Prince Kuldeep bowed respectfully to Wilhom Queen Katerina, "Your Majesty." He paused for a moment, "I'm sorry I'm not exactly sure if Majesty is correct, Wilhom Queen is a title I've never heard of before, I know it means you were once Queen but now? I'm not sure how things work so please forgive me if I have offended" He accepted one of the cups of tea. As someone who came from a nation where tea was a regularly seen crop he was considering himself well versed in the beverage however sweet and with mint was not a way he would have had it by choice. He smelt the steaming liquid and approved of the fragrance before taking a delicate sip. He liked the taste but perhaps burnt his mouth a little. "As for Parbhani we have been rather preoccupied securing our people's future. Sadly our neighbours wish to jepodise our water security and that can not be permitted. While your own people have to contend with arid desert we have a problem with rather seasonal rainfall, months of dry hot weather punctuated with a couple of months of hard rain. If we don't get that water through our rivers it spells disaster for our farmers and well you're a nation that can appreciate that problem. I understand you have now solved your own food security problems?" He had read about the recent visit to Lijiang. "How did your visit to Lijiang go? They seem a fascinating nation." He had read about their Dragon-Faith, a schoolboys daydream, but he had found it rather fascinating. "I however hope you don't mind me saying the reason my father elected to send me here wasn't just for celebrating your good news. I know Royal Seleucid is a nation that has done several large scale desalinization programmes and that is a potential route out of water insecurity for us. It would end the seasonal struggle for water. Do you think your son-in-law would permit me to inspect some of your nations infrastructure for such a thing? See what lessons we can learn. Perhaps even allow us to purchase some of the patents or designs if we needed too?"

To:- The government of Izhitsa

We are concerned about some misunderstandings in your governments recent press release.

Our current conflict with Topri was never about conquest or self-determination, it was about justice and security for my people. In 1876 the nations of Parbhani and Topri signed the agreement to divide the valley where the The Mamroda River flows. This long disputed territory had seen several conflicts over the centuries and this treaty reduced that greatly with only occasional flashpoints caused by misunderstandings which were quickly resolved. This agreement has held until 2016 when the King of Topri announced his desire to build a hydro-electric dam on the river, thus harming the lives of millions of Parbhani citizens who rely on the river for their agriculture. The terms of the treaty called for any commerce beyond agriculture and fishing on the river to be agreed by both sides and yet a year later construction of the dam began despite no consent being given by myself. Keen to resolve the issue peacefully I travelled in person to Topri to discuss the issue only to be the victim of an attempted assassination on route home. Thankfully members of my own military rescued me and the two prisoners taken were discovered to be serving members of the Topri military. Following their trial and execution Topri permitted its citizens to storm the Parbhani embassy and burn effigies of me and my wives. With my embassy staff in hiding in Topri their King refused to help us find them and thus I was left with no choice but to send my special forces in to exfiltrate them. At 5:30 am on the 24th January 2018 a series of air strikes on our border posts began followed by an invasion into the Mamroda Valley by Topri. We repulsed that and naturally counter attacked as there is a long list of damages done to our nation. These threats can not be permitted to continue and so we are taking action to protect our citizens.

To describe this as a "conquest" is insulting. We have offered terms for the ending which do not absorb Topri into our Empire and just ensure the Mamroda River is no longer used as a threat to our nation. None of our requests are punative. We seek fair compensation for the lives of worshippers at a Temple murdered by Topri's Armed Forces, we seek security for our farmers and by having our two royal families inter-marry it would make us family thus make future conflict less likely. Among every part of our advance we have halted to allow civilians to flee the area and offered humanitarian help if required. These are not the actions of a nation hell bent on destruction.

