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The Reign of Sultan Ahmad III
Part Two (1734-1739)

While the British war had been very successful in other regions, Banten was left completely defenseless after the local garrison had been cruelly slaughtered by the British. The local citizens didn't seem loyal enough for recruitment to the Jalayirid army, while transporting men from the Middle East would have been awfully inconvenient. As such, Sultan Ahmad III okayed the hiring of several Indonesian mercenary companies to at least keep the province safe from rebels. Their wages were outrageous, but the Sultan believed that this was the best short term solution.

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Just a quick note here, it's something I found funny... Apparently, Malta (left) is distant overseas from Iraq-i-Arab (center), but Banten (right) isn't. Seems logical.

Additionally, it was hoped that the Jalayirids' new ally in the region, Malacca, would help make Banten a safer place.

Meanwhile, the Sultan was leading yet another round of annexation negotiations with Ak Koyunlu. When this proved futile, Ahmad found a new target for his expansionism: Algiers.

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The small nation's location in North Africa made it a logical next step after the Jalayirids had already assumed control over most of the region.

Algiers' military was naturally no match for Jalayirid might. By July 1736 the whole nation was under occupation, and it was annexed in its entirety.

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While the nationalists in the country were ecstatic after the annexation, some of the religious authorities were less impressed. After all, with plenty of infidels around, why strike at a fellow Muslim? The Sultan appeased them by founding a university in Nubia; this was something that they had been requesting for some time.

In April 1737 Ahmad finally got a breakthrough in yet another long and painful discussion: Ak Koyunlu was finally ready to be absorbed!

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Much prettier, eh?

With that out of the way, the Sultan turned his attention towards Africa. A new colony was launched in Gezira in November. It was located near Butana and Taka, the two former colonies that had been granted full province status recently.

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Meanwhile, Konya's inhabitants finally converted to the true faith. Soon afterwards, the people of Ceuta did the same.

Grim news reached the court in February 1738: the new ally Malacca had been attacked by Lithuania.

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Ahmad sent his declarations to the Lithuanians and the northern armies started to prepare for the possibility of Lithuanian attacks through Bohemian territory as they had secured military access. Thankfully, with the border patrols designed for a Bohemian attack, it was believed that Lithuania shouldn't stand a chance.

Additionally, the fleet was sent to guard the Straits of Gibraltar.

The first battle in July seemed to prove the Jalayirid military's assumptions correct. Anwar Ahmad's army utterly crushed a similarly sized Lithuanian army in Kaffa.

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Therefore the Sultan felt that this conflict didn't require his undivided attention. So in September he took the first step in his plan for modernizing the navy. Ahmad III wanted to take some of older battleships out of commission, replacing them with the new Twodeckers. However, to do this on a large scale would have been expensive with the facilities currently available. For this reason, shipyard improvements began in Sidon, which the Sultan envisioned as a major shipbuilding center in the future. The initial expansion was modest, but this was indeed only the first step.

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But this wasn't the only thing Ahmad was seeking to accomplish. During the early parts of the year, Indian conquests Sind, Indus and Gazni had been pacified as the nationalist sentiment had finally fully died out.

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As such, the Sultan felt that the region was safe for new conquests. War was declared on Rajputana in May 1739.

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While the official reason for the war was reclaiming the rightfully Jalayirid Balkh, Ahmad had other goals that he kept secret, including the conquest of Kutch, a wealthy trade center, and replacing Rajputana's occupation of Timurid Bukhara with a Jalayirid one.

The war seemed to be a popular one: soon after the declaration, both Sirt and Trebizon embraced the Sunni faith, while resistance in Berber and Dongola ended and they became proper parts of Jalayirid patrimony.

The Sultan's initial plan in the war was simple. Rajputana's mainland would be left alone, with only a small force guarding against any enemy aggression in the south. The bulk of the Jalayirid army in the region would strike at Rajputana's northern exclave with full power, occupying it as quickly as possible and then moving to reinforce the south. The idea was to avoid dividing the armies later in the war.

