Flag of the Tughlaq DynastyThe Tawhid Banner, military flagBlack Standard of Prophet Muhammad, caliphate flagEMPIRE AND CALIPHATE OF INDIA
ہندوستان - हिंदुस्तान - Hindustan"La illah ila Allah, Muhammadan rasulullah, Allahu Akbar"
Full Nation Name: Empire (and Caliphate) of India,
commonly: Hindustan
Majority/Official Culture: Hindustani is the primary and ruling culture, supplemented by Persian. Minority cultures present are Bengali, Pashtun, Baloch, Odia, Gujarati, Rajasthani (Malvi, Marwari, etc.), Marathi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Nepali, Mizo, Assamesse, Tibetan, etc.
Territorial Core: Hindustan at its heightTerritorial Claim: Southern India and its possessions
Capital City: Delhi
Population: India is one of the most populous nations in the world, with a population of more than 70 million.
Government Type: Sultanate; Theocratic Absolute Monarchy under Sharia law
Government Ideology: Islamic law forms the basis of administration, with all laws derived from the Sharia as written in the noble Quran and Prophet Muhammad's hadiths. For the
dhimmi (non-Muslim) populations of Hindustan, separate courts and laws exist largely derived from the legal systems of conquered states.
Government Focus: Expansionist; Hindustan seeks to eradicate what it calls a
kafir menace in Southern India, and reunite India under Muslim control.
Head of State: Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah Tughluq VII, Sultan-e-Azam, Amīr al-Muʾminīn
Head of Government: Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Wazir-e-Azam
Government Description: Hindustan is an absolute monarchy governed by Sharia law of sacred Islamic texts. The law is derived from the holy Qur'an, as well as
sahih (verified) Hadith, which are deeds and words of the Prophet Muhammad. The two Hadith that form the basis of Mughal law are
Sahih Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim, both from the ninth century, as those are the two books generally considered the most authentic after holy Qur'an itself. Successive Delhi sultans of old have made efforts to translate and distribute the Qur'an and Hadith into various languages, including Hindustani, Bengali, Odia, and various Rajasthani languages to aid conversion. It should be regarded that none of these copies are authentic, though; only the pure, Arabic Qur'an holds the ultimate truth.
The Sultan serves as head of state, and the prime religious authority as
Amīr al-Muʾminīn (commander of the faithful). As Caliph, he is the vicegerent of God on Earth. Hindustani monarchs claim descent from Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima (the
Ahlul Bayt), and
sayyids (desecendants of Muhammad) in Hindustan are forbidden to marry into anyone who is not part of the extended Imperial dynasty. This is done to keep the Caliphate claim firmly in the Tughlaq Dynasty's hand. Below him directly is the Grand Vizier (Wazir-e-Azam), responsible for most matters of government. The Vizier forms a cabinet to address various matters of government; ministers are appointed by the Sultan on his suggestion. Normally, several
dhimmi (non-Muslims) are present in the cabinet, their purpose is to organize
jizya tax levied on non-Muslims and to patron the cultural as well as religious activities of non-Muslims in the Empire.
Hindustan is further subdivided into several
Subah (province), governed by a
Zamindar (from
subahdar, "viceroy of Subahs"). These are appointed by the Sultan, although there exists hereditary Zamindars, rulers of previous kingdoms that were conquered by the Delhi Sultanate. Hereditary Zamindars are granted the title
Nawab, and they are exclusively Muslim. Hindu Zamindars may take the title
Raja, and this is particularly popular in Rajasthan and northern Deccan among the Rajput community. Muslim Subahs follow Imperial law, as being Muslims, they are governed by the Caliph in accordance with Sharia law. Hindu, or significant Hindu-populated Subahs, have separate courts, with the Hindu courts applying their own legal system, largely derived from former states. Hindus and other religious minorites are technically exempt from draft, and they had to pay
jizya tax to compensate, but nonetheless past monarchs have called upon their Hindu subjects to fight, ostensibly as "mercenaries".
