June 16th, 1656
Gujranwala, Lahore, the Mughal Empire
Gujranwala is a town located in the northern part of Lahore, which currently falls under the influence of the Asif Khan dynasty, specifically under the dynasty’s patriarch Yusuf Khan Asif. The origin of town’s name comes from the "Abode of the Gujjars" in Punjabi and was named after the Gujjar tribe that lives in northern Punjab.
There is even a legend that the town is named after a Gujar Chowdhury Gujjar, who was the owner of the town’s Persian wheel that supplied water to the town.
Currently, this quiet town, which has not yet evolved into the third most industrious city in Pakistan of the 21st century, welcomed two unusual guests.
A carriage that looked normal from any direction was seen rushing through the streets of Gujranwala. Thankfully, due to it being early in the morning and the town of Gujranwala not being populous to begin with, there was no hindrance to this carriage.
However, what was present was the curiosity of the people who were staring through their windows, as they rarely got to see people travelling through carriages in their small town.
Inside the carriage, a middle-aged man not more than 40 years old was sitting with an air of nobility around him. He had a long beard, maroon hair, and attire suited for winter.
He had a look of contemplation on his face.
"Do you think it will work, Zakir?" Hyder bin Awadh asked.
An older man, around 60 years of age, who was sitting next to him, fell into deep thought and replied with a smile, "Your Excellency, even though the two dynasties have not discussed our actions with each other, we ended up taking the same decision.
Now that the Mughal Empire has lost the Bengal and Madhya Pradesh regions, the heir of the Asif Khan Dynasty should also realize, similar to us, that the time has come to stand on our own. And more friends are better than more enemies, so I don’t think there is any reason for that person to refuse our alliance."
Zakir took a sip of water as his throat became a little dry.
Hyder let go of his worries after hearing Zakir’s analysis, which was usually very accurate.
The carriage became silent...
"Welcome, guests from the Himalayas. The House of Asif Khan welcomes you."
An elderly man, who was dressed like a housekeeper, stood at the door of a Castle and welcomed the guests.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Zakir responded with a humble smile on his face. As for Hyder, he put on an amiable expression and nodded his head with gratitude.
The three men quickly entered the palace.
"Welcome, my brother from Awadh. Please sit down," Yusuf Khan Asif greeted as he got up from his chair and motioned for the guests to sit down.
"Thank you, brother Asif," Hyder responded.
"So, brother, how is your family? Is my sister-in-law doing well? How about my nephew?" Yusuf asked.
"They are doing very well, brother. What about..."
Pleasantries like these continued for half an hour before Yusuf Khan Asif decided to break the deadlock.
"Brother, let’s be honest. Why are you here?" Yusuf Khan asked with a serious expression on his face.
Hyder, looking at the guy pretending, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He let out an exasperated sigh, knowing that he had to play this game of hide and seek.
*sigh*
"Brother, stop pretending. We’ve come to this point, so why are you still pretending?" Hyder said, his face helpless.
"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Asif asked with a perplexed expression.
"Aren’t we here to talk about the Alliance? Why are you beating around the bush?" Hyder asked, his face cold.
However, very unexpectedly, Asif actually got up from his seat, pointed his talwar at him, and warned with an angry expression as if he never expected to hear those words, "Do you want to be the traitor and backstabber of the Mughal Empire? How dare you! Additionally, how dare you try to convince me to make an alliance?"
Hyder was now confused. The plot was not going according to what he had expected. ’Is this guy really not trying to become independent?’ Hyder thought. In doubt, he put a questioning gaze towards Zakir, who seemed to have no expression on his face.
Zakir knew that it was his time to act.
"Your Excellency, let’s be honest. You have invited us to such a remote place at such ungodly hours precisely to discuss the alliance."
Asif dodged his eyes a little but immediately responded with a grim smile on his face, "That’s your assumption. Who knows? Maybe I only wanted to show you the scenery of this beautiful town."
"Then could I consider the heightened fortifications, the increased production of weapons, and the overwhelming hoarding of grain as preparations for war?" Zakir said with a sly expression on his face.
However, Asif’s smile faded as he responded with a stern expression, "Yes, that is right. These are the supplies being prepared for the war at the southern frontier battlefield."
The smile on Zakir’s face became wider and whiter as he continued, "Very good, Your Excellency, but I am curious why only 40% of the grains and 60% of the weapons are being transported to the battlefield while the rest are being completely controlled by you."
"Also, you seem to be recruiting an awful lot of military-aged men for some reason. Are these men your contribution to the Mughal Empire too? Oh, how noble of you, Your Excellency."
There was a hint of ridicule in Zakir’s voice; however, Yusuf didn’t get angry, but he did have a dangerous glint in his eyes.
However, the old man Zakir did not take the threat to heart at all as he simply said, "Oh well, if Your Excellency is not going to cooperate honestly, then there is nothing to talk about." He got up, preparing to leave. "Master Hyder, it looks like we have to fight alone, but it’s okay. Our region is inherently difficult to attack after all."
*tsk*
"Wait!" Yusuf said, his tone a little annoyed.
There were smiles on the faces of Hyder and Zakir as they sat down, but as they did, they did not hide their smiles, which showed their victory.
"Boring. Alright, you guys win. Go** Da** it."
That’s right, the conversation until now was to see who would give in first. Although the Awadh dynasty could be considered as giving in due to them coming to the region of Lahore for the meeting, that was only for convenience, as holding a meeting in Kathmandu or any other region in Nepal could cause obvious suspicions within the Mughal Empire.
