Tales of Victory: The Rajah and the Sacred Cow

[unmerged(90806)]

Do I sense everybody's-MM-favourite: a noble opposition?

 

[CatKnight]

axzhang: Welcome! Yes, the chambermaids of Europe are finally safe.

RGB: Yes...from a role-playing standpoint Orissa is quickly earning a 'reprimand.' Orissa's the lesser partner in a union, and their 'master' is about to make amends.

blsteen: Yes!

Vandervecken: Hopefully Vijaya's learned that disgruntled husbands are a bad idea, even if you are king.

dinofs: God yes.

morningSIDER: I rather like Vijaya. As you'll see he has very interesting thoughts on warfare. I hope he sticks around for more than two posts.

Enewald: One wouldn't think so. I think that event needs a little rewording!

Chief Ragusa: As I said, Orissa is a...developing situation. Travanacore will have to be dealt with soon.

gabor: Not sure what that is. It sounds bad.


COMMENT: Starting this post, I've switched to MMU 1.21 (from 1.05 I think.)

As you know, I've had crappy luck with upgrading in mid-campaign, but I've found MM's quality control to be excellent, and I'm curious what Johan's come up with for the betas. So far so good.

 

[CatKnight]

Chapter V Vijaya I
Part 1: Just Call Me 'Victory' (1426-1429)​

Tears stung Peperna's eyes as she watched the rajah's army of fresh recruits board transports for the Orissan coast. Under normal circumstances it would have been an inspiring sight. Handles carefully herded horses into the holds as proud nobles in silk and muslin assembled on the decks. Vijaya sat, head high and holding his sword as if posing for a painting, near the back of the flagship where he could rest his leg yet still watch everything.

What made it more inspiring were the yellow and brown banners flying from a dozen poles and masts as, for the first time in a generation, Vishnu returned to prominence in the Vijayanagaran Empire. The flags bore representations of one of his incarnations, the boar Varaha, who allegedly rescued the world from a demon.

"How?" Peperna asked the cat sitting next to her. "How did you convince him?"

The cat licked her paw, feigning indifference to the scene below her. Finally she tired of her game and looked at Peperna with gleaming eyes and a sharp-toothed smile. "I can be *very* persuasive."


On the Art of...

Vijaya was twenty-five when he succeeded his cousin. A tall, handsome man with dark skin and hair that tended to curl, he'd spent his early adulthood courting 'the fair' to Devaraya's embarrassment. Banished to the army fighting Gondwana in 1424, he'd suffered a serious injury to his hip and leg and spent much of 1425 recuperating. He returned to the field just in time to learn of his cousin's death and rushed home again.

Campaigning against Arjuna of Gondwana gave the rajah a quick course in tactics which he instinctively refined. He understood that as the Empire phased out its elephant regiments in favor of horse cavalry, so tactics needed to change as well. Rather than relying on shock he worked on ways to practice flanking the enemy and maneuvering for position.

Following the Travanacore campaign to be detailed later, he ordered scholars to dictate then publish a treatise on warfare. Called 'Vijayate', an obvious play on his name that translates as 'Conquest', he describes in detail the art of (ideally) deceiving your foe, cutting off avenues of retreat, then moving in for the kill. It's also our best surviving source on the conduct of the Gondwana and Travanacore campaigns.

Critics note that, just as Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' applies quite well to business practices, the 'Vijayate' might as well be a series of lessons on dating and seduction. Vijaya's choices in terminology are sexually charged - for example, he describes the running series of battles with Arjuna Gond as a series of 'energetic thrusts, in and out, until I was well satisfied.' Sri Vira Varma (of Travanacore's) campaign is described as 'running to the windows and doors and finding them locked, while I stood bare-chested in the middle of the room and smiled.' Scholars speculate that, as injury and the need for a king to avoid angering nobles husbands took their toll, he sought other ways to express his ardor for 'the fair.'

Before we detail the Gondwana campaign, we should turn our attention to Mysore - arguably the most boring of the early Imperial wars. Recall that in March 1424 Senaapati Harihara Mayekar forced the Mysorean army to surrender and sieged the capital. Mayekar then sent many of his men eastward to support Vijaya against Arjuna.

In March 1426, Mysore surrendered. The End.