Majority/State Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Description: Sunni Islam is the official and majority religion of Hindustan, professed by about 45% of the population. Muslims in Hindustan form a diverse demographic, from Baluch in the western extremity, to the Bengals in the east, Kashmiris in the north, and Deccan Muslims bordering South India. because of this, it is often said the Empire is united because of Islam; this fact is often celebrated by Muslims across Hindustan. Massive conversion and proselytizing efforts done since the Delhi Sultanate era has converted immense amount of people to Islam. Typically, after a state is conquered, its leaders are given the offer to convert and become part of the Imperial bureaucracy, and as such they are also able to marry into the Imperial dynasty. This is then extended to the local chieftains and governors who will take Islam first, and their retinues following suit. This up-to-down conversion mechanism has been very effective in converting many ethnic groups that are traditionally Hindu to Islam; the Odias, Nepalis, Kashmiris, and Rajasthani-speaking groups in the Deccan has seen over half of their population becoming Muslim.
The government, however, through Hindu Zamindars and ministers on the Imperial Cabinet, continue to fund Hindu temples and restore broken ones. The Sultan sponsored both Muslim and Hindu scholars, and even those from Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism. The first university in India was established in Delhi by past Delhi Sultans, and is an important center of philosophy and religious studies. Notably, many mosques are designed in the form of Hindu temples, instead of the Persian dome structure common in earlier Indian Muslim states, as a form of synceretism. Hindustan also sheltered Jews, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians that are normally persecuted in neigboring states. Following the rise of a Christian kingdom in the south, however, Christians have been increasingly persecuted and their rights curtailed. Many are forced to convert to Islam and denounce their old faith. While they are one of the
ahl ul-Kitab (People of the Book), Christian communities have seen their political and economic privileges reduced so much that they are more limited than lower-caste Hindus in the country. European contact with Hindustan, however, has played a major part in alleviating these problems, as European churches, particularly those of Protestant confession, are commonly seen as more reliable than the native Christian sects.
Economic Description: Hindustan is a major economic center of the region, producing a significant portion of the world's gross domestic product. Hindustan is fairly self-sufficient; crops are abundant and ubitquous, from wheat to rice to barley; maize and potatoes, introduced by Europeans, are gaining popularity even though cultivation of them are uncommon. Hindustan straddles the Indo-Gangetic Plain, one of the most fertile and populous regions of Earth, and naturally hosts a massive population as well as economic output matching it. The most important of Hindustan's provinces, however, is Bengal - which is also called the
Paradise of Nations. It has the largest subnational economy in the world, producing all kinds of grains, textiles, agricultural produces, and handicrafts. Major cities are Dhaka and Calcutta in Bengal; Delhi, the national capital, Lahore and Chandigarh in Punjab, Lucknow and Agra around the Ganges Plain, Ahmedabad and the newly-founded city of Mumbai in Gujarat, and Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Nominally, the economy is centrally-regulated, and all taxes are paid to the Sultan. In practice, however, each
subah set their own economic policy, from encouraging industrialisation and free trade in Bengal and Punjab, to very feudal in Rajasthan. Banks and proto-stock exchanges exist in Hindustan, issuing credits in form of
dastawez (loan deeds) and
hundi, a form of IOU. Although
riba is forbidden in Islam, and has been interpreted commonly as interest, it is not illegal in Hindustan; specifically only compound and extreme interest is declared forbidden. While Hindustan mints silver and copper coins as currency (
Rupiya and
dam, respectively), fiat or paper money also exists (in the form of the
hundi, or IOUs). It is generally not considered forbidden to charge interest on these, as they are not inherently valuable. This practice is somewhat regulated. There are subahs, such as Bengal, which required administration and license to make banking operations legal. In poorer parts of Hindustan, such practice is rather less regulated and as a result corruption became more common.
Major Production: Grains (wheat, rice, and barley), fine cotton muslin and silk, textile (yarns, thread, silk, jute, calico, cloth/piece goods), liquors and wines, salt, ornaments, fruits, metals (ingot and processed), indigo, opium, pepper, ginger, saffron, maize, tobacco, potato, sugar, oils, butter, tar, resin, nitre, ships and woodwork.