Things started well as general Anwar Ahmad pushed into Karshi, took the province and then successfully defended it against a counterattack. Enemy casualties were horrible.

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Unfortunately, Ahmad III would only see the events unfold this far as he choked on a peach stone and died. A strong and healthy man, his passing was a shock to all, and the nobles had to scramble to assemble a regency council for the eight year old Uwais.

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Above all, Ahmad III would be remembered for bringing safety to the nation by driving away the British infidels. Sadly, due to his premature death, the world may never know what further plans his ambitious mind came up with.
 
Those Lithuanians are soft as butter, I had a few clashes with them too :). A pity of the unexpected death!

I haven't finished playing yet, but maybe I'll do an update tomorrow anyway.
 
Take Tunis and the Southern Mediterranean coast will be all Jalayirid!

Indeed! They're a vassal so it should be simple to do with a diploannexation.
 
Uwais IV Jalayirid (1739-?) - Prologue.

Uwais was running down a hill. He wondered why he was running. Am I running from something? thought Uwais. Fear built up inside of him. He looked over his shoulder, but saw nothing but the hill he was running down from. It seemed more steep than a regular hill, in fact, it looked more like a wall made of grass than a slope. Why am I not falling? He looked down to his feet but saw nothing special about them, except that they were bare. He must have overestimated the slope. Then another thought struck him: maybe I'm not running from something, but towards something. He looked ahead again but could not see far due to the next hill in front of him. I will run to the top of that hill, then I will be able to see further, Uwais thought. He soon reached the bottom of the valley and started running up the hill in front of him. It was strange how it went so effortlessly. Come to think of it, he also seemed to be running extremely fast. He went so fast that he was on the top of the hill before he knew it and almost fell trying to stop.

Looking ahead now, he saw a broad, brown river meandering its way across green lands. And he saw a small fortified city next to it. And around that city, there was an army that seemed to be sieging it. Uwais tried to estimate its size, but kept losing count. Why wasn't he able to concentrate better? Suddenly, he noticed the banners of the army. They were yellow with some animal and a sword on it. He had no idea what country it belonged to. He looked at the banners of the city. The Jalayirid yellow and red. He must warn someone that someone was attacking a Jalayirid city! He wanted to turn and go but suddenly realized he had no idea where he was. How could he find someone to warn? What would he tell them? Someone is attacking a city of ours somewhere. Worse, he could accidentally fall into the hands of the invaders and be captured. Surely that would be embarassing to father. He suddenly felt sad but did not know why.

He looked again in the direction of the city, but now the sieging army seemed to be in chaos. Men were running in this and that direction, grabbing pikes and loading muskets. Some seemed to be running from something hidden from sight behind a hill. Others were moving in formation towards it. Then Uwais suddenly spotted horsemen appearing from behind a different hill, galloping into the flank of the besiegers. Some of them didn't even see the horsemen until they were struck by them or shot. The cavalry were so many that the part of the besieging army that was still near the city was soon engulfed by them. Men were running away but were mercilessly cut down by pursuing horsemen. Then, from the same direction that the cavalry had come from, men on foot appeared. They quickly reached the area around the city and started advancing towards the besieging men that were still moving in formation towards the unseen threat behind the hill. Soon however, they noticed the army coming from behind and a white flag was raised. Flag! Uwais looked at the flags of the victors. Red on yellow, Allah be thanked.

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"Congratulations on your victory," a voice said in his right ear.

Uwais turned his head and looked into the eyes of a large owl sitting on his shoulder. He startled so much that he fell to the ground. The owl flew up and landed on a dead tree nearby. Why hadn't he felt the owl on his shoulder? He looked at the owl's large claws and then at his shoulder, noticing only now that he wasn't wearing any clothing on his upper body. His shoulder was bleeding a little. "W-what...," he stammered.

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"What I said was congratulations, boy," said the owl.

"How... why...," was all Uwais managed.