While we are delighted to hear of your offer to help with mediation we do not feel your nation is truly able to be a neutral nation. You are currently in a situation where troops from Achkaerin are in place, a nation that has taken hostile action against us by sending aircraft carriers to our region to "monitor" us, acts that can only take place by invading our own territory. We are now further concerned that you have offered your own waters to Achkaerin and effectively encouraged them to spy on us. In the over 600 years of the existance of our Empire, and then countless more centuries Parbhani has existed we have never cast our eyes North to your territory and nor do we have reason to. We have lived side by side, often as silent neighbours, in peace. We therefore do not see why all of a sudden we are deemed a threat for merely protecting ourselves.

We therefore formally request that you do not permit any Achkaerin, nor other nations, Naval vessels operating in your waters to use electronic or other "Monitoring" devices towards our nation. We further request that no forces from Achkaerin are permitted along your border that we share. We are slightly dismayed that you would make this offer despite them not even having the grace to inform you of the deployment while utilising you as an excuse.

We hope this puts your mind at ease. Once our current conflict is concluded I hope we may have a chance to sit and discuss repairing the damage other nations have done to the trust between us.

Best Regards
Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III

The Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III has today announced that his Armed Forces will pause their offensive for 48 hours to give King Indrajit V of Topri chance to respond to conditions for an end to hostilities. The news comes following the funerals of those killed in the recent Temple attack in Kehlari that left 16 dead. The Maharajadhiraja has also confirmed that he has asked "respected members of the international community" to investigate avenues to bring fighting to an end however those nations have not yet been named. The Maharajadhiraja issued a set of five conditions that must be meet to convince him to bring the conflict to an end at this time.

1. Those responsible for the missile attack on Kehlari and their commanding officer to be handed over to the Parbhani military for court martial.
2. Compensation of $2million be paid to each family who lost a loved one during the missile attack. $1million to be paid to each family who have a loved one left permanently disabled because of the attack. $500,000 to be paid to each family who had someone injured during the attack.
3. All Topri land bordering the Mamroda River for 10km to be demilitarised and put under the command of the Empire. This shall become the new border between the nations. 
4. No Topri Armed forces to come within 5km of the new border.
5. The eldest unmarried daughter of the King of Topri to marry Prince Amar within 14 days of these terms being accepted.

Experts believe that some of the conditions are unlikely to be acceptable to the King of Topri who has yet to make any public announcement on the offer. The Maharajadhiraja however has stated, "I believe I have been extremely merciful in this offer. Our military effectively has a boot on the neck of Topri and we could certainly finish the job if we so wished. It is important our people who have sacrificed their lives for the protection of the Empire have not died in vain and as such any agreement must ensure the Mamroda River is not permitted to be blocked in anyway, the most simple way is to hand it over to our Empire. I myself was nearly assassinated at the hands of the Topri military and so we have shown they can not be trusted to be good neighbours and yet still I try to do my bit. For 48 hours we shall sit and wait. At the conclusion it is my hope either the King will accept my terms of the nations we have approached can find a way forward. Failing that then our final offensive shall begin."

The Maharajadhiraja took time under this 48 hour lag in fighting to visit members of the armed forces in an undisclosed military hospital. He spent time speaking to the wounded and presented a Lance Naik of the 4th Imperial Rangers with the Emperors Medal for Bravery following him single handedly saving three comrades from sniper fire. It is the first time the medal has been awarded in thirty years. The name of the recipient is yet to be released however.

---

Dear Honourable Nations

As you will no doubt be aware our beloved Empire is currently embroiled in an ongoing conflict with our neighbours Topri. This was has recently cost close to 20 innocent civilians in Parbhani their lives while attending Temple for their daily prayers. Meanwhile our own forces are slowly advancing towards the Topri capital in an inevitable victory. Our concern is that many more countless people will die between now and a time when we can achieve a military victory. It is our hope that if an organisation such as yours with numerous members of a variety of different nations within its ranks and each with different approaches to the world were to take up an attempt to persuade Topri to the negotiating table this may end needless bloodshed. I would therefore hope that in the coming hours and days we can work together to bring an end to the conflict that we had to begin to protect our people and secure a peace that may last. I would be interested in inviting representatives from your organisation to meet with myself and ask you to extend a request to meet the King of Topri to try and act as a conduit for peace.

