[RFC RAND] The peoples of the Persian plain

XIV. The Encircling War, Part III - The Empire Endures


The Afsharid Dynasty
The Zand Dynasty

The reign of Nader Shah was not as glorious as the battles he had won as a general. The worldwide epidemic of the Scandanavian plague spread from the north to the south and did not abate there until his death in 1748, over the course of 17 years reducing some towns to mere hamlets, leaving sectors of cities unpopulated, and having a particularly devastating impact on the garrisons of cities, as the men manning the gates were first in contact with visitors - clean and unclean alike. The planned campaigns in the southwest, against the Turks and Arabs, could not be realised. The regiments there could do nothing but struggle to survive off the land, and rumours told that the villages in the arid Arabian territory to the south were far less sanitary. Only in the area of knowledge were any benefits to be had: Portuguese scholars stranded by the plague in Armuza began teaching of a new means of inquiry, the scientific method, in Armuza University, and Chinese Liberalism was taught by Russian teachers trapped by quarantine in Samarkand.

Academic exchanges during the years of the Scandanvian plague


In 1748, the year that the plague was finally eradicated from Persian lands, Nader's grandson Sharukh Shah Afshar took the throne. The population in the city and countryside was healthy and rebounding, and optimism returned to the commercial sector, as displayed with the founding, six years later, of a major trading company in Armuza.

The Armuza Trading Company


With a surfeit of young able-bodied men in the cities, and the development of rifling in 1751, regiments could be filled with new recruits and both infantry and cavalry outfitted with the new firearms, and by 1757 the army was ready to resume its campaigns in the south. The army began incursions to control the border areas with Arabia.

The army in the Arabian borderlands


Persia's prestige had not suffered during the plague, partly because the epidemics had been worse elsewhere, and partly because of the traditions of the Persian civilisation (except under the reigns of some short-lived rulers, Persia had taken a cautious approach to the waging of wars and had laid priority on the development of its cities and countryside). In the mid-18th century, Persia was second only in technological development to the Mongols, who had inherited Chinese learning and traditions, and many in the bureaucracy were anticipating world leadership in one or two generations.

Persia's technological development with respect to other nations


In the diplomatic realm, as well, Persia was now in a leading role, in spite of its wars. In 1766, Persia had transformed Beijing from and occupied city in flames to a reluctant but thriving regional centre, with a sizable Persianified population, and had enough influence in the Apostolic Palace to elect its candidate to Resident. Thus, ironically, Persia was now the hidden power behind the leader of the Taoist community, with with it had fought bitterly for the last millennium.

The Persian candidate becomes Apostolic Palace Resident


As well, the cities of central Persia were renowned around the world for their sophistication.


At the same time, however, the authority of the government in Parsa was growing more tenuous in the far-flung regions of the empire. Nader Shah's liberal reforms were praised by some as an enlightened example to the world, but others, especially the police and Interior Ministry, saw them as foolishly and dangerously naïve. Especially in the conquered Chinese cities and in ethnically-German Köln, the threat of instability and even secession was real, as local political and religious figures understood the government's laissez-faire attitude as a sign of weakness.

But in the capital, at least, there was respect for the ideals of Nader Shah, and upon the death of his heir (Sharukh Shah) in 1760, the nobles in parliament decided to exercise fully the authority they had been given in Nader Shah's constitution, and elected to the throne to one of their own, a competent general named Karim Khan Zand. Also in keeping with the representative government Nader had envisioned, but which had never been fully realised, the new leader refused to be named Shah, and instead took the title Vakil e-Ra'aayaa (Advocate of the People of the Fields). He also strove, in his first years, to improve the international standing of the Persian Republic, by entering into trading agreements (of questionable worth) with the few Great Powers that were not in a state of war with Persia.

Trade agreement with Spain


By 1766, the Interior Mininstry's estimates of the stability of the republic were truly alarming.

