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Greetings,
This is my suggestion for a potential rework of the Greater Middle East region, without any new provinces. I'll be tackling the area from Libya to Afghanistan and Circassia to Aswan. I'll split these suggestions up into types of changes.
I apologize if this thread seems a bit haphazard, I accidentally erased it 2 times and it got a bit jumbled after that...
I'm including tags that already exist in game, as one of these tags is currently in the game.
-
Iraq:
Iraq from the 1430's to 1446 was under the rule of a seperate Qara Qoyunlu ruler, Ispend bin Yusuf Baranlu, with his capital at Baghdad. Qara Qoyunlu Iraq is in a somewhat strong position, however, Ispend recently lost a war with the Aq Qoyunlu and his army is currently weak. In 1446 Jahan Shah Baranlu of the Azerbaijan Qara Qoyunlu would siege Baghdad and reunite Iraq and Azerbaijan.
Ruler in 1444: Ispend bin Yusuf of the dynasty Baranlu. He is at least 54 years old as he commanded a Qara Qoyunlu army in 1410.
Capital: Baghdad
State religion: Shi'a, Jafari school
Government: Tribal federation
Primary culture: Azerbaijani
Flag: Same as currently in game
Notes on starting position: Ispend has recently lost a war with Aq Qoyunlu. They are in a weak position militarily and rule over a largely Sunni Arab population. They should share the Qara Qoyunlu mission tree and be able to form Qara Qoyunlu if possible.
In game:
-
Ossetia/Alania:
Although represented currently as under the control of Circassia, this area was largely autonomous and seperated into different Ossetian tribes, the primary ones being the Iron and Digor in the current province. Christianity, the native Ossetian religion, and Sunni Islam compete for followers in this area, with Islam largely winning over the others in the 17th/18th centuries; Russian conquest would upset this trend.
Ruler in 1444: Unknown. Possibly of the Digor or Iron dynasty, using a tribe as a dynasty.
Capital: Dzaudzhikau in the Alania province, which would be renamed Iryston (Ossetian name for the area)
State religion: Possibly Tengri to represent a potential syncretic religion. The Digor converted to Islam in the 16th/17th centuries. But the native Ossetian religion has persisted.
Government: Tribal monarchy or stateless society
Primary culture: Circassian
Flag: (Adopted from an Ossetian coat of arms in 1735)
-
Rustamdar:
Rustamdar is a country that will be split Mazandaran. It has been ruled by the Baduspanids for centuries by 1444. The current ruler, Kayumarth I Baduspanid, has had a long and tumultuous reign by the 1440's and recently regained land in the area, with control of Rustamdar in the early 1440's and then taking Amul in 1445.
Ruler in 1444: Kayumarth I of the Baduspanid dynasty. He is at least 59 years old but I would put him in the late 70's-80's range as he first came to power in 1394 and experienced the Timurid invasion.
Heir: Iskandar IV
Capital: Nur in Rustamdar province (renamed Amul to Rustamdar)
State religion: Shi'a, Jafari school (Kayumarth converted to this school from Sunni Islam)
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Mazandarani
Flag: Mazandaran's current flag
Notes on starting position: Rustamdar is still technically a vassal of Shah Rukh until his death. I am not sure if this can be considered in any way.
-
Tabaristan:
Tabaristan would be a renamed Mazandaran and would represent the Marashi state, that has the current rulers and such of the Mazandaran tag.
Ruler in 1444: Same as in game
Capital: Sari
State religion: Shi'a
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Mazandarani
Flag: Flag of Tabaristan tricolor? Was used in earlier EU4 versions
-
Bastak
The Khanate of Bastak was a small state in southern Fars that claimed descent from the Abbasids. They were subdued by Shah Ismail in his conquest of Persia. They controlled the area around Bastak, some of Larestan, and the area around Bandar Langeh.
Ruler in 1444: A member of the Bastaki dynasty. Could not find any details on a ruler in 1444.