I send my blessings and prayers

Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III

Name of Artist:Sarwar Khan & Sartaz Khan Barna.
Nation Nominating: Parbhani
Song: Haanikaarak Bapu
From the Film: Dangal ( A story of two young girls in remote Parbhani. Their father is a famed national champion in traditional wrestling and is saddened when his own career comes to an end. With no sons to take up the sport he hatches a plan to trick everyone and trains his two young daughters in the sport, cutting their hair short and passing them off as boys. Will they be able to reach the National finals without being discovered? 
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7F6ZlEoIUI

Prince Kuldeep, known in his nation as the "Pious Prince" had been slightly surprised when his father, The Maharajadhiraja, had asked him to attend this pagan festival of sorts. Kuldeep was a 25 year old man who since the age 13 had devoted almost every waking moment of his life to understanding the Gods. If he hadn't been a Prince he would have been a Priest but his father had ruled that out. Even when he had turned 18 and the family tradition had required him to join the military for two years he had elected to join the Chaplaincy Corps and provide a mixture of physical care by being a medic and spiritual care by organising prayer meetings and rituals for those in the military. It was during that time he had written a history of the life of the Goddess Urmila that several leading members of the Priesthood had described as "ground-breaking" His time in the military over he had actually requested his father send him to the Seminary Schools to train to be a Priest and had once more been refused however this time his father had utilised his interest in religion to assign to him the task of "Modernising the Faith" and while he had not been in the Temple helping his people access their faith he had been tasked with using new technology to help the "internet generation" retain their faith. He believed that when the sad day came that his father Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III died he would not be picked as the new ruler as his studies had taught him that if he were a God he would have known by now instead he would ask one of his siblings to let him achieve his dream and enter the faith in more depth than simply playing about with the internet. He wondered if his father's decision to send him was down perhaps to one of two things. The first being that he was the least interested in politics and therefore unlikely to use the meeting as a way of expanding his own influence, the second was unlike his brothers he was not really a military man and with the on going conflict with Topri he was least needed at home.

He entered the Rotunda and looked around the room, "Gods protect me in this den of unbelievers. Watch over your cousin." He whispered to himself. He made his way towards the Soter family and gave a respectful bow. "Your Majesty" he stood upright, "My father the God Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III sends his greetings. I am Prince Kuldeep and on behalf of the Empire of Parbhani we wish your son and daughter a long and happy life."....."May they find the truth of the real Gods".... he wanted to add but simply extended his hands from behind his back to reveal on his left palm a small curved dagger on his right a bag of silver coins. "For your son so he may protect his people" he passed the dagger forward, "And for your daughter so she may have a dowry fit for a Queen." In the Empire it was tradition that when a new child was born the boys received a dagger of knife while girls received contributions towards their future dowrey however no doubt that would not be an issue for this new Seleucid Princess and so the coins were made with Heydar's head on one side and Haniyah's on the other with the child's date of birth on the edges. "I would hope this can be the first of many meetings between Selecuid and Parbhanian royals. Thank you for allowing me to witness today." He bowed once more and then returned to the crowd.

His Most Serene and Excellent Majesty the Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III approves this entry


120 x F-1 Hornbill Multi-Role Fighter
50 x F-27 Monal Multi-Role Fighter
50 x F-23 Myna Air Defence Fighter
6 x E-50 Bulbul AEWACS AIrcraft
15 x K-135 Black Kite Tanker
30 x E-111 Rock Dove Electronic Warfare Aircraft
40 x C-8 Peafowl Transport Aircraft
30 x C-390 Parakeet Transport Aircraft
40 x H1 Treepie Helicopter
30 x H-3 Cuckoo Helicopter
50 x T-3 Kingfisher Advanced Trainer / Light Fighter
50 x T-450 Bustard Basic Trainer / Ground Attack
30 x GR-111 EgretStrike Fighter / Ground Attack Aircraft
30 x GR-91 Fantail Ground Attack Aircraft