A report from the Ministry of the Interior


Rejecting the pleas of some of his advisors, Karim Khan was not moved to alter the constitution of reign in the freedoms already granted by his predecessor. Instead, he repeatedly stated that he trusted that the Persian cities, fertile ground for economic activity and the pursuit of religion and science alike, would give rise to great thinkers who would unify and invigorate the nation.

Parsa two decades after the plague


Also, news of the success of the armies in the south was lifting morale. The destruction of the Turkish city of Gaza was in revenge for the Turks' aggression of the last century, and also the first step in a plan to establish control over Monopotamia, also known as Iruk, the ancient lands of Babylonia. In the peace treaty, Turkey capitulated and agreed to direct its forces now against Persia's enemies. Persia, however, also gained another war, as the Turks had been fighting the French on their western flank.

The Battle of Gaza


The peace with Turkey


By the end of the 1760s, suffering of the plague was mainly forgotten, Persia's armies were again victorious, and cities were engines of development and innovation. They were also more beautiful than they had ever been, exemplified by the reconstructed buildings in Parsa's central square designed by the architect Nain Singh from Lahore. The mood of the nation was again rising, so dramatically that historians mark 1769 as the start of a golden age of Persian civilisation - the Zand era.

Nain Singh and the start of a Persian golden age


Persia became, in the following years, a happier and more stable republic, and yet a rather lonely one. There were few visitors to the grand boulevards and squares of Parsa or the bustling harbour and serene temples of Armuza, and most of those that did come were from the Russian, German, and Turkish satrapies. The bureaucracy began to yearn for improved relations with the world at large, so that Persia could enjoy the praise of nations rather than only witness their fear.

Karim Khan Zand, on his deathbed in a seaside house near Armuza, had the same outlook. Persia's navy had suffered several setbacks against the Japanese navy in previous years, and Karim Khan is said to have often gestured to the sea and spoken to his friends, "The sea is peace. Let us be at peace also." His aides interpreted this as a directive to send for a Japanese envoy, and on their own initiative sent for a Mongolian envoy as well, and these met with Karim Khan and settled the terms for peace.

The peace with Japan and Mongolia, brokered personally by Karim Khan Zand


The aides to the Vakil did not, however, permit anyone to imagine that their ruler's words were to be applied to the Arabs. The war to the south was one to which they were eagerly committed.

JiimBV, KaiserBenjamin, BurnEmDown, thanks for your comments.

And yes, RAND is, for me, probably the best way of playing Civ. All of RFC's dynamics and plausibility - PLUS, I don't know the world until I have explored it.

BuckyRea, you are right that the civics I instituted with Nader Shah (plus the plague) DO make it difficult to wage war. But I decided to be a bit ahead of time and use Free Religion to take advantage of all the religions in my cities. And, in the long run, for (RFC)stability's sake, it is best to move to Representation as a first step and to Universal Suffrage later, so I bit the bullet and had a revolution. As for Japan's colonies on Borneo, I can wait and launch a war against them later, take their good ones and raze the others (this, also, because of the stability feature - in RFC, if you have too many small, undeveloped, prone-to-revolt cities, it is very hard not to go unstable, which means losing cities to independents, or worse, total collapse where you lose everything but your capital).

I will have a screenshot of the whole empire, and the world, at the end of the next update.

