The following is first half of the timeline for the 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.


Give me an overview of developments in this timeline, specifically in South Asia (concerning the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad, and their neighbors, Russia, Europe, North America, and East Asia. Also give an overview of major scientific and technological developments and where and when they ocurred.

"1640
Charles I of England summons Parliament in an attempt to fund the second of the Bishops Wars against the Scottish Covenanters. This attempt fails after the refusal of the House of Commons to vote subsidies for the King unless royal abuses are addressed, which the King does not wish to do.

The Treaty of Ripon ends the Second Bishops War with terms deeply humiliating to Charles I.

Portugal, on the verge of rebellion, secedes from Spain and becomes an independent nation once again. Duke João II of the House of Braganza accedes to the throne as King João IV.

Dara Shikoh, eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, becomes a disciple of Mullah Shah, a successor to the Sufi saint Mian Mir, who Dara Shikoh had visited while seriously ill and after which he recovered.

Seven hundred people are killed by a tsunami caused by the eruption of Mount Komagatake in Yapon [Japan].

1641
The English Long Parliament passes legislation designed to contain the absolutist tendencies of King Charles I.

Charles I of England flees London for the north.

The Gaelic Irish in Ulster revolt against English settlers.

The Dutch found a trading colony on Dejima, near Nagasaki in Yapon [Japan] after the Yaponese grant the Dutch a trade monopoly.

Malacca is taken from Portugal by the Dutch after a five month siege.

1642
The English Civil War begins.

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovers New Zealand.

Frenchman Blaise Pascal begins work on a mechanical adding machine that becomes known as the ‘Pascaline’.

The Puritans close all theatres in England.

Dara Shikoh, eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, completes a biography of the Sufi saint Mian Mir and his principal disciples.

1643
King Louis XIII of France dies and is succeeded by his son, who becomes King Louis XIV.

The English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut join together in a loose compact, the United Colonies of New England (though it is generally known as the New England Confederation). This unites the Puritan colonies against the Indians, provides for the return of fugitive criminals and indentured servants, and serves as a forum for resolving inter-colonial disputes.

1644
Jahanara Begum, the oldest daughter of Shah Jehan, the Mughal Emperor, attends an uneventful garden party in Agra. [In the real world Jahanara Begum’s clothing was accidentally set on fire at this garden party, injuring her quite badly, but here this does not happen; this is the Point of Departure for this timeline.]

[With his sister uninjured, her brother Prince Aurangzeb, the third son of Shah Jehan, does not incur the wrath of his father by returning to Agra three weeks after the event, instead of immediately upon hearing of it. Thus he remains the Subahdar Governor] of the Deccan.

In China, a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide and bringing an end to the Ming Dynasty. They are succeeded by the Qing Dynasty, sometimes known as the Manchu Emperors, a line of rulers founded by the regent Dorgun.

1645
Prince Aurangzeb is appointed governor of Balkh and Badakhshan [near modern Turkmenistan and Afghanistan] by his father, Shah Jahan, having done good work in his role as governor of the Deccan. [This is two years earlier than in the real world, as here he has retained the good graces of his father; he replaces his brother, Murad Baksh, in this role.]

Tsar Aleksey I comes to the throne in Russia.

Blaise Pascal completes the first version of his ‘Pascaline’, a mechanical calculating machine.

1646
Shah Jehan sends an army under his son, Prince Aurangzeb, to take control of Balkh in Bukhara [northern Afghanistan of the real world] from the Uzbeks. During a battle there, Aurangzeb, who is leading the Mughal army, stops to pray in the midst of battle. While he is doing this he is shot and killed at the age of twenty-eight. The confusion and loss of morale this causes forces the Mughal army to retreat. [Although this is later than the actual Point of Departure, this is the point where this timeline begins to significantly diverge from the real world, as the lack of Aurangzeb has major implications on later events. In the real world Aurangzeb fought his battles against the Uzbeks some years later, and the extra experience he had acquired by that point allowed him to survive his battlefield prayers.]

English merchants of the Muscovy Company are expelled from Russia.

Aurangzeb is remembered as a sort of Holy Fool, who had great promise as a future leader, but who was also far too pious to live in the real world.

[Without Aurangzeb his thirty three volume compilation of rulings on Islam, the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, the basis of modern Shariah law in much of the Islamic world, does not exist. Without this, the overall tone is Islam in this world is very different to that in the real world.]

1647
King Charles I promises church reform.

Sultan Mumtaz Shikoh, the second child and second son of Dara Shikoh, dies.

Shah Jehan sends an army into Bukhara to avenge the death of his son, Aurangzeb. The Uzbek people are hunted and exterminated wherever they are found, and many of them flee to the north.

1648
England’s Long Parliament breaks off negotiations with King Charles I, leading to the Second English Civil War.

The Dutch and the Spanish sign the Treaty of Munster, ending the Eighty Years’ War.

The Fronde civil war begins in France.

The Treaty of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years’ War.

In England, the Rump Parliament finds King Charles I guilty of treason, and sentences him to be executed.

The Red Fort at Agra in the Mughal Empire is completed.

The Persians reclaim Qandahar from the Mughal Empire, who persuaded the Persian governor, Ali Mardan Khan, to hand Qandahar over to them in 1638.

The Bering Strait is discovered by Semyon Dezhnev.

1649
King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded. His widow Henrietta Maria goes to live in her native France.

The Commonwealth of England replaces the monarchy in England and later in Scotland and Ireland.

Prince Charles Stuart declares himself King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. In Edinburgh he is declared King in his absence.

The Mughal Empire unsuccessfully attempts to retake Qandahar from the Persians.

Oliver Cromwell lands in Dublin and begins the conquest of Ireland.

1650
Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland. The Third English Civil War begins.

Captain James Hind makes an abortive attempt to seize power in England.

Jews are allowed to return to France and England.

In Ireland Archbishop James Ussher uses the genealogy listed in the Bible to calculate the age of the Earth. From his calculations, the Earth was created at midday on October 23th, 4004 BC, and is thus some six thousand years old. This leads to the Doctrine of Catastrophism in which the Earth has been shaped by series of giant disasters, fitting many processes into a short time scale.

The Yarubid Imamate, rulers of Oman [see also], recapture Muscat from the Portuguese who have held it since 1508 and bring the Omani coast and interior under unified Ibadi control for the first time in almost one thousand years. [As in the real world.]

The last of five building projects in the city of Shahjahanabad commissioned by Jahanara Begum, the oldest daughter of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, is completed.

Omani ships and merchants begin acquiring former Portuguese colonies in East Africa and engaging in the slave trade.

Trade with the Mughal Empire and the South Indian states helps to keep the Imamate of Oman strong.

1651
Charles II of England is defeated in the last main battle of the Third English Civil War, at Worcester.

1652
Cape Town is founded by the Dutch.

Disagreements over trade lead to the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War.

The Mughal Empire again unsuccessfully attempts to retake Qandahar from the Persians.

1653
With the approval of the Tsar, Nikon, the Patriarch of Moscow introduces a some four hundred pages of ‘reforms’ of Russian Orthodox Church practises, texts and rites including the spelling of Jesus, the Creed, how the Sign of the Cross is to be performed, the number of Hosts in the Liturgy, the direction of Procession and how halleluiah is to be performed. These are intended to strengthen the Russian Orthodox Church.

Although the reforms only affect the external ritualistic side of the Russian Orthodox faith, the changes are deemed a major event by the Russian people. Also, it soon becomes obvious that Nikon had uses the reforms to centralise the church and strengthen his own authority. His forcible introduction of the new divine service books and rituals causes major discontent even among his former supporters. Some stand up for the ‘old faith’, oppose the reforms and petition the Tsar to have them undone. These attempts fail.

An anti-reform movement known as the Raskol (‘Schism’) begins to grow in Russia. These anti-reformists also become known as the Old Believers.

The Taj Mahal, constructed on the orders of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631, is completed at vast expense using specialists from all over the Muslim world to ensure that its quality and magnificence is unsurpassed.

The last of the Irish revolt that began in 1641 is crushed.

The Fronde civil war ends in France.

Oliver Cromwell is offered the Kingship of England, but instead becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. He disbands the Rump Parliament.

The Mughal Empire again unsuccessfully attempts to retake Qandahar from the Persians.

1654
The First Anglo-Dutch War ends with the Dutch largely agreeing to English restrictions on foreign shipping, forcing the Dutch to accept an English monopoly on trade with English colonies. It is the first war to have been fought entirely at sea.

King Louis XIV of France is crowned at Rheims.

The Delft Explosion devastates the Dutch city of the same name, killing more than one hundred people.

The Russian Army seizes Smolensk, beginning the Thirteen Years War between Russia and Poland over the Ukraine.

The Anglo-Spanish War begins over commercial rivalry between the two nations.

Twenty-three British East India Company servants desert the British settlement in Surat for the Mughal Empire [as in the real world].

1655
British forces seize the island of Jamaica in the Caribbean.

The Union of Kedainiai is signed between several of the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the King of Sweden, intending to end the Polish-Lithuanian Union and divide up the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between them. Swedish defeat at the Battles of Warka and Prostki, and a popular uprising in both Poland and Lithuania, ends this Union before it begins.

Dara Shikoh, the oldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, completes his work ‘Majma-ul-Bahrain’ (The Mingling of Two Oceans) in which he draws parallels between Islamic Sufism and Hindu Vedantism. He concludes that there are a great many similarities between them.

On his sixty-fifth birthday, Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan confers the title Shah Buland Iqbal [Lucky Lofty Ruler] on his oldest son, Dara Shikoh, and appoints him co-ruler of the Mughal Empire [much as happened in the real world].

1656
The pendulum clock is invented by Dutchman Christiaan Huygens.

The Portuguese capture the city of Colombo in Sinhale [Sri Lanka].

Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell grants Jews permission to live and work in England [from which they have been officially expelled since 1290].

1657
As part of his efforts to find a common mystical language between Islam and Hinduism, Dara Shikoh completes his translation of the Upanishads (the Hindu scriptures which primarily discuss philosophy, meditation and nature of God) from its original Sanskrit into Persian so it can be read by Muslim scholars.

Unrest and civil disorder break out in the Kingdom of Bijapur in central India. The local Mughal governor, after obtaining the permission from the Emperor, sets out to conquer Bijapur. The regions of Bidar and Kalyani are captured and the Bijapur army decisively defeated. [In the real world Aurangzeb did this, and Shah Jehan and Dara Shikoh had him give up his conquests, perhaps due to sibling rivalry between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, but here this does not occur.]

1658
Shah Jehan, the Mughal Emperor, becomes severely ill, and is unable to attend to affairs of state [with a somewhat different sequence of events this is later than in the real world, where he fell badly ill in 1657]. Seeking an orderly succession, he appoints his eldest son, Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh], who has already been handling affairs of state during his fathers’ illness, to follow him to the throne. He is assisted in this by Shah Jehan’s highly competent Wazir, Saadullah Khan. Shah Buland Iqbal is also supported by his elder sister Jahanara Begum, as well as those nobles and officers who are committed to the eclectic policies of the previous Mughal rulers.

Despite the best attempts by Shah Jehan to avoid it, his other two surviving sons, Shah Shuja and Murad Baksh each claim the succession, rise up and attempt to take the Mughal throne for themselves, moving armies towards Delhi from their respective territories.

The second daughter (and fourth child) of Shah Jehan, Roshanara Begum, allies with her weak and ineffectual younger brother Murad Baksh (sixth child of Shah Jehan) to place him on the throne, with herself as the power behind it. [With Aurangzeb dead in this world, Roshanara cannot ally with him as she did in the real world, so works with another brother instead.]

In keeping with what the Emperors Babur, Akbar and Jahangir did before him with the Baburnama, Akbarnama and Jahangirnama respectively, the Emperor Shah Jehan commissions a biography of himself and his times to be called the Shahjehannama. [Because of the different sequence of events in this world, Shah Jehan has a chance to commission his biography here, as he did not in the real world.]

In Russian, the enemies of Patriarch Nikon convince the Tsar that Nikon is in danger of eclipsing him. In protest, Nikon divests himself of the Patriarchal vestments, leaving the Russian Orthodox Church without a Patriarch.

As part of the Anglo-Spanish War, Britain takes control of Dunkirk, in France.

Oliver Cromwell dies. His son Richard assumes his father’s former position as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Portuguese traders are expelled from Sinhale [Sri Lanka] by Dutch invaders, who take control of the entire island apart from the central Kingdom of Kandy.

Helped by England and the Netherlands, to avoid being absorbed by Sweden, Denmark is forced to cede a third of its land and population to Sweden.

1659
With the assistance of Maharaja Jaswant Singh and his Rajput general Jai Singh, Shah Buland Iqbal defeats his younger brother Shah Shuja in battle. After his defeat, Shah Shuja retreats towards Bengal, pursued by the imperial army. After each defeat Shah Shuja loses men to desertion.

The Battle of Pratapgarh establishes the Maratha Kingdom in the west of central India and significantly weakens the Bijapur Sultanate.

Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth.

Begum Nadira Banu, the wife of Shah Buland Iqbal (who he married in 1622 at the age of seven), dies.

Seeking help to re-take the island of Sinhale from the Dutch invaders, the King of Kandy sends representatives to the nations of the Indian mainland seeking help.

The war between France and Spain which has been going on since 1635 ends with French acquisition of Roussillon and most of Artois under the Treaty of the Pyrenees.

Drought strikes India.

England settles the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic.

1660
Murad Baksh, the youngest brother of Shah Buland Iqbal, forms an alliance with the newly formed Maratha Kingdom, giving them significant territories in the south-western Mughal Empire in return for their assistance in his taking the throne. [This is different to the real world where the Marathas fought the Battle of Pavan Khind against the Mughals, who were led by Shaista Khan.]

Charles II is restored as King of England.

A synod is held in Moscow at which the many enemies of Patriarch Nikon attempt to strip him of his archiepiscopal rank and his priests’ orders. This attempt fails.

Construction begins on a tomb for Nadira Banu in Delhi. Shah Buland Iqbal wishes it to be a construction on the scale of the Taj Mahal, and it is to be called the Taj Banu.

The Anglo-Spanish War ends with a British victory.

The English Royal Society is founded.

Theatres are re-opened in England.

The Royal African Company is established in London, with a monopoly over the English slave trade. It is led by James, Duke of York, the brother of King Charles II.

With the restoration of Charles II trade with is reopened with Russia via the English Muscovy Company which is reorganised as a regulated company at the same time.

With the Restoration of Charles II many Puritans, fearing persecution, leave England for North America [much as in the real world].

1661
Pressed on all sides, Shah Shuja, the second son of Shah Jehan, flees the Mughal Empire to the neighbouring nation of Arakan [in what is Burma in the real world].

A political crisis in Denmark leads to a coup. The old elective monarchy dominated by the aristocracy is replaced by a hereditary monarchy led by a new hereditary king, the absolute monarch Frederik III.

Work begins on the Palace of Versailles, intended to be a new home form the King of France, outside of Paris but close to it.

A bright comet appears over the Earth.

1662
The forces of Murad Baksh, the youngest son of Shah Jehan, are routed in the Battle of Surat. Murad Baksh himself is captured, and in an attempt to save his own life, reveals the treachery of Roshanara Begum. This does not save him from death, and he is executed for his reachery. However, the Marathas retain control of significant areas of the south-western Mughal Empire.

Suleiman Shikoh, the oldest child and oldest son of Shah Buland Iqbal, dies in battle with the Marathas.

Roshanara Begum is captured by forces of her brother, Dara Shikoh. After begging for her life, she is sentenced to house arrest in an haveli north of Delhi.

Charles II of England marries Catherine of Braganza, the second surviving daughter of King John IV of Portugal. As part of her dowry Charles is granted Tangier and Bombay, bringing them under British control. The cities are granted a charter which makes them equal to English towns. Catherine is not a particularly popular choice of Queen, being a Roman Catholic, and her religion prevents her from ever being crowned Queen.

France buys Dunkirk back from the British.

The Dutch are driven from the island of Formosa after thirty-eight years there by the pro-Ming Dynasty, anti-Manchu Dynasty leader Koxinga.

1663
Having offended to King of Arakan, Shah Shuja, his family and his retinue are tortured to death by the forces of the King [much as happened in the real world].

Englishman Archibald Hamilton [son of H2 under G2] travels to India at the age of seventeen as an employee of the East India Company.

1664
Finding service in the East India Company not to his taste, Archibald Hamilton leaves it and enters the service of the Mughal Empire, seeking fame and fortune.

The last fighting of the Thirteen Years War ends with a Polish victory over Russia. However, negotiations for a formal end to the war drag on.

The Duke of York and Albany [James II of England in the real world], seeking to take over the Dutch trade routes and colonies while excluding the Dutch from the English colonial possessions orders the Royal African Company to capture Dutch trading posts and colonies in West Africa. This they do.

At the same time English troops under the command of the Duke of York and Albany attack the Dutch New Netherlands colony in North America. Greatly outnumbered, the Dutch surrender New Amsterdam, which is renamed New York (from James’s English title).

1665
Shah Jehan, the Mughal Emperor, dies. By now his son, Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh], has firmly established his control of the Mughal Empire in his fathers place, and with his fathers’ blessings.

As he had promised his sister Jahanara Begum, partly in payment for her support during the succession war, new Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal lifts the ban on marriage for Mughal princesses, which the Emperor Akbar, his great grandfather, had introduced.

Not long after this Roshanara Begum, the younger sister of Shah Buland Iqbal who has been held under house arrest since 1662, dies mysteriously. It is rumoured that she was discretely poisoned by Shah Buland Iqbal after thoroughly securing his position on the Mughal throne.

Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor of Bengal, leads a campaign that utterly destroys the Arakanese pirates who have been ravaging the state and takes over their base in the city of Chittagong. [This does not occur exactly as it did in the real world, but is a similar sequence of events against the same enemies.]

After the provocations of the previous year, the Dutch declare war on England, beginning the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

The unrestricted and absolute authority of the new hereditary King of Denmark is codified in a new Royal Law.

The very bright comet Hevelius is seen in the skies.

After their defeats by the Mughal Empire, the Arakanese pirates move east but remain pirates, and thus a problem for their neighbours.

[Unlike Aurangzeb, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal (Dara Shikoh) does not attempt to conquer the Deccan in southern India. He also does not order the destruction and defacement of many Hindu temples. Thus he suffers many less internal problems caused by Hindu unrest.]

With Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal on the throne the Mughal Empire, and India as a whole, remains much more unified and much less divided along religious lines.

[Several individuals who were, in the real world, generals in the army of the Emperor Aurangzeb here become scientists or philosophers instead.]

1666
An ecumenical council of the Russian Orthodox Church opens its sessions in Moscow, in the presence of the Tsar. The council eventually pronounces former Patriarch Nikon guilty of various crimes and defrocks him, demoting him to be known simply as the monk Nikon and sending him as a prisoner to the far northern Ferapontov monastery. However, the council also confirms all of Nikons reforms and anathematises all who should refuse to accept them

Construction begins on a tomb for the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. This is to be facing the Taj Mahal from the other side of the Yamuna River in Agra, and will be a mirror of it, but in black marble rather than white. It will be known as the Taj Jahan. [In the real world, when Shah Jehan died Aurangzeb had his body buried in the Taj Mahal next to that of his wife; there is a legend that Shah Jehan intended a black mausoleum for himself, and in this world this came to pass.]

Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh] also orders a mosque built to commemorate his son Suleiman Shikoh who died in 1662 during the succession war, and which is to include his tomb. Though officially known as the Mosque of Suleiman, it soon becomes known as the Mosque of Lost Sons.

After eight years of work by a number of authors, the Shahjehannama, the authorised biography of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, is competed, although posthumously.

As time continues, the vast majority of Mughal Emperors, like their predecessors, commission biographies of themselves as they begin to grow old. Some of these are little more than personal propaganda, but many of them are true and accurate accounts of events that offer great insights into the reign of that Emperor. This also inspires others of the Mughal nobility and government down the years to produce their own memoirs.

1667
With the new Mughal Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal now firmly established on his throne, he sets out to retake the territory lost to the Marathas during the succession war in which he came to power. Gathering an army led by Rajput general Jai Singh, he attacks into the occupied territories. Archibald Hamilton is part of this force.

The Sobor (council of bishops and other church representatives) of the Russian Orthodox Church anathematises the defenders of the ‘old faith’ against the reforms of Nikon as heretics and makes a number of decisions with regards to their punishment.

Pro-Ottoman Cossack leader, Petro Doroshenko, wanting to connect the Ukraine with the Ottoman Empire, begins a rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of which they are a part. The Ottoman Empire attacks in support of this. What becomes known as part of the Great Turkish War begins.

The start of this war forces a hasty end to the negotiations to end the Thirteen Years War which have been going on since 1654, leading to the greatest loss of territory in the history of Poland up to that date.

After the Ottomans take control of the Polish-Lithuanian city of Kamieniec Podolski and defeat a small Polish army, the Poles agree to surrender Kamieniec Podolski and the adjacent region to the Ottomans and to pay tribute to the Ottoman Sultan.

When news of the Polish agreement reaches the government in Warsaw, the tribute to the Ottoman Empire is refused and a large army under Jan Sobieski sent out to fight them instead.

Dutch forces allied with the Bugis prince Arung Palakka invade and capture the city of Makassar on the island of Sulawesi, eliminating its role as an independent trading centre.

As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, a Dutch raid on the River Medway, at the mouth of the River Thames, attacks the laid up English fleet, sinking or burning many ships and making off with the English flagship, HMS Royal Charles. However, they spare the Chatham Dockyard, England’s largest industrial complex.

The Dutch capture the English colony of Suriname in South America.

The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War, with the English keeping New York, but the Dutch gaining a relaxation of English restrictions on foreign shipping.

An earthquake in Caucaso and Shemakha, Italy, kills eighty thousand people.

The Russian Raskol movement gains in strength.

Like his predecessors beginning with the Emperor Akbar, Shah Buland Iqbal does his best to broaden the basis of his government and secure the goodwill of all his subjects, continuing the long-running Mughal policies of religious tolerance and giving an adequate share in the administration to all classes of people.

Various high-ranking officials at the Mughal Court, in particular Fazil Khan and Danishmand Khan, study the European languages, arts, philosophies and sciences with great enthusiasm, adding this knowledge to their already extensive knowledge of their Indian equivalents, including Arabic and Persian translations of the ancient Greek philosophers. Some of them effectively hold European travellers hostage to ensure they learn all they wish to [as happened in the real world]. The interest of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal in such things helps to spread this interest around the court, and promotes the spread of European ideas through the Mughal Empire.

Also, as a side-effect of the Sufi philosophy of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, the Mughal court reverts somewhat to the old ways, to the old Indian emphasis on plain living and the excellence of limitation of wants.

1668
The Mughal expedition against the Marathas succeeds in pushing them back from the territories they have occupied. Innovative techniques imported by European expatriates, particularly in the use of infantry, greatly assist in this. Englishman Archibald Hamilton particularly shines in this area.

The Sidi of Janjira, a coastal chieftain who had provided protection for the ships and ports of the Sultan of Bijapur, assists the Marathas against the Mughals. [Unlike the case in the real world, where, abandoned by the Sultan of Bijapur, he was recruited by Aurangzeb.]

The high-ranking clergy of the Solovetsky Monastery in Russia rise up in opposition to Patriarch Nikons ecclesiastical reforms. The majority of monks are part of the Raskol movement and support this opposition to the centralization of the Russian Orthodox Church and so also the Russian government, which has been reinforcing this centralization.

A unit of Streltsy (Russian guardsmen) attempt to suppress the rebels at the Solovetsky Monastery. The monks lock themselves in and refuse the Streltsy entry. A siege begins, with the monastery being covertly supported by local peasants and workers, and with the numbers of the rebels being reinforced by many who join them from outside.

England, the Netherlands and Sweden sign the Triple Alliance against France. However, Charles II of England, feeling personally humiliated by the results of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, has only engaged himself in the Triple Alliance to create a rift between the former Dutch and French allies.

The Bank of Sweden is founded. It is the first central bank in the world.

Spain finally recognizes the Independence of Portugal, which has been a separate nation since 1640.

The bright comet Gottignies appears for several weeks.

1669
The Mughal expedition pushes on into Maratha territory, defeating the Marathas again on several occasions. After the death of several Mughal commanders Archibald Hamilton rises to take command of a significant part of the Mughal forces.

The Great Fire of London devastates the city. [This is later than the real world, where it occurred in 1666. Its happening in a year without unfavourable biblical associations (as 1666 did) gives rationalism and the fight against superstition and so on in Britain a slight boost.]

Sir John Narborough takes possession of Port Desire [Puerto Deseado] in Patagonia in the name of King Charles II of England.

1670
The Marathas sue for peace with the Mughal Empire. After some negotiation, the Mughal-Maratha War ends with the Treaty of Kolhapur. This establishes the formal border between the Mughal Empire and the Maratha Kingdom. The latter loses significant territory to the former.

Many of those who took part in the Mughal-Maratha War are honoured by Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh], including a number of Europeans, such as Archibald Hamilton.

Catherine of Braganza, the queen consort of King Charles II of England, gives birth to a son, but dies in childbirth. The child survives and like his father is named Charles. [This is unlike the case in the real world where Catherine never gave birth to a live heir, though she had several pregnancies, the last being in 1669. Also, in the real world she lived until 1705.]

A Cossack rebellion led by Stenka Razin spreads across Russia.

King Charles II of England grants the British East India Company the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the areas they acquire.

The Mughal Empire begins actively, if covertly, recruiting Europeans into their service [much as they did in the real world].

The Ottoman Empire takes possession of Crete from Venice.

Charles II of England signs the secret Treaty of Dover with France [much as in the real world]. It requires France to assist England in her aim to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church and England to assist France in her war of conquest against the Dutch Republic.

Portugal officially leases the territory of Macau from the Chinese government, though they have been permitted a permanent settlement and trading post there since 1557. There is no transfer of sovereignty, however.

The Hudson’s Bay Company is founded. [Much as in the real world.]

With the new effectiveness of the Mughal armies in the retaking of the south-western Mughal Empire from the Marathas, the various South Indian states look to their own armies and begin modernising them too, seeing this as the only way to survive.

Without the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the Indian subcontinent is more peaceful and stable than in the real world at the same time, so the European companies trading there, and the British East India Company in particular, do not raise such large armed forces as they did in the real world, although the armed forces they do raise are of significant size. They also do not have the opportunity to take over such large areas of India as they were able to do in the real world.

Like his predecessors, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal works to encourage trade within the Mughal Empire, maintaining and expanding the existing efficient system of roads.

In England, Charles, Prince of Wales, is raised as a Protestant. However, he is not inculcated with anti-Catholicism, and becomes a fairly tolerant individual, at least in religious terms. Like his father, he grows up to be a great womaniser who enjoys the high life.

1671
The rebellion of Stenka Razin is crushed by the Russian army. Stenka Razin is captured and tortured to death in Moscow.

1672
In return for preferential trading agreements, the Mughal Empire agrees to assist the Kandyans in removing the Dutch from Sinhale. [As the Mughal Empire is not under Aurangzeb, and so is not attempting to conquer all of India, it is free to intervene elsewhere.]

France invades the Netherlands, beginning the Dutch War [or the Third Anglo-Dutch War], and is joined by England and the German states of Münster and Cologne. French troops occupy large parts of the country, until they are stopped by the Dutch Water Line, a deliberate flooding to protect most vital parts of the Netherlands. In Dutch history this year becomes known as the ‘Year of Disaster’.

The Dutch government collapses. Dutch leader Johan De Witt is murdered by a carefully organised lynch ‘mob’ and William III of Orange becomes Stadtholder of the Netherlands.

Dutch ships defeat a combined Anglo-French fleet in the North Sea.

Vijaya Raghava Nayak, the Nayak King of Thanjavur in southern India, gives his daughter in marriage to Chokkanatha Nayak, the ruler of Maduri. [Because of this Chokkanatha Nayak does not storm Thanjavur in 1673 to take her by force, as happened in the real world.]

1673
The Poles defeat the Ottoman Empire, ending this part of the Great Turkish War, although without regaining Kamieniec Podolski.

Jan Sobieski is elected king of Poland.

With a diversionary attack from and the help of the Kandyans, a large force of Mughal troops land on the island of Sinhale and begin attempting to force out the Dutch who are holding large sections of it.

In Dai Ngu [Vietnam] the Trinh-Nguyen War, which has been being waged since 1627, ends with the help of mediation supplied by the government of the Kangxi Emperor of China. The Nguyen Lords nominally accept the Trinh as the rulers of Dai Ngu, in reality the Nguyen rule the south and the Trinh rule the north.

The Deccani Sultanates in south India begin, like the Mughal Empire, actively, if covertly, recruiting Europeans into their service. [They do this much more than in the real world, as here they are much less distracted with or under occupation by the invasions of the Mughal Empire.]

As part of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch recapture New York from the English and ally themselves with Spain.

France withdraws from the Netherlands.

The English Parliament refuses to allow more money to be spent on the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Dutch raids on English shipping have, by now, captured more English ships than vice versa.

As time goes by the South Indian states and the Mughal Empire compete for European talent of all kinds. There are enough rivalries between the different European nations that the Mughals and South Indians can always find someone willing to work for them against the people of some other European nation.

As European advisors become more numerous in India and stay there longer, they rise up in government and become more influential, until some have the ears of Kings and Emperors.

1674
Betrayed by a monk named Feoktist, the Streltsy are able to gain entry to the Solovetsky Monastery in Russia, and brutally end the uprising and siege there. Only a small number of the rebels survive, and most of these are later executed.

The last Dutch enclave in Sinhale [Sri Lanka] falls to Mughal troops. A large detachment of Mughal troops remain to prevent the Dutch from re-taking the island.

The Third Anglo-Dutch War ends with the Treaty of Westminster. This returns New York to the English, but officially cedes Suriname, captured by the Dutch in 1667, to the Dutch.

The French colony of France Équinoxiale, in South America, comes under the direct control of the French crown.

