The Spice Island Trade Company
It is late 1444 and the death of Sultan Muhammad Shah has left his son, Ibrahim as the new Sultan of Malacca. This bustling international trade port has seen peaceful times in recent years, the stability of Muhammad bringing calm to the kingdom and region as a whole. The new Sultan, Ibrahim is just 19 years old and has the legacy of his family to protect. Is Ibrahim ready to take the reins of a proud Sunni Muslim Sultanate and lead them to glory?
Winds whisper from the west of trading nations great and small are looking to reach the Malacca and Johor Straits. There, the spice trade is king of the hundreds of islands throughout Southeast Asia. Ships bearing the flags of kingdoms from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East have begun to arrive in our ports. The days of Venice’s grip on the spice trade flowing west along the Silk Road are slowly coming to a halt. It is only a matter of time before these unknown western nations will find their way to our shores. We must be prepared for their arrival.
Locally, there are enemies all around Malacca. Directly to the north, just beyond the one province minor kingdoms of Pattani and Kedah lies Malacca’s most bitter rival, Ayutthaya. They are a large kingdom, with Sukhotai and Ligor as vassals. They could be considered the true power of Southeast Asia. Ming is, of course, the sole superpower of Asia at the moment, but it is possible that Ayutthaya could become a very large force as well.
South of Malacca are three more kingdoms, separated by the Straits of Johor. They are Siak, Pasai and Pagarryung. Siak and Pasai are immediate threats to the Malaccan Sultanate and are also considered fierce rivals. They will likely need to be dealt with sooner than Ayutthaya. All three of these kingdoms control the island better known as Sumatra.
East of that island is Java, which is currently occupied by the kingdoms of Majapahit, a major player in Southeast Asia that is now on more of a decline than an upswing. Their kingdom may have already hit their peak. West of Majapahit on Java is Sunda. Sunda will make an easy target for Malacca 30 years from now, or for Majapahit in the immediate future.
The last of our direct maritime neighbors are Brunei and Kutai, sharing the Indonesian island together. Brunei certainly has the potential to become a power, but being trapped on a single island with Kutai may hurt their early progress.
Long-Term Goals for Malacca:
* To conquer, core and colonize the provinces that will allow Malacca to become the kingdom of Malaya. This goal immediately puts Siak, Pasai and Pagarryung into our crosshairs as early targets for subjugation.
*To colonize the Philippines and greater Pacific Islands. Once we have created Malaya, work must be achieved to colonize and control the Philippines. There is excellent trade value and resources through these islands. We must control them all. This includes eventually moving into New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.
*To colonize west to Africa. This is a bit of an odd, goal, but as a Chinese tech kingdom, it takes up 60% longer than a Western tech kingdom to earn Administrative, Diplomatic and Military levels. By reaching Africa, we can hope to border a European country that has settled there to begin the process of Westernization.
*Make inroads to greater Asia. The main war goal for this campaign is to obliterate and eliminate or subjugate Ayutthaya. This is certainly a longer-term goal and the conquest likely won’t even begin until we’re lucky enough to form Malaya. Our more direct rivals such as Siak, Pasai and Brunei will be prioritized over our greatest rival of Ayutthaya.
*Dominate trade. The Malacca trade point is a choke point for trade to Asia. All trade from the western world will flow directly through our capital trade node. This is merely the start. By dominating trade in the Malaccan node, we can then push to dominate the Philippines node and even into Canton, or west to Bengal or Goa.
Malacca is a proud kingdom in Southeast Maritime Asia, the principal upholder of the Sunni Muslim faith in the region. Among Malacca are many Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. Heathens and heretics! The entire lot of them. While Malacca is not only looking for domination of land and trade in the region, the Sultanate will also happily push their religious agenda on any kingdom or peoples who do not wish to follow the true path to Allah.
Finally, before I begin this journey through history and Asia later today, I want readers to know that I want to make this the most accessible and in-depth After Action Report I’ve done yet. I’ll provide explanations for mechanics when necessary. If you’ve never played a Europa Universalis title or a Paradox Grand Strategy game at all, these explanations will make this dossier on Malacca’s history much easier and cleaner to follow. I am considering showing more maps than previous iterations of my AARs, as well as trying to fill in more history with the kingdoms around Malacca. Maps will certainly be used to show the greater scope of how the trade system works, since that will be the primary source of income in this playthrough.
With all of that said and out of the way, welcome to The Spice Island Trade Company: An EU4 AAR. I appreciate your readership and hope you enjoy this alternate tale of history!
A map of current day Malacca and all of our neighbors.