A Tryst with Destiny

DKVM said:

I may have not been to clear. Look at this quote from the update.

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I may not have been clear, i was talking about what the Buddha did before he became, well, the Buddha!

If memory serves he did a lot of things, but he started out as a Brahmin (once again, correct me if i am wrong)

Once again I repeat, he was a Kshatriya prince

CaterpillarKing said:

Once again I repeat, he was a Kshatriya prince

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d'oh!

I didn't see your original post, sorry about that

Moai_Spammer said:

I may not have been clear, i was talking about what the Buddha did before he became, well, the Buddha!

If memory serves he did a lot of things, but he started out as a Brahmin (once again, correct me if i am wrong)

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I was replying to the part where you implied that a Brahmin WAS a militant buddhist.

DKVM said:

I was replying to the part where you implied that a Brahmin WAS a militant buddhist.

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I used a > not a =

and that was more of a joke

to be fair to militant Buddhists, they made feudal japan 20% cooler

The fighting in the South was fierce. The army of Magadh had never faced a foe like this. Since their defeat in the Chera kingdom, the Tamils would not face the invaders on open battle, instead they resorted to harassing them. The Tamils would strike at the dead of night in small bands, conducting lightning raids targeting the enemy's supplies. Over time, it became impossible to keep fighting the hidden enemy. The army in the South had to be continuously replenished in their campaign at great cost to the treasury at Magadh.

General Sunga did not know of the great changes that were being constructed in the North. He would never know, that orders sent from the homeland were being doctores specifically to keep him bogged down in the South. He merely did his duty as he thought fit. To lead the army of Magadh in the conquest of the Tamil kingdoms. But their strength was being drained. There were now two choices before Pushyamitra Sunga, either he continued to fight this 'shadow war' and lose, or make for Thanjavur and conquer the most powerful of the Tamil kingdoms, the Pandyas.

Even before they would face the army of Thanjavur, a fierce battle would be fought on the sugar fields on the banks of the Kaveri.

The death batallion faced a division of Pandyan swordsmen. The batallion was camped on the hill overlooking the charred ruins of Cochi. From there they could march down and strike the swordsmen before the latter could mount a surprise. Here the numbers were even. Three thousand swordsmen against three thousand axemen, but these were no ordinary axemen. The Death battalion was by now one of the most feared warriors the world over. They defeated Alexander on the Indus, they defeated Shishunag II in the hills of Kashi, and now they would defeat the Tamils on the banks of the kaveri.



The fight was fierce, but the battle ended in victory for the death battalion.

The path was now opened for the march to Thanjavur, but the path was laden with perils. After this defeat, the Tamils never faced the army of Magadh on the open field. The army of Thanjavur, whose forces were bolstered by the defection of the charioteers, sent out their riders to attack and harass the enemy's supplies. In one such raid, the charioteers found the remaining band of naga sanyasi warrior. They swore vengeance the day they saw the Chera city of Cochin burn to the ground, and they had nothing but vengeance in their minds, vengeance that they would exact with utmost brutality upon the remaining sanyasis. The chariots rode them down, the swordsmen slashed at their throats and slashed at their backs. They had forgotten completely by this time, that these were holy men they murdered.

The attack angered the Magadhan army. The men clamored for an attack on Thanjavur immediately. It was under great duress, that General Sunga conceded. After two weeks of forced marches through difficult treacherous terrain, in a chilly winter, the men of the Mauryan army, rode their horses, pulled their siege weapons, and marched till they reached the gates of Thanjavur.



It was two leagues away from the garrison that a messenger was seen riding towards the camp. "Word from Pataliputra" "My lord, the Mauryans have been deposed. Samrat Satakarni now sits the throne of Magadh. He demands your fealty".

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Whilst the South was bloodied by war, the North would not be spared either. Not the least because a Chera elephant division was marching on Avanti. Another very different kind of war was about to be waged there. One fundamentally more complicated, and more profound.

General Satakarni prepared himself on two fronts. Whilst ensuring the defense of Avanti, he cleared his path to Magadh. He would begin a massive reconstruction of Indian society and polity that would be nothing less than an earthquake. The revolution that Satakarni would bring would be heralded by nature's fury. A massive earthquake at Kumaon, had thrown open hidden fissures in the earth from where lava spewed out. Entire hills were engulfed by the fires of the eruption. The mines in the hills of Kumaon were utterly destroyed.





This was nature's welcome to General Satakarni's revolution.

