Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

January 1659

Baghdad City, Safavid Empire

'' Boom! ''

'' Boom! ''

'' Boom! ''

The loud explosions from cannon fire echoed throughout the city of Baghdad, a city whose importance to the Atashban family was second only to their own Hamedan region.

Kaveh Atashban was currently leading a charge against the enemy general Mosul Kufa, who was fortified inside the Fortress of Baghdad, with a stern expression on his face while volleys of cannons fired right next to him.

Kaveh initially wanted to feign an attack on Baghdad and target other, less-guarded locations. However, due to the orders he received from his sister and the persistent suggestions made by military officers sent by the Bharatiya Empire, he ultimately had to relent.

In the end, why Baghdad?

There are multiple reasons for this, both religious, geographic and the recommendation of the Bharatiya Empire; however, the most significant reason the Atashban family targeted Baghdad first is that the city had always been a disputed territory with the Ottoman Empire, with its ownership frequently changing. It wasn't until 1624 that it permanently became part of the Safavid Empire, making it a relatively new addition to the empire and thus allowing the people to accept the change of ownership even if it is the Atashban family taking over more easily than any other major city.

As for the religious reason, it came second. Baghdad is currently the centre of Shia scholarship in the Safavid Empire. Calling it a city of immense religious significance would be an understatement, considering that Baghdad reinforced the Shia ideology of the Safavid Empire against the Sunni ideology of the rival Ottoman Empire. It is, therefore, no wonder that Roxana Atashban wanted to target the city of Baghdad at the beginning of the Atashban family's actions against the Zangana family and the Afshar family.

Roxana, along with the Atashban family behind her, aimed to suppress Islamic beliefs as much as possible within the Persian Gulf so that they could build a large enough population base to rebuild the Persian nation. To make that happen, constantly gaining Zoroastrian followers was one method, while the other was by suppressing the previously predominant Islam as much as possible.

---

Roxana Atashban is in the Atashban family fortress, constantly inspecting the situation of the civil war.

Suddenly, a young man dressed in a military uniform walked in.

"General Kaveh has requested support, Your Excellency," the military messenger informed with a serious expression on his face.

Roxana Atashban nodded and looked at the map of the Safavid Empire she had hung up in her room. "What's the status?" she asked.

The messenger replied without hesitation, "The bombardments on the Fortress of Baghdad have been going on for four days. General Mosul Kufa, along with his army, has barricaded himself within the fortress."

"We have managed to isolate the city of Baghdad from outside interference. Currently, we are also dealing with the Zangana family and Afshar family troops who have been sent as reinforcements. With all the roadblocks we have set up, a large enough army to disrupt the current situation in Baghdad would take at least two weeks to arrive."

"According to the army officer sent by the Bharatiya Empire, the fortress should be breached in three more days. However, once it is breached, the officer from the Bharatiya Empire is concerned about ambushes set up by the enemy, so he suggested bringing in more support to ensure safety."

"General Kaveh Atashban shared this opinion, " the messenger stated, looking forward to the response.

Roxana was thoughtful. "You may leave now. I will arrange the matters," she said.

The Messenger nodded his head and simply left,

Roxana couldn't help but fall into deep thought as she watched the messenger leave.

She always had a doubt in her mind, 'Why is the Bharatiya Empire so interested in Baghdad anyway?' She rhythmically tapped the table. 'I can understand the significance of Baghdad to our family and the Persian Empire, but what could it signify for the Bharatiya Empire?'

'Do they want it for themselves?' she guessed but quickly dismissed the idea. 'No, that is not right. If they had territorial ambitions in the Persian Gulf, they would have launched the war as soon as they discovered our compromised border defences. Instead, their actions seem more like they want to push the city of Baghdad into the hands of a more favourable owner. So, is the Atashban family the more favourable owner?' Roxana was confused. 'Why would that be?' she wondered but found no answer.

Through her family's intelligence network, she could observe the increased activity of the Bharatiya military in the region of Baghdad. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand the intent of the Bharatiya Empire.

'Forget it; we'll learn their intentions soon enough. Baghdad is going to fall within a few days anyway.'

In the end, Roxana gave up, recalling her father's advice to focus only on what was within her control and not to worry too much about things beyond her reach.

---

In fact, the reason why the empire is so adamant about the Atashban family gaining control of Baghdad is due to future considerations.

Baghdad is a city positioned at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, making it a highly strategic location. More importantly, in the 19th century of Vijay's past timeline, Baghdad offered a direct railway route from the Persian Gulf to lands near the Mediterranean, making it a vital trade route for the British, who had considerable control over it at that time.

Currently, Vijay wants it for the same purposes as the British: power projection, strategic positioning, and, most importantly, trade. In his opinion, building a railway in Baghdad is only a decade or less away, so he wants to ensure that these railway lines are firmly controlled by him or his allies, preventing them from being used against him at a critical moment. Vijay's aim is for Bharat to become the factory of the world, after all. So, what is the use of a factory if you cannot ship goods to the customer?

Additionally, if the railway of Baghdad is connected with the line in Makran, then in the near future, Vijay could have direct land access to oil resources. Baghdad is not only very close to the vast oil reserves in the Persian Gulf but could also serve as a transportation hub for oil into the Bharatiya Empire.

With so many benefits and strategic goals, it would be surprising if the Bharatiya Empire did not place enough importance on the Atashban family's capture of Baghdad.

---

20 minutes later...

Roxana Atashban's orders immediately reached the barracks.

"Soldiers of the 6th Brigade, we have received our orders. We will move out in T-minus 20 minutes," a brigadier General in the unique military uniform of the Atashban family shouted.

