A Tryst with Destiny

I'm terrible with those guesses, so I have no idea

Report from the governor of Avanti -

Maharajadhiraj Samrat Pulovami ki Jai !

Your excellency, o King of kings, I send to you this report detailing the progress of the province of Avanti and that of Avantinagar in the recent past.

The maths established by samrat Vedistri have prospered over the years. In the past ten years, more and more of the Avantinagar's citizens have adopted the vedic faith and joined these maths. The people are content and all is well.

The project of expanding agriculture initiated by your father, Samrat Vedistri, has allowed the people of Avanti an alternative source of food. As long as the seas remain perilous, these farmlands act as the main source of food for the people of this janapada.

As per your order the worker guilds have been set to task in connecting to the cotton fields North of the Narmada. It is estimated that the roadways will be ready in five years' time.

The shipwrights of Avantinagar are hard at work building a fleet of warships to fight the pirates. However, work has been slow, there is a paucity of labor and a lack of suitable building material. The hills near Avantinagar do not offer good quality timber which forces us to purchase the timber from the province of Chola Nadu, that in turn has hurt the production of ships in Kanchipuram.

At the pace we are moving, one should not be surprised if it takes us a hundred years to complete a full fledged fighting fleet of warships.

The people of Avantinagar view this with mixed feelings, whilst on the one hand there is the necessity of securing the coast from the raids of the Sindhi pirates, on the other, Avanti remains a poor province incapable of developing a good base for production. The people yearn for culture and commerce, but they know just as well that only power can ensure prosperity.

I would advice against rushing the production of warships in Avantinagar, in the long run, it is imperative that we develop Avantinagar.

On a different note, it has come to my notice, that the surrounding tribal villages to the South and East of Avanti have decided to accede to our province, thus coming under my direct administration. As a result our boundaries have now stretched farther South into most of Kuntala. The acharyas of the Avanti math have been instrumental in bringing the tribes within our fold.

Prospectors report the availability of tropical fruits and diamond mines on the hills North of what was the Chera kingdom and South East of Avantinagar. Others however, talk of iron mines in the vicinity. It would be pertinent to send worker guilds to the hills to mine them so we may know what mineral wealth lies to the South.

That is all for this report. Further reports shall be made available on future developments.

In service,

Ramanuj Maharathi governor of Avanti.



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Report from the governor of Herat,

Maharajadhiraj Samrat Pulovami ki Jai!

I send to you this report detailing the state of affairs in Kambojadesa.

With the war in the South over, there is a feeling of relief among the people of this province. However, with the garrison still in Persia, the threat of the Kushans have resurfaced. Yesterday a band of Kushan raiders came South to Herat to demand payment. The raiders have become emboldened once again seeing that the once large garrison of Herat was busy in the war in the South.

The defense of Herat is managed by two infantry division, Both were unarmored club wielding warriors, this would have been completely incapable of fighting the Kushan horsemen. However, with the procurement of armor and spears, these warriors are now capable of fighting against the raiders.

At present only one division of warriors could be armed with metal weapons whilst the other division of warriors remain unarmored.

It is hoped that the troops previously stationed at the garrison of Herat would be returned to the city to defend it against the Kushan raiders.

The people of Kambojadesa mostly remain nomadic in their ways, but there is a slow trickle of migration to the town of Kambojadesa. Thus far, it was the lack of fertile land and scarcity of food that restrained the growth of Herat. That is now changing, with the woodlands being used for cattle rearing.

This however, has drawn away the people from mining gems from the western hills at the border of Gandhar. Together with the situation of war in the South, this has resulted in a decline of trade in the city. It has been many months since a foreign trader has been sighted in the town of Herat. It is hoped that when peace returns in the South, trade would reopen.

That is all for this report. Further reports shall be made available on future developments.

In service,

Sushruta governor of Herat, province of Kambojadesa.

I'm surprised that you didn't settle Kalyani on the gems and then another city on the Cotton. Then again, since you have Kachnipuram instead of Tanjapuri, I can see why you did that.

adhiraj.bose said:

Two things ;

1) Avanti was an independent city which warred with us and lost. Then acceded to us.

2) Tanjapuri was auto-razed during the Magadh-Tamil war and Kanchipuram acceded to us willingly.

Moreover, an earlier king's council had decided witholding training of settlers which as was rightly observed are very expensive for India.

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Yeah, I get that. India' settler cost is ridiculously expensive, though I think it's been lowered in the SVN. Obviously, that's unfortunately irrelevant in this older version.

Why is it so expensive?

But I mean historically. Why is that?