Capital: Bastak, Bastak province (renamed Bandar Langeh; could be a dynamic name)
State religion: Sunni Islam, Shafi'i or Maliki school
Government: Feudal monarchy
Primary culture: Persian
Flag: (Black standard of the Abbasids)
-
Makran
The area of Makran was actually very important to the time period when concerning South Asia and this area was seperate from the area of Kalat. In 1444 the Makran area would be under the control of Jalal Khan Rind, whose son, Mir Chakar Rind, would help Humayun regain a foothold in India and became a revered Baluch historical figure.
Ruler in 1444: Jalal Khan of the Rind dynasty. He should be somewhat young, as his son was born in 1468. I would estimate mid 20's-early 30's
Capital: Aashaal Kolwa in Kech province (renamed Chabahar province). I chose this as Mir Chakar's birthplace is apparently this area, and that is one clue to the location of a capital.
State religion: Sunni islam, Hanafi or Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Makran princely state flag
-
Kharan:
Represents the future princely state of Kharan. Kharan after 1650 was a vassal state of Kalat. It can start independent, as a vassal of Kalat, or a Kalat province with a core.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Nusherwani dynasty
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi or Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Kharan
-
Las Bela/Bela:
Represents the future princely state of Las Bela in the province of Bela. It can start indepedent, a vassal of Makran, or with a core on Bela.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Gongaw or Kathuria dynasty.
State religion: Sunni, Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Las Bela
-
Kalat:
The northeastern portion of the Baluchistan area, which was ruled by Kalat for 500 years. It later became a princely state.
Ruler in 1444: Qambar of the Mirwani dynasty
Heir: Omar Mirwani
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Kalat
-
Baluchistan:
I suggest making the current Baluchistan tag a formable for Baluchi countries also.
Baluchistan region after changes:
-
Canik/Bafra
This tag is supposed to represent the beylik of Bafra, the last of the Canik beyliks. It was annexed by the Ottomans in 1460. If anyone has any more information on this one, please PM me.
Ruler in 1444: Unsure. Need more information.
Capital: Canik
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi school
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Turkish
Flag: Unsure. Possibly an artist rendition featuring the Seal of Solomon found in other beylik flags?
-
Cyrenaica/Barqa
This tag is meant to represent the tribes that were vassals to Mamluk Egypt, but quite autonomous. It could also be a nascent tag since the area lacks any independent tags. They can have the current ruler of Fezzan, although I am not sure how accurate that specific ruler is.
Ruler in 1444: Abdulazza, Banu Sulaym
Capital: Binghazi
State religion: Sunni, Maliki school
Government: Tribal federation or tribal despotism
Primary culture: Tunisian or Egyptian
Flag: A bit out of timeframe, but the flag of the emirate of Cyrenaica/Barqa
-
Diriya:
Diriya is essentially Najd, but representing the proto-Saudi state instead of the entire region of Najd, which can include Shammar and Dawasir. I propose this become a seperate tag and allow Najd to become a formable by Bedouin tags such as Shammar, Dawasir, and Diriya.
Ruler in 1444: Ibn Dir Saud (or Uqayl, or Mrudah), who invited the ancestors of the Saudis to settled in Diriya. Diriya is named for him.
Heir: Mani al-Muraidi Saud (or, Mrudah as an alternate, more historically correct dynasty)
State religion: Sunni, Hanbali school
Government: Tribal federation
Primary culture: Bedouin
Flag: Flag of Diriyah, which is Najd's current flag.
Flag for formable Najd: (Sultanate of Najd flag)
-
Kabardia:
Kabardia was recently founded as an autonomous state of Circassia by Inal's general Qabard. It would have a core on the current province of Kabardia, but unreleased in 1444.
State religion: Sunni?
Government: Tribal depsotism
Primary culture: Circassian
Flag:
-
Caucasus:
A formable representing the Caucasus Imamate, formable by countries of the Dagestani, Circassian, and possibly Azerbaijani? cultures.
