First Shamabalese Great War

First Shambhalan Great War
Mutulese artillery shooting at Shambhalan War elephants
Date 1638 - 1743 Location Belfras Mutul Kayamuca Sea Result Mutulese and Janatava victory Signature of the Naegima Accords Creation of the Kingdom of Ankat as a Mutulese protectorate Uluujol withdraw from Shambhala The Sargenari Accords lead to the creation of the Ayvani Federation, beginning the Atapa Revolts
Belligerents
Mutul Ankat	Template:Country data Shamabhla Ayvana (until 1641)	Uluujol (after 1641) Ayvana (after 1641)
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy	Unknown

The First Shambhalan Great War, also known as the Uluu- Mutulese War or the War for Ankat, was a conflict between the Green Horde and an alliance of rebel principalities that would later form the Kingdom of Ankat. The latter were helped by the Mutul through its Nuk Nahob or “Great Companies” that had established many trade ports in the area, while the Shambhalans would go on to seek help from Uluujol after 1641. The war lasted from 1638 to 1743, with the signature of the Naegima Accords that recognized the Kingdom of Ankat as a sovereign state, its independence guaranteed by the Mutul. The failure of the Green Horde to keep Ankat in its orbit, to repel the foreigners, and to stop the Ayvani principalities from seeking the help of Uluujol on their own, placed their legitimacy as the hegemonic center of the mandala system into question, naturally leading to the Atapa Revolts and the War of the Feuding Suns. These devastating conflicts would lead to a gradual destabilization of Shamnhala, forcing it to soon fall under theocratic rule.

Background

The fall of the Bayarids led to the rise of many new warlords and khanates, all competing for the creation of their own petty kingdoms or to secure their share of the old empire. Among them was Mundzuk Khan, who successfully conquered the entirety of the Shamabala Empire in 1320. Mundzuk Khan kept his dominion over southern Ochran through his support of Buddhism, winning the burgeoning monasteries to his side through the granting of various privileges. This was the beginning of the Green Horde.

The Mutuleses Nuk Nahob, or “Great Companies”, first arrived in Southern Ochran during the 16th century. There, they began trading with coastal lords and princes, who all maintained their own economic policies, their submission to the Green Horde being limited to a regular tribute. The Nuk Nahob notably managed to establish trade ports in the Terasi kingdoms of the Janatava Peninsula. Relationship between the Princes and the Mutuleses were cordial, the Ochraneses selling cotton, indigos, textiles, ivory, perls and other luxury goods in exchange for exotic Oxidentaleses products such as chocolate, spices, silk, coral, feathers and sugar. This trade began to threaten the resources of the Green Horde, which was losing revenues and also seeing some of its vassals become more and more independent and wealthy and, thus, dangerous. Also other powers, such as the Latins who had established themselves in Konikar#History#Latin Konkiar, felt threatened by Mutulese competition. Thus the Latins would organize a powerful coalition of Princes, Eunuchs, and Ministers to call for a ban on trade with Mutul.

The Khan acceded to the coalition's demands, officialy publishing a decree ordering all Princes to stop trading with the Mutuleses, to break all contracts and treaties that binded them to the Nuk Nahob, and to close all trade ports they had opened. This mainly concerned the Janatava Peninsula, but its Princes all refused to obey the Decree, demanding an appeal of the order and that the Khan accept to receive an embassy to his Court to hear their position. Their demand was refused, and the Khan prepared to march on the Princes, declaring them rebellious. The Princes began mobilizing the armies, and requested help from foreign powers such as the Latins.

Military forces

The Mutuleses and Terasi

Chesal Balin was a famous Pulaui mercenary captain who served under the Mutuleses during the War

At the time of the war, the future Ochk’ak Fleet was yet to be fully reformed into the well organized war machine of the Ozeros War. Instead of a permanent taskforces, there were Mutuleses agents raising troops and requisitioning vessels as it had been done during the War for Kahei. As such the Mutuleses troops that came to help their allies had a very heteroclit nature.

First in numbers were the Pulaui mercenaries. Since the end of the Age of Fire, many companies of soldiers found themselves jobless, or had lost their farms and other sources of revenues while they had been away. These experienced fighters became a staple of the Nuk Nahob war efforts. They made up the majority of the first wave of reinforcements sent by the Mutuleses, and would remain the core of the armies fielded by the Oxidentaleses traders.

Later during the war, a great number of Tsurushimeses and Polynesians companies joined in the conflict. The Mutul recruited from the Kahei Islands both sailors, soldiers, and officers. These experimented crews brought with them the most advanced equipments available to the Mutuleses, with canons and guns bought directly from the Tsurushimeses armories, and ships built in the famed shipyards of Kahei. The Polynesians, engaged either in Kahei or in the many Makrian Islands, were famed for their morale and their units formed an important minority among the Mutuleses rank-and-files, even if they were almost entirely absent from the officer corps, contrary to the Tsurushimeses and Pulaui.

The war effort was led by the sole Waterlord, or Admiral, chosen by a council of the Nuk Nahob who had direct investments in Shamabala for his experience in naval warfare. During the second half of the war, when land battles became more prominent, A Kaloomte’ (or Marechal) was chosen to coordinate the various troops on the ground. In both case the military staff was made of veterans Pulaui and Tsurushimeses Captains and Commanders, almost all of which had already served alongside or under the Nuk Nahob.

Khaganate forces

The decade preceding the outbreak hostilities had been marked by continued instability throughout the Shambhalan Empire. Rebellion and widespread crop failure had gravely weakened imperial control over the military. Though nominally deriving authority through the Khan, Parashurama Khan's generals were independent in all but name, and to what degree the Lion Throne had control over its own commanders varied greatly throughout the war. This forced the Khan to lean increasingly on the Dharmapo monasteries, who had their own private armies of dobs warrior monks and peasant levies, as well as the throne's own Royal Elephantry and personal troops.

Princely Coalition

The three states of Konkiar, Ishur, and Cheamb had worked closely with the Latins in the preceding decades. The spice trade had made them, the wealthiest and most autonomous states in Shamabala, and they feared Mutulese trade would erode many of their monopolies with Belisaria while bringing in more "pagan" influence. The Princes would engage in a variety of schemes to convince the Khan, going as far as kidnapping several eunuchs. The Khan falling to these schemes would ban trade with Mutul.

The three states mostly had a large naval fleet, war elephants, and a disciplined cavarly. They planned to cooperate with Latin forces and merge with Shambala infantry to quickly crush the Mutulese vagrants. Dev Gaonkar would led what was at first a very successful privteering campign against Mutulese ships, taking the loot for himself. Meanwhile the three states had some of the most experienced tacticans in Shamabala, many of which had studied abroad, such as Asharao who could use cavarly to crush the rebellious Princes. It was thought that victory was assured.

However tensions between and within the Princely States meant they were truly never a united force, and several betrayals and plots would lead to massive losses. The eventual Mutulese victory saw Cheamb fall under Latin vassalage, with Mutulese forces sacking the other, installing Shivaji IV in Konkiar, and Najim Ja'far in Ishur. They would be remembered as the "dark kings", and their reign would be marked by much suffering and turmoil