[SIZE=3]The Empire of India (English) [/SIZE]
Conventional Short Form: India (English)
Also Called: Bharat (Hindi; not commonly used externally)
Abbreviation: IN (English)
Nationality: Indian(s)
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy (Hereditary)
Head of Government: His Highness the Raj, Rajiv Canagasundrum, Lord and Sovereign of All India, King of Assam and Hyderabad, Ruler of the Great Delta, Prince of the Maldives and Chagos, Protector of the Andamans
Capital: Hyderabad
Location: Indian Ocean, west of Indochina, east of Persia.
Geographic coordinates: 12 degrees S to 37 degrees N; 70 degrees E to 100 degrees E.
Area: 3.71 million square kilometers
Coastline: 11,000 km (estimated - island coastlines not entirely surveyed)
Neighbours: Persia (British colony) to west, China and Tibet to north, Burma (British colony) to the east, Netherlands Antilles (Dutch colony) to the south.
Climate: Tropical monsoon in south and east, to temperate in the north. Cold in the alpine areas.
Terrain: Upland plains of the Deccan Plateau in southern mainland, flat to rolling plains along the Ganges River. Deserts in the west, and the Himalayas in the north. Flat plains in Bangladesh, with some rugged highlands in Myanma Naingngandaw. Sri Lanka has flat and rolling plains with a mountainous interior. Indian Ocean islands very flat.
Elevation Extremes:
Lowest Point: Indian Ocean, 0 m
Highest Point: Kanchenjunga, 8,598 m
Natural Resources: coal (among world’s largest reserves), iron, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land, timber, gypsum, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, marble, precious stones, graphite, phosphates, clay.
Natural Hazards: Droughts, flash floods, widespread monsoons and flooding (Bangladesh), thunderstorms, earthquakes, landslides (Bhutan), snowstorms (Bhutan)
National Holiday: 12 April is “Victory Day”, marking the date that the Treaty of Madras was signed in 1859.
Constitution: The “Imperial Decree of 1860" by Brashkar defined how that ruler structured his government, what powers he delegated to subordinates, and how he would ensure that they were responsible to him. Though not a constitution in the formal sense, his successors have not dramatically drifted away from it, so it is as close as India gets.
Languages: Hindi is the official tongue, but others enjoy equal importance in certain states, including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi, Sinhala, and others. German is the most commonly spoken European language, particularly amongst government and military employees.
Legal System: Indian Law, derived from the Mughal system with some Hindu influences.
Political Parties: Strictly forbidden under Indian law.
International Organization Participation:
CT (Cleito Treaty, naval arms limitation), SAINT (military/trade), SATSUMA (military/trade/political), League of Nations.
Flag Description: Green, with a yellow crescent (see my avatar).
History of the Modern Indian Empire:
1483 Babur born in Fergana.
1526 At Panipat, Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi, the sultan of Delhi, and founds the Mughal (“Mongol”, in Persian) Empire.
1530 Babur dies; Humayun succeeds his father.
1540 Sher Shah of the Afghans defeats Humayun and seizes the Mughal Empire.
1555 Humayun regains the empire.
1556 Humayan dies; Akbar succeeds his father.
1562 Akbar marries Padmini, a Hindu princess from Rajaputana.
1564 Akbar rescinds the Jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslims.
1605 Akbar dies; succeeded by son Jahangir.
1617 Jahangir’s son Khurram (later Shah Jahan) puts down revolt in southern empire.
1627 Jahangir dies; succeeded by Shah Jahan.
Shivaji born in Shivner.
1631 Shah Jahan commissions construction of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his deceased wife Mamtaz.
1643 At the age of sixteen, Shivaji begins fighting for his people, the Marathas.
1657 With Shah Jahan ill, his four sons (Dara Shikoh, Shuja Mohammad, Murad Bakhsh and Aurangajeb) vie for power.
Shivaji also begins fighting with the Mughals.
1658 Aurangajeb defeats his brothers, all of whom are killed, and imprisons his father, Shah Jahan. Aurangajeb begins persecuting non-Muslims in the Empire.