"How? Why, your faithful general Fahd Jagahir performed a splendid encirclement of the enemy army. They didn't even know what hit them until the moment it hit them. You just saw it happen."

"But..."

"But you're facing the wrong way, boy. Turn around." The owl's voice was strangely loud for such a small creature. Suddenly Uwais noticed he was lying in something wet. Something... red. He sprang to his feet and looked in horror at the large puddle of blood he had been lying in. Looking at his shoulder, he noticed that blood was literally streaming out of it. How could such a small wound produce so much blood? He looked at the grass silhouette formed by his own body in the screaming red puddle. His feet were still on the same spot as the silhouette's. Presently, the grass in the silhouette turned yellow as if drying out, but then its color turned brighter and brighter until it became completely white. At the same time, the silhouette itself started to deform, little streams of blood making their way into it, other places drying up. In panic, Uwais looked at where the owl was still sitting. "What's going on?" he said, his voice unsteady.

"Don't turn to me boy," the owl said, so loud that he was positively booming. "Again, you're facing the wrong way! TURN AROUND, BOY!" His voice was loud as thunder.

Uwais turned back to the silhouette, but it wasn't his anymore. A snow-white lion was standing up against the bloody red background, yellow claws in the air, yellow tongue stuck out. Yellow crown on its head. Then, the lion slowly turned its head, looked Uwais in the eyes and roared.

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Uwais IV Jalayirid (1739-?) - Part 1.

Uwais woke up with a little yelp, to a warm sun shining on his face. "Turn around, boy," a voice echoed in his head. What had he been dreaming about? He lay on his back for a while, trying to get a hold on the images he remembered, now quickly fading away like dream images do. There had been a battle. And an owl that had talked to him. And there had been another, scarier creature.

He kicked off his sheets and got out of bed. Today it was the 26th of October 1739. He knew, because tomorrow it would be two months ago that father died. Who dies of a peach stone? he wondered for the hundredth time. Jafar Zaman, one of his father's advisors, had commented he'd once swallowed a peach stone without subsequent trouble. Uwais had been asleep when it'd happened. They had woken him in the middle of the night and told him his father was dead. The next day, bright and sunny, they had crowned him king.
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Sultan Uwais IV, he thought, he did like the sound of that, but he'd much rather have sultan Ahmad the III back. And besides, he hadn't done much ruling anyway. Since he was only eight years old, mother had been named regent in his stead, and she did most of the ruling.

He had been attending governmental meetings though, because they wanted to teach him to be king. And he had to sign several documents, such as the ones authorizing the construction of a grain depot in Baghdad, the commissioning of a tax assessor in Alexandria, and the construction of a glorious monument in Hormuz.
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All of these were mother's ideas though, as it was her idea that more investments should go in government research, for "the Jalayirid state cannot survive these rapidly changing times if it does not constantly change itself," he could still hear his mother say. He had a knack for remembering phrases. And mother had a knack for getting people to do her bidding, and so if she wanted more investments in government research, there would be more investments in government research.
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The most exciting part of these meetings, Uwais thought, was the discussion about the war with the Indians.
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Each day, there could be another message about a glorious victory by the Jalayirids, or news that another province had been occupied successfully. There had been several of these already.

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Perhaps today there would be more.

He called his servants and let himself be washed and dressed, and ate breakfast. Then he walked to the meeting room, as always arriving after everyone else. No, wait, Ahmad Ahmad, the diplomat, wasn't there yet. He snickered a little at the thought of that name. Then he sat down at the head of the table and greeted the people present: Ziyad Hussain, Jafar Zaman, and his mother, Estabraq Katun. As was tradition, only then did they greet him a good morning.

Mother said: "Does anyone know where is Ahmad is?" No-one answered. "Well, we can start without him; there probably isn't much going on on the diplomatic front anyway. The Indian war is still going well; we received a letter from general Jahagir that he relieved the siege of Thatta, by, and I quote, a splendid encirclement of the enemy. The enemy didn't even know what hit them until the moment it hit them. I must say, this man is exaggerating his own qualities a little; according to my sources, the army that he defeated was only 2000 strong."