[The Kingdom of Thanjavur (Tanjore) is not conquered by the Maratha Kingdom in this year; thus it remains ruled by the Thanjavur Nayak dynasty.]

1675
Wishing to achieve what his father could not, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal orders the conquest of the Uzbek city of Samarkand, from which the first Mughal Emperor Babur had been driven by the Uzbeks in 1501. A major expedition moves north out of Mughal Afghanistan towards this goal. It is led by Englishman Archibald Hamilton, who has won the post through his service in the Mughal-Maratha War.

The Taj Banu is finally completed after problems with the Mughal finances delay the project and mean that when it is finally completed, although it is a masterpiece, it is on nowhere near the scale of the Taj Mahal.

Sultan Sipir Shikoh, the son of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, marries the Hindu Rajput noblewoman Mirabai Banu Begum, a niece of Mumtaz Mahal. [In this world Sultan Sipir Shikoh does not marry a daughter of his uncle Aurangzeb at an early age as he did in the real world, because Aurangzeb’s early death means that that daughter does not exist in this world.]

A Dutch fleet attempts to re-take the island of Sinhale, but is repulsed by the Mughal troops there.

[Without Aurangzeb, the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur is not tortured and executed in defence of a group of (Hindu) Kashmiri Brahmins. This helps prevent the Sikhs from becoming as militarised as they did in the real world.]

The Nguyen Lords of southern Dai Ngu [Vietnam] annex sizable areas of Cambodian territory in the region of the Mekong Delta; the weak Cambodian state can do nothing to stop this. Nguyen settlers begin to colonise these new territories.

For the next hundred years or so the Nguyen Lords use the alleged mistreatment of their colonists in the Mekong Delta as a pretext for their continued expansion.

With new European ideas being introduced, the Mughal army has by now improved the lot and the training of the ordinary soldiers, turning them from glorified night watchmen into real troops. The Mughal practice of taking along a great number of camp followers, including occasionally the families of the soldiers and the royal harem, has also been discontinued, making the military more capable of moving quickly and flexibly.

A religious revival among Hindus leads to the building of numerous temples in Bengal and the rise of a new regional literature in Bengal and Maharashtra. At the same time the city of Navadip [Navadwip] becomes a great centre of Sanskritic learning and the philosophy of Navya-Nyaya (New Logic) gains an increasing following.

Despite attempts to find a new wife, Charles II fails to remarry. However, he does take many mistresses, as he did while he was married.

1676
Knowing of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal’s interest in all faiths, English merchant Joshua Crosfield sponsors a translation of the Bible into Farsi [Persian] which he gives to the Emperor as a gift.

Tsar Aleksey I of Russia dies and is succeeded by his son, who becomes Tsar Feodor III.

Jahanara Begum, the oldest sister of Mughal Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal and one of his greatest supporters before and throughout his reign, dies of old age. [In the real world she died in 1681 at the age of 67. Because of the different events of this world she has lived a busier and more stressful life than she did in the real world, causing her to die somewhat earlier.]

Ottoman attempts to take control of the western Ukraine triggers a Russo-Turkish War over the region.

On the orders of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, construction begins on a magnificent tomb for Jahanara Begum in the city of Agra.

Following completion of the Mosque of Suleiman (or the Mosque of Lost Sons as it is more commonly known), the body of Sultan Suleiman Shikoh, oldest son of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal who died in the succession war which put him on the throne, is exhumed and reinterred in the mosque.

More and more merchants and explorers return from India telling tales of the glory of the Mughal Empire.

Books and reports telling of the great culture and tolerance of the Mughal Empire begin to circulate in Europe, as well as the first translations of Mughal works in European languages.

As he ages, Charles II slips into ruling more and more as an absolute, if fairly enlightened, monarch.

The Mosque of Suleiman soon becomes frequented by family members wishing to pray for the safety of their children, particularly in times of war.

1677
Mughal forces defeat those of the Uzbek Khans of Bokhara and Khiva at the battle of Karshi, aided by the treachery of several of the lesser Uzbek Khans.

The Kingdom of Golconda attacks the Mughal Empire in the south-east, hoping to gain land from them while the empire is distracted by events in the north.

What becomes known as the Great Comet appears in the skies over Europe.

Taking advantage of the wars it is fighting elsewhere, the Kingdom of Kandy requests the removal of the Mughal troops who remain on Sinhale. This is refused, citing the continuing Dutch threat.

1678
With the Uzbeks largely defeated, the Mughal army lays siege to Samarkand while expanding the areas of Mughal control around it.

The city of Samarkand falls to the Mughals.

Mughal forces push back those of Golconda.

The first electrostatic generator (based on that built by Otto von Guericke in 1650) arrives in India, given as a gift to the Mughal Emperor by a Dutch merchant, Salomon van Ostade. It becomes a curiosity at the court.

The Sinhalese begin withholding the preferential trade they had promised to the Mughals until the Mughals withdraw from Sinhale.

The commander of the Mughal troops in Sinhale uses his troops to begin enforcing the preferential trade agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy.

After the taking of Samarkand from the Janid rulers of the Khanate of Bukhara, the Mughals undertake a prolonged programme of pacification of the city and the surrounding regions. As part of this the power of the Khanate of Bukhara is permanently broken.

1679
The war between the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Golconda ends with the Treaty of Rajaconda, which also establishes the border between the two countries as much the same as before, with some minor adjustments.

Fighting breaks out between the forces of the Mughal Empire and those of the Kingdom of Kandy.

1680
Archibald Hamilton returns to Delhi to personally inform Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal of his success in taking Samarkand. In gratitude for his success the Emperor heaps him with honours and titles.

Seeking to secure their new northern border, the Mughal Empire defeats the forces of the Khanate of Khiva, permanently breaking its power.

The extremely bright comet Kirch is seen.

The dodo, a flightless bird found only on the island of Mauritius, is rendered extinct due to hunting by humans and the introduction of predators into its environment. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world.]

With the influx of Europeans and European ideas into the Mughal Empire and Indian generally, Indian thinkers of all stripes begin to learn, assimilate and investigate them within the framework of existing Islamic Science.

Europeans such as Archibald Hamilton also do much to modernise the Mughal armies, and those of the South Indian states. In particular they help to popularise European ideas of the importance of infantry in warfare, giving them equal standing with cavalry and artillery [unlike the case in the real world, where the infantry was normally neglected].

Other Europeans bring new ideas to the Mughal Karkhanas (state-run industries), helping them advance technologically and economically. Similar ideas are also adopted elsewhere in India.

India at this time is very, very wealthy. It has access to technology from all of the Islamic west, China, and Europe, and a vast market for its products that grows larger by the day as Europeans buy cotton cloth, silks, and saltpetre. The upper classes love gadgets such as European clocks and watches, clockwork automata and so on, which local craftsmen have learned to build on their own. The Indian mining industry digs deeper than any other in the world, and India has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world (such as the Jharia coal fields in northern India).

There is continual harassment of and low-level skirmishing in the northern fringes of the Mughal Empire by the forces of the various Khanates bordering the Empire.

Some of the weaker Khanates send emissaries to try and obtain help from the Russian Empire, but to no avail. The Russian government considers these matters too insignificant and too far away for them to be concerned with.

1681
The Russian government notes an increase in numbers of the ‘enemies of the church’, especially in Siberia, and with the active support of the Russian Orthodox Church begins to persecute the members of the Raskol movement, the Raskolniki.

After defeats by the Ottoman Empire, the Russians and the Ottomans sign the Bakhchisaray Peace Treaty, establishing the Russo-Ottoman border.

The black Taj Jahan is finally completed in Agra as a tomb for the Emperor Shah Jehan. As with the Taj Banu problems with the Mughal finances have delayed the project and mean that when it is finally completed, although it is a masterpiece, it is not as much so as the Taj Mahal.

Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal sponsors the translation of the Bible into Hindi.

Following the victory in Samarkand, he also orders a memorial garden containing a mosque built in the city near the site of the Registan to commemorate the Mughal victory in the city. The gardens are named the Bagh-e Buland Iqbal [Buland Iqbal Gardens], while the mosque soon becomes known as the Buland Iqbal Mosque.

The Maratha Kingdom invades and takes over the Portuguese enclave of Goa on the west coast of India. [As they attempted to do in 1683 in the real world, only being prevented from doing so by the Mughal Empire.]

Mughal troops crush those of the Kingdom of Kandy at the Battle of Peradeniya. The city of Kandy falls to the Mughal army. The Temple of the Tooth is taken before it can be evacuated and the Sacred Tooth Relic there captured. The Mughal commander announces that this now gives the Mughal Empire the divine right to rule Sinhale. This claim is not generally accepted by the population of the island.

The Mughal victory in Sinhale leads to a slight increase in the military contingents of the various European companies in India, as they realise that they are vulnerable to local forces if sufficient effort if made by them.

1682
Tsar Feodor III of Russia dies.

Upon the death of Feodor III of Russia the Streltsy rise up and force the issue of the succession. The Streltsy are joined by mobs of poor people who loot the streets of Moscow for several days. After they kill various leading boyars and military commanders whom they suspect of corruption, Feodor’s sons Ivan and Peter are proclaimed co-Tsars under the regency of their older sister Sophia.

Avvakum Petrov, one of the strongest opponents of the reforms of the Patriarch Nikon, is burned at the stake in Pustozyorsk, where he had been exiled by the government. Several others of the most active Old Believers are also arrested and executed during this time.

The first European in the Mughal Empire is inoculated against smallpox using a technique practised in India for centuries.

Representatives from the island of Sinhale travel to the Indian mainland seeking help against the Mughals holding their country.

What later becomes known as Halley’s Comet appears.

1683
The Ottoman Empire attacks the Holy Roman Empire, seeking to expand its territory in Europe and sparking what becomes known as the War of the Holy League. To fight the Ottomans, Pope Innocent XI forms a new Holy League composed of the Holy Roman Empire (headed by the Habsburg Austria) and the Venetian Republic.

Besieging Vienna, the Ottomans are only prevented from taking the city by a Christian alliance led by King Jan III Sobieski of Poland-Lithuania.

Archibald Hamilton is appointed to the Durbar, the executive council of the Mughal Empire, from where he becomes deeply involved in the political and administrative affairs of the Empire.

The Danish Royal Law is supplemented with a Statute Book applying to the entire country. Denmark begins transforming into a well-organised bureaucratic state under the paternal leadership of the absolute monarch Christian V.

As time passes Archibald Hamilton, while he appreciates and enjoys everything with which he has been honoured by Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, becomes more and more aware of both the corruption amongst the Mansabdars (the appointed nobility of the Mughal Empire) and how the lack of hereditary titles is leading them to fritter away vast quantities of the Empire’s income as they cannot pass anything down to their offspring. He particularly feels the latter as it means that he cannot pass any of his gains on to his children. He begins attempting to influence the Mughal system to take a more European shape, in which inheritance is allowed.

1684
Sultan Sipir Shikoh, the only surviving son of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, leaves the Mughal Empire on an ambassadorial visit to Europe, travelling through Persia and the Ottoman Empire on the way, as well as performing Hajj in Mecca.

After a long blockade of Tangier by Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco, the British destroy the town and its port facilities before departing and returning the city to Morocco.

Poland joins the Holy League.

Work begins on extending the Grand Trunk Road from Kabul northwards to Samarkand.

Sinhalese emissaries make a pact with the rulers of Golconda, who are seeking revenge for their defeat in 1679, to remove the Mughals from Sinhale.

In response to the success of the Mughal Empire and the Deccani Sultanates in recruiting employees of the British East India Company into their service, King Charles II of England calls home all Englishmen in service in India. This call is largely ignored. [This is much as in the real world.]

1685
In Europe, Sultan Sipir Shikoh meets many of the politicians and thinkers of the time, learning a great deal from them and also impressing them, both in himself and with his descriptions of the Mughal Empire.

Charles II of England dies of old age. Unlike the real world he does not convert to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed. [This is as a result of his wife dying in 1670, and also of the influence of greater knowledge of the Mughal Empire on his thinking.] His son becomes King Charles III at the age of fifteen with his uncle James, the Duke of York [who in the real world became King James II of England], as regent, despite objections to the regent being a Roman Catholic.

Exploring patrols from the Mughal Empire encounter Russian forces far north of Samarkand. Although the initial encounter is tense, the meeting ends peacefully.

A period of persecutions of the Russian Raskolniki begins. Many of them are tortured and executed.

While Sultan Sipir Shikoh is a guest at the court of French King Louis XIV, a conversation with Madame de Maintenon (the Widow Scarron), the zealous Catholic mistress of King Louis, degenerates into a religious argument in which Madame de Maintenon rather disgraces herself and in the process embarrasses the King. Madame de Maintenon falls out of favour at the French court. [With Madame de Maintenon out of favour she and her allies at court are not able to persuade the King that there were nearly no protestants left in France and thus to sign the Edict of Fontainebleau which in the real world revoked the Edict of Nantes and took away the rights of protestants in France, causing many of them to flee the country.]

Golcondan troops land on Sinhale, but are repulsed by the Mughal defenders.

Intermittent border skirmishes in the Amur River area between China and Russia result in a number of Russians being taken prisoner, including a Russian Orthodox priest named Maxim Leontiev. [This is more than a century earlier than the first Protestant missionaries in the real world.]

[With the Edict of Nantes still in place France is not deprived of many of its most skilled and industrious individuals, who do not go to aid France’s rivals as they did in the real world. France is also viewed in a less hostile light by its protestant neighbours.]

With increasing suppression of the Raskol movement, many of its members migrate west, seeking refuge in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which allows them to freely practice their faith.

As time goes by the Raskol movement splits into two factions, the Popovtsy (‘priest-ist’) element who continue to use the old hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, ordaining priests and other officials in secret, and the Bespopovtsy who claim that the true church of Christ has ceased to exist on Earth and so reject priests and a number of church rites, such as the Eucharist.

As time goes on the Popovtsy branch of the Raskol movement comes to dominate it. The Bespopovtsy come to either convert to the Popovtsy way of thinking or flee elsewhere.

Following on from the precedent set by his father, Charles III rules as an absolute but enlightened monarch. Although this causes conflicts with Parliament, his proven Protestant beliefs mean that Charles, aided by his uncle James, manages to navigate a course that largely satisfies Parliament without stripping himself of too much power. Thus a moderate form of absolutist rule persists in Britain, though not to the extent of triggering civil unrest or a new Civil War. [Thus there is no Glorious Revolution in this world and the Stuarts remain in power in England.]

1686
At the persuasion of his Durbar, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal attempts to do something about the corruption in the Mughal Empire. The initial plan is to change the Mughal Mansabdari system so that all the money raised by them goes to the state first, and then a stipend is doled out to the Mansabdars as a salary, preventing them from frittering away too much. However, despite the best efforts of the Durbar to prevent it, it quickly becomes clear that this system only produces corruption and tax fraud, and it is abandoned.

The Eternal Peace Treaty is signed between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This defines the Russian-Polish border in the Ukraine. Both parties agree not to sign a separate treaty with the Ottoman Sultan. By signing this treaty, Russia becomes a member of the anti-Ottoman Holy League and pledges to organize a military campaign against the Crimean Khanate. Russian involvement in the war marks the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War.

Mughal forces attack into Golconda in retaliation for their attack on Sinhale, taking control of more than a quarter of Golcondan territory along the Mughal-Golcondan border before they force the Golcondans to the negotiating table to end this war.

1687
Sultan Sipir Shikoh, the son of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, returns from Europe, with a large group of Europeans - mainly thinkers, philosophers and scientists - who he has convinced to join him.

The Ottoman Empire is defeated at the second Battle of Mohács.

The ‘Principia Mathematica’ of Isaac Newton is published at the expense of Edmund Halley, who has convinced Newton to put his ideas into a form suitable for publication. It describes Newton’s laws of motion as well as his law of universal gravitation.

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion of the gunpowder stored in it during an armed conflict between Venetian and Ottoman forces as part of the War of the Holy League.

More hard-line Muslim members of the Mughal government, unhappy at the attitudes of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, and perhaps at his attempt to root out corruption in the Empire, attempt a coup to install a more strongly Islamic Emperor. The plot is discovered at an early stage, and the ringleaders exiled to Persia.

King Charles III of England, concerned about the increasingly independent ways of the English colonies in North America and advised by his uncle the Duke of York, establishes the Dominion of New England, an administrative union comprising all of the New England colonies.

The ideas of the Enlightenment begin to circulate on the Indian sub-continent, take root there, and begin to grow, rekindling the ideas of an age of reason that originated with the Emperor Akbar. This is often in combination with the ideas of Sufism, and also becoming entwined with the ideas of Hinduism. [Without constant wars, these ideas take root much more than in the real world.] From India these ideas also begin to spread through the whole of the Muslim world, and also into the Hindu world.

As time passes the Mughal Empire and the other Indian states come to see immigration as essential to their development [in much the same way as Britain did in the real world]. Immigrating industrialists and craftsmen of all kinds begin to be tempted to India, where many of them make their fortunes. Similar immigration occurs to Britain [much as in the real world, though given the different history of this world, with different people involved].

Because of the great rewards good service can bring, the India begins to become a ‘land of opportunity’ for ambitious Europeans of all stripes.

1688
Wishing to avoid a repeat of the succession wars in which he rose to power when he himself dies, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal attempts to clearly define a Mughal order of succession. The small number of eligible individuals helps in this.

King Charles III reaches his majority and becomes King in his own right. He retains his uncle James as a valued advisor. [Unlike in the real world, with the accession of Charles III to the throne of England rather than James II as was the case in the real world, there is no Glorious Revolution and the Dominion of New England is not dissolved and continues to exist to the present day.]

Seeing that if they stand alone they may become part of the Mughal Empire piecemeal, the South Indian states meet in the holy city of Kanyakumari on the very southern tip of India to discuss what to do. Representatives of the European trading companies also attend this conference.

The magnificent tomb for Jahanara Begum, the oldest sister of Mughal Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, is completed in the city of Agra.

Fleeing Uzbek refugees establish their own independent state in the west of the Fergana Valley in Central Asia, centred on the ancient settlement of Kokand. This quickly becomes known as the Khanate of Kokand. [This is some twenty years earlier than in the real world, due to Mughal defeat of the Uzbeks in 1678, so that although it has the same name, this Khanate of Kokand is very different to that of the real world.]

[Without a Glorious Revolution, some people who in the real world were involved in it here, without it, go elsewhere and do other things. Some of them go to India.]

1689
The Mughal Durbar, definitely influenced by its European members, who have convinced some of the others of the goodness of the idea, suggests to Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal that the best way to reform the Mansabdari system is to introduce European-style inheritance to it. However, Shah Buland Iqbal rejects this radical change. However, he does implement a number of reforms and rationalisations of the convoluted Mughal tax system, returning it to a form similar to that under the Emperor Akbar and increasing the amount of money flowing to the Imperial coffers while decreasing corruption and the dependence on land revenue.

The first printing press is established in Delhi, the Mughal capital. Although initially only printing items for the Europeans there, the technology soon begins to spread to and be used by the local people too.

While Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal’s tax reforms cause some unrest among the nobility, the common people are happy with anything that reduces their taxes. [With Europeans and non-Muslims more tolerated at the Mughal court, the Empire is open to more influences which allow these new ideas to be introduced and implemented.]

1690
The first printed books in Farsi are produced in Delhi by European printers. These are purely secular works, as the Emperor forbids the printing of religious works, preferring them to remain transcribed by hand. As printing spreads across India, knowledge and learning spread with it, much as happened in Europe in the fifteen and sixteenth centuries. Despite occasional burning and smashing of the printing presses by those siding with the scribes, printing continues to spread.

King Charles III of Britain marries the staunchly Protestant nineteen year old Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. [Who thus does not marry August II the Strong, the Elector of Saxony and later King of Poland.]

The first copy of the Principia Mathematica of Isaac Newton arrives in India.

The first translations of Indian texts of all kinds, including writings from all Indian religions, are published in Europe. They attract wide interest.

The Russo-Chinese accord of Nerchinsk in settles the border disputes between the Russian and Chinese Empires, and secures the release of the Russian prisoners taken in 1685. However, some of the released prisoners decide to stay in China as naturalized citizens. The Chinese Emperor gives these new Russian Orthodox Christian citizens a temple in Beijing as a temporary place of worship, which they name the Hagia Sophia Church.

English captain John Strong, sailing for Port Desire, discovers the Falkland Islands after being driven off course by the weather. He claims them for England.

With the advent of printing presses in the Mughal Empire, the already extensive libraries of the highly cultured Mughal Nobles (in 1641 the library of the Royal Palace in Agra contained twenty four thousand volumes, valued at six and a half million rupees) produced by the efforts of the katibs (calligraphists) become even more extensive, and even those of the lower classes begin to acquire books and libraries of their own.

1691
Paulus van Ruysdael, a Dutch trader, makes Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal a gift of the Chinese classics, suitably translated into Farsi [Persian]. He finds these most interesting, adding their contents to his already wide knowledge of religions and cultures.

Copies of the Chinese classics begin to spread across India, made newly fashionable by the interest of the Mughal Emperor. In particular copies of the ‘Art of War’, a Chinese military treatise written in the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu, find many interested readers.

1692
The first newspaper in the Mughal Empire, the Khabar Doulat (News of the Empire) begins printing in Delhi.

The first ambassadorial party sent from the Mughal Empire by Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal arrives in Moscow.

Port Royal, Jamaica, is destroyed and submerged in an earthquake that kills several thousand people.

Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts result in the deaths of twenty people and the imprisonment of scores more. [Much as in the real world.]

Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal sends ambassadorial parties to many European and other nations.

1693
As the finances of the Mughal Empire become somewhat precarious, Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal attempts to impose a culture of greater austerity on the Mughal Empire, and the nobles in particular. This fails.

Unrest begins among the Mughal Mansabdars. This is generally suppressed.

The first translations of the Principia Mathematica of Isaac Newton into Farsi and Hindi are published in Delhi.

An earthquake strikes Catania, Italy, killing sixty thousand people.

As ambassadors from the nations of India begin to be appointed to the Courts of Europe, preachers in some of the nations where they come to live rail against their rulers, telling the people that they have turned from God and are consorting with Heathens and Pagans. In some places this is cracked down upon, with martyrdom and increased support for the protests. In others the rulers go to great lengths to prove that this is not the case, normally by an excess of public religiosity.

1694
Augustus II the Strong marries Elenore Magdalene of Brandenburg-Bayreuth [rather than her older sister Christiane Eberhardine, who is married to Charles III of England].

[Elenore Magdalene of Brandenburg-Bayreuth proves to be not as strong a character as her older sister, and she and Augustus have a closer and more loving relationship than he did with his wife in the real world.]

The Bank of England is founded by Royal Charter. [Much as in the real world.]

King Surinyavongsa of the Kingdom of Lan Xang [real-world Laos] dies without an heir. A succession war breaks out as different factions struggle to take possession of the throne.

The Buland Iqbal Mosque whose construction began after the Mughal conquest of Samarkand is finally completed and opened with great ceremony.

Ayutthaya and Dai Ngu [Vietnam] both become involved in the Lan Xang succession war. With European and Indian advisors and weapons, both nations forces greatly outmatch those of Lan Xang, whose internal political divisions also work against them.

1695
Mughal philosopher Nosrat Farmanfarma attempts to fit European ideas into an Islamic framework. In doing so he formulates the ideas of what he names the Jadid Mu’tazili (New Mu’tazili) movement, after the long-unfashionable Mu’tazili school of thought. Although unpopular among Muslim thinkers of the more widespread and much more conservative Asharite school, its successes and achievements allow it to slowly spread through the Mughal Empire. As a side-effect of this, interest in and focus on the concepts of Ijtihad [see also here] spreads across the Islamic world.

Comet Polke [Jacob] makes a bright appearance that lasts for several weeks.

1696
The first British citizens are inoculated against smallpox using a technique practised in India for centuries and imported from the Mughal Empire by returning merchants and travellers.

Members of the Mughal Durbar attempt to convince Sultan Sipir Shikoh of the goodness of their ideas for the future of the Empire once Emperor Shah Buland dies, but even so the Emperor is un-swayed.

Co-Tsar Ivan V of Russia dies. His brother and co-Tsar Peter I begins to rule exclusively.

The government of Scotland, despite opposition from English merchants and in particular the English East India Company, sends an expedition to found a Scottish trading colony at Darién on the Isthmus of Panama. [Due to the English Stuart monarchy, this is not as opposed as it was in the real world, but still faces opposition from English traders.]

Seeking assistance to defend themselves against the Persians in the south and the Kalmyks and Kazakhs in the north, the Turkmen people approach the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire eventually agrees to provide some assistance to the Turkmens, as much as their limited resources will allow.

As time passes, Turkmenistan and the Mughal Empire become close allies, although the Turkmens insist on maintaining their independence.

European doctors in many countries experiment with inoculation against diseases other than smallpox, with varying degrees of success.

The practise of inoculation gradually spreads across Europe and the European-influenced world.

The use of opium, cannabis and other herbal anaesthetics spreads from Asia into Europe.

1697
After long and difficult negotiations, the South Indian states sign the Kanyakumari Pact, a treaty that formally allies all of the states of South India, as well as the government-in-exile of Kandy and all of the European trading companies apart from the Dutch, who the conference reject as allies, against the Mughal Empire.

Polish King Jan III Sobieski dies.

Jesuit missionaries found a mission at Loreto, the first of twenty-three in Baja California.

Tayassal, the capital of the Peten Itza Maya, the last independent Central American state, is conquered by Spain.

The Manchu Empire conquers western Mongolia.

Protests against the autocratic nature of the Presidential rule of the Dominion of New England lead to the replacement of the current President by another appointed from London. Taking account of the protests of the citizens of the Dominion, he appoints an advisory council made up of representatives from all of the colonies and provinces making up the Dominion.

Over time this Advisory Council comes to act as a parliament for New England and helps to ensure that the voices of the people there are heard by those governing them.

The Kanyakumari Pact is very much intended for defence alone, and then only against the Mughals. Pact members may war among themselves if they wish to, but must also allow other Pact forces to move through their territory in the event of war with the Mughals. Each Pact member remains entirely responsible for their own laws and so on, though they must also tolerate the religious beliefs of visitors from other Pact nations; this is considered essential if people from all of the Pact nations are to be able to work together.

Because of its origin in South India, the Kanyakumari Pact soon becomes known and referred to as the Dakshina Nad [South Land].

1698
The first trade caravans from the Mughal Empire go up through Afghanistan and Uzbekistan into Russia. These are the first of many.

Englishman Thomas Savery introduces the first a steam-powered water pump for use in mines. However, it cannot lift water more than thirty-two feet at a time. [This is basically the same as in the real world.]

A number of Mughal Hindu philosophers make links between the Jadid Mu’tazili and the Hindu Navya-Nyaya school of logic.

Mughal ambassador Maziyar Kuchek Khan travels to Beijing to open diplomatic relations between the Mughal and Chinese empires. However, the Kangxi Emperor rejects the opening of relations between the two empires, considering that China needs nothing beyond tribute from those outside its borders. [This is similar to the results of the McCartney Mission of 1793 in the real world, when a British embassy, and its gifts, were rejected.]

The Imamate of Oman takes control of the islands of Zanzibar from the Portuguese, who have held it since 1505.

The English Muscovy Company loses its privileges and its monopoly on the English Russia trade due to political opposition at the Russian court.

The government yielding to pressure from other English merchants, the English Royal African Company loses its monopoly on the slave trade. The number of slaves transported on English ships increases dramatically.

As time passes the Omanis use their control of Zanzibar to take control of more and more of eastern Africa, both up and down the coast and into the interior of the continent. In time this region controlled by Oman becomes known by the ancient name of Zanj.

1699
Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal beings to introduce a new system of Imperial Examinations for certain posts among the Mansabdars based on the Chinese Imperial Examinations (the Chinese Civil Service examinations). This is done in an attempt to ensure that the best people are selected for these posts.

The War of the Holy League ends with the Holy League forcing the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz. As part of this the Ottoman Empire returns the city of Kamieniec Podolski to Poland.

Augustus II attempts to reform Polish politics and strengthen Polish royal power, using his resources as Elector of Saxony to impose some order on the chaotic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Eastern Europe suffers a particularly bad harvest.

Mahmud Shah II, the irrational and despotic Sultan of Johor [in real world Malaysia] is assassinated by his nobles. He leaves no heir. Viceroy Bendahara Abdul Jalil declares himself the new Sultan, calling himself Sultan Abdul Jalil IV.

As time passes the Mughal Imperial Examinations become more and more widely used, and inculcate a common ethos and skills into those who serve the Mughal Empire.

By this time desertion of their employees into the service of the Mughal Empire or the states of South India has become a serious problem for all of the European companies trading in India. [This is much as in the real world.]

With the spread of Indian influence around the world, the Indian criminals known as Dakaethee [Dacoits] go with them, expanding their power and influence worldwide.

1700
Mughal Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh] dies unexpectedly at the age of eighty-five. With only one candidate for the throne who is at all legitimate, the Hindu and Jain bankers who might normally finance their favourite candidates to the throne cannot really fund anyone other than Sultan Sipir Shikoh himself, and the succession passes off remarkably peacefully. Sultan Sipir Shikoh, the only surviving son of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, ascends to the throne at the age of fifty-six.

With Russia preparing for a war with Sweden and the other members of the Holy League signing the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire Turkey in 1699, the Russian government signs the Constantinople Peace Treaty with the Ottoman Empire, ending this Russo-Turkish War.

The Great Northern War begins between Sweden and the Ottoman Empire on one side and Russia and Denmark-Norway on the other. Poland does not enter the war [unlike the case in the real world], King Augustus II instead being persuaded by his wife and the bad harvest of 1699 to continue his internal reform projects rather than risk the possibility of external conquest [again unlike the real world].

After years of problems, the Scottish Darién Scheme finally fails, with the few survivors returning home. [The Scheme lasts a little longer here than in the real world, but is fundamentally very similar.]

A very powerful earthquake strikes Cascadia, in North America, sending tsunami as far as Yapon [Japan].

[At this point in the real world, the Mughal Empire had a gross domestic product making up almost a quarter of that of the world as a whole. In this world this percentage is even larger.]