may i suggest Rise of Mankind 2.82
It combines about 50 different mods and includes these really cool factors:
Stability: Similar to RFC's stability, just more in depth
Revolutions: Cities in collapsing empire will revolt and join new empires
Barbarian Civs: if a barbarian city is left alone for to long then it will create a new Civ, simular to rfc, except u dont no when or where the civs will, and who they will be, also it means that u cant play the new civs , unless, u enter world builder, do a world builder save, and load the game as a scenario.
Influence driven wars: whenever a battle happens the winner of the battles gains 1-15% ownage of the plot (as in if the plots culture is 55% Roman, and 45% urs, then u attack it, and win the the culture will be 60% urs and 40% Roman) this means u don't have to capture cities to gain land.
Has the techs of Next war, and early war: (the games start in 6000bc rather then 4000, also has the next war techs at the end)
more civics: now over 50 civics to choose from
new game length: snail, a game length that is 10 times slower then regular (I like long games, they r more realistic)
new map size: now there is a map that is 3 times larger then huge map, again makes it feel more realistic
takes for ever to start a new game if u create a new game it take 30-40 minutes to create the game, but take 10 seconds to load a game. This is just one of the downsides (if not the only downside, the other downside is max 4 wonders in a city(however i modded it, now there is a max of 40), which makes cultural victories impossible), also around 2/3 of the time the game crashes

if u like RFC rand for the reasons u listed above then playing RoM, creates a more enjoyable and realistic Civilization experience

also please tell me u burned gaza, its in a terrible city spot

ilduce349 said:

also please tell me u burned gaza, its in a terrible city spot

Click to expand...

Oh, yes, that screenshot is misleading. I DID raze Gaza.

I will have to check out Rise of Mankind. Sounds very intriguing.

Very nice update, could you also post screenshots of other parts of the world, like mainland Europe and the not-so-British Isles, in your next update?
I must also point that it's very cool how you edit each picture to include details (like showing multiple trades in one picture).

save?

8 days since last update, when can we expect the next

I've been away from my civving computer for the past week. And actually, I played beyond the last update last week, so I'll post a save at the end of the next update.

Which is coming soon - this weekend.

ilduce349 said:

8 days since last update, when can we expect the next

Click to expand...

Remind me never to take a long car trip with you.

XV. The Encircling War, Part IV - The Establishment of the Pax Parsa


The Zand Dynasty

From Abbas Mirza's "Lectures on Campaign Strategy" at the Parsa Military School (1823)

...
The recent campaign in Arabia affords several examples of the strategies I have been discussing in these lectures. I will show these to you now, but just before I do, let me remind you of the overall principle: that the defender always holds the advantage in any offensive campaign (and, yes, while our war with the Arabs began in defense of the loyal German Satrapy, Persian armies had gone on the offensive by the late 18th century); and, as the defender holds the advantage, it is the task of the wily offensive commander to subvert this in any way possible, even to the point of turning their advantage into a weakness.

First, on this panel you can see an overview of the deployments in the Euphrates valley. As is readily apparent, the three Arabian cities are well defended and have the river itself as a natural barrier. It is almost as if they had been expecting an attack from the north when they founded those cities many ages ago.

The planned deployments of the Persian army


So, on to the first strategic lesson: Turn the enemy's natural defenses into your own defenses.
The Battle of the Euphrates in 1781 is an excellent example. Here, the Persian commander, our esteemed Vakil Lotf Ali II, placed large forces on the opposite side of the river from the Arabian cities. Then, he waited, while the artillery battered the ramparts of of Babil and Eridu. He had some difficulty relaying his orders such that artillery always fired in the right direction, but, no matter, the Arab walls and gates were soon reduced. At which point the Arabs must have been, and this was the Vakil's intention, desperate to relieve the siege and tempted to attack across the river. The Vakil waited a bit more, bringing up reinforcments, knowing that the Arab commanders would eventually give in to their temptation. And this they did, attacking directly at what they believed was the weakest point, diurectly across from Babil. The brave Persian ranks at this location fought with valour, and many fell and must be remembered with everlasting gratitude, but far more Arab infantry and horsemen died. Then it was left to the adjacent Persian forces to avenge their fallen brothers, and wipe out the Arab regiments who had left the security of their walls. This was the first stage of our commander's plan. His patience allowed the mighty Euphrates river to work for us.

