The following text is part of an alternate history project "Gurkani Alam" by Tony Jones. Gurkani Alam is a about a world in which India never gets colonized by European powers. The Indian subcontinent is dominated by two polities; the Mughal Empire in the north, and the Dakshina Nad in the south.

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"GENERAL INFORMATION
Over the years many people have travelled to India to seek their fortunes there, much as they did in the real world during colonial times. In this world, however, rather than looting the wealth of a weak and divided India and shipping it back to their home countries, they have sought their advancement by immigrating into and working for the benefit of the success story of a strong India.

The Indian Ocean is very much under the control of the Indian nations, particularly the Dakshina Nad. South-East Asia, Marege [Australia] and eastern Africa all fall within the sphere of influence of the Indian nations.

THE DAKSHINA NAD
The only rival to the Mughal Empire on the Indian sub-continent, and indeed the only other nation there, the Dakshina Nad is a federation of Southern Indian and other states spread around the Indian Ocean and south-east Asia that has evolved out of the Kanyakumari Pact, a defensive alliance formed in 1697 to protect the states of southern India against the expansion of the less aggressive [without Aurangzeb] but still threatening Mughal Empire to their north. In overall organisation the Dakshina Nad is a Thalassocracy, a state with primarily maritime realms. It has a population of more than five hundred million people.

Although officially known as the Kanyakumari Federation, the more commonly used name of the nation, the Dakshina Nad, has grown out of the traditional term for South India, with Dakshina meaning 'south' and Nad meaning 'land'. It is also occasionally known as the Dravida Nad or simply Dravida.

The Kanyakumari Federation is a federal government with elements similar to that of Switzerland of the real world. Its administrative capital (roughly equivalent to Brussels in the European Union) is the city of Kanyakumari at the very southern tip of India, in the separate Federal District of Kanyakumari. It is here that the original Kanyakumari Pact was signed in 1697, and where the Kanyakumari Federation was formed in 1901 after long years of increasingly close cooperation for mutual protection against the Mughal Empire and other threats.

The government of the Dakshina Nad helps to coordinate projects that affect and/or span the entire Federation, such as the space programme, the Dakshina Nad Lace [internet], elements of the railway and transport network, and large international engineering efforts such as the Rama's Bridge project.

The Kanyakumari Pact was originally intended for defence alone. As such it allowed members to war among themselves, but also obliged them to allow other Pact forces to move through their territory in the event of war with the Mughal Empire. Over time and with the creation of the Kanyakumari Federation this has evolved into a fully united system.

Originally each Pact member was entirely responsible for their own laws and so on, though they were also obliged to tolerate the religious beliefs of visitors from other Pact nations, a consideration that was considered essential if people from all of the Pact nations were to be able to work together.

This remains largely the case today, although the Pact and later the Federation have taken over elements of external economic policy and also of defence, unifying the navies of the states of the Dakshina Nad in 1760, and their armies and air forces on the creation of the Kanyakumari Federation in 1901.

Over time the Dakshina Nad political system has taken on board many political concepts originating in Europe. The merging of these two sets of political concepts have gradually, and not without problems, formed a political system as effective as, if different from, any of the political systems of the real world.

The royal families of the states making up the Kanyakumari Federation (where they exist) each retain their position in their home state. In addition, the position of head of state of the Federation rotates among each of the leaders of the constituent states in turn on a two year basis [this is similar to the Majlis Raja-Raja system in Malaysia in the real world].

The Vai Arasan (Tamil for Assembly of Kings) made up of representatives of the monarchs and nobility of all of the states of the Federation acts as an advisory council in the Federation, performing a similar function to the durbars of the individual states. The Ashta Pradhan, derived from the Maratha council of the same name, forms a council of ministers for the Kanyakumari Federation in parallel with this.

Most of the governments of the Dakshina Nad use similar organisations, such as Navaratnas, at a more local level, and most have at least some form of parliamentary system.

