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Monnikje said:I'm sorry, Tjena: I hope I have made it up with this post.
That's no problem, you're forgiven
Nooooo! My religion (Orthodoxy) is dying!!!!
You should really start converting your populace, most of your empire in Catholic...
Beautiful maps...
as
You should really start converting your populace, most of your empire in Catholic...
Beautiful maps...
as
Those rebels are everywhere! when I finally got rid of them, they appear in all the other countries. I really wonder if their not a forebode to an alien invasion...
I guess that Orthodox is dying because Catholic Lithuania is taking the role of Russia. And I indeed want to convert my population, but with 0,05 missionaries per year, I can't do much. But in a few years I can take a NI which gives a +0,5 missionaries per year, and in 1517 I can go one more step towards narrowminded. Yahoo! Catholics, beware, because the man in the black habit and his belly dancer may choose your town next!
I guess that Orthodox is dying because Catholic Lithuania is taking the role of Russia. And I indeed want to convert my population, but with 0,05 missionaries per year, I can't do much
. But in a few years I can take a NI which gives a +0,5 missionaries per year, and in 1517 I can go one more step towards narrowminded. Yahoo! Catholics, beware, because the man in the black habit and his belly dancer may choose your town next!
Speaking of religion (and sorry if I missed this) - have you claimed Sole Defender of the Faith?
Your maps continue to be excellent... the icons are a nice touch as well, I laughed at the turbans.
Your maps continue to be excellent... the icons are a nice touch as well, I laughed at the turbans.
Most excellent update!
So the Padishah finally meets his loyal General. Very good.
Now, hopefully rebels will not be given as much freedom to do as they please.
Perhaps the elimination of that Island kingdom is in order...
So the Padishah finally meets his loyal General. Very good.
Now, hopefully rebels will not be given as much freedom to do as they please.
Perhaps the elimination of that Island kingdom is in order...
Appendix A: The names of colonies
An appendix is a supplemental part at the end of a work, usually of an explanatory, statistical or bibliographic nature. Since I would have to wait an awfull long time to post an appendix if I would want it to be at the end of the AAR, I'll just post random appendices at random times at random places. In the first post you can easily access any appendix.
The goal of these appendices is to create an overview of some important, funny, nice or just random information I'd like to share with you about this AAR. As the AAR progresses, I'll update the appendices if there is something to update it with. Don't worry, I still give the information with the updates, but I think it is handy to have it also all on one place.
The Islam goes colonization.
This appendix has been updated untill the ingame year: 1571
Ever since Europe discovered that there was land out there, they wanted to colonize. It didn't matter if they were Portuguese, English, Dutch or, as in this AAR, Islamic Spanish. Ships sailed to far away countries, discovering places they had thought impossible. And after those explorers came the tsunami of colonists. With them came names. Sometimes names changed, just like Nieuw Amsterdam became New York. But one thing they all had in common: they came their own names to their colonies.
The Islamic explorers and colonists don't differ from the rest of the world. They also gave names to their colonies. But since these names can be unfamiliar to the reader, and he might forget the explanation given a dozen pages ago, I just give an overview of the colonies established and their names.
The colonies will be grouped in geographical order.
African westcoast
The African westcoast.
Arguin: December 1512. After Queen Mary III of Great Britain had died, her son Augustus I wanted to break free from the European continent. Het therefor started to colonize in Africa. Padishah Muhammad IX from the Spanish Empire didn't accept this: the first colonial war followed. In april 1513 the Spanish captured this colony south of their Empire.
Brakna: 17 februari 1579. I decided to keep this Arabic name for this province.
The Canarias: Between 1470 and 1473. This is one of the islands Malik Ibn Umar has discovered as a test. The name Canarias comes from the Spanish 'Islas Canarias', which comes from the Latin 'Insula Canaria', which means 'Island of the Dogs'. The ancient explorers who got there found quite some fierce dogs over there.
Cape Akhdar: 12 april 1473. This is the so called 'Cape Verde', which is Portuguese for 'Green Cape'. I took the Arabic word for green, which is Akhdar, and called it thus Cape Akhdar.
Madeira: Between 1470 and 1473. This is one of the islands Malik Ibn Umar has discovered as a test. The name Madeira is Portuguese, and is derived from Ilha da Madeira, which means 'Island of the wood'.
Oued Edhahab: March 1483. Colonists went south of Morocco, and established this colony. They had heared about a golden river, and thus called this 'Gold Coast' in their Arabic tongue 'Oued Edhahab'. Unfortunately this land was tropical, and wouldn't grow on it's own. This colony expedition was considered by Sa'd I as a failure, since he had to send 10 colonists to it.
Taoudenni: 24 januari 1578. Taodeni is actualli spelled as Taoudenni. So I'll keep this spelling.
Trarza 6 september 1518. The region of Trarza became an independant emirate in 1644 and existed untill 1910. It was formed after the Mauretanian Thirty year war. I couldn't find the name of that region before this Islamic emirate, so I will just keep this name for the colony. Well, it's Arabic anyway, why change it
.Tuat: 20 october 1528. Tuat is the Berber name for the people living in the north of Algeria. Thus I just kept this name for the province.
African Southern westcoast
The African southern westcoast.
Hazrat Scheherazade: 18 februari 1524. The island of St. Helena is named after Saint Helena of Constantinople, who had discovered the true relics of the cross. But well, I couldn't use this for an Islamic island, could I? I named the island Hazrat Scheherazade. Do you remember that Hazrat means 'honourable person'? Well, Scheherazade is the woman who tells the stories of one thousand and one nights. It seemed to fit to give her her own island
.Muharram: 9 october 1590. Vasco da Gama of Portugal saw the coast of Natal on Christmas Day 1497. Christmas in Portuguese is 'Natal', which gave rise to the original name for the region. Of course I couldn't take this name, so I picked an Islamic holiday: Muharram, the Islamic New Year.
Otcho: 11 april 1581. Fernando Po was known to it's original inhabitants as Otcho. I thus name it that way.
North American Eastcoast
The eastcoast of North America, with some islands.
Almumin: 5 februari 1553. The state of Delaware is named after the Delaware river, which is named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr. So this title is the basis for the name of the province. Well, I'll thus name it after an Arabic title. An Islamic noble title is Emir, which originally meant 'chieftain' or 'commander'. It is also spelled as Amir. The first caliphs used the title 'Amir al-Muminin', which means 'Commander of the faithful'. Just like De La Warr became Delaware, I let Amir al-Muminin become Almumin.
Ardi Ofra: 10 december 1533. The name Acadia is credited to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, and was originally spelled as Arcadia. This is Greek for 'land of plenty'. Later, in the 17th century, the French lost the 'r' and the name Acadia came into beeing. Another theory is that the name is derived from the Mi'kmaq name 'Algatig', meaning 'camp area'. I decided to follow the land of plenty, although in Arabic this time: Ardi Ofra
Attawapiskat: 13 march 1550. Attawapiskat is home to the Mushkego or Omushkego James Bay Cree. Since it is the name of a town, what used to be a seasonal camp, I decided to keep it.
Azrak Tall: 30 december 1540. Massachusetts is named after the native people who lived there, calling themselves Massachusett. It means 'The people who live near the great hill'. I didn't find their name for the area, although I could find the names of some villages. The name Massachusetts comes from the hills, who were called by the European explorers 'blue hills', due to the bluish hush on the slopes when viewed from a distance. Blue hill is in Arabic 'Azrak Tall', so I called this area that way.
Eiriksfjord: 13 august 1516. This part of Greenland was named after Eirik the Red, a 10th century Norse king, who was banned from Norway 'because of some killing'. I kept this old name.
Epekwitk: 5 december 1535. Epekwitk is the Mi'kmaq name for Prince Edward Island, named after Prince Edward, duke of Kent. Following the previous used method, I keep the Mi'kmaq name.
Hazrat Batan: 29 januari 1543. The Narraganset tribe controlled the area where now Rhode Island is. It literally means 'the people at the small, narrow point'. The original name was actually Nanhigganeuck, but the presentday Narrangansett seems to be an English corruption. This tribe partly lived on Rhode Island. This island was discovered in 1524 by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. He called it 'Luisa', after Louise of Savoy, Queen Mother of France. Well, well: named after a queen. The Spanish Empress is the Holy Belly. In Arabic, that's Hazrat Batan. So that's how this province is called.