1701
The Mughal Durbar proposes the same reforms of the Mansabdari system to Sultan Sipir Shikoh as they unsuccessfully did to his father. Sultan Sipir Shikoh is more amenable to these new ideas than Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal, and accepts them. However, resistance to them among the Mughal government means that their implementation is slow.

The last Spanish Habsburg king, Charles II, dies, having bequeathed all of his possessions to Philip, duc d’Anjou, a grandson of the French King Louis XIV. Philip becomes Philip V of Spain.

The War of the Spanish Succession begins as the other European powers, led by the Holy Roman Empire (also ruled by the Habsburgs, and having their own claim on the throne) work to stop French expansionism, acquire new territories, or to protect existing ones. The war spreads from Europe to North America.

With the permission of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Kingdom of Prussia is declared.

1702
After a great deal of resistance from the Polish nobility, Augustus II reforms the Polish political system and establishes a hereditary monarchy there [as he failed to do in the real world]. This helps to prevent the Russian Empire from strengthening its influence over Poland. Historians refer to the period before this as the First Polish-Lithuanian Republic.

As part of the War of the Spanish Succession the English capture and burn Spanish-held St. Augustine in Florida, including its main fortress. [Unlike the case in the real world, where they could not take the fort.] England also remains in control of Florida.

Farid Khan Astarabadi, a member of the Jadid Mu’tazili movement, introduces a unified curriculum for Mughal Muslim education, the Dars-i-Faridiya, intended to help prepare scholars for the Imperial Examinations by covering all of the subjects it demands (grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, logic, scholasticism, tafsir (commentary on the Quran), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), hadith, mathematics, history and natural sciences). Originally introduced in Chandigarh alone its success means that it soon spreads across the Empire.

A rebellion against the government breaks out in the Sultanate of Brunei.

In addition to preparing people for the Imperial Examinations, the Dars-i-Faridiya provides good mental discipline, and its general adoption causes a widespread interest in intellectual and philosophical matters.

1703
Peter the Great of Russia founds the city of St. Petersburg on the Baltic coast, on marshland re-conquered from Sweden and formerly occupied by the Swedish settlement of Nyen.

The Sultanate of Sulu sends aid to the Sultan of Brunei, and the Bruneian rebellion is crushed. In gratitude the Sultan of Brunei grants North Borneo to the Sultanate of Sulu.

1704
An uprising in Sinhale attempts to overthrow the Kingdom there and invite in the forces of the Kanyakumari Pact to remove the Mughals and revert control of the island to its native rulers. The uprising is quickly crushed by the Mughals, before the Pact could have reacted even had it been planning to.

1705
Englishman Edmond Halley publishes his belief that the comet sightings of 1456, 1531, 1607, and 1682 were of the same comet, which he predicts will return in 1758. [This is the comet that becomes known as Halley’s Comet.]

James Stuart, the Duke of York, dies. [This is somewhat later than in the real world, where as King James II he died in 1701.]

Seeking an end to the increasing influence of Persian Muslims in the Mughal Empire, Sultan Sipir Shikoh appoints mainly Indian-born Muslims and Hindus, including many Rajputs, to the important posts of the Empire. This leads to a cooling of relations between the Mughal and Persian Empires.

After a decade of warfare and anarchy, the Kingdom of Lan Xang [real-world Laos] is broken up into three vassal kingdoms; one of these, Luang Phrabang, is a vassal of Ayutthaya alone, while the other two, Viang Chan and Champasak, are vassals of both Ayutthaya and Dai Ngu [Vietnam]. [This occurs two years earlier than in the real world.]

1706
With the permission of the Mughal Emperor Sultan Sipir Shikoh, and despite the objections of the Muslim scribes, the first copy of the Koran is printed in Delhi. Sultan Sipir Shikoh wishes to spread knowledge of Islam as widely as possible, regardless of any objections.

Edgar, Duke of Cambridge and son of James, the Duke of York, has a daughter, who he names Catherine. As she grows up she becomes a devout Protestant.

With help from the Durbar, Sultan Sipir Shikoh does his best to control and balance the finances of the Mughal Empire to the extent of limiting his own spending while at the same time cutting out fraud, bribery, nepotism and so on.

Emperor Iyasu I of Abyssinia is assassinated and is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Tekle Haymanot I. However, because of having ordered the assassination, Tekle Haymanot is very unpopular, and the involvement of his mother and the acceptance of his position by other members of the royal family does irreparable harm to the image of the Abyssinian monarchy, the Solomonic Dynasty.

[Due to the different history here, Marthanda Varma, the founder of modern Travancore in the real world is not born. This causes major changes in the political history and geography of southern India.]

1707
With the finances of the Mughal Empire becoming more and more precarious with time, unrest begins to occur as the tax burden on the common people becomes heavier and heavier.

Sultan Sipir Shikoh eliminates the system of nazars or gifts to the court introduced by Nur Jahan.

At this point (when Aurangzeb died in the real world) the Indian sub-continent is significantly richer, more populous and more culturally diverse and tolerant than it was at this point in the real world. At the same time, the Sikh religion is considerably less militarised than in the real world.

Without Aurangzeb attempting to conquer all of India, although there are still wars on the sub-continent, the Mughal Empire and other Indian nations remain more outward-looking, leading to more trade and exploration, and with more Europeans and others coming to India to seek their fortunes. Because the Mughal Empire does not collapse there is much less need for European governments to intervene in Indian politics to protect their interests.

From now until the present day the world as a whole is richer than the real world at the same time, due to the effects of the two parallel European and Indian industrial revolutions. India as a whole is also very much richer and more populous as it avoids exploitation by the European colonial powers.

1708
Thanjavur uses a variety of diplomatic pretexts to absorb two of the neighbouring Poligar-run states.

Emperor Tekle Haymanot I of Abyssinia is assassinated by some of his late father’s courtiers. He is succeeded by his uncle Tewoflos.

To prevent further desertions to the Indian nations, the European East India Companies begin only sending out employees who they believe to be loyal, or who they believe have no interest in ‘turning native’. Some of these are sent simply because of their racism. Others because they are older than the normal run of employees (who have been sent out as teenagers and with no real ties to their homelands); many of these go to India with their families.

The lack of a connection to India or outright hostility to it that these new employees bring does not help relations between India and Europe. It also does not prevent some of the company employees deserting to Indian nations regardless of the opinions of their employers. And it certainly does not prevent people making their way to India to seek their fortunes as individuals rather than company employees.

Many Europeans begin to become assimilated into Indian society.

1709
As part of the Great Northern War, the armies of Sweden are soundly defeated by the Russians under Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava. Russia emerges as a major European power. King Charles XII of Sweden flees into exile in the Ottoman Empire.

Seeking a solution to the financial problems of the Mughal Empire, Sultan Sipir Shikoh, advised by his Durbar and supported by some of the most powerful of the Mansabdars, enacts some major changes to the Mughal system:

He accepts the changes to the Mansabdar system that his father rejected. Some appointments are made for life, and also made hereditary and able to be passed on to the children of the current incumbent; not necessarily the oldest son, but the best qualified, as judged by the Imperial Examinations. It is hoped that this will persuade the nobility to save and invest what is now their private capital rather than frittering their money away.
To help with the long-term stability of the Empire he accepts restraints on his own power. Along with the most powerful of the Mansabdars he signs the Kabir Manshur [Great Charter]. In Europe this becomes known as the Mughal Magna Carta. Like the original Magna Carta this has the Emperor renounce certain rights, respect certain legal procedures and accept that the will of the Emperor can be bound by law. As part of this a Council of Mansabdars is appointed to counterbalance the power of the Emperor.
To help raise income he institutes a number of government-backed trading companies, analogous to the state-owned Karkhanas (industrial concerns), which are intended to trade with the rest of the world, expand trade routes and bring more money into the Mughal Empire.
The introduction of the new hereditary system does not affect the behaviour of many of the Mansabdars, who continue their spendthrift ways. However, others now begin to save and invest their money, wishing to have more to pass on to their heirs.

Other high ranking Mansabdars responsible for tax revenues become some of the first Mughal industrialists, using technology and modern methods in new and better ways to obtain the money they need. These ideas begin to spread across India, and India begins to industrialise quite as much as Europe.

The first privately-owned Karkhanas (industrial concerns) begin operation during this time. Some of them are purchased from the Mughal government while others are entirely new facilities. Because of the way these are set up they do not at this point directly compete with the largely Hindu merchant houses of the Empire.

Emperor Sultan Sipir Shikoh encourages the craftsmen in the state-owned Karkhanas and raises their status by visiting them and observing the work taking place their, as his great-great-grandfather Akbar once did.

In time there is a blurring of the line between the positions traditionally occupied by Mughal Muslims (in government and administration) and Hindus (in trade, commerce and banking).

With a hereditary nobility in place, fairly deliberately created by European immigrants to the Mughal Empire, along with Indian nobility who see the advantages of it, there is now a counterbalance to the power of the Emperor which helps to act as a check on any arbitrary behaviour on his part, in addition to the symbolic Kabir Manshir [Great Charter].

With the introduction of these new ideas and institutions there are mutterings that even accounting for the high level of tolerance the Mughal Empire has, Sultan Sipir Shikoh goes too far. That he has been ‘corrupted’ by European ways, or is under the control of the European members of the Durbar. However, this never goes beyond mutterings into real unrest.

Other rumours speculate that he is not the real Sultan Sipir Shikoh but instead an impostor, the real Sultan Sipir Shikoh having died or been replaced by someone else while he was in Europe. Someone who does not have the best interests of the Mughal Empire at heart. Although this rumour is quickly dismissed by the fact that too many people who knew him before verify his identity now, it still remains in circulation.

In addition a number of problems arising when children inherit a position and property show that simply handing everything down to the next generation is not a good idea under all circumstances.

Mughal caravans and ships increase their level of trade with other nations around the Mughal Empire, particularly the Persian and Ottoman Empires, Arabia, Oman, East Africa, and South-East Asia, with but some trade also going to China and Europe. In addition, Indian sailors begin to serve as crew on European ships [as they probably did in the real world], leading to their learning the routes to Europe, European ship building techniques, and how to get there safely. Because of this Indian ships also begin to travel the world and trade directly with Europe.

As their needs for trade and resources grows, the states of the Dakshina Nad quickly find they cannot acquire these by land, being hemmed in by the Mughal Empire. Instead, trading missions begins to be sent out by sea to seek out resources and land around the Indian Ocean, and beyond.

As time goes by cultural influences from both the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, already significant, become greater and greater across south-east Asia.

1710
The New House of Wisdom (named after the Bayt al-Hikma, the library and translation institute in Abbassid-era Baghdad that is considered to have been a major intellectual centre of the Islamic Golden Age) is founded in Delhi as a university teaching both religious and secular subjects.

With the widespread adoption of the Dars-i-Faridiya curriculum, a new element of the Mughal government is set up to control education, and maintain standards.

The Chinese government sends a resident commissioner (Amban) to Lhasa in Tibet.

The last known incident of using plague corpses for biological warfare occurs when Russian forces attack the Swedes by flinging plague-infected corpses over the walls of the city of Reval (Tallinn).

In the secret Treaty of Hue, the governments of Ayutthaya and the Nguyen Lords of Dai Ngu divide up Cambodia and the vassal territories of Lan Xang [Laos] between them. Ayutthaya is to gain Luang Phrabang and Viang Chan in the north of Laos, while the Nguyen Lords will gain Champasak in the south, as well as the poor and restless state of Cambodia.

Work finally ends on the Palace of Versailles, which has been in progress since 1661.

[With the influx of European people and ideas, such as inheritance, private finances and property, and non-absolute government as embodied in the Kabir Manshur (Great Charter), the Mughal Empire is able to learn and adapt enough to eliminate, or at least reduce, the financial and other problems it suffered in the real world.]

1711
With Mughal Mansabdars wishing to invest their private capital and build up their money, the first banks run on Islamic principles are opened in the Mughal Empire. These are distinct from the existing Hindu- and Jain-run banks in the Empire, and are set up because some of the more devout Muslim Mansabdars disapprove of the methods of the Hindu, Jain and European-style banks in India, and wish to put their money into something they feel comfortable with. Many Europeans with experience of banking in Europe contribute to these, particularly a number of Dutch émigrés.

Englishman Thomas Newcomen completes the first commercial steam engine, which replaces a team of five hundred horses.

1712
Udham Singh Nalwa becomes the first Sikh to be selected as a member of the Mughal Durbar.

The capital of the Russian Empire moves from Moscow to the newly-built city of St. Petersburg.

[The future Frederick the Great of Prussia is not born in this world; instead a different son is born to Frederick William I of Prussia. With no Frederick the Great, Prussia remains a reasonably competent German state for longer, rather than becoming a power in the eighteenth century.]

1713
The Mughal Bank, a central bank for the Mughal Empire, is founded in Delhi. It is intended at least partly to assist in the funding of government-backed trading companies.

The last execution for witchcraft in takes place in England. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world.]

As Sultan Sipir Shikoh gets older and frailer, the members of his Durbar, wishing to avoid the succession wars of the previous century, and remembering the role of Hindu and Jain bankers in them by their financing their favourite candidates and thus enabling them to afford to fight, meet with the bankers and after lengthy negotiations settle on a mutually agreeable successor to the throne, his son Ummid Akhtar.

1714
The War of the Spanish Succession ends with the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt. Philip remains King of Spain, but is no longer in the French line of succession. This ends French hegemony over continental Europe. Spain loses its European holdings in the Netherlands and Italy. Britain takes control of Gibraltar and Minorca, as well as various French territories in North America and is also confirmed in its possession of Spanish Florida [this last unlike the case in the real world]. France takes control of some of the area nominally claimed by the British Hudson’s Bay Company.

King Charles XII of Sweden returns from exile in the Ottoman Empire to continue the Great Northern War.

Using the excuse of harassment of their colonists in the Mekong Delta, the Nguyen Lords invade Cambodia. Impoverished and poor, the Cambodians can do little to resist this.

[With the Stuarts remaining on the throne of Great Britain, the German state of Hanover does not become linked to Britain by its royalty.]

As the War of the Spanish Succession ends, what becomes known as the Golden Age of Piracy begins as many privateers, now unemployed due to the new peace, seek plunder in the seas of the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and the West Coast of Africa.

1715
Mughal philosopher and scientist Fazlollah Khan Puladeen discovers how to store the electrical charger generated by an electrostatic generator [the Leyden Jar, in the real world invented in 1745].

Adnan Heshmat becomes the first Christian is selected as a member of the Mughal Durbar.

King Louis XIV of France dies of old age. His five-year-old great-grandson succeeds to the throne as King Louis XV. This precipitates a dynastic struggle as his grandson Felipe V of Spain (who is also uncle of the new child King Louis XV) seeks the throne of France for himself, as well as putting his children in line to inherit much of Italy.

Tsar Peter the Great sends an Archimandrite, Ilarion Lezhaisky, along with various staff members, to take over the operation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Beijing. This is the first Spiritual Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in Beijing.

A short war is fought between the Ayutthaya Kingdom [Thailand] and the Nguyen Lords [the Vietnamese rulers of South Vietnam] for control of Cambodia.

With more contact between India and Europe, and India being richer and more stable than in the real world, synergy between Indian and European thinkers begins driving the advance of science and technology at a faster rate than in the real world. This is helped by the spread of ideas from India that were not adopted or ignored in the real world, such as those of the Kerala School of mathematics. This leads to the Industrial Revolution beginning perhaps a generation earlier than in the real world.

As the Mughal Empire becomes more and more powerful and prosperous, most of the Dakshina Nad states follow the Mughal trend and introduce, with the help of European émigrés, the institutions that have done the Mughals so much good, including inheritance, banking, overseas trade and so on.

1716
A son is born to King Charles III of England. He is named Robert.

Conservative elements of the Mughal nobility, very unhappy at the reforms of Sultan Sipir Shikoh, attempt to mount a coup against him. This fails, although several of his more loyal advisors are killed in the process. Most of the coup leaders are captured and executed, though some flee into the South Indian states or overseas.

After they suffer internal unrest, the Kingdom of Mysore conquers two of the neighbouring Poligar-run states.

1717
A son, named Leopold Christopher, is born to Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor. [Leopold Christopher replaces Maria Theresa of the real world. The birth of a surviving male heir to Charles VI means that there is no War of the Austrian Succession.]

Mughal Emperor Sultan Sipir Shikoh dies at the age of seventy-three. In a remarkably peaceful succession, he is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Ummid Akhtar.

Britain, the Netherlands, and France form the Triple Alliance to oppose Spanish ambitions in France and Italy.

Spain invades Sardinia and Sicily, claiming traditional ownership of the islands.

Englishman James Puckle invents the first revolver cannon, a tripod-mounted, single-barrelled flintlock weapon using a revolving cylinder capable of firing bullets at three times the rate of a standard flintlock weapon. This becomes known as the Puckle Gun. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world. Given that it was invented at least partly to use against the Ottomans, with the additional knowledge of the powerful Mughal Empire in this world James Puckle is inspired to invent it slightly earlier.] However, the Puckle Gun inspires little interest among the English government and fades into obscurity.

1718
A Mughal Mansabdar who is running a mining concern imports the first Newcomen-type steam engine from England into the Mughal Empire to help with pumping water from his mines. It is a great success.

With the British government showing little interest in the Puckle Gun, James Lubbock, one of Puckle’s assistants, steals the design and departs for India with the intention of making his fortune by selling it to some appropriate party there.

Merchants from the Dakshina Nad establish a harbour and supply station on the island of Malagasia [Madagascar] as a mid-point on voyages to west Africa and Europe.

Abdul Jalil Rahmat Shah becomes the new Sultan of Johor. However, the son of Sultan Abdul Jalil IV, Raja Sulaiman is dissatisfied with this.

Austria joins the Triple Alliance, which is renamed the Quadruple Alliance. The new alliance demands Spanish withdrawal from Sardinia and Sicily, and when these are refused, what becomes known as the War of the Quadruple Alliance begins. [This is all much as in the real world.]

Over time other steam engines are imported into the Mughal Empire and find usage in many areas.

1719
Merchants from the Mughal Empire establish a harbour and supply station on the island of Malagasia [Madagascar].

The Mughal Empire attempts to send Islamic missionaries to the islands of Yapon [Japan]. Yapon refuses them admission.

Spain suffers numerous defeats against the forces of the Quadruple Alliance.

Europeans in India begin to become known as White Mughals [in homage to the book that inspired this timeline].

1720
A daughter is born to King Charles III of England. She is named Henrietta.

The leaders of the remaining Poligar-ruled states of southern India meet in the central city of Kadapa (Cuddapah). After long negotiations they decide that they have more in common with one another than anyone else. As such they form a coalition to defend against annexations such as those which occurred in 1708 and 1716. This becomes known as the Poligar Coalition. The capital of the new Coalition is declared to be Kadapa.

Spain ends the War of the Quadruple Alliance, signing the Treaty of the Hague which ends the war, leaving Britain in possession of Gibraltar.

Arriving in India, James Lubbock is able to interest the government of the Maratha Kingdom in the Puckle Gun, and begins building it there.

Having passed the Mughal Imperial Examinations becomes a pre-requisite for the inheritance of any kind of position in the Empire.

The Kalmyk people living to the north of the Caspian Sea become increasingly influenced and under the control of Russia.

1721
The Great Northern War ends with Sweden being soundly defeated, losing all of its overseas holdings and falling from Great Power status. Russia gains the former Swedish territories in the Baltic.

Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal, a Mughal scholar and historian, leaves the Mughal Empire to begin a grand tour of Russia and Europe, travelling north out of the Empire and into Russia.

Merchants from the Dakshina Nad establish a number of harbours and supply stations on the western coast of Marege [Australia]. They name this new land Pudhiya Dakshina Nad (New South Land). Many of the Indians who go to Marege quickly come to consider the natives to be not unlike an entire race of Sadhus [Hindu holy men]. [This interpretation of the Aborigines is based on a journal entry by Captain James Cook, who stated that ‘They may appear to some to be the most wretched people on earth, but in reality they are far happier than we Europeans. The live in a tranquillity which is not disturbed by the inequality of condition: the earth and the sea of their own accord furnish them with all things necessary for life … they seemed to set no value on anything we gave them, nor would they ever part with anything of their own.’ This could certainly be interpreted as a kind of holiness by different eyes.]

The first working elephant in Europe, along with her mahout, arrives in England from India. She begins employment pulling canal boats.

Other working elephants soon begin to be used elsewhere in Europe.

1722
The first locally-built steam engine is constructed for a Mansabdar in the Mughal Empire, using a design copied from that of Thomas Newcomen.

Merchants from the Mughal Empire establish a harbour and supply station on the north west coast of Marege [Australia]. This becomes known as Koshiki (the Dry Land).

The Bugis people, originally from the island of Sulawesi, having become a powerful court faction in the Sultanate of Johor, take advantage of factional struggles in the court to de-throne Sultan Abdul Jalil Rahmat Shah and replace him with Raja Sulaiman. Raja Sulaiman is a weak ruler and a puppet of the Bugis.

1723
Persian warlord Nadir Shah topples the Persian Emperor Safavid Shah Soltan Hosein, killing him and much of his family, and takes the throne for himself. [This is not exactly how things occurred in the real world, but is similar sequence of events.]

Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal reaches Moscow after taking a leisurely trip through the great cities of Central Asia. He begins a scholarly study of the Russian Orthodox Church. Becoming interested in the reforms of the Patriarch Nikon he begins the critical evaluation of the sources and of the essence of the reforms.

Tsar Peter the Great, wishing to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and South Caucasus regions and to prevent the Ottoman Empire from gaining territorial gains in the region, begins the Russo-Persian War. He takes advantage of the unrest in the Persian Empire to, with the aid of Georgia and Armenia, invade Persia across the Caspian Sea. The newly built Caspian Flotilla plays a vital role in this. [This slightly later than in the real world.]

Sailors returning from Marege bring tales of a strange race of Sadhus living there. A slow trickle of pilgrims going to Marege to talk to and learn from the natives begins.

Because of their being seen as a race of Sadhus, because of the great range of skin colours already existing within India, and because of previous contacts with these places, the Indian colonists of Marege [Australia] do not discriminate against the natives as much as the Europeans in the real world. Maregian natives come to be considered, as a race, much more holy than the Indians, rather than as a lesser race as they are by the Europeans [and as they were in the real world], and thus get a great deal more respect than they did from Europeans in the real world.

However, traders from outside do begin to encroach in the lands of the natives of Marege [as they did in the real world]. The natives of Marege also begin to be decimated by the diseases inadvertently brought by traders from outside [again as in the real world]. Taking advantage of this, some traders take control of more native lands. Others help the natives so that, in general, both sides remain neutral to one another.

As time passes Marege becomes known unofficially as Sadhu Nad [the Land of Sadhus].

Again because of their coming from a more racially diverse land, Indian traders and colonists do not discriminate against Africans as much as their European counterparts.

Large numbers of refugees from the old Safavid dynasty and government flee Persia. Some go to the Ottoman Empire, the states of the Dakshina Nad, or into Oman, but most go to the Mughal Empire.

With less European activity in Africa and the Mughals being more tolerant, there is less missionary activity in Africa, particularly eastern Africa, and what missionary activity there is also includes Muslim missionaries. Because of this the traditional beliefs of Africa and other less developed parts of the world survive more than they have done in the real world.

1724
Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal discovers during his researches that the rites that were rejected and condemned by the Nikonian reforms were genuine customs of the Orthodox Church, whereas those which replaced them, based on Greek usage, had been altered over time. This was exactly the reverse of the justification used by Nikon for his reforms. He reports this discovery in a letter to a friend in the Mughal Empire.

The Ottoman Empire takes advantage of the unrest in Persia to invade its western regions. What becomes known as the Perseo-Ottoman War begins.

Threatened on two fronts, the Persian Empire has little choice but to end the Russo-Persian War by surrendering significant northern territory to Russia.

Traders from the Dakshina Nad found a settlement in the east of southern Africa in what becomes known as Giâhrarazi (the Forest Coast). Many of the traders who do this are assisted by expatriate Europeans from various nations.

1725
Emperor Peter the Great of Russia dies. He is succeeded by his wife, who becomes Empress Catherine I.

Some border raids take place between Afghan forces and those of the Persian Empire. [These are much less extreme than the invasion and sacking of Isfahan that took place in the real world.]

The Perseo-Ottoman War ends with the Persian Empire losing significant areas in the west of the empire to the Ottoman Empire.

Austria pledges to assist Spain in recovering Gibraltar, reversing its previous alignment with Britain against Spain.

1726
With his regime established, Persian Emperor Nadir Shah sends forces to probe the defences of the Mughal Empire. Finding them too strong, he turns his attention elsewhere. [Unlike the case in the real world, where he successfully pillaged the weakened Mughal Empire.]

Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal travels on, into Europe and North Africa, then to Mecca where he participates in the Hajj.

Mughal traders also found a settlement in Giâhrarazi. As with the Dakshina Nad merchants, many of the traders who do this are assisted by expatriate Europeans from various nations. They open relations with the native people there, the Xhosa, trading mainly for food, which they exchange for Indian goods.

1727
Seeking to avoid traders from the Dakshina Nad, Mughal traders found a settlement in the west of southern Africa at the best harbour on the coast of what becomes known as Ghobararazi (the Land of Fog) [in the real world Walvis Bay in Namibia]. The settlement itself becomes known as Ummidabad, named after the current Mughal Emperor Ummid Akhtar. As with the Giâhrarazi settlements, many of the traders who do this are assisted by expatriate Europeans from various nations.

Spain begins the Second Anglo-Spanish War, besieging Gibraltar but failing to take it.

Representatives of Persian leader Nadir Shah attempt to negotiate a treaty with the Dakshina Nad, allying the two groups against the Mughal Empire. However, based on the current political situation, the Dakshina Nad declines these overtures.

The number of European émigrés in the Mughal Empire becomes so great that it leads to tension and unrest as the thrusting Europeans begin taking positions and jobs seen to be for Mughal citizens, even though the Europeans may become Mughal citizens themselves.

1728
Catherine, granddaughter of James, the Duke of York, marries Prince Frederick of Denmark, the second son of King Frederick IV of Denmark and a member of the Danish House of Oldenburg [see also here]. This strengthens the links between Britain and Denmark that began with Anne of Denmark becoming the wife of King James I of England.

Persian Emperor Nadir Shah invades the Ottoman Empire, soundly defeating them and extending the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean Sea. However, the Ottomans retain control of many of the cities in the region, including Jerusalem.

At the urging of their leadership, the Sikh communities across India begin expanding their Gurdwaras to provide schools, hospitals and so on in addition to their traditional food and shelter, for anyone who needs it. Education begins to spread through all the religions and castes of India, usually based on the Dars-i-Faridiya curriculum.

A dynastic succession struggle begins in the Imamate of Oman, as the ulema there fails to agree on a new Imam. Civil war breaks out. [This is similar to the succession struggle that occurred in 1719 in the real world.]

The first Dutch merchants, following the Indian nations doing so, begin trading and exploring along the northern coast of the continent of Marege [Australia].

The Second Anglo-Spanish War ends with a truce agreed by both sides.

Dutch traders begin harassing Indian merchants in south African waters, attempting to drive them from what they consider to be ‘their’ area. Several Indian and Dutch ships are damaged or sunk in the course of this harassment.

Indian merchants elsewhere also begin to suffer harassment from the merchants of the Netherlands and other European nations.

A side effect of the expansion of the functions of the Sikh Gurdwaras is to, over time, encourage other religions to do similar good works, to the extent that by the present day many of the social services of the nations of the world are religiously based.

1729
Nadir Shah continues to press the Ottoman Empire, pushing them south into Egypt. However, many Ottoman cities hold out against the Persian invaders.

Taking advantage of the invasion of Nadir Shah the European powers attack the Ottomans from the north and west, pressing them towards the Bosporus from both directions.

Seeing the education of all castes as an attack on the caste system itself (which it is), Hindu mobs attack Sikh Gurdwaras across India. Many Sikhs are killed, but teaching continues, as does the violence.

As the Persians move to intervene in the Omani Civil War, the Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad, not wishing to have their trade links with Europe disrupted any further, send forces to end the Omani Civil War. This persuades the Persian navy to remain in port.

Dutch traders establish a settlement in the northern tip of Marege [Australia], in the region they name Nova Holland [New Holland].

As part of the Treaty of Seville signed by Spain, Britain and France which ends the Second Anglo-Spanish War, the British government agrees not to trade with any Spanish colonies.

The death of their overall Khan leaves the Kazakh people leaderless. With no clear choice of successor, the three Hordes of the Kazakh people, the Great, Middle and Lesser Hordes, cannot agree on the next Khan of all Kazakhs, so the Kazakhs as a whole remain leaderless and divided. [This is similar to what happened in the real world.]

Because of the Hindu attacks on them, the Sikh community in the Mughal Empire becomes increasingly militarised, as they look to their own protection. [This not quite in the same way as in the real world, but with a similar overall effect.]

As their foreign trade becomes more and more important, the nations of the Dakshina Nad begin building the strength of their navies.

The Kalmyk people begin taking advantage of the divisions among the Kazakh people to raid and invade the Kazakh lands.

1730
The anti-protestant French administration, and in particular the Jesuits at the French court attempt to persuade the new King Louis XV to revoke the Edict of Nantes that extends tolerance to French protestants.

Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal returns to the Mughal Empire after nine years of travel and begins writing a book of his experiences.

The Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad stop the Omani Civil War by force and present the Omani ulema with a number of potential candidates for Imam.

One hundred and thirty-seven people are killed by an earthquake in Hokkaido, Yapon [Japan].

A number of incidents of anti-European unrest occur in the Mughal Empire, and a number of European émigrés are killed.

European writers on economic affairs begin complaining that “Europe bleedeth to enrich Asia.” [This is a quote from the real world, but it applies even more so in this world.]

Abul Khayr, one of the khans of the Lesser Horde of Kazakhs, seeks Russian assistance against the Kalmyk people who are encroaching upon Kazakh territory. Although his intent is only to form a temporary alliance, the Russians use this opportunity to gain permanent control of the Lesser Horde. [This is similar to what happened in the real world.]

