The Lions of Lahore - A Sikh Empire AAR

The years after the 4th Anglo-Sikh war prove to be quite eventful. The United Kingdom, perhaps looking for a softer target, was discovered trying to fabricate a casus belli against the Qin Empire. The UK would later go on to wrest the region of Canton from the Qing's control.


In 1872, a fairly major jacobin revolt broke out, though it was, in time, put down by the Fauj-i-Ain. The Maharaja made no changes to the political rights of the populace afterwards, but publically expressed that he was 'exploring the idea.' So far, he is still exploring it.

As promised after the last Anglo-Sikh ar, the Maharaja, almost to the point of single-mindedness, pursued the full modernization of the Fauj-i-Ain's military technology, officer corps, and doctrine. By 1880, the efforts would be almost complete, and the Fauj-i-Ain would, at last, truly be a fully modern first-rate army, easily on par with any of the western nations, save in Military science, which was still in the process of being brought up to modern standards. Improved supply technologies and methods were also researched.


Beyond that, numerous new inventions, methods, and techniques were created. Many of these were economic in nature, but the vast majority were of a military nature. New wargames, saddle orders, training in flexible firepower and synchronized heavy support, and even machine guns were discovered and implemented. These were but some of the innovations introduced from 1872 to 1880.

While, by and large, a time of peace and stability, the world was not without troubles. In 1874, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa and Kokand became embroiled in a short war over Khorug in Bandakshan. The victor goes without saying.




A more serious conflict was ignited by a crisis in Eastern Europe. Said crisis was over the Russian regions of Congress Poland. On one side was the United Kingdom and its ever-faithful ally, Germany. On the other was the Russian Empire, France, Belgium, and, eventually, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. Diplomacy failed, and a war erupted over the business. Naturally, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa was left to face the UK alone on the subcontinent, while its temporary allies faced Germany in Europe.


At this point, the Fauj-i-Ain had only partially completed its modernization efforts, but it performed quite well, considering. The large British garrison the imperialists had sent to guard their remaining territories was continuously defeated and, eventually, destroyed entirely, and all British-held territories on the subcontinent, save Ceylon, were occupied. The most significant battle of the Indian theater was the battle of Allahbad. Alas, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's allies did not fare quite as well, and the conflict ended with the release of Congress Poland as a sovereign state. Still, the much-improved performance of the Fauj-i-Ain against the British was heartening and proof that the Maharaja's efforts were not in vain.


Domestically, the Maharaja organized the construction of numerous new forts, especially in states bordering Imperialist territory. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa's first railroads were also constructed, terrain permitting. As of yet, they are rudimentary, but the Maharaja is hopeful that these rail lines will prove useful when the country begins its industrialization efforts in the future. Awadh, long under Sikh control, finally became a state, to great celebration. Finally, a new minister was appointed in 1880 after the unfortunate passing of the previous one. The new minister, a veteran general that served in two of the Anglo-Sikh wars, should prove to be an adept minister in times of war, should such become necessary.


Elsewhere in the world, representatives of the European Great Powers, as well as Russia and the Ottoman Empire, met in Paris to discuss the growing instability in the Balkans. All agreed, save the Ottoman representatives, that the Balkans should be stabilized. The Maharaja considered this event little more than an idle curiosity, though seeing the United Kingdom's largest puppet state weakened, however slightly, pleased him.



In 1876, the Qing finally modernized. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa's relations with the Qing had been good for decades, though that was as far as the relationship went. Both countries recognizing that a Sino-Sikh alliance would be to the advantage of both countries, a formal alliance, at long last, was formed shortly thereafter. Regretfully, the alliance would end when the Maharaja had to refuse a call to arms against the Russian Empire. If not for the timing--he was planning something momentous that required the entirely country's undivided attention--he would have honored the alliance.

The task that required the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's undivided attention? Why, war against the imperialists, what else? The Maharaja had been preparing for this war for years--the crisis years before had just been a sideshow--and was determined for this to be the last of these Anglo-Sikh wars.


On April 13th, 1880, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa began mobilizing, attaching the reserve artillery & cavalry to groups of 18,000 conscripts. On July 29th, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa declared war on the United Kingdom once again, ostensibly to free cores on the behalf of its sphereling Beroda.