State religion: Sunni
Government: Feudal theocracy
Primary culture: Dagestani
Flag:
-
Kakheti:
Representing one of the breakaway kingdoms of Georgia after 1446.
Ruler (1446/1465): George I Bagrationi
Heir: Alexander I
State religion: Orthodox
Government: Autocracy/Feudal monarchy
Primary culture: Georgian
Flag: Flag of Kakheti
-
Suakin:
Suakin represents the autonomous Beja emirate of Suakin, whose leader was of the the Hashemites. They would hold the provinces of Suakin and Halaib.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Hashim dynasty (same as Hejaz)
State religion: Sunni, Shafi'i or Maliki school
Government: Iqta or tribal despotism
Primary culture: Beja
-
Aswan:
Aswan would represent the autonomous domain of the Hawwara, granted governance of the area for defeating the tribes of the Banu Kanz who then fled into Sudan. The only historical ruler I can find is Sheikh Hammam, who ruled in the early 18th century, but this tribe ruled the area since 1389. They would either start as a two province vassal of the Mamluks or with cores on Egypt from Asyut to Aswan.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Hawwara dynasty
State Religion: Sunni of the Maliki school (this is a Libyan tribe)
Government: Tribal despotism or Iqta
Primary culture: Egyptian
Flag: Possibly the flag of Aswan, nothing else is available
For some country-specific suggestions:
-
Country changes and mission suggestions
Circassia:
Circassia in 1444 was in a sort-of golden age under Inal Inalid. I suggest having him as leader in 1444. In addition to this, Circassia will increase in size, having recently conquered Matrega, Kuban, Kabardia (which was recently named after a general of Inal, Qabard), and Abkhazia.
Missions:
I suggest 3 branches for Circassia; an economic/government branch, an expansion branch, and a religion branch.
The economic and government branch would focus on turning Circassia into an autocracy or horde from a tribal government, developing the capital, Shamjir, and decreasing autonomy.
The expansion branch would focus on conquering Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and eventually, Anatolia, with more southward expansion than northward.
The religious branch would allow for Circassia to choose between Shi'a, Sunni, Orthodox, Catholicism, or Tengriism (to represent native Circassian religion) and enforcing the new state religion, as well as establishing good ties with states of that religion.
Other general changes:
Circassia starts with the tribal federation government type
Circassia loses Alania province to Ossetia tag
Circassia on the map:
-
Georgia:
Georgia in 1444 was somewhat united, with some cracks. I suggest Georgia start whole, and get an event upon the death of the current king that either splits the country into 4, a disaster, or spawn rebels if a player is Georgia.
Georgia if it breaks apart:
-
Fezzan:
I propose changing Fezzan massively. Fezzan in 1444 was still somewhat subject to Bornu and the Ibadis. The ruler in 1444 should be a member of the Banu Khattab dynasty, and Fezzan should be Ibadi religion. Bornu could have a core on the province with Murzuq.
-
Full map after changes:
-
Other suggestions:
-Giving Rahba to Aq Qoyunlu as supporting sources attributes control of the area to AQ from at least 1435-1451. Additionally, this provides a buffer for a weaker Qara Qoyunlu.
-Making Qara Qoyunlu follow the Jafari school instead of Ismaili.
-Give Hejaz control of Yanbu; they had control of the coast.
-Make Medina a vassal of Mamluks.
-Give Hormuz Qatar and Mogostan.
-Possibly give Karaman control of Hamid; they lost this shortly after, but technically during the day of the start of the game they still occupied it (according to what I have read).
Sources:
I took the information for the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu changes from the book, The Aqquyunlu by John Woods. The changes to Egypt was from The Cambridge New History of Islam: The Central Islamic Lands. Of course I did get some of the information, such as the flags, from Wikipedia. It has been difficult to find information on Circassia and Baluchistan anywhere else. If anyone has any suggestions on sources on these places, please relay them.
Thank you!
