Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

January 8th, 1658

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Financial Capital Mangaluru, Vijayanagar State

There was a large commotion in the port of Mangaluru. A ship nearly twice the size of the largest Pune-class battleship of the Bharatiya Empire had just docked. Some people new to the port panicked after seeing the large ship, which was clearly a battleship, entering the harbour.

"O Shiva, are we under attack?"

"Look at the size of that battleship! We’re all doomed, oh God!"

"What is the Coast Guard doing, allowing such a large battleship to enter the port?"

"Considering its size, do you think the Coast Guard ships can do anything? They’re probably all doomed."

Fortunately, there were experienced people in the crowd who calmed the restless newcomers, preventing them from taking drastic actions.

"Hey, what are you doing, running around and causing trouble?"

"Stand still and stop panicking. You’re causing a public nuisance!"

"This ship is likely from some European country, here on a diplomatic mission. If that weren’t the case, it wouldn’t have been able to pass the defensive perimeter of our empire, located ten kilometres off the coast."

"What? We have a defensive perimeter?" a fat merchant visiting Mangaluru for the first time inquired, incredulity on his face, as he had never known about the defensive perimeter.

"Of course we do. It is located 10 kilometres from the coast and extends along the entire length of the coastline. This defensive perimeter is built with Drishti-class catamarans, which we normally use for Arkha Dristhi communication. Many people do not know that these ships, apart from functioning as signal towers for the communication network, also act as defensive turrets against enemy ships.

They are equipped with the Empire’s largest 30-kilogram calibre cannons, as well as various culverins and Puckle guns."

"Due to them being small in size and easier to manufacture, our western coast, which is most likely to be targeted by the Europeans, is densely covered by these catamarans. I don’t know the actual figures, but there are at least three catamarans for every five kilometres of the area."

"Not only that, most of the Empire’s naval strength is located in the Arabian Sea, so even if multiple large ships like this one," the man pointed his finger toward the galleon, "come to attack us, they shouldn’t pose much trouble for our navy, which now contains dozens of battleships."

Just then, people started to disembark from the galleon.

"See, didn’t I say so? I remember that flag—it seems to be from the Spanish Empire. They must be here to discuss the matter of the imprisoned Spanish nobles with our Empire."

The surrounding people, who were curiously listening to the knowledgeable man, suddenly nodded their heads in realization. The Bharatiya Empire attacking the Philippines was not a secret in the Empire, and the imprisonment of the Spanish nobles was even less of a secret after it was published in *Bharatam Daily* in the capital.

---

Jaishankar, who was tasked with negotiating a deal with the Spanish, did not hesitate and immediately went to Mangalore Port as soon as he heard about the arrival of the Spanish from the Navy.

Jaishankar was unhappy because the Spanish did not inform anyone from the Empire about their arrival, but he somewhat understood their decision. No matter what the Bharatiya Empire says, it is true that the Bharatiya Empire attacked the Spanish colony in the Philippines and provoked them. Even if it was for a righteous cause, from the perspective of the Spanish, they were the victims.

Due to the strength of the Bharatiya empire, the spanish could not directly retaliate against their enemy, so Jaishankar understood that this was a way for the Spanish to show their unhappiness.

The first person to disembark from the ship was a familiar face—it was Pedro Santiago, the ambassador of the Spanish Empire who had previously been stationed in the Bharatiya Empire.

"Welcome, Your Excellency Ambassador Pedro Santiago. The Empire welcomes you once again."

Pedro Santiago had a tired expression on his face, but in the end, responding to the greeting, he mustered a smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Excellency Minister of External Affairs, Sir Jaishankar."

Pedro stretched out his hand to assist another man in getting down from the ship, which caught Jaishankar off guard, as the expression on Pedro’s face looked very respectful and even a little careful, as if one wrong move could end his whole life.

Pedro turned his attention towards Jaishankar, "Sir Minister, Let me introduce you. This is His Excellency the Chief Adviser (Valido) of His Majesty the Emperor of the Spanish Empire, Count Don Álvaro de Mendoza. He will be the main person negotiating the trade deal between our both empires."

