Hindustan
The Hindustanis have the Power of Honour.
The lands of Hindustan - bordered by the Oxus river to the north, and the harsh deserts of the north Deccan to the south, are dominated by one single ruling family - and that is the Ghorids. Formerly Turkish myrmidons of the Ghaznavids, founded by the dread sultan Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin, known too as Mahmud Ghaznavi. But while the Ghaznavids have been broken by the Selçuküler, the Ghorids have managed to navigate their way in the convoluted and bloody affairs of the Ghaznavid state to wrest control themselves from Mahmud Ghaznavi's failing line. Under the rule of the sons of Baha'uddin Sam, Ghiyathuddin and Moezz the kingdom has been able to survive the storms of war - a novelty in a region where royal fratricide is unknown - and even prosper. Yet, be it as it may, the riches of Hindustan - now sitting on a vast cache of mineral wealth (thanks to the Ghorid ancestral feoff of Ghor, dominated by the old capital Firozkoh) and at the crossroads of the Central Asian silk trade - attracts foreign jealousies: recalcitrant Hindus to the south, Buddhist barbarians to the north, and the continuous probing by the Khwarezmians, now lords of Muslim Persia, continue to challenge Ghorid rule over Hindustan.
For this reason, the Ghorids are possibly the most militarised of all the great nations of Islam, and as such are latecomers to the neo-Persian cultural scene sweeping the largest and richest nations of Darul Islam with a strong focus on warfare and raiding. Nevertheless, the riches of the Ghorids' Indian patrimony have allowed Hindustan to secure in Temüjin the services of a powerful, late Turkic army, consisting of light missile cavalry escorted by a host of medium cavalry, all drilled in the Turkic style as so inherited by Giyathuddin and Moezz from their forefathers. Yet, these are not the only soldiers that the Hindustanis can rely on: their Indian subjects, both Muslim and Hindu alike too often fight and gird themselves for battle in late Indian fashion - and this means a tradition of using light infantry and elephants in combat, so Ghorid forces can also complement their Turkic cavalry with the added shock force of Indian war elephants. And need these forces they will, for even as the Hindu Rajputs further south continue to remain a thorn in Ghorid flesh, the threat they pose still pales very much in comparison with Hindustan's rivals to the north and west, who can go toe to toe with Ghorid cavalry: it was after all the force of arms of the Khwarezmians, and their Qara Khitai masters, which helped smash the forces of Baha'uddin Sam and deprive him of his power and ultimately his life, a fact that should not be lost on his eldest Giyathuddin.
Faction overview
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Nomad Raiders: Plunder from enemy buildings increased 100%. Receive 60 bonus resources for each enemy killed.
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Warrior Society: Start with one Military research at the Civic Centre. Receive free Conscript Swordsmen whenever you build a new Barracks.
Strengths
Fairly decent infantry selection, interesting mix of cavalry units including both light and super-heavy ranged cavalry, as well as melee medium cavalry.
Weaknesses
No economic cultural bonus. Limited options for shock cavalry and siege artillery, no navy to speak of.
Being Turks bang smack in an Indian world, it is thus not surprising to see that Hindustan has a unit roster that very much resembles her own name - essentially the Turco-Persian word for "India". With Hindustan and her two special buildings - the Warrior Hall and the Nobles' Court, Turkic units such as Bek Cavalry and Ghilman sit cheek to jowl alongside that most noteworthy of units representative of the might of India - war elephants. Of these, Hindustan has access to two units - the Imperial Elephant, being the most heavily armoured and armed of Temüjin's five war elephant units (and the costliest, to boot), and another one - Bakhtarband Hathy (or Indian armoured elephant) shared with the Rajput clans of northern India. These in turn are not "naked", as war elephant armies should not be, but also can count on other units for support, including Conscript Swordsmen and Spear Sergeants from the Barracks, as well as Scorpions from the Siege Workshop for defence against enemy ranged units.
All told, this would be a very strong combination: heavy super-units, supported by lighter and cheaper infantry and medium cavalry - which many Central Asian nomadic and Muslim factions excel at obtaining. But if so, what is the catch with the Ghorids? firstly, a lack of civilian-based cultural bonuses - apart from a higher pop cap allowing for additional Peasants, if need be, without the inconvenience of prior research into Military tech, the Ghorids do not have any sui generis real economic bonuses, apart from one - the ability to gather resources from fallen enemy units and razed enemy structures. This thus locks Hindustan into a highly aggressive and confrontational stance with other factions - and while these cultural bonuses, attributed to the vanilla Aztec faction, have long been a staple favourite with many players of RoN, modded or otherwise, this leaves Hindustan at a disadvantage unless they can find easy prey, or the Hindustani player is highly proficient at rushing an enemy. Any enemy with access to good units, or strong defensive capabilities such as Kievan Rus', can blunt the development of the Hindustani war economy and even overcome them in the mid- to late game. Hindustan does have access to many useful Wonders, most notably the Observatory and Arg-e-Bam, but without any comparative intrinsic economic perks, access to these Wonders is mostly situational at best.