Iiyiyuuschii: 10 march 1548. Cree is an exonym for 135 differend bands of Indians. They call themselves Ayisini. The name Cree comes from the French Cristinaux (which became Cris in French, and later Cree in English), after the name they gave to the band they had contact with. The Cree are separated in different subgroups, and one of them, the Eeyouch, is the name of the bands in Quebec. The traditional name for the northern parts of Quebec, including Eeyouch territories, is Iiyiyuuschii. So I decided to name the province of Cree this way.
Jayid al Ardi: 1506. Beothuk is actually the name of the (in 1829 extinct) ethnic group of people who inhabited Newfoundland before the Europeans came. Since I already had left the westside of the island to be called like the original name for the entire island, I'd give the eastside the european name, as a consensus. The Italian John Cabot discovered the island in 1497 and called it 'New land', which became later 'New found land' or 'Newfoundland'. The Arabic name for 'New land' is 'Jayid al Ardi'. The eastside will therefor be called Jayid al Ardi.
Jayid Tenerife: 6 march 1546. Unami is the name of the native people who lived there. Later it was called New Jersey by the English, but that's not possible now. The name New Jersey is taken from the largest of the Channel islands, Jersey. I won't do that this time: I now just name it after the largest of the Canary islands, Tenerife. So in Arabic: Jayid Tenerife.
Kespek: 9 januari 1532. In the 16th century an alliance of four Mi'kmaq tribes expanded at the expense of the Mohawk tribes. The last piece of land they axquiered, they called 'Kespek', which means 'last acquiered'. Once again I decided to go with the flow, and keep this original name for the province.
Manahachtanienk: 5 februari 1545. The name Manhattan derives from the word 'Manna-hata', as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, an officer on Henry Hudson's yacht Halve Maen (Half Moon). It is believed to come from the Mohawk word 'Manna-ha-ta', which means 'Place for drunkeness.' Henry Hudson had invited two chieftains to the island, and made them drunk. Afterwards they both called that place 'Manahachtanienk', meaning: 'the island where we were once drunk'. That's a too good name to skip, so I take this one.
Manitou: 20 march 1551. Swampy Cree, also known as Maskegon, is a language spoken in Manitoba and Western Ontario. The province of Manitoba is related to the native word 'Manitou', which means spirit. Well, I like that name better than the language name for the province, so I'll stick with Manitou.
Markland: 10 september 1515. Before Labrador was discovered in 1498 by the Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, it was known to the Norsemen as Markland, which means 'forestland'. To honour these vikings, I kept this original name: Markland.
Maryland: 9 februari 1554. Maryland is named after the English queen Mary III, and is the place where Horatio discovered America.
Merrimack: 26 december 1539. The Pennacook tribe was also called the Merrimack tribe. Pennacook means 'at the bottom of the hill'. They lived in quite some area, but notable for this province is that the Merrimack river flows through it. So I won't name the province after the people, but after the river that flows through it.
Muhammad Khlij: 15 march 1549. Moose Cree is actually a dialect spoken around James Bay of the Central Cree language. You know my hesitation to name a province after a language or the name of the people (I rather pick the name they give to the place), but I couldn't now find that name. I therefor found anotehr solution. James Bay is named after the English captain Thomas James, who explored that area around 1630. I decided to name this bay after my current ruler, so you'll get: Muhammad Khlij.
Ndakinna: 18 december 1534. Abnaki was the French name for a tribe that lived in New England and Quebec. Actuallt, they called themselves Alnôbak, but the land they had they called Ndakinna, which means 'our land'. It's not their land anymore, but the name sticks with the Spanish, like they had done with other provinces.
New England: 13 december 1532. Micmac was the place where the British had tried to build a colony during the Colonial Wars. Thus it should have an English name... New England is most suitable. Thus I use that name for this province, reminding it forever of this futile attempt to break the Spanish hegemony.
Nitaskinan: 15 januari 1530. Actually, Atikamekw is the name of the people living in this province. They called it themselves 'Nitaskinan', meaning 'Our land'. I decided to take their name for this land.
Nitassinan: 11 march 1516. The province of Innu was actually called Nitassinan by the native people: the name of these people was Innu. I decided to keep the name these people gave to this land, and not the name of the people: Nitassinan.
Nunavik: 8 januari 1539. Nunavik is in the local Inuktitut dialect the name for 'place to live'.
Nunavut: 19 march 1552. The Chipewyan are a native people who live in Nunavut and other Canadian territories. Nunavut means 'our land' in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. That's a better name than the name of a people.
Pamlico: 9 februari 1556. The Pamlico were a Native American people of North Carolina. It appears that they had given their own name to the area there... Well, Since I couldn;t find any other name, I will sway for once: I'll keep this Pamlico.
Powhatan: 9 februari 1555. The name "Powhatan" is believed to have originated as the name of the village or "town" that Wahunsunacock (who has become better-known as the Chief Powhatan) came from. Thus I just keep this name.
Quinnitukqut: 7 februari 1544. The name 'Connecticut' originates from the Mohegan word quinnitukqut, meaning 'place of long tidal river'. Since Connecticut is an English form of this, I decided to take the original one.
Sa'd Bedhyra: 29 april 1491. Bedhyra is the Arabic word for Island. Since Sa'd I wanted an island for himself, this one was named after him, and is thus named 'Sa'ds island', Sa'd Bedhyra. Originally it was called Bermuda, but well, that does looks simular too Bedhyra.
Sa'dina: 16 februari 1557. Where the EU3 province of Santee lies, lies today the coastline of South Carolina. Santee is the name of an Indian tribe, which was never large. Carolina was originally named by the English king Charles II after his father, Charles I. I hadn't specified Muhammad's father, but his grandfather was Sa'd the Warrior. Although Sa'd already has an island named after him, he was a great warrior and deserves another part of the world: Sa'dina.
Stadacona: 25 december 1530. Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City. So I kept this name.
Taqamkuk: 1505. Taqamkuk is the original Mi'kmaq name for Newfoundland, and means 'place of two kinds of weather'. I guess I'll just leave it with this name.
The Azores: Between 1470 and 1473. The famous explorer Malik Ibn Umar was sended by Sa'd I to the islands for the Moroccan coastline to test his ablities as an explorer. He found three silands: The Azores, The Canarias and Madeira. Before Sa'd could do something about it, the Portuguese crew had given these islands already names. The Azores were named after the goshawk (Açor in Portuguese) or the word 'azules' (plural for blue).
Unamakik: 29 november 1536. Unamakik, which means in the Mi'kmaq lanuage 'foggy lands', was actually a much larger area than just this island. But well, I'll just stick with it
.Ungava: 30 december 1537. Ungava is the Inuktitut name for the Ungava Peninsula, and means 'towards the open water'.
Vestbygden: 19 august 1517. I actually couldn't find much about Vestbygden, so I just hept this old Norse name for the province, just like with Eirksfjord.
North American Westcoast
The westcoast of North America.
Hiakim: 16 march 1594. Yaqui is the name of the indians living in this province. They call their land Hiakim, so I'll call this province that way too.
Ulama: 2 march 1592 Sinaloa is one of the states of Mexico. I couldn't find much about the name, but I did find that the oldest sport involving a rubber ball of the world is still played there: Ulama. I named thus the province after this game.
Caribbean
The Caribbean, without pirates.
Adwiya: 26 november 1520. There is still much debate over the origine of the name of Curacao. It could come from the Portuguese word for heart (coração), referring to the island as a centre of trade, or it could mean heal (cura) for the plants that grow on the island. It could also be the name the natives had labeled themselves, since the Spanish called them 'Indios Curaçaos'. The island is not the centre of trade of the region, and I actually like the heal-theory. I looked for some Arabic words, and decided that the island should be called 'medicine', since that's what the plants on the island do. And the Arabic word is 'Adwiya'.
Agadir : 3 march 1528. Cartagena was founded in 1533 and named after the Spanish harbor city Cartagena, one of the most important harbor cities of Spain. Since I used a Moroccan name for another province, I decided to use one again. I choose the Moroccan harbor city Agadir, and thus named the province this way.
Alahad: 7 november 1513. Dominica is Latin for Sunday, the day Columbus discovered this island. The Arabic name for sunday is al-ahad, so I called the island Alahad.
Albayzín: 6 november 1512. Guadeloupe was called this way because of the image of virgin Mary in the Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadelupe, Extremadura. This gave me quite something to think about. Finally, I came up with Albayzín, an old Medieval Moorish discrict of Granada which has today the world heritage status, just like the Santa María de Guadelupe.