Army Description : The Hindustani army is a sizeable force, comprised of a professional army, auxilliaries, and mercenaries. The professional standing army, numbering 50,000 strong, is the Sultan's personal force. In addition to this, he can also call over an additional 200,000 levies, although these levies possess lesser training than the professional force. Auxilliaries (mostly Rajputs, feudal levies, and tribes) can provide another 150,000 personnel for the Hindustani army, although calling upon all of the Sultan's subjects is a truly extraordinary occassion; and one that has never happened. Numerous cavalry and war elephants are also integrated into the military.
Hindustani strategy incorporates firearms, considered the most important cornerstone of the military. Hindustani soldiers are armed with swords (primarily scimitars) and matchlock muskets. The
bandukchi (musketeers) serves as line infantry, they are primarily the members of the Sultan's professional army. They are well-paid, receiving sacks of grain and a piece of silver as stipend, they are well-trained in swordfighting and firearm use, and they control a series of fortifications spanning across Hindustan that serves as base. Imperial levies are in contrast lesser-equipped and lesser-trained, although most of them generally carries a musket as well. Artillery serves an important part in Hindustani warfare. Medium and heavy cannons break enemy fortifications, and they scare war elephants - creating massive panic, chaos, and confusion across enemy lines. Swivel guns and
zamburak (a type of small, protable self-propelled artillery) are heavily employed in warfare, which are used by cavalry and artillery corps in tandem with musketeers to poke holes and create chaos in enemy ranks.
Zamburaks are particularly effective on the rugged Deccan terrain, due to the difficulty of transporting heavy cannons. Hindustan possessed a fairly advanced metal industry, and is able to produce many of its cannons domestically and at lower cost.
Feudal and tribal levies are even less equipped and trained than Imperial levies, but nonetheless their sheer numbers provide an advantage for the Hindustani military. In fact, numerous tribal and local groups have acquired reputation as fierce and excellent fighters; chief among them are the Rajputs, a Hindu class of warriors originating in Rajasthan. Rajputs have traditionally been allied with the Delhi Sultanate, and subsequent Hindustani rulers have continued this association and patronage towards them. They are exempt from
jizyaw (non-muslim tax), and they have provided soldiers in every Hindustani campaign so far.
Army Weakness: Due to the sheer size of the army, logistics and organization are rather difficult when additional levies are called. This provides a major problem that must be addressed if Hindustan is ever to mount a campaign towards the South.
Naval Description: Hindustan's navy was historically neglected and played second fiddle to the enormous army, but this has began to change. Previous administrations has bulit Hindustan a fairly large amount of warships, capitalizing on the country's ever-growing shipbuilding industry. It is predominantly a defensive force, though efforts are currently underway to transform it into an offensive power. The navy is commanded by two
Amir al-Bahr (lit. "Lord of the Sea") responsible for each of India's two coasts; they are in turn subordinate to the Maritime Chamber, that regulates resources allocated to the navy and anti-piracy measures. Hindustan primarily employs Gulf Arabs to serve in the higher-ranking posts of the navy. This is to provide training and experience stemming from centuries of Arabian naval tradition towards native Indian sailors. Sailors are primarily recruited from coastal trading regions; Gujarat and Bengal most among them.
The cheaper cost of metal production in Hindustan has allowed the navy to keep cannons on many of its ships. Mostly these are swivel guns designed to prevent and eliminate boarding enemy soldiers. Both grapeshots and roundshots are fired from these cannons. Larger guns are also present on some of the bigger ships; these vessels form the backbone of each fleet because of their ship-sinking ability.
Naval Weakness : The Hindustani navy is not as large as many of its neighbors; the primary issue, however, is the lack of training and naval tradition of Indian sailors. The navy has never gone through a period total war before, their experience primarily fighting against pirates and privateers. Therefore, Hindustan also relies upon hired privateers, which are notoriously unreliable. It is also expected that the Arab admirals can transfer their knowledge of naval warfare and strategy towards the sailors, though this process would certainly take a long time.
