November 22nd, 1655.
Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, the region of Gujarat, the City of Karnavati.
In the noble’s palace where the previous Mughal nobles resided, the meeting continued in the presence of Vijay Devaraya, Narasimha Nayak, Ramayya Senapati, Kiran Poojari, Sarvesh, Roshan, and Aditya. Aditya, as it was his turn to explain the crucial section of the report, got up and started his presentation.
"Your Majesty and your Excellencies, after reviewing the intelligence gathered by the Bharatiya Commandos, it is evident that capturing a combination of key cities and passes is necessary to fully establish our control in the region," he said as he further went on to explain.
"Firstly, we must target the city of Makran, situated along the coast of the Arabian Sea near the Gulf of Oman. It marks the westernmost point of Baluchistan and serves as a significant border between the Mughal Empire and the Safavid Empire’s influence.
Makran holds both geological and political importance, nestled at the foothills of the central Makran Mountain Range, which acts as a natural boundary between Baluchistan and the Safavid territories. Currently, Makran is under the control of one of the tribes in the region called the Mengal Tribe.
Despite being coveted by both the Mughal and Safavid Empires, due to ongoing tensions, Makran has become a sort of buffer zone allowing the Mengal Tribe to develop and prosper."
With this statement, Aditya swiftly presented the small models of the city and the mountain range he had brought, placing them on the map before everyone.
"Since this is a disputed region, will the Safavid Empire not intervene in the battle if this city was attacked?" Kiran Poojari, noticing the crucial location of the city on the map, immediately asked.
"What you said is very logical, your Excellency Marshall," Aditya agreed as he continued to explain.
"But as you can notice, this city is right on the coastal wall of the Arabian Sea and at the opening of the Gulf of Oman, so we can use the Navy of the Empire to deal with the defences of the city." Aditya paused for a moment before explaining with a smile on his face, "Also, it is already confirmed that the artillery possessed by the tribe of Mengal is similar to the old Chinese cannons, with limited range and power.
Hence, this city could be captured relatively easily."
"Where is the navy of Safavid? Are they not going to do anything?" Narasimha Nayak asked.
Hearing the question, Aditya had a bigger smile on his face as he explained, "The Navy of the Safavid Empire acting out is highly improbable, Your Excellency, the commander." His expression turned cunning as he explained further, "The Safavid Empire has put their full concentration on the development of the army, and there is barely enough navy to protect their own coastal regions.
So, where will they have the strength to resist our navy, which was even able to defeat the Mughal Navy?"
As Aditya delved into the reasons behind this phenomenon, everyone fell into deep thought. "As for why it is like this? Only speculation could be made. It could be either that their ruler only cared about territorial conquests and nothing else, or with the existence of the Mughal Navy capable enough to block the Gulf of Oman, maybe they felt having a strong Navy was not worth it.
Or it could be that both reasons played a role in this military distribution of the Safavid dynasty. So overall, we could ignore the Safavids’ retaliation through the Navy."
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing this news; dealing with another navy would have posed a significant challenge in recapturing the region.
"Go on," urged Vijay, eager to learn further details.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Aditya replied, continuing. "The next locations to be captured are the surroundings of Gwadar and Omara. Although both ports were already captured during the naval conquest of the empire, small blockades have formed at the outskirts of these ports towards the north.
By clearing out this trouble, we can open up two routes to the interior of the Baluchistan region, one at the westernmost end and one at the eastern end."
"Now, let me start by explaining the Western Conquest route."
"From Gwadar, after a gruelling march of 267 kilometres, we reach the first major settlement called Panjgur. This settlement lies at the end of the central Makran Range, in the central region of Baluchistan.
It provides an excellent military advantage, being covered by the Raskoh Range and the ChaGhi Hills to the south, which act as a natural barrier against the Safavid Empire’s entry into the central Balochistan region with a large army."
"This city is traditionally occupied by the tribe of Bugti. Similar to the tribes of Lashari and Rind, they are famous for their martial culture and have a history of defending against foreign invaders."
"From the city of Panjgur, heading northeast another 259 kilometres, we find an important city, which is also one of the trade routes of the Mughal Empire called Kuzdar. This city is at the centralmost location of the Baluchistan region, and the soldiers who had taken the Eastern route would have to convene together at this point as well.