The Fifth--and hopefully final--Anglo-Sikh war had begun.


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Mmmm, that crisis war was rather easy, even though my side lost. A pity Russia capitulated.

When I get the chance, I am going to free the Ottoman Empire, if only so I don't have to look at UNITED KINGDOM splayed across its territory any longer. But first... India.

The war started as the previous ones had: with the quick occupation of the princely states in the Rajputana region. This was quickly achieved, the fully-modernized Fauj-i-Ain sweeping all resistance. Meanwhile, other armies swept into Awadh, occupying it after heavy fighting. Imperialist puppets though they may be, let it be known that the men of Awahli fought impressively. While some enemy forces--in some cases, sizeable ones--did slip into friendly territory, those forces were quickly engaged and dispersed.



In Bihar, a large, roughly 81,000 strong British army led by one Louis Tyron--the bulk of the British forces on the subcontinent, in fact, invaded Bhagalpur, attacking a 39,000 strong Sikh Army led by one Nihal Ramgarhia at Bhagalpur. The Maharaja and his generals had foreseen this and placed nearly 120,000 troops of the Fauj-i-Ain in Bihar, within easy reinforcing distance. As the battle commence, the reinforcing armies converged on Bhagalpur, leading to what was perhaps the single largest battle in the war. The battle raged for days, and then weeks, and, in the end, over 90,000 casualties were inflicted during the battle. Of those, almost 71,000 were British casualties.

The shattered British forces withdrew back into imperialist territory, the Sikh army least in need of recovery hot in pursuit. This pursuit would last weeks, but, eventually, Louis Tyron's forces would be completely dispersed. Nihal Ramgarhia, because of this victory, would be hailed as a national hero.





Domestically, things were surprisingly normal, besides an election. The Maharaja discreetly encouraged and supported the more Jingoistic politicians. A country was only as strong in war as its people's will to fight, after all. Another notable domestic event was that the Maharaja, after much deliberation, issued a decree stating that the formation and maintenance of political parties was now legal. Harassment of these new parties is still extremely common, but liberals hailed this decision as a 'step in the right direction.' In truth, it was mostly a measure to placate the populace.


During the war, a certain sentiment spread throughout the subcontinent: that of Indian Nationalism. Stirred and moved by the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's valiant fight against the imperialists and the Maharaja's openly stated desire to unite the subcontinent, activists throughout India began calling for unification, especially in the puppets of the United Kingdom.



As the war dragged on, Imperialist resistance melted away, and the Fauj-i-Ain gradually pushed its way south. Eventually, the whole of the subcontinent, save the Maldives, had been occupied, and so... the Maharaja began determined the most appropriate demands to make of the British. Demanding their retreat from India was, perhaps, reaching too far, but this peace treaty would be less lenient than the previous ones. He eventually decided on the following demands:

The Princely State of Baroda acquires all of its core territory currently held by the United Kingdom.
The regions of South Bengal, North Bengal, and Assam will be ceded to the Sarkar-e-Khalsa.
The Princely States of Nagpur, Orissa, and Mysore are released from servitude.

These conditions would, if accepted, bring the majority of the subcontinent's land under the control--direct or otherwise--of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, and, more importantly, somewhat isolate the remaining puppets, allowing the Indian nationalists, independence advocates, and other elements subversive to the Imperialists a better chance to succeed.


The Maharaja sent a diplomat with the demands and and United Kingdom, surprisingly, agreed to them. The war officially came to end on March 5th, 1882, with a final casualty count of just over 530,000.

To the Maharaja, the victory felt almost... bittersweet. Setting aside the fact that there would be, at the very least, one more Anglo-Sikh war, he almost felt... pity for the long-time enemy of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. The United Kingdom had once been the world's pre-eminent power, and while it was still a Great Power, it was, by now, a sad shadow of what it had been. Or could have been. It was a grim reminder that, no matter how great or powerful, nothing except God was eternal.

Still, the Maharaja had other things to attend to. He felt that the next years should be spent, finally, trying to industrialize the nation. The population was still largely illiterate, but the region of Punjab, and the regions bordering it, should, at least in theory, possess literate enough citizens to set up some sort of industry. The Maharaja knew not what type of industry, at this time, but it would have to be done.

