The Sun and the Lion

While Zamorin was still fighting fiercely in Cochin, Ibrahim returned to Tabriz after celebrating Nowruz in Samarkand, thinking that he could leave the remaining aftermath work to the governor. The first thing he did after the city was to order the preparations for a victory celebration and publicize his martial arts to the world.

While he was staying in Samarkand and returning to the DPRK, the good news was first sent back to Tabriz through post couriers, and then continued westward through merchants.

The streets of Tabriz were once again decorated with lights, and squares were temporarily transformed into public entertainment venues following military parades and parades displaying trophies. Among the distinguished guests who were invited or took the initiative to meet, in addition to the Venetian ambassador and the Ottoman and Mamluk envoys who came specially to congratulate him, there was also a group of Indians that Ibrahim had not expected.

These envoys from India were not from Calicut, which received aid, but belonged to a new regime in the Deccan region, the Bijapur Sultanate.

After some consideration, he planned to summon the envoy from India alone in another hall and asked Ismail to help keep an eye on Babur and deal with other distinguished guests.

Ibrahim took a closer look and saw that the appearance and dress of the Indian envoys who came into the room to salute him were not much different from those of Persians and Arabs. He used the knowledge in his mind to believe that the Indian monarch who sent the envoy specifically entrusted the task of meeting the Shah of Iran to the Arab and Persian immigrants who settled on the Indian coast.

Since the Middle Ages, the Deccan region has been connected with Arabia and Iran through sea routes. In addition to commercial exchanges, religion, culture and even the population itself were spread. After hundreds of years of accumulation, Muslims have established large-scale communities in the Deccan coastal area.

"May God protect you until the Day of Judgment. Dear Great Sufi, the foreign ministers salute you on behalf of our Lord Yusuf Adil Khan and celebrate the victory you just won in the river." The Bijapur envoy said to Ib Rahim bowed and expressed his intention.

This aroused Ibrahim's curiosity. He did not expect that an envoy from the Indian Congress would take the initiative to interact with him, and the envoy would also call him such a religious title. He was interested and immediately wanted to know more. The monarch to whom the messenger is loyal.

"I heard earlier that the masters of the Deccan were Bahmani Sultan and the pagan monarch of Vijayanagar. What happened now, and are there new heroes who have made great contributions to the old order?"

Seeing that Ibrahim did not know much about the situation in the Deccan region, the Bijapur envoy patiently began to introduce it. Fortunately, he was selected as the envoy because of his extensive knowledge.

"Wise Sufi, the foreign minister will try his best to answer your questions. My monarch, Yusuf Adil Khan, is the governor of Bijapur appointed by Bahmani Sultan..."

The experience of Sultan Yusuf of Bijapur is quite legendary. Born in the Transcaucasus region, he heard the sermons of dervishes, and soon he became keenly interested in Shia Sufism described by his spiritual master. , and then naturally went to Ardabil to become a believer in the Safavid order.

If there were no accidents, Yusuf would probably have joined the holy war called by the Safavid Sheikh as an ordinary believer. However, he crossed the sea as a slave and came to the Deccan region, where he was bought by Bahmani powerful officials. Down. Later, he made many military exploits, was appreciated and promoted by his benefactor, and rose to the rank of governor of the Bijapur region.

Just when he became the official of the border, the authority of Bahmani Sultan had collapsed and basically lost its binding force on these dominant governors. Yusuf just followed the trend in this environment and simply established his own business.

After the Bijapur envoy briefly explained the birth of the Bijapur Sultanate, he explained his purpose: "Since he came to the throne, our Lord Yusuf Khan has paid great attention to the achievements of the great Sufis and admired the orthodox faith. Whenever there is someone from Khor The merchants from your country who came to Goa from Muzi have arrived. Your Majesty wants to know the latest information about your country. Whenever your Majesty learns that the Great Sufi has won and spread orthodox faith to a wider land, he wants to send an envoy to pay tribute to you. . It’s just that I was unable to travel due to the instability of the shipping route due to the ravages of pirates and pagans. This time, I took advantage of the return of your businessmen and asked me to accompany them. The main reason why the foreign minister came to see the great Sufi on behalf of my lord this time was I ask you to accept our Lord as a full member of the Order and to accept the suzerainty of Bijapur."

Ibrahim, who heard that there was an Indian monarch who was a believer in the religious order and took the initiative to offer it, was surprised to receive the gift list from the Bijapur envoy. The tribute sent by Yusuf Khan included three elephants and two crocodiles. Two precious birds and other animals and supporting breeders, various types of fine cotton fabrics by the box, spices by the bag, various colored gemstones by the box, etc.

The rich tributes in the list, just like the profits obtained by the Imperial Property Department from the royal merchants, made Ibrahim intuitively feel the wealth of India. Find Shuyuan www. zhaoshuyuan.com

Ibrahim, who was in a happy mood, immediately said: "I will send an envoy to give the Sultan of your country a red hat. If your country needs religious guidance, I will also be happy to send the Ulema to help you. I hope that the Sultan of your country and his Children and grandchildren will be able to follow and respect the Hermit Imam forever."

The envoy from Bijapur immediately bowed and thanked him: "Foreign minister, I would like to express my gratitude to the great Sufi for his generosity on behalf of my lord."

"Your Majesty the Envoy, please enjoy the victory celebrations in the past few days and feel the strength of our country." Ibrahim felt that maintaining this sudden relationship cannot only rely on Bijapur's unilateral export of favor, but also needs to show strength and give Substantial help.

After this interview, Ibrahim immediately began to rethink the next situation in the Indian Ocean. At first, because Calicut was the first to confront Portugal, he selected Zamorin as the target of support. However, the news brought by Bijapur envoys and businessmen returning from India was not good. He was exhausted in the battle of Cochin. It is clear that his attitude towards Safavid's overtures was lukewarm, and from the map, Zamorin is just the lord of a city and lacks strength.

The Bijapur Sultanate is different. Its ruler has the same ideology as him. Judging from the map, it also occupies a large piece of land. The force should be enough to protect itself, and the financial resources are not lacking.

"It seems that in addition to Muscat, there is another bustling port outside the Strait of Hormuz that can be used by the navy." Ibrahim decided to bring Goa under the control of the navy and built forts and fortresses in the port as usual. .

The foreign vizier originally planned to send a consul after Safavid-Calicut relations further heated up, but Ibrahim planned to modify the diplomat's location. Goa was a better choice than Calicut.