Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

25th January 1678

The sultanate of Mahara and the Qasimid state had changed immensely since the last decade. They have gone from barren tribal kingdoms in one of the most barren regions in the Arabian Peninsula to the Vijay Nagar and Cholapuri of the Middle East.

Driven by the service industry, mining industry, trade, and handicraft industry, the two nations have become extremely prosperous, with streets now laid down with cement and drainage with the specifications of the Bharatiya Empire.

There are even public institutions mirroring those of the eastern nation, like the police offices, post offices, etc.. More importantly, brought by the connection, the people absorbed all the cultural richness of the Bharatiya Empire and made it their own, like putting their own twist into Bharathiya wear like saris, langas, lungis, sherwanis, and other things, and this went for food as well, as restaurants could be seen serving a new type of cuisine, Desi Arab.

A new cuisine style with Bharatiya cooking methods and Arabian ingredients.

Legend says that this cuisine was born after a Prince of Mahara visited Hampi and was left mesmerised by the dishes in the Bukha Yodha Street. So wanting such delicacies in his own home and wanting to eat them with the ingredients and cooking methods of his home, he brought several chefs from his nation and sent them to disciple under the chefs of the Bhooka Yodha Street with huge amounts of money. When they came back, being trained and qualified into master chefs, he had them add the unique Arabic touches to the knowledge of food they had learned and gave birth to the new cuisine.

Imam Al Mutawakkil Ismael had come to the outskirts of a mining site to inspect the installation of the new batch of steam engines. Ismael's eyes were a little cloudy, and he had to use a wheelchair to move along; old age hadn't treated him well. But he is still holding on with the medical technology of the Bharatiya Empire and with his personal doctor from the Bharatiya Empire, suggesting to him what to do and what not to do. He is still able to live a somewhat fulfilling life.

Suddenly, a military officer, judging by his attire of higher status, came running towards the imam and bent down as he stretched out the documents he had in his hand.

Ismael was a little taken aback. Karim is not a restless person; he wouldn't come to him unless there was something important, so he took the letter, but he did not open it.

He is already old, if he has to be able to read the document, he has to wear the lenses he had imported from the Bharatiya Empire at the highest cost, but for him, he feels embarrassed wearing them as it makes his eyes seem like a pair of saucers to the outsiders, as if he is an alien.

So he promptly passed on the document to his junior, who was standing right next to him.

Idris Al Mahwakh curiously took over the document from his senior and started to read it out loud.

However, as he went on to read, his voice became lower and lower until he eventually ended the sentence with a gasp. He was so shocked that he completely missed the expression on his senior's face, who looked like he had come across a gold mine during an economic crisis.

He had waited for this day for too long now. When he was almost half a foot into the grave, it was finally the time to make his dream a reality, a dream to bring back his holy land and every New Testament believer's holy land back under their control, snatching it from the hands of the Ottomans.

Very soon, the news passed on to the neighbouring Kingdom of Mahari as well. King Khalid Ibn Umar Al Mahari accepted the orders from the Bharatiya Empire with great care, then immediately had his son, his successor Omar Ibn Khalid Al Mahari, mobilise the army and be prepared to receive the delegates from the Bharatiya Empire.

Consequently, he himself started to stock up on supplies to provide the logistic channels necessary for the war. Thankfully, as the Bharatiya Empire is also participating in this war and this is a joint attack, most of the funds are still coming from the Bharatiya Empire.

While both the South Arabian nations were preparing in full force and had altered to switch to the military economy mode or their equivalent, the Bharatiya Empire was doing the same. It was like a well-oiled machine that had not been used for a long time, finally moved and shook off what little rust it had accumulated from the long time of silence.

The battleships, frigates, and clippers began to arrive one by one and dock in the port from different places in the Bharatiya Mahasamudra and the Atlantic Ocean, all arriving at the Sokotra Island, ready to sail into action at a moment's notice.

As for the land forces, they began to take their positions as well. A large number of soldiers began to traverse the Middle East and went to the frontline at the Kingdom of Lalishsthan in the northwest, while another sizeable chunk of soldiers boarded ships and started their journey to the south Arabian kingdoms.

Legendary commanders like Sarvesh Ranavikrama, Lachit Borphukan, Yogendra Singh, Ramayya Senapathi, and Narasimha Nayak all went into a major battlefield for the first time in a long, long time.