His Most Serene and Excellent Majesty the Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja III approves this entry


110 x Skolex Self Propelled Howitzer
100 x Astika Self Propelled Howitzer
130 x Kaliya Towed Howitzer
50 x Manasa Heavy Howitzer
50 x Ulupi Towed Howitzer
160 x Vasuki Multiple Rocket Launcher
310 x Karura Main Battle Tank
110 x Bagala Medium Tank
100 x Suka Light Tank
380 x Suparna Armoured Personnel Carrier
320 x Erawan Armoured Personnel Carrier
220 x Iravati Infantry Fighting Vehicle
850 x Vamana Mobility Vehicle
75 x Anjana Mobility Vehicle
100 x Bhadra Tactical Vehicle
200 x Nala MRAP
40 x Hamsa Attack Helicopter
40 x Jatayu Utility Helicopter
20 x Sampati UAV

Nation: Parbhani
Nation Link:https://www.nationstates.net/nation=parbhani
Provinces requesting:
W52
W51
W50
W48
W26
W32

Colors: Orange

I,Parbhani, have read the rules set down above, and agree to follow them.

The Mamroda River stands on the border between the territory of Dewala and the Kingdom of Topri however throughout history both sides have claimed full ownership of the Valley it sits in. In 1876 Dewala and Topri signed an agreement that the river would forever mark the border between their two nations. When in 1964 Dewala became part of the Empire of Parbhani the then Maharajadhiraja, Venkat II, sent emissaries to Topri stating that he intended to abide by the agreement that had been signed between Dewala and Topri in 1876. Between 1964 and 2016 there have always been numerous issues between groups in the area and this lead to several short conflicts the longest of which was in 1988 and lasted four days with around 80 soldiers killed on each side. Despite these frequent skirmishes the border remained intact and relations between the Empire and the Kingdom were best described as rocky.

In 2016 the valley became a hot spot again when the new King of Topri demanded that a hydro-electric dam be built on the river. With the Mamroda River providing vital irrigation to Dewala this was refused by Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja as to do so would threaten several million people's farms. In 2017 however the King of Topri, Tushar II, began construction of a small dam in a valley contained fully within Topri in which a large feeder river of the Mamroda was located. This angered Parbhani as it would naturally impact their own water supplies. In late 2017 Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja travelled to Topri in person to meet with King Tushar II to negotiate an agreement. This failed and as the Maharajadhiraja returned to Parbhani his convoy was attacked and he was taken hostage for ten minutes before members of his Special Forces Rapid Response Unit freed him. Two prisoners were taken in the action and Parbhani intelligence showed that despite still being in Topri territory no local forces came to aid the Maharajadhiraja. The two prisoners were taken back across the border into Parbhani and were confirmed to be members of the Topri military. Within 24 hours of their arrest and detention being made public the King of Topri demanded their release. The Maharajadhiraja refused and instead placed them on trial for his attempted murder. On December 19th 2017 the two men were found guilty and sentenced to death, a day later there was a failed attack on the prison they were being held in which was suspected to have been carried out by Topri Special Forces however no one was ever arrested for this.

On the 16th January 2018 the executions of the two prisoners was carried out. Later that day people in Topri, fired up by King Tushar II, stormed the Parbhani Embassy and despite Parbhani security managing to evacuate the building and get all staff to safety there were images in the news of the embassy property being carried off by locals and several individuals showing news reporters the various documents they had found. Thankfully for Parbhani these were not Classified and merely showed such things as letters of congratulations at the birthdays of Imperial Family or requisition forms for office supplies. The nature of the documents however was not the concern of Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja but rather the fact his embassy staff had been in danger. A day later the Embassy was set on fire with an effigy of the Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja and his three wives being thrown into the flames. The Maharajadhiraja demanded action by King Tushar II who instead of responding sent the Maharajadhiraja a bill for smoke damage caused to neighbouring buildings. Incensed by this Parbhani Special Forces infiltrated Topri to rescue the hiding embassy staff. This operation was discovered and while all members of the embassy and the rescue team managed to escape King Tushar II demanded the Special Forces soldiers be handed over as terrorists. This saw the two nations forces go onto high alert and then on the evening of 23rd January 2018 forces at the border begin exchanging gunfire with no order from above. At 5:30 am on the 24th January 2018 the Topri Air Force fired several Air to Ground missiles at border defence points in a prelude to launching a cross border operation. This was repulsed and later that day air strikes were carried out on key targets across Topri by the Imperial Air Force sparking a full blown conflict between the Empire and Topri.