1666 Shah Jahan dies.
1680 Shivaji dies and is succeeded by his son, Shambaji.
1682 Aurangajeb begins campaigning in southern India.
1684 Aurangajeb’s son Akbar II rebels against his father, and enters into an alliance with the Rajputs and Shambaji.
1686 Akbar II defeats his father at Hyderabad. Aurangajeb, now sixty-eight years old, dies on the battlefield. Akbar II is a tolerant, benevolent ruler much like his name sake, and is able to quell the religious strife tearing at the empire.
1689 The Marathas join the Mughal empire following the marriage of Shambaji’s son Shambaji II to Akbar II’s daughter HHH.
1708 Akbar II dies. With only three daughters, he is succeeded by Shambaji II. For the first time, the Mughal Empire is ruled by a Hindu - a change that does not go entirely without conflict.
1714 Shambaji II, having consolidated his power, begins campaigning in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
1723 Shambaji II attacks and ejects French, British, Dutch, and Portuguese traders from their enclaves. He now rules over virtually the entire subcontinent (including what we would know as eastern Pakistan and Bangladesh).
1738 Shambaji II dies and is succeeded by his son, Rajaram.
1745 Rajaram loses parts of the western empire to British-backed Persian invaders but stops their advance in the deserts of western Gujurat.
1750 Rajaram negotiates the entry of Jammu and Kashmir into the Empire.
1754 Rajaram begins campaigning east.
1756 Assam and Bhutan are conquered.
1761 At the Battle of Imphal, Mughal forces defeat an alliance of local kings, but Rajaram is killed on the battlefield. As the subcontinent (apart from Nepal) has been united, his son Ashoka II takes the throne as Emperor of India.
1769 The Kashadweep, Maldive, Andaman, and Nicobar Island chains are annexed.
1770 Ashoka II dies young, and is succeeded by his younger brother, Rajaram II.
1773 The Chagos islands are annexed.
1780 With the empire stable, Rajaram II directs his armies into South-East Asia.
1783 Burma, with British backing, stops Rajaram’s forces at the Irrawaddy River.
1794 India over-runs northeastern Burma and, with French assistance, drives the British out of the country by 1800.
1811 Rajaram II dies at the age of seventy-three. He is succeeded by his son, Rajaram III.
1813 Rajaram III hastily attacks French Indochina, and is soundly defeated.
1824 “The Great Defeat” begins, as Britain exploits a local uprising to regain control of southern Burma.
1826 British forces reach the Irrawaddy River.
1827 British forces attack into western India and land troops at several port cities.
1828 British forces seize the Lakshadweep and Maldive Islands, while opportunistic Dutch colonial forces seize the Andaman and Nicobars.
1829 Iberian warships claim the Chagos Islands.
1830 Rajaram III sues for peace and is forced to accept the loss of all territories seized to date in the Treaty of Alleppey. The treaty also requires India to open its markets to the British West India Company, discard what survives of its small navy, and accept British “advisors” in the court. British colonial administrators refer to this as “the Rajaram System”, but later derisively shorten it to the “Raj System”.
1832 Rajaram III dies and is succeeded by his nephew, Rajaram IV, at the behest of Britain.
1856 Rajaram IV dies and is succeeded by his only son, Brashkar.
1857 Amid allegations that British forces in the occupied areas are using rifle cartridges greased with fat from cows and pigs, Brashkar rescinds the Treaty of Alleppey. A wave of violence rocks the subcontinent as the poorly armed but enormous Indian army overwhelms the much smaller British army garrisons.
1858 Indian forces begin advancing into Persia and Burma.
1859 India and Britain sign the Treaty of Madras, which recognizes Indian sovereignty over what is now mainland India, as well as the Maldives and Lakshadweep Islands, in return for Indian recognition of British control over southern Burma and Persia. Brashkar takes the title of “Raj”, ostensibly as a reminder to him of the perils of foreign intrigue, but also as a jab at the British and their “Rajaram System”.
1865 Brashkar is fatally wounded during a coup attempt; the Rana, Zainab, puts down the coup, executes the ringleaders, and governs as regent until 1876.
