Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

156  The European Merchants Visit Part: 1

Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi.

Vijay was anticipating the new Bharathi language to be completed and the land audit to be finished in a matter of a few weeks. However, he was suddenly disturbed by an interesting news. After the Portuguese left, there wasn't much connection with European traders, except for the occasional merchant who came to the Vijayanagar Empire to buy goods and then left.

This time, it was a full convoy of merchants from multiple European countries. Vijay could only imagine that his support for the Portuguese had caused quite a stir across the European continent.

Six hours ago,

Arabian Sea.

A sizable fleet of ships approached the Indian subcontinent, displaying a variety of flags. Some bore the flag of the Holy Roman Empire, while others displayed the flags of France, England, and the Swedish Empire and several others showcased flags representing major merchant alliances.

As they approached the mainland, they caught the attention of a nearby scouting vessel. It looked like an old, antiquated ship that the Europeans used a few decades ago. Naturally, the scouting vessel was the Mughal frigate captured in war. Due to the demand for military vessels, Vijayanagara had to make do with whatever was available until the BNV Hampi class sloops were put into service.

However, despite looking down on the small ship, the European merchants followed the instructions and docked in Kochi port. Upon disembarking, they were welcomed by the local administrator.

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"Welcome, guests from afar. Vijayanagar welcomes you," he smiled, and welcomed them with his hands joined. They understood him because there was a white man translating for him, who seemed to be of Dutch descent.

Being merchants and top officials in their respective countries, they were well-versed in several major languages on the European continent. However, the French merchant/representative, Jean Baptiste Dubious, was annoyed that he did not understand a single word the natives or the Dutch had spoken. He believed that all European nobles spoke French, the language of nobility, so he did not find a need to learn any other language. But due to necessity right now, he had to ask his colleagues to translate for him with an embarrassed tone. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Fortunately, he was not embarrassed, as another white person of Iberian origin stationed in Vijayanagara spoke in Latin. Now he could understand, as Latin and Greek were among the main languages from which most European languages originated. Therefore, it was necessary to learn Latin and Greek.

Now that the communication issue was mostly solved, they were led on a tour of the port city of Kochi, with the official Nagappa Reddy leading the group. Nagappa Reddy is the same head of the coastal village who had met Vijay on his first tour of the Empire during his first year of Rule.

Later, due to his good fortune of meeting the emperor and already being present on the power ladder of the empire as a village chief, Nagappa Reddy was given a chance to educate himself free of cost. He hesitated quite a bit when the offer came to him, as he was already a village chief and had a lot to lose. However, due to the persuasion of his daughter, he accepted the offer. Over the next few months, he was taught many things, including how to read, write, and basic management. Fortunately, as he had rich practical experience in management and seemed to have a good affinity with management roles, he was able to turn theoretical knowledge into applicable skills very soon. With his talent, he soon rose in the ranks and was finally assigned to Kochi Port as an administrative officer.

When Nagappa heard from the scouting vessel about the approaching European merchant and warships, he panicked at first but soon calmed down after being informed that the Europeans came with a trading intention, not for war. Out of caution, he still ordered the battleship to be stationed at sea, while the merchant fleet was allowed to dock. He also requested a platoon to be stationed and on guard in case anything went wrong.

These details did not escape the notice of the merchants. They had never been so heavily guarded in their lives. While no one objected to this treatment, they were still unhappy about it. The British representative, Thomas Bartholomew, could not hold back his emotions and spoke out.

"Sir Nagappa Reddy, what is the reason for your empire being so guarded against us? We just want to trade. Why did you stop our warships, which came with us as escorts, and these troops? We are not soldiers. You had no reason to bring them along."

After translating the question, Nagappa smiled and replied, "Honestly, Mr. Thomas, we are very wary of you Europeans."