Alhambra: 7 november 1511. Columbus named Antigua in 1493 in honor of the Santa Maria La Antigua Cathedral in Seville. Well, in that case I just name the island after a Mulsim building: the Alhambra.
Auia: [/i]17 may 1573.[/i] This session I was quite lazy. Karankawa was called after the Karankawa indians, which was in their own language Auia. So I called it Auia.
Bahamas: 25 januari 1523. The origin of the name 'Bahamas' is unknown, although it is undoubtly of abiriginal origin. Therefor I decided to keep this name for the islands.
Baharonas: 1503. Baharona is a Spanish last name, and according to some it is even an Arab last name. Well, because of this, I stuck with the name Baharonas. If it is Arabic anyway, why change it.
Bayougoula: 4 may 1576. The Bayougoula were also a native Indian tribe.
Britania Bedhyra: 5 februari 1522. One of the theories of the origin of the name of Turks islands, is that the head of the cactus there looks like a Turk's head. Another one is that it was named after the Turks, since they dominated the Mediterrainian seas in the 17th and 18th century. Turks was a simular word for Pirate. Well, that's a nice story! In my AAR, the Spanish see the British as pirates, since Queen Mary III had send so many pirate ships to the coastline. So therefor I still call the islands 'Pirate islands', which will now be 'Britania Bedhyra'.
Caracas: 19 november 1519. The city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, was originally called 'Santiago de León de Caracas' and was named this way by the Spanish captain Diego de Losada in 1567. He named it after the patron saint of Spain (Santiago), the provincial governor (Pedro Ponce de León) and the Caracas Indians. Since the name of the indians stuck, I decided to keep this name too.
Chitimacha: 14 march 1575. The Chitimacha were a native Indian tribe.
Cumana: June 1507. Cumana means in the language of the Cumanagoto native tribe 'union between the sea and the river'. I decided to keep this name. And what a coincedence... This is also the place where in 1515 the first European city on the South American mainland was founded. Hehe, I beated the real world with 8 years
.Guantanamo: 7 februari 1526. Guantanamo was originally called this way by the Taíno, the natives of Cuba. With my naming policy, it is thus easy to keep this name.
Guayaquil: 1 december 1567. The Spanish conquistadors were not satisfied with the city of Quito, so they founded some more cities, at the cost of the natives. So in 1534 Fransisco de Orellana founded the city of Guayaquil. The name is believed to be derived from the Indian leader Guaya and his wife Quill. According to legend, Guaya killed his wife and drowned hisself because he didn't want to fall into Spanish hands. Well, let's just keep this name, shall we?
Habagua: 4 may 1526. Havana was actually founded in 1515 by Diego Velásquez de Cuellar. He called it Villa de San Cristóbal de la Habana, and builded it in the south-east of the island. After four years it was relocated to the present spot. The name Havana, Habana in Spanish, is probably derived from the local Taíno chief Habaguanex. An alternative theory is that it is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, meaning 'port'. But since it originally wasn't founded as a port, that's improbable. So I'll stick with the Taíno naming theory. Although I stayed closer to the original name in other provinces... So I'll call this one: Habagua.
Hazrat Aboe Bakr: 1508. The island of Saint Thomas could obiously not bear that name in an Islamic colonization. So I choose someone from the Islamic tradition: Aboe Bakr, the successor of the prophet Muhammad. So I called the island Hazrat Aboe Bakr.
Hazrat Ali: June 1500. This island is named after the fourth great Caliph, although Shiites will disagree. St. Lucia was named after the christian Saint Lucy. I really couldn't do that as Islamic nation, so I decided to name it Hazrat Ali, after Ali ibn Abu Talib, the fourth rightly guided caliph of the Islam.
Hazrat Malik: June 1499. In the Islam, Hazrat is the term used to honor a great person. Since St. Kitts was named after Christoffel Columbus (says wikipedia), I decided to name the island ingame after one of the great muslim explorers: Malik Ibn Umar. He's dead, but will be remembered by this island. Old Malik Ibn Umar had died, but will be remembered by this island.
Ishaks: 17 may 1574. The Atakapa were an Indian tribe, formerly known as the Ishaks. Lazy as I am now, I call the area Ishaks, since Atakapa was a denouncing name given by rival Indian tribes.
Jabal Edhahab: 5 may 1564. The origin of the name "Antioquía" is not very clear. Some maintain that it is an indigenous word that means "mountain of gold". Others say that it comes from the Syrian term "antiochia" that in turn comes from the Greek "antioko" which means "pusher". I prefer the mountian of gold. A mountain is jabal, and we've seen gold before: edhahab. So this province is thus called Jabal Edhahab.
Jayid Semurah: 22 may 1526. The city of Maracaibo is situated at Lake Maracaibo. It was originally founded in 1529 as Nueva Zamora, New Zamora. I couldn't find the origin of the name Maracaibo (probably a native name), but New Zamora... That's something to work with. Zamora is a Spanish city in Léon. Originally founded by the Romans as Occelum Durii or Ocellodurum (the Duero Eye), it exchanged hands a few times between the Gothics, Arabs and later Christians. The Arabs had called it Semurah. Well, the Arabic word for 'new' is jayid, so I just call this province Jayid Semurah.
Lihya: 1502. Barbados was named this way by the Portugues explorer Pedro a Ampos. It was so named, presumably, after the island's fig trees, which have a beard-like appearance. Of course I wanted to give the island an Arabic name. Since the Arabic name for beard is lihya, I named the island 'Lihya'.
Madinina: June 1498. 'Madinina' was the old Creol name for the island of Martinique, which is to believed to be derived from that name. I decided to keep this old name.
Mauvila: 3 may 1577. Mobile bay was originally discovered by Spanish sailors in 1500, who called it 'Bahía del Espíritu Santo', or 'Bay of the Holy Spirit'. The name 'Mobile' comes from the fortified town of Mauvila, also called Maubila, which later became Mobile. I decided to keep the original name: Mauvila.
Mawlid an Nabi: 1510. St. Martin was originally discovered by Columbus and called St. Marina, after St. Marina of Tours, since it was St. Marina Day (11 november). Once again I coudn't have this in an Islamic tradition, so I searched for an Islamic holiday. Well, I could find lesser Islamic holidays than Christian, so I just picked a random Islamic holiday: Mawlid an-Nabi, the day they remember the birth and death of the prophet Muhammad.
Miskito: 4 may 1571. This province is named after the Mosquito coast in Nicaragua, also called the Miskito coast, named after the Miskito Indians. normally I don't name provinces after people, but now I'm lazy: I'll just call it Miskito.
Myna al Ganyh: 1501. Puerto Rico means 'Rich port'. I translated that to Arabic, which led to 'Myna al Ganyh'.
Nicaramo: 26 december 1570. Nicaragua is named after both the leader of the native people at the moment the Spanish arrived, Nicarao, and the Spanish word for water: agua. The Arabic word for water is ma, so the name becomes Nicaramo.
Okay: 1509. Les Cayes was originally called Aux Cayes, which comes from the Creole Okay. So I decided to call this part of Haiti Okay.
Panama: 3 april 1568. The name Panama comes from the native word Panama, meaning many fish and butterflies. Well, I'll just keep it as it is.
Ramadan: 7 march 1557. The Seminole were a Cree tribe that migrated to Florida in the 18th century. Now it's the 16th century, so the Seminole are nowhere to be seen! Florida was named this way by the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León because of Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Eastern season. I couldn't name this province after an Christian holiday, so I choose an Islamic one: Ramadan.
Sahil al-Ghani: 6 may 1569. Chorotega is the name of an indigenous people of Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. As I have said before, I don't like to call a province after a people. Coasta Rica is Spanish for 'Rich coast', which translates into Arabic as Sahil al-Ghani.
Sulahfat: 1504. Tortuga means 'Turtle', as the Spanish sailors called it after the shape of the island for the coast of Haiti. The Arabic name for turtle is sulahfat, so I called that part of the island 'Sulahfat'.
Taddert: 25 april 1526. I couldn't actually find a good reason for Moron to be called this way, although there seems to be a connection with the Spanish village of Moron. I did find that the first settlers in 1543 were Creols and Spanish people. So I decided to pick the name of a random Moroccan village and call the province thtis way. Why Moroccan? Well, these names sound more Arabic than the names of the Spanish villages
.Tamaholipa: 27 may 1572 Tamaulipas is derived from the indian name Tamaholipa, which means 'place where high hills are'. I kept the Indian name.