Further Military Description : N/A
National Goals: Weaken South India and eventually conquer the Deccan Muslim states, increase production output of trade goods, gain more European technology, and replacing South India as the foremost naval power of the Indian Ocean.
National Issues: Hindustan needs to address discontent in some of its Hindu constituents and satisfy them. The growth of Hindustani naval power is also essential to the economic growth, and if Hindustan were to improve its economic influence in this part of the world, it needs to gain sufficient naval influence to seize a larger portion of international trade.
National Figures of Interest : -
National Ambition/Aspirations: Reuniting India under Muslim rule.
History: - 1206: Qutbuldin Aibak, a mamluk (military slave) of Muhammad Ghori, ruler of the Ghurid Dynasty, seized power in Delhi after he was assassinated. Thus began the Delhi Sultanate.
- 1210: After Qutbuldin Aibak's death, his successor Aram Khan attempted to take the throne, but was deposed and killed by Aibak's son-in-law Shamsuddin Iltumish. Iltumish's reign marked the start of a massive campaign that extended Delhi rule over the Ganges and Indus. Iltumish's armies captured Multan and Bengal, and foothills of the Himalayas from its remaining Hindu rulers, as well as Ranthambore from the Rajputs.
- 1290: Successive rulers of the Mamluk dynasty saw Delhi territory diminishing; most notably the Rajputs reestablished their indendence. Shamsuddin Kayumars's sudden death led to speculation that a powerful noble, the Pashtun Jalaluddin Khalji, might be behind it. Nonetheless, Khalji ascended to the throne and started another war to recapture Ranthambore, which he succeeded at.
- 1316: When the last Khalji ruler, Alauddin Khalji died, a slave converted to Islam named Khusro Khan launched a coup against the Sultan's children, killing his heir and massacring the entire Khalji dynasty. Khusro Khan reverted back to Hinduism, and many countries under Delhi rule declared war on him as a result. Khusro Khan was oppressive, even to his Hindu subjects, which caused the Rajputs to rise in rebellion against him. Eventually, Delhi's aristocracy invited Punjab governor Ghazi Malik to march on the capital and launch a coup against Khusro Khan.
- 1321: Ghazi Malik renamed himself Gjhaziuddin Tughlaq, thus starting the Tughlaq dynasty that would rule Delhti and Hindustan afterwards. He was crowned as Sultan of Delhi.
- 1324-1325: Ghaziuddin Tughlaq attacked Bengal, then uder the rule of Shamsuddin Firoz Khan of the Bengal Sultanate. Bengal is incorporated as a part of the Delhi Sultanate, now once again straddling from the Indus to the Ganges.
- 1330: Muhammad bin Tughlaq ascended the throne. This Sultan was a ruler fixated on conquest and military gain - he attacked Malwa, Gujarat, and all the way to Chittagong. Muhammad bin Tughlaq conquered the Malabar Coast, and he attempted to solidify his control over the Sultanate by executing numerous Islamic scholars, ulemas, governors, nobles, and evem sayyids (descendants of the prophet Muhammad). The economy fell to its worst state during his reign; the Ganges plain is rife with lawlessness, and many lords became robber barons because they had to pay exorbitant taxes. Finally, he moved the entire Delhi aristocracy tot he Deccans, and settled a massive amlunt of Muslims there, that it would form a new stronghold of Islam in India a century later.
- 1340: Muammad bin Tughlaq's nephew Firoz Shah rose in revolt against him. Firoz Shah was rather tolerant, and he also gained support of the Indian ulema, popularizing him in the Delhi aristocracy. Most notably, Firoz Shah agreed to abolish the jizya tax for every Hindu prince that assisted him against Muhammad bin Tughlaq. The Rajputs became his primary Hindu supporters, and as a result, most of them are exempt from jizya to this day. Firoz Shah defeated Muhammad bin Tughlaq in his capital of Daulatabad, and was proclaimed the next Delhi Sultan right after Miuhammad bin Tughlaq's death. Most of his reign is spent on campaigns restoring Delhi rule upon territories that revolted during Muhammad bin Tughlaq's reign.