This could prove advantageous since going any further would require multiple cooperatives acting together as the logistics will get stretched, and we need a unified logistic node. The city of Kuzdar could be just that."
The generals nodded their heads as they could understand this truth: logistics is the deciding factor of whether a battle could be won or lost. With this thought clear, they continued to listen. As Aditya placed two more markers on the map for the city of Kuzdar and the settlement of Panjagur, along with the mountain ranges he mentioned, it gave a better visualization for the generals.
"The next city on this route is the city of Kalāt," Aditya explained as he pointed to the model of the fortresses on the map. "This city could be used as an important transit point from Kuzdar to the city of Quetta, which I will explain the importance of right after this. Kalāt is located 140 kilometres away from the city of Kuzdar.
This region comes under the influence of the Marri tribe, and these tribal people are known for their incredible unity, which has allowed them to survive until now."
"As for the next destination, it is the city of Quetta. This is the most populated and could be considered the main economic centre of the region, Being one of the most habitable and fertile locations in the region of Baluchistan, " he explained with seriousness. "The city of Quetta is 128 kilometres away from the transit city of Kalāt and is also only 80.5 kilometres away from the Khojak Pass."
"This Khojak Pass is located in the Toba Achakzai Mountain range, which provides a vital connection between Quetta and the Kandahar Region of the Safavid Empire. So, this passage acts as an important east-west passage within the region," Aditya elaborated and pointed the locations on the map with a stick, heightening the importance of the city even more to all the military command present.
"By occupying this city, we can completely control the trade and communication channels with the Safavid Empire and the inland regions of Baluchistan. The city of Quetta could also be used as the main fortress along the western border of the region and project influence over the area."
"However, unfortunately, due to its importance, this city is not controlled by any tribe but is ruled by a Mughal noble who runs the city like a fief. He is generally responsible for keeping things in the region of Baluchistan from going out of control and maintaining the influence of the Mughal Empire."
This was indeed very troublesome, as a full-scale invasion from them might alert the Mughals, and he could fortify his defences, potentially drawing their army into a battle of attrition. Such battles in the middle of nowhere are very dangerous. Plans were running through the generals’ minds as Aditya went on to further explain the militarily significant locations on the map.
"Moving further, there are two locations that could be reached depending on the situation of the battle, as both locations are crucial settlements in the vicinity of major passes. Both the settlements I am about to mention are occupied by the Pashtun tribes, who have migrated to the region of Balochistan and settled here."
"The first is the settlement of Dhadar occupied by the Pashtoon tribe of Kakar, at the foothills of the Central Brahui Mountain Range near the mountain of Zargun. It is at a distance of 219 kilometres from the city of Kuzdar, which is in the vicinity of Bolan Pass."
"Similar to the Khojak Pass, the Bolan Pass is a natural gateway through the Central Brahui range, connecting the lowlands of Baluchistan with the Indus Valley(sindh) and further inland of the Mughal Empire. On the other hand, it also provides access to the higher plateaus of the Safavid Empire and Central Asia, making this pass one of the three most crucial locations to capture in this campaign."
"The other option is the small tribal settlement of Zohob, located 284 kilometres from the city of Quetta. Nestled at the foothills of the Suleiman mountain range, it lies far north of Balochistan and the tribal lands of the Pashtuns. Due to its proximity to the Pashtun tribal lands, the Pashtun tribe of Zarakzai resides here, serving as gatekeepers of the Gomal Pass.
This pass, situated in the Suleiman Mountain Range, acts as a natural gateway between Baluchistan in the west and Pashtun lands in the east, providing a crucial north-south connection."
"This settlement of Zohob could serve as a forward base in securing the Gomal Pass under our control." The military commanders nodded in agreement, making note of this crucial information on the small notes they kept with them.
Vijay nodded his head, knowing that this pass was the crucial communication channel between Baluchistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is present-day Pashtun lands in the past timeline.
As Aditya explained most of the important locations in the region of Balochistan, he stopped for a sip of water, as most of the western and central part of the map was filled with mountain ranges and cities placed by him.
"Now that we are clear about the Western Conquest Route, I will now explain about the Eastern Conquest Route," Aditya said, pausing for a moment, taking a deep breath, and getting right into the explanation. "Similar to the western conquest route, our army will start at the city of Omara.