That day, while the hills sprouted their furty, the general entered the palace of Pataliputra. The two heirs of Salisuka were seated on the throne, the young Prince Brihadrath and samrat Satadhanvan, they had ruled thus far for almost ten years in a diarchy. General Satakarni entered with an entourage, of ministers and soldiers. "For the greater good of Bharata, and by the sanction of the Gods, I general Satakarni declare myself, Samrat of Bharata. Does anyone oppose my claim?" General Satakarni exclaimed. All the ministers gave their assent to his claim, the new samrat was thus chosen with the open support of the ministers of Magadh. "Then by order of the emperor, I command you to sieze these usurpers!" The princes were never firm rulers nor trained in the arts of politics. They silently and sullenly accepted their fate with nothing but a confused dazed expression on their faces. The princes would be executed in the secrecy of the dungeons of Pataliputra.

Thus, the line of the Mauryas came to an end, and the Satavahan dynasty through samrat Satakarni would rule Bharata.

The new emperor's first decree, was to establish the sanatan dharm as the state religion of all the land. No more shall Buddhism be given equal respect and patronage to that of the vedic faith. Almost half of all Bharatiya had become Buddhist by this time, the new decree would not go down well with everyone, and indeed it did not.

Rumors were rife, that Buddhists would be targeted and purged from the land. That fanatical sadhus and sanyasis were arming themselves to butcher shudras and vaishyas who had converted to the way of the Buddha. Armed buddhist monks first attacked in the city of Takshashila. All life came to a standstill as riots engulfed the city. The armed forces of the city garrison were mobilized to secure peace. Though by Satakarni's own scheme, that meant taking the side of the hindus in any riot.

The riots were brought under control before it could spiral out but the new regime did not start off on a peaceful note. Samrat Satakarni was most concerned about the state of the war at this point, when the whole realm was reeling under a revolutionary anarchy, the enemy might find an opportunity to strike. Indeed, they had. The band of elephant raiders who were steadily moving North through Avanti had now reached the Narmada. "They must not be allowed to cross the Narmada!" Samrat Satakarni ordered. So the 'swords of salisuka' were sent South from Indraprasth to defend the Narmada.

In the battle against the elephants in Cochi, the armed forces were aided by their advantage in terrain as well as their use of catapults and fire tipped arrows to scare the elephants. In this battle, it was the elephant that had the advantage. Untimely winter rains had made the soil moist making travel difficult along the banks of the Narmada. Furthermore, the swordsmen were ill trained for combat with elephants. Additional archers and another swordsman division were sent to bolster the defenses of Avanti. Samrat Satakarni had himself travelled to Avanti to oversee its defense.

The riots had petered out, and an organized religion was finally established with a permanent presence of brahman advisors to guide the samrat on theological matters. It was now time to dispense with the enemy at the gates. The elephants had moved right to the gates of avanti, it was on the north bank of the Narmada that the swordsmen made their stand.



The elephants charged at the defending swordsmen. The very sight of them had sent a third of these conscripts retreating. The remaining two thirds, were too fear stricken to fight. The elephants trampled over their foes like a rock crushes soft flesh. There was blood and muck everywhere where the elephants let loose their frenzy. Whatever damage the swords could do on these giant beasts, was too little too late. The elephant battalion had now crossed the Narmada. It was here that the remaining soldiers of Avanti's garrison were mobilized, "I do not want to see anyone return defeated. Fight and win or fight and die!" Samrat Satakarni ordered, and the men followed.



The elephants showed their strength on the Narmada that day, when they faced thousands of opponents charging across the Narmada. Archers seated on the min-forts on the backs of the elephants shot most who had attempted to attack them. The muddy soil from the river banks had proved to be to the enemy's advantage. At the end, it was sheer numerical force that brought down the elephant horde. Thousands upon thousands of archers firing fire tipped arrows and another thousand fighters armed with sword and shield, brought down just one division of armored elephants. From then on, Magadh would never fight without the support of armored elephants.

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The news of the coup in the North had sent Pushyamitra Sunga into a spiral of confusion. He had been called to usurp the throne of Magadh from its rightful rulers... but what is a rightful ruler ? In his heart he knew what had changed was for the better. Satakarni maybe a manipulative mastermind, but he was also a capable administrator and he knew that compared to those who sat the throne, he would make a much better samrat. Yet... something about the whole episode left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I could have been samrat.. it could have been me" he thought to himself. Encamped on the hills of the Tamil kingdoms, he was faced with the task of performing the duty his office imposed upon him. "No .. my duty is to the realm and to the throne of Magadh. Whosoever sat on it ... but wasn't it my duty then to protect the king ?" the negative thoughts would not leave him.

