Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

15th April 1660

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Chera Nadu state, Special Economic Zone Thiruvananthapuram

Moving the capital from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur did not have any impact on the merchants and residents of the largest trading city of the Bharatiya Empire, but a few ambitious merchants who wanted to spread their roots and have influence over the government were slightly disappointed. Since it was still only an idea and the deterrent of His Majesty weeding out the scum in the government was still fresh in a lot of people's minds, no adverse reaction was seen from the people.

On the contrary, those who had ideas, both within the merchants and politicians, let out a sigh of relief because now that His Majesty moved the capital, they came to know that His Majesty was paying attention to them. If he had done nothing and waited, they would have done something they should not have and gotten caught red-handed. The life of imprisonment guarded by the legendary geese guards—just thinking about it made them shiver. Explore more adventures at empire

Samuel Benveniste is a 38-year-old Jewish merchant. He emigrated to the Bharatiya Empire from the Holy Roman Empire not by anyone's recommendation but due to the rise of word-of-mouth about the Bharatiya Empire in Europe. He came to the Bharatiya Empire out of his own volition and with his own money, so he was not obligated to work for the government for 5 years; instead, he could do whatever he wanted.

Samuel stayed in the Bharatiya Empire for a whole year and had seen many things. In this process, he came to a realization that most Europeans had not seen the interior of the Bharatiya Empire; they were constrained to the coastal cities, not venturing anywhere inland.

Now Samuel is not a very business-minded person. Even back in Europe, "travelling merchant" was a good way to put it; in reality, he was just a peddler who made do by going from one principality to another. But Samuel is not ignorant enough to not realize a business opportunity when it hit him right in the face.

Samuel had gotten his temporary citizenship over half a year ago. At first, he was hesitant about whether he wanted to become a citizen of the Bharatiya Empire, as he was not fully sure that the Bharatiya Empire really did not discriminate against his people, and that there were truly many business opportunities. But after travelling for half a year, he made his conclusion. Although there were people who discriminated against him, the majority treated him with kindness. What is more, even the ones who discriminated against him did so due to his different appearance, not because he was Jewish.

Discriminating based on the way people looked was something he could understand, since even he did not like the Negroes. But when he learned that the Bharatiya Empire treated the slaves as citizens too, he was a little disgusted and disappointed. But since bearing with them was such a small price to pay for all the benefits he was getting, he chose to compromise.

As for the business opportunities, he didn't even have to mention them. From all the money he made over the year, he set up a company called Benveniste Bharat. That was how much money he had made—enough to start a company worth over 50,000 varaha. Converting it to the money he was familiar with, it could buy him a kilogram of gold. This was the sort of money he had earned after wasting nearly 15 years as a peddler back in Europe. Now, in the Bharatiya Empire, he earned all that simply by going around the empire, noticing some opportunities to profit from price differences, and transporting goods to people who did not want to use the post office service for whatever reason. After living in the Bharatiya Empire for a whole year and finding many ways to make money, even if he did not get the inspiration to set up a touring company, he would still be considered a well-off person trading goods from one state to another.

Unknown to Samuel, the company he set up was the first of its kind in the Bharatiya Empire. No one before him had started a company solely focused on touring throughout the empire. Now, there were small touring groups that conducted tours throughout the state, but never throughout the nation. The main reason was that generally, people did not leave their home state.

In this era of limited communication, travelling too far was still considered too dangerous in the common sense of people. People lived their whole lives without even leaving their district much less their state.

Maybe only the top businessmen in the empire had travelled most of the stretch of the empire.

The Europeans were different. They came to the Bharatiya Empire crossing a large ocean; how would they be scared to travel inland in a safe empire like the Bharatiya Empire? Was there anything to fear in a nation with more than half a million policemen working overtime to safeguard the interests of the people and maintain law and order? Even after so much protection is provided, if they are harmed, they can only blame themselves for being unlucky.

This was the main reason why, as soon as Samuel advertised his touring company, a lot of European merchants who had not seen the interior of the Bharatiya Empire were eager to see it and immediately signed up.

Samuel was overwhelmed because there were too many people he had to take care of, but he could not deny the money they were giving either. He chose to charge a premium of 20,000 Varaha per person, mainly because he would have to be responsible for all the food and accommodation, as well as because he was the only touring company offering the tour. So, he made up his mind and went on a hunt for a second tour guide. They had to know a lot of languages, had to have seen the Bharatiya Empire as much as he had, and, most importantly, had to be presentable.

Fortunately, he found just the man. He was called Mihai Petrova, a Romani man who had immigrated to the Bharatiya Empire. Surprisingly enough, similar to him, Mihai also came to the Bharatiya Empire with his own money, and similar to him, he was also very interested in the interior of the Bharatiya Empire. After Samuel proposed his idea and stated how the money would be split, Mihai Petrova immediately agreed. Just like that, Benveniste Bharat Company became Benveniste and Petrova Touring.

Everything was ready. The only thing that was problematic was the race of Petrova. He was a Romani, and that was not accepted by most Europeans. Although the European merchants coming to the Bharatiya Empire had gotten used to it, there was still a bit of unfriendliness towards the Romani. Fortunately, Petrova, although by race a Romani, looked quite East European. If only going by his looks, people would mistake him for a Slav or a Russian. His name was quite European too. Except for his unusual ritualistic practices, everything else about him seemed European. So, Samuel had suggested Mihai not mention to anyone that he was a Romani.

Mihai Petrova was a little disappointed, but coming from Europe, he understood the difficulty of his partner, so he obliged.

"Welcome aboard, gentlemen. I hope and wish all of us will have a pleasant and cordial journey for the next two months. I will be taking you all to the cultural hubs of the Bharatiya Empire as well as the economic hubs. I promise none of you will be disappointed, so please buckle up and enjoy the ride with patience," Mihai Petrova declared with a smile. His enthusiastic and free-spirited attitude moved many people. They applauded in excitement.

Samuel Benveniste looked at the scene and felt a little envious, but not for too long. He knew that he had his own advantage. Mihai was a free-spirited and charismatic person; everyone would find it comfortable to talk with him. But Samuel knew how to plan things, how to arrange things correctly so that they wouldn't go wrong. He was the planner. Adding himself and Mihai, it was a great combination. Mihai would be the face of the company, and he would be the brains.

The tour he planned was to go from the southern part of the empire to the northern part.

The three luxurious carriages, which he had bought at a high price, started to move east.

They travelled to Tutkudi and then to Rameshwaram, their first location.

The Europeans were already mesmerized by all the scenery they had seen.

Mateusz Sobieski, a merchant from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, raised a question, "Sir Mihai, what crops are they planting?" He pointed at the farmers who were working in the field. "I've never seen such crops anywhere, and I would know since I specialize in exporting local fruits of the Bharatiya Empire back to Europe. These seedlings have never been seen anywhere in the Bharatiya Empire."

Mihai Petrova looked towards the field and squinted his eyes, trying to see what they were doing. He was confused as he did not know what seedlings they were, but this time Samuel stepped up, "They are avocado seeds. I believe they are the imports from the Americas."

"Oh, have the American colonies started to trade with the Bharatiya Empire?" Mateusz, along with the other Europeans listening to the conversation, were taken aback.

To be Continued...