The Persian counter-attack at the Battle of the Euphrates


Now, the next lesson: Force difficult choices on to your enemy.
In fact the previous example also falls into this general principle, but here I will show you how our Vakil was exceedingly skilled at fraying the nerves of the enemy commanders. When the defenses of the Arabian cities ahad been weakened and their counter-attack thwarted, Lotf Ali II moved the regiments across the river, the largest force between the seaside city of Eridu and the central city of Babil. Then, after another bombardment, to scuttle any fortress reparations that were being attempted, he charged the Eridu defenders with half of his force, which was surely enough to fully capture the city. But when the Arab defenders were down to a few scattered tens of longbows on the city's rooftops, he halted the attack, and waited, even allowing a messenger to escape the city. Now, what were the Arab commanders to do. They could not ignore the calls for rescue. Yet to reinforce the city, with no time for the new regiments to dig in, was only to commit more of their troops to slaughter. After several sleepness nights to be sure, the Arabs showed that they had made a foolish compromise, sending two regiments of horsemen into Eridu. These horsemen, trained for attack on the open field, fell the next day as our infantry moved into the city and claimed it for Persia.

The Battle of Eridu


Our third lesson is this: Keep the advantage of mobility.
Our Vakil knew, that as the attacker, without the need to dig fortifications, constant movement would be his ally. His goal was to have the Arab defenders continually moving from city to city, never sure which would be attacked next. To do this, he needed to clear several reinforcement and retreat routes on the northern bank of the Euphrates River, and to have his forces shift their weight from east to west fluidly, but without ever being in a vulnerable position. Infantry dug in at several points, artillery boomed, and all the while the swiftly moving cavalry threw the Arabs into panic.

The Persian mobile advantage in the Arab campaign


Now, the fourth and final lesson, or principle, which has run through all of the aforementioned: Patience.
The battle of Uruk was won by waiting for the proper time to attack. As our Vakil saw the Arabian musketmen reinforcing Babil against our cavalry which was concentrated downstream, he sent the order by tens of swift messengers for all cavalry units within a day's ride to make all haste to participate in the sacking of Uruk, which was accomplished on that day. Because his father, Lotfali I, the Vakil at that time, had expressed his desire that a new Persian city be built on the north bank of the river, Uruk and Babil were to be demolished, and their inhabitants evicted and sent to whatever welcome they might received among the surrounding village peoples.

The Battle of Uruk


Once more, at Babil, our commander waited opposite a weakened garrison, rather than expose our regiments to peril, as the Arabs sent hopeless reinforcements to the city from the south. Many of those evicted from Uruk took up arms, but these untrained militants were no match for the battle-hardened Persian troops.

The standoff at Babil


The Battle of Babil


Now, as I speak today, the oldest of you was but a lad when the last battle of that campaign took place, and you live in the era of the Pax Parsa. But you miust not forget these lessons, and you must be diligent in your exercises, for it is only as long as the world knows that the Persian army is mighty, wise, and ready, that our rivals remain in peace.

Click to expand...

Developments at the end of the Zand era

The Pax Parsa, as it is called by historians, began with the founding of the the Persian city on the Euphrates, Kermanshah, in 1814. In fact, wars with faraway France and other smaller powers were still raging, but, for the first time in centuries, Persia was at peace with the immediate neighbours.

The Persian Euphrates


During the long years of the Arab campaign, the sucessors to the Zand dynasty, Lotfali and his son, the war commander Lotfali II, attempted to consolidate the control of the central government by striving to be more benevolent in their attitude to the various regions. Several regional administrative institutions were set up, to which the people would, ideally, have greater access. The most flamboyant of these was the office complex that came to be known as the 'Forbidden City', in the former Chinese capital of Beijing, where the Chinese regional administrators seemed to be reasserting their autonomy.

The 'Forbidden Palace' in Beijing


Persian diplomats were extending their reach around the globe, and, in tune with the former Vakil Karim Khan's wishes, had established friendly contact with a far off nation, the United States of America. The Persians had successfully pressured the Russians, who had colonies in the same vicinity, to give these up peacefully to the rising power. Closer to home, the principality of Chittagong appealed to be annexed by the Persian republic, and was accepted.