The politics of the Dakshina Nad, and indeed of all of India remain based on tribal and geographic boundaries, as they have been for centuries, rather than on peoples identification with and alignment to their religion [as happened due to the actions of the Emperor Aurangzeb in the real world].

The Dakshina Nad is lacking in coal so it has long made use of hydroelectricity, wind power, and nuclear power to drive its industry instead. The Dakshina Nad leads the world in space and in space technology.

There are a number of powerful companies in the Dakshina Nad. These are roughly similar to the Tayefe Karkhanas of the Mughal Empire, and are known as Kulam Thoyil Kadai (Family Workshops). These have varying degrees of political power in the different states of the Dakshina Nad.

Both sides of the border between the Dakshina Nad and the Mughal Empire are dotted with fortresses built to defend against the other side in the eighteenth century and often upgraded in the nineteenth century. In the present time these fortresses remain as picturesque tourist attractions.

The Dakshina Nad and the Mughal Empire are linked by an extensive network of roads and railway lines.

The official language of the Dakshina Nad is Tamil, although many other languages are spoken across the regions it controls. Telugu is the second most commonly-used language in the Dakshina Nad. Because of this most popular writing in the Dakshina Nad is in Tamil and Telugu, although there is much published work in other local languages.

The Dakshina Nad officially uses the Hindu Calendar, though a different version to that used in the Mughal Empire. The Islamic, Buddhist and Christian calendars are also widely used, the latter particularly in the Philippines.

The flag of the Dakshina Nad consists of nine vertical stripes in colours derived from the national colours of all of the states in the Kanyakumari Pact, and from the major religions of all of the peoples within it.

The currency of the Dakshina Nad is the Kanyakumari Rupee, first issued in 1744 after the unification of the various currencies of the states making up the Kanyakumari Pact. This currency remains distinct from the Mughal Rupee.

When the members of the Kanyakumari Pact unified their currencies into one, a law permitting the free movement of labour within the Kanyakumari Pact also came into effect. Over time this law has acted to eliminate the worst excesses of the governments of the Dakshina Nad states as people have tended to vote with their feet to escape bad government. By the present day many of the states have, out of self-interest, evolved into enlightened absolute monarchies.

The Hindu caste system still exists within the Dakshina Nad, although it has been weakened over time by the actions of the Sikhs and the example of the Mughal Empire. The strictness with which the caste system is applied varies from state to state within the Dakshina Nad, from quite strictly in Thanjavur to not at all in Pudhiya Kozhikode. In none of the states of the Dakshina Nad is it an entirely insurmountable barrier to individual progress or achievement, with economic and social mobility being entirely accepted.

The special forces of the Dakshina Nad have come, over the years, to be known as the Rakshasas, after the Hindu demons of the same name.

Along with others, the Nair make up a significant percentage of the armed forces of the Dakshina Nad, and of Pudhiya Kozhikode in particular.

The success of the Kanyakumari Pact and the Kanyakumari Federation has inspired other nations around the world to adopt similar forms of government. In particular the Banten Pact which led to the formation of Sarekat.

There are a number of world-renowned universities in the Dakshina Nad. In particular the universities of Mysore, Kandy, Kanyakumari and Manila are very well respected.

The nations of the Kanyakumari Federation in the year 2000 consist of the following:

THE SULTANATE OF BERAR. A frontier state on the border of the Mughal Empire, Berar was taken by the Marathas in 1657, but gained its freedom from them in 1782. It is ruled by the Restored Imad Shahi Dynasty and is a largely Muslim state, though with a large Hindu minority. Berar has little industry and a fairly low population. This is largely because its position on the border between the Dakshina Nad and the Mughal Empire has made it unattractive for investors and its inhabitants. Despite this it is fairly rich due to its position causing a large military presence to be maintained on its soil for centuries.
 
