I'll admit that I'm dumbfounded by people who don't realize the magnitude of populating an entire realm. For ToG there was a new character (including wife/children, etc) for EVERY county on the entire map, complete with dynasties, lineage, etc. Du jure duchies, kingdoms and empires had to be drawn, and who controlled what had to be determined. Now for India they not only have to do that for the 300 new counties, but they also have to "play it forward" every single day from 1066 until 1453 (because you can start at any point over that time period, so a history has to be complete). When do people marry, have which kids, die, get conquered by their neighbor, become king, etc. It's why you can't start a campaign anytime after 867 and before 1066, because that would have been almost as much work as populating the original game...
I can't imagine the work and historical research that goes into the thousands of characters (ok, many of which are 100% fictional) and scenarios that go into something like that. It makes the game mechanics seem like child's play in comparison.