Another problem far more apparent is the near-lack of cavalry, or to be precise, shock cavalry which historically was a problem for the Ghorid sultanate, who tried to compensate with better infantry equipment and drill for their marching men. So while war elephants and medium horse cavalry are still very much within reach, the high cost and relative immobility of war elephants, and the weakness of medium cavalry often leave the Hindustanis at a disadvantage in speed and effectiveness - if an enemy uses heavy cavalry defensively, this poses complications in an offensive strategy for the Ghorids, confining them to seeking out and attacking only lightly defended or outright undefended players and positions, and forcing them to rely on sheer numbers, as with other Central Asian civs like the Qara Khitai and Mongols (or most Christian civs for that matter). Fast-moving ranged cavalry, protected by heavy cavalry, can decimate a Hindustani army, unless units like Crossbow Infantry and Scorpions are in attendance to hold off these interlopers. The only saving grace for the Hindustanis is that they have a fairly decent early game infantry advantage, compared with other nations with their heavier medium infantry and spear lines. Water maps also pose a challenge, since as far as naval forces are concerned, only Fire Vessels and Dromonds are available, giving Hindustan none of the advantages of having a cheap light attack craft option as factions like Hoysala or Khamag Mongol have with War Canoes, or a tougher and more powerful heavy ship option, as enjoyed by Nansong (with War Junks and Lunchuan), Kievan Rus' (with Longships) or even the HRE (with Roundships and the option to upgrade them to War Cogs). Thus Hindustan is best used on all-land maps, where her access to medium cavalry, as well as tougher heavy infantry and war elephant options can provide failsafes, should a first or even a second rush fail to achieve your war goals.
Unique units and structures gallery
Bakhtarband Hathy
Indian armoured elephant. Like all elephant units, this super unit is big, strong, and terrifyingly effective against melee horse cavalry, but is also just as costly, slow, and very vulnerable to attacks with long spears, large missiles (including crossbows) ... and firearms.
Crossbow Infantry
Crossbow Infantry may be slow to reload and also somewhat more costly than ordinary Archers, but the unspeakable damage they cause - especially to towers and command units - simply cannot be argued against.
Spear Sergeants
More heavily armoured and effective in combat than conventional Spearmen, these soldiers are an unspeakable force when amassed, particularly since they take less damage from enemy melee cavalry.
Recruited from an Outpost, these mercenary archers are known for their prowess with the longbow, a ranged weapon that few can master. Capable of well-timed accurate shots, they spell all but death for the slowest of foot units, ranged cavalry and command units.
Ghuzat Volunteers
Commonly recruited from the rural folk in Hindustan (as well as Masr by the Ayyubids) these units are normally very weak melee units good only for city defence, and too undsiciplined to be individually ordered around, but they considerably stronger than Peasant Levy, and also deal additional damage to enemy buildings, Priests , Scouts, Spies and Shamans.
Citadel
As in The Hellenistic Era, the Citadel (alongside its weaker counterpart, the Guard Tower) continues to be the most powerful form of point defence in this instalment in the Kings & Conquerors family of mods.
Nobles' Court
Sumptuous and stately yet foreboding, the Nobles' Court is the ultimate expression of regnal power, consisting of a vast castellated estate around which the nobility of the land must rally around. It is not as cheap as a Mansion nor as easy to come by, but its ability to boost the size of your Territory around it, and the fact that it is immensely powerful as a point defence structure means that a Nobles' Court can be more than capable of defending your borders, whilst training some of the most powerful land units available in all of this mod.
Warrior Hall
A waypoint for some more professional mercenaries and irregular fighting men, the Warrior Hall may be costlier than a Mansion or a Noble Residence, but it is capable of defending itself, should raiders come into its host city.
AI leader names
- Fakhr al-Din Masoud
- Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Masoud
- Moizuddin Muhammad
- Abbas ibn Muhammad
- Ghyathuddin Muhammad
- Saifuddin Muhammad
- Ala al-Din Husayn
- Baha al-Din Sam
Settlement names
- Herat
- Ghazni
- Lahore
- Rawalpindi
- Lahore
- Jalalabad
- Mazar-e-Sharif
- Lashkar Gar
- Taloquan
- Khost
- Sheberghan
- Mundigak
- Kunduz
- Sar-e Pol
- Farah
- Mihtarlam
- Pul-i-Alam
- Samangan
- Fayzabad
- Zaranj
- Asadabad
- Quetta
- Peshawar
- Sukkur
- Sialkot
- Sylhet
- Larkana
- Chittagong
- Pandua
- Bikrampur
- Sonargaon
- Rajshahi
- Sheikhupura
- Jhang
- Talagang
- Barishal
- Gujrat
- Sahiwal
- Mardan
- Rangpur
- Nawabshah
- Mymensingh
- Lyallpur
- Maidan Shar
- Puli Khumri
- Chaghcharan
- Maymana
- Gardez
- Kabul
- Firozkoh
- Qandahar
- Turbat
- Kohat
- Chiniot
- Mingora
- Okara
- Kasur
- Sargodha
- Khulna
- Bahawalpur
- Hyderabad
- Nudiya
- Benares
- Thatta
- Delhi
- Multan
- Barisai
- Lakhnauti
- Ajmer
- Gujranwala
Other chapters:
Wolf Among Lions [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Rise of the Barbarians [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Imperivm Invictvm [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Hammurabi: [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Other mods:
Rise of Kings: Chronicles [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
New World Empires: Swords of the Prophets [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Warbirth: The Crucible [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
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