Jaishankar was surprised, as he did not expect the Spanish would actually send their Valido, who, according to his knowledge, had the same rank as the Prime Minister of the Bharatiya Empire, albeit with reduced responsibilities and power. He looked at the white man with interest. He did not expect that this lean man, whose face was so pale, was actually the second in command of the Spanish Empire.

"It is my honour to receive you, Your Excellency Count Álvaro. I hereby, representing the Bharatiya Empire, wholeheartedly welcome you to our empire as the most esteemed guest."

Álvaro Mendoza, who had been curiously looking around the port until now, finally turned his attention to the brown man who had greeted him. He was confused as to who this man was, but from his luxurious attire, he knew the man was someone of great importance.

Pedro understood the doubt in his eyes, so he promptly whispered the identity of the brown man to him.

"This is S. Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs of the Bharatiya Empire."

Álvaro was still confused as he did not understand how the governance system of the Bharatiya Empire worked, so he did not know what the Minister of External Affairs meant.

Pedro Santiago understood the confusion in Álvaro’s eyes, as it was most likely that His Excellency Álvaro did not pay much attention to the governance structure of the Bharatiya Empire. He had probably focused most of his attention on the military and nothing else, and Pedro could not blame Álvaro, as he knew that the Valido had to deal with the increasing troubles of the empire.

Pedro cursed himself for not being foresighted enough. He could have briefly introduced the workings of the Bharatiya Empire during their long journey, but due to his fear of saying something wrong, he did not utter a single word throughout the month-long trip.

At the end of the day, the matter that happened in the courtroom back in Madrid had left a deep impression on him, and he had become scared to speak without fully considering what he was saying.

Knowing that he did not have much time to consider now, he hurriedly whispered in Álvaro’s ears, "Your Excellency, the Ministry of External Affairs is a branch of the government responsible for managing relations between the Bharatiya Empire and other nations."

"And Mr. Jaishankar here is the leader of this ministry."

Mendoza finally understood who the man in front of him was.

A sudden laugh adorned his face, catching Jaishankar, who had been patiently waiting with a smile, off guard. However Jaishankar is not a newcomer to the field either, he quickly recovered and maintained his posture.

"It’s so kind of you, Minister, to welcome us yourself. Please forgive me for my ignorance, as I had no clue what your position entailed." Álvaro started off with an apologetic expression on his face,

"Haha, you don’t have to apologize, Your Excellency. It should have been my job to introduce myself, so in reality, I should be the one apologizing."

"No, no, Minister. As a diplomat, one should always be prepared with the names and information of their fellow colleagues. Me not being aware of it beforehand is a great offense, so you forgiving my inappropriate behavior is the greatest magnanimity on your part."

Pedro observed how His Excellency Álvaro and His Excellency Jaishankar engaged in cordial conversation. Even though they had only just met a few moments ago, they looked as if they had been friends for many years. Pedro Santiago couldn’t help but lament how far behind he was in his diplomatic skills compared to the excellent Álvaro or even Jaishankar.

Eventually, the diplomatic exchange of pleasantries ended after 20 minutes of continuous dialogue.

The Spanish delegation boarded vehicles produced by Raya Mobility and were on their way to the capital of the Empire, Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar parted from the Spanish delegation as he had to inform Vinod about the arrival of the Spanish Valido. His rank as a Cabinet Minister was not sufficient to deal with the Spanish Chief Adviser, so he needed the Prime Minister to engage with the Spanish Valido, allowing him to negotiate with peace of mind, without much pressure from the other side.

---

"What! How can this be?"

The loud shout of Don Álvaro de Mendoza attracted the attention of the people on the street, but seeing as the carriage was being escorted by the military themselves, the curious gazes did not linger for long. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Álvaro was really surprised this time, as the news given by Pedro was unexpected. "How can an emperor willingly give up his power to someone else and also willingly remove hierarchical succession? Is there really such a person in this world?" His mouth was agape, and his eyes were wide open.

Even though the information revealed by Pedro was most likely true, as he had been an ambassador in this empire for a few months and this news was easy to figure out, Don Álvaro still felt the whole thing was unbelievable.