CaterpillarKing said:

But I mean historically. Why is that?

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It's not historical, it's a balance issue.

Why is it boring? What do you have to do? Also, what would you suggest?

I'm sorry I couldn't complete my assignments yet, I have been so full of duties that it has been impossible to do anything besides trying to get as much time to make the new update for the Caliphate. Maybe tonight here I'll have the time and I'll get on photoshop.

The war of lions had changed the order of the world. Rome could now claim that august position which was once held by the great empire of Alexander, it could justifiably claim succession to the Alexandrian empire, straddling the continent of Africa, Europe and Asia.

In the East, Bharata arrived at the pinnacle of its power. For the first time in her history, an empire that spanned Bharata, extended its power over a foreign nation. Persia which had once emerged as her rival and arch enemy, now stood at her knees as her thrall.



After the war, the lands of the old Parasika empire was divided between the Magadhan empire and the Roman empire. While Rome seized much of the middle east, Bharata seized the horselands for the province of Kamboja and the newly appointed ruler of Persia, King Tiridates, sought to make Persia a protectorate of Magadh.

Whilst in Africa, a separate peace was signed between Empress Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. A pact sealed with a marital alliance between Cleopatra herself and Julius Caesar's adopted heir Augustus. This in turn, brought an end to nearly half a century's isolation of Egypt and Bharata.

Five years had passed in peace and prosperity throughout the realm. As the war came to an end, trade reopened between East and West, as the old routes between Europe and Asia were reopened. People were returning to their lives with a sense of relief and finality, that the ugly business of the war of lions was behind them, but some wounds are hard to heal. The exigencies of war, required that the vaishyas of the realm be put to greater burden of taxes to fund the war effort. This coupled with the cession of trade with the West resulted in the impoverishment of hundreds of thousands. The anger and discontent with the war had not faded and Pataliputra was a tinder box about to erupt.

It was in this time, that Queen Nayanika gave birth to a son and he was named Hãla. On the day he was born, a soft breeze blew over Magadh, bringing comfort and relief to the sweltering heat of a Magadhan summer, but soon after, there came a heat wave the like of which was never seen. The rishis spoke of this as a sign, that the prince was a harbinger of both plenty and prosperity. The omens spoke of an upheaval which would soon befall Pataliputra, but Samrat Pulovami paid no heed to such talk.

The birth of a son had begun to change the samrat, he was no longer the man he was when the war with Phraates began. The gentle touch of the infant prince Hãla had seemed to banish the monster in his soul and awakened the humanity that lay dormant in his heart. He sought forgiveness from Nayanika, to whom he had inflicted many humiliations and tortures, and to Amatya Mukteshwar and Chakravarty whose esteemed stature he had disrespected in rage.

Samrat Pulovami sat in council with his ministers and together they drew a plan to reorient the provinces to peacetime. Amatya Brahmagupt's plan was accepted and accordingly, the provinces were directed to focus on civic projects.

The artisans of Indraprasth who had long complained of the absence of forges in the city would now get their desire, however, this would require deferring building armor for war elephants.

At Herat, the funds for the project of building a barracks for the troops stationed there, was redirected to building a forge there. Varanasi continued to work on the grand temple complex which was initiated by the first Satavahan emperor, the Great Samrat Satakarni I .

At Pataliputra, Samrat Pulovami ordered the building of a large granary for storing grains to sustain the population of the city, this went on even as the brahmins of Magadh established three grand maths and continued to render their service in conducting expensive rituals to the content of the empire's elite. Much food and resources were sacrificed for sustaining this expensive enterprise.

The empire's coastal cities of Avantinagar and Kanchipuram however, continued to be tasked on building a fleet of warships. The threat of the pirates needed an answer and only Bharata had the strength to give one. In the same vein, the city of Takshashila continued to work on producing elephant armor for training a new division of war elephants.

Five more years passed in peace. During this time Samrat Pulovami revived his father's exploration programs. Amatya Aditya having returned from war took over his old office for the minister of explorations. In truth, the Amatya felt more at ease with this task than in leading armies. The war changed him as much as it had changed all others involved in it. For the first time in his life, he had taken a life, and for the first time in his life, he had seen the monster within him… he hated it. All of that was behind him now, time had healed those wounds, and Amatya Aditya focussed on commanding explorations.