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Well, I couldn't drive the UK's war exhaustion high enough to trigger the "Demand the Retreat from India" decision, but I did more or less neuter them. They're down to #3 now, and their military went from #4 to #8; the Sarkar-e-Khalsa is #7, currently. Prestige-wise, they went from #3 to #5, and I rose from #5 to #1. They are kept afloat, at this point, by their high industry score.

And now you get to watch the hilarity of watching someone with... suspect... skills at manually industrializing try to industrialize.

In Vickymod (the mod I'm using) and, I think, NNM, yeah, there's a crown from the gutter event for India, in the off chance Indian Nationalists get anywhere. I'm pretty sure there's one in vanilla, as well. Obviously, this event firing is a very rare occurrence, given how easily the UK puts down rebellions under normal circumstances.

Heh, sorry for the absence the past two days. I've been sick since about two days ago, and I... really haven't had the energy to do much at all.

On the plus side, it turns out that when I actually sit down, take a look at my country's available resources, and then build accordingly, I'm not as bad at industrialization as I thought. Had some duds, of course, but I managed.

It was time. If the Sarkar-e-Khalsa was to remain competetive among the Great Powers--nay, among all the world's nation--mere population and the output of artisans would not suffice; the country would have to industrialize or face the risk of falling back into irrelevancy. The Maharaja would not allow the great country his ancestors had founded, nurtured, and entrusted to him to experience such a fate.

Before the fifth Anglo-Sikh war had even ended, the Maharaja gather all of his finest economic advisors--domestic and foreign alike--around him and begun to take a look at the country's potential for industrialization.

The Sarkar-e-Khalsa was a vast nation at this point, bursting with resources, though lacking in things like iron, sulphur, and, to a thankfully lesser extent thanks to Bihar, deposits of coal. The population was still largely illiterate, and everything east of Awadh simply hadn't been part of the country long enough to be home to any type of industry, despite the large populations of those areas. Everything West of Awadh--the areas considered to be the core territories of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa--however, looked to be excellent targets for industrialization. Their populations were lower than the eastern frontier, but they were comparatively more literate, and the bureacracies that managed those populations were efficient and well-established.


A little over a month and a half after the war's end, the Maharaja set his plan for industrialization into action:


Factories, for most areas, were planned based upon readily-available local resources, with the exception of the state of Panjab, which, as a central, stable, and well-protected area of the Empire, was designated as the core of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's military-industrial complex, where vital goods such as firearms, artillery, ammunition, and cement would be produced. It would take much time for his plan to bear fruit, the Maharaja realized, and the government might have to subsidize the factories until they could stand on their own, but patience, as they say, is a virtue.


In May of 1883, the recently-crowned Emperor of Russia, Alexander III, offered an alliance to the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. The Maharaja, initially, was reluctant to accept. While the Russian Empire, backwards as it was, was mighty, the... mentality of Alexander III was quite opposed to the Maharaja's. The Russian Emperor desired a country with one people, one language, one religion, while the Maharaja not only tolerated differences, but celebrated them. Assimilation into the mainstream culture, of course, was encouraged slightly, but as long as a given individual was a good citizen and did their part, however small, in making the Sarkar-e-Khalsa an even greater and stronger nation, they were welcome, irrespective of nationality or creed.

However, the Maharaja, despite his distaste for Alexander III's... policies, was a pragmatic individual. The UK had ceased to be a particularly relevant threat, but a new one had taken its place: China. While relations were cordial, and the Sino-Sikh border was easily defensible, there was the possibility of the war, since the Sarkar-e-Khalsa and Beiyang China had, as of late, been competing for influence over Tibet and Nepal, with the former mostly coming out on top. Having a fellow Great Power with an army nearly as vast as the Chinese would do much to check any overt Chinese aggression. In the end, the Maharaja accepted the offer.


Elsewhere in the world, the volcano of Krakatoa erupted. International response to the disaster was, on the whole, weak and non-commital. Among the Great Powers, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa provided the most aid, financial and otherwise, though its efforts were frustrated by its small number of ports and small navy. Regardless, the gesture of goodwill was appreciated by the Dutch.