Not quite the end of course, but it is startling to realize just how much the Mysoreans supported Vijaya. They'd tired of the Wodegar dynasty who'd lost thrice in twenty years to Imperial armies. They'd learned how Bangalore, formerly a Mysorean city, was treated not only as an equal within Vijayanagara but now held a great deal of influence within the advisory council. In general they agreed that Vijayanagara, while clearly not acting as the champion of Hinduism, clearly had a better chance of containing the Bahamanid sultans than their only tiny statelet. There would be no revolts, no demonstrations except by a few diehards who melted into Mysorean society, and even all of India agreed the region was best off with one less defenseless state to worry about. (As a core, I get 0 infamy for conquering Mysore)

*****

Meanwhile, in Orissa Manipuran officials summarily dismissed the governing council and took direct control of day-to-day affairs. They did this on behalf of their underage rajah, the prince Chit Sai Meitei.

Meitei's status as the twelve year old head of a personal union based in Indochina was tentative at best and the Orissan council ruled with a great deal of autonomy. They were the ones who harassed Devaraya over Parlakimidi, and they were the ones who ordered his assassination in the middle of a war. Manipur, in turn, answered to the rajahs in Bihar who ordered them to mollify Vijaya before he demanded vengeance for his slain cousin.

The officials in Orissa offered refuge to Vijaya's army in Indravati left virtually leaderless when he rode home to claim the throne. In the weeks since Vijaya left, Arjuna Gond managed to ambush three convoys and two banners with the real potential for cornering and devastating the Imperial army. The Imperial commander left one banner behind to delay Arjuna while the rest reached the relative safety of Cuttack in Orissa.

Arjuna of Gondwana, after destroying the Imperial rear guard, marched into Parlakimidi to try and stir revolt there. As he lay siege to the principal coastal cities, Vijaya arrived in Cuttack and took command of his army. In the meantime Imperial forces in Bihar who had spent the past two years playing cat-and-mouse with Arjuna returned to Gondwana and sieged the capital.

On April 14, 1426 Arjuna learned of a large army led by Vijaya moving in from the east. He gathered his army, numbering some four thousand, into two parallel battle lines with elephants in reserve to smash through weaknesses.

The larger Imperial army numbered eight thousand infantry divided into left, center and right formations that wouldn't have been far out of place in medieval Europe. Arjuna deployed his elephants on his left to increase frontage and the two armies clashed.

The Imperial right absorbed the initial impact from charging elephants and fought for perhaps an hour. As they began to retire before superior mass, Vijaya appeared with two thousand horsemen on the Gondwana flank. Arrows cut into the elephant riders while sabres slashed at thickly muscled and armored legs and sides. The elephants panicked and broke followed quickly by Arjuna's army. Both sides lost perhaps one thousand men, but the Vijayanagarans could absorb the blow.

Vijaya then 'thrusted,' defeating Arjuna at Indravati. The Gondwanans then retreated towards Telingana, a region they'd conquered earlier in the war and hoped to keep for themselves. There Arjuna met with Harihara Mayekar, fresh from conquering Mysore, and lost his army.

Through the summer and autumn of 1426 Vijaya defeated small local armies through Gondwana. As he sieged Indravati and pondered what to demand from his latest conquest, the master tactician at maneuvering warfare found himself outmaneuvered.


The Home Front

While Vijaya subjugated Gondwana, Arjuna's representatives crossed enemy lines and made their way to Vijayanagara. There they presented their case to the Mahapradhana and advisory council.

...for surely your rajah cannot fault us for defending a friend and ally. While none now doubt your legitimate claim to Mysore, at the time there was every reason to wonder at Devaraya's actions. We sought not to harm the Empire but to prevent losing a friend and dishonoring our rajah through abandonment. I hope you agree that it would be blatant injustice to punish our rajah for doing what we all hope our allies would do if invaded.

(My finger twitched on the mouse. Grr.)

When Vijaya learned the Pradhana had signed a treaty without him, he returned home in a rage ... to find men singing his praises, and envoys from a half dozen states praising his temperance and good judgement. They agreed Arjuna Gond had done the wrong thing, but for the right reason, and applauded Vijaya's abstinence.

Indeed, the next two years passed pleasantly within Vijayanagara. Tensions during Devaraya's era evaporated and, though the young rajah still hadn't married, he at least learned discretion with his increasingly limited affairs. (Aristocrat Faction back to Neutral from Disgruntled) He further won them over by endorsing a swami's treatise on the values of the caste system.

