V - The Delhi Express and the Conservative Empire
After more than two years in Europe, the Mughal envoys were back from their expedition in Europe, bringing back valuable informations about European technologies and ways of life. Three embassies were also to be opened in the near future in the European capitals: Paris in France, Berlin in Prussia and St-Petersburg in Russia. While the Mughal Empire was already trading with Russia, the new diplomatic ties with France and Prussia were meant to find an eventual ally against Britain, or at least an European power friendly to our cause and ready to support us diplomatically.
Meanwhile, the treaty of Ahmandabad came to end and tensions between Britain and Mughalistan were on the rise again.
The industrial revolution in Europe was not only a matter of factories, but also of new communication infrastructure. Railroads opened all over Europe, allowing both peoples and goods to travel farther and faster. A similar project was to be opened by the Mughal government. Plans were made for a railroad network to be build in parallel to the Ganges, wich would link the main cities of the Empire together and would allow the Imperial Army to move more easily trough the countryside. Loans were taken out of local French bankers, and the construction of the first railroad East of Austria begined.
In late 1849, the first part of the project was completed and Kahore was linked with Bihar by a modern railroad that was also connected to Delhi , Agra, Jaipur and Varnasi. Later improvements of the network would link Lahore with Karachi, the Empire's most important port.
As 1850 begined and the Occident was begining the 2nd half of its XIXth century, important news were announced by the Prussian Government in Berlin. Following the nationalist fever of 1848 and 1849, the German princes met and decided to unite under the leadership of the Prussian King into a 'Federal Empire'. As the balance of power in Europe drastically changed overnight, the Mughals were contemplating the possibility of forging an alliance with the new German Empire wich has the potential to eventually become stronger than Britain.
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Years slowly passed and no further war erupted in India, despite the ever existing tensions between the Emperor in Agra and the representatives of the BEIC in Calcutta. But when war will shake the whole subcontinent again, Mughalistan would be more ready than ever to fight the British. An enlarged army, supported by a stronger economy, would certainly take them by surprise.
