Jewel of the Nile (And the Tigris and Euphrates): Part 4 - 1730-1740
For all of the Empire's success militarily and economically, there was one area where they struggled: colonization. To date, the Sultans had expressed a desire that new territories would be opened up while avoiding the scattering of natives. "The Empire is its people," he had said, "and we will not destroy that in the name of bringing them civilization."
Unfortunately this policy occasionally allowed natives to retain coherent internal leadership that sometimes took offense at colonization.
Along the coast of the Red Sea, however, the strategy for expanding Saruhan's borders was decidedly simpler: sending an army into Swahili territory to take control. This did have the effect of causing other nations to declare war upon the Empire in response, but at this point in its history, the Saruhan Empire is largely untouchable by these minor countries.
The army moved first into the Swahili-held province, but thanks to Adal joining the war, additional territories were subsequently occupied...
And by the end of the brief war, the Red Sea became a Saruhani Lake.
The Sultan had originally chosen to allow the remainder of the Mamluk people to retain their small territories along the Nile in exchange for disarming and remaining peaceful. Unfortunately, armed peasants crossed the border into Imperial territory while fighting amongst themselves, and the Sultan was forced to annex the remaining territory in the name of preserving peace in the region.
Shaking his head at a council meeting, the Sultan sadly proclaimed to his people that, as this latest episode demonstrated, there was no other nation in the region that was capable of properly protecting its people from European threats and of ensuring their prosperity. In the interests of stability, he decreed, the Empire would no longer stand by idly when its people or the people of neighboring nations were at risk.
Fearing that this new declaration of intent by the Sultan would further tighten his hold on the reins of power within the Empire, some Arabian nobles organized a few brigades of troops and attempted to march on Mecca. This uprising was swiftly crushed, though rumblings of unrest would remain within the Empire for quite some time.
The first test of the Sultan's policy regarding other nations came when a trading caravan traveling from Jerusalem to the Persian city of Fars was attacked by brigands and sacked. The survivors returned to the Empire, demanding recompense and retribution; the Sultan's council (at this point heavily influenced by merchants desiring control of yet another trade center) gave its support for the further expansion of the Empire to "ensure the safety of trade between nations".
Four full armies were moved into position along the Persian border, and demands were sent to the religious leaders of that nation for the annexation of the trading route to Fars. Their demands were met with threats and pleas signed by the ambassadors of three other nations; these pleas would be ignored.
The armies swiftly moved into Persia, occupying the border provinces and driving for Fars. There were few significant battles; the most memorable was when a Saruhani army was outmaneuvered; left out of position it found itself outnumbered nearly 3:1. The superior training and technology of the Imperial army allowed them to win victory.
The war concluded in 1740 with Persia being forced to give up the demanded provinces; the trading city of Fars was now under Saruhani control, along with the entire route between it and both Jerusalem and Mecca. Unfortunately, this conquest would anger several surrounding nations, leading to a period of significant trouble for the Empire.
However, records of old Persian legends found within a mosque in Fars would reveal something of more value: a land of destiny, known only as "Gonder", that the Hand of Saruhan would soon reach out and take into its grasp.