The Mandala Stands Strong: An Ancient Timeline.
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Ekaveer Hunts him down and annexes as well as properly integrates the land he has conquered
The Cholas seem too strong than they have any right to be, for this period. Tamilakam was almost evenly divided amongst the Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras around this time; and also much of the coastal Andhra region should be under petty kingdoms and chiefs most probably.
So you should not be really showing the Cholas that big.
So you should not be really showing the Cholas that big.
The Last Prelude.
Chapter 18: The Last Prelude.
***
It was a month later when Chandragupta was sleeping in his war tent, when tragedy struck.
The Phalanx of Nepala had gained a fearsome reputation, and Ekaveer’s forces had gone to war on and again for years by this point, making them veterans, and Ekaveer’s own prowess in battle, had by this point become legendary in the mind of the people. The artillery of Ekaveer, was foreign to the Mauryan armies and dangerous to the point it was fear instilling into the men. The fact that Ekaveer had defeated them without even unleashing his center in the previous Battle of Pataliputra was a clear indication, that if the center had been deployed, the luck of Chandragupta and the manner in which they fought would soon be redundant and many commanders in Mauryan control knew that the war was lost; however the Mauryan Emperor refused to believe this and continued a fighting defeat with skirmishes breaking out whenever Ekaveer got close; skirmishes that cost dearly to the Mauryan Army.
In hindsight, it should have been easy to discern that rebelliousness was spreading through the ranks of the Mauryan Army, however Chandragupta was headstrong and his charisma even overshadowed himself. However this temporary advantage that he had disappeared as well, when it became known that Ekaveer had executed Chanakya, a revered figure, and the morale of the army hit rock bottom.
And treason brewed.
On that fateful night in the forests of Kalinga, Chandragupta Maurya was killed whilst sleeping by his own generals, and the army dispersed away slinking off. The officers took the body of their dead former sovereign and dragged him towards the last known location of Ekaveer.
***
Ekaveer was currently looking at a map of Kalinga in his war tent when he heard risen voices from outside. He ignored it for a few minutes before one of his Latanta’s from outside asked “Sir! We have a situation!”
Ekaveer rubbed his eyes slightly before saying , “Fine.”
He walked out of the tent and looked at the Latanta and asked “What is wrong Latanta Joshi?”
“Sire, the officers of Maurya’s army are here…..with a body.” Joshi replied slightly mumbling at the end.
“With a body?” Ekaveer asked intrigued.
“Yes sire.”
“Show me the way then.”
“Of course sire.”
After a tense few silent minutes, Ekaveer finally reached the outskirts of the war camp where three officers, wearing the distinct Maurya armor were standing restless. Behind them, Ekaveer could make the figure of a limp body on the ground.
Ekaveer walked forward and spoke first. “I believe you three are from Chandragupta’s army. Are you here to ask for a ceasefire?”
The biggest one among them spoke back. “A permanent ceasefire milord. You need not worry anymore.”
“And why is that?” Ekaveer asked curiously.
One of the dragged the limp body forward and set it in front of Ekaveer. Ekaveer frowned slightly and noticed the distinct body marks on the body, quickly deducing it to be the body of Chandragupta Maurya.
“How did he die?” Ekaveer barked.
“He was leading us into a worthless war, which we could not win. He was headstrong, not at all worried about us. You continued to smash us, yet he still went on, disregarding our lives, our freedom. So we took matters into our own hands. We killed him and dismissed the army.”
Ekaveer looked at the officers impassively before breaking out into a grin. “Good job, my friends! This was is over then, no more death for anybody.”
He turned around and whispered into the ear of his bodyguard. “Kill those three and give all the bodies the final rites.”
His bodyguard nodded subtly and he suddenly moved forward thrusting his dagger into the throat of the enemy officer. The other two roared in anger and unsheathed their swords and tried to swing, just as one of his soldiers unleashed an arrow into the jugular of another one of them, and the last was stabbed through the head with a dagger, ending their lives immediately. The body of Chandragupta Maurya was later adorned lavishly on the orders of Ekaveer, to honor him.