This military presence has also allowed the Sultans of Berar to be able to remain unconcerned about industrialisation, although they have encouraged the presence of military universities and research centres in their country. Growing out of its having had a large military presence in the country for a long time, Berar is a centre of the Dakshina Nad entertainment industry, including films, television and prostitution.
 
Since the signing of the Indian Alliance and warming of relations between the Dakshina Nad and Mughal Empire during the Long War many of the military bases in Berar have bee downgraded or closed, causing a slump in the economy from which Berar is currently attempting to recover.
THE SULTANATE OF BIDAR; a largely Muslim state in the north central region of the Dakshina Nad. It is ruled by the Restored Barid Dynasty since it freed itself from the Marathas in 1782. Although majority Muslim, Bidar also has a large Hindu minority. Bidar is the poorest and least populated state of the Dakshina Nad. Because of that it remains fairly unspoilt so there are hunting parks, holiday homes and so on there.
THE SULTANATE OF BIJAPUR; one of the Muslim Deccan Sultanates. It is nominally ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty of Sultans from the capital city of Bijapur, although in fact its political system is plutocratic in nature, based on that of Pudhiya Kozhikode. Bijapur is well known for the Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of the Bijapuri ruler Mohammed Adil Shah.
THE GOLCONDA SULTANATE; the north-eastern-most of the states of the Dakshina Nad, Golconda is a majority Muslim state ruled by the Qutb Shahi dynasty with its capital in the city of Golconda itself. The Telugu language is the main tongue of the people of Golconda.
 
Golconda is known for its religious tolerance and famous for its diamonds and jewellery. It is also the most highly industrialised of the states of the Dakshina Nad, particularly in heavy industry, and because of its position on the border with the Mughal Empire also traditionally has one of the largest militaries in the Dakshina Nad, second only to that of the Marathas.
 
Although Golconda is the capital city of the sultanate, over time it has merged with the nearby city of Hyderabad to form a large conurbation. Golconda uses Lace [internet] technology to implement a form of fully participatory democratic government, a system that arose from unrest in the country during the Long War.
KANYAKUMARI. Located at the very southern tip of India, Kanyakumari is the location of the signing of the Kanyakumari Pact in 1697, and where the Kanyakumari Federation was formed in 1901. Kanyakumari is a separate administrative region within the Dakshina Nad and forms its capital city.
THE SAMOOTHIRATE OF PUDHIYA KOZHIKODE (NEW KOZHIKODE) Pudhiya Kozhikode is a largely Hindu state in the south-western tip of the Indian sub-continent. It is the main centre of banking, finance, commerce and trade in the Dakshina Nad, and for many of the other nations around the Indian Ocean. It is ruled by the Samoothiri from its capital city of Kozhikode.
 
The reason for this financial success lies in the Plutocratic system of government used in Pudhiya Kozhikode, which grew out of the loss of the Kozhikode royal family during the Factory War, when those with the most money came to be in charge, and this condition has persisted ever since. [In this world there was no Marthanda Varma so there is no state of Travancore.] Pudhiya Kozhikode is founded upon a Great Charter which defines its statehood, much as company charter defines a company.
 
Under the Plutocratic system, Pudhiya Kozhikode is run by an Assembly of its richest citizens, those with more than a certain percentage of the national wealth. The element of this system that led to its success and that of Pudhiya Kozhikode as a whole is that it allows groups of people, each individually below the threshold for entry to the Assembly, to pool their resources to send a representative to the Assembly. This has led to the formation of organisations combining political parties and banks who invest the money of the participants to maximise returns, and so their power in government. These tend to be run in a similar manner to the government, though with no lower financial limit on entry, and over time and despite various incidents of corruption, have become the dominant force in Pudhiya Kozhikode politics, providing the country with what is essentially a form of democracy. These Pudhiya Kozhikode bank-parties were originally organised largely on caste lines, but since then these have largely broken down, with people using those which suit them best.
 
