Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

August 1675

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, Hampi

In a rural village, an old man, taking support from a young woman, got down from a luxurious Raya mobility carriage with difficulty. He walked forward, his legs a little resistant and needing a walking stick. He was even wearing thick lenses and looked worse for wear, but as soon as he saw the fields, a smile like that of an innocent child appeared on his face, which not only made his son standing right next to him smile with pride, it also made his daughter-in-law let out a sigh of relief.

In another village, a farmer who had not been to the farm for a long time due to his injured leg let out tears of joy as soon as he witnessed the lush green crops in the field. Without even caring about the dirt, he collapsed onto the ground, the rainwater splashing all over, and he kissed the ground with gratitude.

"You did... very good, my son," he said, his voice choked and trembling.

It was the monsoon season in the Bharatiya Empire, and thanks to the god of the oceans and the sky, Varuna Deva, this year's rain was abundant, and the crops grew lush and vibrant. The vitality of the crops was especially prominent in the southern part of the empire, and that was due to the new experimental fertiliser developed by the Bharatiya Academy of Civilian Sciences, called Sanjeevani 3:9:6:20.

The numbers simply represent the ratios of different components of the fertiliser: 3 parts nitrogen sourced from urine and manure, 9 parts phosphate derived from bone ash, 6 parts potassium obtained from wood ash, and 25 parts organic matter from composted manure.

The fertiliser is only supplied to large farms in the southern part of the empire since, firstly, it is an experimental blend, and secondly, because some of the compounds are hard to procure. For example, procuring potassium from wood ash is not feasible, and the potassium that can be mined directly in the mines of Pratihara Puri and Baluchistan is not pure enough. Not to mention, there is phosphate, which is impossible to obtain from bone ash alone. But given this year's harvest results, research funding into finding alternatives or chemically producing the compounds is bound to be accelerated.

A few months had passed since the English, Dutch, and the French, a few weeks since the Swedish, Polish, and Prussians, and only a few days since the Russians and the Germans had come up with the Devaraya Atmospheric Steam Engine.

Naturally, Vijay was not aware of the latter due to the obvious reasons of the time it takes for news to travel from Europe to the Bharatiya Empire, but the former he had just got to know, which made him raise his eyebrows a little. But he was not totally surprised because he knew for a long time that the Europeans were trying to crack the atmospheric engine technology.

However, knowing is one thing, and being ok with it is another, so he quickly called over Prime Minister Vinod, Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, and the manager of his assets, Bhaskaracharia.

Thankfully, today was a special day, so everyone had already gathered in Hampi, and it did not take long for them all to arrive.

" Vinod, we will now start selling the atmospheric engines to the Europeans."

" Bhaskar, open up a few branches of Sri Ranga Industrial Tools in the capitals of various European countries with which we have a diplomatic connection and start exporting the earliest version of the engine that was viable in our market."

"We have to make as much money as possible and as quickly as possible, since now that the Europeans have invented... or rather copied the atmospheric engine, they are bound to improve it, because unlike us, they know what the end product looks like. So, after we make a round of money from the first group of sales, in a few years, when they finally catch up with our earliest technology, we can release the second generation with small improvements and then make another round of money. This process can continue until they completely give up researching their own technology and start buying it from us."

"Jaishankar, see if you can secure any major deals with the European countries while the atmospheric engine is still an important bargaining chip. Contact the smaller countries and principalities, see if they are interested in purchasing the manufacturing technology to produce it themselves, but on the condition that the pistons and chamber must be imported from the empire. "

Jaishankar and Bhaskaracharia readily agreed, but Vinod had a doubt.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't selling the atmospheric engines on a large scale make the Westerners master the technology quicker, since by selling it to them, they will have ready-made working models which they can inspect and copy? Not to mention, by selling the atmospheric engines, aren't we facilitating for them to reach the mining revolution?"

" Yes, you are right, but that is exactly why I'm asking Baskar to sell the earliest versions."

" The things the Europeans can figure out with the earliest version is not too much since the machine they were successful in copying is basically the same, but if we take this opportunity to release the steam engines across the continent, you can not only make a lot of money but we can also hinder their investment in the manufacturing aspect of the industry. Remember, Vinod, keeping the technology secret is important, but staying at the frontier of manufacturing is more important. By selling our engines, the Europeans can master the technology to produce the steam engines, big deal, so what? Can they make it faster than us, in better quality, while being extremely reliable, consistent, and being entirely a few percent cheaper?"

Vinod widened his eyes as he came to the realisation of what His Majesty was doing. 'Isn't it basically turning all the European countries into design facilities that simply know how to design and create something but do not know how to manufacture?' Once again, inspired by the Emperor's forward-thinking ability, admiration simultaneously appeared in his heart.

"I understand, Your Majesty. Following your thought process, when the Europeans finally stumble upon the next upgrade of the atmospheric engine, we release the second version, the third, the fourth, and so on until the Europeans still have to rely on us for the machinery since they no longer know how to build machines on a large scale. And given how unregulated and capitalistic most European economies are, we can be sure to continue outselling the Europeans in their own countries. The Mine owners will only prefer the most cost-effective and reliable machines, instead of seeing which country the machine was made in. In this way, the foundation of European industry will indirectly be controlled by us."

