The Golden Reign of Hizir the Trader, Part IV: 1676-1695
Shortly after the war with Oman over control of a large piece of the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian High Mufti had the temerity to send a diplomat to Smyrna, questioning whether it was wise for one country to control so much of the Islamic world. The diplomat demanded a council be created to help prevent further bloodshed between Muslim countries.
This insult to Saruhani sovereignty would not be ignored. Armies marched for the Persian border, and nobles across the Empire were persuaded to make donations to the war effort.
Two full armies of 20,000 men each marched through allied Iraq into Persia, where they rapidly laid siege to a number of western Persian cities. There was little resistance, and any token armies were crushed in due course. At this time, though, the Sultan had no desire to expand the Empire into Persian lands; instead, a peace was imposed that saw Persia give up a large portion of their eastern holdings, forming a nation for the Khorasani people.
Shortly after the conclusion of this war, the religious leaders of Mecca agreed that they would begin primarily teaching the Sunni understandings of the Koran. This brought the Empire into total religious unity for the first time in its history.
This religious unity created widespread celebrations; the people of the Empire felt as one people for the first time since it was a small Turkish nation solely in Anatolia. These celebrations soon turned, however, to thoughts of countrymen that were being held under the sway of other people. The nobility and, indeed, much of the common folk considered that the Saruhani Empire would be justified in liberating these provinces from their foreign or unjust rulers.
The dream of establishing Saruhan as a pan-Turko-Arab Empire was born.
The army was reformed further under European lines; many gains in efficiency were made through the establishment of rigid regimental systems. These changes made each unit very similar to the next, allowing for men to be transferred from one to another with limited adjustment time and expense. This freed up significant cash reserves within the Empire, which would go to great purpose in beginning to build a proper navy.
The first target of the new Nationalism within the Empire was the long-time rival of Oman. The recent economic gains of the Empire through the establishment of a trade route between Mecca and Jerusalem had seen a new merchant class arise, and these merchants desired access to the rich sources of spices along the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. This made Oman a simple choice of target for the newly reorganized Saruhani Regiments.
The push of the Empire into the future continued, as the Sultan decreed that as the standardization of the Army had allowed great gains, so too would a standardization of weights and measures promote similar gains in the economy. Meanwhile, the Nationalism drive had led the Sultan to demand the annexation of his Georgian crown into Saruhan; it was naturally accepted.
Though the Sultan was looking to expand Saruhan's Hegemony over the Turko-Arabian world, he realized that the Empire still needed to live up to its obligation as an ally when needed. Reports came from the west that Bulgaria, that long-time ally, was under siege by Russian armies. The Bulgarian army was in shambles, and the country was at risk of falling completely. Rather than risk having the Russian Giant stepping close to Saruhan's borders, the Sultan declared war upon the Russians and moved armies to Bulgaria to help lift the sieges.
Mere days after the Empire's declaration of war, however, news came that Bulgaria had convinced an overextended Russia to agree to a peace, bringing that war to an end. The Saruhani armies moved back to the border, to secure against a possible Russian push from Odessa and the Crimea.
A short month after this occurrence, though, the completely unexpected happened: Bulgaria accepted an alliance with Russia and declared war upon Saruhan.
(I'm not kidding, that all happened within the span of mere weeks in-game time. :wacko
Well, those Saruhani armies were still poised on the Bulgarian border. Instead of moving in to liberate Bulgarian cities from the Russian threat, though, now they were going on the offensive. The recent regimental reorganization of the armies allowed them to make this rapid shift in objective rather easily.
As punishment for their duplicitous behavior, Bulgaria was partitioned amongst its resident cultures: the Serbians and Hungarians were granted new nations to rule as their own.
The "war" with Russia saw only a single action between Saruhani and Russian troops (won by the Empire); it ended with a white peace shortly after the surrender of Bulgaria.
Unfortunately, the stress of the unexpected betrayal by the Bulgarians was too much for the aged Hizir V to take. He passed away in his sleep after a 59 year reign; the economic reforms and expansions begun under his rule earned him the epithet of "Hizir the Trader".