Thalatha: 3 november 1514. Trinidad is Spanish for 'Trinity', from the Holy Trinity from Christianity. It is said that Columbus named the island that way because he saw the three peaks of Trinity Hills. OF course I couldn't do a Christian name for the island, but I could use the three since there are three peaks. So I took the Arabic word for three, 'Thalatha'.
Xaymaca: 13 februari 1525. The original Arawak Indians called the island of Jamaica original 'Xaymaca', which meant 'land of wood and water'. Just like I kept more original names, I'll keep this one in it's original native form.
Thimogna: 25 februari 1559. The Timucua were a native people, whoes name means 'from Thimogna'. So let's call this area just Thimogna.
Wixárika: 14 december 1587. The Huichol or Wixáritari are an indigenous ethnic group of western central Mexico. They refer to themselves as Wixárika, thus I name this province that way.
Xallixtli: 4 october 1582. I couldn't find anything about Sayultecas. I did find that the province is nowadays called Jalisco, which is derived from xalli (sand) and ixtli (plain), so I therefor call it Xallixtli.
Zainab: 23 februari 1527. I guess it's obvious why I couldn't take the name Magdalena for that colony. So I looked for a woman related to Muhammad. I found Zainab. She was Muhammads cousin, and he had intended to marry her to Zaid, his freed slave and adopted son. That happened, but then one day he laid his eyes upon her body and was smitten by her beauty. He complimented her, and she told that to her husband. Hearing this, Zaib divorced her, so that Muhammad could marry her. Well, good enough to name a province after her
.South America
South America, excluding the Caribbean
Algharb al-Insan: 26 juli 1563. Patagonia Occidental means western Patagonia. I have already told you about Patagonia: Western is Algharb in Arabic, so I just named this province after a mix of these.
Atacameño: 25 october 1594. The Atacama desert used to be inhabited by the Atacameño tribe. I thus called it after this tribe.
Batt: 17 june 1585. The province name Patos comes from the Lagoa dos Patos, or in English: the Lagoon of the Ducks. IThe Arabic name for Duck is Batt, so that's how I'll call this province.
Cauca: 13 december 1565. The Cauca is a river in Colombia. There is a debate about the origin of the name. Some say that it was named this way by the Spaniards, who called the river Rio Grande, or Marta Cauca. But others say that it is named after a chieftain called Cauca. To be honest, at this moment I'm lazy, so I'll stick with the chieftain story and call the province Cauca too.
Chocó: 3 may 1566. The department of Chocó was created in 1944, but the natives lived there for a much longer time. When I searched for the etymology of the word Chocó, I found a lot of chocolate, which comes from the Aztec word xocolatl: a combination of xocolli, meaning 'bitter', and atl, meaning 'water'. But well, since the Chocó languages are a different kind of languages than Aztec, it couldn't be derifed from there. I couldn't find a clear answer, so I assumed that Chocó is some native name, so I kept it.
Hazrali: 5 july 1586. The location where the province Santana is, is located at the Brasil province Santa Caterina. Santana is a contraction from Santa Ana, meaning 'Saint Anna'. I can do that in Arabic too: Hazrat Ali will be Hazrali.
Hazrat Yûsuf: 24 may 1589. Santo Amaro was originally founded in 1557. The name comes from Saint Amaro, an abbot and sailor who sailed across the Atlantic to an earthly paradise. Well, I guess it's time to use the Hazrat once again. Yûsuf of course wants a piece for himself, thus: Hazrat Yûsuf.
Iznájar: 19 may 1547. In English the Falklands are called Falklands (obvious), while in Spanish it's Islas Malvinas. The English name comes from the expedition led by John Strong in 1690, who named it after his patron, Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland. The Spanish name is derived from the French Îles Malouines, bestowed in 1764 by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, after the mariners and fishermen from the Breton port of Saint-Malo who became the island's first known settlers. Well, named after a Viscount from the Scottish town Falkland or the French town Saint-Malo... No, I'll just stick with and Arbaic named town. I had a look at a map and randomly picked the city of Iznájar: that has an Arabic sound, and is laying in Granada.
Nar al-Ardi: 11 june 1560. Tierra del Fuego is Spanish for 'Land of Fire'. The island is named this way because of the fires the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Maggelan saw when he approged the island. Land of Fire is in Arabic Nar al-Ardi.
Nahr al-Yanair: 28 june 1591. Rio de Janeiro means 'River of Januari'. In Arabic that's something like Nahr al-Yanair.
Nahr Fidda: 2 june 1582. Rio de la Plata is the Spanish name for Silver River. In Arabic that's Nahr Fidda.
Parana: 10 june 1583. Parana comes from the Tupi language and means 'as big as the sea'. I therefor keep the name.
Qama Jabal: 12 june 1580. I couldn't directly find a Serranos at the place where it is located, but since it means something like 'mountain range', I decided to take an Arabic equivalent from that: Qama Jabal.
Rabii: 3 november 1592. Arica is the name for the city or the province. The city is known as 'the city of the eternal spring'. I couldn't find what Arica means, thus I choose a different approach: I named it Rabii, Arabic for spring.
Tawil al-Insan: 10 june 1561. The name Patagonia comes from the word Patagon, which was used by Magellan to describe the inhabitants of that southern part of South America. He had actually called them 'Patagão', which could mean something like 'Land of the bigfeet'. It was named thus, because the people living there were really tall (~1.80 m, in contrary to the average Spanish height of 1.55 m). 'Tall body' is 'Tawil al-Insan', so thus I'll call that province.
Tehuelmapu: 27 may 1562. The name Tehuelmapu is kind of strange: I couldn't directly find it. I did find that the people from there were the Theuelche. So I guess that this is how they just called that area... I'll keep this name.
Tupinikin: 7 june 1588. The captaincy of São Vicente is nowadays called São Paulo. But before the Europeans came, it was inhabitet by the Tupinikin indians. Since I'm a bit lazy now, I just call it after them.
Uruguay: 25 june 1584. Banda Oriental was the name given to the land what is now Uruguay. But the name Uruguay is a name from the native language Guaraní, and thus I call the province Uruguay.
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Some sidenotes:
I have kept the province borders, since I want to be able to colour new provinces in the future
. And well, it is more practical to see the seperate colonies .By the way, if you have suggestions to improve the appendices, please say so.
Please note that I'm not an historical expert, and wikipedia is one of my primal sources. but I do find it quite interesting to learn more behind the name of the province.
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Miscreant: Unfortunately Swahili is for more than 100 years already the defender of the Sunni faith . But I'll get them one day.
EUROO7: Thanks! I need just a few more years to get my manpower back, and keep rebels that might spawn in check. But then... Well, I'm in a doubt. My current mission is to get one of the French provinces, and if I play it well, I can also get one of the members of the HRE without getting into a war with the emperor. But on the other hand, Great Britain is in chaos and now is a perfect opportunity. Well... I'll await a few more years to get my full power back, and then decide what to do.
I think I will do some more appendices at some random times, when I feel like doing one.
. But I'll get them one day.EUROO7: Thanks! I need just a few more years to get my manpower back, and keep rebels that might spawn in check. But then... Well, I'm in a doubt. My current mission is to get one of the French provinces, and if I play it well, I can also get one of the members of the HRE without getting into a war with the emperor. But on the other hand, Great Britain is in chaos and now is a perfect opportunity. Well... I'll await a few more years to get my full power back, and then decide what to do.
I think I will do some more appendices at some random times, when I feel like doing one
.
Very good. Now we see what the Spanish colonies are like!
No other country has them, right?
No other country has them, right?
Thanks! I try to be as realistic as possible with an Islamic Spain . I even learned a few Arabic words during this game (who would have thought that).
And indeed, I'm the only European country who has colonies. The only other country with QFTNW is Great Britain, and the only other countries that could possibly colonize (after they have learned about the far away continent) are Scotland and Norway, and then only Greenland. Scandinavia can't even reach Greenland (apart from the fact that they have no clue that it exists). The only other 'threat' could be Armanac, but they can barely reach Iceland, and to cross the ocean without QFTNW and some islands inbetween (which I all own...). Well, if I knock out Great Britain there is truly no competition!
. I even learned a few Arabic words during this game (who would have thought that).And indeed, I'm the only European country who has colonies. The only other country with QFTNW is Great Britain, and the only other countries that could possibly colonize (after they have learned about the far away continent) are Scotland and Norway, and then only Greenland. Scandinavia can't even reach Greenland (apart from the fact that they have no clue that it exists). The only other 'threat' could be Armanac, but they can barely reach Iceland, and to cross the ocean without QFTNW and some islands inbetween (which I all own...). Well, if I knock out Great Britain there is truly no competition!