I do not claim to be a religious scholar, but...(if we assume) the karmic path is true, that we are all on a quest for enlightenment that takes many generations to fulfill, then it's obvious that the gods would find ways to show us who is more educated (enlightened)...that they would divide us, so that we would know which examples to follow.

(Reinforce Caste System: +1 Stability, 50% +1 Serfdom)

This bought him a great deal of political credit which Vijaya used to quietly replace those members of the Pradhana who undermined the Gondwana campaign. The councils from previous rulers had favored Madras or Kongu, while Devaraya managed to cripple it entirely. Vijaya's somewhat favored personal friends as well as monarchists from Bangalore, further winning Mysoreans over.

With a somewhat friendly (and competent) council, Vijayanagara leapt forward during the late 1420s. (Event: Good government.) Merchants returned to Guangzhou in force establishing a strong holding there despite continued resistance from Japanese feudal houses. They even acquired maps of the Japanese mainland. (Odd. It should be way too soon for discoveries to spread, though in this case it kinda makes sense.) Increase trade brought new ideas home. (Land, Navy and Government 4)


Travanacore

During this time Vijaya planned his next conquest. He'd grown up hearing about Bahamanid atrocities against Hindus and tensions with the minority Sunni population remained high through the Empire. Vijaya didn't consider himself a champion of Hinduism, but he certainly preferred 'his' faith to any other. As has been noted he restored Vishnu to prominence within the Empire. Vijaya didn't consider himself all that spiritual either, but he certainly understood it could be a strong unifying force.

Not to mention an excuse.

Before attacking Taj ud-din Bahamanid, however, Vijaya wanted to make sure no potentially hostile states would be left behind them. It hadn't been long since Sri Vira Ravi Varma expressed concerns over losing Calicut, and he believed Sri Vira quite capable of an opportunistic stab while the Empire fought elsewhere. He chose to strike first, and when Delhi declared war on Gondwana he had his opportunity.

It should be obvious that Delhi's declaration of war in July 1428 was a power grab against a much weaker foe: Arjuna Gond hadn't had time to rebuild his army. However, Gondwana had friends in Travanacore and Nepal. Nepal could offer some support against Delhi aggression, but Travanacore could do little more than watch.

This suited Vijaya fine, as it would leave them distracted. He also believed that, should Gondwana support their ally, he could make short work of them as well. In August he declared war and marched at the head of eight thousand men towards Trivandrum.

Gondwana abandoned Sri Vira to his fate, while Bihar's Mubarak Shah expressed dismay.

Don't you understand, brother, that the Muslim menace is very real and that every Hindu you kill only helps their conquest?

While comparing Sri Vira to a 'reluctant maiden with ample bosom' is certainly poetic license, the rajah of Travanacore declined direct confrontation and instead marched to Madurai. Vijaya arrived at Trivandrum in September, left three thousand men to seize the capital, and pursued Sri Vira across the Imperial countryside.

They met in early October in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Rough terrain nullified Vijaya's cavalry advantage, so he ordered his men to dismount. The resulting clash was a straight forward infantry brawl with Imperial forces quickly gaining the upper hand. Sri Vira lost 1,800 men of four thousand in an hour's fighting, retreated towards Calicut, and lost his army in two subsequent skirmishes.

As Vijaya returned to Trivandrum, Taj ud-din watched with growing concern. He wanted southern India stabilized and preferably receptive to Muslims, which in earlier years would have described Vijayanagara well. Having a strong empire on his doorstep, under an energetic ruler who apparently had some faith in his false gods, was quite another. Over twenty banners worth of soldiers, most at full strength, lined the edge of the Deccan plateau.

Taj ud-din believed a quick war against a prostate state, such as Gondwana, would help offset Imperial gains in Mysore and Travanacore. He declared war in September 1429 hoping to rush through the powerless principality and even brought Bengali allies along.

Here he misstepped, for not only did Nepal support their friend, but Bihar and Rajputana joined the fray. Over the next few months Central India would turn into a confused bloodletting and religious war on the scale of the 7th century Muslim jihads or the early Crusades.

In November 1429 Trivandrum surrendered, and like in Mysore few would mourn or rage at their passing. Vijaya, Rajah and Emperor of Vijayanagara, rushed north with his army towards the Deccan Plateau.

