I doubt indians used triangle sails also the wheel thingy is a buddhist 
symbol.
Well, it was just a mockup for the insignia. Something more accurate would be included in-game.
Per Wikipedia:
The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र, Pali: dhammacakka) or wheel of dharma is a symbol used in the Indian religions. It has a widespread use in Buddhism.[1][2] In Hinduism, the symbol is particularly used in places that underwent religious transformation. [3][4][5][6]
It is used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.
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@Apocalypso4826 I appreciate your effort creating that design but personally I feel like Triangular Lateen Sails is overused in the game.
Sails of Dravidian Unique Ship falls somewhere inbetween the design of South East Asia (rectangular shape) and Middle East (cloth texture) and Africa (yellowish tint) which I think fits well with India lying in the middle of the cross trade of the three regions.
This is just my personal opinion on the subject.
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Some concept proposals I made for Ancient Units for Indian Civilizations in the Return of Rome section.
Aryan Chariot Upgrade
Elephant Marksman Upgrade
Boarding Ship
Bhikku/Brāhmin Upgrade
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Unique Trees from the Subcontinent
- Saraca Indica Ashoka (Ashoka Tree)
- Melia Azedarach (Chinaberry)
- Ficus Bengalensis (Banyan)
- Butea Monosperma (Flame of the Forest)
- Cassia Fistula (Golden Shower)
- Murraya Koenigii (Curry Leaf)
- Ficus Elastica (Rubber Fig)
- Phoenix Sylvestris (Silver Date Palm)
- Santalum Album (Indian Sandalwood)
- Caryota Urens (Jaggery Palm)
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I think this spreadsheet can be used to import the trees into the game and it should fit really well (especially in old version of game). It will also fit for DE if the resolution is good enough and your shadow alignment is correct. Looks really good, did you create them on your own?
Regardless we definitely need more tree lines in the game that are region specific. Currently there is only Oak and Baobab which are region specific, else everything is generic.
Source for original 3d models -
I just did the photoshop i.e. aligned it on 8x8 sheet and created the translucent shadow.
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Finally a DLC proposal outside Europe. And with models and stuff. I’d buy, no questions asked
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Just saw this post. Wow dude!
Incredible art skills and good work on researching all this. Keep it up!
The sails, Tc designs and trees do look amazing
I am just merging my design of Kannadigas with this thread. I have based my design on the hoysalas dynasty which ruled this region from 10th century to 13th century.
Kannadigas based on the hoysalas dynasty had their power centre inland. So their warfare resembled hill based people. These people were predominatly hill people who relied on fortifications for defense. But they valued cavalry far more than other branches of military and imported a lot of war horses from Arabia.
Kannadigas- Cavalry And ranged defense Civilization
• Blacksmith cavalry armour upgrades are free
• Ranged soldiers and buildings inflict +2/+3/+4 bonus damage to respective armour classes in feudal, castle and imp respectively.
• Masonry and architecture effects are doubled. [ No hoardings]
• Stabe technolgies cost no food
Team Bonus:
Buildings +2 bonus attack vs other buildings
Unique Units:
- Garuda guards (Skirmisher with pass through damage effect, throw javelin in straight line) Trained in Castle. Cost 35 wood and 25 food. Stats are 35(40) HP, Range 5, 4(5) attack, 0/4(+1/5) melee/pierce armour and speed 1 tps. ROF=3. Elite upgrade costs 600 Wood 600 Gold. +5 vs Archers, +4 vs Spearmen
- Bahri
(Arabian cavalry )Trained in Stable. Cavalry which cost 120 gold due to only imports available. Stats are 60(90) HP, 10(12) attack, +4/0 melee/pierce armour which is same for Elite and speed of light cavalry 1.5 tps. ROF=1.8. Elite upgrade costs 600 Gold.
Unique Techs:
Castle age - Hosadurga - Stone cost of Towers and outposts removed and replaced with wood. Outposts garrison and work the same as towers without firing arrows.
Imperial age - Pakhar or Paakhar - Stable units +2 Pierce armour
Wonder - Halebidu temple
Tech tree needs to be strong buildings and ranged units. Weak to infantry and cav archers. Because historically they were overrun by Tamil infantry which was more numberous and hoyslas lost. The final blow came from the north. Hoysala empire ultimately became a vassal of Delhi sultanate which had a more proficient cav archer based battle strategy.
Tech tree design and quirks
- Stable has all technolgies except husbandry. Scout-line, Bhari and Battle elephant with elite upgrade.