India, both the Mughal Empire and the South Indian states, has become even more a net exporter of goods (in particular of cotton and silk cloth which is exported to almost half the world, including East Africa, Arabia, Egypt, Southeast Asia and Europe) and an importer of cash in return (with the only other imports being horses and luxury goods for the upper classes) than they were before the time of Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh]. This arises because the demand for articles supplied by India is so great while the market in India for European goods is very limited, India being largely self-sufficient [much like China, but with a more open government and system in general]. Only specialist European goods and services have a large market in India. The continuing strength of India forces Europe to trade on India’s own terms.

There is a definite sense of competition between the European and Indian powers which drives advances in technology and military science. In many cases this only causes the development of things for show, via prestige projects, so that the widespread adoption of these new technologies lags behind. But still, even these drive a general improvement in technology, science and military thinking. As time passes this period becomes known as the Age of Gadgets.

Both the Mughal merchant concerns founded by the Mansabdars under the new system and the existing Hindu merchant houses come to be known as Tayefe Karkhanas. [They are very like the Japanese Zaibatsu (‘wealthy clique’ or conglomerate) of the real world.] They are, or grow to be, large family-controlled banking and industrial combines, large companies that by the present day consist of divisions of often seemingly unrelated businesses. There are a number of major Tayefe Karkhanas, as well as a larger number of smaller and more specialised Tayefe Karkhanas. Some of the families who founded Tayefe Karkhanas have also grown by the efforts of their non-Hindu and non-Mansabdar members and risen into the ranks of the noble classes.

A period of agricultural development begins in Britain and the rest of Europe and continues into the nineteenth century. It massively increases agricultural productivity and output, and so supports high population growth, which frees up significant percentages of the workforce, and so helps drive the Industrial Revolution [much as in the real world].

Techniques developed in Europe are exported to India, are adapted to local conditions, and quickly spread there, driving the same changes as those occurring in Europe.

As the Mughal Empire industrialises, large shanty towns grow up around the factories, industrial cities and so on as people move from the countryside to the new centres of industry to find work, or better work.

In some cases Mughal industrialists build housing for their workers, but in many cases they do not. In many shanties, and these latter cases particularly, many epidemics occur.

As people move from the countryside to the cities to work, in both Europe and India, they begin spontaneously organising themselves to help protect one another from abuses by their employers and provide help to one another when they require it [much as in the real world].

As the navies of the world complete the process of hunting them down, the Golden Age of Piracy ends.

British traders conducting illegal trade with various Spanish colonies suffer violence at the hands of the Spanish authorities.

A fad for ‘Mughalserie’ [analogous to Chinoiserie] begins in Europe, competing and mingling with the existing European fad for Chinoiserie.

Responding to the anti-European unrest in the Mughal Empire a minority of European émigrés begin to leave it, taking their skills and knowledge either back to Europe, or to the other states of India. In the process they disseminate knowledge far and wide.

1731
King Louis XV of France, after due consideration, issues a new Edict overriding the Edict of Nantes. This opens Nouvelle-France in North America to Protestantism at the same time as it banishes it in France.

Catherine, granddaughter of James, the Duke of York, gives birth to a son, who is named Christian.

Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal publishes his account of his travels through Russia and Europe, ‘Travels In Fifteen Nations’. This quickly becomes something of a best-seller, and copies are disseminated across the world as well as translated into other languages.

Sattareh Teymourtash, a gadget-loving Mughal Mansabdar, has a mechanical calculating machine built to help with his business interests, and simply because he wants one. This is loosely based on the design of the Pascaline from 1645.

With profits falling as the Mughal Empire and the South Indian nations modernise and begin to industrialise, and more and more money flowing out of Europe and into India, the board of the British East India Company in London, acting in ignorance of the true situation in India, decrees that all of its factors shall work to maximise their profits. Regardless. Full stop.

Mughal Emperor Ummid Akhtar decrees an end to the violence between the Sikhs and Hindus over their Gurdwara schools. The Sikhs are allowed to continue educating, but are forbidden from undermining the caste system. The Hindus are obliged to allow them to continue. This ruling satisfies no-one, but generally brings the Hindu-Sikh violence to an end.

The Ottoman Empire negotiates an end to the war with Nadir Shah, ceding much of the Middle East and the Holy Land to him. However, the Ottoman Empire retains control of Jerusalem and most of the Mediterranean coastline.

After long discussion, the Omani ulema selects a candidate for Imam from those presented to them by the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, an individual from the major Ghafiri tribe who is acceptable to the tribal chiefs and people of Oman. With the new Imam in place, the Omani Civil War is declared over, and a new Ghafirid Dynasty begins in Oman.

The British government, determined to continue its drive toward commercial domination of the Atlantic basin, uses the Spanish actions against these British merchants as a pretext for what becomes known as the Caribbean War. [This is analogous to the War of Jenkins’ Ear of the real world. Even though the history of this world is quite different to that of the real world by this point, there is still rivalry between England and Spain similar to that in the real world, and having similar effects on events.]

The calculating machine of Sattareh Teymourtash proves to be quite successful, and it is copied, first across the Mughal Empire and then across the world.

French protestants, and Huguenots in particular, begin to move to North America. Others, less willing to move, leave France for the protestant counties of Europe.

As literacy spreads across the Mughal Empire, more and more people of all classes begin taking the Imperial Examinations in the hope of being able to join the privileged Mansabdar class.

At the same time increased education among all castes of the Mughal Empire leads to unrest as those of lower caste see the unfairness of the system as they work to rise up within it.

1732
Often against their better judgement, the local British East India Company factors begin a campaign to ensure that money flows out of the India as well as into it. This includes the use of intimidation and bribery to keep Indians buying British East India Company goods and the money flowing out of India and into the pockets of the British East India Company shareholders. Indian businessmen begin being forced to buy more expensive European goods over local ones, and bad feeling grows. Their complaints at this treatment go unheard, the special status of the British East India Company with the Mughal government, that it has enjoyed since 1615, protecting it. Seeing its success, other European trading companies begin employing the same tactics across all of India.

Traders from the Dakshina Nad found a settlement in the region that becomes known as Mataman [northern Namiba and southern Angola of the real world].

English sea captain Eric Wheatstone, working for the British East India Company, is disgusted at the new company policy and resigns. He is able to find employment in the service of the Mughal Emperor. Over time he comes to love the Mughal Empire.

Perceiving Russia as close enough to them to be of assistance, the Khan of Kokand seeks Russian assistance in the defence of his Khanate. He begins to receive discrete assistance, channelled through the Kazakh lands.

Inspired by the current fashion for Mughalserie a number of women across Europe adopt the wearing of Indian-style trousers. Despite a number of incidents against women doing so, the fashion spreads among the rich of Europe.

A passionate believer in the necessity of sea power, Captain Eric Wheatstone also sees the necessity for the Mughal Empire to have a strong navy of its own. However, the Mughals, descendants of a people who knew nothing of the sea, have had little success in creating one. They have no large fighting vessels, and the ships that they do maintain are primarily for the furtherance of the commercial operations of the state [see here and here]. Captain Wheatstone begins working to persuade the Mughal Empire to construct a decent navy.

1733
The first Russian translation of ‘Travels In Fifteen Nations’ appears in Moscow. The section on Moscow, and Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal’s discoveries regarding the reforms of the Patriarch Nikon, raises a massive controversy, which causes the Tsarina, Catherine I, to order its banning, rather too late.

King Augustus II of Poland dies of old age and is succeeded by his son, who becomes King Augustus III. [With Augustus II having married a different woman to the real world, this Augustus III is a different person to the Augustus III of the real world]

When it becomes clear just how many Huguenots and other protestants there are in France, and how many wish to go to North America, King Louis XV of France is displeased, considering himself to have been misled by his officials. As punishment he forces the officials most responsible to pay the excess costs, bankrupting them and their families.

Despite the ban on ‘Travels In Fifteen Nations’ imposed by the Tsarina Catherine I, Russian scholars and churchmen, both within and without the Raskolniki, begin examining Russian scripture to prove Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal either wrong or right.

Although the organisation of labour occurs slowly and is usually opposed by the employers and sometimes the local government, as time passes the concept of organised labour spreads around the world. In India this is very much linked to castes, with each labouring caste becoming, effectively, a form of trade union.

1734
Unrest grows and spreads in Poland as King Augustus III begins his rule and he proves to be less able than his father. He is also more friendly towards the Russians than the Polish nobility prefers.

As part of the Caribbean War, British forces attack Spanish holdings in Cuba, Mexico and Central America using their North American colonies, particularly those in Florida, as bases. [This makes the British forces somewhat more effective than was the case in the real world.]

Due to increased competition, the English Royal African Company abandons slaving in favour of trafficking in ivory and gold dust. [This is slightly later than in the real world, where this occurred in 1731, because with a less lucrative trade with India more attempts are made to make more money elsewhere.]

Robert, Prince of Wales, marries Elizabeth Seymour, Baroness Percy.

Despite their best efforts Robert and Elizabeth have no surviving children.

1735
Wishing to stop the endless raids by the Crimean Tatars and gain access to the Black Sea, Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire. What becomes known as the Russo-Ottoman War [or Russo-Turkish War] begins. Shortly before the war begins, seeking to secure their borders with Persia and gain an alliance with them, Russia returns all of the territories it took from Persia in 1724, at the end of the Russo-Persian War, to Persian control. [This is much as happened in the real world.]

Mughal Emperor Ummid Akhtar dies of old age. Because of the smooth succession which took place when Ummid Akhtar came to the Peacock Throne, everyone has complacently expected this succession to go as smoothly. However, as there are several possible successors among the sons of Ummid Akhtar, no clear choice between them, and despite the best efforts of cooler heads in the Mughal government, each of them moves to take the throne for himself, mostly assisted and funded by Hindu and Jain bankers.

The south Indian states bordering the Mughal Empire move to take advantage of the Mughal succession struggle and invade the southern Mughal Empire.

The European trading companies in India, already (since 1732) acting to maximise their profits from trade with India also use the unrest arising from the Mughal succession struggle to increase their activities.

After a long struggle and siege, British forces take control of the city of Cartagena de Indias in northern South America. [Unlike the case in the real world, where they were repelled from the city.]

British forces take control of the isthmus of Panama from the Spanish.

Indian and European warships begin patrolling the waters off southern Africa, each seeking to protect their own shipping and hinder the other.

Russian sailors discover Alyeska [Alaska] and what becomes known as the Bazhenov Strait [Bering Strait] separating it from Asia. [This occurred in 1741 in the real world.]

Russian sailors begin establishing hunting and trading posts in Alyeska to exploit the furs and other resources to be found there. As time passes new trading posts are established further and further south to exploit the resources there.

1736
By now it is clear that Bahadur Nadeem Iqbal was correct in his conclusions. The reforms of the Patriarch Nikon were erroneous. The Raskolniki movement is vastly strengthened by this. Although originally insulted by the use of the term ‘Raskolniki’, the movement now adopts it as a sign of their opposition to the falsehoods of the establishment Russian Orthodox Church.

A number of battles occur across the Mughal Empire as the sons of Ummid Akhtar struggle for the Mughal Peacock Throne. At the same time battles against the invaders from the southern Indian states also occur.

To prevent Europeans from doing the same, the Mughal Empire takes control of the Seychelles Islands.

British forces take effective control of the Caribbean, sweeping the Spanish from the seas there. [With no War of the Austrian Succession in this world Britain has more forces to devote to the Caribbean theatre.]

Gcaleka, the rightful heir to the overall chief of the Xhosa people, Phalo, dies of smallpox. [Unlike the case in the real world, where rivalry between he and his younger brother, the warrior Rharhabe, led to civil war among the Xhosa and a split of the Xhosa nation, here the Xhosa nation remains a unified entity.]

1737
Henrietta, the daughter of Charles III, marries Prince Philippe of France [a younger brother of the man who becomes King Louis XVI of France who did not exist in the real world]. As part of this she converts to Catholicism.

A Raskolniki uprising occurs in Novgorod, but is brutally crushed by the government. This only drives more people into the Raskolniki fold.

Austria joins the Russo-Ottoman War [Russo-Turkish War] on the Russian side.

At the battle of Amber, the last surviving sons of Mughal Emperor Ummid Akhtar meet in battle, and Suleiman Tabar, the second son of Ummid Akhtar defeats and kills his older brother, leaving his way to the Peacock Throne open.

With the Mughal succession struggle finally over, Suleiman Tabar ascends to the Mughal Peacock Throne.

The protests of the merchants of the Kingdom of Maratha reach the ears of the King. He quickly acts to stop this behaviour and expel the British East India Company factors. He also sends an accusatory note to the new Mughal Emperor, demanding that he ceases sanctioning this underhanded activity.

The unpopular King Augustus III of Poland is toppled by the Polish-Lithuanian nobility in the brief War of the Polish Succession [which is not the same as that in the real world]. The nobility wish a return to the old days of elected kings and the Golden Liberty. Augustus flees into exile in Saxony, of which he is also King, and what becomes known as the Second Polish-Lithuanian Republic is established.

The Spanish government sues for peace to end the Caribbean War. This is agreed in the Treaty of Lisbon. As part of the treaty agreement, Britain takes control of the poor Spanish-controlled island of Cuba.

The Dakshina Nad sets up small naval bases in Malagasia, Mataman, Ghobararazi and Giâhrarazi to protect its merchants and shipping.

Three thousand people die in an earthquake in Kolkatta [Calcutta], in the Mughal Empire.

A powerful earthquake strikes Kamchatka, in the Russian Far East.

The bright comet Gandharva [Bradley] is seen for several weeks.

1738
It becomes clear that Poland is quickly stagnating into the same political paralysis as it suffered from before Augustus II imposed a hereditary monarchy on the country, arising from fundamental problems with the old system, particularly the Liberum Veto. Despite attempts to solve this problem by some of the deputies of the Polish-Lithuanian parliament, the problems themselves prevent their being solved from within the system.

Henrietta, the daughter of Charles III of England, bears a son with Prince Philippe of France.

An uprising by Cambodian groups wishing to regain their independence and preserve their culture and way of life against Dai Ngu attempts to replace it with their own begins in the old Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and quickly spreads across the Cambodian region of Dai Ngu. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world.]

With the end of the succession struggle that has placed Suleiman Tabar on the Peacock Throne, he, on the advice of most of his government, and based on his own opinions of how the recent succession struggle that brought him to the throne was a very real danger to the Empire, puts in place new laws that define the succession to the throne of the Mughal Empire, derived from the systems in use in most European nations. These also include inputs from the Hindu and Jain bankers who have, in the past, funded the succession struggles.

The note from the Maratha King is the first that the Mughal Emperor Suleiman Tabar has heard of the underhanded activities of the European factors of the various East India Companies. Investigations quickly prove the truth and accuracy of the reports and the Mughal Emperor moves to stop the war between the Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad so that they can all join together to stop the European companies pillaging India.

Suleiman Tabar revokes the permissions of the European trading companies to trade in India and the agreements previously made with the European nations they represent. The European companies, seeing their profits and livelihoods at risk, resist all attempts to disband or expel them, without consideration of whether they are Mughals or from one of the other Indian states, turning all of India against them. As the fighting between the Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad peters out, fighting breaks out in cities across India where European companies are sited, in both the Mughal Empire and in the Dakshina Nad. What becomes known as the Factory War begins.

The Dai Ngu government suppresses the Cambodian uprising.

British colonists begin arriving in Cuba, many of them founding lucrative sugar plantations.

[With the Mughal Empire remaining strong, it is not invaded by the Persian ruler Nadir Shah in this year. Because of this the Mughal Peacock Throne remains in Delhi.]

The new Mughal succession laws prove to be successful as succeeding successions in general go far more smoothly than those before them.

Significant numbers of European company employees who think that the Factory War is a bad idea desert to the Mughal Empire or the Dakshina Nad rather than fight for their company.

As part of the Factory War, ships from the Mughal and Dakshina Nad settlements in Malagasia harass European shipping travelling to and from India.

1739
Emperor Suleiman Tabar introduces a number of reforms to the Mughal inheritance system. Primary amongst these is decoupling of the inheritance of property and position, so that inheriting one does not imply inheriting the other.

Proving that their influence is deep and far-reaching, an attempted (unsuccessful) coup against the Mughal Emperor is proved to be sponsored by the British East India Company.

As the advantages given to the European trading companies by their strong navies become clear, Captain Eric Wheatstone manages to persuade Emperor Suleiman Tabar of the necessity of a navy. He is authorised to build a small fleet of experimental ships, based on European designs. Construction begins at the port of Haldia.

The British East India Company begins building Puckle Guns, based on those possessed by their enemies.

As part of the Factory War, Denmark loses its Indian colony of Tranquebar to the forces of the Kanyakumari Pact.

In France, Anacharsis Masséna Invents the first chemical battery, capable of producing a far greater current than by electrostatic means [in the real world this was discovered by Luigi Galvani in 1786].

[Because Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, has a son, Leopold Christopher, as his heir rather than a daughter, Maria Theresa, there is no War of the Austrian Succession and Austria is not forced to withdraw from the Russo-Turkish war in 1739 when Charles VI dies as was the case in the real world.]

1740
Austria defeats the Ottoman Empire in battle and takes control of Moldavia, Walachia and the mouths of the Danube.

A Raskolniki uprising occurs in Yekaterinburg and takes control of a large area of Russia.

The first large scale use of rocket artillery, against the forces of the British East India Company, occurs as part of the Factory War.

Also as part of the Factory War, both the Mughal Empire and Kanyakumari Pact begin encouraging and supporting the nations of south-east Asia in which European powers have trading posts and colonies to throw out the Europeans.

As the Factory War continues, the Mughal Empire, like the Dakshina Nad, sets up small naval bases in Malagasia, Ghobararazi and Giâhrarazi.

With clear defeat looming, the Samoothiri of Kozhikode kills all of his female relatives in a massive gunpowder explosion while he and his male relatives make a last desperate charge at the invading forces of the French East India Company. They are all killed. [There are examples of this sort of behaviour from the real world, for example in Thanjavur at the end of the Thanjavur Nayak dynasty .]

With their ruler and his closest associates killed, the defence of Kozhikode collapses. Kozhikode quickly surrenders to the European invaders.

A number of the surviving minor nobles of Kozhikode are installed as puppet rulers by the Europeans. They have no choice but to cooperate, willingly or otherwise, with the looting of their country.

A group of Polish-Lithuanian deputies, seeing the threat that the continuing paralysis of the government poses to the Second Polish-Lithuanian Republic, gains the support of the King and imposes changes to the Commonwealth’s political system to eliminate some of these problems. Although these have to be imposed by force, in what amounts to a coup d’etat, they are imposed. The government of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic becomes a much more effective instrument, and one much more suited to the long-term survival of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Among these changes the Liberum Veto is heavily modified, and it is directed that monarchs can only be elected from within the Polish-Lithuanian population (or at least from among its nobility). The Third Polish-Lithuanian Republic is declared.

Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, dies. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II [and as a male heir averts the War of the Austrian Succession of the real world].

After a number of instances of the Mughal Empire and Kanyakumari Pact funding opposing forces in south-east Asia, they agree to present a joint front and joint funding, with no intention of taking the territory for themselves later. This is because each side does not want the other doing so unilaterally, as they believe the other will simply take that area for themselves.

Dutch traders establish a settlement on the island of Van Diemens Land [Tasmania] off the southern coast of Marege [Australia].

Merchants from the Mughal Empire establish a harbour and supply station in west Africa. This is accompanied by a small Mughal Naval base there. This comes to be known as Jangalarazi (Forest Land).

Nadir Shah conquers the Khanate of Bukhara.

The Mughal Durbar decrees that the practise of sati, the custom of widows, particularly those of the higher classes, to immolate themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands, be banned.

Ottoman swordsmith Asalah Zureiq emigrates to the Mughal Empire, bringing with him the secret of making Damascus steel. [Thus the techniques for doing so are not lost as they were in the real world.]

The attempt to eliminate sati is the latest in a long line of attempts by the Mughals to eliminate it. Instances of it do continue to occur, though the rate gradually drops over time. Despite this other Indian states continue the custom.

[Without the War of the Austrian Succession, Prussia does not come to include Silesia.]

1741
Robert, Prince of Wales, dies in a riding accident. When his father, Charles III, is informed of this the shock of the news causes him to collapse with a stroke. Three days later he dies at the age of seventy-one.

This leads to the immediate possibility that the British throne will pass to Henrietta, the daughter of Charles III, and Prince Philippe of France, both of whom are Catholics and who have a Catholic son. Many of the British Parliament and people are very unhappy at the possibility that a French Catholic is first in line for the British throne. However, she also has a good deal of British support.

Wanting a Protestant to take the throne, Parliament sends representatives to the second-best candidate (in a purely legal sense), Catherine, granddaughter of James, the Duke of York, and her husband Frederick of Denmark, and offer them the throne instead. They accept this offer.

With the crisis escalating, a Convention Parliament is called, at which Henrietta and Philippe are barred from the throne and Catherine and Frederick accepted. However, this motion is only passed by a slim majority, and the losers storm out.

Henrietta and Philippe arrive from France before Frederick and Catherine, due to the shorter distance involved. The supporters of Henrietta attempt to have her crowned in Westminster Abbey, with the reluctant, forced, blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, huge mobs of anti-Catholic demonstrators form around the Abbey. These clash with Catholic mobs who also gather at the cathedral and matters quickly degenerate into what become known as the Coronation Riots. Many rioters are killed, mostly by the bodyguards of Henrietta and Philippe who use deadly force to get them away safely.

As news spreads violence and civil unrest begins to spread across Britain. Depending on the location, this is against the supporters of Catherine or against those of Henrietta. Private armies begin to be raised, to defend themselves, or to attack.

The Archbishop of Canterbury flees Britain ahead of the rioters, narrowly avoiding several lynch mobs between London and the coast where he takes ship out of England.

With the arrival of Catherine and Frederick, their rather subdued coronation takes place in Westminster Abbey, presided over by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the pervious one having been removed from his position. A pro-Henrietta riot, rather smaller than the Coronation Riots, occurs outside the Cathedral as this takes place, and when Catherine and Frederick leave the Abbey shots are fired. Frederick is hit and badly wounded.

Henrietta flees from Britain into Scotland, where her support is strongest. The former Archbishop of Canterbury crowns them in Edinburgh Cathedral. However, no-one on the pro-Catherine side accepts the legitimacy of this coronation.

With both sides having reached a stalemate, the Treaty of Nissa ends the Russo-Ottoman War [Russo-Turkish War]. The Austrians remain in control of the mouths of the Danube, while Russia has to give up its claims to Crimea and Moldavia, and is prohibited from having any fleet in the Black Sea. [This is somewhat later than it ended in the real world, and with a somewhat different outcome.]

The first ship of the new Mughal navy, the ‘Babur’, is launched at Haldia. Although there are some teething problems, the ship and its sisters is highly successful.

A Malay uprising throws the Dutch out of Melaka.

More than a thousand people die in a tsunami caused by the eruption of Mount Oshima in Yapon [Japan].

French explorers sailing from South America discover and claim what proves to be the eastern coast of the continent of Marege [Australia]. They name this new land France Australis.

Despite a long blockade, British Naval vessels fail to expel the Mughal Empire from its settlement of Jangalarazi [in West Africa].

The Russians are not pleased to see the Austrians at the mouths of the Danube, but can do little to remove them at this time.

With the creation of navies by the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, there are protests by Hindus at the breaking of the Kala Pani, the Indian taboo of the sea, that considers that the leaving of the mainland means confronting ‘houglis’ [monsters] and also ends the reincarnation cycle for the traveller as they become cut off from the regenerating waters of the River Ganges [see here for more details].

In response to this Mughal Emperor Suleiman Tabar decrees that no Hindu must serve in the Mughal Navy.

Despite this, lower caste Hindus do come to serve on Mughal and other ships as the needs of money in order to survive overcome their religious qualms. Some Hindu priests, responding to needs of these Hindus, discretely devise a number of ways of allowing them to sail without cutting themselves off from the River Ganges. These generally consist of the sailor carrying a vial of water from the Ganges, something that maintains their link to the river and so the cycle of reincarnation. [This is not unlike the case in the real world where the British placed water from the Ganges in large cauldrons on the ships to similarly ensure the continuity of reincarnation beyond the Kala Pani, making the sea voyage less fearsome.]

It also does not prevent Hindu merchants from funding and profiting by maritime trade, even if they do not themselves sail…

1742
Each side in the English succession dispute assembles its forces to restore what they see as ‘the Right’. Clashes inevitably occur between them. Then a major battle at York. This spreads elsewhere, and Civil War breaks out. This becomes known as the War of the English Succession or the Second Civil War.

After a long illness, King Frederick of England eventually recovers from his gunshot wound, but his right arm has to be amputated.

After the success of the ‘Babur’ and its sister ships against the Europeans, several of the South Indian states also begin building ships along European lines, often with the help of European expatriates.

The Russian army finally retakes Yekaterinburg from the Raskolniki forces that have controlled it since 1740. Many thousands of those living in the area die, whether they were part of the uprising or not. Again, this suppression drives more people into the arms of the Raskolniki movement.

Spain joins the War of the English Succession, supporting the claim of Henrietta.

Mughal scientist Mirza Iskander Qureshi, while experimenting with an electrical battery, notes that an electrical discharge affects a nearby compass. He proposes a link between electricity and magnetism. [In the real world this occurred in 1820.]

The Sultanate of Johor takes control of Melaka, which is now free of Dutch control.

As news of the War of the English Succession reaches North America there are a number of clashes along the borders between the English, Spanish and French colonies there.

Dakshina Nad and Mughal Empire naval vessels bombard European settlements along the West African coast.

Despite their best efforts a combined European naval force fails to expel all Indian shipping and settlers from Giâhrarazi [in the east of southern Africa].

French astronomer Pierre Dupleix discovers a new planet, the seventh, which he names Tethys [Uranus, discovered in 1781 in the real world].

1743
After long months of fighting the forces of Queen Catherine of England prove to be able to fight in a more civilised manner, and to have more resources and better generals on their side, despite the assistance of France on the side of Henrietta. They gain more public support, with some help from the Danes, especially after the injury of Frederick. The pro-Henrietta side retain their power in Scotland, with aid from France.

Tsarina Catherine I of Russia dies [in the real world this happened in 1727, when she was 43]. She is succeeded by the daughter of Peter the Great, who becomes Empress Elizabeth I. [Thus there is no Peter II, Anna I, Anna II and Ivan VI.]

With no brothers or other appropriate relatives, Sheila Nayyar becomes the first woman to inherit the position of Mansabdar and its associated property from her father.

An uprising throws the Dutch out of Jawa [Java].

European traders find their activities greatly curtailed in Ayutthaya and Dai Ngu, with their influence now limited to trade alone.

English explorers establish a settlement on the north-eastern coast of Marege [Australia], which their Irish-descended captain names Nova Hibernia [New Ireland].

Spanish forces besiege English-controlled Gibraltar. In North America other Spanish forces invade the formerly-Spanish territory of Florida.

The long drawn out siege of Ummidabad [Walvis Bay, Namibia] fails to unseat the Mughal Empire from its settlement of Ghobararazi [in the west of southern Africa].

In the Indian-controlled regions of Marege there is no attempt to eradicate the culture of the natives. The natives are less well-treated in the European-controlled regions, leading to many natives fleeing into the Indian-controlled regions, especially once some natives become friendly with the Indians. This causes friction between different native groups.

1744
Assisted by treachery from within, Spain takes control of the rock of Gibraltar from England.

The War of the English Succession reaches a stalemate, with Catherine and Frederick having control of England, Wales and Ireland, with Henrietta and Philippe, backed by France, having control of Scotland. The financial troubles caused to Britain by the continuing Factory War in India do not help in this. A truce is agreed, and in the Treaty of Lancaster, the union of England and Scotland is dissolved, and the two nations become separate states once again. Henrietta and Philippe become Queen and King of Scotland under the Stuart Dynasty; Catherine and Frederick remain monarchs of England, Wales and Ireland under the new Oldenburg Dynasty. [With no 1707 Act of Union, England and Scotland have retained their own separate parliaments.]

As part of the Treaty of Lancaster, Spain returns control of Florida to England.

In Europe, numerous people with Indian links, and various Indian businessmen are killed, beaten or hounded by mobs as part of general public feeling against the Indian nations for being against them in the Factory War.

Mughal scientist Mirza Iskander Qureshi invents the first primitive electric motor [considerably earlier than in the real world, where it was invented by Michael Faraday in 1821]. His viewpoint, unencumbered by European ideas of electricity and magnetism as utterly separate and distinct substances which cannot be transformed from one to the other, allows him to develop this before European scientists. [This is not unlike the situation described in this article from New Scientist magazine.]

The last European-run enclave in the Mughal Empire is conquered, with great losses as the retreating Europeans pillage what they can as they go. The European factors controlling it are executed or expelled.

Although she proves a competent enough person, Sheila Nayyar is disinherited by other jealous Mansabdars from her area.

The members of the Kanyakumari Pact unify their currencies into one, to ease trade between them, forming what becomes known as the Kanyakumari Rupee. This remains distinct from the Mughal Rupee, however. With the unification of the currencies of the Dakshina Nad also comes a law permitting the free movement of labour within the Kanyakumari Pact.

An uprising expels the Dutch from the island of Samudra [Sumatra].

The Mughal Empire takes control of the Mascarene Islands from France.

The Dakshina Nad takes control of the Chagos Islands.

A combined Dakshina Nad-Mughal Empire force bombards Dutch Cape Town and badly damages the port there as part of a prolonged siege.

A bright comet is seen for several weeks.

Over time the new labour movement law in the Dakshina Nad acts to eliminate the worst excesses of the governments of its states as people begin to vote with their feet. By the present day many of the states have, out of self-interest, evolved into enlightened absolute monarchies.