As the flames killed the body of Chandragupta Maurya that night, Ekaveer quietly paid his respects to one of the better opponents he had fought in battle.
“May you and your teacher live on in peace in the afterlife.” Ekaveer murmured. “Be reborn together and have a grand journey together once again.”
As the flames grew into the skies, the cry of peacock crashed into the area. Ekaveer smiled slightly. It looked like Chandragupta heard him.
A Painting of the Final Rites of Chandragupta Maurya.
He turned away slowly and walked away.
***
The Peace of Shravasti was a huge gamechanger for the subcontinent. Ekaveer knew, that now, the Mandala was the greatest power in the subcontinent barring the Macedonian Empire.
The Peace of Shravasti gave all of the old lands of the Vanga Kingdom taken by the Nanda Empire back to the Vanga Kingdom, something for which Thuriyamandala was extremely grateful for. In order to keep a buffer between the Mandala and the powerful Kish Kingdom in the south, Ekaveer released the Kingdom of Satahavana, under a small noble family in the south who had sworn allegiance of alliance to Kasthamandap. Kosala, for their honorable and faithful showing in the past century was released from vassalage by Ekaveer, and they annexed the western lands of the defeated Mauryan Empire; remaining in an alliance with the Mandala and Kasthamandap.
Meanwhile, the Mandala annexed all of the other lands of the Mauryan Empire, dividing them into small kingdoms and then giving them into the cadet lines of major dynasties within the Mandala. Ekaveer’s cousin, Bhim Shakya, became the Raja of Kalinga for example, and they all joined the Mandala as constituent nations of the Mandala, under the law of Kasthamandap and all that it entailed.
The Rule of Magadha was over. The Rule of Kasthamanda began.
Lime Green - Kingdom of Vanga
Dark Green - Kingdom of Kosala
Purple - The Makedonian Empire
Pink - The Kish Kingdom
Grey - The Dravidian Kingdoms
Brown - the Satahavana Dynasty.
Aftermath of the Peace of Shravasti.
***
15 years later, 306 BC
***
Ekaveer smiled as he slapped the thigh of his son with the butt end of his sword, and said “Up, make your position better, stronger, and more firm……No, don’t clench it, and don’t be rigid, firm but not rigid!”
Anaxagoras, now in his mid-teens groaned and said “Father, must we do this?”
“Yes, you are practicing for the Royal Tournament are you not?” Ekaveer asked with a smile tugging at his lips.
“Chrysanthe needs help with the bow and arrow then! Go help her!” Anaxagoras replied with a huff in his 16 year old voice.
“Oh no you don’t! I’m fine father!” Came the ragged reply of Chrysanthe from the arrow range.
“I know you need my help Chrysanthe!” Ekaveer laughed as he heard the massive groan that erupt from his daughter when he said that. “I will come back to you after I’m done with your brother.”
“No I am seriously fine father! Wait a minute! Father, mother called me for something! I forgot about that! See you two later!”
Ekaveer heard the quick scurrying of feet as he tried to rein his laughter in, but found it too tempting and started to laugh. Anaxagoras simply sighed and sat down on the marble and wooden floor looking at his father.
“You’re a slave driver you know that father?”
“Well I guess I do know that now!” Ekaveer replied with a smile as he helped his son up.
“Come on, you’re still light years away from being able to challenge me to a duel, but you’ll do nicely in the tournament.” Ekaveer stated as he dusted the dust out of Anaxagoras’s dress.
“Come let us go to your mother and sister. I hear they are going to make a delicious dinner tonight. I for one can’t wait. Your mother’s cooking has always enraptured me.”
***
Eumenes looked at the small form of his master and said “Master, get up! We’re almost there! We’ll be at the border within a few minutes!”
“*Cough* Are you sure Eumenes?!” His master asked him in a small and prone voice.
