I am writing this column in complete ignorance.
I say that deliberately knowing that at least one person whose fingers move way faster than their brain is already writing something faux-clever in the comments section. I'm using ignorance though, in a very specific sense -- which is that my knowledge of Indian history is limited to watching "Slumdog Millionaires" and occasionally checking out a Bollywood musical number on YouTube. Therefore it wasn't any particular attraction or affinity for India that drew me to the Maratha Confederacy while playing Empire: Total War (check out my review here). It was actually a bit of strategic curiosity. Most nations in Empire: Total War begin in more or less their historical positions at the beginning of 1700. That means for the Marathas, they start out controlling two provinces in an India dominated by the Mughal Empire, one independent kingdom and a wealthy Portuguese trading colony. Taking over the subcontinent from such humble beginnings while minimizing naval combat? I was there.
A few paragraphs of dry and academic text introduced me to my new nation and their motivations for searching for empire. The in-game Maratha are a conglomeration of ethnically Indian Hindu tribes that are rebelling against the oppression of a predominantly Muslim Mughal Empire. As such, their victory conditions require them to dominate 15 total provinces, including 12 specific ones. That essentially means that to win the game, I would have to completely crush the Mughals by 1750, kick the Portuguese out of a rich trading port, and crush a friendly independent kingdom. Once again, I have no idea how historically accurate this is and to be perfectly honest, I didn't care.
My battles to lead the Maratha Confederacy to victory were an absolute blast. There's a reason I gave the game five stars. I began by examining my assets, which included a lucrative gem mine and relatively peaceful relations with the Portuguese as well as the aforementioned independent kingdom. I looked at my armies and those of the Mughal and realized that my only hope was money. I needed money, lots of it and fast in order to research better soldiers and have the numerical superiority needed to triumph in battle. With all due respect to the many digital Maratha warriors who have died in my service, one-on-one they're simply no match for Mughal troops. I therefore made the decision early to try and make peace with the independent kingdom and keep the Portuguese at arm's length. The last thing I needed was a war on two fronts or European involvement. The only thing I wanted from Europe was money -- something available in abundance once I began selling tea to Great Britain.
As I began to explore the possibilities of the game's intricate trading system something odd struck me. One of my earliest and best trading partners (and later allies) was the Ottoman Empire, itself a Muslim state. Religion in Empire: Total War plays a role much like that in Civilization IV, as one factor among many that act as AI predilections. By and large, states that share a faith are more inclined to like one another while those that don't have a harder time getting along. Thus Protestant Great Britain in the 18th Century is less than inclined to be buddies with France or Spain (both Catholic). Yet here was a powerful Muslim empire essentially siding with a group of upstart Hindus battling against their fellow Muslims. I started to wonder why. Was it an ethnic thing? If the Ottomans are primarily Turks, there might be little love lost between them and the ethnically Indian (who I think would later become Pakistani) Mughals. Were they just looking to foment chaos to bring down a rival empire near their border?
There were a lot of possibilities, of course. The thing is, these questions are never answered in Empire: Total War. Beyond the bland introductory text describing each faction in the game, this world of 18th century battle and intrigue was very much a tabula rasa. It suddenly struck me that the morally blank and character deficient nature of the world of Empire had me creating my own story -- the tale of a Maratha Confederacy that really only exists in my head. My Maratha Confederacy was a collection of peaceful tribes brutally suppressed by their Mughal overlords who sought to create India's first truly egalitarian society. They would be friends and trading parties to whoever asked for it and would be brutal enemies to anyone who opposed them. We did not seek empire for the sake of conquest but we would expand enough to be self-sufficient and ruthlessly enforce our own borders. I had become the heroic leader and enlightened despot of the Marathas in my head, and if they bore any resemblance to their real-world inspiration, it was purely coincidental.
