The Persian Empire (1444-1500):

The year is 1444. Muhammad bin Baysonqor Timurids, the ruler of Ajam, has taken advantage of the
instability within the Timurids to carve out his own domain on the Persian heartlands. However, his
Sunni beliefs clashes with the Shia majority of the land he rule, and he realizes that he has no choice but
to gave in to gain their support. Noticing the instability plaguing Muhammad's domain from the Shia
revolts, the Great Sultan Shah Rukh Timurids launched a campaign to bring Ajam back to their fold. Ajam
allies': the White Sheep turkomen — Aq Qoyunlu, the Nogai Horde, and the minor Emirate of Haasa
came to their defense in spite of their religious differences. Despite their valiant efforts the Nogais were
defeated and forced to annul their relations with Ajam. Tragedy strikes as Shah Rukh met his demise
during the campaign, and the war quickly lost support within the population, while the princes ruling
their vassals begun their plot to take over the empire. The Sultan of Ajam successfully took advantage of
the situation and scored a victory, gaining the lands of Shiraz, Kerman, and Yazd.

The victory over the Timurids reinvograted the Persian nobles and the possibility of a successful Persian
state seemed close to grasp. The Sultan took advantage of this to gain their supports as he launched
campaigns to subjugate the smaller states around the Caspian coasts. The countries of Gilan,
Mazandaran, and Ardabil was swiftly brought into the fold. Meanwhile, Ajam found several new allies in
the Uzbek Khanate and Sirhind Nawabate in India, both of whom expresses interest in Timurid
territories. Meanwhile, the situation in the Timurids have taken a turn for the worse with the vassal
domains of Transoxiana, Fars, Khorasan, and Afghanistan declaring independence. Unfortunately, the
war ended disastrously as neighboring states took advantage of the vulnerable new countries to expand
their territories, while their remnants are swiftly subjugated back by the Timurids.

Still, the prolonged war weakened the Timurids and Ajam took advantage of this to launch their first
offensive against the Timurids with the help of Sirhind. Sirhind was swiftly defeated by the deluge of
Timurids men and their vassals and forced to annul their relations with the Ajam, but they bought
enough time for them to capture Herat. The Timurids were forced to transfer their rule over Fars (now
reduced to one city) and the cities of Golestan, Qumis, Ardakan, Darab, and Kazerun to Ajam. This was
not enough to end the Timurids however as they successfully convinced the Punjabs to join their empire
as a vassal and gained the Jaunpur Sultanate and the remnants of the Nogais as allies, and they remain a
major threat to the eastern borders.

The Sultan then turned westwards. The great city of Tabriz was a pivotal economic center that will no
doubt improve the country's poor economic situtation, but it was under the Black Sheep turkomen —
Qara Qoyunlu's domain, who was ruled by the fearsome Jahân Shâh. The news of Jahân Shâh's death
and their weakening from a recent war with the Mamluks made the Sultan believe it's the time to strike.
With the help of Aq Qoyunlu, they waged a difficult war against the Qara Qoyunlu but finally scored a
total victory. The cities of Tabriz, Khoy, Urmia, Maragheh, and Arbil was annexed, the vassal domains of
Luristan and Ardalan regain their lost territories, while the city of Bitlis was rewarded to Aq Qoyunlu for
their contribution. The Black Sheep met their end after the disastrous war, as bankruptcy and civil war
ravaged their land making them an easy target for the Mamluks' second offensive. Meanwhile, the
integration process of Luristan and Ardalan into the country was started, while the Sultanate gained a
new ally in form of the Bahmanis Sultanate, the only other major Shia state in the world.

With most of the Persian lands now belonging to them, the Sultan found himself fit to declare the
creation of the Persian/Iranian Empire and declared himself Shahanshah. However, his heir died from a
debilitating illness, and the Shahanshah himself died shortly after, ending the Timurid lineage in the
country. A noble of Zand family, Shahanshah Ismail I Zand rose to the throne and he was undoubtedly
competent, but his legitimacy is questionable which combined with combined with the major
administrative changes brought mass unrest to the country. To make it worse his son had zero skills in
administrating or diplomacy and the empire would undoubtedly decline if he were to take the throne.
Seeing this, the Safavid family offered their son. He was prodigious in all aspect of country-ruling and
would no doubt make a great ruler. The wise Shahanshah decided to prioritize his country's well-being
over the rising political power of his family, and made the Safavid boy his new heir. This decision,
combined with victory and annexation of the Mushashans finally led to the Persians slowly accepting his
rule.

Under the first years of Ismail's rule, Persia gradually recovered from the economic turmoils they gained
from their previous wars, while a global economic boom brought the country to relative prosperity.
However their struggles were not over yet, as the Mamluks were nearing the empire's borders and
desired their lands, while the Timurids' slowly regained their power from their expansion to India and
integration of their vassals. The Shahanshah realizes he couldn't keep the empire twiddling its thumb in
this situation, and the country was once again mobilized for war.

The 1480s was spent with aiding the Aq Qoyunlu with their conquests around the remnants of Qara
Qoyunlu and the Caucasus. However, their taking of several Persian lands the empire was interested in
would lead to border conflicts in the future. Around this time, the nearby Sultanate of Shirvan was
subjugated. As the harsh terrains of the Caucasus was difficult to be directly administered, they were
allowed some degree of autonomy as a march as long they provide enough military aid to the empire.
The following war against Georgia led by Aq Qoyunlu results in Shirvan regaining its lost cores from an
offensive led by the Georgians a decade earlier. Meanwhile, the Shahanshah invested the booming
economy of Persia into repaying some of their debts and constructing mosques, roads, and
marketplaces around the country. The states around the capital of Qom found themselves reaching
prosperity and their population boomed as words of mouth attracted people all over the region.

In 1491, a major news reached the Shahanshah's ears. The land of Muscovy, far to the unknown north,
has declared war on a Timurid ally, the Great Horde. The Muscovites' aggression were not surprising
however. News of their previous wars against the Kazan Horde and the contact their vassals made with
the Persians during a siege in Crimea made it obvious their interest lies within the steppes. The
Shahanshah knew it was only time that the Great Horde will be their next target, and that the Timurids
would be involved. With the Great Horde unable to come to aid and the Timurids distracted in the
north, it was the perfect time to strike. With the help of Bahmanis, Aq Qoyunlu, and Haasa, Persia once
again declared war against the Timurids and their allies Nogai and Jaunpur, with the intention of
restoring Fars' territories and taking the rest of the Persian region.

The war lasted 5 years and was Persia's first total victory. All of the Persian region, along with Tabas,
Tun, and Kizil-Su was taken. The war reparations and plundered gold the empire took from the Jaunpur
and Timurids was enough to pay all of the country's debt and still have enough left to build
infrastructures. The ruined Timurids found themselves with no allies as Jaunpur declared themselves the
successor of Delhi Sultanate, which the Timurids took offense to, opening them to an attack from the
Chagatai Horde. Meanwhile, Persia annexed the rump state that remains of Qara Qoyunlu, while
managing to convince the Haasalese to join the empire as a vassal. Following the integration of the Farsi
into the empire, the Shahanshah made the decision to give more autonomy to the Turkmeni regions in
the country, as the Emirate of Khiva. Perhaps threatened by the rising empire and their expansion into
the Orthodox Caucasus kingdoms, the Muscovites declared Persia as their enemy. While surrounded by
enemies in all sides and having an unstable economy, it is no doubt that the future looks bright for
Persia.