It was time to give the scholar-warrior Taj ud-din Bahamanids a few lessons in how to take what you want...

 

[CatKnight]

MAPS

A quick look around the league.

India, 1426

As you see, this was before I conquered Mysore and Travanacore. It also looks like this current war is going to be a real mess.

NW Europe, 1429

I'm not going to have much to say about Europe, since so far everything seems fairly historical. England, France and Burgundy look about right, with France getting an early lead on kicking the English off their continent.

SW Europe

Again, pretty historical. I'm pleased that Castile isn't blasting through Northern Africa.

SE Europe

The big question will be whether the Ottomans can conquer Thrace and take the rest of Anatolia. I'm surprised the Balkans haven't blown up yet. Those are the Mameluks in the Levant.

NE Europe

And lastly my former neighborhood. Looks like Muscowy's getting started on unifying Russia, while the Livonians appear to have knocked off Pskov. The Teutons aren't growing, but didn't suffer a defeat at Tannenberg either.

 

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Vijaya has this sexual power going on...every thrust proceeds to fruitful outcomes.

Surely worth a few disgruntled husbands.

 

[Enewald]

I don't like European situation, the game is not supposed to go historically.o

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Vijaya seems a great Raja and a great commander; I don't think I remember having a 3 manouvre general.

The white peace with Gondwana... I admit I'd've reloaded. But maybe it'll turn out for the better.

he describes the running series of battles with Arjuna Gond as a series of 'energetic thrusts, in and out, until I was well satisfied.' Sri Vira Varma (of Travanacore's) campaign is described as 'running to the windows and doors and finding them locked, while I stood bare-chested in the middle of the room and smiled.'

Oh, my! This is definitely some material for Doctor Freud and his followers.

 

[morningSIDEr]

The playboy prince is proving a very adept ruler, if still perhaps still the playboy! I can only hope he lasts a bit longer than the last few rulers of Vijaynagar, especially as things seem very interestingly poised at present.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

Congratulations, CatKnight. You've a very good emperor and you annexed those two territories for no infamy. Brilliant. Even an inadvertent twitch accepting a peace treaty with Gondwana turned to your advantage

. He's lucky, too. This emperor. May the Deccan yield to his advances.

 

[dinofs]

Let's hope this one lasts, his stats are incredible.

 

[Qorten]

That is one good looking Raja you have on your hands, CatKnight! Let's hope he's going to stay on board for the long haul.

As for the maps, Burgundy seems to be doing good in Europe. Nothing much special otherwise. All quiet on the non-Indian fronts methinks.

 

[CatKnight]

RGB: How about disgruntled fathers?

Enewald: I'm sure it'll deviate if we give it a little longer. Maybe.

gabor: I seriously thought about reloading....but 1) I didn't want to replay the last part of the war, and 2) I figured Vijaya couldn't control everything that happens.

morningSIDEr: This next post is definitely 'interesting.'

Chief Ragusa: We have to be a bit coy about Deccan, but I think you'll be pleased with how we handled her.

dinofs: Yes. After all those 7 year reigns, I'm due a ruler who lasts for 30 or 40.

Qorten: Pretty quiet world wide. No one's really taken off, though it looks like the Ashikaga Shogunate is serious about keeping the title.

*******

COMMENT: You'll see a bit of a 'shout out' to another AAR in this post. I don't usually do that, but I credit that AAR with a fair bit of how this post turns out.

Oh, and Vijaya is still alive at the end of this post. He's my first rajah in awhile to last more than two.

 

[CatKnight]

Chapter V: Vijaya I
Part 2: Doctor of Love (1429-1433)​

Preparations

One method (of forcing a decisive action) is to feign timidity like a reluctant suitor who lusts after a princess but is not certain of his skill. Once the enemy believes they have the advantage they will come too close, in which case you may safely engage, pin their armies to the rushes and fulfill your heart's delight.

Trivandrum's surrender in November 1429 left Vijaya, Rajah and Emperor of Vijayanagara, free to march north against the Bahamanids.

Vijaya justified the war on religious and ethnic grounds. Shah Taj ud-din, he argued, failed to protect the Hindu within his domain. He'd directly sponsored Sunni merchants in Goa, Madras and Tiruchchirapilli, as well as Shiite imams throughout his own realm. Their aggressive campaigning in Golconda led to refugees streaming across the Imperial border and mass conversions within the region. He'd reinforced and supported the Sharia, or Islamic law disenfranchising thousands.