“Yes sire! Please, sire, you must be strong. We can defeat Antigonous together, but first you need to be capable of handling yourself. Once in friendly lands, we can take care of you and then hatch plans to restore you to the throne.” Eumenes pleaded.
His young master smiled fleetingly. “Thank you Eumenes. You’ve always been the father to me, even more than Father himself.”
Eumenes’s heart broke in that minute. He shook himself to reality before he saw the guarding patrol in the distance. He squinted his eyes. They wore the emblem of the King of Kumao.
They evidently saw them, and they moved forward. Eumenes quickly stood forward shielding his master behind him and said “I am Eumenes of Macedon and Babylon. I need to speak with your Rajah.”
The guards looked at Eumenes with surprise before their eyes flickered to the imperial bracelet of his master. Their eyes widened.
“No, you will not go to the Rajah.” The officer in the front stated as he looked at the bracelet with his head obviously in turmoil. “You are going to go to the Maharajah.”
“Even better.” Eumenes muttered.
Eumenes of Makedonia.
***
3 weeks later
***
Ekaveer laughed as he watched his teen children bicker with each other. The Royal Tournament had ended. The Princes took part in the sword fighting tournament and the Princesses in the archery contest. His daughter Chrysanthe had won the archery contest, however his son had failed to win, losing against Aadesh, Anaxagoras’s cousin and the Prince of Kalinga.
He smiled at his wife, as she held his hand laughingly, laughing alongside the jests of their children. He smiled. It had been more than a decade since the wars of his life ended, and peace and prosperity reigned supreme in the Mandala.
He smiled fleetingly again with a proud smile adorning his face. He was proud of his Kingdom, his family, his wife, and his children. There was nothing more he could ask for. He had grown old, to think that he was this sentimental now, at the age of the mid-30s. However, if it was a choice between trading this over the wars of Ekaveer’s youth, Ekaveer would choose this without blinking an eye.
It was a few minutes of joking and jesting, before one of his courtiers broke into the room with a panic stricken face. Ekaveer looked at the courtier in surprise and said “Sulaj? What is wrong? I have never seen you in such distress!”
“Milord!” Sulaj, his favorite courtier mumbled. “You have urgent visitors!”
“From where?” Ekaveer asked frowning slightly. He hadn’t known that visitors were coming to visit him.
“Makedonia.”
Ekaveer’s eyebrow lifted up towards his hairline before sighing. He nodded and stood up. He looked at Thessalonike and put a chaste kiss on her cheeks and said “Look after the children?”
“Of course.”
Ekaveer smiled and nodded and then followed Sulaj to the Durbar.
The moment he saw, Eumenes, with blood covering him, Ekaveer knew something was wrong.
“Eumenes!” He burst out in Hellenic. He had gotten rusty, however he still knew the language. “What has happened to you?!”
Eumenes was not the same man. The conqueror of South India and the Grand Administrator of Alexander he was no more as he sobbed and threw himself to the feet of Ekaveer. “Please Eka!” Please help us!”
Ekaveer sobered. Eumenes had been a frequent friend of Ekaveer, they hand met in two years, and the old nickname Eumenes had given him was sobering. He kneeled down and asked “What is wrong old friend?”
“Alexander, he is dead!” Eumenes proclaimed.
“What?!” Ekaveer asked in surprise. Alexander and Ekaveer differed on a lot of things, however they had lived in peace for many years now, no matter how awkward the peace was.
“When he conquered Carthage, he contracted a slow working disease that made him weak and defeated. He died in his sleep in Babylon last year. I was seized by the Satrap of Cappadocia, Antigonous, and he named himself the new ruler of the Makedonian Empire. Cassander in Pella, Lysimachus in Thracia, Ptolemy in Egypt and Seleucus in Arabia have all followed suit, and the Makedonian Empire had erupted into civil war!”
“But the empire had an heir! Where is Alexander’s son? My nephew?” Ekaveer asked in worry.