Closer to home, Alliances were formally established with the Princely States of Nagpur and Mysore, after approximately three years of negotiation and improvement of relations. A year later, in 1886, a similar alliance would be finalized with the Princely State of Orissa.




In 1885, elections were held in the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. This would have been an event of little note, save for the elections turning violent. Seeking to alleviate the political unrest in the country, the Maharaja established a basic universal schooling system. While not directly related to politics, a sizeable portion of the population had been lobbying for such a thing for quite some time, and the action was successful in pacifying certain sections of the population. Still, despite this, violence persisted...


In 1886, a crisis over the freedom of Congress Poland broke out. Most of the Great Powers displayed no interest, but the two sides--Germany supporting the Polish cause and the Russian Empire seeking to maintain control over those areas--couldn't come to terms and war broke out. The Maharaja immediately promised the Russian Empire significant war subsidies, a promise he made good on. Alexander III was reportedly quite grateful. Despite the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's financial assistance, the Russian Empire would go on to lose the war, though only just.


In 1887, disaster struck the country when multiple epidemics--among them, Cholera--ripped through the populace. His heart saddened by the suffering of his people (and perhaps seeking to pacify them), the Maharaja passed a bill that would, when fully implemented, would improve the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's national health care system. Even the mere news of this bill's passing had the effect of soothing certain, more militant sectors of the population, especially those that had been lobbying for such a thing.

Also in 1887, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa declared war against the Princely State of Bikaner, which had undergone revolution a year earlier and slipped from the control of the United Kingdom. The goal was simple: Bring Bikaner into the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's sphere of influence immediately, rather than play games with the United Kingdom. The war was over in less than a month.


In 1889, the Maharaja signed into law yet another health care bill into law. Experts the world over believe that, when the bill's changes are fully implemented, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's national health care will be among the best in the world.

Also in 1889, an event that, in earlier decades, would have been an earth-shaking event for the Sarkar-e-Khalsa occurred. On October 9th, 1889, the sixth Anglo-Sikh War began, with the stated goal of acquiring Bombay and the provinces surrounding it.. The Fauj-i-Ain quickly overran the UK's forces, as well as their few remaining allies on the subcontinent.



By March of 1890, the UK offered a peace treaty to the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, giving in to the Maharaja's demands. After this war, the UK would only control two isolated regions, Jagdalpur and Gwalior, and it would lose the Ottoman Empire as a puppet.





After eight years of concerted effort, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's industrial capacity had improved from non-existent to 19th in the world. While still fairly weak compared to its rank among nations in terms of prestige and military, the Empire's industry had reached the point where it could stand on its own with little assistance from the government. With more time and proper care, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's industry, the Maharaja felt, could easily rise to be on par with the other Great Powers. Perhaps, with enough time, it could even surpass them.

Only time would tell.


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The Sixth Anglo-Sikh War was such a breeze that it didn't even merit its own post. The only real threats during the war were Awadh and the Ottomans, both of which are now in my sphere.

The Sixth Anglo-Sikh war brought tremendous gains to the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. Not only were the Imperialists, at this point, reduced to a nominal presence on the continent, they had lost not one, but two formidable spherelings to the Empire. The Maharaja, in his heart, felt that the unification of the subcontinent--his dream, as well as his father's--was not far off.
Regardless, that was the future, if at all, and there was work to be done.


In march of 1890, the Maharaja initiated a reform of the Empire's public school system. While any school system was better than no school system, the quality of the school was considered to be quite poor, by the standards of the day. The system was underfunded, educators underpaid, and individual schools were often undersupplied. The Maharaja's reform aimed to fix these problems by increasing the education budget and, perhaps more importantly, improving the bureaucracy managing the school system. Results would not be immediate, but the reforms were judged, by most, to be 'acceptable'.


Later, in May, the Maharaja officially granted the Kingdom of Baharashtra, centered around the city of Bombay, its independence. The Kingdom would, of course, maintain close diplomatic, economic, and military ties with the country that had liberated it. The Maharaja's benevolence did not go unnoticed by the world at large, either. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa's demands in the most recent Anglo-Sikh war had, perhaps, pushed the boundaries of acceptability, but this act did much to ameliorate the situation.