Chapter 15: The Quest for the Holy Belly (1511-1521)
The situation in Europe, 1 november 1511.
I look at the small room that had been my home for so many years. Goodbye bed, goodbye both of you plates. I'm going away, to search for the man in the black habit and the belly dancer. The military will be in good hands with general Mustafa, although I definately said not to start a war untill I return. The colonization efforts I leave in the hands of Manuel Grimaldi, the advisor who was só ugly, he drove people away to further colonies than would otherwise possible. Both Isidor von Wustinghausen and Mustafa Ibn Husayn, not the general, will try to improve my relations with the rest of Europe while I'm gone. Also, I leave Leonardo da Vinci here in charge of the Parma Project, in the hope of discovering the way of the waterwalking. And my promotor, Machiavelli... Well, he decided to write a book. I'm curious what it will be about, but I'll learn it after I return.
As I walk outside, I almost bump into Achmed.
'You're leaving?' I see the surprise on his face.
'Yes, as fast as a swallow.' I sling my backpack on my back, stuffed with the gear I expect to need. My sword is at my side.
'European or African?' For a moment I can't place his question, but then I get it.
'European I guess, they migrate.'
He shakes his head. 'In all these years I didn't expect you to really go. The siege of the Pisan rebels, the turmoil in the empire, and still you remained on your room. But well, now that you're a master, nothing will stop you.' Those words might be so true. 'I'm leaving myself too. Fatima is pregnant, and we want to raise our child in the sun of Rhodes. I was actually coming here to say goodbye.'
While we talk, we walk along the street. We pass a grocery store. I see a bunch of coconuts, and fetch one. With my sword I split it in two, and give one half to Achmed. 'I'll be away for quite some years, but one day I'll return, and bring the coconut back together. Here, have one half, and keep it save.'
Muhammad IX gives Achmed a half coconut.
After this, we both go our seperate way. I'm sure my empire will last while I do the quest for the holy belly.
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'I'm not dead...' My words are weak, and are soon followed by my stomach beeing emptied in the doctors face. I was travelling with a ship from Parma to Andalucía, where the Holy Belly was seen last, but a terrible storm had hit us. I have never felt so sick in my life.
'Don't be such a baby.' The doctor wipes his face and looks angry at me. 'If you couldn't take such a storm, you would be stone dead in a moment. So do us a favour, and stop beeing such a baby. You'll be getting better.'
If he would have know that he was talking like this to the padishah, he would have thrown himself off the ship. But I'm travelling undercover, not wanting to alert the men.
When I left the harbor of Parma, I heared heralds proclaiming the news of rebels in Lienz. Immediately I knew that they had returned from their Austrian adventure. I wrote to Mustafa that he should send some men out there. Also, he had to send a small division of men to Ottoman territories: those Ottomans were clearly not able to deal with the occupied Croatian territories, so I would have to do it for them.
With pigeons I kept recieving news, even on the Mediteranian. The Pigeon Herald reported peace between the Byzantine Empire and the Mamluks, with no actual gain for any of the countries. Not much later the Mamluks made peace with Syria too. But then, just before the storm, I recieved news that Scandinavia had annexed Pommerania. They were clearly trying to gain a monopoly of the Baltic Sea. Well, let them have it. They will clash with the Lithuanians one day if this continues.
The storm that made Muhammad IX terrible ill.
While I'm laying here, not able to vomit anymore since the last went to the doctor's face, I think about Machiavelli's last words before I left Parma: 'Think hard about the way you will rule the Empire. We're living in a dictatorship, a self-perpetuating autocracy with an outdated dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.'
If this was a sneak preview for his upcoming book, I really want to read it.
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The waiter runs from table to table. It is a busy time here in Sevilla, in the late and sunny afternoon. Luckily I got very early at this table. A lot of parchments are spread out in front of me, while I nip from my glass of wine. The other great powers of Europe are expanding their borders. Scandinavia annexed Pommerania, and Lithuania once again won the war against the Golden Horde and conquered two provinces. Well, as long as they stay out of the west, I don't mind them. They will clash with eachother one day anyway.
Two letters from Achmed have reached me, although the herald had a hard time finding me. The first one is about some more rebel uprisings. This time in Achaea, where people have seen that those rebels actually crawled out of the ground, and started to fight! I guess we can blame Jason and the Argonauts for seeding the dragons teeth all those thousands of years ago...
Rebels are crawling from the dark earth to reign terror among the normal people.
Also, news had reached me that Benin, a west African country just like Kongo, got hold of some territories of the Mamluks. How did they do that? The jungle is fast and furious, which None shall pass, and if you do, you shall die.
After Kongo, Benin also decided to expand way beyond their border.
Then the waiter comes at my table to take my order. When I ask him what the house has to offer, he starts with: 'Bread, apples, cider, cherries... A lot of good food. What do you want, dear sir?'
'A duck!' With my answer the whole restaurant falls silent, and the waiter says 'Oooh.' I frown, and say: 'A duck can't be that hard, can it? What will it do, bleed on me? I can bite.'
The waiter apologies, but there is no single duck available in the entire town. A bad illness had struck among the duck population and killed them all off. All they were good for now was tape, ducktape. So I decided to go for the chicken.
When he went away, I look at the next message. I read it, and read it again. I can't believe my eyes. This december those darn British did it. Queen Mary III had died, to be succeeded by king August I, and he has made a colony, just south of Oued Edhahab. That bastard! This means war. I get a blank parchment and start to write a letter to my loyal general:
My anger is slowly lifted when I see the final letter on the table, the second one from Achmed. Fatima gave birth to a boy, named Zorba. He is healthy, and the birth went very smoothly. They got their own house near the beach of Rhodes, where they will spend their time together. I smile.
Achmed and Fatima have a son!
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It took my army four months to get ready. In the meantime I was still searching for the man in the black habit and his belly dancer. Where could they be? I travelled across the peninsula, but no trace. Untill one day someone said to me: 'Why don't you institute Divine Supremacy? With that, you attract more missionaries, which he clearly is. You will hear of the places where they are active, and can travel there to seek him out.'
'Who are you who are so wise in the ways of religion? This new learning amazes me,' I asked him, but all he replied was that his name was of no importance. I wanted to bow before him, but he stopped me and said: 'Oh, don't grovel! One thing I can't stand, it's people groveling. And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's 'sorry this' and 'forgive me that' and 'I'm not worthy'. Allah is great, and will embrace everyone.'
He left, and I did wage his words. It was actually a good idea, so I sended a parchment to Madrid, to get the people from the court arranging it. It wasn't untill later that day I realised that the man I had talked to, was wearing a black habit...
In March I got another idea, and in april I learned how to blockade ports.
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This war had taken me more than one and a half year away from my quest. I had to come forward, speed to the royal palace in Madrid, since a country without a clear leadership would be nothing in a war. Luckily Mustafa had made the preparations I had urged him to do, so when I arrived in Madrid, I could immediately start the war. On 1 april 1513 I walked through the gates and with one hand gesture I changed the fate of four nations.
I declared war on Guyenne. A day later the expected response followed: I was now also at war with Great Britain, France and Genoa too. Mustafa led the ranks in Great Britain with an elite group of 20,000 horsemen. He rode into the British domain to kill those strange persons. He was to stay away from the rebels, but for the rest he had ordes to kill all resistance.
On the continent I had surrounded the three other nations, with enough infantry men to win a war. I also had 20,000 horses, but used them solely to beat the French.
The infantry used on the continent was to be shipped to Great Britain as soon as they had done their job: They were needed to occupy that Isle. But at the dawn of war, I had already placed some infantry in Wales: They originally would had to go to London, but hearing that rebels had already occupied that city, I decided to send them somewhere else. London is just a silly place.
The battle plan for the invasion of Great Britain, France, Genoa and Guyenne. While France does move into my territory, the other three victims stay frozen at their place.
The war started well. My forces were doing a great job. Now, this is what they did:
The cavalry led by Mustafa rode from Gwynedd to Lancashire, where British troops were laying siege on a rebel-occupied province. They weren't paying attention, I guess they hadn't heared about the war yet, so Mustafa was able to sweep right through them, leaving no survivors.
In the meantime the French had been alerted, and did put up quite some fight. But they were driven from Cambray, to Vermandois, where they were beaten again, and fled to Othe. There their forces joined and made a stance against my horses, and were able to beat them, drive them away. They immediately started a siege on the province.