"Correct..."

After discussing the matter of the steam engine sales, Vijay pardoned Bhaskaracharya and the two ministers, and they left.

Vijay looked at the clock, and he began to hurry up with his work because the time was nearing the enthronement ceremony of his son, Agni.

According to the constitution, which Vijay had personally played a major role in writing, he, or more specifically, the patriarch of the Devaraya family, the founding monarch's family, held the privilege of nominating all his direct descendants as kings into the empire's list of kings every generation without needing to go through the tedious process of merit accumulation like the other kings in the empire.

Since Agni was already married, Vijay had decided to officially make him a king and bestow upon him the title. Naturally, in the hope that Agni would take over and maintain his legacy, Vijay planned to make Agni and his future descendants the kings of Vijayanagar, the state where the legacy of his dynasty began, and, in a way, where the legacy of Bharath itself was reborn.

---

Coming back to his work, he was pleasantly surprised by two good news back to back. Number one, somewhat unexpected, the Holy Roman Empire actually breached the fortress of Belgrade and occupied the city by once again taking advantage of the bloody battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.

Apparently, when the curtain of ice and snow lifted, the Russians tried to attack a city as a feint and then target another city like they did last year and failed miserably. Make no mistake, they failed miserably this year as well. The Russians cannot, for some reason, get a hold of their intelligence, as there was an intelligence leak, and the Ottomans were waiting for them in an ambush, for which the Russians paid dearly. But the Holy Roman Empire watched for the opportunity and took it, taking Belgrade in one fell swoop.

"Right now, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire should be hating the Germans more than they hate each other."

"Haha."

"But they cannot do anything since the moment they change their target of attack, someone will take advantage of it and punish them for it."

Vijay couldn't help but be amused by the turn of events.

Moving on, it was the news about Tibet.

Currently, Tibet has only five cities or strongholds under its control, all in the southern part of the region, closely bordering the Bharatiya Empire.

Its capital and two other nearby cities border Ahom, while another two border Videha (Nepal). One of the cities, called Nyalam, is even a gateway to Kathmandu, the capital of Videha.

The soldiers of the Kashyapamar Regiment and the Gorkha Regiment moved through the two entrances and were able to take back 2 of the 8 strongholds Tibet had lost. Not only that, Vijay was informed through intelligence that Güshi Khan, the leader of the Mongolian tribe in Tibet, wanted to end the war and reach a truce and an alliance of peace.

Vijay did not even entertain the offer and simply closed the reports and got out of his old office.

---

Getting out, it was basically a festival waiting for him. The palace, which had not had so many visitors for a long time, suddenly looked more lively and filled with vitality.

Even the city of Hampi seemed to have come to life now that there is an heir of the Devaraya family, their monarch, living in the castle on the hills.

Hearing the soulful raag of Carnatic music, seeing the beautiful decorations adorning the palace, and watching the constant arrival of kings, ministers, generals, and dignitaries, Vijay could not help but think back to the time of his own coronation when he was newly reborn and still disoriented by the experience.

Within a year of ascending the throne, he had suspended all European business operations on the mainland, established the Imperial Committee, and schemed to completely eliminate the influence of the landlord and nobility classes. He had done all of this here in this very palace.

"Those were some good times," Vijay told himself and got down from the stairs, and the people below came forward to greet him with respect and reverence.

A few hours later, Vijay stood in front of his son, who was dressed in traditional Bharatiya attire, not too dissimilar to the ones he wore during his coronation, wearing a feathered hat, golden-colored garments with red threading signifying an elephant, a sword at his waist, and a pair of arm guards on his arms.

Vijay felt extremely proud.

Next to him, Kavya had already started to tear up with joy.

Standing next to his son was naturally his daughter-in-law, Ekaterina, who had changed her name to Pavitra in order to adapt to the local Traditions.

Ekaterine is a Greek word derived from Katharos, meaning pure, so she chose a similar word in the Bharatiya language that means the same thing and also flows fluently when spoken with the surname Devaraya. So a few weeks ago, after choosing the name Pavitra, meaning something which is pure and divine, she had a small Namakarana (naming ceremony) and officially changed her name to Pavitra Devaraya.

Although Vijay didn't force his daughter-in-law to do anything, he still appreciated the gesture of wanting to integrate.

The frequency of the drums began to increase, the people began to throw flowers, and the priests began to chant quickly.

Vijay knew that it was time, so he quickly pulled out his Raktha Asthram and officially coronated Agni.

"I hereby, in the sacred presence of the Creator Brahma, the Preserver Vishnu, and the Destroyer Shiva, and before the assembled Rajas, Mahamantris, Mantris, and the people of this great empire, solemnly proclaim Agni Devaraya as the rightful King of Vijayanagar Rajya."

"Let this declaration be etched in the annals of our history, for from this day forward, he shall bear the crown, the duty, and the honour of his ancestors, and uphold the legacy of Vijayanagar in service to the Empire and Dharma."