- Remove arson, gambersons, squires, champion and halberdier to keep infantry weak
- Remove husbandry because light cav and Bahri need to be slower than cav archers (History)
- Poor monk tech tree without redemption, sancity and fervor
- Buildings are top tier. all building HP techs except hoardings, attack techs except heated shots, range and build speed related upgrades.
- Archery range lacks Cross-bow upgrade. But has all blacksmith upgrades
- no siege onager, no siege engineers, no BBC, and no hand cannons
The civ has no dark age bonuses. But will have one of the best sustained scout rushes in the game since you will be paying just 100 Gold for bloodlines. The blacksmith upgrades can wait. So you can go for another stable as well. In castle age, the civ has a better knight-adjacent rush using the Bahri. You can setup economy similar to a monk rush and play cavalry. But monks are to be deliberately kept weak similar to Dravidians and without sancity. The civ should rely on light cav to take on monks.
Please let me know guys whether this design is a good cavalry for offense and buildings for defensive civilization.
Rename and re-design of Thirisadai
Colandia (சொழாந்தியம்)
My idea is to change the ship into a unit that can lay siege to shores in order to land units. Colandia fires 5 arrows in a single volley in a cone-like spray, each of which has a tendency to hit a different unit. Each projectile moves 30 deg away from one another. All the arrows are affected by blacksmith upgrades.
Unit information
Introduced in
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India
Type
Civilization
Age
Pronunciation
Chou-lan-dye-um
Training
Trained at
Wood
180
Gold
60
Training time
40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points
250
Pierce attack
5 × 5 arrows
Attack bonus
Only main arrow does bonus damage
+7 vs. All Buildings
+4 vs. Rams
0 vs. Ships
Reload time
3.45
Range
7
Accuracy
100% (main arrow)
85% (additional arrows)
Projectile speed
6 (main arrow)
7 (additional arrows)
Melee armor
2
Pierce armor
11
Armor class
Ship*
Capital Ships
Unique unit
Long-range warship* (+5)
Speed
1.25
Line of Sight
9
Ability
Sanitises an area of units on shore or water by firing over a wider area. Colandia fires 5 arrows in a single volley in a cone-like spray, each of which has a tendency to hit a different unit.
Collision size
0.5
Where did you get the historical reference for Colandia? The wiki page only referenced Periplus Marae Erythraensis , and it seems to be another false claim by (modern) Indian Historian. Even the historian Anirudh Kanisetti couldn’t find the Chola ship with that name (Kanisetti, Anirudh (2025). Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire. New Delhi: Juggernaut Books).
The Greek source did not record Colandia but Kolandiaphonta (ΚΟΛΑΝΔΙΟϕΩΝΤΑ), the C is not pronounced as the Ch in Chocolate (you wrote it as Chou-lan-dye-um). For some reason Indian historian, be it deliberately or not, removed the word phonta part, and changed the greek letter K into C. Robert Dick-Read suggests it is a transcription of Kun-lun po, a word used by the Chinese to refer to a large Indonesian vessel. Kun-lun po has quite a number of references, Colandia only has Periplus (which actually recorded Kolandiaphonta instead of Colandia).
Sorry for the delay. Been busy of late.
I can’t seem to compile as initially did. I had some concrete information.
- Ships were typically large double hulled
- They were owned by merchants. But manned by specialists from around the world like Greco Roman soldiers for protection of cargo
- These ships had enough ammunition to not be dependent on separate convoys to protect them from pirates or unfriendly ships.
- The ships were built in both Kerala and Tamil nadu. But trees came from Kerala. However both were combined as Tamil country at the time of cholas. So a shared unit makes sense.
You can go though the below bonus and see that both the civs can work well with colondia unit.
What I asked is the reference (publication or historical records) about the Colandia, not their characteristics. Each of the characteristics you listed need its own reference, too. The burden of proof is on the one who made the claim. The more claim presented, the more it needs to be proven.
- Ships were typically large double hulled (what is the source for this claim?)
- They were owned by merchants (what is the source for this claim?). But manned by specialists from around the world like Greco Roman soldiers for protection of cargo. (what is the source for this claim?)
- These ships had enough ammunition to not be dependent on separate convoys to protect them from pirates or unfriendly ships. (what is the source for this claim?)
- The ships were built in both Kerala and Tamil nadu (what is the source for this claim?). But trees came from Kerala (what is the source for this claim?). However both were combined as Tamil country at the time of cholas (what is the source for this claim?). So a shared unit makes sense.