This is my suggestion for a potential rework of the Greater Middle East region, without any new provinces. I'll be tackling the area from Libya to Afghanistan and Circassia to Aswan. I'll split these suggestions up into types of changes.
I apologize if this thread seems a bit haphazard, I accidentally erased it 2 times and it got a bit jumbled after that...
I'm including tags that already exist in game, as one of these tags is currently in the game.
-
Iraq:
Iraq from the 1430's to 1446 was under the rule of a seperate Qara Qoyunlu ruler, Ispend bin Yusuf Baranlu, with his capital at Baghdad. Qara Qoyunlu Iraq is in a somewhat strong position, however, Ispend recently lost a war with the Aq Qoyunlu and his army is currently weak. In 1446 Jahan Shah Baranlu of the Azerbaijan Qara Qoyunlu would siege Baghdad and reunite Iraq and Azerbaijan.
Ruler in 1444: Ispend bin Yusuf of the dynasty Baranlu. He is at least 54 years old as he commanded a Qara Qoyunlu army in 1410.
Capital: Baghdad
State religion: Shi'a, Jafari school
Government: Tribal federation
Primary culture: Azerbaijani
Flag: Same as currently in game
Notes on starting position: Ispend has recently lost a war with Aq Qoyunlu. They are in a weak position militarily and rule over a largely Sunni Arab population. They should share the Qara Qoyunlu mission tree and be able to form Qara Qoyunlu if possible.
In game:
-
Ossetia/Alania:
Although represented currently as under the control of Circassia, this area was largely autonomous and seperated into different Ossetian tribes, the primary ones being the Iron and Digor in the current province. Christianity, the native Ossetian religion, and Sunni Islam compete for followers in this area, with Islam largely winning over the others in the 17th/18th centuries; Russian conquest would upset this trend.
Ruler in 1444: Unknown. Possibly of the Digor or Iron dynasty, using a tribe as a dynasty.
Capital: Dzaudzhikau in the Alania province, which would be renamed Iryston (Ossetian name for the area)
State religion: Possibly Tengri to represent a potential syncretic religion. The Digor converted to Islam in the 16th/17th centuries. But the native Ossetian religion has persisted.
Government: Tribal monarchy or stateless society
Primary culture: Circassian
Flag: (Adopted from an Ossetian coat of arms in 1735)
-
Rustamdar:
Rustamdar is a country that will be split Mazandaran. It has been ruled by the Baduspanids for centuries by 1444. The current ruler, Kayumarth I Baduspanid, has had a long and tumultuous reign by the 1440's and recently regained land in the area, with control of Rustamdar in the early 1440's and then taking Amul in 1445.
Ruler in 1444: Kayumarth I of the Baduspanid dynasty. He is at least 59 years old but I would put him in the late 70's-80's range as he first came to power in 1394 and experienced the Timurid invasion.
Heir: Iskandar IV
Capital: Nur in Rustamdar province (renamed Amul to Rustamdar)
State religion: Shi'a, Jafari school (Kayumarth converted to this school from Sunni Islam)
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Mazandarani
Flag: Mazandaran's current flag
Notes on starting position: Rustamdar is still technically a vassal of Shah Rukh until his death. I am not sure if this can be considered in any way.
-
Tabaristan:
Tabaristan would be a renamed Mazandaran and would represent the Marashi state, that has the current rulers and such of the Mazandaran tag.
Ruler in 1444: Same as in game
Capital: Sari
State religion: Shi'a
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Mazandarani
Flag: Flag of Tabaristan tricolor? Was used in earlier EU4 versions
-
Bastak
The Khanate of Bastak was a small state in southern Fars that claimed descent from the Abbasids. They were subdued by Shah Ismail in his conquest of Persia. They controlled the area around Bastak, some of Larestan, and the area around Bandar Langeh.
Ruler in 1444: A member of the Bastaki dynasty. Could not find any details on a ruler in 1444.