These were all true statements, but it's worth noting that the Deccan sultanates weren't alone in this. Similar conversions, by reward and/or punishment, would play out through much of Europe, Africa and Asia for the next several centuries. Indeed, Taj ud-din's conversion efforts were generally more humane than many of his peers and based on showing the advantages of his faith.

Anyway, Vijaya didn't need much of a justification for going to war. A majority of people in the upper castes supported containing the Muslim advance and preserving their way of life. The Bahamanids were involved in a major war involving Delhi, Bengal, Kashmir and Sind vs. Gondwana, Bihar and Rajputana. A major victory here meant Hindu's eventual defeat in northern India. Preserving the Empire's original missions of maintaining their faith and encouraging tolerance meant making sure the invaders didn't grow too powerful.

Vijaya returned to his capital in the first week of December and ordered Nagendra Maharpelli to oversee the war effort.

We don't know much about Nagendra (sometimes called "Naggy".) As commander of the Imperial Guard his previous duties were mostly ceremonial, but it seems he had a knack for military administration and tactics. (Sergeant Major-1, Shock +.02, Discipline +1.5%) One of his first acts was to recommend two new commanders, the brothers Vijaya (F2 S2 M0 Sg0) and Immadi Jeoomal. (F1 S2 M0 Sg1)

These new commanders joined Vijaya in guarding the Imperial frontier while Sennapaati Harihara Mayekar commanded a reserve of five thousand cavalry. On January 2, 1430 they crossed onto the Deccan Plateau.

(VIJAYANAGAR vs. BAHAMANIDS, Bengal, Kashmir, Sind)


The Tiger Dances

The initial strategy was unorthodox. Small contingents from the western armies as well as three thousand from Telingana would invade, apparently without support. There they would siege the major towns of Raichur and Golconda and hopefully entice Taj ud-din to try and kick them back out. Once scouts warned that the Deccan sultanates were launching a counteroffensive, reinforcements would rush in to hopefully surprise and break the Muslim army.

The initial attacks went well, but Firuz Salah Rushi, one of the Sind commanders, had a surprise of his own. He boarded a transport with some one thousand men and launched an assault on Goa. He quickly seized the harbor and outer fortifications, but then the Imperial governor rallied his defenders. Goa, a cosmopolitan and diverse city to begin with, ended up divided into western and eastern halves with Rushi's army quickly breaking down into banditry for supplies and the town's garrison not acting much better.

Only once, several months later, did the Imperial navy sortie to try and bring in supplies. Somewhere west of Mysore the ten Vijayanagaran ships met an equal number from the Sultanates. Half of Vijaya's navy consisted of food and weapon transports, however, while Taj ud-din answered with his pirate hunting squadron under Ahmad Gonka. Gonka's marines quickly overwhelmed one of the lighter Imperial warships. The rest fled into port for the duration of the war.

In April word reached Immadi Jeoomal of an imminent attack on Golconda by six banners of Muslim cavalry and infantry. Per Vijaya's plan he immediately rushed to their defense and the two armies engaged outside of Taj ud-din's capital. Muslim bow and scimitar wielding cavalry sniped at Immadi's flanks, but couldn't turn them before he forced a decisive action in the center. The Sultan of Bastar retreated with two thousand casualties...towards Raichur. Messengers raced to Immadi's brother. Vijaya Jeoomal moved in and engaged Bastar's army inflicting another 1,100 casualties. One week later he caught the fleeing Muslims and forced them to surrender.

For the rest of 1430 the war stalemated, with Vijaya refusing to repeat Mallikarjuna's mistake of trying to overwhelm all of Deccan at once. Taj ud-din seized Indravati from Golconda in December 1430 but promptly returned it in exchange for minor indemnities as he rushed home to save his capital.

Golconda fell in January. Subsequent looting remained relatively light, as word reached the attackers of Taj ud-din's approach, but nonetheless each of the 2,700 or so surviving siegers returned home with enough gold and jewels from nearby mines to be set for life. Their success was vital in maintaining soldiers' spirits and hopes through the remainder of the campaign.

When word reached Emperor Vijaya of Taj ud-din's effort to retake his home, he ordered Immadi to hold the city while he force-marched across the subcontinent. Vijaya Jeoomal would take command of banners decimated by fighting and attrition and, with 'Naggy's' support in Vijayanagara, restore them to full strength.