Over the last two and a bit years forces from Parbhani have pressed into Topri and utilising the fact that Topri is landlocked and can not get supplies in other than by air and the fact the Imperial military is much larger the war seems inevitably lost for Topri. There have been sporadic ceasefires during the conflict as Imperial Forces allow civilians to leave combat zones and attempts at finding a permanent peace are found however it now seems Parbhani will only cease the conflict on conditions that would at best see Topri become some kind of vassal or at worse become a full part of the Empire. On the 26th December 2020 a 30 day ceasefire was agreed to allow refugees to be provided with food and shelter. During this Maharajadhiraja Krishnaraja offered to allow King Tushar II and his family to leave Topri and give his people the choice via a referendum of becoming part of the Empire or selecting one of Krishnaraja's son to be their new King. This offer was refused and it is not yet known what will happen after the 30 day agreement is reached.

In 1922 the Kingdoms of Mavi and Kalan signed a treaty agreeing that they would stand together against Parbhani should it ever pose a threat. In August of that year it was discovered that the King of Mavi, Pran II, had been behind an attempt to assassinate the Parbhani Royal Family. The Maharajadhiraja at the time was Amrit VI and he sent a demand to Kalan to break off their alliance. This demand tipped Mavi off that the plot had been discovered and that an attack was probably soon to be launched and so with their military already on standby to take advantage of chaos the Maharajadhiraja's death would cause they invaded the Empire followed closely by Kalan and the two nations made great inroads claiming the territory of Bhankala and part of Khudana. In 1925 Dewala and Topri also entered the war against the Empire which then saw the Empire fall back losing the whole of Khudana. With his military on the back foot Maharajadhiraja Amrit VI negotiated a ceasefire which would see Bhankala and half of Khudana handed over to the enemy in return for an end of hostilities. Kalan, Dewala and Topri accepted this arrangement however Mavi did not and so the war reduced to a simple Mavi V's Parbhani conflict which saw Mavi pushed steadily back into their own territory.

In 1929 Prabhani had reclaimed all territory lost to Mavi and it seemed that the war was likely to end however in that year the King of Kalan married his daughter to the Prince of Mavi and six weeks later King Pran II of Mavi died to be succeeded by King Ramji I. The new Mavi King was able to persuade his father-in-law to rejoin the conflict and so break the ceasefire. By now Parbhani was on the front foot and utilising its larger military soon began to reclaim even more lost territory. Fearing that they too would be targetted Dewala and Topri also joined the conflict again however by utilizing a tactic of holding three nations in a stalemate and combating one other the Empire finally retook the whole of Bhankala and Khudana in 1938.

In 1938 Maharajadhiraja Amrit VI died and was succeeded by Pankaj II who immediatley offered a ceasefire which was accepted and held until 1940. In that same year the King's of Dewala and Topri signed a peace agreement with Pankaj II ending their involvement in the war. It took Pankaj II a further 12 months to defeat Mavi and Kalan and bring them under his control. The Royal Family of Mavi fled to Dewala while Pankaj had the royals of Kalan imprisoned and put on trial for breaking oaths. Pankaj sentenced all 12 adult members of the family to death, the males by firing squad the females by garrote. The child members of the Royal family were given to farmers in Parbhani with the exception of 10 year old Princess Swarna who was forced to marry Pankaj II on her 16th birthday.

