Judging from the April PUP update and 3 hidden campaigns under the code “incam” and 21 new hidden achievements. If we consider incam stands for Indian Campaigns, which 2-3 civs will you pick to be in the game?
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Bengalis and Tamils for sure and either a civ representing the Ghurids or a Kannadiga civ. The Oriya or the Rajputs could also work.
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I would like Cholas/Tamils and Bengalis, maybe something like this:
Tamils, Bengalis and Kannadigaru are the top three for sure. All built huge empires on the level of some of the bigger empires we currently have in the game. I feel like we’re only gonna get Bengalis and Tamils for now though, as they seem the most popular among the fanbase, whilst the Kannadigaru are a bit overlooked for some reason.
A civ representing the Ghaznavids/Ghurids/Delhi Sultanate would be great as well, but they were invaders rather than being indigenous Indians so I would classify them as South Asian rather than Indian. Those 3 (4) + the current Indians being renamed to Rajputs and adjusted slightly in their design would give us the major forces in the medieval Indian Subcontinent.
Would also like to see Odias down the line as they built powerful empires as well. Also Sinhalese, Assamese and Nepalese to cover other parts of South Asia.
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Tamils, Bengalis and Rajputs
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My top 2 picks would probably be the Tamils and the Bengalis, but I’m not sure what would be a shoo-in for a third civ. The Kannadi would be a good pick imo, but so also would be the Nepalese or the Oriyas. I’m not that good with medieval India sadly, so my picks tend to stick to the more widely known of the bunch.
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So basically this is the summary -
- Tamils
- Bengalis
- ??? (I’m just happy to have a third new civ)
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Being from Bangladesh, I’m really looking forward to this probable expansion 
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I think it’ll be 2 civs 3 campaigns. The civs being Bengalis and Tamils. The campaigns being for those 2 + Persians. Also campaign about Muhammad of Ghor is very likely. As they like making campaigns of opposite side of older campaigns like Burgundians vs Joan or Bari vs Normans. This time it can be Ghurids vs Prithviraj.
Also I think the currently Indians civ encompasses both Rajputs and Delhi sultanate so I don’t think a separate Rajput civ would make much sense
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(Very long post incoming! Sorry, I got carried away 11)
Speaking as someone with an interest in Medieval South Asia, I’d say that the Kannadigaru should really be considered the “shoo-in” for the third. They established both the Rashtrakuta and the Vijayanagara Empires (which you can find plenty of info about if you search online).
The Rashtrakuta Dynasty was one of the most powerful earlier medieval empires on the subcontinent, being a part of the Tripartite war between themselves, the Palas (Bengalis) and the Gujara-Pratiharas (which could be included under the umbrella “Rajputs” if added to the game or if the currents Indians civ is renamed). Of course, the various Tamil empires (Chola being one) were down in the South/South-East of India conquering and trading across the Indian Ocean at the same time.
Those 4 (Palas, G-Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas, Cholas) seem to be the “Big Four” of the earlier part of medieval Indian history, and all should be in the game as distinct military and cultural entities.
Moving into the later part of the AoE2 timeline, there were the Muslim invasions of the Ghaznavids and Ghurids, and the formation of the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire. Those Muslim states/empires should also be represented together under their own distinct civilisation in game. You could call it “Afghans” or “Hindustanis”, but I don’t think a perfect name really exists.
In this later period, the Tamils had their own powerful dynasties still, the Bengalis obviously formed the Bengal Sultanate, whilst the Kannadigaru formed the Vijayanagara Empire, which was a very powerful force on the subcontinent. The G-Pratiharas were kinda succeeded by the various Rajput kingdoms in the same area of India.
So you see how these three entities (Bengalis, Tamils, Kannadigaru) were of the same level throughout the time period of the game and all deserve to be in it. They can stand neatly alongside the Indians civ, which really should be slightly reworked and renamed to the Rajputs.
Then you have the Oriyas/Odias as another prominent force which you mentioned who formed a number of empires and dynasties, whilst Sinhalese, Assamese and Nepalese are all contenders from South Asia as well. Finally, a civ representing the collection of Central Asian Muslim forces which invaded and massively influenced South Asia would be amazing as well.
So that would be 9 South Asians overall: Rajputs, Tamils, Bengalis, Kannadigaru, Odias, Afghans, Sinhalese, Assamese and Nepalese. I think you’d need at least the first 7 of those to represent South Asia to a respectable degree. And obviously there was a ton of unique military stuff in South Asia like Zamburaks, Chakrams, Flamethrowers, Tower Elephants, Urumi swords, war chariots… so it’s not too hard to come up with civ design ideas, or at least there’s a lot to work with.
7 Likes
Bengals and Tamlis (Tamils, not Cholas) are a must. I’d vote for Kannadigas as the third one, but wouldn’t be mad if it’s a civ based on the muslim invaders. I just hope they’re not called “delhis”
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I understand and admire that guy’s spirit for constructing new civs, but I think he always does a bad job.
I feel ike he’s a lot more history focused than gameplay focused.
That’s actually really cool. I appreciate the long post, I always love to learn about history and I definitely learned a few new things, so thank you.
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same here … 
(20chars_)
It would be great if they make elephant archer a regional unit and rename the existing indians civ to rajputs/delhi then give them a new uu … a special elephant archer perhaps. like elephant crossbow
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Tamils, Bengalis, Kannadigas
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I first mentioned it as a joke, but now I think it may be a decent possibility: I think the new civs will be Bengalis, Tamils and Rajputs, with Prithviraj’s campaign being reworked for the new Rajput civ and the old Indian civ (possibly renamed as Hindistani or something else to represent the persianised muslim dynasties from northern India and the Deccan) would receive a new campaign (quite possibly Babur).
I say that as someone wishing to see the kannada faction in game, so I’m not exactly overjoyed with my own prediction
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Bengalis for East and Buddhist Indians.
Dravidians for South and Hindu Indians.
Current Indians for Northwest and Muslim Indians.
Done.
I am more supportive to the geographical and religious classification for South Asian civilizations than ethnic groups. The Dravidians are enough to cover the South in my opinion.
I don’t expect that they are subdivided into various peoples like Tamils or other else.
I don’t want 7 or 9 South Asian civilizations, don’t want this game to end up facing more than 65 civilizations.
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The simple truth is that you can’t cover the variety of medieval South Asia in just 3 civs. 25% of medieval people lived there. Adding an umbrella “Dravidians” civ feels like the situation we used to have with Slavs. Very wrong. I’d rather have certain areas of India completely unrepresented than have them grouped under umbrella terms like that.
One thing especially that shouldn’t be done imo is grouping northwestern Indians under an umbrella along with the people who conquered them. They were different linguistically, culturally and militarily. Would you have the Byzantines and Turks as one civ together? Much rather the Ghurids stay represented by the Persians and Tatars.
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I think adding Rajputs as the third civ and changing current Indians to represent the Delhi Sultanate could be cool! Either that or Kannadigas. Anything relating to India is rad imo.
Honestly I don’t think there will be a third civ though, as only 4 placeholder sound files have been added to the game (2 short civ themes, 2 long themes = 2 civ’s). Bengalis and Tamils is my bet.