Tales of the events which took place on March 1, 1630 spread across the continent like wildfire.

The Crown Prince, his son, his son’s wife, and his grandson were all dead. The Emir supposedly escaped, but many assumed he was killed or kidnapped.

From the Sultanate of Darfur to the Pala Empire, the same story was told. The grand Durrani Dynasty was destroyed.

Scene: Palace of the governor of Lumetroj. Governor sitting at his throne.
Enter the governors of Dayuma, Chora, and Dizak.

”The deed is done.”

“So? How did it go?”

”It went… Okay.”

“Just Okay?”

”No, no, it went fantastic.”

“Then what are these rumors that the Emir escaped? I gave you leniency with Kajran, I trust he did not disobey?”

”No, he did not. I have never heard these rumors before.”

“Guards, close the door.”

”Wha??”

“We’ve been following our dear Emir for the last few days. Quite a few pigeons have told us of his location- he seems to be heading either to Herat or Ajrestan. We just need to follow him until we find a safe location, then he will be disposed of. However, I think now is the opportune time to dispose of yourselves.”

”But… Why, Haji?”

“I’m sorry, friend. Only the strongest survive.”

Suspiciously soon after the assassination of the last Durrani, a huge army, nearly 20,000 strong, began marching from Lumetroj and Bonega to the giant city of Deh Davuya.

The force marched through the Emirate, unopposed, for nearly four days. Reaching the western tip of the nation, they turned around, straight into their first opposition.

Shuja Shah Durrani, fleeing Emir of the Durrani Emirate, survivor of three assassination attempts in as many days, stumbled into the camp of the elite Elephant corps, stationed in Ajrestan. Made up of 1,500 elite Composite Reflex bowmen, nearly 100 elephants and over 2,000 horses, it was the Emir’s personal guard- swift, deadly, and versatile, it was able to be placed anywhere on the Emirate’s borders to protect against any attack. In this case, it was against some small states that broke off of Rajavansa during its downfall. They were harassing Durrani towns, jumping back and forth across the Indus.

The head of the Elephant corps, Janat Gul Samsor, immediately recognized the man crumpling to the floor. He had visible stab wounds on his calf, arm, and stomach, with a dagger still lodged in the latter.

It was a miracle he was still alive.

Within 24 hours, the entire corps was on the move, looking for clues to who destroyed the Durrani.

They didn’t need to look far.

It didn’t take long to find out a huge army was wandering from Bandar towards Deh Davuya.

March 12, 1630

The odds were against the troops loyal to the Emir of Durrani. Outnumbered thirteen to one, the odds seemed horrible. However, the governor of Lumetroj’s 20,000 troops were mainly inexperienced conscripts, with inexperienced generals leading them to battle. Numbers were their only help.

The two forces met near the Taftan Volcano, when the Governor’s troops started being harassed by arrow fire from bows they couldn’t see.

Soon, the Elephant corps revealed themselves, jumping up to the top of the hills around the Taftan, pelting the Governor’s troops, and leaving their army in momentary chaos.

The inexperienced generals managed to corral their army, but made the mistake of huddling in close and marching to the different locations where corps soldiers were firing.

However, this began a game of cat and mouse. The corps mounted their steeds, retreating from the Taftan, and the Governor’s army followed. The corps kept pelting the Governor’s army from maximum distance, and the conscripts couldn’t react.

After just 15 minutes of being humiliated, the Governor’s force, reduced to 17,000, completely broke down. The corps had a field day, killing another 7,000 before finally the rest of the force had fled or surrendered.

The Governor’s army suffered 18,000 casualties. 10,000 were killed, 3,000 wounded, and 5,000 captured. The corps, for unknown reasons, systematically slaughtered all 5,000 surrendered soldiers.

After the overwhelming Durrani victory, both sides would build up their respective armies, and begin a bloody 5-year civil war.

It was practically a stalemate, with no side really able to gain any ground. However, two forces arrived at the Emirate at the same time, which would completely change the war.

First, the Hasdaran Dynasty invaded the Governor’s lands on the Zagros, seizing it for themselves. Then, the remains of the Kimek horde arrived in the Padshahi.

Herat, Kabul, every large city in Padshahi was taken over by the Kimek, without much in terms of opposition.

And so, because the author is low on time and would like to get going with other events, he cuts this post off early, leaving the reader with a simple map of the former lands of the Durrani Emirate.

http://m.imgur.com/z0aHt2m.jpg

Green is pro-Governor or Governor-held.
Purple is pro-Emir or Emir-held.
Orange is Kimek-held.