1876 Ashoka III turns eighteen, and takes the throne after eleven years of rule by his mother.
1878 A rebellion leaves the Maldives independent.
1882 Imperial Germany dispatches a trade mission to India, seeking to acquire an ally in the region.
1884 German advisors begin the process of industrializing India.
1886 The “new” Indian Navy is formed with German cast-offs and volunteer officers.
1889 The Indian Navy seizes the Maldives with the expenditure of eleven rounds.
1898 The Indian Navy surprises and defeats an Iberian squadron at Diego Garcia and returns the Chagos Islands to the Empire.
1909 The battleship Chandragupta is destroyed by an explosion while off-loading ammunition in Mumbai.
1910 Ashoka III dies, and is succeeded by Rajiv.
1914 The Great War begins.
1916 India invades the Andaman Islands, starting a war with the Netherlands.
1917 The Treaty of Honalulu ends the Indian-Dutch conflict.
1918 The Great War ends.
1920 India signs the Cleito Naval Arms Limitation Treaty.
India and South Africa conclude the South African-Indian Naval Treaty.
Battleships Dara Shikoh and Babur are acquired.
India invades As Salif.
1921 India commissions aviation ship Otta.
1922 India seeks mandate for As Salif.
1923 Unrest in Chittagong begins.
1924 India granted mandate for As Salif
India lays down locally-built battleships Akbar and Jahangir.
An Indian expedition suffers heavy losses and fails to scale Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest)
India clashes with Siam and then Denmark over arms smuggling into Chittagong. Open war is averted by diplomatic efforts after the battle of Ko Racha Yai.
Military Information:
The Standing Army has a standing strength of 3.2 million, of which about half are combatants. There is a National Reserve of about 4.4 million, and a “National Cadre” estimated at eight million, collectively making India amongst the largest land powers in the world. However, most combat formations remain similar in equipment and size to pre-Great War infantry divisions. Motorization is now being introduced, and the first battalions of armored vehicles are in service. Large numbers of horse/oxen-drawn and man-portable light to medium artillery pieces are in service. Several hundred aircraft are in service in the air defense, ground attack, and observations roles.
The Navy has a strength of about 30,000, of which about half are actually ship’s crews. There is a brigade-sized Naval Infantry Arm primarily used for security purposes. The navy has recently introduced battleships, aircraft carriers, and submarines to its order of battle, though only the aircraft carrier was produced locally. Several dozen aircraft used in the roles of maritime patrol, observation, air defense, or anti-shipping, of which only twenty-four are actually carried aboard ship.
The Chosen are a brigade-sized paramilitary unit, mostly drawn from the Army or Naval Infantry. This unit is tasked with guarding key government personnel and installations.
The Strongmen are a company-sized unit tasked with protecting the Royal family.
Edit: Notes on Fact vs. Fiction:
Geographical data is derived from the CIA source book and is generally accurate, bearing in mind that I have to estimate how much of Burma I've included. No aspect of the land mass - hazards, climate, resources - has been changed. Social and governmental information is entirely fictional.
Population is set to 30% of current populations of the countries making up India - except with Burma, since only about 30-40% of it lies inside the empire to start with. As historical India had a population of 238 million in 1901, adding two decades and the other countries should allow a population of almost 400 million. The question is when the population growth rate will flat-line.
The triumph of Akbar II is the point of depature for this history. Thought reportedly a throwback to his namesake (in a good way), he failed to defeat his father and fled to Persia, where he died in 1704. His father hung on till 1707, greatly expanding the empire but leaving it without obvious succession or stability when he died. He captured Shimbaji and had him dismembered joint by joint; similar fates awaited Shimbaji's family, but Aurangajeb never succeeded in completely pacifying the Marathas.
I've adopted the historical Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 for my own purposes; there are some similarities, but obviously the British prevailed historically.
The historical Raj system was a British concept by which local Indian rulers were alternately bribed, deposed, or played off against each other, collectively weakening their ability to resist British power. I realized some time ago that "Raj" didn't appear to be a legitimate term for an Indian sovereign ("Rajah" is, among others). However, seeing the name "Rajaram" led me to come up with what I think is a plausible explanation for my use of the term "Raj". And while Rajaram I and his successors are fictional, his great-uncle - Shimbaji I's brother Rajaram - is not.
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