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Found some time to play yesterday and the Sultan died (11 year reign), so here's the save for the next player. Will be a couple of days still until I can start posting the AAR.
 
The Reign of Sultan Ahmad I (1678-1689)
Part One (1678-1683)

Ahmad I rose to the position of Sultan on January 14th, 1678 and wasted little time. Immediately, he launched minor reforms to better mold the nation to his tastes.

He looked at the military first and found it to be insufficient. The 63000 man army was relatively small for a nation of the Jalayirids' size and economic power - Ahmad found in his investigation that the country had the support structures for double that amount.

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An expansion was begun, with an emphasis on artillery for the main battle armies.

Additionally, the huge Western and Eastern Armies, 42000 and 21000 strong respectively, were split into smaller units to more conveniently control the sprawling nation. Care was taken to make sure that any armies positioned close to each other were trained to fight together if needed.

But Sultan Ahmad wasn't a military ruler only. The expansion meant giving more resources to the army, but he also decreased spending on military technology for the time being. While he saw merit in the grand improvements his generals were advocating, they seemed like a pipe dream in 1678, and for a nation that was backwards in other fields, he found it more sensible to tell his wise men to concentrate on developing other areas for now.

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A comet sighted in March was seen by some as a heavenly sign that Ahmad's reforms were wrong, but the Sultan wouldn't listen and most people forgot about the comet soon enough. Ahmad found some further reassurance when his men took care of the nationalist rebels that had been troubling Mocha in former Yemen for some time.

The nation was also stuck in yet another war with the Timurid nomads. General Mahmud Jahagir made a breakthrough in July, taking control of Charjo.

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The nomads were asking for peace, but the Sultan wasn't interested. He wanted to make his mark on history, and while Charjo wasn't a very prosperous province, taking control of it would take the Jalayirids close to the richer Bukhara and Samarkand. Besides, keeping the land out of Vijayanagar's or Rajputana's hands was important. Settlement efforts were therefore begun.

The late year was marred by more Yemeni rebellion, but the new Southern Army was perfectly positioned to handle the nationalists. Meanwhile, Ahmad was overseeing attempts to spread the Sunni faith into Adana.

Early 1679 was full of tragedy. First, the 17 year old heir Hasan died of a strange fever in late February, leaving the old Ahmad I without an heir. This was alleviated somewhat as one of the Sultan's many bastards, the newly born Ahmad, was legitimized, but while the child seemed bright enough, his questionable legitimacy and young age could be causes for concern.

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Then in April, the important general Najib Mahmud passed away. There were some calls for Ahmad to take command of an army, but he refused, pointing to his young heir as a reason. There were rumors that the Sultan was preparing a promising officer by the name of Qasim Sa'id to take the post eventually.

The late year was happier as Ahmad's reforms bore fruit: the additional spending on economic research had led to more efficient production techniques. Also, the last important resistance group in Cairo seemed to have seen reason, and the city was finally considered a proper part of the Jalayirid nation.

A delegation of important nobles sought an audience with the Sultan in March 1680, asking for a full reversal of the major army technology reforms that Ahmad had deprioritized earlier. The Sultan disagreed, but made some concessions to appease the powerful men.

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The situation in Bersh reached boiling point in the early summer, with the Tartars rising in open revolt after Ahmad refused to make a compromise that would have allowed them to keep their own customs while living under the Jalayirid flag. The Sultan thought that the Bill of Rights ensured enough freedom of choice and any unhappiness was the Tartars' own fault. The resulting rebellion was capably handled by the local army.

October featured a major success as the Jalayirids in Charjo overthrew the Timurids and the province legally defected.

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The Jalayirid army moved forward, occupying Karshi. This forced the Timurids to cease hostilities in late November.

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The next year was, for the most part, a year of silent progress. Production methods were further improved, while plans for a new transport vessel, the merchantman, were developed based on the European ships in the region. Of course, the Jalayirids had no transport fleet, but the technology could prove useful should one be constructed in the future.

But late in the year, the Sultan was looking to expand his nation again. This time he looked at the splintered remains of the Mamluks.

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With the nation split into three parts, Ahmad wanted to take the surprisingly prosperous capital Nubia - which was also inhabited by Arabs much like the Jalayirid heartland - forcing the Mamluk administration to flee south to their holdings around Ethiopia.

War was declared in December, with Hausa and, eventually, Ethiopia joining on the Mamluks' side. Despite the Mamluk ruler's strong efforts to rally his troops, general Jahagir swiftly pushed through into Nubia, forcing the enemy into the desert.

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The province fell in July 1682, and negotiations began. The Mamluks would cede Nubia and give up any claims on Jalayirid territory in return for peace.

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Days later, white peace was signed with Hausa, ending the war.

The rest of the year was tumultuous: the merchants were protesting over some policies, and some of the Catholics in Adana rose up in arms against Jalayirid persecution. Combined with the earlier trouble with the Tartars as well as the Yemeni question, these issues led to Ahmad reconsidering his views. As a result, he passed new legislation giving additional rights to the common man.

