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@Constantinople: No, they just have the titles and a bit of personal fortune left. Most of them had to flee Gridenkov's Russia, or even Europe altogether. Russia itself is split into more than a dozen states which the German technocracy can play off each other.

First a Retcon, as so often:
1869: Chandramoorthy born in Puducherry. His family is from the traders' caste.

1877: In the Vijayanagar Civil War, his parents are killed. He has to live on the street, joins the other street kids.

1879: After his gang leader is killed in the Civil War, Chandramoorthy becomes new leader of his gang. In the next years, he expands the gang and allies with other kid gangs.

1882: New Romans who have taken control of Puducherry decide to break down the kid gangs. Chandramoorthy is caught too, seperated from his gang members, unsure about their fate; he manages to escape from prison, but has to leave the city.

1883: Chandramoorthy who went to Golkonda (near OTL Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) finds a job as a manservant in the house of an old Italian officer. His boss was a lover of history, philosophy (esp. that of Epicure) and arts (including erotic arts). Chandramoorthy learns Italian and later teaches himself a lot about diverse topics from the library of his boss.

1887: When his boss dies, Chandramoorthy is unemployed again. He finds another job, this time at the central library which the New Romans built meanwhile. In the next years, he'll study about all possible topics he can find.

1892: His first marriage. (Until his death, he'll marry twice again [while having a lot of extramarital affairs too], and father seven kids [not counting illegitimate ones].)

1896: Chandramoorthy decides to share his new acquired knowledge with his countrymen, becomes a teacher. Knowledge about modern science, economy, administration is "smuggled" out of the library, thanks to his extraordinary memory. As he says: "By this way, they lose nothing, but we gain a lot."

1900: While the New Romans celebrate their new century, Chandramoorthy's followers set up the first school, having translated European works.

1905: His followers set up the first school in his old home city Puducherry.

1908: Chandramoorthy's philosophy starts to spread to (culturally different) Northern India.

Late 1916: The Germans take over most of South India, including Golkonda and Puducherry.

1921: The Germans start to become suspicious about Chandramoorthy and his circle of followers. Chandramoorthy leaves the city to teach as a guru in the wilderness, leaving his followers claiming him to be dead. Until his death, he stays the "grey eminence" for the growing network of his students, who start to make careers in economy, politics, military and science.

1923: The great discussion about how to achieve independence among his followers. The guru tells his students to slowly collect power over the years until they're strong enough, and otherwise stay peaceful if possible.

1947: One of his followers manages to become professor at the German university of Franzensburg - the first non-white to do so.

1952: Chandramoorthy dies.


The world, 1960-70:

Germany:
1962: German astronauts set foot on the moon. The names of the first two men doing so are Erich Stremmer and Eugen Gorski.
Inspired by this impressing deed, the young people start to celebrate "weightless parties" (climax of said parties is that people are thrown in the air and caught again by their friends).

1964: A government-supported movie about the German space missions (made completely from scenes shot in space) hits the cinemas. Although the government tries to sell it as a victory of science, technology and the virtues of technocracy, the pictures from tiny Earth in space and weightless astronauts seem to influence people in a different way.

1968: Olympic Games in Prague (which is meanwhile relatively germanized).
Behind the scenes, here (and in other computerized states) programmers fight with the "32-bit problem" (as we'd call it IOTL): The number of seconds since January 1900 is approaching 2**32, too big to be represented by unsigned 32-bit integers. All programs have to be switched to 64-bit base instead. While the majority of the population knows only distant rumors, the programmers are practically sleeping at their workplaces to fix the problem.

1969: At the university of Franzensburg (OTL San Francisco), three computer science students (all having to do with Artificial Intelligence) talk about the possibility of a real AI, after the big government project of MULTI-KI (KI = Künstliche Intelligenz, German for AI) was scrapped. Putting together the facts they know, they come to the conclusion that a working AI is possible - but there is no sufficient calculation power to run it (although there are now supercomputers around which can do almost as many calculations as the human brain - not as many parallel, but they make it up with their speed). Still, they keep their plan, and even share it with other Logos.


China:
1960: The young emperor decides to modernize the country. Many (not to say thousands) of new technical schools, universities and research laboratories are built. One of his plans is to join the space race. He doesn't say it too loud, but he also plans to expand - which includes a bigger navy.

1965: First Chinese space station with two men. German responsibles wonder whether the smaller size of the Chinese people gives them an advantage.

1966: Chinese send the first space rover to moon. In Germany, they frantically start to push robot technology.

1968: During the Olympic games, China manages to have the first Chinese set their feet on the moon. This success angers the Germans somewhat.


Socialist Block:
1961: French programmers surprisingly present a computer program that can translate complete articles and speeches from French into other languages, including figures of speech and other semantic meanings. The scientists are astounded - however, later it's found out that 1. the program has still problems with typos and 2. it's only usable for the highly formalized speeches and editorials of the French Socialists. Still, the principle of the program is used for similarly specialized texts.