Pedro had a wry smile on his face as he spread his hands out in helplessness. "What I said is true, Your Excellency. The Emperor of this nation, Vijay Devaraya, did actually give the right to make rules pertaining to how a nation should be run to the people while he himself kept the power of actually running the nation for himself."

"I believe, according to the terms of the people of the Bharatiya Empire, His Majesty is the chief executive of the Empire, while Prime Minister Vinod is the chief legislator of the Empire."

Don Álvaro was able to calm down his restless mood due to his experience, but his forehead was still wrinkled in confusion. "What did he hope to achieve by doing this anyway?

What if the nobles, entirely dependent on the imperial power, go against these rules and laws and start riots or rebellions?" He refused to believe such a situation could not happen, for in his opinion, although the government structure might be different, the way of dividing interests in all empires was the same.

The move made by Vijay was nothing short of directly destroying the foundation of the nobility. He refused to believe that there would be no repercussions, but the reply he got was beyond his expectations.

"I have no clue, Your Majesty, but I can be sure that with the policies and decisions taken by Vijay, the Bharatiya Empire has become more and more prosperous in recent days, and more and more capable people are rising to the top of various fields in the empire.

I believe his policy has a lot to do with this prosperity, but sadly, the concepts he uses are very advanced, and I still do not understand the correlation between his decisions and the prosperity. As for the nobles and their reactions..." Pedro suddenly had a bitter smile on his face, which left Álvaro confused.

"The definition of nobles in this empire is completely different from the nobles we are familiar with."

"The nobles in this empire are not the titled nobles who inherited their titles from their ancestors or elites of society who are enthroned by the emperor. Instead, the nobles in the Bharatiya Empire are those who have risen through merit; that is to say, they are the nobles who are enthroned by their own right as provided by the Constitution of Bharat due to their contributions to society."

"And this right of these people who have contributed cannot be challenged even by the emperor. These nobles enjoy great benefits according to their ranking, but they do not have as much autonomy as the nobles we find on the European continent."

"On the contrary, since most of these nobles, if not all, come from a civilian background, climbing up the merrit Ladder one step at a time with their own professional ability, all of them can be considered elites of society, without anyone simply being granted a position because of a title."

"Speaking of titles, similar to the emperor, these nobles also cannot pass on their titles to their descendants. A title is only applicable to a single person who is ennobled, while their family only enjoys the benefits of the monetary and material gains earned by the said noble and not the title or rank."

"So, the nobles of the Bharatiya Empire are only nobles in name; in essence, they are just civilians. However, if I must say, each of these nobles is an expert in their own field, and each person holding the title of nobility is a true expert in their work, earning respect for that."

Remembering the history he had studied when he was an ambassador in this nation, he recalled, "In my memory, there used to be nobility in this subcontinent similar to our European nobility system, specifically in the dynasty to which Vijay belongs to before his succession. But sadly, everything changed after His Majesty Vijay Devaraya took the throne when he was barely an adult."

Álvaro was curious. "What happened to them then?"

Pedro Santiago had a complicated expression on his face, as if he did not know whether to feel awe or caution about Vijay’s actions. "A few years ago, when Emperor Vijay took the throne, there was a rebellion caused by these nobles, headed by Vijay’s cousin.

Apparently, Vijay had anticipated this would happen, but instead of immediately quelling the rebellion, he actually stoked the flames, causing the majority of the nobility in the empire to rally around his cousin. Sadly enough, before taking this action, Vijay had already won over the common people of the empire who had been greatly ignored with various benefits.

With the help of the soldiers he had cultivated in the army, he completely slaughtered these nobles and distributed the annexed land to the people of society, immediately gaining dominance over the then Vijayanagar Empire."

"I heard that tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of nobles died that day. I also heard that the river Cauvery turned red from all the blood it had soaked up."

"..."

The carriage fell silent as Don Álvaro de Mendoza finally realized that he was dealing with people who had a completely different framework for doing things. He began to regret taking the initiative to negotiate a deal with a monarch who would dare to wipe out the entire noble class.