Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Nur-ud-din Mohammed Farrukh, the Emperor of the Mughals, sat on the ornate throne in the royal court, looking down at the discussion commencing.

The topic was the upcoming war efforts against the Marathas. It was the last meeting before they departed to the border and officially declared war on the kingdom. They had already sent a message to the Qutbs and Portuguese.

Moin Ali, a minister in the court, suggested. "We should use Askar Khan as the vanguard towards the capital city, Karnavati."

Fakir Abdul nodded, agreeing to his statement. "Yes, Askar Khan is our strongest commander. He won't lose; there are only a few people that could best him in a fight."

"Askar is strong, but there is the king of the Marathas and the royal commander. They are much stronger than Askar. We need to divert them away from Askar and send him towards the capital." Shahbaz suggested.

Minister Shahbaz, a man who converted to Islam. He was a very reputed scholar and did his jobs very efficiently. His knowledge of war strategy was one of the best among the Mughals.

Moin Ali nodded. "Hmmm. It is true. That Kafir king is too strong. He is the sole reason our conquest was halted in this region."

Farrukh looked bored but he wanted to listen to Shahbaz's answer to this predicament. "What do you suggest we do to avoid the King?"

Shahbaz turned to the Emperor.

"We can use misinformation strategy to trick the Marathas to think that Askar will be attacking somewhere else."

"That's a standard strategy. We need to get rid of that bastard. As long as he is alive, the Marathas will survive."

He pondered about the strategy to kill the king of the Maratha.

"What do you suggest to take out the king of Marathas?" He asked Shahbaz.

"To take out the king of Marathas. We need to hit the weak point of their army."

Farrukh looked over at Shahbaz with a curious expression.

"Hmm... what is their weak point?"

"Their adherence to Dharma. Your Excellency."

Farrukh looked confused for a while.

"Dharma?"

"Yes, they are righteous to the core when it comes to battle as well. We have employed many tactics but they have found it out before. This time will be different."

Moin Ali interrupted.

"I know about that. They never used to battle at night since they follow the traditions."

"What happened now? They battle at night against us though," asked Fakir Abdul.

"They were ambushed a lot at night by other enemies. So they started to fight at night to avoid casualties as well."

"I see… That's why."

The Hindu kings on the northern side of the Subcontinent lost because of their naivety in thinking to be honorable against the invaders with no honor.

The best example of such a failure was Privthiraj Chauhan. He won against Mohammed Ghori four times and ended up sparing his life. This righteous and naive nature of his cost his life.

You cannot be honorable to a dishonorable opponent. This naivety caused the subcontinent to get invaded by the Mughals.

"What do you think we should do to kill the king?" asked Farrukh.

"Use refugees as baits," declared Shabaz. "We will plant our spies in the refugees and send them to seek shelter from the army of King."

"Oh… So he will take them." Farrukh said with a wicked grin.

"Yes, and we will sabotage their army from inside."

"I see. That is a great plan."

Moin Ali thought for a while and replied with a grin.

"Let's send the twins to the army of the king." He began. "Bairam Khan and Babar Khan are good young commanders. They can take care of the king after the sabotage."

"Hmm," Farrukh thought for a while. "I will send Karim as well. We have to eliminate the threat first after all."

He turned to the Fakir. "How were the negotiations with the Portuguese?"

Fakir Abdul smiled. "Aslam negotiated a better deal for us."

Aslam was a master negotiator of a small kingdom that was swallowed during the conquest of Mughals. Previously known as Tyagi, he converted while taking the post of minister in the royal court.

Farrukh was the mastermind behind his conversion to Islam because he convinced Tyagi that the Hindu priests killed his family for being lower castes. Farrukh exploited the divide of caste to get Tyagi on his side.

He was a major asset, as his negotiations and diplomatic skills were unparralled.

"Ships? You say"

"Yes, he was able to make them send their ships and mercenaries for the rights for the port."

Farrukh chuckled darkly as he knew of the power of the ships of the Europeans.

The Surat port was as good as taken by the Portuguese, as the Marathas naval capability was tiny compared to the superior ships of the Portuguese.

"We don't have to worry about Surat then. The portuguese will take care of that." He laughed out loud.

"What about the rebellions?" Shahbaz asked.

"I have ordered the local nobles to suppress it."

Moin Ali smiled. "I say, we kill some of the Kafirs and put a show of strength so that they won't rebel."

Fakir Abdul patted the shoulder of Moin Ali, agreeing with his statement.

"Yes, we have to do that. They won't rebel for a long time after that."

Shahbaz didn't smile as he knew the implications of suppressing rebellions.

The hate would pile up till it caused massive riots and killings. It would eventually split the Empire.

Despite knowing this. He didn't advise it to the Emperor, as they didn't care about the lives of their populace and would go ahead with their plan.

Farrukh nodded, agreeing with the plan.

"Issue an order to the local nobles to go ahead. We don't need pests rebelling during our conquest." Experience tales at m v|l e'm,p| y- r

Fakir nodded. "I shall do that."

Farrukh then turned to Shahbaz.

"Call Askar Khan quickly. We will be departing to the Borders soon."

"Understood, Your Excellency."

Farrukh laughed.

"We will be killing those nasty Kafir scum."