"Sir, yes sir!" The soldiers, trained from the ground up by the sergeant's and veterans of the Bharatiya Empire, stood at absolute attention, fully equipped and awaiting further orders.

Twenty minutes later, the formidable 6th Brigade of the Atashban family was dispatched from their home base in Hamedan to the target location of the Fortress of Baghdad.

In line with the Bharatiya Empire's warfare strategy, the 6th Battalion was accompanied by logistics personnel to ensure a steady supply chain and intelligence officers to prevent ambushes from the enemy along the way.

---

When the war of revival was raging in the Persian Gulf, a strange scene was found in various prominent bookstores all across Europe.

Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Dominik Sokołowski had a strange expression on his face as he looked at the cover of the book in front of him.

"Bahubali: Powstanie Shivy" was the name of the book, an unusual title according to Dominik. But considering that this story originated from the far southeastern empire, Dominik could understand the exotic nature of the name and sound. However, the reason for Dominik's weard expression began a few days ago.

Dominik was a rare novel enthusiast among the nobles, so like any good noble, he joined a social group with people who had similar interests. A few days ago, when the book "Bahubali: Powstanie Shivy," written by the Bharatiya Empress Kavya Devaraya, was released, Dominik's acquaintances and friends started acting strangely.

"I'm feeling a little hungry lately. Maybe my bloodline is awakening," Jakub Nowak said.

"Woah, you startled me! Can't you announce yourself? I'm in a weakened state since my bloodline awakening just took place," Bartosz Wójcik said with a horrified expression.

"Shivy, Piotr must live!" Michał Mazur screamed as he placed his sick cat on top of his head like he was performing some sort of demonic ritual.

All of them started spouting random phrases and bursting into intense expressions suddenly, almost as if they were possessed.

Dominik was quite worried about them for a while. He even considered calling a priest to baptize them at one point. Fortunately, it didn't have to come to that, as his friends quickly stopped him and told him about the new novel from the Bharatiya Empire, written by Empress Kavya Devaraya herself, called *Bahubali: The Rise of Shiva*.

"You should read this book. Really, it'll change your whole life and your entire concept of a novel," Michał Mazur, whose cat had actually recovered, said with a happy expression on his face.

This recommendation came a few more times from his other friends, so finally, Dominik decided that it was time to buy the novel.

Dominik got back from the extremely crowded bookstore, where everyone was clamouring to buy the novel. He went home, got comfortable in his study room, and opened the first page.

"Je - Jesus!"

Like all other readers of the Novel, whether from the Bharatiya Empire or Europe, Dominik was immediately taken aback and overwhelmed by the divine and godly waterfall that appeared to pour down the water of the gods from the celestial heavens to the mortal earth.

Dominik couldn't take his eyes off the illustration for 30 minutes straight until he finally did and started to read the novel.

Dominik was mesmerized once again; the world built by Kavya was simply too novel for him. Everything he read was something new, something he could never have imagined, and he felt his worldview expanding with every second he spent reading. He was greatly intrigued by the power system, the bloodline awakenings, the fight scenes, the hundreds of plants and animals, the descriptions of monsters, the underlying religious meanings, the strength shown by Shiva, and the determination displayed by Shiva's mother as she tried to stop her son from being naughty, the heartbreak of losing a mother, and Shiva's great determination to climb the heavenly waterfall to find the hidden divine medicine, along with his final triumphs against the forces of nature.

Before he knew it, Dominik had become completely captivated by the world of Bahubali, created by Kavya Devaraya. As he read the last paragraph, he even had a few tears draping down his face. A few days later, he started randomly quoting lines and using various scenarios from the novel in his daily life, finding it very fun and fulfilling.

---

Dominik and his friends were not the only ones who had become addicted to the novel *Bahubali* by Kavya. In fact, hundreds of thousands of teenagers across Europe had the same addiction.

A few months ago, back in the Bharatiya Empire, a multi-language version of *Bahubali: The Rise of Shiva* had officially been printed, with language options being the top 15 most used languages in Europe.

As soon as the multi-language version was put on the market, European merchants travelling to the Bharatiya Empire and staying there immediately snapped up the book. At least 20,000 copies were sold within a few weeks. Even Europeans who normally did not read the novel began to read it out of curiosity.

From there, the novel eventually reached Europe and began to gain popularity in various literary circles across the continent.

Initially, it was disliked by some literature masters because they felt the novel lacked the much-needed noble connotation, but it was loved by common readers who did not need to think too deeply about the story and could just enjoy it.

For this reason, the sales were through the roof. The 30,000 copies brought to Europe as a trial run were immediately sold out, and new orders had to be placed. In the meantime, a single book became so expensive that some people would even exchange a large carriage or a horse for it.

When 250,000 copies of the novel reached the shores of various European ports, the owners of various affluent bookstores were in such a hurry that they disregarded their appearances and immediately snatched up the stock.

The novel *Bahubali: The Rise of Shiva* became even more widespread after that. Even though the book was blocked by some countries with a strong religious environment for its depiction of pagan gods, the book remained quite popular on the black market. Since the main customers of the book were nobles and the upper class of Europe, these customers had no problem procuring the books using their connections.

Additionally, due to the existence of the newly built intelligence channels of the Bharatiya Empire within Europe, fully formed by the Jews and Romani's, the book became widely circulated even without anyone actively promoting it. The book started to appear in various noble young master hangout places throughout Europe. Of course, all of this went under the radar of the politicians, nobles, and rulers.

So, even though the book had not become widespread throughout Europe on a massive scale, it had become a well-recognized masterpiece within the closed niche of European noble youngsters.Nôv(el)B\\jnn