The Deccan Wars were a series of sustained conflicts from 1680 to 1707 that took place in the Deccan region of India. The war was sparked by the rise of the Marathas as an independent power in the region. The war started with the Moghul Emperor sending large armies to recapture the forts that had been seized by the Marathas and their neighboring kingdoms. One more reason of this war was also the sheltering of the Moghul Emperor's rebel son by the Marathas. The Moghuls shifted their capital to the Deccan and came with estimated contingents numbering 500,000 troops. The war would eventually descend into a bloody conflict and bring about the collapse of the Moghul Empire as they had entered a war intending to wage conventionally with an unconventional enemy and on an unforgiving terrain. This was also a war that was not exactly divided along religious or ethnic lines. People of various religions and ethnic backgrounds fought in every other camps.
The main powers involved in the conflict:
- Moghul Empire
- Marathas
- Bijapur Sultanate (Adil Shahi)
- Golkonda Sultanate (Qutb Shahi)
Pretige Points and Money
It was a time of heroic poems and tales. And so comes prestige points. Every warlord starts with some prestige points; depending on a roll and how well written the background plot is. Over the period of time, prestige points will accumulate or be deducted with battles and RP action of the characters. Every RP will carry points - from taking a tough fort, winning a battle/ambush, to even verbally humiliating a rival character in a court or gathering. Prestige points can be used to rally levied troops (instead of recruiting them with cash), obtaining more retinue companies, suppressing peasant uprisings etc. Another unique advantage of having high prestige points will be with Europeans. You can get special treaties, loans, equipment, to even getting them as retinues.
Mohurs (money) can be obtained by any means you can creatively think and RP on. Money can be used to raise troops from local regions, contract mercenaries, bribery, and upgrade forts and castles. You can also increase it by investing in trade with the Europeans.
Allegiance
Once the game starts, you can declare allegiance to any of the four major powers - Moghul, Maratha, Golkonda, Bijapur. This will get you a company of retinue and levy troops each in the fashion of the faction you have sworn to. Decalring yourself as a mercenary will ensure your freedom and as a sovereign will give prestige, but you will get no troops. Having an allegiance will also get your characters rank and titles according to the realm. And will also open up the way to rise up the social ladder.
But allegiances come with a double edge. Choosing an allegiance binds you to it as long as it lasts, and switching allegiances costs prestige. Declaring your own boosts it, but comes with a risk. There is the risk of becoming fair game to other players who can attack you at will without requiring any reason; so consider this own if you are strong enough and know that you can beat them back. However, belonging to an allegiance ensures the help they can give you when overhelmed by enemies. Likewise, you have to also answer the call for aid or risk losing prestige.
The third alternative for this is declaring your character as a neutral warlord. A neutral warlord does not swear any allegiance, but is also not a declared monarch. This way, the character can fight for any main powers of choice, and for money or land grants.
Fiefs and Estates
Historically, after the fall of the Bahmani Empire, the Deccan region had started a slow descent into instability and decentralization. The resulting Deccan Sultanates were a product of this, as was the nascent Maratha kingdom. It is a time where the medieval concept of Zamindari (landowners) rule had gone to extreme ends and the power was held by local warlords and rulers. The only way a sovereign could hold that power was through ruthlessly exercising it.
The main land grant unit here is a 'Jagir', which rouhgly translates to estates. A Jagir can be anything from a town/city, a couple of villages, to even military forts. A Jagir has to be either bestowed (for sworn warlord) or granted (for neutral warlord) or taken (for self-proclaimed leaders). Once the Jagir is taken, you can levy tax on to it, and encourage more money through trade. Jagirs can also be upgraded to grow prosperous and great. This is by comissioning various buildings and utilities. The said upgrades can be come up by the player and not restricted by rules so as to allow creativity.
A Chance for Power
As a warlord, and soon chieftan, you have the choice to sieze the power for yourself. There are of course two ways to do this. One is to sieze the reins of one of the four powers by a coup or politics. This RP would be naturally very hard to do so if you doing it alone. And even when you have taken over an entire sultanate, a peaceful transition is also not a guarantee. The second way is of self-proclamation. By getting your character a coronation ceremony, you can have him declare a king/sultan. But there are some subtle points to this - there were no titular kings in those times. To effectively declare your character as a sovereign, he must be a master of decent number of Jagirs. The minimum requisite for this is to control the equivalent of 1 fortress, 1 town/city, and 3 villages.
That said, doing the above does not mean that your character gets the legitimacy. Your new kingdom/sultanate would be open to any invasions/raids by other players and yearly rolls, as well as rebellions. You have to establish legitimacy by getting the other warlords (player ones) to acknowledge your sovereignity and maybe even support it. Also, any treaties that you had made with other players can be annuled as you have declared yourself as an individual sovereign.
Character Inventory and Auxilaries
Your charcter, no matter how renowned a fighter, can still get injured when in battle; even fatally. To this end, characters can buy various items from smiths for boosting either their defense or attacks. These items can be brought from native or European traders, depending on what you want to buy. Players can have a number of auxiliary characters, european or native. The limits to these auxiliaries are that they cannot own lands or trade with the player's main characters to prevent unfair advantage. Auxiliaries are also treated as main characters, but can be disposed of like main ones.
Jagirs
Below are the types of Jagirs with their featurs, and the incomes associated with them. This applies to player held Jagirs.
Military Forts
These are the traditional time-tested strongholds of power of the Deccan. They are forts mostly situated on hilly terrain that are difficult to take and make controlling the surrounding region easier. Every fort is considered to be at level I with basic features.
- Set of towers
- 10 wall canons
There is no income associated with forts, but incurs maintenance costs - 2,000 mohurs at basic levels. Players can upgrade them to boost its defense; and these upgrades can both add to or reduce the maintenance costs.
Agricultural/Fishing Village
Backbone of the Deccan, these are villages depending on food production. These villages fetch anywhere between 5,000-15,000 mohurs per year.
Trade Village
Villages that form the nodes of trade. They bring a base income of 10,000 mohurs, with additional 2,000 mohurs per every small trade deal and 5,000 per every large trade deal.
Cities
The urban centers of population are mostly uniform in this time, with a city being suitable as a center for governance, trade, as well as military. A city will have both income and maintenance that will vary as it levels up. The costs and incomes will vary as there were not many cities during this time. Below are the various levels that mark a city.
- Minor City
- Major City
- Provincial City
- Provincial Capital
Income
Main characters can score an income from a variety of methods. Below are some of the ways they can gain wealth; the list is not exhaustive though.
- Income for Allegiance towards a realm. Characters who have declared allegiance to a power can quote an amount to the treasury of their overlord in return for their service; depending on their worth.
- Tax income from various Jagirs. Depending on the decree of the realm the Jagir lies in, you can either collect a set amount or decide your own.
- Income from raiding any jagirs, or army, or merchant convoy.
- Income from exhorting a city/village in return for not raiding/attacking them.
- Holding a warlord (player only) for ransom.
- Tribute demanded from other warlords (player only).
Note that for characters holding an allegiance, they have an obligation to pay tribute to the overlord for all income except the first.
Titles and Prestige
Titles in Indian history have always been not well defined, and have a certain obscurity where the lines were drawn. However, I've got them down by historical research on which titles held what prestige in the Faction hierarchy. Below that is the amount of points gained with the title and the yearly accrual.
General Rules and Guidelines (Please Read This At least Once)
