much.
Mubarrak Shah IV had sent his little brother, Sayyd Khidr, to be raised in Hedjaz, as part of the relationship of the joint monarchy. Sayyd Khidr would learn to ride with the fierce Arabian sheikhs and through his charismatic personality would earn their respect. They considered him as one of them, an honorary Arab, not a foreign Indian ruler. In July of 1588, when Sayyd was crowned in Delhi, much to his surprise he’d see not only Delhian courtiers, but all of the Hedjaz Arabian leaders swearing everlasting fealty to him
(inherit Hedjaz).
Sayyd Khidr would rejoice at having complete control of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and of the Red Sea eastern coast. Sayyd Khidr ordered the building of workshops in all of the Arabian provinces, to rule those lands more efficiently.
But all would not be peaceful in the Arabian peninsula. Najd was a neighbor to Hedjaz that was facing a virulent civil war. One of the tribes of Najd, the Sharjahi, decided that their lot would be better serving under the charismatic Sayyd Khidr, so the province of Muskat defected to Delhi in 1588. The ruler of Najd wasn’t happy with that and turned a blind eye to the activities of bandits raiding Hedjaz’s caravans
(border friction in October 1590). In 1591 the situation would become unbearable and Delhi would be forced to wage war with Najd and its ally, the weakened Mamluks, in the Najd Border Friction War.
The fact that Delhi was again involved in a war with a fellow Muslim state confused many of the common people, who thought those wars were behind and thought that conflict should be made with the Christian infidels instead
(poor government policies -2 stability).
War with Najd would rage on until March of 1592. It was at the table of negotiations that Sayyd Khidr would show his brilliance. He’d be lenient with the ruler of Najd and his banditry so long as he swore fealty to the Delhi Padishah. The malik wouldn’t be replaced, as long as he paid an annual tribute and converted from heretic Shia to Sunni. Malik Nasir I accepted this, since he had been completely beaten.
Meanwhile, the adventurer Saikander Nagai would still explore the Atlantic Ocean. Having discovered a way to Europe, he now wanted to find a place the Castillians had told him about, a land of fabled riches called Caracas. Sayyd Khidr would commission two additional galleys for him to voyage the perilous Atlantic Ocean, but Saikander Nagai would die before reaching that fabled province. He’d reach the shores of Venezuela, where he was sure Caracas was, but would be killed by a strange fever.
Saikander Nagai’s work would be taken over by his shipmate Daulat Khan Nagar. Daulat Khan would lead an expedition with 10,000 men through the South American jungles until he reached the famous Caracas in May of 1597. After receiving gifts of gold and strange animals (including a talking bird) and plants from the natives, he’d return to Delhi, where tales of that magical place would stimulate the imagination of the Delhians
(mission accomplished: disover Caracas +5 colonists). The common people would be more willing to settle in Delhi’s colonies, to see those fabled lands, and colonial enterprises would be set in Demak, Barten, Visayas, Manila and Rasgala. Only the last three would be successful, and the natives of Visayas would have to be pacified first.
While all of this was happening, Sayyd Khidr would complete his brother works and build roads that crisscrossed all of India
(built roads in all provinces). He’d also commission the census his ancestor, Mohammed Shah IV, the reformer, had ordered to be done at the year 1008 AH (1600 in the Christian calendar).