Holding a meeting anywhere else could be passed off as normal interaction between noble families.
So truthfully, the Awadh dynasty did not give in from beginning to end, and they did not have any reason to either, since, as the old man Zakir said, they were the ones who could exist as relatively independent and have a chance to defend against the Mughal Empire even if they decided to split from the Empire.
Now that the meeting had become more honest, the alliance terms of offence and defence were quickly discussed, and the treaty was signed.
Hyder and the old man Zakir were about to leave, but they were stopped by the surprising statement made by Yusuf.
"You know, brother, the Nawab of Malerkotla contacted me. He proposed that he join our alliance in case we are able to resist the force of the Mughal Empire."
*Boom!*
Hyder’s eyes widened, and Zakir was no different. As soon as the Nawab of Malerkotla was mentioned, they knew that the Mughal Empire was definitely over.
The Nawab of Malerkotla controlled the region of Punjab, and now that he was willing to split away from the Mughal Empire, they could feel that the Timurid dynasty, which had ruled over the Mughal Empire for multiple centuries, was coming to an end. A hint of sadness could be seen in their eyes, but there was also a hint of gloating.
However, remembering the map of the subcontinent and connecting the territories of potential allies, Zakir and Hyder both realized something incredible.
"You mean?" Hyder asked, his face showing an unbelievable expression.
"Yes, brother. Adding Lahore, Northern Punjab, the region of Uttarakhand, Nepal, and Bhutan, we can form another independent empire by completely annexing the northern parts of the Mughal Empire."
"Also, if we are able to take Uttarakhand, the regions of Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Ladakh are as good as in our hands."
"So this attack on Uttar Pradesh should be carried out by the Awadh dynasty, the largest beneficiaries of this plan."
Hyder was restless; his eyes shook with excitement. despite this, he was sane, he posed the most important question that would determine how long their alliance could last, or whether this alliance would evolve into another type of cooperation, "Who will take the throne then?"
Hearing the question, without even hesitating for a moment Yusuf responded, "Naturally, it is you, Your Excellency. With the capture of Uttarakhand, you would naturally possess the most land in our prospective empire. It is foreseeable that you could also take Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. So, Your Excellency, you, who would control nearly 70% of the new empire, are naturally the emperor.
Our Asif Khan Dynasty and the Nawabs of Malerkotla will give you full support, provided that you do not interfere in our private affairs."
Hyder’s eyes became brighter and brighter. He could never have expected that one day he would get a chance to be an emperor of an empire. Originally, he was very satisfied with being a king of Himalayan lands. But now that the situation had turned for the better, who wouldn’t want to grow bigger and stronger?
Just when Hyder was about to respond, Zakir stopped him with a gesture and said, "Your Excellency, this matter could be discussed after the retaliation from the Mughal Empire. Until then, let’s stick to our treaty."
Hyder quickly calmed down and stopped what he was about to say. He bid farewell and quickly gathered his courage to return to his territory.
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
Yusuf was left alone with an annoyed expression on his face.
Outside,
"Zakir, the conditions are very favourable. Shouldn’t we consider—"
"Of course, it is favourable, Your Excellency, but you have to consider that the work should be done by us, and the risk will also fall on our heads. Those guys are trying to push the burden of withstanding the Mughal Empire onto us. This is a conspiracy."
"Of course, I know, Zakir, but don’t you think the rewards are also great? Conquering all the northern parts of the Mughal Empire and forming a new empire is bound to bring us huge benefits. Additionally, due to the terrain of the northern parts of the Mughal Empire, we are naturally very hard to attack. Our defensive tasks will be very simple because of our terrain.
Perhaps after the Mughal Empire collapses and the Bharatiya Empire takes over its land, we can take the opportunity to expand northward towards Tibet or even expand east towards Myanmar or the Qing Dynasty. The future is boundless."
"What you said does indeed make sense, Your Excellency, but we will have to wait and see the reaction from the Mughal Empire."
"Yeah, that’s true."
June 18th, 1656
"Your Majesty, the region of Lahore has declared independence from the Mughal Empire."
"Your Majesty, the regions of Nepal and Bhutan have declared independence from the Mughal Empire."
"Your Majesty, the cost of weapons and logistics from the region of Lahore has increased by 40%."
"Your Majesty, the cost of weapons and logistics from the region of Nepal and Bhutan has increased by 45%."
"Your Majesty, the Mughal representatives are not responding, and according to intelligence, they have set up their own noble families with the traitors."
"Your Majesty, the region of Lahore has been named the Kingdom of Lahore by King Yusuf Khan Asif. The inauguration was yesterday."
"Your Majesty, the region of Nepal and Bhutan has been named the Sultanate of the Himalayas by King Hyder Bin Awadh."
"Your Majesty, we have received support from domestic nobles to punish these traitors."
Like an earthquake, waves of devastating news came one after another into the Royal Palace of Agra.
Muhammad, who heard all this, had a livid expression on his face.
*Crash!*
*Crash!*
*Bang!* "AH!"
"Damn it!" Muhammad cursed. The ground filled with debris, and a few meters away lay a woman who had been shot in the head.
"Prepare my horses."
The servants acted as if they knew that His Majesty was going to vent, but they just didn’t know which temple he was going to visit this time.
P.S. Thankyou its_a_joke for Ice cola *4
P.S. Shoutouts Starting Today
P.S. Currently in my Asociality Arc so not reading comments, if possible leave review or dm on Discord, thanks
P.S. The war arc is getting on my nerves.