Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

"Patriarch, Father, I have urgent news."

The Patriarch Ardeshir Atashban was startled. "What is it?"

Fariba explained, "The war has started. The Takkalu family, using their naval forces in the Caspian Sea, launched an attack on the city of Sari of the Shamulu family. Through two surprise attacks, they were successful in capturing Sari."

"Consequently, the Zangana family, using their naval forces, launched an attack on the province of Fars, which belongs to the Afshar family. Due to the attack coming not only from the naval forces in the Persian Gulf but also from the armed forces stationed in Arabistan province, the province of Fars quickly fell."

"It looks like the Takkalu family and the Zangana family coordinated their attack."

"But the Qizilbash faction was not to be left behind. The three families of the Qizilbash faction launched a coordinated attack on the province of Isfahan. The cities of Nain, Yazd, and Tabas have been hit hard, and the Takkalu family is mobilizing more troops from the north."

"What about the Zangana family? Are they not supporting?" Roxana asked.

"They are supporting, but their support seems to be half-hearted. In my opinion, they are watching the fun as their biggest ally and potentially their biggest enemy is losing strength."

"Then is the military of the Imperial Royal Family reacting to this?" Roxana inquired again.

"The military has not participated in this war, as the five families have reached some sort of cooperation stating that the military will not be involved. In my opinion, they did this to avoid giving the Bharatiya Empire or the Ottoman Empire a chance to attack the Safavid Empire after noticing the opportunity."

Roxana nodded her head in understanding. Just then her face immediately brightened as she suddenly got a idea. "In this case, if either the Ottoman Empire or the Bharatiya Empire is willing to support us, the troubles of our family could be solved."

"Not only that, but we can use this civil war to increase our influence and expand our power madly. By the time the five families notice, it would already be too late."

Everyone turned to the Patriarch and the Matriarch, finding the suggestion very appealing to them. They looked at each other with great astonishment. "This could work. Although both empires are potential enemies, they are only that—potential enemies and not immediate enemies. This matter could be considered."

"But, daughter, with whom do you think we should cooperate to get the most benefit?"

Roxana thought for a while and answered, "If we cooperate with the Ottoman Empire, we will get the support we require in a shorter time. However, the Ottoman Empire currently occupies a large part of our territory. Even though our family has nothing to do with that territory now since the ancient Persian Empire has already turned to dust, our religious differences alone make us very incompatible.

All they try to do is fool us into forgetting and abandoning our faith."

"So the best option, in my opinion, is to cooperate with the Bharatiya Empire.

From what I know, the Bharatiya Empire currently has enough military might to overwhelm our eastern border if they wish to conquer our empire, but they did not do such things; they only occupy the barren region of Makran and have stopped interfering with our empire, This shows that they are not overly ambitious for territory."

"Also, our cultures are very compatible with each other. It is said in the legends that our Persian ancestors and their Bharatiya ancestors used to be brothers. There are legends that state our Persian ancestors even came from the southern part of the subcontinent, and it is for this reason we have never attacked them, and they have never attacked us.

This historical connection is one of the strong reasons for me to side with the Bharatiya Empire."

"Putting the historical connections aside, the Bharatiya Empire also has a large community of our Zoroastrians who have sought refuge. Maybe we can call them back to the Motherland and have them help us in spreading the seeds of Zoroastrianism once again."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. The Patriarch was very satisfied with his daughter for her insights before choosing a collaborator. It was one of the reasons he chose her as the next leader and not his son, whose mind was full of muscle and nothing else.

Fortunately, he did not have to worry about rebellion within his family, as due to the constant high pressure from the outside, their family had been forced to unite. So the family took the path of absolute meritocracy: those who had the ability gained power.

"What you said makes sense, daughter, but how do we contact the Bharatiya Empire?"

On this point, Roxana was suddenly stumped. Currently, their family’s every move is closely monitored by the Zangana and Takkalu families. Their movement space had been completely compressed within the Hamedan Province. If anyone among them left the province, it was doubtful whether they could make it back alive.

Just when everyone was feeling hopeless, a small, mosquito-like voice was heard.

"Um, I might have a way to solve this problem."

Suddenly, all eyes in the hall were focused on a middle-aged woman.

At this time, a person who was very unlikely to have any say in the matter spoke out, attracting all the attention. Golnar Atashban, the wife of Perviz and the Master of Trade for the family, said, "Patriarch, you remember the Ahmedazi family, don’t you?"

"Yes, I do. This family has been a Loyal vassel of our family since ancient times. What about them?" Ardeshir Responded confused by the mention of the Ahmedazi family.

"Well, the Ahmedazi family had a separate branch in the Mughal Empire in the region of Baluchistan."