Scotland receives an influx of pro-Henrietta Protestants and others who supported her for non-religious reasons. Thus Scotland, although it does suffer some religious tensions, does become reasonably tolerant. England, on the other hand, becomes very staunchly Protestant, with laws defining religious practise and belief being enacted. And so it becomes a more absolutist state than Scotland.

There is significant Danish immigration into England. Some Danish nobles are appointed to British seats left or made empty after the War of the English Succession. This causes some unrest, but care on the part of Catherine and Frederick, and a general wish to avoid further violence, avoids any significant trouble over this.

Many English Christians who are not willing to conform to the new official religious line, in particular Puritans, emigrate. Some go to Scotland. Many more go to the New World and join the long-standing Puritan settlements there. This leads to a significant Puritan population in North America.

Without Scotland England loses the Scottish engineering talent that was so useful to it in the real world, while Scotland gains it. A smaller group of Welsh and Irish engineers replace some of these, but not all of them.

Rivalry between Britain and Scotland drives an Industrial Revolution in both nations, helped, for Scotland, by foreign aid from the French. However, both of their economies are also hindered as they each have to defend against the another.

Using significant amounts of the money imported to Scotland by those who flee there, Scottish bankers become a major source of income for the new nation.

In addition to this, many Scots seeking to make money go to work abroad, sending money home and returning themselves after making their fortunes. Scots engineers in particular make good money in India, in the process greatly assisting Indian industrialisation.

Many other Scots go to French colonies in North America and elsewhere around the world and greatly assist in their development while others, almost exclusively Catholics, go to France itself.

As a result of the clashes with France and Spain during the War of the English Succession, the English colonists in North America become considerably more paranoid, militarised and defensive than they were before. They look toward England for continued protection.

Both sides begin construction of defensive fortifications along their borders with one another.

As both Dutch and Indian settlers begin to arrive in southern Africa, they inevitably encroach on the lands of the Xhosa people. Conflict and skirmishes between both sides occur, though more so with the Dutch who herd more cattle than the (often Hindu) Indians of the Mughal Empire.

Electrical technology gradually develops from this point on. However, because of the lack of a theoretical grounding to explain electromagnetism at this point, for quite some time it evolves in a gradual and erratic fashion, as an empirical engineering discipline rather than a true science.

1745
A combined European naval task force attacks Indian settlements all around the coast of Malagasia [Madagascar], damaging them severely.

The last European-run enclave in the South Indian states, in the Kingdom of Kozhikode, is conquered by an alliance of its neighbours, and the European factors controlling it executed or expelled. Again, European pillaging causes great losses as they retreat. With the defeat of the European occupiers of Kozhikode, some of the minor nobles who have been their puppet rulers of the country flee with them overseas. Others attempt to remain behind, but are all killed, along with their families, by vengeful mobs. With this, the Factory War ends.

With Scotland gaining its independence from England the Scots colonists of East Jersey (in New Jersey) attempt to gain their freedom from England and join with the new Scotland. However, the British forces in New Jersey are too strong for them and they are defeated, leading to much persecution. Many flee into the west of America, leading to a significant Scottish presence in French Canada and Louisiana, which is helped by the French and Scots getting on well during the War of the English Succession.

Rumours not entirely based in fact spread back to France from North America that, because of the French crown’s helping Protestants, particularly Huguenots, to emigrate the New World, they are doing well there. Unrest spreads across France at this ‘unfair bias towards Protestants’; others also want a government-subsided chance to go and make their fortunes in New France. The French Crown has no choice but to subsidise the emigration of non-Huguenots to North America.

Persian Emperor Nadir Shah is assassinated [much as in the real world]. As his followers all seek to take the throne for themselves, the Persian Empire falls apart into a succession struggle.

The Russian and Ottoman Empires take advantage of this to take and reclaim land from Persia respectively.

Due to its close links to France and a desire to separate itself from England, Scotland adopts the Gregorian calendar, which has been in use in the Catholic world since 1582. England remains on the older Julian calendar.

As part of the English suppression of the Scots in the New World, other religious minorities there are also persecuted. This includes the Puritans.

Many Puritans begin what becomes known as the Second Exodus into the west of North America, seeking new lives free of persecution. However, the Catholic French do not welcome them with open arms, and many of them travel on further west.

Many of those who follow the Huguenots to New France to make their fortunes find that the rumours exaggerate the fortunes of those who went there before them, and that the success of some Huguenots is due to their having a strong work ethic, rather than Crown subsidy. Because of this many of the new emigrants have a hard time starting their new lives. However, they cannot go back and so have to make the best of the opportunities they have been given in New France.

The fact that more French emigrants travel to French North America leads to the Anglo-Danish colonies on the east coast being more constrained. This results in fewer calls for independence as the inhabitants feel that they still require protection against the French.

With increased emigration from France to the New World, in the late eighteenth century the French countryside suffers much less of the overpopulation in terms of agricultural yield per capita that it did in the real world. This, combined with better harvests and more advanced technology, removes the trigger for a French Revolution of the kind that occurred in the real world.

Following the Factory War, and stinging from the damage it caused, the European trading companies seek new sources of income elsewhere in the world. Existing colonies are expanded and re-vitalised. Abandoned colonies are re-visited, re-investigated and re-settled. New ones are investigated and invested in with renewed vigour.

With no Indian colonies Britain and France have little choice but to compete more in America and Africa. In most places this colonisation of South America begins as small trading posts and grows out from there. Without the British takeover of India England and France remain roughly equivalent.

Among the Europe nations, the taking and holding of colonies in far-off places becomes a matter of national pride and prestige. Many nations declare that they shall never allow themselves to lose a colony again, regardless of the cost.

As the vast majority of European trade with China goes through south-east Asia and the Mughal Empire, who both profit from the trade by being acting as middle-men, Chinese goods in Europe become more expensive than they were in the real world at a similar time. This combined with general anti-Indian feeling in Europe leads to the end of the Mughalserie fad and there being less of a craze for Chinoiserie than in the real world. [This affects later European stylistic trends, such as the Rococo.]

Less trade with China leads to less European money flowing into China and thus less ‘need’ for measures such as the Opium Wars to break into the Chinese markets; the failure of a similar attempt in India during the Factory War also prevents such an attempt in China.

Although the Factory War has caused a European backlash against the use of spices, many Europeans and others still want them, so the trade continues. However, the price of spices in Europe rises significantly.

The fall of the Persian Empire to the succession struggle after the death of Nadir Shah partly inspires (further) reforms of the system of succession in the Mughal Empire.

Another side-effect of the Factory War is that most Hindus now consider Europeans to be unambiguously of the Untouchable caste. [In the real world the position of Europeans in the caste system is ambiguous; in this world events have made it considerably less so.]

The Factory War soon comes to be referred to by some scholars as the ‘rousing of the giant that is India’, against the irritation of the European powers who were attempting to exploit the sub-continent.

Despite the official end of the Factory War, ‘accidental’ skirmishes between European and Indian shipping, as well as between Mughal and Dakshina Nad shipping occur up and down the West African coast for years after this time.

As part of its response to the outcome of the Factory War Portugal begins to cement its claim to and control of Sierra Leone in west Africa.

English forces begin to expand and consolidate the colony of Gambia in West Africa.

Despite retaking the territory it lost to Persia, the Ottoman Empire remains weakened from the effects of fighting the Persians and the Europeans.

1746
In Europe, the expulsion of European factors from India causes a great crisis in the relevant countries. The French East India Company goes bankrupt.

There is further violence against Indian interests in Europe.

The Mughal Empire decrees that European merchants, though unpopular, are still welcome in the Mughal Empire, can still trade in the Empire, will be provided ample protection and security for any transactions, and will be levied a low custom duty, but cannot establish factories in the way that they did before, will be not be permitted to set themselves up as rulers of their own areas of the country, and European law will not apply in them. The Dakshina Nad issues a similar decree.

Reports that the Mughal Empire is taking advantage of its armies assembled for the Factory War and assembling troops on Sinhale ready for an invasion of South India cause alarm across the Kanyakumari Pact.

With all of the traditional power structure of Kozhikode destroyed, as Kozhikode recovers from the Factory War various merchants, bankers, generals and religious leader claim the right to rule the country. With no one leader accepted by all, civil war quickly breaks out.

The English and Scottish governments each begin fortifying the Anglo-Scottish border. The Scots use the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall as a basis for these in many places.

With the end of the Factory War, the Mughal Empire re-builds and expands its settlements at Jangalarazi and Giâhrarazi, while the Dakshina Nad re-establishes its settlement in Giâhrarazi. The Indian settlements in Malagasia are also rebuilt.

As a reaction against the outcome of the Factory War, women across Europe stop wearing trousers.

Because of the more numerous scientists and other natural philosophers in India and the tropical regions of the world, there is a significantly greater concentration on tropical medicine in the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad than was the case in the real world. Because of this treatments and cures for more tropical diseases are found earlier than in the real world, facilitating the colonisation of the tropics by Europeans and Indians.

1747
Kanyakumari Pact ships work to blockade Sinhale, then land troops on the island. At the same time a Pact force drives up the east coast of India seeking to take control of the ports the Mughal Empire is using to ship troops to Sinhale. Ships from both sides harass each other, and also attack targets on the Indian coast. [This all helps to lead to the development of Indian navies.]

Parveen Sarabhai becomes the second woman to inherit the Mansabdar position and property from her father. Rather more cunning than her predecessor, Sheila Nayyar (who inherited her post in 1743), she manages to retain both of these things in her own right.

Puckle Gun-equipped troops from the Maratha Kingdom prove highly effective against the Mughals. Other nations, including the Mughals, begin copying the design.

The boards of the surviving European East India companies affected by the Factory War hold a summit meeting in London. The re-taking of their Indian holdings by force is discussed, and rejected. Instead the companies turn their eyes elsewhere in the world, and begin making plans to acquire profitable territories outside India.

As the Kozhikode civil war continues the other nations of the Kanyakumari Pact send troops to protect the city of Kanyakumari itself, which lies entirely within the territory of Kozhikode. They also send emissaries to try and end the civil war, but to no avail.

Representatives of the people of the Maldive Islands request help in removing the Dutch from control of their islands.

In the Chaos surrounding the death of Nadir Shah, Turkmenistan invades and takes control of the territory of the former Khanate of Bukhara.

English settlers begin encroaching on French lands to the west of New England.

1748
Kanyakumari Pact forces push north along the east coast of India, taking control of significant amount of territory. At the same time, Pact forces in Sinhale also push the Mughals back.

Kanyakumari Pact and Mughal forces meet in battle at Assaye, and a stalemate ensues as both sides fail to gain an advantage.

A Raskolniki uprising occurs in the city of Kazan, but is brutally crushed by the government. As with earlier uprisings this only drives more people into the Raskolniki fold. However, the Raskolniki remain a group that rejects mainstream Russian society, and has many factions.

The English Royal African Company is taken over by the British East India Company, and used as a basis for its new commercial operations in Africa.

Russian explorers and surveyors enter the Mughal Empire from the north. They are welcomed as guests.

Tibetan factions rebel and kill the Chinese resident commissioner there [slightly earlier than in the real world, where this occurred in 1750]. The Tibetan rebels are defeated by a Chinese army who then install an administration headed by the Dalai Lama.

With the end of the Factory War, Portugal can no longer sustain its settlement at Macau, in China, and abandons it, although some Portuguese remain behind.

English settlers and merchants begin expanding the English colony of Guiana in South America.

By now the Raskolniki are almost a majority of the Russian population. They are made up of those who are convinced that the official Orthodox Church, and thus the Tsarina, are ruling them based on a lie. While there is little active unrest, passive unrest and non-cooperation with the forces of the crown is widespread.

As part of the Indian War, the navy of each side conducts a number of attacks on the African settlements of the other.

1749
Cut off from the rest of the Mughal Empire, the Mughal forces in Sinhale surrender to those of the Kanyakumari Pact.

A Mughal army attempts to strike across the rear of the Pact army on the east coast and cut it off. However, this strike fails. A simultaneous strike against the Maratha Kingdom on the west coast is also repulsed, and the Marathas take advantage of this to advance north and west, taking territory as they go. The training of their troops in the use of the Puckle Gun greatly helps them in this.

English doctor Frederick Warton develops the safer technique of vaccination, derived from inoculation, and uses it to begin to control smallpox instead of inoculation. [This is much earlier than in the real world, where vaccination was invented by Edward Jenner in 1796.]

Dakshina Nad forces expel the Dutch from the Maldive Islands. The new rulers of the Maldives sign the Kanyakumari Pact and become part of the Dakshina Nad.

The chaos in Persia following the death of Nadir Shah comes to an end as the chief of the Dehbokri tribe of Kurds [see also here] takes control of the Persian Empire [replacing the Zand Dynasty of the real world]. He installs a minor prince of the Safavid Dynasty as a puppet ruler under the name of Ismail III [much as the Zands did].

England begins expanding its colony in Guyana, increasing the amount of land devoted to growing sugar cane there.

French soldiers expel the encroaching English settlers from their lands in North America.

Due to its losses in the Factory War, the Dutch East India Company goes bankrupt.

The first formal agreement between Mughal traders and the Xhosa people is signed. The Mughals begin supplying the Xhosa with weapons and other useful items in return for food and minerals.

Scottish attempts to re-found their colony at Darién on the Isthmus of Panama are rebuffed by the English, who control this region.

1750
With the Mughal armies making no headway against the forces of the Kanyakumari Pact, and unrest spreading in the Mughal Empire at the damage and costs involved, the Mughal Empire opens negotiations with the Pact to end the Indian War.

Taking advantage of the disruption caused by the Indian War, the British East India Company attempts to land troops on Sinhale and take the island over, but are met with fierce local resistance.

A new leader of the Raskolniki of Russia, Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov, begins to preach militarization as the only way for the Raskolniki - and the true beliefs to which they adhere - to survive.

Dakshina Nad traders also sign an agreement with the Xhosa, much as the Mughal Empire did in the previous year.

The leading members of the Jadid Mu’tazili movement persuade the Emperor to allow them to set up the Imperial House of the Sciences. [This is the Mughal equivalent of the British Royal Society, which was established in 1660.]

The first widely-used revolver pistol is marketed by Dilip Gadkari in the Maratha Kingdom. It is based on the design of the Puckle Gun, and uses a charge of powder and a bullet in a paper tube, with the powder being ignited by a flintlock. It becomes known as the Puckle Pistol, or simply the Puckle.

European traders manage to smuggle the seeds of various spices out of Asia and back to their home countries. Grown in the tropical colonies of the European powers, many of the Asian spices successfully establish themselves outside Asia. As these new sources of spices begin to reach the markets of the world, the price of many kinds of spices drops significantly. [This is much as in the real world.]

Mysore within the Dakshina Nad takes control of the Lakshadweep Islands to prevent the Mughal Empire doing the same.

The Trinh rulers of northern Dai Ngu [Vietnam] sign treaties with China to gain assistance in their ruling of the country. Chinese military advisors and troops begin assisting the Trinh.

Because of the refugees it took in at the end of the War of the English Succession, Scotland becomes the first European nation to enshrine full religious freedom in law.

English merchants begin expanding the English settlement of Port Desire in Patagonia, seeking new trade opportunities there.

The New England government demands that their colonists be allowed to settle on the French lands from which they were expelled. This demand is rejected. In response, more English settlers, escorted by soldiers, cross the border into French territory.

As part of their attempts to build support for the new English regime, the new King and Queen fund the creation of a new Oldenburg College at each of the great universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

As time goes by the trade between the Xhosa and the Indians expands, with Indians helping the Xhosa set up industries and generally begin to raise themselves to the level of Europe and India.

During this time a number of significant improvements in agricultural techniques, leading to a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output spread across Europe, and to larger populations in the European nations that adopt them. This becomes known as the agricultural revolution.

In time this revolution and techniques derived from it also spreads to Asia, and India in particular, leading to improved productivity and larger populations there, also.

A side effect of these improvements in agricultural productivity is the freeing of people from the land, allowing them to move to the cities and provide labour for the burgeoning industries located there.

1751
The Ottoman Empire takes advantage of the poor state of Russia to invade.

The last British East India Company troops are expelled from Sinhale.

With a basis in Sikh Ideology, Gurbax Singh Saund, the third Sikh member of the Mughal Durbar successfully introduces a system of universal education across the entire Mughal Empire for everyone, against the opposition of the Hindu community. Based on the Dars-i-Faridiya curriculum of 1702 it provides pupils with a basic knowledge of grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, logic, scholasticism, religious studies (covering all the major religions of the Mughal Empire), mathematics, history and natural sciences.

Gangotri Mohan Sharma becomes the first woman to be selected as a member of the Mughal Durbar.

After long negotiations, the Treaty of Kandy is signed. This ends the Indian War and returns Sinhale to the control of the Kingdom of Kandy. The losses of the Mughal Empire are acknowledged, and the Kanyakumari Pact gains all of the territory it has taken, including, for the Marathas, the former states of Berar and Bidar. The Mughals are very unhappy at this result, but given the defeats they suffered have little choice but to accept them.

The Mughal Empire takes control of the Andaman Islands to prevent the Dakshina Nad doing the same.

An attempt by the Dai Ngu government to take more Cambodian territory and further impose their culture across all of Dai Ngu sparks a Cambodian uprising. [This occurred in 1755 in the real world.]

In the neighbouring nations of Mysore and Thanjavur, elements of the governments begin talking of invading Kozhikode to end the civil war and restore order, by dividing the country between them.

French and New England troops clash on French land in North America. With neither side willing to give up their claims, war is declared. What becomes known as the New England War begins. [This is roughly equivalent to the French and Indian War of the real world, but rather earlier due to increased French colonisation of North America.]

1752
Some of the Puritans of the Second Exodus reach the Pacific Ocean, an area free of French influence, and begin construction of a new settlement there, which they name Deliverance [on the site of Seattle in the real world]. As news of this settlement spreads, other Puritans join them. The local natives are either converted to Christianity or driven away, as are other non-Puritans who attempt to settle in the area.

Mughal inventor Tanushree Kant Sahay develops a machine for automatically spinning cotton and other fibres into thread [equivalent to the Spinning Jenny], greatly increasing the amount of thread that can be produced in a day. [This was invented in 1769 in the real world.]

In the Mughal Empire, following on from the experiences of the recent wars, there are some reorganisations in the government:

The office of the Mir Bakhshi is reorganised to ensure that the Mir Bakhshi only controls purely military affairs (which was previously not the case, due to the organization of the Mughal civil services along military lines).
At the same time the three overall categories of Mansabdar (Officers, Nobles and Grandees) are unified into a single group, known simply as Mansabdars, with freedom to move between them all without limit based on merit alone rather than individuals being limited by the class into which they were born.
In a related change, the Mughal military is unified into a single organisation under the central command of the Mir Bakhshi, and all soldiers become employees of the state. The other three classes of soldier, those supplied by the Mansabdars, the Ahadis (‘gentleman troopers’), and the tribal chiefs who retained varying degrees of autonomy, are subsumed into the new structure. As another part of these reforms, uniforms are issued, strict discipline introduced, and an integrated command structure, based on European models, introduced.
Lastly the Jagir system of providing land grants to state officials in place of pay is abolished, with current holders allowed to either buy their Jagir or accept a salary from the Empire in its place.
Scotsman Basil MacGillivray invents the first clock accurate enough to allow the accurate measurement of longitude, and so to be used for accurate navigation at sea and elsewhere. [This is earlier than in the real world, where this was invented by John Harrison in 1761.]

As news of developments in Mysore and Thanjavur reaches Kozhikode, the Civil War there slows as the warlords of Kozhikode look to their defences from external as well as internal threats, but it does not stop.

Again using its previous claims to lands it has settled in South America, French merchants, backed by their government, re-establish the French colony of France Antarctique [Rio de Janeiro] in South America, from which the French were expelled by the Portuguese in 1567.

Seeing themselves at risk from New England invaders, large numbers of French volunteers travel to fight the invaders. With this assistance the French army is able to expel the New Englanders and advance into New England itself.

[Without the French in India to encourage them, the southern Pegu region does not rebel against the ruling Ava dynasty and region (both in real world Burma). The Ava state is not weakened to breaking point, and the Restored Toungoo Dynasty remains in power.]

Although there are a great many teething problems, as the reforms of the Mughal military settle into place, it becomes a much stronger and more effective force.

The MacGillivray Clock is soon copied by others around the world, greatly assisting in navigation of all kinds.

The idea of the spinning machine spreads to other places where there is a large textile industry, such as Britain, and begins to find wide usage around the world.

1753
The Mughal Empire and the Kanyakumari Pact ban ships of the British East India Company from the waters around India on pain of sinking.

In Kozhikode, female general Kamala Sarabhai manages to persuade the leaders of all of the major factions in Kozhikode to meet in the city of Kozhikode itself. After long discussions she further persuades them that they must band together for the defence of Kozhikode, otherwise everyone will lose as the country is taken over and split up by Mysore and Thanjavur. However, the various factions cannot agree on who should rule Kozhikode, and how.

In order to cope with dissent and other political problems the new Scottish government re-opens the infamous political prison on the Bass Rock.

In North America, the Puritans name their new land on the Pacific coast the New Commonwealth of North America.

Mughal and Dakshina Nad navy vessels stationed in Malagasia, Ghobararazi and Giâhrarazi help to enforce the ban on British East India Company shipping entering the Indian Ocean.

A number of skirmishes occur between European and Indian shipping up and down the coast of West Africa. This leads to increasing naval development on both sides, and to both sides setting up navel bases in what they consider to be important locations to protect their merchants and trade.

1754
The Russian Empire is forced to sign the Treaty of Sevastopol, ending the war with Ottoman Empire and handing over significant territory on the north coast of the Black Sea to them.

The first British East India Company ship to defy the ban on entering Indian waters is sunk by ships of the navy of Mysore. It is not the last.

After a considerable stalemate, Cosme Calderón de Molina, a Spanish commander working for one of the Kozhikode warlords, suggests that a ruling assembly with the number of votes for each member given by the amount of money possessed by each of them would be the best compromise. After long debate this idea is accepted over others that are made. The new Kozhikode Assembly is formed, based on a Great Charter much like that used in founding a major company, and the state of Pudhiya Kozhikode (New Kozhikode) declared. The richest person in Pudhiya Kozhikode is declared the Samoothiri, the head of state, with the position being reviewed every year.

Elements of the Mughal nobility, unhappy with the conduct of the war and the loss of territory, as well as the reforms imposed by the Emperor, attempt a coup to install a more traditional and militarily-inclined emperor. Lacking wide support, the coup plot is betrayed and the plotters arrested, with some of them being executed and others exiled.

In response to the Trinh alliance with China, the Nguyen Lords of southern Dai Ngu ally themselves with both the Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad. Using assistance from their new allies they begin improving and enlarging their military.

The Cambodian uprising is ended by the government of Dai Ngu when it agrees not to attempt to further eradicate Cambodian culture.

Despite this agreement, the government of Dai Ngu does gradually impose more and more restrictions on Cambodian culture and language as time goes by.

In response to the signing of the Treaty of Sevastopol uprisings and unrest occur across Russia, increasing numbers of them organised or assisted by the forces of Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov. This continues for years despite increasingly brutal attempts by the government to suppress it.

The review of wealth every year by the government of Pudhiya Kozhikode also leads to a remarkably open system of finances in Pudhiya Kozhikode as, for many of the rich, the desire for power overrides their desire to keep their finances a secret.

1755
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is destroyed in a powerful earthquake that kills some sixty thousand people.

The Dakshina Nad takes over the lease for the former Portuguese settlement of Macau, in China.

The first electrical telegraph system is invented by Thomas Drebbel in the Netherlands. [This completely bypasses the development of the optical telegraph.]

Mughal Emperor Suleiman Tabar dies of old age. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Iziad Bakhsh, in a succession made peaceful by the succession laws enacted by Suleiman Tabar when he came to the throne in 1739.

Using its previous claims to lands it has settled in South America, French colonists begin to expand their settlement in France Équinoxiale [French Guiana] southwards towards the sites where the previous attempts to found a France Équinoxiale were aborted by Portuguese military action.

The New England government offers a settlement to the French to end the New England War.

The first permanent Russian settlement is founded in Alyeska [earlier than in the real world].

Both accidentally and deliberately non-native species are released into Marege [Australia] by traders and visitors from Europe, India and elsewhere. Some of these enjoy massive population explosions as they expand into the new lands of Marege, causing devastation to the native ecology [much as happened in the real world, particularly with rabbits].

1756
Kareena Goswami becomes the first woman to join the Mughal Imperial House of the Sciences.

With help from the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, and in some cases yielding to pressure from them, the states of the south east Asia and the East Indies [Indonesia] demand that the various European nations who have taken control of parts of their lands leave.

Some of the European outposts grudgingly comply. Others refuse.

A number of foreigners with money begin to take seats in the Pudhiya Kozhikode Assembly.

The New England War ends with New England losing some of its border regions with French, and with the border between the two nations being officially defined ‘in perpetuity’.

After the New England War, to help with the military and political coordination of the English colonies adjoining Canada-Louisiana, all of the English colonies in North America are merged into the Dominion of New England, despite protests from them all.

1757
The southern Pegu region [of real world Burma] rebels against the ruling Restored Toungoo Dynasty. [This is later than in the real world.] Unable to maintain control, the Restored Toungoo Dynasty falls and the Bama [Burma] region descends into civil war.

Mughal traders and settlers from Jangalarazi in Africa begin to impinge upon the territory of the Ashantee people.

1758
Indian inventor Kulbhushan Kant Sahay develops a machine to separate cotton fibres from cotton seeds and seed pods [this is equivalent to the Cotton Gin. Coming into use in India, this begins to revolutionise the Indian textile industry as it massively increases the quantity of cotton that can be processed in a day. This was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 in the real world.]

The Restored Toungoo Dynasty of Bama [Burma] is replaced by the new Alaungpaya Dynasty [which is not the same as the Konbaung Dynasty of the real world].

What becomes known as the First Anglo-Scottish War begins after raids across the Anglo-Scottish border from Scotland over alleged border infractions result in English troops invading Scottish soil.

Seeing that their country could be ‘bought out’ by rich foreigners, the members of the Pudhiya Kozhikode Assembly vote to expel all foreign members, and rule that only natives of the country may take part in ruling it.

Halley’s Comet reappears, in accordance with predictions made by Halley in 1705.

With help from the Indian nations, all of the European settlements in south-east Asia are conquered by the local governments, and their European governors ejected, in some cases with great loss of life.

1759
The storming of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Monastery in Sergiev Posad near Moscow after it is taken over by Raskolniki ends with great loss of life and the destruction of much of the town. As news of this spreads, it triggers an uprising of Raskolniki in Moscow, led by Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov. As the Russian government tries to suppress it, the uprising only spreads. Elements of the Russian army mutiny against their leaders and join the Raskolniki. Russia begins to dissolve into civil war and revolution.

With increasing trade between India and Europe, both regions seek a way to facilitate travel between the two areas. The Suez, between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, is an obvious location for a canal. The Mughal, British and French Empires pressure and persuade the Ottoman Empire to allow construction to begin on a canal across Suez to facilitate shipping. This will follow the route of the ancient Suez Canal, linking the River Nile with the Red Sea.

With the expulsion of the Dutch from Melaka, the Sultanate of Johor takes advantage of the weakness of the newly freed Sultanate and quickly takes over this prime trading location on the Straits of Melaka.

Skirmishes between Mughal and Ashantee forces along their mutual border lead to heavy losses for the Ashantee, in terms of both troops and territory.

By this point the number of European émigrés in India is such that they have almost become a self-sustaining class of their own. This makes it significantly harder for new European émigrés to succeed there. Because of this Europeans begin going elsewhere to seek their fortunes, to South-East Asia, the East Indies, the Middle East, and Africa. At the same time and for similar reasons Indian expatriates, fortune seekers and so on begin going to the nations adjoining India to make their fortunes, and in the process help them to advance too.

The Ottoman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Austria and Sweden take advantage of the Russian Revolution to invade Russia with the intention of taking territory.

The Ukraine breaks free of Russian control.

Because of the unrest and turmoil arising from the Russian Revolution, forces from the Khanates of Central Asia raid freely into Russia.

Wishing to encourage trade within the Empire as much as possible, Mughal Emperor Iziad Bakhsh abolishes all tolls and duties inside the Empire itself.

Mughal inventor Faiz Ahmed Khan invents a system of signalling for use with the electrical telegraph that becomes widely adopted around the world under the name of the Khan Code. [This is the equivalent of Morse Code in this world.]

The navies of the various states of the Dakshina Nad unify into a single force. This greatly increases their strength, coordination and effectiveness.

The First Anglo-Scottish War ends with little advantage gained on either side.

The English administrators of the Guinea colony in Africa, adjacent to the Ashantee and Jangalarazi, offers military and financial aid to the Ashantee against the Mughals.

Fakhrunissa Begum, one of the daughters of Mughal Emperor Iziad Bakhsh, uses her influence to set up a number of girls schools across the Mughal Empire. Intended to provide the female of children of the poor with an education to help them in life, they teach a modified version of the Dars-i-Faridiya curriculum of 1702, which Fakhrunissa Begum names the Dars-i-Jahanara, after Princess Jahanara Begum, the sister of Mughal Emperor Shah Buland Iqbal [Dara Shikoh].

Another Great Comet appears.

[Because of the ongoing Bama Civil War, Bama does not unsuccessfully attack Ayutthaya in this year.]

A rumour that gypsies are spies and secret agents for the Mughals (based on their swarthy looks, outsider status and so on) begins to circulate in Europe during this time. Although totally lacking in evidence, and playing to the prejudices of bigots across Europe, this leads to a great deal of pogroms and violence against them, now and at different points down the years.

1761
Despite the best attempts of the northern Alaungpaya Dynasty, it is unable to regain control over the southern Pegu region. The Bama Civil War ends with the region split into two nations, Ava and Pegu.

Measurements taken around the world during the transit of Venus by European and Indian scientists allow the distance of the Earth to the Sun, and thus also other distances in the Solar System, to be measured more accurately than ever before.

1762
With English help the Ashantee force back the Mughals from most of the territory they had taken.

Comet Tautou [Kinkenberg] is seen.