1962: The Socialist Block launches the first space station with a multi-man crew. Internal squabblings about many different things, including the question which nations should have the honor to send an astronaut into space, procrastinated the mission.

1964: At the conference in Rome, the until then secret ruler of the block - the French Socialists - are replaced by the Italian Socialists, who managed to build an alliance with the Germans, Dutch and Spaniards. Now France profits less from the Socialist brotherhood.

1967: Socialist Block tries to launch the first manned moon rocket, but it fails. Their space program has to be restarted.


Canada and Pacific:
1962: King George V of New Albion dies. He has no sons, so the country is split: Should his daughter Elizabeth become the first queen in the history of England, Great Britain and New Albion (which was the will of the late king too), or should the crown go to his brother Humphrey? Elizabeth's supporters fear that Humphrey's son could wreck the kingdom. Humphrey's supporters point out that Elizabeth has no children, despite being over 40.
What follows is a civil war that literally splits the small kingdom - the Northern island with the capital stays loyal to Elizabeth, while the southern island and OTL Tasmania stand behind Humphrey. Although few people outside the kingdom take notice of the war, it shakes up the country like a storm.

1963: When the Taoiseach of Tir Tairngire, Gearailt Seán Ó Cinnéide, protests against German presence in OTL West Australia, the German secret service has him killed. This doesn't make the technocrats more popular in the abroad. Irish-Catholic pope Patricius IX also protests, and the Irish-Catholics worldwide pass it on (and meanwhile, there's a small community of them in Germany too).

1966: After the death of the last Hong emperor (who was under Canadian protection), a revolt on OTL Philippines threatens the stability of the region. Germany and Canada can't interfere right now, so China offers to put the unrest down. The Canadian government is suspicious, thinks China wants the mostly Chinese-settled islands back. Finally an agreement is found: In twenty years, the islands will vote whether to join China or stay a Canadian protectorate, although the former clearly is the most probable outcome.

1969: King Humphrey VI (I in New Albion) dies, the crown goes to his son whom everyone suspects to be a bad king, which will become true. Queen Elizabeth I of the Northern island seeks Canadian support, which makes Humphrey VII/II even angrier - in his opinion, not only has Canada occupied British colonies around the Pacific, but is supposed to be his loyal colony!


Atlantean Chaos:
1960s: In Italia Nuova, the Terramici, the organized ecology movement, are formed. The Technocracy dismissed their protests as propaganda and themselves as marihuana smokers.

1964-66: Maya-Miskito war.

1967: The government of Peru (OTL northern Andean states) captures and executes the leaders of "The Imperial Way", a movement that wants to rebuild the New Roman Empire, at least in Atlantis.

1969: Unrest among black people in the various states south of German (North) Atlantis for not having full rights.


Russian / Eastern European Chaos:
1962: Choresm makes war against the successor state centered on Itil (OTL Astrachan), for rights in the Caspian. Itil loses.

1963: The "Free Volga" movement is founded in Russian states, aiming at a liberation of the Russian lands.

1964: In some of the Russian states north of China, the cooperation is expanded - the Chinese emperor speaks of a possible economic union, or even monetary union.

1967: Germany interferes in a war between Bryansk and its neighbors. This again makes many Russians angry about German domination.


Indian Chaos:
1960: Germany gives heavily populated Benghal independence.

1962-67: Several wars in Northern India drive many millions of people into the South.

1965: Followers of Chandramoorthy topple the Buddhist government of Varanasi/Benares.

1968: Except for Bombay/Mumbai, all of India is now decolonized. However, it's also split into several dozen more or less weak states.


African Chaos:
1961: Baoule state falls apart, is replaced by many smaller states.

1964: Some German tourists visiting west Africa stumble over the fact that the Socialist pirates have infiltrated harbor cities on the African coast, incl. bribing officials.

1965: King of the Tutsi officially converts to Irish Catholicism, spreading their influence beyond Großer Afrikanischer See (OTL Lake Victoria).

1969: Germany supports the Congo states to attack Douala, which becomes too strong and possibly threatens German oil fields in OTL Nigeria.


Middle Eastern Chaos:
1962: With help from Greater Judea, Italian Africa (OTL Tunisia, Libya and western Egypt) builds a canal to the Qattara depression, filling it with water and forming a new sea, to make salt and improve the desert climate. This is just the biggest of many Judean programs to irrigate the desert.

1964: Olympic Games in Jerusalem (boycotted by some Muslim nations).

1965: Germany supports an uprising in Upper Egypt to prevent that the state becomes too strong.

1969: Greater Judea replaces coins and paper banknotes by plastic chips. In the following decade, Germany, Canada and other countries will follow suit.


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