In Africa I had stationed 6,000 men at the border with the British colony of Arguin. As soon as the war started, they marched into it. With no resistance put up, they were quickly able to seize the colony and claim it for it's rightfull owner: me.
The Guyenne army wasn't difficult to beat: they were driven out of their province, and would not play any role during the rest of the war.
Genoa was able to put up quite a fight, and brought heavy losses to my men. But finally they were driven out of Liguria and also wouldn't play any more during this war.
The battles went well during the dawn of the war.
Then, out of nowhere, a letter from Austria came:
Wien, 3 may 1513
Padishah Muhammad IX,
You are not any better than your grandfather, or any other Nazrid before: Waging war against France and Great Britain, and let us not forget poor Guyenne and Genoa. Just mind your own business! The next time you declare war on someone, you have to deal with us, the Austrians. You don't frighten us, Spanish pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, son of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Muhammad Padishah.
Austria warns us not to make any more war.
I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! Now, just stay quiet for the coming time, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Ferdinant I,
Holy Roman Emperor.
Of course I put that aside, but despite this warning, it was also some good advice. The population, I saw in my time undercover, wasn't fully ready for more war. As soon as this war was over, I would have to keep a low profile for a while.
In june the British established a second colony near Taqamkuk. Luckily I had some men ready over there, who were quickly at the crimescene. There were no British soldiers, so the colony was immediately occupied. Unfortunately the local people started to fight, and with them the colony was completely destroyed. My men barely survived the onslaught! They bravely ran away. When danger reared its ugly head, they bravely turned their tail and fled. This should be a wise lesson for the future: I decided to do something about those agressive people after the war.
In july 1513 I finally occupied Liguria, and annexed Genoa. Two months later it was Guyenne's turn to be completely annexed. The war now continued with just France and Great Britain. With the French provinces falling one by one and the infantry who'd attacked Genoa now free for another action, it wasn't difficult to finally smash the last bits of the French army. The British put up a harder fight, since they trained new men during the war. But since my cavalry was already there, they were quickly dealt with. With no armies, and in a matter of months also no ships, both countries were left to the mercy of my sieges.
A new year came, and with it the last remnants of the British army were swept away. But not everything was going according to plan. The usual herald came from the shores of the British isle, his face showing a terror unmatched. His hands were shaking while he reported that my loyal general was dead! According to eye witchesses, he was leading his men while riding towards the last British men. They were cowering before the thundering army, but had their archers ready. Mustafa, in a killing frenzy, was hit by an arrow. Slain, but not yet defeated. A doctor immediately saw him, and said that he should rest. But Mustafa didn't want to listen. 'Look, I can tackle this lot single-handed!' he said. 'Honestly, I can cope. I can handle this lot easily. I can defeat them! There's only a hundred-and-fifty of them!'
The doctor wasn't able to hold him down, and he got on his horse again, and rode to the battlefield. Seeing their general up again, the men turned it into a stunning victory. But the wounds had cut deep, and at the end of the day, general Mustafa was dead.
My loyal general is dead!
Meanwhile, in the east the Ottoman Empire was having much trouble. Not only they were at war with the Austrians, and losing it, also they had to face a lot of rebels, along with Serbia gaining territory and Bulgaria declaring themselves independant! I guess the days of my Ottoman brethern are numbered.
It took my the rest of the year to lay siege on the provinces of Great Britain. But finally, at the beginning of december, it was over. I sended a herald to king August I, demanding:
You will cede the provinces of Lincoln, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Western Isles. Also, pay 50 ducats.
The next day I sended another herald to France, demanding:
Cede Maine, Blois, Bourbon and Vermandois.
Both accepted, beaten and destroyed. And the British... well, they were going to have a hard time. With no army and fleet, they had to face Scottish and Cornish rebels, along with quite a lot of rebellling British peasants. Their mainland was now split into two, and their coast infested with pirates. Although I might take care of that: If I want to claim that entire isle, I can't have pirates roaming around.
Now, I have heared that the man with the black habit and the belly dancer have been spotted here, in Madrid! I will immediately start looking for them, leaving the luxuary once again. With no war anymore, I can get on with it and leave the Empire once again to the mercy of my advisors.
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For the last time I look at the spacious bed in my bedroom. If there is one thing I'm going to miss, it is that bed. But I have to go, searching for the man in the black habit, with his belly dancer. My spies have told me several times that he has been spotted here, in Madrid. I have to find him, have to find the girl. At night I'm imagining what she might look like, and every night she becomes more beautifull. But everytime I want to hold her, grasp her hand, she disappears in the thick fog behind her. Am I chasing a dream?
On my way out, I almost bump into Manuel Grimaldi, my colonial advisor. His uglyness as inspired so many to boldy go where no man has gone before, and way beyond, if possible.
'My padishah,' he says, 'There you are. Before you embark on your quest once again, I have a question regarding your last order.' With a disturbing look on his face he asks: 'Is it really necessary to kill the native people of the colonies?'
'You have witnessed what they can do with the failed British colony. We must prevent them from doing the same to our colonies.'
'If I may advise you, dear padishah: we must then also cleansh the northern territories. The British have shown us that they can reach there, so we must be there first. Greenland is next in line to be colonized, along with the Canadian coastline. If we don't do it, others will.' Then his look changes to a mysterious stare. 'And you... On a quest for the belly of a girl... Have you thought of how to approach her?'
Actually, I hadn't. The only thing I knew was from the spying I had done on Achmed and Fatima, but I couldn't say that. So I asked him how I could appease a girl.
'You must give her something... a shrubbery! One that looks nice. And not too expensive.'
With this advise, I was ready to go. Except... Mustafa was dead. I still needed a new general. One for the expedition in the west, to attack the natives, and one in the east, to face the Austrians.
The restaurant where Muhammad got his two new generals.
Sad I went to the restaurant I had visited so many times. The waiter came and asked me if it would be the usual. I nodded, and asked: 'What's your name?'
''Abt al-Karim, sir.'
'Have you ever thought of joining the army? I heared they are searching for new generals.'
The man sounded the hearthiest laugh I had ever heared. 'I know what you want to imply. Me, a general? Out there? There is much danger over there, in the East and the ocean of Eternal Peril.'
'Yes, you a general. It pays much more than you can possibly earn here in your entire life.' Quickly I scribbled something on a piece of parchment. 'If you hand this out to the padishah's advisors at the palace, you will become a general who will sail to the West, and you can see the lands of Northern America.'
He laughed really hard, but he got the note and put it away save. Yes, he will do it, he will be a new general. He went to the kitchen, and came back with a cook. 'And here is my good buddy Nasim, do you also have a general job for him?'
'As a matter of fact, yes. You can go to the east, facing the daunty Austrians.' I scribble a second parchment, which is also put away save. They remain standing at my table, staring at me. 'Stop that!' They keep on staring at me. 'Look on! Clear off! Go On! Go away! Go away! Go away! And you! Clear off!'
Then finally they moved, and ran towards the palace. Now I've got two new general for my army. Time will tell if they were a good choice. Now I can go on and search for the holy belly.
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It's crisis. People are running all around me, panicking. Diplomats fear for their lifes. And me? I'm standing on the great market of Madrid. For three years I have wandered among the common people, searching for the man in the black habit and the belly dancer. But still I haven't found them.
Diplomats from all my vassals, allies and some of the other countries had travelled to my palace, in order to solve this matter. Or, in the case of France, escalate it further. I have seen them all entering the city, in their own majestic ways. No-one noticed a single man watching them all, observing their banners. No-one could enter unseen the city, or leave. Maybe except for the man in the black habit.
It all started when I left the palace, to wander once again among the common people. Manuel Grimaldi had sworn to himself that he would prevent others from colonizing the North American shores again, a dedicated task he completed very well.
Manuel Grimaldi went for colonizing Markland (Labrador), and got an extra colonist for free because of this.
It all went well. But then he took another step in Africa, towards Mali, preventing others from going there. Also, he colonized Greenland. Europe was cut off from the rest of the world.
At the same time, 'Abt al-Karim arrived with 20,000 men. He first went to Greenland, then proceeded to the Canadian shore and finally entered the Caribbean domain. Everywhere he went, he left burning pillages, bodies of the natives letting to rot in the wind. One by one he swept the horses across the countryside, exterminating more people than I had thought possible. It was great for the growth of the colonies: with no native agressiveness and their places empty, more people were willing to go there. But the gruelty was kept a secret.