“Hello….uncle….” Came the coughing voice from the other side of the durbar. Ekaveer looked to see, Alexander the Younger as the 15 year old boy stumbled into the court. It had been 6 years since Ekaveer had last seen his nephew, and he quickly caught the boy as well, and straightened Eumenes and Alexander the Younger, both up.
“I am guessing, this Antigonous threw both of you out of power? Especially you Alexander?”
“Yes uncle.” Alexander replied in a small voice.
“Please, Eka, you are the only monarch with the capability to bring the young master back to the throne in Babylon and Pella! Without the aid of the Bactrians, who swore revenge because of Cassander’s murder of Queen Roxana, that we even made to your kingdom! He is family! Please Eka!” Eumenes pleaded as Alexander the Younger continued to cough.
Ekaveer was faced with a huge dilemma.
Alexander IV 'The Desired' of Makedon.
***
2 months later
Ekaveer strapped the armor on, the armor he hadn’t adorned on his body for years now. He looked at his children and Thessalonike and said “Take care of yourselves.”
Anaxagoras clenched his fist. “Father, why can’t I come? Please father, I would like to aid my cousin as well!”
“You are heir!” Ekaveer stated. “If I die in the line of battle, your mother is regent until you reach your 17th summer. Then you are King. You need to stay here, for continuity of the nation.”
“But father…..”
“No buts, Anaxagoras, none.” Ekaveer stated. “I go to war for family. And I do not wish to see my children die for it.”
Chrysanthe sniffled slightly. Ekaveer’s expression softened as he enveloped his children and wife in a hug. Their foreheads touched as he said “What I do, I do for the family and the people.”
They all hugged him back and then Ekaveer left the Durbar with Alexander IV, Eumenes and the Grand Army he had assembled of 80,000 men.
Both Ekaveer and his family didn’t know it then, however it would be the last time they saw each other. And this campaign would cement Ekaveer’s place in history.
****
“What I do, I do for Family and the People.” – Maharajah Ekaveer the Great of Nepala.
***
Same Civil war across the Empire, Perhaps Ekaveer uses this to Annex Till Afghanistan like Chandragupta
Long live the Samraat of Purvanchala !!
Seriously, that is a meteoric rise from being a major power to being the major power in India.
But the conquest of that large an area is going to cause some serious issues down the line as it will be difficult to control them with your administrative centre that far north and being controlled by people who refuse to identify themselves as "Indian" per se, making them a familiar but somewhat foreign conqueror for the newly conquered populace.
Seriously, that is a meteoric rise from being a major power to being the major power in India.
But the conquest of that large an area is going to cause some serious issues down the line as it will be difficult to control them with your administrative centre that far north and being controlled by people who refuse to identify themselves as "Indian" per se, making them a familiar but somewhat foreign conqueror for the newly conquered populace.
Meh, nationalism wasn't exactly a thing during these times anywhere barring Greece, Persia, and Egypt
Also, there is no direct control in the Mandala. It's still a confederation. The won lands were divided up into small Kingdoms given to cadet lines of the Dynasties of the Sen, Chand, Shakya and other dynasties of the Mandala; with them administrating from the regional capital. Really, the High King only really had full control over the military and foreign policy. As you can see in some chapters, administrative reform required the support of the Kings of the Mandala.
Though yes, you are correct; unrest will be there' heaps of it.
There was still a strong affiliation with Native Culture during these times, perhaps the best possible action would be to Centralise the Government and Standardize Languages across the empire
Yes you are correct, which is why things won't be dandy when Ekaveer is gone with his soldiers and Alexander IV
Yes, There needs to be atleast prolonged rule and stability for Ekaveer's rule to be legitimatized
Your previous post and this one are exactly what I meant to say when I referred to them being not "Indian" implying a certain feeling of them being foreign for the new populace.
Oh boy, everything is about to go down.
Especially given Alexander's empire is about twice the size of OTL.
Rewarded as all traitors deserve.
Especially given Alexander's empire is about twice the size of OTL.
Rewarded as all traitors deserve.
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