The first exploratory mission was to be conducted by the emissary of Europa. Much was heard of the Roman conquests in Europa and Africa, but little was known beyond tales from foreign traders. One of the most popular tales spoke of a great city South West of Pompeii. The traders described a city which seemed to come out of fantasy and defy the intelligence, a port like no other where half a hundred great galleys could dock, a large gate with glazed blue tiles, in a grand city that towered over the Southern mediterranean. For the first time, the eyes of a Bharatiya would witness this grand city, when the emissary of Europa travelled to the North African coast. The reports he sent back confirmed the tales to be true. His next task, was to explore the lands North of Rome, where Rome had only now conquered the nations of Gaul.



The second exploratory mission would take place on the high seas. Under the command of Captain Murugan, the Chola exploratory fleet had sailed around the long peninsula, through Malaca and the isles of Suvarnadweep to find a way through the seas to China. The next set of explorations, would be led by Captain Murugan's successor, Captain Kartikeya. This exploratory mission would take the adventurous Chola sailors far North into the uncharted coasts of China, and the discovery of a new culture.



To the eyes of Chola salors, these people seemed like the Chinese in every way, save for their language. This was a peninsular jutting out into the far eastern ocean from the landmass of China. The town of Hanseong was the capital of the kingdom its people called, Goguryeo.

Their soldiers fight with strange weapons never before seen and use a concept of civil bureaucracy which while similar to Bharata's own Arthashastra seems more systematic in function. But even here several thousands of leagues away from Bharata, there was yet a common thread. These people worshipped the Buddha and consequently revered Bharata as their holy land.

An emissary from Goguryeo met Captain Kartikeya where they exchanged knowledge of each other's nations. It became evident that the Goguryeo possessed knowledge which even Bharata, the most advanced of nations did not know.



The Goguryeo were cordial and open to trade, but that was not Captain Kartikeya's mission. He would return to Kanchipuram to tell the tale of the Goguryeo and of new discoveries made in China.

In this time of peace, the gods seem to bless the land with plenty. The Sindhu river which had changed its course more than a millennia ago, bestowed the soil of Matsya, Kuru and Sindh with its fertile bounty. After centuries of inundation, the plains of the sacred Sindhu are prospering like never before. It was thus, thought fit to exploit the marble quarries of Takshashila earlier than planned.



It was a time of peace and prosperity, a peace which seemed poised to last. Samrat Pulovami contemplated on his past, on the war of lions, of the lives he took, and sought to redeem himself, but fate had cruel intentions and Pulovami's legacy was about to turn on him.

The omens spoke of a time of plenty followed by a time of convulsion. Prince Hãla, was now eight years old, and he would witness the last black chapter of Samrat Pulovami's reign.

The compromise of Samrat Satakarni left a difficult legacy as an overwhelming majority of the people of Bharat who belonged to the castes of workers, peasants and traders, were left at the fringes. In an earlier time they would turn to the Sangh for shelter, salvation, opportunity and the chance to live a life of dignity. Samrat Satakarni's impositions robbed the Sanghs of funds, shutting off a channel of well being for the poor.

When the war of lions came, the traders became poorer, the peasants were burdened, and the workers were oppressed. Even ten years of peace could not remedy this situation. Nowhere more did this discontent express itself, than in Pataliputra. Over here, the sangh at Mahabodhi was most organized, and the mahants of the sangh would incite the peasants and poor into rebellion.

Thus began, the rebellion of the Sudras.

Did we get Persepolis?

@DKVM - No, VGL chose to vassalize instead of continuing to fight. So we didn't get Persepolis. Also, we had decided that would be a last resort. Our tussle was over Gwadar, that has been burned down. The Persians are our vassals now, we can take all the resources they have as tribute if we want.

Well then that whole war was a waste! We didn't get the land we started the war for and we didn't get Persepolis. Plus, thanks to that war, I lost power due to that extra position you created for Spirictum!

DKVM said:

Well then that whole war was a waste! We didn't get the land we started the war for and we didn't get Persepolis. Plus, thanks to that war, I lost power due to that extra position you created for Spirictum!

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I told you so...

DKVM said:

Well then that whole war was a waste! We didn't get the land we started the war for and we didn't get Persepolis. Plus, thanks to that war, I lost power due to that extra position you created for Spirictum!

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Firstly,@DKVM- You did not lose any power, Spirictum gained power.
Secondly, because Persia is our vassal - a) We have access to all their resources, b) We get a happiness bonus by owning Persia, c) Trade routes are opened up bringing in more money, d) Our score improved, e) Our power improved since their army will fight for us. f) Because they're vassals they gave up the horselands which will give us access to training horses.
Thirdly, we did not lose a single unit in course of the war.
Fourthly, if we had taken Persepolis it would hurt our stability and cost us much more than keeping them as a vassal.
Fifthly, if we can keep them alive and vassalized they won't respawn as Iran later.