Especially Sarvesh, after a long time of silence, the person who was once known as the demon blade of the empire, was one of the most glorious warriors the empire had ever produced, had finally gone to the battlefield with a commanding will over all the special forces the empire could muster.

This full-scale mobilisation, of course, alerted a lot of people in the southern hemisphere, Be it the kings and leaders of ASEAN nations, Zhu Yu Lang, emperor of the New Ming dynasty, or even the shogun of Nippon, but perhaps the people who were most shocked by the move of the Bharatiya Empire were the Kingdom of Persia and the Kingdom of Lalishsthan.

Looking from her balcony at the massive moving army, all equipped with weapons once reserved only for her elite soldiers, and at those dark cannons whose names she did not even know, Roxana's heart couldn't help but palpitate. Ezidi Serwan, too, was awestruck, realising that the Bharatiya Empire was now serious. A wave of disappointment passed through him at the thought of not taking part in this vital mission to bring down his enemy, but when he considered the state of his kingdom, that feeling vanished. A country riddled with weaknesses had no business standing against an empire.

Instead, Serwan focused on the opportunity before him. If he could not fight, he would strengthen his kingdom through service. He shifted Lalishsthan to a military economy, aiming to provide the best logistics the kingdom could offer. Anything the Bharatiya military needed, Lalishsthan would make as easy as possible to supply. He even invested the remaining treasury funds into manufacturing the standard ammunition required by the Bharatiya forces, determined to make his kingdom indispensable.

Days passed, and the orders kept pouring in. Watching the money roll in, he was deeply thankful that he had chosen to purchase the rifle and ammunition production lines after the Alliance disbanded, using his nation's merits. With part of the profits from selling ammunition to the Bharatiya Empire, he began reconstruction projects across the kingdom, while the remaining half was reinvested into expanding ammunition production. The bullets his factories produced now could barely withstand a few training rounds of the Bharatiya Army, so there was still a vast amount of room for growth.

Back in the empire, most places remained peaceful, but in Nagpur, the military capital, black smoke filled the sky, giving the city the look of a dystopian, medieval dragon's lair.

The three military conglomerates, along with third-party suppliers, were operating at full capacity, producing the bulk of the ammunition for all weapons and artillery, both on land and at sea. They had even begun manufacturing the newly invented Bhagath B-1 missile in small quantities, which were promptly shipped to the battlefields.

---

"BOOM"

Before the explosions in the Ottoman Empire could start, explosions had already occurred within the empire in its north.

At the Kora La town, a large group of engineers from different construction companies had gathered, but what was odd about these engineers was that they were wearing military uniforms, all of them. They held a meeting together to go through the final checks before the second explosion commenced.

"Everyone, please go through your notes, report to me the status of the blast points as I speak."

"Point L-1."

"Clear!"

"Point L-3."

"Clear."

In such a way, half an hour passed until all 256 blast points were cleared and were ready to be blasted.

The evacuation operation started with a loud ringing of a giant bell, and when there was absolute silence in the narrow pass, with only the sounds of birds, rustling of the trees in the wind, and the occasional calls of the animals, a shattering explosion occurred.

"BOOM!"

The rock wall was blasted apart, submerging the Kora La pass with rubble, making it inaccessible.

But no one seemed to be worried about this. Instead, the engineers who were in military uniforms smiled happily and clapped with wide smiles.

"Congratulations."

"Haha, thank you, congratulations to you as well."

They congratulated each other, celebrated the successful operation, and left for their hotels or research facilities, as they were no longer needed until the rubble was cleared and the next stretch of the pass needed to be widened.

These people were all ex-soldiers who had worked in the military logistics department. They were specialised personnel who were used by the military to clear any hurdles in the terrain or to make the terrain more favourable for their side. When these people retired from the military, the construction companies convinced the government to bring out a policy that they could use these trained veterans for civilian purposes in the construction industry.

Jigme Namgyal, the general of the Tibetan resistance army, or rather the lieutenant general of the now Bharatiya Army, could not help but feel relieved seeing how sane his decision was. If he had pursued his rightful throne, maybe even his bones wouldn't be found.

P.S. Many thanks to Sudhanva_SH for the Ice Cola, really appreciate it.

P.S. Big thanks to Eren_Yeager01 for sending over three Ice Colas.