The capitol of the United States of America


The annexation of Chittagong


In 1814, as the Encircling War was coming to an end, the restless Chines faction was conveniently disgraced by a scandal involving their top senator. Valik Lotfali II used this opportunity to increase presidential control of the military, which promised to lead to more reliable intelligence in the future.

The Hangzhou Party scandal


(continued)

Persia and the world near the end of the Zand Dynasty

The Persian Republic in 1814


The world in 1814

And here is a save from the end of the previous update.

I haven't played any further in this game (I discovered RFC Europe on the weekend), but am planning to tomorrow. So comments, advice on what to do next, etc. very welcome.

Yes!!!
Those maps at the end are so cool, and the beginning speech of Persia's military doctrine, awesome!

It is your great story that got me into this story business at all.

This stuff blows my mind man. I applaud you on your ability to make captions/paragraphs longer than 3 lines. I try, I fail.

Again, you appease us, the readers!

Epic game Danger Bird, the best read i've had on the forums in some time. I greatly appreciate the effort put into all the small details used in your pictures and also the story telling. You have skills friend!

I've never played RFC RAND, but it looks awesome. As for where to go with the game from here... I don't know about the dynamics with RAND so I don't know. Recent Persian history has been very militaristic, so I wouldn't mind in keeping with that, see the Zand Dynasty's successors expand their military prowess into next century. Certainly with the historical Mongolian and Japanese aggression toward the Persian empire.

I like how your story is maintaining the sense of a global scale to the game. The maps help a lot. I've been using Paint.Net for the maps for my story and it really adds perspective to me as a story writer (or maybe the game is writing the story, but at least I'm interpreting it into English).

You seem to be setting up the US as an ally in the other hemisphere. Will this end up creating resentment in your satrapy of Russia?

Welcome, Jusos, smackthewise, and thanks, everyone, for the comments.

smackthewise said:

I've never played RFC RAND, but it looks awesome. As for where to go with the game from here... I don't know about the dynamics with RAND so I don't know. Recent Persian history has been very militaristic, so I wouldn't mind in keeping with that, see the Zand Dynasty's successors expand their military prowess into next century. Certainly with the historical Mongolian and Japanese aggression toward the Persian empire.

Click to expand...

Yes, the dynamics are quite different. The main challenge is stability. I have to expand very slowly and make sure my cities continue to improve in commerce and production, in order to stay 'stable'. Most often I'm 'shaky', sometimes 'unstable', and I have been relying a bit too much on Golden Ages of late.
I'd like to go after a few well-situated cities in the southern continents of Borneo and Australia now, but I will have to choose with care, and then decide whether to take Japanese and/or independent cities or build my own. But I think I should wait a bit to let my new cities in the Euphrates valley develop. Lots of undeveloped cities is really hard on stability.

BuckyRea said:

You seem to be setting up the US as an ally in the other hemisphere. Will this end up creating resentment in your satrapy of Russia?

Click to expand...

No complaints from Cathy as yet, as you can see on the screen below. Actually, I didn't have to do anything to persuade Russia to give up colonies to the Americans. I just wrote that into the story. They did so because they were vassals, I think, and thus they couldn't decide on their own to declare war on America.

And, I have a question for anyone who is familiar with RFC, about civics and stability.


I usually switch to Commonwealth in the Expansion column once it is available. Its supposed to reduce penalties for a weak economy, but even if my economy is good and I am trading a lot, it seems that going with Commonwealth always helps my stability (maybe my economy is never as good as I think it is). Anyway, my question is this: since I have 3 vassals now and it looks like I'll have more soon, should I stay in Viceroyalty? Or will the advantages of Viceroyalty be less than the advantages Commonwealth will eventually give me?