In early February, Immadi's army encountered Taj in foothills north of the city. The Imperial army consisted of ten thousand infantry with almost no cavalry support, while Taj ud-din brought six thousand infantry and two thousand horse.

Using the hills to advantage, his horse archers rained death on the Imperial front from a range where they couldn't adequately respond. Immadi committed himself to a frontal assault up hill, which the horsemen simply dodged. Taj ud-din's infantry rushed forward.

Immadi wisely ordered a general retreat towards the city, though harassing horsemen contributed to high casualties. As the Imperial left flank wavered, Senapaati Harihara Mayekar appeared on the horizon.

Mayekar never received orders to advance, though whether by accident or design remains unclear. Certainly Mayekar's views on warfare differed greatly than his king's, and Vijaya may have felt giving him the cavalry reserve would keep him out of trouble.

Mayekar's five thousand horse slammed into the surprised sultan's cavalry. For perhaps an hour the battle remained in doubt as the two light horse commands swirled around each other. This gave Immadi precious time to rally his men and they, in turn, engaged Taj ud-din's infantry at bow range.

Slowly the two Imperial commands gained the upper hand inflicting some eight hundred casualties while losing a little over one thousand. Shah Taj ud-din retreated westward...and ran into the emperor less than a week later.

Vijaya didn't arrive in time for the first battle, but he made up for it with sheer ferocity while the shah's men fought with demonic desperation. In a more or less direct clash uncharacteristic of both men, infantry ground into each other. On the flanks, Vijaya's horse quickly gained the upper hand over their rivals and hit Taj ud-din's army on both sides. Almost four thousand men lost their lives in the single bloodiest day of the war. Over the next two months Vijaya harassed his foe and forced the bulk of his army to surrender in May.

By the summer of 1431, the Bahamanids were down to one large field army. These soldiers were hardened veterans from their wars in Gondwana, yet more loyal to their homes and local sultans than Taj ud-din. When he took command in June, perhaps half simply faded away to Nagpur to await developments. The other half struck at Golconda, met Immadi's army and ceased to exist as a fighting force. He followed up his victory by pursuing the Shah's party of personal guards to Nagpur and annihilating the second force. This time he captured the Taj ud-din.

What happens next is speculative. Reports state that Immadi insist his royal prisoner be treated with the dignity he was due. This may be true, but he was not. No report states just how Taj ud-din Bahamanid died, but from the level of outrage in Deccan as well as the intensity of the Imperial investigation, we can assume it wasn't dignified.

Other than local garrisons, by October the Bahamanid army ceased to exist and the Imperial army finally moved to siege every town and city on the plateau. Vijaya himself marched into Goa in early June and quickly routed Firuz's army. Here Vijaya set up court and imported a large number of administrators from Vijayanagara to restore order.

In the Imperial courts a woman could rise far, at least much farther than in almost any other field. They filled the lower ranks of many departments as scribes, interpreters and entertainers. Granted, a great deal of their duties dealt with looking pleasant and giving pleasure, but here a woman could win at least some acclaim for her intelligence and insight.

Vijaya cared about neither when he met Tamasi. He certainly didn't love her in any more than the physical aspect. He did get her with child, however. Further, when his cousin Achyota sickened and died, he appointed the child his heir.

This did not go over well back home. Tamasi was from the wrong caste, and that put a shadow over the child's place in society as well. It didn't help that Vijaya saw no reason whatsoever to marry her, let alone remain loyal. The fires on the Deccan Plateau were going out, but the fires in Vijayanagara were just starting. (Conflict Exacerbates Tensions: -5 Prestige)

Through 1432 city after city fell before the Imperial armies: The Sultan of Ahmandanagar submitted in January. Maharastra followed in March, though not before the local commander herded a number of locals into the city's largest mosque and burned it to the ground. (Missionary killed.)

Muslims in Goa, frustrated by Sind's failure to hold their city and angry at Taj ud-din's death, feared the worst. Rather than submit to the possibility of forced conversion (or having their mosque destroyed,) they rose in revolt and tried to storm the governor's palace where Vijaya still held court. Much of the Imperial army still camped nearby and restored order within two nights.

In June 1432 Konkan surrendered. Then, abruptly, the tide turned.


Surprise!