The troops were becoming anxious. They could see their leader was in shock. They were here fighting a pointless war in the far South, being forced now to fight against those that had fought with them. Years had passed since Salisuka first gave the order to conquer the South. Cruel, bloody and bitter years. They longed for nothing more than to go back home to their lands and live in peace. Then one day, General Pushyamitra Sunga came out of his tent and said "You want an end to this war ? Then I shall give you an end to this war!" They would begin the attack on Thanjavur the next day at dawn.



The general prayed to Kali before donning his armor and readying for war. He had decided that he would fight with the Death Battalion in this battle, which he promised would the final battle of this war.



The garrison of Thanjavur would not be so easily defeated. This was the Pandya kingdom. The most powerful of the Tamil kingdoms, and unlike the Cheras had built up a navy. The city of Thanjavur was guarded by palisades on three sides and the sea behind it. The garrison had spearmen, chariots, archers and swordsmen. It was decided that the Death Battalion would lead the charge, under the cover fire from Catapults who would continue to rain down boulders upon the enemy. This initial shock attack would most likely provoke the Tamils to send in the chariots. This is when Pushyamitra Sunga would deploy his spears to trap the chariots. The swordsmen who are the mainstay of Chola military power, would be taken out by the Death Battalion. Archers would give support to the attacking troops while another division would defend the catapults.

The plan was in truth, a suicide plan. Pushyamitra Sunga no longer desired to live under the rule of samrat Satakarni, a man he deemed had no honor. Neither did he forgive himself for failing his kings as well as the wishes of Amatya gurunayan, whom Salisuka exiled to Gandhar, from where he was never heard of again. He desired to attain martyrdom to redeem himself and die an honorable kshatriya so that he maybe reborn in a higher birth.

The Catapults rained death upon the enemy, as the axes of the Death Battalion charged ahead on the enemy. Predictably enough, the Pandyan generals sent out the charioteers to attack the enemy with the intention of destroying the catapults. The spears of Magadh destroyed them before they could reach their target. The Death battalion now mauled their way through the Tamil ranks slicing and cutting their foes as they fought. The sword fighters succumbed as did the Tamil spearmen. Only the archers were left to be destroyed. That is when, the strength of the battalion gave way. They killed three times their number, before finally succumbing to the volleys of arrows the archers of Thanjavur fired.

Among the dead bodies of the fighters littered with a dozen arrows, was the slain body of Pushyamitra Sunga. The kushan fighters closed the flank and destroyed the last remaining archer defenders of the city, but it was too late to save Pushyamitra Sunga. The sight of their dead general slain by the enemy had sent the troops into a frenzy. Thanjavur, just like Cochi, would burn before them.

After this, the men no longer had the stomach for war. The most ruinous war in Indian history was fought to an end. The grand army of Chandragupt Maurya retreated from the South and started their way North. This would be the last chapter in the war with the Tamils. The bloodiest war that Bharata had fought.

ll the ministers gave their assent to his claim, the new samrat was thus chosen with the open support of the ministers of Magadh.

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I hereby declare this statement FALSE! I did not give assent for this usurper to claim the throne!

Wow.

DKVM said:

I hereby declare this statement FALSE! I did not give assent for this usurper to claim the throne!

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You never countered me when I asked for who raised their objection to my candidature. I called for the vote before all the ministers and the then reigning samrat. No one objected ! How can you claim you did not give your assent ? ~ samrat Satakarni

OOC: When did you say that? Are you being serious when you say that you literally called a vote or is that just inside the story and outside the story, we didn't actually vote?

I don't remember there being a vote but it may have been a part of another vote that was vague and in the fine print.

Here is the full clarification :



However, if you're not satisfied with that explanation, I think we can work out a way the opposition can be managed.

Oooo a coup I like it

Well that clarification was for DKVM's questions really. Another thing that people should know, I don't have any fixed number of turns for updates. Some updates are longer some are shorter. I usually stretch out updates over several posts depending on what is happening in the course of the update. If its a generally uneventful period then I manage it in one post or so, if it is eventful I spread it out on many posts. In this update, a lot of things happened simultaneously. The Parthians arose and conquered Iraq, the Greeks then reconquered territory, the Romans went to war, we went to war with the Tamils and there was a civic change towards the end. I couldn't cram it all in one update so it created the impression that I was still playing before every post is made . That is not the case. The last two turns of this update will be made out over 2 posts. After this, I'll open some things to vote again before I start out the next update.

I know it was for DKVM I'm just saying I liked the idea.

CaterpillarKing said:

I know it was for DKVM I'm just saying I liked the idea.

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CK, are you posting from school?

Yeah I was

CaterpillarKing said:

Yeah I was

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Bad boy! No CaterpillarKing snacks for you!