Continuing his post-war reforms, the Maharaja instituted a change in the way political parties are allowed to operate. This change, while far from perfect, would do much to put to rest the harassment of various political parties that had been occurring for years. Some experts claim, however, that the reforms do not go far enough, and that there is still the potential for certain factions to manipulate the political landscape to unfairly favor one party or another. The Maharaja promised further reforms, political capital permitting. He would later deliver on that promise on December 1st, 1890, when further reforms to the political process were passed.


In Foreign Affairs, an important event occurred in July of 1891: The formation of a military alliance with China. The skilled diplomats of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, after months and years of effort, finally reached an agreement over the competition for influence over the Himalayan nations: Tibet, Nepal, and Sikkim would be taken into the sphere of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa; in exchange, the Chinese would be free to interfere with the central asian nations--Kokand, Bhukkhara, and Khiva--without interference from the Empire. Furthermore, the diplomats were so successful in warming relations that China proposed an alliance in addition to the settlement over influence. The alliance was officially declared a few days afterwards. The other Great Powers--the Russian Empire, especially--were understandably wary of this Sino-Sikh alliance, given the combined military strength of this partnership.


Continuing his political reforms, the Maharaja passed a reform that equalized the votes of the wealthy and middle class, though the poor were still excluded from the voting process. While decried by the majority of the country's rich citizens, the Maharaja's reform was almost universally hailed by the middle class, as well as the more liberal sections of society. Some expressed hopes that, perhaps, the vote would soon be extended to the poor, though the Maharaja seemed somewhat reluctant to go quite that far, at least at the moment.


In 1892, Maharaja Variam Harsharan Singh, under heavy guard, traveled to Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire to meet with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. After a Lavish Welcoming celebration, the two men quickly got down to formalizing relations between their countries. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa had freed the Ottoman Empire from decades of, essentially, puppetry--an action for which Sultan Abdul Hamid II was extremely grateful--and the Maharaja expressed little desire in taking the United Kingdom's place as puppet-master. Instead, the Maharaja and Sultan established a different type of relationship between their two countries: one that would be of mutual benefit. The Ottoman Empire would provide economic benefit--provisions of resources and such--while the Sarkar-e-Khalsa would ensure the Ottoman Empire's continued independence until such time it could stand against Imperialist influence once more. Both men were reportedly satisfied with the agreement.


Some years later, in 1894, the countries of the world met and proposed an interesting event for fostering goodwill and peace among nations: the Olympic Games. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa was offered a place on the committee that would be organizing these games, in exchange for a modest sum. The Maharaja, having developed something of an interest in Ancient Greek Civilization from his time in the region two years before, accepted the proposal and paid the sum out of his own coffers.


Also in 1894, the Maharaja, after much debate and consultation, expanded the vote yet again, giving the poor, for the first time in the nation's history, a real say in the political process. However, lacking the political capital to outright force universal sufferage, the Maharaja had to make do with a sort of 'weighted' universal sufferage that reversed the equalization of the votes of the wealthy and middle class he had signed into law some years before. Despite this, the public's reaction was largely positive.




On December 4th, 1895, the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, after about a year of preparation--most of that spent on forging justifications--declared war against the United Kingdom yet again. This time, however, the German Empire took over leadership of the war. In comparison to the previous Anglo-Sikh war, this conflict would prove to be somewhat more bloody and drawn out--a war of attrition and waiting, in other words.


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Free Cultural Kin is a NNM casus belli that, as you can see, is basically a free puppet CB. It's infamy-free, but requires a higher warscore (if I recall) to press.

The war, despite being comparatively long and bloody, was a pretty typical affair by now. Subdue the rajput states first, then the British-held territory, and finally... wait. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa could not mount an invasion of any of its enemies, since its navy was, comparatively, quite pitiful.


The Rajputana states that were not already under the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's control were, of course, quickly subdued. The only real resistance came at Jodhpur, where the bulk of British forces on the subcontinent met--and were repelled by--a Panjabi army of equal size. It was business as usual, in other words.


As a minor aside, Bundelkhand, some time before, had been overcome by communist rebels and become a proletarian dictatorship. The Sarkar-e-Khalsa declared war against this "People's Republic of Bundelkhand" and quicky routed its army. Bundelkhand was promptly puppeted and the forces used to subdue Bundelkhand diverted to South Bengal.