After clearing out the blockades in its path, we will move to the settlement of Awaran, which is at a distance of 137 kilometres from Omara. This is a normal transit city, but the whole region of eastern Baluchistan is under the control of the Rind and Lashari tribes, the feuding brother tribes which we have known about."
" Moving from here, we reach the central transit city of Khuzdar, which the western conquest route had already come across, and is at 204 kilometres from Awaran. Also, from here the army will act together as a unit. After that, the next location is Kalāt, which is 140 kilometres away.
Then, it could be either Quetta or Dhadar depending on the battle situation, and finally to Zohub, to take over all the three major passes of Balochistan: the Bolan Pass, the Khgak Pass, and the Gomal Pass."
Despite his fatigue, Aditya pressed on and completed his briefing with the final segment of the intelligence aggregate. "The eastern part of Balochistan is well-guarded by the Kirthar Range, stretching from the southernmost tip to the central region, just 100 kilometres from the transit city of Kuzdar.
Moving to the northernmost tip, the Suleiman Mountain Range acts as a barrier, separating Balochistan from Punjab, while the Indus River blocks off further access."
"This natural barrier, encompassing both the Kirtar Range and the Suleiman Range, is called the Suleiman Kirthar Geologic area, which inhibits movement between regions. Though there are openings in this wide wall, traversing the Sindu River poses a challenge due to limited building technology. Without advanced bridges, troop movements are highly improbable.
However, if the England Navy, which has survived in the province of Sindh, tries to intervene, we can let our navy handle this matter."
Everyone now had a pretty good understanding of the geographical and power distribution of the region of Baluchistan, and they were now feeling confident in taking on this region.
Vijay was thoughtful, As his suspicions came true after witnessing the major changes from the last timeline to this one in the power distribution of the region. The significant change he noted was the relocation of the Rind and Lashari tribes from the northern to the eastern part of Balochistan.
There were also alterations in many other tribes from the previous life, as well as changes in how the Mughal Empire handled things in the region. Overall, Vijay felt confident in taking on the region of Balochistan, but there was still some risk, particularly concerning the Mughal-controlled Quetta potentially acting up. However, he was willing to take that risk.
Another concern arose in his mind, prompting him to ask, "How will the Safavid Empire act if we further cut off their passes to and from Balochistan? Do we have any information on this?"
Aditya, who was already very tired, nodded his head and explained, "Your Majesty, it is very possible that they will act. However, in my opinion, the threat is not too high because, according to the rumours and intelligence I have received from the region of Baluchistan, there is apparently some internal strife going on in the Safavid Empire.
It seems to be related to cases of inheritance or something similar. So, even if they decide to act, it will take at least 4 to 5 months for them to respond."
"Given that the only importance of Balochistan to the Safavid Empire is to further enhance the trade with the Mughal Empire since there is nothing of high value in the land of Balochistan for the Safavid Empire, they may even decide not to do anything and fight their battles internally themselves.
But in case they do act up, it will not contain the full force of the Safavid Empire as the military is now divided because of the death of Abbas II, the emperor of the Safavid dynasty. During that time, not only will we have consolidated our rule, but we will also have taken control of the locals, leaving them with no opportunity to riot."
Vijay was taken aback by the sudden news because he knew Abbas II still had 10 years of rule left, as his death was supposed to be in 1666. "Is there any information about how Abbas II died?" Vijay asked.
"No, Your Majesty, we have no information on this. The only information that has been generally known in public is that Abbas II is indeed dead," Aditya replied.
Vijay was initially surprised, but once the shock wore off, he felt a sense of joy. With the Safavid dynasty in strife, it would give him more opportunity to completely take over the region of Punjab if the internal strife lasted longer. However, he knew he had to do some behind-the-scenes work for this opportunity to work in his favour, but that was a problem for the future.
As of now, focusing on the region of Balochistan, he fell into deep contemplation for a few moments before taking out the document on his table and officially signing it, thereby starting the war with the region of Baluchistan at the westernmost frontier of the Mughal Empire.
"It’s time for another limb of the Mughal Empire to fall," Vijay declared, His eyes blazing with fire.
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P.S. Please use the map, and if u like this detailed breakdown let me know, also after this battle I’m planning to speed up the war, or else I could write a volume for each state lol.