This opening line left everyone in the merchant group taken aback, with perplexed expressions, as they did not know what caused this impression of them in the mind of the person standing in front of them. If Vijay had seen their expressions, he would be laughing hysterically with rage. 'Just traders?' Vijay would even believe that KFC is vegan rather than believe that the Europeans have good intentions towards the Lowly indian mud legs, especially the lovely and kind John Bull, the shit-stirring stick of the world. This is one of the reasons why Vijay doesn't like European countries so much. Even in the 21st century, they have the same attitude. They complain daily about the crises happening in North African countries while being very clear that the crises are happening solely because of them. Even during the Russian and Ukraine war, despite them purchasing a bulk load of energy from Russia, they went around criticizing other countries for buying Russian energy. There are more instances like this. Honestly, it was fortunate that Vijay was not here. If he were, he did not know if he could control his mouth, so Nagappa continued.

"Our first contact with you was a few hundred years ago. At first, your people, just like you, came as merchants, fooled our local nobles and rulers, bought a piece of land, and suddenly turned against us. Then started conquering our land, preaching about your gods and denying us of our own culture, and monopolizing certain sectors of trade. Even recently, the Dutch East India Company tried to assassinate His Majesty and take over the empire. They even controlled the whole of Sri Lanka. If not for the quick actions of our Highness, your plans would have succeeded. So, respectfully, Sir Thomas, we are more than wary of you Europeans, and we have a bloody good reason for it."

Everyone turned silent as they heard the answer, as they did not know what to say. It's not like they can deny it; they know their own affairs.

But Thomas did not let go and asked, "Then what changed that made you allow us to trade with you? Are you not afraid that we will join hands and do something detrimental to you?"

'Shut up, idiot. Why are you threatening them?' was the thought in every merchant and representative's mind, but it was already too late as the administrator stopped his walk, eyed Thomas from the corner of his eyes, and replied with a smile that was out of the ordinary for the situation, "You can try, sir."

This answer caught everyone by surprise. ' Weren't they afraid?' thought Thomas.

"It's nothing, sir. While your European Navy may be first-class in the world right now, we are not an island country; we do not need a strong navy to survive. We are a large country with a vast area of 1.3 million square kilometres, a population of at least 35 million people, and a strong standing army of 200,000 well-trained and well-equipped soldiers. We are now capable of producing cannons, muskets, and flintlocks ourselves at home. So, Sir Thomas, if you really want to do something against the Vijayanagar Empire, you will have to ally with most European countries and convince them to join your cause," Nagappa said with the same smiling expression as he turned around and continued to walk. His words were still echoing in the air until the stunned expressions on the Europeans' faces were broken by Nagappa himself.

"As for if it is possible, we all know that this task is impossible considering the differences among yourselves. This is one of the reasons we are looking to trade with the European countries, in order to achieve a win-win cooperation and exchange our interests."

There was an absolute hush among the merchants as they slowly walked along with a listless expression. Considering the population alone, tsarist Russia, which gave them nightmares in the current era, only has a population of 14 million people, not even half of Vijayanagar's population. In this era, it is still the population that decides the strength of a country. Moreover, even if they are capable of occupying the coastal regions, the Indians can always go inland and fight back from there. They are standing on the most fertile lands in the world, they have no shortage of food, and by the looks of it, even the mineral resources are abundant. Thinking of all these possibilities, the representatives of the European countries quickly put away their evil thoughts as they wanted to inform this message to the mainland after confirming the details.

Seeing their faces, Nagappa Reddy smiled, thinking that his mission was successful. He was ordered to boast about the military strength of the Empire to make the Europeans wary. Vijay did this to put up a temporary tough front against the Europeans until he found a way to consolidate different castes in the empire. If the Europeans found out about these cracks, Vijay was sure that they would exploit them. Until Vijay found a way to consolidate the different castes in the empire, he planned to put up a tough front until it was not possible or until the Portuguese spread the news about the situation here into the European continent.

But would they? Vijay did not think so because Portugal is a small country, distant and unable to compete with the rest of the European countries. Portuguese itself couldn't take advantage of the Vijayanagar Empire due to its small population and the ongoing war. So, they do not want to deal with stronger European countries that will become even more massive with the wealth brought by plundering India. This was also one of the clauses in the trade and peace alliance agreement between the two countries. Vijay believes that by the time the Portuguese were capable of vying for Indian interests, the Empire would be much stronger than it is now.