Capital: Bastak, Bastak province (renamed Bandar Langeh; could be a dynamic name)
State religion: Sunni Islam, Shafi'i or Maliki school
Government: Feudal monarchy
Primary culture: Persian
Flag: (Black standard of the Abbasids)
-
Makran
The area of Makran was actually very important to the time period when concerning South Asia and this area was seperate from the area of Kalat. In 1444 the Makran area would be under the control of Jalal Khan Rind, whose son, Mir Chakar Rind, would help Humayun regain a foothold in India and became a revered Baluch historical figure.
Ruler in 1444: Jalal Khan of the Rind dynasty. He should be somewhat young, as his son was born in 1468. I would estimate mid 20's-early 30's
Capital: Aashaal Kolwa in Kech province (renamed Chabahar province). I chose this as Mir Chakar's birthplace is apparently this area, and that is one clue to the location of a capital.
State religion: Sunni islam, Hanafi or Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Makran princely state flag
-
Kharan:
Represents the future princely state of Kharan. Kharan after 1650 was a vassal state of Kalat. It can start independent, as a vassal of Kalat, or a Kalat province with a core.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Nusherwani dynasty
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi or Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Kharan
-
Las Bela/Bela:
Represents the future princely state of Las Bela in the province of Bela. It can start indepedent, a vassal of Makran, or with a core on Bela.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Gongaw or Kathuria dynasty.
State religion: Sunni, Shafi'i school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Las Bela
-
Kalat:
The northeastern portion of the Baluchistan area, which was ruled by Kalat for 500 years. It later became a princely state.
Ruler in 1444: Qambar of the Mirwani dynasty
Heir: Omar Mirwani
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi school
Government: Tribal despotism
Primary culture: Baluchi
Flag: Flag of Kalat
-
Baluchistan:
I suggest making the current Baluchistan tag a formable for Baluchi countries also.
Baluchistan region after changes:
-
Canik/Bafra
This tag is supposed to represent the beylik of Bafra, the last of the Canik beyliks. It was annexed by the Ottomans in 1460. If anyone has any more information on this one, please PM me.
Ruler in 1444: Unsure. Need more information.
Capital: Canik
State religion: Sunni, Hanafi school
Government: Autocracy
Primary culture: Turkish
Flag: Unsure. Possibly an artist rendition featuring the Seal of Solomon found in other beylik flags?
-
Cyrenaica/Barqa
This tag is meant to represent the tribes that were vassals to Mamluk Egypt, but quite autonomous. It could also be a nascent tag since the area lacks any independent tags. They can have the current ruler of Fezzan, although I am not sure how accurate that specific ruler is.
Ruler in 1444: Abdulazza, Banu Sulaym
Capital: Binghazi
State religion: Sunni, Maliki school
Government: Tribal federation or tribal despotism
Primary culture: Tunisian or Egyptian
Flag: A bit out of timeframe, but the flag of the emirate of Cyrenaica/Barqa
-
Diriya:
Diriya is essentially Najd, but representing the proto-Saudi state instead of the entire region of Najd, which can include Shammar and Dawasir. I propose this become a seperate tag and allow Najd to become a formable by Bedouin tags such as Shammar, Dawasir, and Diriya.
Ruler in 1444: Ibn Dir Saud (or Uqayl, or Mrudah), who invited the ancestors of the Saudis to settled in Diriya. Diriya is named for him.
Heir: Mani al-Muraidi Saud (or, Mrudah as an alternate, more historically correct dynasty)
State religion: Sunni, Hanbali school
Government: Tribal federation
Primary culture: Bedouin
Flag: Flag of Diriyah, which is Najd's current flag.
Flag for formable Najd: (Sultanate of Najd flag)
-
Kabardia:
Kabardia was recently founded as an autonomous state of Circassia by Inal's general Qabard. It would have a core on the current province of Kabardia, but unreleased in 1444.
State religion: Sunni?
Government: Tribal depsotism
Primary culture: Circassian
Flag:
-
Caucasus:
A formable representing the Caucasus Imamate, formable by countries of the Dagestani, Circassian, and possibly Azerbaijani? cultures.