Taxes in Pudhiya Kozhikode are very low and mostly cover defence and the national contribution to the Dakshina Nad. Despite this Pudhiya Kozhikode is a land of great social and economic divides, with many who are very rich and many more in abject poverty. People generally pay into various different social funds which cover them in case of illness and unemployment. However, because of the potential to rise by their own hard work that exists in Pudhiya Kozhikode, people accept this. This economic and social mobility has contributed to the breakdown - or at least the general ignoring of - the caste system in Pudhiya Kozhikode. As part of this it was the first state in the world to grant equal rights for women, in 1876.
 
The plutocratic system in Pudhiya Kozhikode has also led to significant areas of the country being ecologically devastated, either by unregulated industry poisoning the land, or by unchecked housing and other developments covering it.
 
Because of the plutocratic nature of Pudhiya Khozhikode, the theoretical sciences do not do well there. Therefore most of the scholarship that was formerly based there such as the Kerala School of Mathematics has transferred to Kanyakumari, Mysore and Thanjavur, where there are now Schools of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy named for those places instead. The Kerala School of Mathematics still exists but is very much an institute of applied mathematics. The Pudhiya Kozhikode system has, on the other hand, led to it being a haven for the entertainment industry, with films, television and the services of prostitutes being significant exports.
 
Because of the success of the Pudhiya Khozhikode system, various other nations around the world have adopted a similar plutocratic system or elements of it, including the Sultanate of Bijapur in the Dakshina Nad itself.
EASTERN MALAGASIA. The Dakshina Nad-controlled region of the island of Malagasia [Madagascar], Eastern Malagasia is the westernmost part of the Dakshina Nad, and its gateway to the Atlantic Ocean. As such it is a major trading centre, both for cargoes to and from the Atlantic, but also for goods traded around East Africa; in this Eastern Malagasia competes with the Mughal-ruled Western Malagasia. Due to its strategic position, Eastern Malagasia is also home to a significant Dakshina Nad naval and general military presence.
 
The capital of Eastern Malagasia is the city of Pudhiya Satara (New Satara). The citizens of Pudhiya Dakshina Nad are mainly Hindus, though with significant minorities of most other faiths, including those of the native people.
THE SULTANATE OF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. A largely Muslim island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives joined the Kanyakumari Pact in 1749. They are ruled by the Diyamigily Dynasty from their capital at Malé. The Dakshina Nad has one of its main space launch facility in the Maldive Islands as they are the furthest south part of the Dakshina Nad. Because of this the Maldives have close links with Mysore, a strong military presence, and strong defences.
THE MARATHA KINGDOM; in the north-west of the Dakshina Nad, the Maratha Kingdom is the most powerful individual state of the Dakshina Nad. [There is still a Maratha Kingdom even though there is no oppressive Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb, but the lack of Aurangzeb greatly changes how it has developed.]
 
As a state bordering on the Mughal Empire, the Marathas were instrumental in the formation of the Dakshina Nad, and have long maintained one of the larger and more effective militaries within it.
 
The Maratha Kingdom includes the city of Goa, taken over by them in 1681. Its capital is the city of Satara. Although the majority of the citizens of the Maratha Kingdom are Hindus, it has significant minorities of other religions, particularly Islam and Roman Catholic Christianity mostly derived from the population of Goa.
 
There is no single Maratha royal family. Instead, political power rests in five inter-related Maratha dynasties, the Peshwas of Pune, the Sindhias of Malwa and Gwalior, the Holkars of Indore, the Bhonsles of Nagpur, and the Gaekwads of Baroda.
 
The Ashta Pradhan of the Maratha Kingdom has long helped keep the Marathas free of the Mughals. An organisation based on its structure forms the basis for the government of the Dakshina Nad. As part of this, the Maratha Kingdom has long paid little attention to where a person originates from in terms of social class and nationality. Instead, ability is recognised and rewarded.
THE KINGDOM OF MYSORE; located in the west of southern India, the Kingdom of Mysore is ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty from its capital in the city of Mysore as it has been since 1459. [In this world the kingdom has never been ruled by Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, or any other non-Wodeyar.]
 
