Chapter One
A Symphony Of Treacheries
November 1444 - November 1459
So here we are, playing EU IV as Tunis.
Not only is this different, it is complicated.
After staring at the map for a while, I decide that my long-term goal will be to make Tunis a fairly prosperous economic power in the Western Mediterranean. A power that the Europeans must respect, maybe even ally with.
The first complication is my home region, North Africa. It is a mosaic of weak sultanates up to the Cyrene, which is Mamluk land. Obviously, my first objective must be to absorb Tlemcen, Mzab, Touggourt, Djerid and Fezzan. (I’m supposed to be guaranteeing the independence of the latter, but I do not feel bound to honour a contract I did not dictate.) As for Morocco — we shall see. I wouldn’t object to its surviving, as long as it agreed with me in everything and kept Portugal out of my hair.
The second complication, as I discover within a week, is that having a common culture (Berber) does not endear these sultanates to each other. Tlemcen and Morocco maintain a cool neutrality with me and with each other. I’m going to have to get the others on my side, even though I want to eat them. I manage to get two royal marriages — Fezzan and Touggourt — before the AI throws me its first punch in the groin : Tunis’ economy is a ruin for the first five years of game-play.
Third complication : three of my provinces, led by Djerba, have the gall to hold heretic Islamic doctrines. Which of course means the possibility of civil strife.
I’m guessing that the AI will use every trick in the book to keep me below the poverty level for the next 400 years. But I did want a challenge, after all.
Morocco, Mamluks, Ottomans — none of these powerful despots will marry or ally me. Granada would, but what’s the point ? They would drag me into a war with Castile. No thank you. We Barbaresque lot are on our own.
I decide to go to war. First objective : annex Djerid. Which is when I notice the servant grovelling at my feet.
“What do you want ?”
“From His Highness the Sultan of Touggourt, o Exalted One !” The boy holds out a thin scroll.
A request to honour our alliance, because Touggourt has declared war on... Djerid. What a coincidence ! Sorry, but the answer is no. I declare my own war. Alliance shattered. I don’t ask Fezzan to help, their army is insignificant.
Djerid has two provinces. Touggourt has already invaded the northern one. So I head south. There ensues a bloodbath.
But what’s happening up in the northern province ? Touggourt was defeated ! I am happy to be rid of such a useless ally. My men rush forward. Resistance is virtually nil, the Djeridians have exhausted themselves wrecking the first invader.
Within sixteen months, my vision of the future begins to come true. Djerid is no longer an independent sultanate, it is a region of the Sultanate of Tunis.
Okay, so far so good !
Touggourt, needless to say, is furious. “Your messenger came too late, I started my own war on Djerid first,” I try to explain. They refuse to believe me.
However, my little coup makes the other realms around the Mediterranean sit up and take notice. The Europeans in particular. The Doge of Genoa declares the Republic an enemy of Tunis, as do the kings of Aragon and Portugal.
“Tlemcen is justifiably aggrieved,” I say to my viziers, “he wants to be me ! But the Doge of Genoa ? The king of mighty Aragon ? You know what that means ? They are afraid of us !”
Neighbouring Tlemcen has sworn enmity. Morocco, on the other hand, decides that it likes me. Lo, even mighty Egypt condescends to notice me. I get a royal marriage with the Mamluk, but am given to understand that I’ll have to work harder in order to get a military alliance.
Meanwhile, the economy improves with the annexation of Djerid.
For the next two years, I hoard ducats in prevision for the next war. (Not easy to do, my income is around 1/300th of a ducat/month.) Touggourt, it turns out, is ruled by unstable emotion rather than cunning. They ally with Tlemcen. They then attempt to force their ally’s hand by declaring another war of conquest, this time on tiny Mzab.
Tlemcen decides to commit itself with Touggourt in this foolish enterprise. I hesitate not an instant. This is my cue to invade Tlemcen. (I have fabricated a claim on the province of Dahra.)
The Battle of Titteri more than halves Tlemcen’s capacity for defence. In September 1449, with myself again in command of my army, we annihilate the Algerian forces at the Battle of Dahra.
“Long life to Sultan ’Uthman !”
What happens next ? The AI has a burst of genius. The Sultan of Touggourt suddenly loses his mind completely. He agrees to a hasty peace with Mzab, and then turns around to stab his ally in the back.
“Touggourt has declared war on Tlemcen, Exalted One !” my spies inform me.
I am
horrified. What sort of person would stab an old friend in the back, and then kick him in the groin when he was already more than half dead ? Those two deserve each other.
I waste no time before running amok in Tlemcen, pillaging, raping, burning. Touggourt tries to imitate me. Not a pretty sight. In the spring of 1450, Tlemcen sues for peace. They agree to surrender not one but
two provinces, and to pay tribute for seven years. Goodbye, poverty !
Four provinces have been annexed since the start of this game. What does the proud Mamluk think about that ? An embassy is despatched to Cairo with a suitably voluminous boatload of presents, mostly booty taken from Tlemcen. The Sultan of Egypt, duly grateful and impressed, agrees then and there to an alliance.
I am now allied with Morocco and the Mamluk, and little Fezzan. It’s a start. But my army can stand improvement. Over the next three years, spurred on by exhortations to grandeur, my sword-wielding fighting men transform themselves into a body capable of measuring arms with the likes of Castile or Portugal.
During this time, Touggourt tries desperately to expand. They manage to gain control of Mzab, only to lose a portion of their gains when Tlemcen in turn takes a share of what Touggourt had conquered.
I scatter my spies from one end of the Mediterranean to the other, to sow what disorder they can, and to steal gold and political secrets. The artistic revolution that is taking Europe by storm is infuriating. I will have to try hard to catch up. In the meantime, rounding up a few Europeans living in Tunis — Venetians, Greeks, Castilians, Aragonese — and maltreating them makes everybody feel superior. Only Castile makes a fuss.
“Our loyalty shall never fail you, Exalted One,” the imams vow. “As long as you remember that we are above common laws and petty actions such as taxation.”
I dare not tell them what I really think. I claim the right to tax every man alive, imams and non-imams. What I do not necessarily have is the power to do so. But I will, one day.
The conquest of North Africa must, however, go on. Tlemcen probably thinks
they should rule over all of the Maghreb. I need to beef up my fighting force. That requires ducats. So I also need to build trade. With a few more infantry and war-camels, I can claim more territory from Tlemcen.
Somehow, the AI figures out my plan. So it cheats.
Allied with Castile. Thank you, AI. We good-for-nothing Sunnis all get a -1000 hit when we try to ally with a Christian monarch, but Tlemcen is special.
I understand.
Tlemcen must die.
Attacking Tlemcen being out of the question for the present, another target must be chosen. Well, there is only one : pathetic Touggourt. I am, however, having so much success at home that I fail to notice just how pathetic Touggourt is.
Others, Allah be praised, do
not fail to notice.
“Insurrection in Touggourt, Exalted One !” my Second Vizier announces. “The tribes of Mzab are murdering their overlord !”
Music to my ears. Before we know it, Mzab rises from its ashes.
It is time to pluck another petty sultanate for Glorious Tunis.
~~~