- 1359: Delhi's armies conquered Bengal for the third time. This time, Firoz Shah Tughlaq proclaimed Dhaka as a "junior capital" of the Sultanate, and sent his heir to administer the region from the city. He also organized a mass wedding between Delhi and Bengal nobles so that the chances of these two countries splitting up again would be lessened. He bulit a series of fortifications across the Ganges, solidifying Delhi control over the region. Firoz Shah died in Lucknow while preparing a campaign to conquer the Odia realms. Firoz Shah was an educated Sultan who patronized the arts and philosophy. He constructed mosques and universities, as well as restored Hindu temples of the Rajputs.
- 1398: Plans to invade the Odia states are put to halt because of Timurid incursion. The Timurids are soundly defeated by Sultan Mahmud Khan's army as they crossed the Indus, thus ending the Timurid campaign into India.
- 1425: A succession crisis triggerred by the death of the Eastern Gangas's unpopular monarch Bhanudeva IV engulfed Odisha. Civil war broke out between those loyal to the dynasty and supporters of Bhanudeva's minister Kapilendra. In the midst of this conflict, a Tughlaq army marching from Bengal commanded by the Sultan and his relative Nusrat Shah marched across the coast to Odisha, launching a campaign towards the war-torn state that would be finished five years later. Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah died in 1430, with Nusrat Shah succeeding him.
- 1440-1500: This era saw less conflicts and wars occuring compared to the 14th century, dubbed the "Century of Blood' by many Muslim historians. Sultans of Delhi funded conversion efforts in its newly-conquered territories in the Deccan and Odisha, with varying degrees of success. The Holy Qur'an was translated to Hindustani and Bengali during this period. The end of the 15th century saw Muslims eclipsing Hindus in population growth, and ultimately overall population.
- 1500-1530: Campaigns towards upper Kashmir and Assam, as well as the vassalization of hill tribes in eastern Bengal. During this time a succession crisis happened in the Delhi Sultanate because Nasruddin Muhammad, the Tughlaq Sultan, died without an heir, prompting his two brothers to vie for the throne. One side invited the Turkic warlord Babur to attack Delhi, but despite his initial success, Babur was defeated by the next Tughlaq ruler, Abdullah I. With the death of his brother in battle, Abdullah was proclaimed Sultan; he married his eldest daughter to Babur and granted him land in Uttar Pradesh to settle. Abdullah I adopted many of Babur and the Mughal clan's battle tactics, including the use of cannons. Firearms and artillery became more integrated into Delhi military.
- 1561: Abdullah II ascended the throne as the Sultan of Delhi. While his dynasty is Turkic in origin, Abdullah I (his grandfather) married a Persian noble of Hashemite origin, and this made him a descendant of Prophet Muhammad's family, although many would consider it invalid because it is not passed through the male line. Nonetheless, Abdullah II pressed the claim, and he had his ulemas declare himself Caliph of the Hashemite line, and that his country's name would be changed into something more reflecting of its geography and culture: India, called Hindustan in the native language of the country. Abdullah II also elevated Hindustani to court language status - a rather symbolic move, because it already serves as the language of administration, and practically is as common in the Capital as Persian, but cemented the country's shift into an Indian nation, no longer a foreign dynasty ruling over a city. He and subsequent Hindustani emperors maintained calm relations with Persia. This process was accomplished with the help of his prime minister, Babur, the Turkic warlord that was rewarded with land by his father decades ago.
- 1591: Akbar ascended the throne. Wary of the rising Safavid dynasty, Emperor Akbar sought to improve relations with Persia instead. Akbar arranged a marriage between his heir, Nasruddin, and the daughter of the Persian ruler. Baluchistan, a Persian-speaking region, was given to Persia as a dowry; the Hindustanis eliminated a mountainous, hard to control province, and the Persians received a portion of ethnic Persian (Baluch) territory, without any conflict, and resulting in a quasi-alliance instead.
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