For the first time, the Fauj-i-Ain could focus entirely on the south, as Awadh was no longer a threat, and the eastern border was, for the most part, secure. However, as a precautionary measure, armies were stationed in Calcutta, Bela, and Karachi, to ward off any seaborne invasions and reinforce the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's allies, if need be.This action proved quite prescient, as Spain mounted a rather large seaborne invasion of Bela, which was repelled by the Fauj-i-Ain.


One interesting event that occurred during the war was the discovery of Oil in Dubrugarh. While the jungle in the province presents... complications for the extraction of the newly-discovered oil, the further diversification of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's already impressively diverse resource base could only be viewed as a good thing. The less reliant the country is on outside influence, the better.


Eventually, tired of the fighting and realizing that it was essentially impossible for the Anglo-German alliance to get a solid foothold on the subcontinent, Germany and the United Kingdom sued for peace, giving in to all of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa's demands. This, once and for all, pushed the British out of the subcontinent, at least as far as held territory was concerned. They still held sway over most of the Princely States in the Rajputana region, but the Fauj-i-Ain had repeatedly proven itself over those particular foes.

The final casualty toll was over 600,000 men, about evenly split between the two sides.


Shortly after the war's end, due to years of unrest caused by the incompetence of their rulers and their British masters, Indian Nationalists rose up in several of the Rajputana Princely States. Most were put down--only just--but they managed to gain traction in a few, such as in Jaipur. The rebels, after having gained tentative control of the Jaipuri government, lodged a formal request for annexation into the Sarkar-e-Khalsa. The Maharaja accepted, and Jaipur was, almost overnight, integrated into the Empire.


The annexation of Jaipur had a rather unintended effect. The leaders of the various Princely States met in Delhi to discuss a matter of great importance--the unification of India. For such an important an important, a consensus was soon reached: For the subcontinent and its peoples to truly prosper and become great, it must be unified. And the man they chose to offer the crown of India to was none other than Maharaja Variam Harsharan Singh.

The Maharaja, himself obviously a strong proponent of unification, was taken aback. In all honesty, he had expected the various leaders to vye for the crown themselves, rather than, almost unanimously, offer it to him. That they had done so was a sign of the trust they put in his abilities, and he was not the type of man to betray such trust.



On March 7th, 1898, the various states of the subcontinent--with the exception of those still under Imperialist control--united under the leadership of the Sarkar-e-Khalsa, and the Empire of India was proclaimed.

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Yeah, I accepted the crown from the gutter. The population, in the screenshot, hasn't had a chance to update yet, but once it did, it jumped to a little over 59m.

And it only took 62 years of whacking the UK pinata in seven Anglo-Sikh wars to do. Admittedly, I probably could have done it somewhat sooner, but I was trying to avoid pushing my luck in the earlier wars.

Hm, /gsg/ Vickymod's the main one. It's built upon NNM, but goes a bit further, since it does modify gameplay in certain areas, as my quick westernization can attest to. Unfortunately, as the mod contains a certain symbol banned by forum rules (guess), I can't exactly link to it directly.

Caleb's Political Titles V3 is the second mod, and is mostly for flavor. It adds more government type-dependent country names, though some of the names are... kind of silly. Easily editable, though.

The third is a country colours mod that I had sitting on my HDD for some unfathomable reason.

metalinvader665 said:

You've won the game with that beast of a nation. Time to take imperialism back to Britain? Or just dismantle European empires for teh lulz while you're at it.

Is that the anarcho-liberals as your ruling party?

I wish monarchy India's flag was better.

Click to expand...

Yeah, though my low(ish) industry score is hampering my overall rank quite a bit, and my power projection is rather limited, since my navy is puny and obsolete. For now, anyway.

And yeah, the Anarcho-Liberals are my ruling party. I tend to opt for interventionism, but the Sikh Empire (and India, for that matter) don't have any interventionism parties,as far as I can tell, so I go for lassez-faire ones. However, the Liberal Party for the Sikh Empire is pacifistic, and since I prefer to at least have pro-military, if not jingoistic parties in power, I stick with the anarcho-liberals.