As the nation calmed down internally, pressure came from the outside. Austria declared war in March 1683, with Vijayanagar following suit just over a month later. Among the allies they brought in were Muscowy and Rajputana.

Sultan Ahmad I faced his first major challenge, with most of the strong neighbors piling on the Jalayirids. He decided it was time to unleash Qasim Sa'id, and he was promoted to the rank of general, joining Mahmud Jahagir.

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But even with a new strong military mind leading the expanded armies, now totalling 89000 men, the situation was dire - the Jalayirids were severely outnumbered and the enemies were coming from all sides.
 
The Reign of Sultan Ahmad I (1678-1689)
Part Two (1683-1689)

Ahmad left no stone unturned when trying to look for an edge in the conflicts. His major economic reforms of 1683 were a huge success, giving an unprecedented boost.

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The early results in the actual war weren't so great however. Alania fell to Austria and Charjo to Rajputana before proper resistance could be organized.

This changed in November when an ingenious maneuver by general Sa'id blocked an Austrian escape route in Kartli. Georg Seyssel's 31000 men were all either slain or imprisoned, with only the general himself making a cowardly escape.

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With Sa'id rallying his artillery regiments, the somewhat disorganized Jalayirid armies were able to retreat just before Austrian reinforcements could reach the province.

More land was lost as Marv fell to Rajputana and Mus to Austria in January 1684. But the battlefield was again ruled by the Jalayirids as Qasim Sa'id's troops, using the terrain to their advantage, slaughtered over 16000 Austrians in Armenia while losing just over 700 men. General Seyssel was on the losing side again.

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On the eastern front, Kandahar was lost in February, but general Jahagir's army retook Marv and Charjo and was very successful on the battlefield as well, taking one relatively large enemy army out of the picture.

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Over the next couple of months, general Sa'id won some more battles, but the victories weren't as decisive as earlier. The western front wasn't all roses though, as the scary Austrian assault army of over 60000 men took Hammah and Aleppo. However, it was becoming obvious that the Austrians couldn't properly supply such a huge army marching and assaulting deep in foreign land, and Ahmad was confident that it could be taken down eventually.

Still, such a force couldn't be faced on the field currently, so general Sa'id concentrated on retaking lost land instead. Alania and Mus were recovered, but there wasn't real progress as the Austrians took Adana and Vijayanagar grabbed Charjo.

Nonrelated good news were heard in June as the people of Hamadan had fully embraced the al Iraqiya ways.

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Peace was signed with Lan Xang in July, at least taking one rather insignificant nation out of the enemy coalitions. Other than that, things were looking worrying on the eastern front: while general Jahagir was winning battles, his army wasn't in a good enough condition to keep fighting much longer. Clearly more men were needed, but few could be spared. The general had to pull back in the autumn, allowing the Indian nations to occupy land as they pleased for the most part, only striking when a clear weakness was spotted.

In the west, Hammah and Aleppo showed surprising resolve under enemy occupation. In fact, it seemed that it had strengthened the inhabitants' ties with their nation.

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This did not go unnoticed, and general Sa'id was sent to retake Hammah and Aleppo. He did more, taking Adana as well; by late October, the Austrians didn't control any Jalayirid land anymore.

Still, Sa'id's men were exhausted, even suffering a minor defeat in one battle as a result, and additional troops were needed in the east. To make matters worse, Muscovite forces were finally slowly arriving from the north. It pained Sultan Ahmad to negotiate a loser's peace deal in a war he could clearly win given time, but he had to think of the interests of the nation as a whole. With a heavy heart he signed a peace agreement in December, with the Jalayirids giving the Austrians a nominal sum of money.

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Financially, essentially cutting the war in half couldn't have been more welcome. Even now, the national bank had to be bailed out, but it was estimated that with a peaceful western half of the country, things would improve soon.

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Almost the whole army began the long march east. Only the 6000 strong Egyptian Army was left behind and tasked with maintaining control in the entire west. Due to enemy spies causing unrest this seemed difficult to accomplish, so four more regiments would be recruited to eventually strengthen that army.

The real fight back started in April 1685. The first 24000 reinforcements were very close to arriving, so the original army under general Jahagir grew bolder. Marv was the first province retaken by the Jalayirids. Of course, with a dozen Jalayirid provinces under either enemy occupation or siege, this was only the beginning.

General Sa'id arrived in July, driving Vijayanagar out of Atak and later eliminating the 24000 man enemy army in Dash-i-Lut.

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Still, the progress was slow: the enemy was taking land almost as quickly as Sa'id and Jahagir could retake it. It was evident that the Indian armies had to be taken out of the picture.

Then in August, things seemed to take a turn for the worse again as Great Britain declared war.

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Fortunately, Venice was on the Jalayirids' side in this conflict, and seemed to keep the British busy enough as none were seen in Jalayirid lands.

In November, it was the Timurids' turn to attack the Jalayirids. They, however, weren't even able to handle their existing wars, let alone this new one.

One of the main enemy armies, 28000 soldiers in Khurasan, was utterly annihilated by Sa'id's men in December. Combined with a less decisive victory in Sistan by Jahagir, all remaining enemy armies of notable size on Jalayirid soil were on the run.