"Well, he is a good general though," said Ziyad Hussain, "We all remember the battle of Indus, no?"

"In which he outnumbered the enemy more than two to one, you mean?" replied mother.

"In which he did not suffer a single casualty," said Ziyad Hussain, "how many casualties did we incur in this battle?"

"There were none." said mother. "Look, I know he's a good general. I wish it weren't so obvious that he thinks so, too. In any case, good news from the Indian front, like always."

The door of the meeting room opened and Ahmad Ahmad came in, looking stressed. "My apologies for being late, my sultan," he said to Uwais, then, to the rest of the room, "but I had an unexpected visitor."

"Who, might I ask?" said mother.

"The ambassador of Malacca. He requests our aid in a war."

"And who is Malacca at war with?" asked mother.

"Bohemia," said Ahmad.

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For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, mother said: "well, better start planning a military campaign in Ukraine." Turning to a servant, she continued, "fetch me the military maps for Anatolia, Caucasus and Ukraine, will you?" The servant bowed and did what he was asked, returning with a number of large scrolls. Spreading these out on the table, mother and the advisrs started discussing military tactics, which Uwais did not entirely follow. He was curious what was on the map, though, and leaned over the table to have a peek. Pointing on the map, mother was saying: "and then we move the Army of the North from Georgia further west to counter the threat of this Bohemian army here in Crimea."
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She pointed on the map to what was supposedly a representation of the Bohemian army. It was red. Uwais leaned further and saw what it was: a white lion on a red background.
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Suddenly remembering his dream, he gasped. Mother, noticing, said "I know, dear, Bohemia is a big country, but we can handle it. We've done so before." Uwais looked again at the picture of the lion. It wasn't looking at him, but was only looking sideways. It did not look as scary now as it did in his dream. Facing the wrong way, Uwais thought. "Mother," he said, "why are we at war with India?"

"Because they occupy Balkh, dear, which is rightfully ours. Moreover, your father wanted to conquer some extra territory off them, although we aren't quite sure what exactly his plan was."

"Should we make peace with them and fight Bohemia instead?" said Uwais.

"No, dear, we have enough armies to keep Bohemia at bay while finishing off the Indians," mother replied.
 
Nice stuff. It's pretty silly how Malacca gets DoWed first by Lithuania and then by Bohemia - such naval powerhouses! :D
 
It seems that Malacca is a magnet attracting western armies - first Lithuania and then Bohemia. The prudent thing to do would be it's annexation after the war with Bohemia is over, to end these calls to arms once and for all!

And who would appoint someone called Ahmad Ahmad on the diplomacy?! I can imagine all the jokes "What is your name, your excellency?" "Ahmad Ahmad, your grace" "I heard you the first time, thank you very much" :p
 
I've recently come to read through this AAR and I kinda like it :)

I am also amazed by the sharpness of Taylor's screenies :eek: they're better in quality than my actual ingame graphics :D
 
he is saving them as PNG images. PNG format is a lossless one.
 
yup, png is where it's at :).

Btw sorry for the lack of updates on my part. I'm surprisingly busy lately. I'll try to squeeze something in sometime this week.
 
No problem, it's not like you're the first one taking your time with the turn. :D And you've been very fast in general I think.

In the meantime, remember to vote for your favorite AARs in the AARland Choice AwAARds everyone!
 
Great job!!! You guys are making me rethink my stance about narrative AARs.
I can't spell worth C*#@. Keep up the good work.
 
Any news here ?

I do think about this AAR often so I'm certain I will return to it eventually, soon I hope.

I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting so much...
 
I do think about this AAR often so I'm certain I will return to it eventually, soon I hope.

I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting so much...

Don't worry about it, it's not like I for one would have any time to play right now atleast. Exams for the next two weeks here...
 
Don't worry about it, it's not like I for one would have any time to play right now atleast.

Same here so no worries.