State religion: Sunni
Government: Feudal theocracy
Primary culture: Dagestani
Flag:
-
Kakheti:
Representing one of the breakaway kingdoms of Georgia after 1446.
Ruler (1446/1465): George I Bagrationi
Heir: Alexander I
State religion: Orthodox
Government: Autocracy/Feudal monarchy
Primary culture: Georgian
Flag: Flag of Kakheti
-
Suakin:
Suakin represents the autonomous Beja emirate of Suakin, whose leader was of the the Hashemites. They would hold the provinces of Suakin and Halaib.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Hashim dynasty (same as Hejaz)
State religion: Sunni, Shafi'i or Maliki school
Government: Iqta or tribal despotism
Primary culture: Beja
-
Aswan:
Aswan would represent the autonomous domain of the Hawwara, granted governance of the area for defeating the tribes of the Banu Kanz who then fled into Sudan. The only historical ruler I can find is Sheikh Hammam, who ruled in the early 18th century, but this tribe ruled the area since 1389. They would either start as a two province vassal of the Mamluks or with cores on Egypt from Asyut to Aswan.
Ruler in 1444: Member of the Hawwara dynasty
State Religion: Sunni of the Maliki school (this is a Libyan tribe)
Government: Tribal despotism or Iqta
Primary culture: Egyptian
Flag: Possibly the flag of Aswan, nothing else is available
For some country-specific suggestions:
-
Country changes and mission suggestions
Circassia:
Circassia in 1444 was in a sort-of golden age under Inal Inalid. I suggest having him as leader in 1444. In addition to this, Circassia will increase in size, having recently conquered Matrega, Kuban, Kabardia (which was recently named after a general of Inal, Qabard), and Abkhazia.
Missions:
I suggest 3 branches for Circassia; an economic/government branch, an expansion branch, and a religion branch.
The economic and government branch would focus on turning Circassia into an autocracy or horde from a tribal government, developing the capital, Shamjir, and decreasing autonomy.
The expansion branch would focus on conquering Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and eventually, Anatolia, with more southward expansion than northward.
The religious branch would allow for Circassia to choose between Shi'a, Sunni, Orthodox, Catholicism, or Tengriism (to represent native Circassian religion) and enforcing the new state religion, as well as establishing good ties with states of that religion.
Other general changes:
Circassia starts with the tribal federation government type
Circassia loses Alania province to Ossetia tag
Circassia on the map:
-
Georgia:
Georgia in 1444 was somewhat united, with some cracks. I suggest Georgia start whole, and get an event upon the death of the current king that either splits the country into 4, a disaster, or spawn rebels if a player is Georgia.
Georgia if it breaks apart:
-
Fezzan:
I propose changing Fezzan massively. Fezzan in 1444 was still somewhat subject to Bornu and the Ibadis. The ruler in 1444 should be a member of the Banu Khattab dynasty, and Fezzan should be Ibadi religion. Bornu could have a core on the province with Murzuq.
-
Full map after changes:
-
Other suggestions:
-Giving Rahba to Aq Qoyunlu as supporting sources attributes control of the area to AQ from at least 1435-1451. Additionally, this provides a buffer for a weaker Qara Qoyunlu.
-Making Qara Qoyunlu follow the Jafari school instead of Ismaili.
-Give Hejaz control of Yanbu; they had control of the coast.
-Make Medina a vassal of Mamluks.
-Give Hormuz Qatar and Mogostan.
-Possibly give Karaman control of Hamid; they lost this shortly after, but technically during the day of the start of the game they still occupied it (according to what I have read).
Sources:
I took the information for the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu changes from the book, The Aqquyunlu by John Woods. The changes to Egypt was from The Cambridge New History of Islam: The Central Islamic Lands. Of course I did get some of the information, such as the flags, from Wikipedia. It has been difficult to find information on Circassia and Baluchistan anywhere else. If anyone has any suggestions on sources on these places, please relay them.
Thank you!
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