Ardeshir recalled, "I know about this too. I heard that Ahmad Ahmedazi Khan, the patriarch of the Ahmedazi dynasty in Baluchistan, had completely lost to the Bharatiya Empire and rejoined the Ahmedazi dynasty in the Safavid Empire. So what are you implying, sister-in-law? Does the Ahmedazi family have a way to contact the Bharatiya Empire?" Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Before Golnar could respond, he denied the probability himself.

"But it is very unlikely since, according to how things ended, the Bharatiya Empire and the Ahmedazis should be at odds."

Golnar shook her head in denial and explained, "No, since none of the members of the Ahmedazi family were injured, there isn’t much Blood feud to speak of, at most it is hatred between the two. Anyway, that is not the point. The main point is that apparently, the Bharatiya Empire has already infiltrated the Safavid Empire on a large scale."

This caused a shockwave to run through the hall, but the surprise was yet to come.

"Apparently, Abdullah Ahmedazi Khan, the son of Ahmad Ahmedazi Khan, was recognized by one of the spies sent by the Bharatiya Empire. When they investigated the Ahmedazi family which escaped from Baluchistan, they seemed to have investigated our situation deeply."

"Just yesterday, I was contacted by their spy, and he requested the patriarch’s audience. I did not want to take the stranger to meet you, so I wanted to do some research. But since the troubles of our family have come to this point and the young lady Roxana mentioned that the Bharatiya Empire could help, I think this spy could be of some use."

Everyone was stunned by the turn of events. The patriarch immediately realized the horror of the Bharatiya infiltration, given that they had already penetrated the Safavid Empire. It showed both the carefulness of the Bharatiya Empire and the effectiveness of their operations. But this is what they required: a stronger ally. "Alright, bring him to me," the patriarch commanded.

Only one day later did Golnar come back with the deputy chief captain of the Bharatiya spy unit in Hamedhan, Hameed Balwani.

"Pajji, what can our Atashban family do for you?" the patriarch inquired, not wanting to put forward his request before knowing the intent of the opponent.

---

Throughout the whole ordeal, intelligence from the Safavid Empire had been continuously sent back to the Bharatiya Empire through the Makran state. The intelligence gathering and utilization were much more proficient since the director of Bharatiya External Pragya Roshan, was personally present to oversee the affairs of the Safavid Empire as he was stationed in the city of Chabahar.

Vijay, who was in the Bharatiya Empire, was greatly surprised upon hearing that there was still an authentic Persian noble family like the Atashban family existing in the Iranian region. Initially, he hoped for some Zoroastrians to be present in the Safavid Empire, as he wanted to use them to revive the ancient Zoroastrian faith.

Now it looked like he had hit a jackpot; he seemed to have almost found the royal family of the Persian Empire.

Immediately, the think tanks began to analyze the situation, and negotiations with the Atashban family started.

Both the Bharatiya Empire and the Atashban family were in a hurry to close a deal, so after a quick negotiation, an offensive and defensive agreement was reached to help the Atashban family resist against the five noble families of the Safavid Empire and to assist them in spreading their influence by coordinating intelligence.

As a payment, the Bharatiya Empire would expand their territory to the east of the Safavid Empire until the border of the province of Isfahan.

The payment asked by the Bharatiya Empire was highly disputed, but when the Bharatiya Empire promised to support the new Persian Empire built by the Atashban family in reclaiming its territories from the Ottoman Empire, The Atashban family, hearing the conditions, were immediately overjoyed and agreed.

Historically speaking, the eastern parts of the Safavid Empire were under the control of Hindu dynasties, and the Isfahan Province And lands towards its west until the Mediterranean was the heart of the Iranian country and its best-known ancient Persian land. Thus, they happily agreed.

The intelligence resources deployed in the Safavid Empire, which had been scattered to avoid raising suspicion, immediately became centralized and began to work in a focused and targeted manner.

All the protocols that had been set up before the deployment of the intelligence personnel immediately came into play, thereby once again proving the combat effectiveness of the spy organization run by the director of Bharatiya External Pragya, Roshan.

It was the month of April when the war was getting heated between the five noble families. The distressed civilians at the bottom received support from the Atashban family; they received food, water, and security. Silently, the conversions were increasing. The Bharatiya Empire began to dump the stockpiled weaponry that still existed after the Mughal war into the hands of the Atashban family.

Even more secretly, the army of the Atashban family was also increasing due to their growing influence, and this increase in influence was not only in their home province but also in their neighbouring provinces. For all this to happen, the Persian Gulf and the route between Makran and Baghdad had become the biggest smuggling route for goods to flow through.

P.S. I am not home, so sorry if the edit is a little off