Hamza II, Sultan of Bengal, forced the hapless Orissan regency to allow him to send armies through their land to attack Vijayanagara. While Bengal and Orissa were long standing rivals, in truth the local nobles liked the idea of cutting Vijaya down to size. In August, Hamza crossed the Imperial frontier and promptly laid claim to Parlakimidi.

Vijaya remained relatively isolated in Goa, so Nagendra took matters into his own hands. He appointed Saoshivaraya Chatterji (F1 S3 M1 Sg0) commander of the Imperial guard and shifted a number of Vijaya Jeoomal's recovering banners to his command. Chatterji, a nephew of the former Senapaati, marched eastward and destroyed Hamza's army in December, A proposed counterattack was quickly scrapped as the situation in the Sultanate deteriorated.

Bastar fell in November. As if waiting for this moment, a large body of perhaps three thousand Muslims organized in Nagpur. (Perhaps a MMU AI spawn?)

They were a disparate lot: 'Volunteers' from Delhi and Kashmir, survivors of Taj ud-din's last stand, zealots, and a great number of people either worried for their way of life or simply angry at the course of the war. They unified under Taj's grandson, Ali, and attacked Mayekar's small sieging force the day before he planned to storm over Nagpur's broken walls.

They won.

Vijaya Jeoomal had advanced onto the plateau with three thousand men to help with the last sieges. He led three thousand men against Ali's (F6 S1 M1 Sg1) army as they marched on Golconda.

Jeoomal lost.

His brother, Immadi, unified his command with Chatterji's and counter-marched on Golconda. In late March the two armies fought in the last action of the war.

Ali's army was too small for any clever tactics and simply lined up with cavalry on the right flank. Immadi's army had no cavalry worth speaking of, but they did have overwhelming numbers and collapsed the Muslim formation. Ali was taken captive and brought to Goa to sign terms.

At home, anger over Vijaya's tryst with a clerk burned through the hereditary nobles. Many of them thought their king sexually dormant since his injury. This obviously was not true, nor did it help when a number of angry, betrayed daughters came forward to tell their story. (Aristocrats Concerned: -1 Prestige. Disgruntled Aristocrat Faction)

The Governor of Malabar and former Rajah of Trivandrum, though far too canny to formally to break away, found a unique way to make his displeasure clear.

Whatever faults one may claim, it cannot be denied that Vijaya gave Hinduism its greatest victory in a century. Not only did he succeed in drawing a line in the sand, preventing Gondwana's destruction simply by being too powerful to ignore, but he saved tens of thousands from forcible conversions and went far in preserving South India's culture and heritage.

In June 1433 Ali Bahamanid, Shah of the Deccan Sultanates, submitted to Vijaya in Goa.

 

[Beamed]

Again, pretty historical. I'm pleased that Castile isn't blasting through Northern Africa.

Magna Mundi spawns about 20,000 troops for the North African countries whenever they're invaded.

 

[Enewald]

You are pushing the line in the sand forth.

 

[Qorten]

That is one big victory, CatKnight. Lovely update. It's certainly a good move to deny the Bahmanids access to the sea. Of course with your infamy you might now have to worry not only about neigbouring muslim sultanates wanting revenge, but also smaller Hindu states envious of what you accomplished...

 

[naggy]

Hrm...this Nagendra guy seems canny. I'm flattered by the reference!

Qorten: I'm pretty sure that in MM, the Holy War CB is mutual like in vanilla, so if the Muslims want a piece of Vijaya, Vijaya can take a piece of them too.

 

[dinofs]

Excellent, I'm sure that the Bahamanids will think twice before becoming the target of an imperial mission.

 

[axzhang]

Very richly-detailed battle deployment! Kudos! Perhaps it's just me - but any chance of having a list of characters at the beginning of the chapter? The Indian names are really hard to keep track of

Glad to hear Vijaya still has trouble keeping it in the pants. That dog.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

Who'd have thought the key action would be little Goa. You won that war at a deccanter. I do notice your generals aren't that good. "Naggy" provided that extra discipline your armies needed.

It's time to put Orissa in its place. Letting muslim troops through is definitely unfriendly.

Considering how your navy got hammered, it's a smart move to deprive the Deccan of coastal provinces. Done right you can expand your navy with captured pirate vessels.

A royal marriage for Vijaya might help soothe ruffled aristocratic feathers.