Mysore has long been a world leader in the field of rocketry, and they remain masters of the field, as well as of science and technology in general, helping the Dakshina Nad as a whole to maintain its position in the world. The first artificial satellite was launched from Mysore, as was the first human being into space. It is also because of the science of the Kingdom of Mysore that the first person on the Moon was from the Dakshina Nad. As well as a great deal of high technology industry, Mysore also has quite extensive heavy industry, much of it based around its iron mines.
THE FEDERATION OF PAPUA [New Guinea]; a large island to the north of Marege [Australia], Papua is divided into city-states, each one centred on one or more of the old trading posts established by southern Indian traders centuries ago. The capital of Papua is the city of Pudhiya Mysore (New Mysore). The citizens of Papua are of most religions, though Hindus and Muslims predominate. Papua has a significant Chinese population, derived from those who left during the Chinese Civil War. Much of the wealth of Papua comes from the rich mineral resources it holds, but one of the space launch facilities of the Dakshina Nad is also located in Papua.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. The Philippine Islands consist of Luzon and some of the more northern of what make up the Philippine Islands is the real world; they do not include the southern islands, which form the Sultanate of Sulu. They are ruled by a President with under him the parliament of the Cortes Generales, modelled on that of Spain. The Philippines joined the Kanyakumari Federation in 1901. The Philippines are a limited democracy, with the vote restricted to men of the middle and upper classes. Much of the wealth of the Philippines comes from the mineral resources it holds.
 
Unlike the other states of the Dakshina Nad, the Philippine Islands have a majority Roman Catholic population, a legacy of the period of rule by the Spanish, though there are also substantial Muslim, Hindu, Chinese and pagan minorities. Likewise, the majority language of the Philippine Islands is a version of Spanish, and there is a significant Spanish-descended minority on the islands, particularly among the rich and the upper classes. The capital of the Philippines is the city of Manila.
THE POLIGAR COALITION; a federation of Poligars (officials or chiefs) formed in 1720. Each leader governs portions of the nation, and are descended from the Nayaks who rule elsewhere, for example in Thanjavur. Originally ruling a larger area, after being chipped away at piecemeal by the surrounding states they have been forced to federate to avoid being taken over by outsiders.
 
The Poligar Coalition is ruled in manner similar to the Dakshina Nad as a whole, with the position of head of state rotating around all of the Poligars in turn, while the others form a governing council under them, with a separate advisory durbar. Each individual Poligar has its own rules and laws, though after centuries of association these are all quite similar, with only a few odd local exceptions. The capital of the Poligar Coalition is the city of Kadapa (Cuddapah).
THE FEDERATION OF PUDHIYA DAKSHINA NAD; the part of the Dakshina Nad located on the island continent of Marege [Australia], as with Papua, the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad is divided into city-states, each one centred on one or more of the old trading posts established by southern Indian traders centuries ago. The capital of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad is the city of Pudhiya Golconda (New Golconda) [this is on the site of the real world city of Perth, in Western Australia]. The different city-states of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad have a variety of different forms of government. The citizens of Pudhiya Dakshina Nad are of most religions, though Hindus and Muslims predominate. Much of the wealth of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad comes from the significant mineral resources it holds.
 
By the present time much of the land of the Indian-controlled parts of Marege [Australia; the name Marege comes from the Macassar name for the continent; see also] remains under the control of the original natives [the Aborigines], and they are a significant force in politics and the economy. Their culture remains vibrant. There are no reserves for the natives, and their numbers are much greater than in the real world. Some native groups who have adapted to the arrival of outsiders are prosperous and successful, maintaining an adapted form of their traditional lifestyle in integration with the colonial society. Others, who have refused to change and adapt, are poor and marginalised, though to nowhere near the level they are in the real world.
 