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As a result, the two generals were now mostly free to reclaim land, only having to fight minor battles. By early May 1686, the number of provinces held by enemies was down to three.

This was when additional Indian armies started pouring over the border, including a 31000 strong one from Vijayanagar that was able to defeat Jahagir's forces. Fortunately, Sa'id wasn't far away and was able to come to the rescue. The general also took care of the other significant army, 24000 men from Rajputana, eliminating it in one battle in November. Overall, the reinforcements proved to do little other than delay the inevitable.

Finally in February 1687, the enemy had been driven out of Jalayirid territory.

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While general Jahagir's initial push into Rajputana in Indus was unsuccessful, he was able to occupy Gazni, the lone Vijayanagar province on the Jalayirid border, in May. By now, Vijayanagar's people yearned for peace, and their administration's continued refusals to negotiate caused outrage in the country.

General Sa'id, entering the offensive action later due to being deeper in Jalayirid territory chasing remnants of enemy armies, broke through into Indus in June and continued on into Sind in July and Kutch in August. Meanwhile, Jahagir took a defensive position in the northern part of the border area as there was more Indian activity there.

The earlier conquests in the Egyptian area, Libya, Kargah, Suakin and Ibrim, were fully integrated into the Jalayirid nation in September, helping pacify that region and therefore making things easier for the army in the west.

By the beginning of 1688, four more provinces had been taken from Rajputana, and that nation was practically begging for peace. Sultan Ahmad I's terms were harsh: Jalayirids would take control of Indus and Sind, and Rajputana would also pay a small indemnity.

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Peace was also secured with Orissa and Tibet as those countries now realized that they were fighting for a lost cause. There were no concessions here, only a return to status quo.

Things looked good in general, but the nobles weren't happy. They somehow thought that such success had been caused by them, and requested lavish rewards. The Sultan found this preposterous: if anyone deserved thanks for the war effort, it was the generals and the men. Combined with recent unrest over not being allowed to flog their servants anymore, the nobles were starting to become an annoyance.

But there were other more important things to worry about, such as forcing Vijayanagar to the negotiation table. To this end, general Sa'id hadn't returned home after the peace with Rajputana - he and his men had marched onward for Vijayanagar. By April Konkan and Goa had been taken.

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Finally the court in the south saw sense. Their country was in shambles and the Jalayirids' advance was relentless; they had no choice but to capitulate. Gazni was taken, finally making Vijayanagar's exclave between Rajputana and the Jalayirids a thing of the past.

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Ahmad hoped that this would make Vijayanagar less enthusiastic to declare war on his country in the future.

Once again, general Sa'id didn't return home: this time he headed for Khandesh, the British ally.

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Their lands were occupied by late December, and the small nation was forced to give an indemnity of 26 ducats - all they could spare - and end their alliance with the British.

They weren't the only weak country to empty their treasury at that time, as Montenegro paid 72 ducats for peace. They had been occupied by Venice.

In the beginning of 1689 Ahmad finally started the military reforms that he had delayed earlier.

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He could not finish them however. Armies weren't drilled to use the new tactics immediately due to being in battles with rebels, and before those struggles were over the Sultan had perished to illness due to his advanced age. After three days of some disorientation, a regency council was put together on February 16th for the soon ten year old heir Ahmad, with the opponents of his disputed succession gathering their forces in Ajam.

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Jalayirid gains during the reign of Ahmad I
 
Good job, Malurous!

Those Austrians.... make me mad.

Btw, guys, I'll be going away for a week this Friday. So if it turns out that this will hold up the AAR, please skip me over; I'll take a different turn later on.
 
Thanks guys! It was a pretty entertaining turn to play, really.

Sorry for the relatively high infamy level Kommando, the Sultan died so soon after the war that it had very little time to burn... And do note, like I said in the update, that there's a better infantry type available. Other than that, shouldn't be a bad situation to pick up the turn. :)
 
So, what's going on with this? Over a month since my update...

Is someone playing? Taylor?
 
I have honestly no idea, but I will gladly take a turn now and play.. If you still have your savee Malurous I can continue from there unless Taylor is playing.
 
I have honestly no idea, but I will gladly take a turn now and play.. If you still have your savee Malurous I can continue from there unless Taylor is playing.

Yeah, let's wait for Taylor's answer and if he isn't playing then go ahead and take it. It's been a while since you played because of your "hiatus" so you could be due. :) If Taylor wants it now then I think you should go after him, retaining your original spot in the order.

The save link in the first post of this page still appears to work.
 
Yup, I found that out after I posted (stupid me). Yes, I know my spot is after Taylor so I'm fine with waiting :) Just saying that I can go at it at once if he wishes.
 
Oh, hey! I didn't think there was much interest in continuing this. (except for you, Malurous, but a succession AAR with 2 players seemed a bit meager)

I actually played my turn a while ago already. I'll post the link tonight, and write up an AAR sometime this week!
 
Here's the game.

I'll be a bit busy in the beginning of this week, but I'll post something later this week.
 
Great to hear that you're working on it Taylor!

Yeah, a confirmed three player roster is at least better than two. :p And who knows, maybe one of the others will turn up.