Meanwhile, in Europe, I was searching for the preaching man without success. Where could he be? Then I knew: If I could turn the entire peninsula to the muslim faith, he would have to do even more work, and eventually would show up.
The entire Iberian peninsula must be muslim. Although I did forget to edit the title when I modded it from christian to muslim...
And finally, I had left Great Britain in quite a mess. Scottish rebels were roaming the land in the north, Cornwall had declared themselves independant in the south and peasants were wrecking havoc among the land. Their navy was gone, their army couldn't be restored after it's initial destruction.
Those four facts all came to the ears of the European nobles at the same time. Spain preventing others from colonizing, slaughtering natives, converting Europe to the Islam and leaving the country that had dared to devile them in ruins: it was too much for them. If I don't do anything quick, it might escalate and throw the continent in another series of endless wars.
While I'm standing at the market place, the usual herald walks towards me. 'Message for you, sir.'
As I unrolled the parchment, I saw that it came from Ragusa. They had finally decided to join the Empire. My other vassals didn't like the fact that Spain has absorbed another country, but well, I will appease them once again. I turn to the herald, and say to him: 'Hurry back to the palace, my lad, and tell everyone to gather in the throne room. I'll be there in a moment.'
As I watch him run back, I start to walk slowly towards the back end of the palace. The windows are high and there is no backdoor, but I've got a rope all ready. I climb up, and crawl through the window inside. From up here I can see all the guests. Another rope is ready, and I swing down, making the grandest entry anyone has made in quite some time. Unfortunately my hands slip and I crash through the guests. When I finally get up, I look back and see the mess I have left behind. 'O bloody hell.' With a much louder voice I say: 'Sorry. Sorry. I just get carried away. I'm really most awfully sorry. Sorry! Sorry, everyone.'
There are some limbs lying on the floor, and even a few heads. I hear screams like 'He killed my auntie!' and 'He's killed that man!' and even 'He's not quite dead!', quickly followed by 'Oh, he's died!', but I quickly raise my voice again: 'Please! Please! Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who. Everyone has killed once in a while, and these peolpe were actually spreading the lies through the continent.'
I don't know how, but some people, especially from my vassals, were dying for an excuse to prevent another Great War. Some were quite literally dying now, but well, not everybody can get that lucky. They nod, and quickly more people start to nod. 'Yes, we see now,' the crowd murmurs.
'That's it. That's it. You've got it.' I quickly add. The sight of a few dead people have turned their attention, has frightened their hearts. They all know that if they rebel against me, they can be next. Nothing is sacred, not in this world. All ended well, and the guests left satisfied. Another crisis has been avoided. Well, not all the guests left. We now have some spare heads.
It all ended well: relations improved.
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A year passed. Winter changed into Spring. Spring changed into Summer. Summer changed back into Winter, and Winter gave Spring and Summer a miss and went straight on into Autumn. And before I knew it, it was august 1519. 14 august, to be precise. A day I will never forget. For I now finally completed my quest: I have found him, on the great market of Madrid.
The man in the black habit and the belly dancer!
With the palace on the background, and a crowd gathered on the square, I saw her from afar. I pushed my way through all those people, and then was put under a spell. I saw her dancing, her eyes averted from me. A gypsy girl, all in black. Before I could walk to her, the man in the black habit suddenly was standing in front of me. He was holding his hands together and said: 'You seek the Holy Belly!'
I nod, without my eyes pulling from her. 'I have imagined her all alike, but I see now that wasn't prepared for her.' Looking at my empty hands, I realise that I'm definately not prepared for her. 'Wait here, I'll be back in a moment.'
'Right. We'll stay here until you get back.' He frowns, but doesn't show any intentions to leave.
I run and run, like I have never done before. But it isn't in vain. I grab the first shrubbery I see from the palace gardens, avoid the guards and run back. When he sees it, he says: 'It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly,... but there is one small problem.'
'What is that?' I say in despair. What could be wrong? I did it, I brought the shrubbery like my advisor had told me, and now it's not good?
'She's allergic to shrubberies.'
'O.' Quickly I trown the plant behind me, and shove it away. 'Anyway, now something completely different then...'
'I see you like her.' He smiles, and once again I can only nod. 'I'm sure we can... Arrange things. But not here. She can keep on dancing, but we need to talk over dinner.'
And I did grin, and we did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats. But after we were done, he said: 'She is special. With her dancing she can enchant many, and with the right guidance they might convert to the true faith. I won't let her go for just anybody. Only he who is valiant and pure of spirit may have the Holy Belly.'
'Well, I'm padishah Muhammad IX...'
'Definately not vailant and pure of spirit then. But your title should also be good enough.' He pauzes for a moment, then continues: 'Before I can hand her over, you should answer three questions, to test if you're really ready for her.'
'Fire away. Allah is with me.'
'What... is your name?' He asked, grinning.
'It is Muhammad Nazrid, padishah of the Spanish.' That's not a hard question. Well, onto the next.
'What... is your quest?'
'To seek the Holy Belly.'
'What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?'
What? What kind of question is that? I don't know that! I have to stall... 'What do you mean? An African or European swallow?'
'Huh? I-- I don't know that. How do know so much about swallows?'
I smile, knowing I have done the right thing. 'Well, you have to know these things when you're a padishah, you know.'
He tabs me on the shoulder. 'Congratulations, you passed. You can have her. My job here is done.'
Finally, the capital has become Muslim!
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Well, all ended up quite well. After I had found her, and aswered the questions of the man in the Black Habit, I could take her home. The next day we got married, and I finally got entrance to her sacred castle. The country celebrated the wedding for a whole year. It was really unfortunate that Leonardo da Vinci didn't see this all. He had died before I could complete my quest, drowning in a deep pool. Bystanders reported that he shouted that he did it, and one or two even said that for a short moment he indeed walked on water, but in the end it was all in vain: he fell, got stuck in the water with all his heavy robes and drowned before anyone could help. A great genius had left the world.
When I had entered his room, I found a real great treasure of drawings, sketches and designs. I had it all locked away savely, and only a few trusted minds were allowed to study his work. The Parma project has gotten a new source of inspiration, the Da Vinci Codex.
The first fruitation of this project has now come: The researchers have decrypted a new type of ship, the Barque. For the past months I felt the need to build more ships, to protect the trade with the colonies and to patrol along the shores, but my researches told me to wait. And I am glad I did. More and better ships will see the daylight now. In a few years I want to double my fleet.
The previous 15 years things have changed in Europe. Great Britain has fallen, the Ottoman Empire is collapsing. Lithuania is as ever expanding, as also Scandinavia. My Spain has stabilized (when I became padishah, got 27 ducats at the end of each year: now it's over 700!), the rebels have been beaten. Austria is slowly crawlig back, but not for long. The Balkan is actually a mess. The Byzantine Empire is slowly growing. I draw a new map of Europe for myself:
A new map of Europe, on 1 februari 1521.
Great Britain (red) has fallen apart. Besides the area Spain has conquered, Norway (blue), Scotland (dark yellow), Northumberland (green) and Cornwall (pink) have declared themselves independant.
The Ottoman Empire (green) isn't doing well too. Austria (white), Bosnia (light pinkish) and Poland (pink) have taken provinces, while Naxos (dark purpleish), Bulgaria (Purple-blue) and Serbia (reddish, in the province Kosovo since the province Serbia is conquered by Bosnia!) have declared themselves independant.
The Spanish Empire has conquered more from Spain and Great Britain, and has annexed Morocco and Ragusa. They have lost one province to Bohemia. Of course the vassals of Spain are visualised in a lighter kind of yellow.
Lituania is, as always, expanding to the east, and Scandinavia has annexed Pommerania.
The Byzantine Empire has conquered a few more provinces in the Southern Balkan, but Greece has declared themselves independant north of the Black Sea.
But before I can really start with the real governing of my Empire, I had to go to the Byzantine Empire, to see my old friend Achmed and his wife, Fatima. Their son should be quite a few years old now. I go to the harbor of Valencía and order a boat. As I need a crew, I walk towards the nearest other ship and say: 'I need a crew for my ship. You can all come along. Come on. Anybody armed must go, too.'
After all the men have changed ship, we sail to the east, to the Byzantine Empire. Since I had send word of my arrival ahead, both Achmed and Fatima await me. Their son, Zorba, is enthousiastic, and can't seem to wait for me to arrive on shore. As he starts to walk on the water towards the oncoming boats, his father and mother call him back. Interesting. They learn the waterwalking while they're still young. I guess Achmed still can't pull the trick off.
