Ormuz

[Incompetent]

I decided to start a game of AGCEEP-MyMap as Ormuz, as it looks like a very interesting state to play, what with its COT, Venice-like location, persian+arabic culture (good combo) and Hindu religion (don't know what that's supposed to mean, but an oddball religious setup always makes things more interesting). The obvious ambitions are to dominate the Persian Gulf and later the Indian Ocean, kicking the Portuguese out in the process, and to protect Hinduism in India and Indonesia and spread it through the Middle East. But I have a few questions:

1. Why does Ormuz start out Hindu? Was it really a Hindu country, or is Hinduism being used here to approximate some other religion peculiar to the area? (Mandaeism? Zoroastrianism?) Also, should its primary culture be Persian or Arabic?

2. I gather the Portuguese AI gets help in conquering Ormuz in the early 16th century. Do I have to worry about this?

3. Any chance I can put my capital somewhere that has a land connection to mainland Asia?

4. If I become Oman, do I have to convert to Islam? I want to get the East African cores somehow, but it'd be even cooler if I could also convert them to Hinduism.

5. Where can I find out more about the real history of Ormuz (both the city and the kingdom)?

 

[motiv-8]

Well, there is an indigenous Hindu population in the region of Oran and Ormuz dating back from the dawn of the 16th Century. However, it was never the dominant religion. AFAIK Islam has been the dominant religion of the region since the end of the Ridda wars centuries before game-start. If Hinduism is being used in place of some other local religion that was prevalent, I've never heard of it and it would be surprising to me. As for primary culture, since it's usually determined by the noble/ruling class the answer would depend on that; I'm not sure if it was Iranian notables. or Arab merchants who were in control.

Finding a history of Ormuz is difficult; I haven't found any notable Internet sources. You'd probably have to look up your local library.

 

[Mad King James]

Ormuz was a kingdom with a Manichaean king and a largely Zoroastrian population. Since Hinduism is used in EU2 as a catchall for "Miscellaneous Vedic Religions", it was used to represent this.

 

[unmerged(31425)]

Ormuz was a kingdom with a Manichaean king and a largely Zoroastrian population. Since Hinduism is used in EU2 as a catchall for "Miscellaneous Vedic Religions", it was used to represent this.

Ormuz was Muslim all throughout gametime. I've read Pedro Teixeira's history of Ormuz, which by the way is the ultimate source of your Ormuz monarch list that Zacharym87 recommended for AGCEEP. But it wasn't Zacharym87 that studied up on Ormuz. It was me and he borrowed the info I dug up on it for AGCEEP.

I don't know whether or not Ormuz was Zoroastrian at some point in its history but I can asure if it was it was well before 1419.

 

[sturmvogel]

I can confirm that it was certainly Muslim (of one sort or another) by the time the Portugese got there.