@ Madeira: Ive been away for a few days, sorry for the delay in answering your questions. Looks like you got some responses that were on the mark from others though.
im not sure i know the correct names for the following:
Civ Name: Maurya / Tamil
Noun: Mauryans / Tamil
Adjective: Mauryan / Tamil
Maurya is the name of a particular dynasty/kingdom of what might be considered the Aryan or Northern Indian culture group. In the same way
Tamil refers to the dominant culture group in Southern Indian; sometimes they are also called Dravidians. The best choice for a Tamil civ would probably be the
Cholas (
Chola, Cholas, Chola). While Asoka and the
Mauryas (
Maurya, Mauryas, Mauryan) were key in forming the military, governmental and religious development of India, the Cholas had an equivalent impact in all of the arts and cultural pursuits.
Also, im using Ashoka as the Mauryan king (of course) and Pandaia as the Tamil queen, if you have a better choice let me know.
I think shes a good choice (bet you had to read some footnotes to find her name
); I wouldnt worry for game play purposes that shes from the Pandya rather than the Chola dynasty.
Where in the history of Europe there are regions, such as Burgundy, or Prussia, which were politically identifiable over long periods of time despite dynastic changes, in South Asia the same territories were subject to incorporation or independence as dynasties waxed and waned in a way that means the only valid political definitions are family/dynastic names. The European equivalent would be, for example, if medieval France were called The Plantagenet Kingdom, which in fact also ruled England and Jerusalem concurrently, or if the all the territory ruled by the 19th century British royal family were called The Saxe-Coberg Empire.
Another question, what shall I use as leader name for the Harappans?
I don't believe that any Harappan rulers have been identified yet.
No one has yet translated the Harappan script, although there is some headway with regard to accounting records, so youve got a free hand there.
what were the main religions of the Mauryan and Tamil peoples? Are they the same between the two groups?
The Mauryan Emperor Asoka converted to Buddhism ...Before this conversion, it would be more accurate to have them as Hindu/Jain I guess.
Asoka did indeed convert to Buddhism and his son and daughter were directly responsible for its spread as far south as Sri Lanka and as far east as what are today Thailand and Cambodia. Some historians feel, however, that his was only a nominal conversion (like many Roman emperors), since he gave equal support (both political and economic) to the Hindu Brahmins and the Jains. The Tamils were definitely predominantly Hindu, although the best surviving texts of the Buddhas teachings are what is called the Pali Canon, which was transmitted orally, and finally written down mostly through southern India. In short, divide up the religions any way you like.
Be sure to look earlier in this thread for appropriate
city lists, if you havent already, and good luck with your mod. I look forward to seeing it.