A number of the natives of Marege [Australia] have converted to Islam or Christianity, but most retain their traditional religion. This is especially the case in the Indian-controlled areas where native religious sites have been respected, and particularly since the Hindu priest Deepak Radhakrishnan showed the similarities between their beliefs and those of Hinduism in 1775.
 
There are quite a large number of Hindu temples across the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad, as well as temples of the syncretic Hindu-Maregian [Aboriginal] faith(s). There is a particularly large temple at Uluru [Ayers Rock], and others in the vicinity of (but not replacing) other Maregian sacred sites.
 
Pudhiya Dakshina Nad is also home to a number of enclaves of European religious dissidents who left Europe after religious persecution and who ended up in the more tolerant Dakshina Nad.
 
Many parts of Pudhiya Dakshina Nad and Marege in general suffer the effects of ecological damage caused by the introduction of non-native species by Indians, European or other outsiders.
 
Since the end of the Long War and the increasingly widespread use of long-term life-support systems designed for use in space, there have been the beginnings of large-scale permanent colonisation of some of the more hostile regions of Pudhiya Dakshina Nad.
THE KINGDOM OF SINHALE; [Sri Lanka]. Ruled from the capital at Kandy in the central highlands after the island was unified in 1751 following the expulsion of the occupying Mughal Empire, Sinhale is a majority Buddhist nation. Without European rule and the subsequent jungle clearances to grow coffee and tea, the countryside of Sinhale is very different to that of the real world. Linked to the mainland of India by Rama's Bridge which carries a great deal of rail traffic, the ports of Sinhale act as a major transhipment point for goods to and from south east Asia and Australasia. Because of the importance of sea-going trade to Sinhale, it is home to several of the most important of the naval bases of the Dakshina Nad, as well as a good deal of its ship-building industry.
 
Since the brief period of militant One Truth Buddhist rule in 1961 and 1962 Sinhale has been a Freethinker state with a strong separation of religion and government, but otherwise freedom of worship.
THE NAYAKKANATE OF THANJAVUR; a largely Hindu state in the south-east on the Indian sub-continent, ruled by the Nayakkan (Nayak ruler) of the Tanjore Nayak dynasty. The Nayakkans are closely related to the Bhonsle dynasty of the Maratha Kingdom, although they fiercely maintain their independence from it. Thanjavur is ruled from the city of Thanjavur, with Tamil as its majority language.
 
Thanjavur is the most authoritarian of the states of the Dakshina Nad. This has been the case since 1847 when Tirumala Nayak II, the Hindu leader of Thanjavur, influenced by the works of philosopher Hrithik Subbulakshmi, introduced new laws designed to maintain the caste system and the 'essential characteristics' of each caste by controlling (even more than was already the case) intermarriage between them. As part of this state officials have the power to move children from family to family and caste to caste if they are considered to have been born into the 'wrong' caste. Related to this is the strong secret police and powerful internal security forces used by the Thanjavur regime to maintain this state of affairs.
 
Thanjavur is the major coal-mining and mineral-producing region of the Dakshina Nad, providing the raw materials for its own industry and that of the other states of the Dakshina Nad. Its many rivers also provide a great deal of water for irrigation and hydroelectric power.
The under-populated and undeveloped Antarctic territory of Thañnîr Nad remains a colony rather than a full member of the Kanyakumari Federation, although it is hoped it will become so in the future.

The Dakshina Nad has invited a number of other states, such as Ayutthaya, Dai Ngu, Sarekat and the Republic of Samudra to join it over the years. However so far they have all declined these invitations, some out a wish to maintain their independence, others under pressure from other nations, generally the Mughal Empire, and some from a combination of these.

Other nations, such as Bama and Brunei, are interested in joining, but the Dakshina Nad does not consider their political and/or economic situation to be conducive to their doing so."