So let's go through these countries because some of the names are absolutely unfindable due to corruptions.
Let's start from the south - which. This was once all the domain of the Chola Empire, but with the collapse of that state in the last century, power in the region has decentralized again. These lands are entirely dominated by Mithras worshippers. First there is
Kerala, effectively a confederation of coastal merchant cities. They're a merchant republic (one of two in India in 1444). Next to it is the
Pandya state, the Tamil kingdom which considers itself the successor to the Cholas. Besides that is
Karnataka, which has set itself as a northern counterweight to the Pandyas. However, Karnataka lacks access to the same urban basetax that its southern neighbors do, and is really a paper tiger despite its deceptively large size.
The
Chola state in fact still exists, as a Hindu kingdom, but its capital is located across the sea in Aceh to irritate Reus, and its holdings have been reduced to a few islands and part of Sri Lanka. However, the hope of retaking Tamil Nadu is not yet lost.
Moving north, we leave Mithraic lands for proper Hindu realms. First, in Andhra Pradesh, are the two kingdoms of the
Reddy and
Yadava dynasties. While they look weak and divided, they are quite militarily strong, and start the game allied. Beside them are the
Chauhan,
Solanki, and
Parihar warrior clan-states. These are ruled by clans (which would be called "Rajputs" in our timeline, but different migrations mean that that concept does not exist). And along the coast is
Konkan, which is the most powerful state in the region, and also extremely wealthy. Most of Central India is dominated by
Gondwana, one king presiding over Gondi and Kolami tribes that have united to protect the region from outsiders.
Moving onto East India. One of the more interesting things in this region is the Indo-Seric Court religion - a syncretism of Western Hellenic and Eastern Dharmic religious and philosophical concepts into one set of beliefs, that has preservered in
Kalinga and
Vanga. On the other hand,
Magadha is not only quite Buddhist, but also India's most powerful state, and if anyone would be the one to establish India's next great power, it would be them. (As an aside, Magadha may or may not be familiar to you as the base of the historical Maurya Empire of Ashoka and Chandragupta) Next to it is
Tibet which I don't know what's happening with but controls this bit of Bengal and Assam. And beyond
that is
Kamarupa, a quaint mountain tribal kingdom that has cores on a few Tibetan provinces.
West India is the realm of the Alans, who were granted these kshatrapas by an Indo-Greek. The Indo-Alans, themselves quite curiously Hellenized
and Persianized over the centuries, have since split into two major ethnic groups - the Aursi in the north and the Yunas in the south. As such,
Aursisthan and
Yunasthan are the two major countries here, squabbling mainly with each other for supremacy, but like certain other states, they are quite paper tigers - and their. Caught in the middle are a number of other Alan realms. One is
Dvaraka, also a merchant republic, starting the game guaranteed by Aursisthan to prevent expansion at the hands of
Dalmasca, which is turn allied with
Nabradia. Dalmasca is in fact quite stronger than it appears, due to its control of the major trade ports - I have seen it in one test game blob to control most of India's west coast as far south as Kerala. Finally, there is
Svetadesa, a little desert realm.
North India is pretty much the absolute epitome of EU4 in-game instability. These are the Turkic states - the Turks migrated to India in the 11th century, and established a Karluk Empire that became the subcontinent's dominant power for some time. But that Empire is no more. It has been reduced to a small rump
Karluk state around its capital of Lal Kot (Delhi). To its east is the
Injanjid dynasty, a feudatory that holds the rump empire's eastern frontier against in exchange for greater autonomy (it starts off as a Karluk vassal). To its south are a number of breakway feudatories that have established independent holdings. Two of them, the
Chobanid and
Khilijid dynasties, are Buddhist. Lastly, there is the
Harlutid dynasty (HLT on map because I'd messed up the localisation when I took this screen), which is quite curious - its members have converted to the Judaism that is prevalent in its local territory. These Turks are all "Punjabi" culture - migrations mean that Indo-Turks settled in the Punjab.
That wouldn't be an issue, if it weren't for
Gandhara. In 1433, a rather bored Bactrian prince crossed the Khyber Pass with a band of similarly bored adventurers and captured the city of Taxila. Since then, this same prince has spread his Christian rule throughout the Punjab, with the blessing of the Abba, removing the breakway Turkic states in the region. Gandhara is the one hope of Christianizing India. However, it is remarkably unstable. Less than a third of its provinces are Christian, and only one is its primary culture (Bactrian).
There are revolters scattered around the subcontinent, more being added as I come up with ideas. Also, as an added bonus, (almost) all of India has gotten a province name makeover to names evocative of (depending where you are) the great Hindu epics, Classical Age India, the Indo-Greeks, or something else entirely.
alternatively, could also translate to "realm of lotus dwellers")