In 1814 the Kingdom of Khudana saw the death of King Rishi with no heirs there began conflict between several of his cousins over who should inherit the throne. Taking advantage of this chaos Maharajadhiraja Harshad I launched his own invasion of Khudana territory and initially seemed content to only take roughly 1/4 of the Kingdom. As the various cousins began to surrender to each other and their civil war calmed down more attention was turned to the Parbhani invasion. Harshad I attempted to negotiate a peace with the various factions however was unsuccessful and following a failed assassination attempt on him he determined his only course of action was to invade the rest of Khudana and so in 1820 the full scale invasion began.

In 1822 Harshad had defeated all those who claimed the throne. In the past Prabhani's Maharajadhiraja who had conquered a nation in battle claimed their territory by marrying a widowed Queen thereby giving, at least on the surface, the Maharajadhiraja the right to be King of that territory and thus add it to the Empire. In this case though that was not possible and so Harshad simply proclaimed that Khudana no longer existed and that it had always been Parbhani territory.

In 1733 the people of Mora began a Revolution against their monarch King Varghese. Taking advantage of this Maharajadhiraja Ratan IV launched his own attack on Mora turning the conflict in the small Kingdom into a three way conflict. The war went through various stages as at various times the three sides paired up against the other or held uneasy peaces while fights between two nations continued. In the end the Parbhanians were victrious after an assassin removed King Mora's (who was now deceased) son, King Anil. Once Anil was dead the Kingdom of Mora was handed to a six year old monarch causing further infighting among the nobles over who should be regent. This saw the war ended a year later and Maharajadhiraja Ratan IV was victorious. As the now seven year old monarch of Mora was unmarried Maharajadhiraja Ratan IV had him marry a young Parbhani noblewoman and immediatley following the wedding ceremony had the child King beheaded before just an hour later marrying the noblewoman himself thus being able to claim to have married the Queen of Mora. 

Penchi was a Kingdom that had vast supplies of silver in their hillside. The King of Parbhani at the time was King Abdollah II who received word that Penchi had dispatched envoys to other nearby Kingdoms to explore alliances against Parbhani. As such Abdollah sent his own envoy to Penchi to pursue peace this however was rejected and the envoy was killed on his ride home following an ambush. Modern historians believe this may have been by local bandits rather than the Penchi King's men. Regardless of who committed the ambush it gave Abdollah an excuse to pre-emptively attack Penchi. The conquest saw initial success by Parbhani however as Ambeh and Mora joined forces with Penchi it saw Parbhani pushed back into its own borders. There were several years of back and forth until King Abdollah II handed over control of his military due to ill health to his son Prince Mansoor who proved an excellent military commander. Mansoor accepted the surrender of those forces against him and allowed the leaders of Ambeh and Mora to return home if they executed the King of Penchi and his family with the exception of the Queen. Having witnessed these executions he took the Queen back to Parbhani were she was forced to marry King Abdollah II.

Two months after the victory King Abdollah made his son Mansoor the Rai (King) of Penchi and had him pay tribute each year to his father. King Abdollah also made his son and namesake Abdollah  the Samrat of Khayla also being made to pay annual tribute. From this point forward the King of Parbhani used the title Maharajadhiraja.

The Empire of Parbhani is today made up of the Kingdom of Parbhani and 10 Kingdoms that have all been brought under the guidance of The Maharajadhiraja. While many of these are of little significance in the Annals of History the tales of their glorious conquest need to be recorded.

1. The Conquest of Khayla (1400-1452)

2. The Penchi War (1481-1488)

3. The Ambeh Crusade(1589-1603)

4. The Mora Revolution (1733-1750)

5. The Conquest of Thaska (1776-1791)

6. The Khudana War (1814-1822)

7. The Bhankala Massacre War (1856)

8. The Great Mavi Kalan War (1922-1941)

9. The War of Dewala (1962-1964)

10. The Topri Conflict (2018 - now)