Shortly after the war with Oman over control of a large piece of the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian High Mufti had the temerity to send a diplomat to Smyrna, questioning whether it was wise for one country to control so much of the Islamic world. The diplomat demanded a council be created to help prevent further bloodshed between Muslim countries.
This insult to Saruhani sovereignty would not be ignored. Armies marched for the Persian border, and nobles across the Empire were persuaded to make donations to the war effort.
Two full armies of 20,000 men each marched through allied Iraq into Persia, where they rapidly laid siege to a number of western Persian cities. There was little resistance, and any token armies were crushed in due course. At this time, though, the Sultan had no desire to expand the Empire into Persian lands; instead, a peace was imposed that saw Persia give up a large portion of their eastern holdings, forming a nation for the Khorasani people.
Shortly after the conclusion of this war, the religious leaders of Mecca agreed that they would begin primarily teaching the Sunni understandings of the Koran. This brought the Empire into total religious unity for the first time in its history.
This religious unity created widespread celebrations; the people of the Empire felt as one people for the first time since it was a small Turkish nation solely in Anatolia. These celebrations soon turned, however, to thoughts of countrymen that were being held under the sway of other people. The nobility and, indeed, much of the common folk considered that the Saruhani Empire would be justified in liberating these provinces from their foreign or unjust rulers.
The dream of establishing Saruhan as a pan-Turko-Arab Empire was born.
The army was reformed further under European lines; many gains in efficiency were made through the establishment of rigid regimental systems. These changes made each unit very similar to the next, allowing for men to be transferred from one to another with limited adjustment time and expense. This freed up significant cash reserves within the Empire, which would go to great purpose in beginning to build a proper navy.
The first target of the new Nationalism within the Empire was the long-time rival of Oman. The recent economic gains of the Empire through the establishment of a trade route between Mecca and Jerusalem had seen a new merchant class arise, and these merchants desired access to the rich sources of spices along the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. This made Oman a simple choice of target for the newly reorganized Saruhani Regiments.
The push of the Empire into the future continued, as the Sultan decreed that as the standardization of the Army had allowed great gains, so too would a standardization of weights and measures promote similar gains in the economy. Meanwhile, the Nationalism drive had led the Sultan to demand the annexation of his Georgian crown into Saruhan; it was naturally accepted.
Though the Sultan was looking to expand Saruhan's Hegemony over the Turko-Arabian world, he realized that the Empire still needed to live up to its obligation as an ally when needed. Reports came from the west that Bulgaria, that long-time ally, was under siege by Russian armies. The Bulgarian army was in shambles, and the country was at risk of falling completely. Rather than risk having the Russian Giant stepping close to Saruhan's borders, the Sultan declared war upon the Russians and moved armies to Bulgaria to help lift the sieges.
Mere days after the Empire's declaration of war, however, news came that Bulgaria had convinced an overextended Russia to agree to a peace, bringing that war to an end. The Saruhani armies moved back to the border, to secure against a possible Russian push from Odessa and the Crimea.
A short month after this occurrence, though, the completely unexpected happened: Bulgaria accepted an alliance with Russia and declared war upon Saruhan.
(I'm not kidding, that all happened within the span of mere weeks in-game time. :wacko
Well, those Saruhani armies were still poised on the Bulgarian border. Instead of moving in to liberate Bulgarian cities from the Russian threat, though, now they were going on the offensive. The recent regimental reorganization of the armies allowed them to make this rapid shift in objective rather easily.
As punishment for their duplicitous behavior, Bulgaria was partitioned amongst its resident cultures: the Serbians and Hungarians were granted new nations to rule as their own.
The "war" with Russia saw only a single action between Saruhani and Russian troops (won by the Empire); it ended with a white peace shortly after the surrender of Bulgaria.
Unfortunately, the stress of the unexpected betrayal by the Bulgarians was too much for the aged Hizir V to take. He passed away in his sleep after a 59 year reign; the economic reforms and expansions begun under his rule earned him the epithet of "Hizir the Trader".
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