Achmed's son, Zorba, can walk on water at an early age!
The first thing I do when I step on shore, is walking towards Achmed. I see that he has the same thought as I have. We both join the coconut halves together. A happy reunion. And while we talk of past times, Fatima and the Holy Belly get to know eachother better.
That's it for today. Run along, run along. Clear off.
Clear off. Come back later.
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Some sidenotes:
This was a one-time special chapter. I expected that this timeperiod would be... well, kinda boring. I had to wait till my war exhaustian was restored. By making the chapter this way, following a film I should not have to introduce, I thought I'd spice things up a little
. I didn't expect the British to actually establish colonies, so things got more intersting than expected. Don't expect me to follow a movie every chapter . And well, I actually made my own thing out of it.Yes, that's me in the black habit
. And that picture is from the Netherlands, Castle de Haar near Haarzuilens to be exact. I like this picture, it shows me as my nick ('little monk') visualized and well, that belly dancer is the finishing touch to the photo .Once again I got some new colonies. I of course got the colony I conquered from Great Britain, 'Arguin', and another one in Africa. But I did also some more colonization in North Amrica, and colonized Greenland. And went for more islands in the Caribbean. For more details, see Appendix A.
Muhammad IX has already ruled for 15 years now. It is once again time to think about a nickname for him. Do you have any ideas?
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Appendix B: An animation of the world
An appendix is a supplemental part at the end of a work, usually of an explanatory, statistical or bibliographic nature. Since I would have to wait an awfull long time to post an appendix if I would want it to be at the end of the AAR, I'll just post random appendices at random times at random places. In the first post you can easily access any appendix.
The goal of these appendices is to create an overview of some important, funny, nice or just random information I'd like to share with you about this AAR. As the AAR progresses, I'll update the appendices if there is something to update it with. Don't worry, I still give the information with the updates, but I think it is handy to have it also all on one place.
See the world, how nations grow, expand and fall.
This appendix has been updated untill the ingame year: 1605
The political face of the world is everchanging. Nations rise, expand and fall, Empires come and go. Although a picture can say more than a thousand words, an animation can show more than a thousand pictures. That's why I decided to capture the everchanging political arena in a huge .gif-file, which is shown below. I took a F12 screenshot at the start of each year, put the year in the upperleft corner and turned it into an gif-animation. As the AAR continues, I will once in a while update it. And if you think the years fly by, then imagine the time it would take for you to play the animation once I reach 1820...
The ever changing political area of the world, starting at 1399.
Some area's of interest:
Of course, first Granada and then, from 1501 and onward, Spain is an interesting choice to follow. But the world has more to offer.
America:
- Have a look at Central America. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Azteks conquere the entire region. A decade later they are completely annihilated and the Maya's and Zapotec have devided that old empire.
- The indians have a territorical dance at the first half of the 15th century. After that it seems to stabilize.
- See how Spain eats up every single American country, and colonizes the entire coastline.
Africa:
- Mali seems to be a great power at the western shore, but as one time completely annihilated...
- Swahili and Mutapa are at a constant war, while Ethiopia comes and goes.
- Can you see the sudden expansion of the western Benin into the eastern Mamluk territory? They are kicked out after a decade, but they were there...
- At the end of the 16th century the Mamluks seem to recover and start to build a new empire.
Asia:
- At the beginning of the 15th century Ming seemed to becme a dominant power in the region, along with Japan, but they were smashed and Korea, tibet and the Mongol Khanate rose to power.
- Delhi was beeing destroyed in the 15th century, but suddenly made a comeback, and at the dawn of the 16th century they are totally back, beeing a dominant power of the region. But during the 16th century they were smashed again, and crawled back.
Europe:
- The first half of the 15th century Muscow was expanding rapidly, untill Lithuania decided to have a go at World Conquest. See how the Lithuanians expand, defeat the Muscovites, smash the Golden Horde and march towards the East.
- The Ottoman Empire was one of the great potential powers of the 15th century. The did expand, and all went well, untill they started to collapse at the end of the century. At the dawn of the 16th century, they really have trouble keeping their nation together, and one hunderd years later they are almost gone.
- See how the normal great European powers, Great Britain, France and Austria, get eaten by the Spanish Empire!
- Scandinavia is formed, but falls apart and finally got beaten up by Spain.
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Some sidenotes:
For the moment I have no sidenotes.
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Chapter 16: Destroy the Holy Roman Empire (1521-1525)
Part 1 - The Frankish opening act (1521)
Part 1 - The Frankish opening act (1521)
The situation in Europe, 1 februari 1521.
Europe. I'm ready. My men are at their full strength, the reserve pool is full. I only need more ships to protect the trade with the overseas provinces, but I had saved quite some money the past few years. So with one large order, I order 24 carracks.
While I stroll through the parchmentwork an Empire always has, I notice the letter from the Austrian king, Ferdinant I, the Holy Roman Emperor. It is quite insulting, actually. He shall have to pay. That whole Holy Roman Empire thing has gone to his head. Can't he see that the're is a new Empire in Europe? I need to eliminate that Empire.
Austria is at war with the Ottoman Empire. They are winning, and will probably take a few provinces after that. Their main army is far away, deep in Ottoman territory. So now is the time to declare war on them, and invade their country. Well, not exactly declare war on them: Let's take Provance, an elector in the Empire, and along France. Austria had warned me, so the next war will also include them. Let's just make use of that.
My men are ready, standing at their borders. So today, 1 februari 1521, I declare war on Provance, and one day later the rest will join the war.
My army is ready for the war.
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The first step in this war to bring down the Holy Roman Empire has been completed. After the declaration of war on 1 februari 1521, my forces moved into the enemy territories. The opposing forces were quickly destroyed, and sieges went smoothly. But at the end of the month, I heared that the Ottomans and Austria made piece. The Ottoman Empire was forced to release the country of Aydin, in the province Smyrna. Once again the Ottomans were loosing more control over their territories. But what was more important: the Austrian armies were coming home. 35,000 men were on their way back to the battlefield. Quite an opposing force.
On 27 februari 1521 the Ottomans lost another country from their grasp. But now the Austrian armies were marching back.
The war was just beginning, but already people were fleeying from it. On 14 march 1521 quite some people went from Gelre to Barahonas. That colony gained thereby 200 men, and became a full-sized province, in which I started immediately to build a fort.
Also, I learned that later that month Scandinavia and Greece formed a personal union, in which Greece was ruiled by Scandinavia. Where had I seen that before? A, yes: Lithuania rules over Hungary in a personal union too.
Then, on 19 april 1521, after just one and a half month of fighting, Provance was occupied. I demanded it's full annexation: no more, no less. They had no choice than to accept.
There was a war raging between Northumberland and Scotland, and by the end of may Scotland had annexed Northumberland. But then they were pulled in a war with Scandinavia, and the only way out for them was to release that nation once again, half a year later.
The attack on France went smoothly as well. It was 7 june 1521 when I sended a herald to the French king, demanding:
Cede Lyonnais and Champagne. Also, release Orleans as a sovereign state. Finally, pay 50 ducats.
The French had to accept, and are now diminshed to a one-province minor.
One thing I hadn't anticipated happened. I expected the Austrians to take the shortest route, so my cavalry was waiting for them in the south, near the Bosnian border. But the went north, through the Bohemian territory, to directly attack my forces in Ostmarch. Quickly I sended my horses to the north, while my infantry was laying siege on the Austrian provinces in the south. One by one those fell. Then, in october, I not only occupied all of their southern provinces, but also marched into Wien. The first of november I found that Holy Roman Emperor, cowering under a bed, and said to him:
Cede Kärten, Krain, Slavonia and Oaijek. Renouce your claim on Tirol and finally, pay 50 ducats.
The battle of Wien, october 1521.
This entire war had taken me 8 months to complete. Well, actually this was just the opening act. Now I needed to get my men in order once again, and prepare for my next target: the Palatinate.
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Some sidenotes:
This time I felt like doing an old-stylish chapter. Well, after a few very huge chapters, that gives you some time to take a breath
.At the end of the last part, I'll give you a nice map with an overview of the gained territories and such.
Thanks! I'll try to update the gif once in a while. When I do so, I'll make a comment, so you really need to check back
.
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Almost all of Western Europe under Islam rule! Poland-Lithuania (are they still in PU?) will be a though nut to crack, but it shouldn't be to big a problem with most of the richest European provinces under your control.