Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

*Swish*

It precisely pierced through the small animal, instantly taking it\'s life.

It was the Emperor of the Mughal Empire, Mohammed. It was clear that the man was a strong warrior, as his skills spoke for themselves. He was having some recreational activity as part of his routine.

He let go of another arrow.

*Swish*

It pierced and killed a small rabbit in the distance. It was pretty clear that Mohammed was a good horse archer.

He looked pretty satisfied with today\'s hunt. Mohammed was just having fun waiting while preparing for the war with the Marathas. The days of the war were close; he wanted the lands of the Marathas to himself.

The subcontinent contained riches more valuable than any other land in the world. He already had a taste of immense wealth conquering the parts of the North and North West subcontinent regions.

Mohammed wanted absolute control over the wealth of the other parts of the Subcontinent. He heard that the south contained even more wealth and riches.

Despite the initial successful campaigns. The Marathas seemed to be a pain to deal. He couldn\'t easily take them over, even with superior numbers.

\'Those bastards fight with no regard to their lives.\'

Marathas fought with determination that shook Mohammed to the core. He didn\'t expect to see soldiers give their lives so willing to protect their lands.

This resulted in many setbacks to the Mughal campaigns to take their lands. They had to rely on the Qutbs and make concessions to the Portuguese to take on the Marathas.

Even with all this, he was unsure whether the kingdom would fall into his hands.

Returning to the Royal Palace, he saw Fakir Abdul, a minister awaiting his arrival.

"What happened, Fakir? You seem to have a joyful expression." He asked.

"Your Excellency, the preparations for the war are almost complete; we can move in a month or two to invade the land of the Marathas."

"Hooo. That\'s great. What about the deal with the Qutbs and Portuguese?"

"Qutbs had no choice but to oblige to our orders, Your Excellency. They need the money after the Portuguese merchants are slowly taking over their markets."

"The Sultan is a fool. Well, but it is a good thing for us; fools like that can be used and thrown anyway." Mohammed said with a smile.

"The Portuguese asked for the rights to the Surat Port as we expected. They would send in their mercenaries as part of the agreement if we give them the Surat port rights as a token of friendship for their help."

"Let me think." He began as he pondered whether to give up rights to such a lucrative port to have a solid chance of taking over the Maratha lands.

"Fakir, send Aslam to negotiate a better deal quickly. We can\'t fully give the rights to the port without getting a good deal in return. Mercenaries aren\'t enough for the rights."

"I shall inform Aslam and send him over to negotiate for a better deal." now

"We must take the land now. We can\'t afford to lose once more. Understood?" Mohammed said.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Send Karim to my room; I have something to ask him." He left with a smirk.

Fakir Abdul nodded lightly, agreeing to send Karim to his study room.

Mohammed reached his luxuriously decorated study room, and after a while, Karim emerged in the Room. He was the leader of the spy network run by the Empire.

"How is the situation in the South?."

"South? You mean the Vijayanagara Empire\'s civil war?"

"Yes."

"It ended and a young Emperor has taken the throne." Karim said, scratching his chin.

"Young? How old is he?"

"18, Your Excellency."

"Ah, I see. Do you think He will become a threat for our expansion?"

"I can\'t really see him becoming a threat. He is a young man who barely knows how to lead an empire."

"Hooo. Is that what you think. Be careful and monitor their movements anyway." Mohammed ordered

Mohammed leaned back into his chair. "Is there any chance of rebellion during the war?"

"Your Excellency, I suggest taking some measures. There will be some rebellions in some areas due to heavy taxation."

"Supress them."

Karim knew better than to argue to lessen the tax for the populace. He could feel the rebellions getting larger if they kept the current taxation methods intact. They wouldn\'t be able to quell a large rebellion during the war.

"What about the Varna Kingdom?" asked Mohammed.

"No movements so far. We have no information on them, as their border security seems way to strict to infiltrate. The ones that have done have told me nothing much of note is happening in the kingdom."

Mohammed clicked his tongue. "Those pests never died; how many times has it been since we tried to eradicate their little kingdom?"

Varna Kingdom was an anomaly in this timeline. They were hard to eradicate despite having lower numbers and subpar commanders. All the efforts so far by Mohammed have been in vain to take the lands of Varna.

But he wasn\'t really worried since he knew they were too cowardly to take the Empire head-to-head. So he just had to bid him time and slow their defense down.

There was something about their movements that made Mohammed suspicious. The campaigns trying to get their lands have always ended in a miserable failure. He knew that they had the superior army and commanders, but he had no idea why they were losing.

Karim interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh… I forgot to mention this since it wasn\'t important. The Varna Kingdom is under a regent for now. The Crown Prince has taken control since the King has fallen ill. There might be a new king soon."

Mohammed dismissed the news. He didn\'t want to know more about the pests that he would eventually conquer as part of his ambition to control the subcontinent.