[With Scotland an independent nation, there are no Highland or Lowland Clearances there.]

1763
With the Dehbokri strong enough to do so, in Persia the puppet Safavid Emperor Ismail III is forced to abdicate, to be replaced by the chief of the Dehbokri tribe of Kurds, who declares the creation of the new Dehbokri Dynasty [which replaces the Zand Dynasty who ruled there in the real world].

1764
English merchants begin expanding their trading posts and colonies in Central America, in particular working to secure a significant percentage of trade across the Isthmus of Panama. As part of their drive to expand their colonial holdings, English forces also advance inland from the English colonies of Belize and the Mosquito Coast.

Inventor Anton Swammerdam in the Netherlands develops a new and more efficient type of steam engine [equivalent to the 1765 design of James Watt. This finds wide application across the world.

Hindu priest and scholar Deepak Radhakrishnan travels to Marege Australia] to study and learn from the beliefs of the natives there.

1765
The Raskolniki armies defeat the last major Loyalist army at the Battle of Shcherbinka, close to Moscow. Although small Loyalist forces remain, the Raskolnioki are free to take control of Moscow and the other major cities of Russia. This they do. In the process, the Tsarina, Elizabeth I, is captured.

The young Ivan, son of Anna, the older sister of Elizabeth I, is placed on the throne by the Raskolniki government as the new Tsar Ivan VI, while the former Tsarina Elizabeth I is exiled to a remote nunnery. [Ivan VI is the person who in the real world became the Emperor Ivan VI at the age of one, and who here has a very different life.] Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov becomes the new religious leader of all Russians.

Russians fleeing the Revolution there sail east around North America and land south of the New Commonwealth of North America, taking control of the few Russian trading posts there and establishing permanent Russian settlements in the area. Initially known as ‘Noviiy Russiya’ (New Russia), the country soon takes on the name for the country claimed by Englishman Francis Drake during his circumnavigation of the globe in the late sixteenth century - Novo Albion.

[With the Bama region remaining split between Ava and Pegu, the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Ayutthaya Thailand] is not invaded by two Burmese armies, and destroyed by them in 1767. Thus the Ayutthaya Kingdom continues to exist and the city of Ayutthaya is not destroyed and remains the capital of the country. As a result the country is not reduced to chaos and the art treasures of Ayutthaya, the libraries containing its literature, and the archives housing its historic records are not destroyed as they were in the real world.

[With the Russian Revolution and the Raskolniki government taking power the Russian throne is occupied by very different people from this point. Among other changes there is no Catherine the Great in this world.]

1766
The former Russian Tsarina, Elizabeth I, dies in the remote nunnery to which she was recently exiled.

The Suez Canal is completed between the Red Sea and the River Nile, allowing shipping to travel from India to and from Europe without having to go around all of Africa. [This has been done more quickly than the Suez Canal of the real world, as it uses a shorter route.]

The first successful underwater telegraph cable is laid between the mainland of the Dakshina Nad and the island of Sinhale [Sri Lanka].

Nepal is unified into a single state. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world.]

The Kingdom of Ayutthaya, wishing to improve its trade through south east Asia, makes a number of demands of the Sultanate of Johor, in particular relating to trading and port facilities in Melaka. These are rejected.

With the opening of the Suez Canal and the easing of travel to India that it brings, European émigrés to India begin returning to Europe in greater and greater numbers, some simply to retire to their homelands, others to restart their lives in Europe with their new wealth. As their numbers increase, these returnees become known as Nabobs.

1767
Grand Duke Pavel Konstantinovich Romanov, the highest-ranking Russian noble to escape the Russian Revolution to Novo Albion, grandly declares himself Tsar of Novo Albion (at this point little more than a few small towns hacked from the wilderness), and of all of Russia.

1768
The Sultanate of Johor begins to expand north from Melaka, taking over the small city-states there despite protests from Ayutthaya.

English forces clash with those of Spain in Central America.

1769
The forces of the Sultanate of Johor clash with those of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya over territory in the Malay Peninsula. With neither side willing to back down, what becomes known as the Malay War begins.

Mughal inventor Narayanrao Amitraghata develops the first powered loom, greatly speeding the production of fabrics of all kinds. [This was invented in 1784 in the real world.] However, it is some time before the power loom achieves its full potential.

In Mysore, Bettada Dayananda mounts a Swammerdam-type steam engine onto a wheeled framework, producing the first steam-powered vehicle in the world. [This is similar to the steam wagon of Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot of the real world.]

Further results obtained during the transit of Venus in this year refine the measurement of the distance from the Earth to the Sun still further.

The bright comet Helidon [Messier] is seen for several months.

The development of various machines allowing mechanised textile production in India allow the Indian textile industry to remain competitive and Indian textiles to continue to dominate world markets [unlike the real world, where the East India Company imposed de-industrialisation on India and this combined with British steam power in the 1770s demolished the market for Indian textiles].

It also drives people into the cities, not without unrest, and into factories and so on there. This occurs on a larger scale than in Europe.

Steam wagons based on the design of Bettada Dayananda begin to find use around the world. However, in many places, they are not cheap, versatile or reliable enough to replace working animals, particularly elephants.

1770
The Russian military defeats the last foreign army on Russian soil, forcing them back to the old pre-Revolutionary borders. However, with the assistance, covert and otherwise, of the other European powers, the Ukrainians manage to maintain their independence from Russia. Several punitive expeditions into the Central Asian Khanates are mounted, causing significant damage to some of them.

The new Svyatyishiye Rossiyaskaya Empyeriya (Holy Russian Empire; SRE, or CPE in Cyrillic) is declared. [This is an Old Believer state.] The Capital of the Holy Russian Empire is moved from St. Petersburg back to Moscow.

As the Raskolniki government begins to impose its rule on Russia, the Russian feudal system is eliminated, and the institution of serfdom abolished. The ‘reforms’ of the Patriarch Nikon are officially reversed.

The Loyalist Russian nobility is heavily purged. Many flee abroad.

Mughal Emperor Iziad Bakhsh dies of old age. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Shah Babur II.

Naeim ben Nahman becomes the first Jew to be selected as a member of the Mughal Durbar.

The term ‘Second Islamic Golden Age’ is used for the first time to refer to the period of continuing Mughal ascendancy. [The First Islamic Golden Age being from 750 to 1200 AD.]

After a long period of weakening royal authority, the Solomonic Dynasty of Abyssinia is overthrown and the country descends into civil war, with various factions seeking to put a figurehead emperor on the throne. [This is much the same as in the real world.]

The Trinh rulers of northern Dai Ngu [Vietnam] declare war on the Nguyen Lords of the south, seeing them as a great threat to their own power. In response the Nguyen Lords invade Trinh territory.

Conservative elements among the Ashantee, concerned at the increasing English influence in the country, open secret negotiations with the Mughals for help against the English.

Clashes between fishing fleets in the North Sea lead to diplomatic exchanges, in which the Scottish are supported by the French. With no resolution, this leads to the declaration of what becomes known as the Second Anglo-Scottish War.

Comet Hallström [Lexell] is seen for several weeks.

With the victory of the Revolutionary forces in Russia, many refugees and self-imposed exiles flee the country, into Europe, the Muslim states or, when they can, to Novo Albion.

Following the Russian Revolution and the imposition of the new theocratic Raskolniki Russian government, the Russian Orthodox Church begins sending large numbers of missionaries out of Russia to all of the nations of the world. This includes increased numbers of missionaries to China, reinforcing the small numbers of Russian Orthodox Christians living in the northern regions of China.

The new Raskolniki government also begins using the old Tsarist Katorga system of penal servitude to deal with its own political and religious dissidents, while releasing many of those imprisoned by the old regime. As part of this a new agency, the Office of Contemplation, is set up to monitor the people of the Holy Russian Empire and weed out disloyalty and unbelief.

Novo Albion has to impose and enforce strict rationing as the influx of population strains its resources to the limit.

The government of Novo Albion rejects a suggestion that their nation is renamed to be Noviiy Russiya (New Russia) or Rossiya Poistine (True Russia).

Over time the increased number of Russian Orthodox missionaries in China leads to increased numbers of Chinese converts to Russian Orthodox Christianity [far more than in the real world, where by 1860 there were not more than two hundred Russian Orthodox Christians in Beijing, including the descendants of naturalized Russians].

With help from both the English and Mughals, and funded by their native resources, the Ashantee manage to establish a balance between the European and Indian powers, and in the process guarantee their independence.

Over time several other Africa nations follow the Ashantee example and are able to balance the various powers against one another and maintain their independence.

1771
New Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II has long wished to reverse the defeat his father suffered against the Kanyakumari Pact, and invades the Pact territories with the intention of taking control of all of the land lost in the Treaty of Kandy, and more. What becomes known as the Second Indian War begins.

Seeking help to defend themselves against the Russians, several of the Central Asian Khanates send envoys to the Mughal Empire, seeking assistance. Being aware that Russia might, in time, become a threat to them, but also involved in the new invasions of the Kanyakumari Pact, the Mughals offer some limited help, though not enough to spark open war between themselves and Russia.

Jagdish Susruta, a gadget-loving Mughal Mansabdar, begins using a steam-powered carriage as his personal transportation. Others soon copy his idea.

The alliance of the Nguyen Lords with the Mughal Empire proves to have been the better decision than that of the Trinh to ally with China, as their weapons, tactics and training proves superior to those of the army of the Trinh, who suffer defeat after defeat.

In the Malay War, Ayutthaya inflicts a crushing defeat on the Sultanate of Johor at the Battle of Arau. Ayutthayan forces push southwards down the Malay Peninsula.

Another Great Comet appears.

As the numbers of Nabobs returning from India to Europe and the wealth they bring increases, they begin to be perceived as a danger by some elements of European society, with their strange Oriental ideas and ways, and their fortunes allowing them to buy what they will and to influence the government. This is not helped by the fact that, because of the expulsion of the European trading companies from India during the Factory War, they are seen as having made their money in ways that may have actively worked against their home nations.

Some Nabobs, who had converted to Islam in India, are ‘fair weather’ converts and convert back to Christianity upon returning to Europe. Others were more serious in their conversions, leading to the spread of Islam and other Indian religions in Europe, as well as of Indian-inspired architecture.

Some of the Nabobs who return from India to Europe bring with them ideas from Indian mysticism, which are adopted by some Europeans, sometimes in concert with the ideas of Christianity, and sometimes independently.

1772
As part of the Second Indian War the Dakshina Nad takes control of the Mascarene Islands from the Mughal Empire.

After some Mughal successes, the Second Indian War becomes bogged down in a stalemate. The first trench warfare develops on some fronts as repeating guns of various kinds prove their effectiveness.

Despite the help of the Bugis and Minangkabaus peoples (the latter from western Samudra [Sumatra]), the Sultanate of Johor is expelled from the Malay Peninsula, leaving only its territories on the island of Samudra, centred on the city of Riau, and the islands between Samudra and the Malay Peninsula.

After years of reasonably amicable relations between the Xhosa and the Mughals in Giâhrarazi both sides agree to a formal alliance.

Ash flows from the eruption of Mount Papandayan in Jawa [Java] kill three thousand people.

As the French colonies of France Antarctique and France Équinoxiale expand, they inevitably come into conflict with the Portuguese colonists in Braseal [Brazil], the Dutch in Suriname and the English in Guinea.

Comet Avadhani [Biela] is seen.

As the long-running skirmishes between European and Indian shipping in West African waters continue and intensify, calls for war begin to be made in both the European and Indian nations.

1773
In the Treaty of Visakhapatnam the Second Indian War ends with the Mughal Empire having gained some territory, but nowhere near what it lost before.

Russian colonists begin moving into Uzbekistan from the north.

With the army of the Nguyen Lords besieging their capital city of Dong Kinh [Hanoi], the Trinh rulers of northern Dai Ngu appeal to the Manchu Emperor for help. The Emperor sends a large army to aid the Trinh.

The first race between the steam carriages of two rival Mansabdars occurs just outside Delhi.

In Kozhikode, a person appears claiming to be Tinayancheri Raja, a distant if legitimate heir to the throne from the old royal family, long thought dead during the factory war. Many supporters rally to him, but the new government resists his attempts to reclaim the throne. Civil War breaks out.

Continuing clashes between English and Spanish forces in Central America lead to what becomes known as the Mosquito War being declared.

Another Great Comet appears.

As the Mughal and Dakshina Nad navies mature, and gain status and distinctions as positions in which fame and fortune can be earned quite as well as they can be in (for example) the army, higher caste Hindus begin pushing for the chance of maritime service, but in way that, in particular, avoids their falling foul of the Kala Pani [the Hindu taboo of the sea] and allows them to continue their reincarnation cycle.

1774
Mughal forces discover the Russian colonists in what they consider to be their lands. The colonists are given the choice of joining the Empire or leaving. Some join the Empire, but most pack up and go.

The first European race between steam carriages occurs just outside Paris, funded by the gambling wants of rich dandies.

At the Battle of Dong Kinh [Hanoi] the army of the Nguyen Lords inflicts a crushing defeat on the Chinese army, who are greatly inferior in both equipment and tactics. Dong Kinh falls to the Nguyen Lords. The Chinese retreat, many of the Trinh and their supporters going with them. The Nguyen Lords now control all of Dai Ngu. [Unlike the case in the real world, the Nguyen Lords do not fall in the 1780s remain in power to the present day.]

Shortly before the signing of the Xhosa-Mughal alliance, the Mughal Ambassador, Shekhar Ahlawat, falls ill with Malaria, and is forced to remain in his sickbed. In his place his second, a young and naïve Hindu noble, Ganapathi Tarkalankara, attends the signing ceremony. However, part of the ceremony consists of the sacrifice of a cow to honour the Xhosa ancestral spirits. Ganapathi Tarkalankara, who is not expecting this, is sick and ill, and leaves the ceremony before the signing occurs, gravely offending the Xhosa.

Portuguese troops attempt to expel the French from France Antarctique and France Équinoxiale, but are repulsed by the French defenders.

After both sides lose significant numbers of fishing boats, both sides agree to define and abide by their respective fishing grounds. With this, the Second Anglo-Scottish War ends.

The first steam engine works in Ashantee opens with assistance from French engineers.

Despite the defeat their army suffered at the hands of the Nguyen Lords, the Chinese do not learn any lessons from the Battle of Dong Kinh.

The demands of both Indians and Europeans for faster steam carriages to provide more exciting and dangerous races drives a number of advances in steam vehicle technology, even though the cost of the vehicles themselves places them outside the reach of anyone other than the rich.

Over time the Ashantee are able to gain assistance from various powers to industrialise and advance.

1775
When news of the expulsion of their colonists reaches Moscow, the Raskolniki government sends in more colonists, this time with soldiers to protect them.

Despite the best efforts of Ambassador Shekhar Ahlawat, the Xhosa opinion of the Mughals, and Indians generally, has been shifted to a much more negative one by the incident at the abortive signing, and they withdraw from the whole idea of a Mughal-Xhosa alliance.

As the Abyssinian civil war drags on, Abyssinian envoys travel to Europe and India to seek help for their respective candidates for the Abyssinian throne, without surrendering the country to an outside power.

The first economically viable electric motor is built by Subramanya Krishnakumar in Thanjavur. [This is sooner than in the real world. However, due to the extra effort going into electrical technology, steam engines are developed at about the same pace as in the real world, when it does eventually becomes clear that independent engines such as steam engines are necessary for some things.]

Portugal complains to Pope Urban VIII regarding the French incursions into the territory granted to them in the Treaty of Tordesillas, which they claim is undermining the authority of the Pope.

After long years of study, Hindu priest and scholar Deepak Radhakrishnan links the beliefs of the natives of Marege and those of Hinduism in his book ‘On the Holy Race of Marege’, concluding that each is a version of the other. This, in combination with the long-standing belief amongst many Indians that the Maregian natives are a race of Sadhus [holy men] leads to even greater respect and understanding for the natives on the part of the Indian settlers there. [There are certainly enough Hindu and native deities for similarities to be drawn if one works at it…]

The Holy Russian Empire constructs the first Katorga prison camp in Alyeska [Alaska], to which prisoners from the Empire are condemned.

At the urging of the Mughal government, a number of senior Hindu priests convene in the holy city of Varanasi to consider the problem of the Kala Pani [the Hindu taboo of the sea]. After some considerable time spent deliberating, the priests collectively determine the correct practises and rituals to allow Hindus (and in particular higher-caste Hindus) to sail the open sea without breaking their reincarnation cycle. These are largely based on those that have been unofficially used by lower-caste Hindu sailors for some time, and in particular include the maintenance of the link to the River Ganges by the carrying of vials of water from the Ganges. With the ending of the priestly deliberations, and despite the objections of conservative Hindus, Hindus of all castes begin to take a full part in the maritime activities of the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad.

Electric motors begin to be used to run textile-making machinery, particularly in India.

As trade between India (both the Mughal Empire and the south Indian states) and the south-east Asian states grows, despite official Chinese disdain for anything from the outside world, modern technology begins creeping into China from the south. Even if not officially sanctioned, this transfer of technology leads to closer ties between elements of Chinese society and the outside world.

This technological creep persuades some southern Chinese, and more importantly some of the nobility there, that things and ideas from outside China can be of value, even though the Emperor and the northern Chinese establishment do not think so. This change of opinion stimulates two-way trade across the Chinese border, so money flows in both directions, helping to equalise trade between China and the outside world to some extent.

As time passes other Katorgas are soon constructed in Alyeska [Alaska], in the process helping to develop Alyeska [more than in the real world].

Although the solution to the problem of the Kala Pani initially meets with resistance from more conservative Hindus, by the present day it is accepted by all but the most extremely conservative members of the faith.

1776
With its supply problems finally solved, Novo Albion finally relaxes its rationing system.

Hoping to be able to compete with the Indian textile industry, Huguenot Raymonde Widor living in French Louisiana in North America invents a type of weaving loom controlled by punched cards, allowing even amateur weavers to weave complex designs [this is equivalent to the Jacquard Loom].

Again, Mughal forces discover the Russian colonists in Uzbekistan, but this time the soldiers with them prevent their easy expulsion.

The Dutch approach the Xhosa with an offer of an alliance to replace that with the Mughals. They offer training, concessions and land to the Xhosa in return for their services as soldiers.

Seeking to form links to the middle east, the Dakshina Nad offers assistance to the Abyssinian faction supporting the restoration of a strong Solomonic Dynasty under Sahle Krestos.

The first commercially viable electrical generator goes on the market in the Mughal Empire. From there it quickly spreads around the world.

Spanish forces advance from South America and Mexico in an attempt to expel the English from Central America.

Pressurised by France, Pope Urban VIII refuses to consider the Portuguese claims regarding French incursions into South America.

1777
Sikh member of the Mughal Durbar Bhagat Gurdit Singh pushes for the abolition of slavery and debt bondage in the Mughal Empire, on both moral and religious grounds. At the same time a Sikh-led campaign for the abolishment of slavery is initiated across the Mughal Empire.

Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II launches a new war against the Kanyakumari Pact, seeking to take more South Indian territory. This becomes known as the Third Indian War.

A Mughal army moves to expel the Russian colonists from Uzbekistan.

Clashes occur in Central Asia between Russian and Mughal troops. In several decisive battles, the Mughals defeat and drive off the Russian troops and the colonists they are there to protect. This is largely because the Mughals are operating closer to home, and the Russian military is very out of date. However, the defeat is blamed on the incompetence of the Russian officers in command, and nothing is done to correct the glaring deficiencies in the Russian military itself.

Portuguese forces move to expel the French colonists from France Équinoxiale and France Antarctique even without Papal support. However, the French have anticipated this, and are able to repel the attacks.

The first use of a windmill to generate electricity occurs in Thanjavur. From there the use of wind turbines spreads across the world.

With the assistance of troops paid for by loans from the Dakshina Nad, the Abyssinian faction under Sahle Krestos attempts to take control of the entirety of Abyssinia.

English forces defeat those of Spain in the Battle of Belize.

The first combination of wind generator with battery is used to smooth the electrical power supply in Golconda.

The first use of a watermill to generate electricity occurs in the Maratha Kingdom. From this small start the use of hydroelectricity spreads across the world.

In France, several of the more profligate and flamboyant Nabobs, ones who have converted to Islam, are denounced as Apostates by the Catholic Church.

A number of Islamic Nabobs in various European countries attempt to have elements of Islamic law introduced into the legal systems of their home nations. All of these attempts are defeated, as are other later attempts to do the same.

Other such Nabobs elsewhere in Europe are also denounced by the churches of their respective countries.

There is a proliferation of small wind turbines and hydroelectric power generators all across India and spreading from there to the rest of the world. These power small-scale electrical machinery, with larger ones powering larger facilities, such as the karkhanas, the state- and privately-run industrial concerns of the Mughal Empire.

Initially there are no power grids, but instead small local generators and consumers of electricity. Small local power grids quickly develop as people link their generators to smooth out variations across the grid as a whole. These are initially direct current grids, with all the problems that this entails for long-range transmission of power.

Further groups of Russian soldiers and colonists are unceremoniously ejected from Central Asia by the Mughals.

Several Russian military expeditions into Central Asia are ejected by the Mughals. The true reasons for this do not reach the high levels of the Russian military or government.

As the Mughal and Russian Empires begin to compete for territory and influence in Central Asia, a complex web of alliances, diplomacy, espionage, exploration and money begins to form among the various nations of that region. This soon becomes known as the ‘Great Game’ [very much analogous to the Great Game of the real world, though between the Mughal and Russian Empires rather than the Russian and British Empires]. As the Great Game progresses, the political situation in the Central Asian region becomes more and more convoluted and confusing.

1778
Portuguese diplomats issue an ultimatum to the French government demanding their withdrawal from France Équinoxiale and France Antarctique. The French government rejects this demand.

Based on this rejection, Portugal declares war on France. What becomes known as the Brasealean War begins.

English forces expel the Spanish from southern Central America.

Englishman Reginald James St John is the first person to fly, in the first hot-air balloon. [Slightly earlier than the real world, where this occurred in 1783 and in France.]

The first electrically-driven vehicle is constructed by Kalanath Bajpai in the Mughal Empire. However, limitations of electricity supply and the mass of batteries it requires to run mean that it is not a viable design. [This is considerably earlier than in the real world.]

Merchants with the ear of the government of the Dakshina Nad manage to convince them that laws protecting property and money from arbitrary seizure by the government are a good thing, and such laws are passed.

The new protection of property allows the economy of the Dakshina Nad to begin to outstrip that of the Mughal Empire as money flows to where it is safest.

1779
In the Third Indian War the forces of the Kanyakumari Pact defeat the Mughal forces and push them back, taking territory from the Mughals.

The Dakshina Nad sends aid to the Arakanese pirates and the government of the Bama to assist them in their fight against the Mughal Empire, and help the Dakshina Nad by opening a second front.

England joins Portugal against France in the Brasealian War.

Hostility to the Nabobs increases in Europe as their numbers continue to grow and the inflow of their wealth causes economic problems, particularly inflation, which impacts the common people of Europe.

Comet Koshiyari [Bode] is seen.

The first powered railways begin operating in a number of mining regions in Europe and India, carrying freight and ore to and from the mines.

As their advantages become clear, railways carrying goods to and from other industrial areas also soon begin to be built. In some places where the transport infrastructure is poor, railways allow the expansion of production to meet the rail capacity, cause new industries to be founded to maximise the use of the new railways, or allow local goods to be marketed further afield, increasing prosperity.

1780
As the forces of the Kanyakumari Pact push onwards, the Mughal Empire attempts to negotiate a settlement with them to end the Third Indian War. However, the Pact are having too much success to accept a cease-fire at present.

The Abyssinian Civil War ends with the victory of Sahle Krestos, who takes the Abyssinian throne as the new Neguse Negest, restoring Abyssinia to the control of the Solomonic Dynasty. [This ends the Abyssinian Civil Wars much earlier than in the real world, where they dragged on until 1855.]

Taking advantage of the confusion of the Third Indian War, Arakanese pirates move west again, retaking lands that were formerly theirs, and acquiring much booty and bases in the process.

The first public mosque in western Europe opens in Dunedin [Edinburgh].

The Treaty of Port-au-Prince ends the Mosquito War, leaving England in control of southern Central America and the northern tip of South America.

The Xhosa-Netherlands Alliance is signed, allying the two nations.

The first gun using a percussion cap is marketed in England after being invented by James Wirtannen in New England [as opposed to around 1830 in the real world].

Over time the Xhosa industrialise and develop, with help from the Dutch.

1781
A group of Polish Catholic merchants are killed in Moscow, when they resist their forcible conversion to Russian Orthodoxy by a mob. Other European merchants are also harassed, beaten, and robbed. A hastily-assembled Polish-Swedish-Austrian Triple Alliance declares war on the Holy Russian Empire.

The Mughal Empire begins reforming its armies in an attempt to make them more effective.

The Holy Russian Empire attempts to send Russian Orthodox missionaries to the islands of Yapon [Japan]. Yapon refuses them admission.

In an attempt to prevent the Mughal Empire taking advantage of them in the War with the Triple Alliance, the Raskolniki government begins funding some of the Central Asian Khanates to harass the Mughal Empire.

The first electric arc lamp begins to be used in the Mughal Empire [this happened in 1810 in the real world].

As part of their payment for their assistance during the Abyssinian Civil War, the Dakshina Nad is granted various trading concessions with Abyssinia, particularly in the lucrative coffee trade.

The second Pudhiya Kozhikode Civil War ends with the resounding defeat of the forces of the claimant, Tinayancheri Raja, who is captured by the government forces. Investigation after the war by the Pudhiya Kozhikode government finds that Tinayancheri Raja is in fact an impostor and a pretender. After a brief trial, Tinayancheri Raja is executed. The plutocratic system of government is restored.

With exposure to outside ideas, some natives of Marege hit on the idea of farming to supply the colonists with meat. After some practise they manage to learn how to farm and herd wild kangaroos and emus.

The first anti-Nabob riots occur in London. Several Nabobs are lynched by angry mobs.

Having seen the strength and power of the Indian and European states during their search for help abroad, the supporters of Abyssinian Emperor Sahle Krestos are able to persuade him of the necessity of modernising his country in order for it to be able to survive. Abyssinian students are sent abroad to learn, while foreign experts are brought to Abyssinia to teach and build. With this, Abyssinia begins to develop into a modern nation.

The past-wards-looking attitude of the Holy Russian Empire proves to have badly damaged their military as its weapons and tactics are quickly shown to be very out of date and no match for the forces of the Triple Alliance. The Holy Russian Empire is pushed back on all sides. Given the extent of Russian losses the war begins to be referred to as the War of the Russian Humiliation.

1782
Striking from the north and south, the Triple Alliance takes control of the Baltic coast, cutting Russia entirely off from the Baltic Sea. The best efforts of the Russian military, including suicide attacks by those accepting the official line that the acceptance of martyrdom in the name of the ‘old faith’ is the only way towards salvation, cannot turn the tide.

The Triple Alliance takes St Petersburg, badly damaging the city in the process.

The Mughals halt the armies of the Kanyakumari Pact at the Battle of Ellichpur.

During the Third Indian War, the regions of Berar and Bidar, each once an independent state, break free from the Marathas and become independent once again. With covert assistance from the other Indian states they manage to retain their independence.

As fighting spills onto its territory, Spain joins France against England and Portugal in the Brasealian War.

Anti-Nabob unrest spreads across England and the rest of Europe. Nabobs are lynched in riots in a number of European cities. Some Nabobs return to India while other moderate their spending and behaviour to fit in more with the societies of their homelands. With this, although hostility still exists, widespread hostility to the Nabobs dies down.

European traders begin visiting the islands of Nieuw Zeeland [New Zealand] to trade with the natives and hunt whales. [This is slightly earlier than in the real world.]

Despite the continuing Brasealean War, with the Treaty of Bordeaux, England and France divide up eastern Marege [Australia] between them, with the English northern area forming Nova Hibernia, and the French southern region forming France Australis.

Although they are not terribly effective at this point, the use of suicide/martyrdom troops by the Holy Russian Empire continues to be used, and becomes a significant, if minor, part of Russian military doctrine. It leads to the development, in time, of specialised Oryzhiya Mychenichestva [Martyrdom Weapons].

A number of Nabobs who proved to be ‘fair weather’ converts to Islam and who converted back to Christianity in Europe, are killed as apostates when they have to return to the East.

1783
Taking advantage of Russia’s losses in the west, the Ottoman Empire and the Central Asian Khanates also invade and take control of significant swathes of Russian territory in Asia.

The forces of the Triple Alliance reach the gates of Moscow, and besiege the city, trapping the Russian Royal Family inside.

With both sides beginning to feel the strain of the war in India, negotiations to end the Third Indian War begin.

Seeing that they have little choice in the matter, the government of the Mughal Empire also introduces laws safeguarding personal property and money, not unlike those introduced in the Dakshina Nad in 1778.

Ash and mud flows from the eruption of the Asama volcano in Yapon [Japan] kill fourteen hundred people.

The largest historic fissure flow from the Laki volcano in Iceland, which continues into 1784, kills between a quarter and a third of the population of Iceland by disease and starvation, along with tens of thousands more in Europe. It also triggers widespread famine across the Indian sub-continent and harsh weather in North America and elsewhere.

Icelandic refugees from the eruption of the Laki volcano travel to New England and Europe.

As part of the Brasealian War, Spanish forces attempt to invade Portugal, but are repulsed.

English Royal Navy ships sink a number of Spanish warships and bombard Spanish ports.

Helped by promises of financial and military assistance, France purchases the largely uninhabited (at least by Europeans) territory of the Mapuche people in the south of South America from Spain.

Despite their best efforts, the Portuguese forces in South America and elsewhere are outmatched by those of France. Although the Portuguese have the local advantage, the French have more money and resources, higher technology, and help from the other nations in South America against Braseal. Portugal is pushed back on many fronts.

Although the long-running skirmishes between European and Indian shipping and colonies in West African waters continue to occur, they do not lead to war. However, they also do not stop, and low-level hostilities on land and sea persist. In time skirmishes and conflicts between different European powers also occur.

With no-one wishing to back down and lose their strategic and economic advantages, the Indian and European powers work to develop and expand their various west African colonies. [This is rather like the Scramble for Africa of the real world, but perhaps a hundred years earlier than it.]

The earlier colonisation of Africa means that the colonisers have less of a technological advantage over the colonised. Indian colonisers are also rather more tolerant of other races and religions. Because of these factors many native cultures survive rather better than they did in the real world, and various groups, including the Ashantee and Xhosa, are able to maintain their independence.

1784
In the War of the Russian Humiliation a raid by the Russian army allows Tsar Ivan VI and his court to escape the siege of Moscow by the Triple Alliance, but in the process the city of Moscow falls. It is sacked by the Triple Alliance and burns to the ground, though it is never clear whether this was accidentally or deliberately. It is at this point that the war becomes officially known as the War of the Russian Humiliation.

The Third Indian War ends with the Treaty of Surat. Again, the Mughals have lost territory to the Dakshina Nad, but there is little they can do about it. This ends the last major war on the Indian subcontinent.

The annual Nile flood fails, perhaps due to the continuing volcanic activity in Iceland, leading to a massive famine across Egypt.

After calls from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Russian Empire becomes the first nation in the world to institute a volunteer army to defend the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy Russian Empire against those, like the reviled Patriarch Nikon, who would corrupt or destroy it. This is the first volunteer citizen army of any nation in the world. Volunteering for the Holy Russian Army is soon becomes considered to be an honourable profession.

In the Brasealean War, French forces take control of the mouth of the River Amazon.

With Russia weakened by its revolution, the Kalmyk people rise up and throw out their Russian ‘advisors’, using the Russians own weapons and training against them and declaring the new Khanate of Atyrau, centred on the settlement of the same name in Central Asia.

Tsar Ivan VI attempts to continue resistance to the invasion of the Triple Alliance, but their forces outmatch those of the Russians too badly, and are assisted by the other invasions from the south.

1785
King Christian VII of Demark [not the same person as the king of the same name from the real world] dies without issue, leaving British King Charles IV as the next in line to the Danish throne. A Personal Union of the thrones of England and Denmark is formed as King Charles IV becomes head of state of both nations.

Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II, looking for ways to salvage the prestige of the Mughal Empire following the unsatisfactory end of the Second Indian War, instead turns his attention to the less well defended states to the north of the Mughal Empire, hoping to add them to his Empire instead. He also sends his army and navy against the Arakanese pirates, despite protests from the government of Bama [Burma].

Mughal expeditionary forces are also sent on punitive expeditions to the Central Asian Khanates. Several of the Khanates, including the Khanate of Kokand, lose territory to the Mughals.

Nepal invades Tibet and takes control of significant areas of the country.

August von Puttkamer, an inventor from Prussia, is the first to successfully mount a steam engine in a boat and use it to drive it through the water. [This is at about the same time as this happened in the real world.]

French troops push back the Portuguese in Braseal. English troops push back the Spanish.

Reflecting the change in its fortunes and areas of operation, the British East India Company renames itself the Royal Universal Company. It remains simply a trading company, though a powerful one, rather than a colonial power in its own right [unlike the case in the real world].

Encouraged by the success of the people of the Khanate of Atyrau, and aided and encouraged by their neighbours and, less overtly, the Mughal Empire (seeking retaliation for the Holy Russian Empire funding the Central Asian Khanates against them), the Kalmyk and other peoples living in the regions of Russia close to its southern border also rise up and secede from Russia, establishing two new nations, the Khanate of Irtysh and the Khanate of Tobyl, both named after major rivers in the region.

As time goes by the English Royal Universal Company extends its interests outside those of trade with foreign colonies and into areas such as the commercial and retail markets of England and Denmark themselves. As it does so it becomes a more and more significant factor in the everyday lives of the average citizens of its home nation.

Attempts by elements of the governments of England and Denmark to break the near monopoly of the Royal Universal Company on many areas of trade fail, due to the power and influence of the company in the countries as a whole.

1786
Russian representatives approach the Triple Alliance, asking for terms to end the War of the Russian Humiliation.

As part of the new Personal Union of the thrones of England and Denmark, despite protests Denmark reverts from the Gregorian calendar that it adopted in 1700 to the older and less accurate Julian calendar used in England.

A number of anti-Spanish rebellions break out across their South American holdings.

Prince Alphonse, the tolerant and cosmopolitan youngest nephew of King Louis XVII of France, returns from a visit to India and announces that he is to marry Princess Roshanara Begum, daughter of the Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II. He has the approval of his father in this. Although Prince Alphonse is not directly in line for the throne, he is not far from it, leading to the remote possibility that France could, with sufficient bad luck, have a Muslim monarch. More conservative members of the French government and nobility are appalled at this, but their objections are ignored by the King.

As the areas controlled by the French expand further and further into Mapuche lands, clashes with the native Mapuche people occur more and more frequently.

The administration of English Cuba is merged with that of the Dominion of New England.

In Poland-Lithuania, Wojciech Celinski invents the first methods for preserving food by canning. [Considerably earlier than in the real world.] Canning quickly begins to be used around the world.

In retaliation for the Holy Russian Empire funding the Central Asian Khanates against them, the Mughal Empire continues to covertly assist the Khanates of Atyrau, Irtysh and Tobyl to cause trouble for the Holy Russian Empire. However, certain of the nobility of the Khanates do not wish to offend the Russians either, even in their current weakened state, and inform the Russians of the actions of the Mughals. After taking their money.

Comet Yourcenar [Encke] is discovered by Johann Yourcenar in Canada. It reappears in 1795, 1805, 1813, and 1822.

Comet Pannella [Herschel] is discovered.

The Russians and Mughals quickly find themselves in a funding battle with the Khanates of Atyrau, Irtysh and Tobyl, each one working to out-bid the other to keep the Khanates off their backs while the Khanates play each side against the other to maximise the money they can obtain. In all three cases the money and effort expended to bribe them it still much less than fighting a war against them would entail.

As time passes the training, equipment and money gained from the Holy Russian and Mughal Empires allow the Khanates of Atyrau, Irtysh and Tobyl to become local powers in their own right, and all begin to industrialise and modernise, at least in terms of technology. However, socially they barely change, all remaining largely tribal slave-owning societies.

1787
In a humiliating defeat, Tsar Ivan VI signs the Treaty of Warsaw, ending the War of the Russian Humiliation. Russia has lost its access to the Baltic Sea, as well as St Petersburg, and large areas of territory between the coast and Moscow. Moscow remains in Russian hands but is now close to the new border.

The Russians are also forced to accept similarly humiliating and disadvantageous peace terms with the Ottoman Empire and the Khanates, losing more territory in Central Asia.

There is major unrest in Russia at this great defeat. A coup d’état in Moscow imprisons most of the leaders responsible for the conduct of the war, and replaces them with individuals who have what they claim are the true interests of the Holy Russian Empire at heart. A new regime is installed.

A Chinese army expels the Nepali invaders from Tibet and forces Nepal to pay reparations.

Prince Alphonse and Princess Roshanara Begum are married in Versailles. Despite the conversion of Princess Roshanara Begum to Catholicism, the union is still frowned upon by the French establishment.

Triple Alliance colonists begin to settle on the lands taken from Russia, often displacing the Russian inhabitants who lived there before them.

Many of the Central Asian Khanates take advantage of the weakness of the Holy Russian Empire to expel or exterminate the Russian Orthodox missionaries that the Holy Russian Empire has been sending into their lands since the Russian Revolution. However, this does not discourage the missionaries from returning, or new missionaries taking the place of their martyred brothers.

1788
Skirmishes with Nepali Ghurkhas occur along the border of the Mughal Empire. This rather plays into the hands of Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II who wishes to expand the Mughal Empire after being defeated in South India in 1784.

Mughal forces decisively defeat the Arakanese pirates, and take control of what was Arakan. Attempts by the military of Bama to prevent this are summarily repulsed, and Bama looses significant areas of land to the Mughal Empire. Ayutthaya also takes this opportunity to grab sections of Bama along its border.

The first (overland) telegraph cable links India and Europe.

With the Brasealian War reaching a stalemate, negotiations to end it take place in Madrid, in Spain. Eventually all sides agree on terms, and the Treaty of Madrid is signed, ending the war. France gains the territories it desires in South America, while Portugal cedes significant parts of its South American holdings in Braseal to France, and formally establishes the right of France Équinoxiale and France Antarctique to exist. However, Braseal does gain some Spanish territory in return. Spain loses some South American territory, particularly to England. The Dutch establish formal borders for their colony of Suriname.

The expansion of the Mughal and Dakshina Nad settlements in Marege [Australia] force the Dutch to relinquish their claims to large areas of northern and western Marege which they had previously included as part of Nova Holland.

A lower-caste candidate of the Mughal Imperial Examinations discovers that, despite their supposedly being open to all, the Mughal establishment is actually rejecting those of lower class and lower caste regardless of ability. Unrest and rioting begins to spread across the Mughal Empire.

After long years of development, the English colony of Nigritia in West Africa is made a Dominion. As part of the structure of the new Dominion the Royal Universal Company, successor to the Royal African Company, is given a monopoly over most trade and industry within Nigritia.

The Portuguese sign the Treaty of Muscat with the Mughal Empire and the Dakshina Nad that officially defines the borders of Mozambique.

Unrest spreads across the Spanish Empire at what is seen as the very poor treatment of Spain in the Treaty of Madrid.

As time goes by France extends its control further and further up the River Amazon.

With its losses of territory in Braseal to France, the Portuguese government is determined to never let such a thing happen again. They decide that the way forward is to build up not only Braseal but all their colonies into an unassailable position.

Over time a flourishing grey and black market develops in the Dominion of Nigritia, providing goods and services outside the monopoly of the Royal Universal Company.

The Nigritian black and grey markets come increasingly under the control of organised criminals who in time become known as Freetraders. These have grown out of the many secret societies of West Africa, and retain many of the beliefs and rituals of those societies.

1789
Using Ghurkha raids along the border as an excuse, Mughal forces under Emperor Shah Babur II invade Nepal, and quickly defeat the Nepali troops who try to oppose them. They take over the country. Nepali refugees flee into Tibet, Bhutan and other parts of central and south-eastern Asia.

The Dakshina Nad protests at the Mughals taking over large areas of Bama. Ayutthaya supports these protests.

The first private passenger-carrying railway, built by a Mansabdar in the Mughal Empire for his own pleasure, begins operation.

Other private railways begin to be built by the rich around the world for their own use. Many of these are highly luxurious.

1790
With considerable popular support the leaders of the coup in the Holy Russian Empire depose Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov, the leader of the Russian Revolution, and send him into exile in Siberia.

The leaders of the new Russian regime show they are of a much more pragmatic bent than the old regime when they announce that although the idealization and protection of all things old and hatred towards everything new is an essential part of the true Russian Orthodox faith, it is sometimes necessary to use things one hates towards a greater good. For example in the defence of that true faith, and of the Holy Russian Empire. To this end, the Holy Russian Empire begins a massive programme of military training and equipping intended to make its forces the superior of anything else in the world. As part of this a new arm of the Church, the Office of Perception, is set up to perform scientific, technical and industrial espionage around the world, and in addition to monitor the world outside the Holy Russian Empire for threats to it, and to act to reduce and eliminate those threats.

Prince François, the youngest son of the King of France and a close friend of Prince Alphonse, unexpectedly and publicly converts to Islam. Although this instantly removes him from the line of succession, conservatives still rail against the ‘insidious corruption of Mohammedism’ spreading in the French court.

After negotiations, a joint Mughal-Dakshina Nad-Ayutthayan conference installs a new government in Bama, one which is forced to be neutral to all three powers.

Reforms to the Mughal Imperial Examination system are imposed by the Emperor. These work to ensure the fairness of the examinations and their openness to all, regardless of class and caste.

A French military force crushes the Mapuche people at the Battle of Lumaco. The Mapuche people are forced to become subservient to the French crown.

Braseal announces that it is opening its colonies to all suitable people who wish to settle there, subject to an oath of loyalty and service in the military in case of war. This settlement will be subsidised for Portuguese citizens.

The first successful transatlantic telegraph cable is laid between Ireland and New England [as opposed to 1857 in the real world].

Neapolitan astronomer Ildebrando Guadagnini discovers a new planet, the eighth, which he names Iapetus [Neptune, discovered in 1846 in the real world].

The need for industrialisation in the Holy Russian Empire leads to elements of the agricultural revolutions taking place elsewhere in the world being adopted in Russia. This, combined with the lack of Serfdom in the Holy Russian Empire, provides the mobility of labour and frees up people from the land to go and work in the new industries that are being established [at a much earlier time than was the case in the real world], as well as to build the network of railway/telegraph highways that are to link the various regions of the Holy Russian Empire in such a way as to avoid a new War of the Russian Humiliation. Thus the first telegraphs (for official use only) are installed in Russia at this time.

All of the new Russian industries are state-run enterprises attached to the monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Although the Raskolniki government does its best to prevent the spread of unwanted technology beyond the military, some does creep out over time, in particular medicine, agriculture (to feed the growing numbers of troops and the people who are needed to support them) and transportation (to move the army, but which also proves useful for other things).

As part of its plans for expanding the place, Portugal begins increasing the number of slaves it imports into Braseal.

1791
Engineer Bozorgmehr Airom in the Mughal Empire develops the first armoured steam-powered vehicle [a steam-powered tank], designed to be impervious to gunfire, and in particular to the effects of the Puckle Gun. Despite proving its effectiveness, its reliability is not terribly high and it does not find widespread use.

The Raskolniki government of Russia signs agreements with the English Muscovy Company, trading with them to gain the technical knowledge and training that the Holy Russian Empire so desperately needs.

Lured by the Portuguese government incentives, many settlers begin immigrating into Braseal and the other Portuguese colonies. Many come from Portugal, but large numbers also come from the other nations of Europe. Large numbers of slaves also add to the Brasealian population.

1792
The Holy Russian Empire sets up the Office of Assessment to assess technology, whether it is allowable in the Holy Russian Empire, and if so where, whether everywhere, only in the government, or only in the military. In addition to this it includes an enforcement arm to ensure its decrees are obeyed.

A book entitled ‘The Seven Mother Tongues’ is published in France. Written by the French philosopher Guillaume Sautet, it espouses a rather racist ideology identifying seven families of languages each descended from one original mother tongue, with all other languages being developments, mixtures or debasings of them. The languages are all considered to have an order of precedence which is the ‘natural order’ of humanity. In order the languages are: Latin, Arabian (including Persian), Slavic, Indian, Chinese, Celtic and African.

The collapse of the Unzen volcano in Yapon [Japan] and a subsequent tsunami kill more than fourteen thousand people.

As the number of Russian Orthodox Christians in China increases, they begin attempting to convert others. As incidents of conversion by force and violence against non-Christians increase, unrest begins to spread in northern China. Violence against the Russian Orthodox Christians by other Chinese also increases.

1793
Assisted by the French government, Scottish settlers found the colony of New Fife in South America, to the south of Chile, and north of the French colony of Mapuche.

Merchants from the Dakshina Nad discover gold in the south-west of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad [Australia]. People begin flocking there seeking their fortunes. The Dakshina Nad begins building up its presence there, to protect these miners and profit from them.

The English Royal Universal Company, in its role as successor to the Royal African Company, re-enters the slave market and begins capturing and transporting slaves, mainly to Braseal but also to the England and Denmark, and their colonial possessions.

The first electrical telephone is invented by Rasmus Steenberg Krogh in Denmark [as opposed to 1876 in the real world].

1794
Aristarkh Fedorovich Venetsianov, the leader of the Russian Revolution, dies in exile in Siberia.

The concept of a loyal opposition, that is, that a person can be opposed to the actions of the government or ruling party of the day without being opposed to the constitution of the political system, reaches India from Europe.

The Imamate of Oman, wishing to improve its trade links with the world, invades the neighbouring region of Yemen, which is nominally under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

French Nabob Antoine de Beauharnais, a devout but also tolerant and cosmopolitan Muslim, announces his plan to build a large public mosque in Paris. As he is a close and loyal associate of the King, there is no Royal objection to this.

After a long campaign led by Sikh member of the Mughal Durbar Bhagat Gurdit Singh, and with the approval of the vast majority of the population, slavery and debt bondage are made illegal in the Mughal Empire, and all slaves and those in debt bondage are freed.

Mughal Emperor Shah Babur II dies of old age. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Jahan Luftallah.

The Mughal Empire announces that it has achieved near-universal literacy amongst its population.

1795
The first gun using an integrated cartridge to package the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case is marketed in England after being invented by Eberhardt James in New England.

As construction of the Paris Mosque begins, a rioting mob, encouraged by Parisian churchmen, break into the site and utterly destroy it. Antoine de Beauharnais appeals to the King for help, but this request is denied.

New Mughal Emperor Jahan Luftallah orders the construction of his own private railway to allow him to travel between his various palaces in style.

Comet Yourcenar [Encke] reappears.

1796
The Chinese government clamps down on Russian Orthodox Christians in China, seeing them as the cause of the recent violence and unrest in the north of China. Some Chinese Christians flee into the Holy Russian Empire. Others go underground in China. Others still try to continue their lives. Some try to resist the Chinese government and are crushed.

Oman completes the conquest of the Yemen despite protests from the Ottoman Empire. It now controls all of the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Antoine de Beauharnais hires guards for his site and, despite violence and intimidation against his workers begins construction of the Paris Mosque again.

As the King fails to prevent this, unrest spreads across France. Riots break out across Paris and are suppressed by the army.

The expansion of Dakshina Nad settlements in Marege forces the English and French to relinquish their claims to significant parts of the sparsely populated interior of Marege. However, they retain control of the more densely populated eastern coastal regions.

Seeking the source of the Nile, Portuguese explorer Cristóvão da Silva Ferreira leaves Mozambique, heading inland.

The anti-slavery faction in the Mughal government begins campaigning for the emancipation of all slaves across the world, not just those in their own country.

Following the Mughal example, the Dakshina Nad also bans slavery, although with rather less public support than in the Mughal Empire.

Because of this all of the European colonies in Marege [Australia], being small outposts on the edge of large non-European powers, soon become quite xenophobic, heavily armed and paranoid.

Despite attempts by the Chinese government to suppress the Russian Orthodox Church the numbers of Russian Orthodox Christians in northern China continue to increase, particularly in the city of Harbin and the area surrounding it.

1797
On St Adrian’s day [January 9th] a conspiracy of Catholic conservatives organises a massacre of the Nabobs of France. Antoine de Beauharnais, the architect of the Paris Mosque, is brutally lynched during these massacres. Although many Nabobs are killed by lynch mobs, many others survive and appeal to the King for help. Caught in the middle, the King assists neither side, leading to great bad feeling against him from almost all of the French nobility, whether pro- or anti-Nabob.

Gaspar Vasco Dávila, the Governor of New Spain and a distant descendant of the conquistador Pedrarias Dávila secedes from the Spanish Empire, claiming that it has lost its way and no longer has the right to rule. He renames New Spain the Kingdom of Mexico, with himself as its monarch. According to the new King, Gaspar I, the Kingdom of Mexico has been formed to defend the true principles of Catholicism in the Americas, the principles from which the corrupt and lax Spanish Court in Madrid have deviated over time. A new Mexican Inquisition is set up under the auspices of the new Mexican government to effectively replace the old Spanish Inquisition in Mexico as an enforcer of the religious principles of the new regime and also as a secret police against internal threats to the state.

Spanish troops attempt to crush the attempted secession of New Spain. What becomes known as the Mexican War begins.

More and more the Catholic Church in Europe preaches against the ‘corruption’ of the Nabobs.

1798
English captain Gregory Peake, blown off course on his way to Port Desire in South America, discovers the continent of Antarctica. [This is some twenty years earlier than in the real world.]

Mexican forces push back the Spanish, aided by covert assistance from the English.

Acting openly now, Catholic conservatives in France organise more violence against the Nabobs, who try to recruit their own forces to defend themselves, but are hampered by public feeling against them.

Religious unrest spreads across some of the German states.

A joint Franco-Scottish expedition begins colonising the islands of Nieuw Zeeland, and laying claim to large areas of land there. A smaller Anglo-Danish expedition also claims parts of the islands.

As the numbers of slaves in England-Denmark increases, a number of groups within the country begin objecting to slavery there, for religious and moral reasons. Many of these objections are supported by the ambassadors of the Holy Russian Empire, who disapprove of slavery abroad as much as they do serfdom at home.

After a long journey, Portuguese explorer Cristóvão da Silva Ferreira does not find the source of the Nile, but instead traces the River Congo all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. He claims all of the land he explores for Portugal.

In the Holy Russian Empire an attempted counter-Revolution by Prince Peter, the grandson of Tsarina Elizabeth I who was overthrown in the Russian Revolution, is defeated by the loyal forces of the Holy Russian Empire, despite the help of some of the most modern parts of the new Russian military. Prince Peter is executed, and the Russian military purged of its disloyal elements.

In the Khanate of Atyrau one of the lesser Khans, Ubashi, a man who has learned from the Russians but who seems to have maintained his Kalmyk identity despite this, topples the existing Khan and takes control of the Khanate [he is not the same person as the Khan of that name from the real world].

English astronomer Benjamin Telford discovers the first of many minor planets orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. He names them Asteroids [Greek for ‘star-like’; this is earlier than in the real world, where they were first discovered in 1801].

[With the lack of a French invasion in 1798 and the generally different history of this world Egypt remains firmly part of the Ottoman Empire, rather than becoming a separate nation as it did in the real world.]

1799
The first hand-cranked rapid-fire repeating gun is developed by Romuald Ryll-Nardzewski in Poland-Lithuania and soon finds wide use as the Ryll gun. [This is equivalent to the Gatling gun of the real world.]

The first electrically-driven locomotive, invented by Dodda Chinnamalai, begins operation at an iron mine in the Vizagapatam region of the Mughal Empire. [This is before the steam locomotive is invented in this world.]

Taking advantage of Spanish forces being moved to fight in the Mexican War, other Spanish colonies across South American rise up and attempt to throw off Spanish domination.

French Catholic conservatives begin calling for a ‘cleansing’ of France of the ‘taint’ of Islam.

In North America, violence also breaks out in Canada and Louisiana. Although there are few Muslims there the violence against them is used as an excuse by Catholics to also attack the Protestant Huguenots, and vice versa.

Taking advantage of the unrest they are suffering, Prussia invades and takes over a number of the minor German states along its borders.

Based on the explorations of Cristóvão da Silva Ferreira, Portugal claims the region of the Congo for itself, establishing the colony of the same name.

After long years of development, the English colony of Guinea in West Africa is made a Dominion. As part of the structure of the new Dominion the Royal Universal Company, successor to the Royal African Company, is given a monopoly over most trade and industry within the Dominion.

In the Khanate of Atyrau, new leader Ubashi Khan quickly proves himself to be a skilled general, an adept politician, and a unifying leader who quickly rallies all of the people of the Khanate behind him, and promises to lead them on to glory.

As the population of China grows, but its society stays much the same [as happened in the real world] the problems of land shortage and rural pauperisation grow as more and more people no longer have a place in the Chinese agrarian economy. Many of these people make ready recruits for subversive secret societies such as the White Lotus. [This is similar to what happened in the real world.]

1800
Russian ambassador Osip Eduardovitch Khlebnikov travels to Beijing to open diplomatic relations between the Russian and Chinese empires. However, Emperor Jiaqing rejects the opening of relations between the two empires, as he did with the Mughal ambassador Maziyar Kuchek Khan in 1698. Ambassador Khlebnikov remains in Beijing as an observer and informal ambassador.

Over the Lent period what becomes known as the Lenten Massacre occurs in France. Organised mobs attack Nabobs all over the country, many of whom defend themselves and/or try to flee the country. The King attempts to use the army to halt the violence, but the army really does not back him in this, and practically no-one is on his side any more - even the allies of the King think he may have gone too far.

Many people take advantage of the anti-Nabob violence to also attack Jews across France and elsewhere.

As news of the Lenten Massacres in France spreads, unrest against the Nabobs of England also begins to rise.

A number of instances of corruption within the Mughal government causes Emperor Jahan Luftallah to initiate a full-scale investigation of the Mughal system.

Nationalist unrest begins in Bama [Burma] over the neutering of the country by the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad and Ayutthaya.

The English colony of Port Desire is renamed Kingsland.

The first electrical trolleybus-type system is constructed by Dodda Chinnamalai in the Mughal Empire. Using externally-supplied electrical power it is able to circumvent the limitations of battery performance that prevent independent electrical vehicles from being viable.

Trolleybuses find application around the world, and are used up to the present day.

Seeing the resurgence of Russian power as a threat to themselves, the Mughal Empire begins offering training and assistance to various of the Central Asian Khanates, in particular the Khanate of Atyrau.

Continuing discoveries of more and more deposits of silver in the Americas cause a consistent drop in the value of silver around the world. This causes particular problems for those nations whose currencies are based on the silver standard, such as the Mughal Empire and China. Canny traders from around the world begin selling silver into the Mughal Empire, China and other silver-backed currencies.

1801
A coalition of French nobles meet in an unofficial Estates-General and after considerable deliberation call on King Louis XVIII to abdicate, as he has clearly lost the right to the throne. Louis refuses. Although there are some defeats of the anti-Royalist forces, Louis soon finds himself under siege in his own palace. This becomes known as the (First) French Revolution.

Aided by the Portuguese in Braseal, the Spanish colony of Chaco [northern Argentina of the real world] breaks free of Spanish control.

The first steam-driven locomotive, invented by Zacarias Resnais, begins operation in France, hauling coal from the mines in northern France.

Religious unrest causes the Kingdom of Bohemia to secede from the Holy Roman Empire. It quickly establishes itself as a constitutional monarchy along Polish-Lithuanian lines.

The Muslim convert Prince François, as well his cousin Prince Alphonse and his wife Princess Roshanara of the Mughal Empire are all lynched as they attempt to make their way out of France.

King Ferdinand V of Naples and Sicily secedes from Spain, who have ruled the Kingdom until now, and declares himself head of state of the new Kingdom of Naples.

Comet Cucinotta [Pons] is discovered by Dante Cucinotta in the Duchy of Milan.

Cucinotta discovers a second comet.

This period becomes known as the Second Wars of Religion.

1802
Under pressure from all sides, King Louis XVIII of France changes his opinion, and agrees to abdicate. He goes into exile in Spain with his immediate family.

Wishing to avoid a repeat of the French Revolution in England, the English government moves quickly to, with the agreement of many of the Nabobs, find a solution to the problem.

Forces in New England attempt to take control of areas of Canada and Louisiana whose defences have been weakened by the unrest during the French Revolution. However, they are beaten off by French defenders.

Amol Deshmukh in Golconda in the Dakshina Nad devises the first system for generating alternating current, allowing electricity to be transmitted for long distances [as happened in 1880 or so in the real world].

Mughal Emperor Jahan Luftallah dies of old age. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Muhammed Akbar II [who is not the same as the Emperor Akbar II of the real world].

A number of border skirmishes occur between Xhosaland and the Luba and Lunda Empires in south-eastern Africa.

Cucinotta discovers a third comet.

The first mechanical air cooling machine is developed in Delhi.

The vast majority of the surviving Islamicised people in France flee the country during this time. Some go to the Ottoman Empire, others back to the Mughal Empire, others to Britain and other European nations.

This triggers unrest in the other European nations because they feel that they have their own problems with Islamicised people undermining their native culture, which the flow of refugees from France - both Muslims and otherwise - is only exacerbating.

The period of Europe-wide unrest that surrounds the First French Revolution becomes considered to be the start of the politics of the modern world.

With the Christian nations of Europe weakened and distracted by their own internal troubles, the Knights of Malta, who have traditionally defended Europe against the corsairs and pirates of Algeria and the Barbary coast, lose much of their support, and are weakened.

As another effect of the Second Wars of Religion, persecution of many of the people who have over the years adopted ideas derived from Indian mysticism causes the suppression and hiding of these ideas, with many such groups disbanding or going underground.

1803
After hasty negotiations, involving not a little threatening and intimidation of the mostly elderly and somewhat infirm Nabobs, the English government enacts new laws banning public displays of religions other than Christianity. They also apply moderately heavy retroactive taxation to the wealth of the Nabobs. These efforts taken together significantly calm the situation in England, though there are still occasional bursts of unrest here and there.

A popular nationalist uprising overthrows the Bamese [Burmese] government installed by the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad and Ayutthaya.

As religious violence spreads across the Netherlands the country is wracked by apparently spontaneous resistance to this violence. Over time this resistance coalesces into a political movement that rejects not just religious violence, but religion in general. They quickly become known as the Vrijdenkerij [Freethinkers] due to their connections to the atheistic Freethought movement both in the Netherlands and beyond.

A massive raid by the corsairs and pirates of Algeria and the Barbary coast, with covert backing from the Ottoman Empire, defeats the Knights of Malta and takes control of Malta itself.

Financial troubles and troubles with the native Maori people cause the Anglo-Danish colony in Nieuw Zeeland to fail. Some of its settlers join the French and Scottish colonies on the islands.

The investigation of the Mughal government instigated by Emperor Jahan Luftallah in 1800 finally reports back to his successor, having discovered widespread corruption, criminality and bribe-taking within the government.

The ideas of the Vrijdenkerij movement spread across Europe, and, combined with the actions of the movement in the Netherlands, spark a great debate about the separation of Church and State.

When the new Bamese government shows no signs of resuming the hostile and pirate-supporting ways of the predecessor, the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad and Ayutthaya content themselves with simply watching the new regime for any signs of trouble while trading with it.

1804
A newly convened Estates-General cannot agree on a new monarch for France. Instead, they eventually elect one of their number, Philippe François, the Duke of Brittany, as Le Dictateur [The Dictator], with the Estates-General as his legislature. Le Dictateur is not a monarch. Because of this, with the coming of the new regime, the flag of France changes from the old design of the ‘France Modern’, which is still claimed by the old French Royal Family who are now in Spain, to one based on a modified version of the Oriflamme of Charlemagne.

The new Russian military faces its first test as they attempt to retake the territories in Central Asia taken from them during the War of Russian Humiliation. Although the fighting in what becomes known as the Reclamation War reveals some inadequacies in their new methods, in general they are very successful, and the Khanates are routed. The Avar Khanate in the Caucasus is entirely overrun, and many refugees flee south into the Persian Empire.

Unrest spreads through the Khanates of Tobyl and Irtysh, as the people of these Khanates begin to, assisted by propaganda from the Khanate of Atyrau, wish to unify all of the Kalmyk people into a single nation, and seek its greater destiny in the world.

The corsairs and pirates of Algeria and the Barbary coast begin raiding European shipping and the British and continental European coastlines in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Hundreds of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese are carried off as slaves, as well as significant quantities of loot.

Merchants from the Dakshina Nad discover gold and other minerals on the island of Papua.

Seeking independence for itself, the Duchy of Milan secedes from the Holy Roman Empire.

In an attempt to show that the Mughal Empire is tolerant of and welcoming to people of all faiths, and thus superior to the nations in which religious intolerance is causing so many problems (as well as perhaps helping to disarm the potential for such problems at home), the Emperor Muhammed Akbar II orders the construction of a Temple of All Faiths in Delhi. This quickly becomes known the Mughal Pantheon, particularly in Europe.

As another element of this policy, Princess Gertrude of the Holy Roman Empire becomes the first European noble to marry into the Mughal royal family when she marries Prince Nikusiyar, the third son of Muhammed Akbar II.

Mughal Emperor Muhammed Akbar II also introduces a number of reforms to the Mughal government. In particular, to help avoid bribery, membership of the Panchayats [ruling councils] begins to be selected by a process of random selection (sortition) from those eligible to join it, that is, the nobility.

Despite protests from those who see the Delhi Pantheon as an affront to their religion and beliefs, construction on it proceeds, if slowly.

The Holy Russian Empire begins constructing a number of fortified towns in Central Asia and the Caucasus, with the intention of both defining and defending the borders of the Holy Russian Empire.

1805
A coup with massive public and Royal support overthrows the Dutch government and installs a new regime based on the principles of the Vrijdenkerij [Freethinker] movement. This soon becomes known as the Dutch Revolution. As part of the policies of the new government, all outward religious displays are banned, and all churches are closed, although all citizens are entirely at liberty to pursue their religious beliefs (whatever they may be) in private.

In France, the new Dictateur introduces laws to ensure the ‘purity’ of France. All non-Catholics are severely discriminated against, and many flee to neighbouring countries, taking their wealth and skills with them.

The last recorded instance of sati occurs in the Mughal Empire. However, it is not unknown for Hindu widows to take the bodies of their husbands into the Dakshina Nad, where sati is generally legal, and both burn their husbands and commit sati themselves there.

Comet Yourcenar [Encke] reappears.

As the value of silver falls around the world, the value of the Mughal rupee drops with it. The economy of the Mughal Empire and its neighbours begins to suffer. This is not helped by the insistence on the construction of the Temple of All Faiths in Delhi by Emperor <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>. Many foreign investors take advantage of this to invest in Indian industries, or buy Indian goods at low prices.

1806
After some adjustments to its tactics and strategy, the Russian army attacks the Khanate of the Crimea. The Ottoman Empire declares war on the Holy Russian Empire.

Mexican forces finally eject the Spanish from Mexico, ending the Mexican War with the successful creation of the Kingdom of Mexico.

Victor Ilyich Kasyanov, working in a field hospital in Russia during the Reclamation War discovers the importance of hygiene and antiseptics in medical treatments.

The Holy Russian Empire regains all of its losses to the Khanate of the Crimea.

The Pope Urban IX denounces the new Dutch Vrijdenkerij regime as unholy and unnatural, and calls for its overthrow.

Seeking an end to the religious unrest taking place across Italy, King Ferdinand V of Naples negotiates an agreement where the states of southern Italy all join together in one Kingdom, the Kingdom of Naples, with himself as the head of state, though a constitutional monarch.

The Mughal Empire attempts to impose controls of the world supply of silver to bolster its currency, but this attempt comes to nothing.

As time goes by Vrijdenkerij [Freethinker] ideas are adopted by a number of nations, though in different ways. Some nations state that one much renounce all religion and all ties to religion before being part of government. Others (such as the Netherlands) simply ban all public religious displays, and discourage the use of religion as a basis for government policy.

In some countries the renouncing of religion as a prerequisite for being part of government causes the more principled religious people to keep out of government, increasing corruption there. In some countries a ‘shadow government’ of religious types forms, which causes problems.

Some (but not all) Vrijdenkerij nations evolve into amoral ultra-capitalist societies. Others evolve atheist moralities. Some later become religious again. Others practise separation of church and state with varying degrees of strictness. Others again later attempt to eliminate religion altogether, seeing it as a source of strife and trouble, and a waste of resources that could be spent on (for example) providing help to people in this world. Thus they close churches and divert religious resources for ‘better’ things.

This has the effect of driving religion underground in those nations, resulting in such things as secret churches, priest holes and so on, and also drives the setting up of ‘churches in exile’ in other nations from which religion in the home country is directed. Some Vrijdenkerij nations establish a Religion Police to combat this.

[Even the most atheistic state does not suffer as much as states did under communism in the real world, as they are normally still staunch capitalists, but even so, they are hardly perfect.]

Despite its official philosophy, over time open religious displays become more and more tolerated in the Netherlands.

1807
The Battle of Krivoy Rog ends effective Crimean resistance to the Holy Russian Empire. The Ottoman Empire begins to evacuate its forces from the Crimea by sea. As they go they are harassed by ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

A coup in the Khanate of Tobyl, helped by agents from the Khanate of Atyrau, topples the Khan and replaces him with another, who quickly forges close political ties with the Khanate of Atyrau.

In North America, the religious violence in Canada and Louisiana finally ends. The primarily Catholic Louisiana remains loyal to the new Dictateur, while the Protestant Canada continues to be loyal to King Louis XVIII. There are significant migrations of people into and out of Canada and Louisiana as they find themselves no longer welcome in those countries.

Seeking an end to North African piracy, a combined force of European navies, with particular contributions from France, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan and the states of northern Italy, engage in a long campaign to wipe out North African piracy.

A Great Comet is observed between early September to December. This comet has two tails, the largest of which is about ten degrees long.

1808
The Khanates of Atyrau and Tobyl merge into the Khanate of Atyrau and Tobyl under the leadership of Ubashi Khan.

The Khanate of the Crimea surrenders to the Holy Russian Empire and is absorbed into it.

New Chinese Emperor Daoguang, seeing Russian Orthodox Christians in China as a threat to the nation, moves to entirely remove or exterminate them.

Seeking to protect their miners and the people who support them from pirates and other threats, the Dakshina Nad lays claim to the entire island of Papua.

Spanish forces are ejected from more of South America as the new nations of Chile and La Plata [the area which in the real world makes up central Argentina] in the south of the continent are formed.

By a combination of diplomacy and force, and helped by the cooperation engendered by the campaign against north African piracy in the previous year, Duke Francis of Milan, aided by his brother, Admiral Leopold, who led the Milanese navy during the anti-pirate campaign, the Duchy of Milan forces the states of northern Italy into union with itself. They are supported in this by Pope Urban IX and the Papal States, . The Duchy of Milan restyles itself the Kingdom of Milan. The Italian peninsula is now divided between the two Kingdoms of Milan and Naples.

Russian gun-maker Venedikt Dyagilev builds the first rocket musket, a flintlock weapon in which a rocket-driven projectile is loaded into the musket on top of a normal charge of black powder. When the flintlock is fired, the black powder both launches the rocket and ignites its own internal charge of propellant, giving a projectile with very great range and accuracy. [These are very similar to the Voss Musket Rocket] Although expensive and somewhat unreliable these Dyagilev Guns, as they are known, soon become used by snipers and other elite forces.

The Mughal Empire begins moving away from a silver-backed currency in an attempt to save its economy from collapse due to the fall of silver prices around the world. However, despite its best efforts these attempts cause a major crisis in the Mughal economy, with widespread bankruptcy and unemployment, which spreads out from the Mughal Empire around the world, causing worldwide economic problems. Several of the Mughal Tayefe Karkhanas go out of business during this period, which quickly becomes known as the Noqre Bohrâm [Silver Crisis in Persian].

As time passes both conventional gunpowder-driven projectile weapons and rocket guns such as the Dyagilev Gun and its descendants become widely used around the world, with the latter finding wider use in rifles and the former more use in pistols. [This is because the need for a rocket projectile to accelerate makes them ineffective at short range, but very effective at long range.]

Over time the Mughal Empire and other nations of the world manage to stabilise their economies and largely resolve the Noqre Bohrâm [Silver Crisis]. However, the crisis has forced a levelling of the playing field between the Mughals and the rest of the world. As a consequence of the Noqre Bohrâm many nations move their economies away from a precious-metal-backed currency altogether.

1809
The Holy Russian Empire demands the return of the areas it lost to the Triple Alliance in the Treaty of Warsaw that ended the War of the Russian Humiliation.

Sweden, Poland-Lithuania and Austria reject the Russian demands.

Chinese Russian Orthodox Christians, allied with other groups who have grievances against the Manchu Emperors of China, including Muslims, rise up and attempt to overthrow the Chinese government. Despite rumours of Russian involvement in this, the uprising grows and spreads across northern China; it is helped by the economic problems caused by the drop in world silver prices affecting the Chinese silver-backed currency. It becomes known as the Zhengjiaotu Rebellion [Zhengjiaotu is the Chinese term for an Orthodox Christian].

Seeking to end the unrest in its remaining colonies in South America while retaining control of them, Spain grants numerous concessions to them.

In South America tentative negotiations between Chaco and La Plata take place to explore the idea of the two nations merging into a single larger and stronger nation. However, political differences between the two nations prevent this idea from going any further.

With Spain pressured by France to restrict the freedom of former King Louis XVIII, the exiled French royal family travels to Canada via Scotland, where they are welcomed by the people there.

Despite the assistance of the Mughal Empire, the Holy Russian Empire conquers the Middle Horde of Kazakhs. [In the real world they did this by 1798.]

The Khanate of Atyrau and Tobyl invades the Khanate of Irtysh, where most of the populace welcome them as harbingers of Kalmyk unity and glory.

The Great Horde of Kazakhs defeat the forces of the Holy Russian Empire in a series of battles on the steppes, in which the weapons and tactics sold to them by the Mughal Empire are decisive. This ensures that they maintain their independence.

1810
Russian forces cross the border into formerly-Russian territory in Europe, beginning what becomes known as the Second Russian War, or the Second Reclamation War. They advance quickly, aided by uprisings of the local Russian-descended inhabitants and often greeted as liberators.

The new Khanate of Atyrau, Tobyl and Irtysh renames itself the Great Khanate.

Russian forces reach the Baltic Sea.

Russian forces lay siege to occupied St Petersburg.

Huguenot Philibert Larbaud in French North America invents the mass production process [first developed at about this time in the real world]. This is soon adapted across the world. Thus what later becomes known as the Age of Gadgets ends.

The Sultan of Johor is overthrown by Wan Azizah Anwar Ibrahim, a charismatic new nationalist political leader who declares himself the new Sultan. He begins to institute a re-militarization of Johor, and a unification of the Sultanate into a single political unit.

The long-running border skirmishes between Xhosaland and the Luba and Lunda Empires are finally ended by the Treaty of Lourenço Marques, which defines the border between the three countries. However, it permanently sours relations between Xhosaland and the Luba and Lunda, and also between them and the Dutch, who support the Xhosa.

The various English colonies making up their territory in Central and northern South America are unified under a single colonial administration into a Dominion known as Mosquitia.

As time passes, France begins to suffer serious economic problems, which Le Dictateur cannot solve any more than the King could before him. These are exacerbated by numerous non-Catholic people who previously contributed to the economy departing from France during the Second Wars of Religion.

As the French economic crisis worsens, Le Dictateur and his Estates-General have no choice but to impose increasingly high taxes on the populace, or at least on the Third Estate, the peasants. Unrest begins to spread across the country.

The Mughal and Holy Russian Empires, both occupied elsewhere, observe the new Great Khanate with interest, but do not interfere as it so far appears to be a threat to neither of them.

1811
The Russian military demonstrates the first guns firing explosive shells on a flat trajectory, greatly increasing their accuracy and destructive power. These were invented by Johorian [Sumatran] émigré Tarmizi Rajasa working in Moscow. They are quickly adopted by other nations around the world.

Russian forces cross the pre-War of the Russia Humiliation border into Poland-Lithuania, while other forces conduct probing raids into Swedish and Austrian territory, tying down forces which might assist the Poles. Numerous battles devastate the Polish and Lithuanian countryside

A series of earthquakes, aftershocks and tremors occur in the Mississippi Valley. These continue into 1812. The earthquakes reverse the course of the Mississippi River, and are the largest series of earthquakes known to have occurred in North America.

Comet Gwynedd [Flaugergues] appears between April 1811 and January 1812 and is visible to the unaided eye. This comet has two tails, one straight and one curved, one of which is some twenty-five degrees long.

At the Battle of Volkovisk in the Second Reclamation War, Polish-Lithuanian general Bronislaw Gumplowicz is the first person to make use of a tethered hot air balloon in war, using it to observe the battlefield below.

In Switzerland a coalition of its protestant cantons force through a number of reforms of the political system of the Confederacy of Switzerland. These introduce a confederacy-wide administration, a modern bureaucracy and a unified foreign policy. As part of this a new capital is declared, in Zurich.

The first public passenger-carrying railways begin operating in both India and Europe.

Amid rising religious violence, Serbia breaks away from the Ottoman Empire.

Amid rising public sentiment against the institution, the governments of England and Denmark ban slavery within the home countries, and give the Presidents of their colonial Dominions the option of abolishing it in them if they wish.

The use of tethered balloons as observation platforms is soon adopted by the Holy Russian Empire and by militaries around the world.

Railway networks begin spreading across Europe, India and their various colonies across the world.

As time goes by electric trolleybuses, trains and trams come to be used in and between cities, with steam and internal combustion engined ones being used elsewhere. Although electrical engines dominate transport on fixed routes, power sources independent of outside sources still have a good deal of use in other locations. [The earlier use of electrical engines means that nothing like the Stirling Engine is developed in this world.]

As India industrialises and its population grows, many of its sacred (and other) rivers begin to become polluted with both industrial and human waste. This is particularly the case during the dry season when the rivers are at their lowest and thus the pollution at its most concentrated.

Pollution also begins to become a problem elsewhere in the world.

As the numbers of slaves in Braseal increase, slaves begin to see that they have power from numbers alone. Slave unrest begins to spread across Braseal.

1812
Russian officer Apollinary Aitmatov modifies a Ryll [Gatling] gun to use its own recoil to drive itself, producing the first machine gun [this occurred in 1881 in the real world]. This design is quickly adopted across the Holy Russian Empire where it devastates the armies of the Triple Alliance.

Charismatic Chinese Russian Orthodox Christian Teng Junhui, a recent convert, rises to the leadership of the Zhengjiaotu Rebellion. With his forceful personality in charge, the forces of the rebellion become more unified, and more effective against those of the Chinese central government.

A Polish-Lithuanian observation balloon becomes the first man-made flying machine to be shot down after it is hit by a Russian shell. All aboard are killed.

The Kingdom of Canada is declared, with the former French King Louis XVIII as its new King, Louis I.

Portugal attempts to take control of the Luba and Lunda Empires. Aided by guns and advisors from Oman and the Mughal Empire, Luba and Lunda are able to repel the Portuguese.

The Great Khanate becomes the first Central Asian state to begin to industrialise itself, rather than simply use the industrially-produced goods bought from or donated by foreigners.

The Triple Alliance quickly begin to adopt trenches and other tactics to help them against the Russian machine guns, but without machine guns of their own can do little to prevent the Russian advance.

The continuing Noqre Bohrâm [Silver Crisis in Persian] only exacerbates the problems of the Zhengjiaotu Rebellion in China. It also helps many nations which trade with China to make ‘agreements’ with various Chinese leaders, allowing them to extract as much money as possible from the country while it is in chaos.

1813
The Triple Alliance acquires their own versions of the machine gun, but by the time they have enough of them to have an impact, the Russians have made massive advances.

Polish-Lithuanian negotiators meet with the Holy Russian Empire in an attempt to end the Second Reclamation War. However, the Poles are unwilling to meet the demands of the Russians, and the war continues.

Alauddin Bakar Al-Haj, a colleague of Sultan Abdul Jalil of Johor, proposes the concept of an Alam Melayu [Malay World] political movement, which would unify all Malay people everywhere and all of the Malay Archipelago into a single political entity superseding the current assorted Malay kingdoms. At any cost.

Croatia and Macedonia also break away from the Ottoman Empire.

A number of slave revolts occur across Braseal. They are brutally suppressed, but not before doing significant damage to the country.

Comet Yourcenar [Encke] reappears.

The Alam Melayu movement leads to similar ideas taking root in other parts of the world. A ‘Celtic World’ movement grows up in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as others in Scandinavia, Germany under the name of the All-German Party, Italy and the Middle East.

1814
Russian forces besiege Warsaw.

Polish-Lithuanian negotiators again meet with the Holy Russian Empire. This time they accept the Russian demands, signing the Second Treaty of Warsaw.

The Anglo-Danish Royal Navy launches the first ironclad warship, intended partly to counter the effectiveness of the new Russian guns.

Sultan Abdul Jalil of Johor repudiates the ideas of Alauddin Bakar Al-Haj. Alauddin Bakar Al-Haj goes into exile in Jawa [Java].

The first long-distance railway in the Dakshina Nad, linking Kanyakumari with the Maratha capital of Satara via the Pudhiya Kozhikode capital of Kozhikode and the Mysorean capital of Mysore, opens to the public along its entire length.

Mud-flows caused by the eruption of Mount Mayon in the Philippine Islands kill twelve hundred people.

A number of nations with Vrijdenkerij governments band together into a ‘Freethought Alliance’.

The industrialisation of the Great Khanate begins to run into problems, as the setting up of industries is quickly seen to require that those involved in it give up their traditional nomadic lifestyle in favour of life at a fixed industrial location, something few are willing to do, while industrial work in them is considered to be below them. For this reason, the industry of the Great Khanate soon becomes manned by slave labour and other unfortunates, with free overseers, most of who spend only some of their time doing so, and the rest in their traditional lives.

As time goes by the atheist ‘Freethought Alliance’ evolves into a third lesser power bloc, occupying a third way independent of the great powers of the world. Some Vrijdenkerij nations are tolerant of all faiths, but want none of them. Others actively work against all religions.

Over time the Royal Universal Company comes to own all of the railways in England and Denmark, buying them up piecemeal. These are used to transport its own goods as well as people and the goods of others.

To help it make the most of this the company also enters the railway building and running business around the world.

1815
The Second Reclamation War ends with the Russians reclaiming all of the territory they lost in the Russian war, as well as large areas of the former Third Polish-Lithuanian Republic, in particular all of the territory of Lithuania itself.

A massive eruption of the Tambora volcano in the east indies [Indonesia] kills ninety-two thousand people locally due to ash falls, tsunami, disease and starvation. It also causes climatic effects on a global scale, a leads to 1816 becoming known as the ‘year without a summer’.

The French Navy launches its first ironclad warship, intended partly to counter the effectiveness of the new Russian guns.

The eruption of Mount Tambora utterly destroys the Sultanate of Tambora on the island of Sumbawa, a state known particularly for its honey, horses, sappan wood and sandalwood.

A conspiracy of Bugis and Minangkabaus leaders in Samudra [Sumatra], unhappy with the nationalist policies of Sultan Abdul Jalil of Johor, which they see as ultimately destroying them as a people, attempt to assassinate him. This fails.

Gold is discovered in the sparsely-populated northern Mexican region of California. As news of this spreads a gold rush begins, with hopeful prospectors travelling to California from around the world. [This occurred in 1848 in the real world.]

The Great Khanate invades its neighbours to the south, overrunning them one by one in a brilliant show of military skill and force. All of the new territories are incorporated into the Great Khanate, which by the end of this process covers most of the territory between the Great Horde of Kazakhs, the Mughal Empire, the Holy Russian Empire and China.

Inventor Frantisek Hrusinsky in the Kingdom of Bohemia invents the first means to permanently record images, creating what become known as svetlo-zaznam [light recordings, that is, photographs; this happened in the 1830s in the real world]. As time passes these soon become known as svetzam.

The Delhi Pantheon is completed and opened to worshippers of all faiths to use in parallel with one another. Although not massively crowded it nevertheless sees significant use down the years.

With the Second Reclamation War over, the Holy Russian Empire is faced with the problem of what to do with the large numbers of Triple Alliance colonists who have moved onto what was, and is now again, Russian land. They are offered the choice of converting to Russian Orthodoxy or being deported. Some take the former course. Some chose the latter. Many try to fight and are crushed. In the early parts of this resettlement they are indeed returned to their native nations, but later, as the resettlement process becomes more bitter, many are also transported to Siberia.

Throughout this period the Polish-Lithuanian Republic covertly funds smuggling and resistance movements in its former territories, particularly Lithuania itself, which was lost during the Second Reclamation War.

The eruption of Mount Tambora triggers the first serious study of vulcanology [this is some seventy years earlier than in the real world].

As the gold rush there progresses, the population of California grows dramatically, with a majority of the new population being non-Mexicans entering the region to seek their fortunes.

Unrest over the suppression of free trade by the monopoly of the Royal Universal Company and the oppression this involves grows and spreads in Nigritia.

Many refugees flee the invading Great Khanate forces into the surrounding nations.

The ruthlessness and brutality of the Great Khanates takeover of much of the rest of Central Asia soon leads to this period becoming known as the Harrowing of the Steppes.

Not wanting to be vulnerable to the Great Khanate, other Central Asian states attempt to adopt the Great Khanate model of industrialisation, with varying degrees of success, and differing methods of selecting those who oversee the industrial facilities. Again, the conservative nature of their societies limits what can be done. As industry grows, but the nomadic populations of the Khanates remain relatively low, more and more of their industry becomes run by slaves as well as operated by them.

A few members of the Central Asian Khanates give up their horses in favour of motor vehicles of various kinds, but most see no benefit to doing so.

Inspired by the Delhi Pantheon, as time goes by the government of many other cities whose populations follow a variety of religions construct their own equivalents of it.

1816
After long negotiations, the Personal Union between the thrones of England and Denmark is expanded into a federation of the two nations. The Federation of England and Denmark is proclaimed. This has a new flag combining the flags of England and Denmark:

The Mughal Navy launches the first ironclad warship, intended partly to counter the effectiveness of the new Russian guns, which are now finding use around the world.

In Europe the effects of the Tambora eruption are felt as huge storms, abnormal rainfall, floodings of the major rivers of Europe and frost in high summer occur across the continent. The appalling weather causes crop failures and widespread food shortages across the world.

With the eruption of the Tambora volcano also causing severe famine in some parts of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh people, via their Gurdwaras, provide the only source of food for many of the people in these areas. In recognition of the great service they have provided, Mughal Emperor Muhammed Akbar II personally donates money to the Gurdwaras, and establishes a law to ensure that this is done in perpetuity.

Romanian nationalists take advantage of the end of the Second Reclamation War and the effects of the Tambora eruption to secede from the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire can do little to stop them. [In this world the region of Romania is part of the Holy Roman Empire rather than the Ottoman Empire, as it was in the real world.]

The Dakshina Nad and the Mughal Empire offer help and assistance to the people affected by the Tambora eruption, providing food and materials to help them rebuild their lives. The sultanates of Jawa [Java], particularly the Mataram Sultanate, do likewise.

A reign of terror spreads across the Sultanate of Johor as Sultan Abdul Jalil attempts to root out everyone involved in the attempt on his life. He declares that all people of the Sultanate will be unified into a single culture, religion and nationality under himself. In this he is supported by most of the population, who are of the culture he espouses.

Instances of large-scale slaughter, the destruction of non-Malay cultures, large-scale forced conversion of non-Muslims to Islam, and the slaughter of those who will not convert begin to occur across the Sultanate of Johor.

The last of the Barbary Pirates are destroyed by a French, Neapolitan and Milanese fleet led by a number of French ironclads.

The French colony of Benin is west Africa is now considered to be sufficiently well-developed for it to be made administratively part of France, with the same status of as territories in European France itself.

The first chemical anaesthetics are used by Jesdaporn Kraibutr in Ayutthaya [as opposed to in the 1840s in the real world].

A slave revolt in the Great Horde of Kazakhs is brutally suppressed, but at the price of severely damaging their industrial base.

The first electrical air cooling machine is developed in Delhi. Because of the poor weather this year it has little initial success.

The need to increase food production to help cope with the effects of the Tambora eruption leads to changes and innovations in agricultural practises across the world.

Slave revolts in other Khanates in Central Asia also cause great problems for them, as the increased controls of the slave workers hinder development, while the reluctance of the khanate members themselves to change their way of life only compounds this.

1817
After decades of decline, and with faith in the central government shattered by the result of the Second War of Reclamation, the Holy Roman Empire is officially dissolved. The new regime renames itself the Austrian Empire.

After the end of the Wars of Reclamation, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kazimir, declares the need to protect the Holy Russian Empire from unholy influences, and bring the light of Orthodox Truth to the world, no matter how hard or how costly this might be. He declares that this is the Revealed Destiny of the Holy Russian Empire.

French and Italian troops land in North Africa to end for all time the threat of piracy in the Mediterranean. The threat of war prevents the Ottoman Empire from interfering in this attempt.

As the privations and disruption of daily life caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora continue, ethnic and religious violence flares between Muslims, Christians and pagans on the island of Sulawesi. This causes great bloodshed and loss of life.

Unrest begins in California over attempts by the Mexican government to suppress non-Catholic beliefs and eject or limit numbers of the new settlers and gold miners, who they consider to be non-citizens.

A second wave of slave revolts occur across Braseal. As before they are brutally suppressed, but again not before doing significant damage.

Some Sumbawan expatriates, scattered across Asia and the world, return to Sumbawa and attempt to rebuild the Sultanate of Tambora with the assistance of the Mataram Sultanate and the other sultanates of Jawa [Java]. Others work to build up a new Sumbawan enclave elsewhere, away from the Tambora volcano.

1818
As part of its Revealed Destiny, the Holy Russian Empire begins the forcible conversion of all non-Russian Orthodox Christians in the Empire, including Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and all others. Many who do not wish this flee the Empire. Some attempt to resist, and many are killed, particularly among the Russian Jewish population. As a means of ‘protecting’ the Russian people from unholy external influences, Russian troops close the borders of the Empire to most traffic, even attempting to do so in Siberia and furthest-flung Alyeska. Despite these efforts large numbers of non-Orthodox Russians flee the Holy Russian Empire.

The Holy Russian Empire again attempts to send Russian Orthodox missionaries to the islands of Yapon. Yapon again refuses them admission.

The process of vulcanising rubber is developed by Thomas Smith In New England. [As opposed to 1839 in the real world.]

The second railway in the Dakshina Nad, linking Kanyakumari with the city of Golconda via the Pudhiya Kozhikode capital of Kozhikode, the Thanjavur capital of the same name and the Poligar capital of Kadapa (Cuddapah) opens to the public along its entire length.

Covertly aided by the French government of Louisiana, the Mexican region of Tejas [Texas] begins campaigning for its independence, despite attempts by the Mexican government to suppress this. Significant numbers of Louisianan citizens also enter Tejas and settle there, many of them giving up on the way to California.

A pro-independence uprising by Muslim Uighur rebels hoping to take advantage of the ongoing Zhengjiaotu Rebellion begins in the Chinese region of Xinjiang.

A Great Comet is observed in July with a tail about seven degrees long.

The Holy Russian Empire begins offering people incentives to settle along their borders, and sometimes beyond them, to help defend and define them. This is particularly the case in Central Asia along the borders with the Khanates and China. In some places people take up these offers, and in others forcible resettlement is used.

The programme of forced conversion in the Holy Russian Empire becomes what is essentially genocide against all who are not of the Russian Orthodox Church.

1819
Its economy continuing to be weakened by trade troubles and problems with internal unrest arising from a continuing lack of faith in the central government, the Austrian Empire has no choice but to finally accept the independence of Romania and the Kingdom of Bohemia, which has been the case in fact since 1816 and 1801 respectively.

The last of the North African cities surrenders to the combined French-Italian force, leaving all of North Africa outside the Ottoman Empire under their control.

French forces take control of the island of Malta, as well as Algeria in North Africa. Naples and Milan also take control of the regions of North Africa centred on Tripoli and Tunis respectively, which they name Tarabulus and Tunis.

Following a series of conferences on trade and cooperation between the nations around the Indian Ocean, the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad, Imamate of Oman and Persian Empire form the Arabian Council, an organisation intended to allow them to discuss and control their relationships by means other than war.

Following its defeat by the Russians, and hearted by the secession of Bohemia, the formerly-Ottoman regions of Bulgaria and Serbia break away from Constantinople and become independent states of their own.

A bad harvest causes hardship across France. With the people unable to pay their taxes to the government, even by force, the French economy collapses. Peasant mobs attack nobles and government figures across France.

Despite the best efforts of the French government and army to stop them, mobs take control of many of the major cities of France.

An attempt by Greek nationalists to secede from the Ottoman Empire is crushed with great loss of life.

A coalition of Californian settlers begins organising active and organised resistance to Mexican control of what they now see as their lands.

De Valdivia’s [Tralles] Comet makes a bright appearance that lasts for several weeks and is visible with the unaided eye.

Seeking a new title without association of Ottoman rule, the Romanian leader styles himself Domnitor. The Bulgarian leader styles himself Hadjuk. The Serbian leader simply styles himself King.

As Pudhiya Kozhikode has become wealthier, and inflation of prices has occurred, more and more people in Pudhiya Kozhikode have become eligible to seats in the Kozhikode Assembly, to point that it has become almost too unwieldy to function. This is because eligibility is based on possession of an absolute amount of money."