Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

20th May 1659

Surrounding the river Tigris is a dense forest that is rare in the northwestern part of the Safavid Empire. The forest has no name, but it is not a typical forest since it is filled with rolling hills, steep cliffs, and tall mountains.

In such a forest, not too far from the city of Baghdad, was a unique mountain shaped like an eagle nesting in its nest. Near the foot of this mountain range, Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, along with a few dozen Bharatiya soldiers dressed in ranger attire, looked around vigilantly.

Balwan Pannu scanned all around him like a hawk scanning its prey. He looked a little wary, but truthfully he was totally calm since he could already see the traces of the opponents on the way to the mountain. The only reason he acted like this was to fool the enemy into thinking he was no different from other normal soldiers.

"There are about 30 to 50 people watching us from all over the place, but they haven't set up any traps, so I reckon the Yazidis really want to talk," Balwan said in a low voice near Jaishankar's ear. "But, Your Excellency, if things really go wrong, don't worry. I will be responsible for taking you out of the siege."

Jaishankar was taken aback because the confident words did not match the hesitant and wary look on the captain's face. What was even more amazing was that he realized Balwan's mouth had not even moved when he spoke.

However, fortunately, he was smart enough to understand what was going on, so he quickly diverted his attention from the captain, looked at all the other security guards with him to confuse the opponents, and finally reined in his surprised expression as he stood in place waiting.

A few hundred meters away...

Barzan was intently watching the group from the Bharatiya Empire. His expression was serious and wary at the same time since he could already sense that although these soldiers were not used to the terrain and were on edge, he could feel the confidence emanating from them, which was definitely born from their own ability.

"Spy chief, it is confirmed there is no one within a one-kilometer vicinity of this spot," a young man said with an unsmiling expression on his face.

Barzan immediately let out a sigh of relief. Although they currently had the upper hand against the people sent by the Bharatiya Empire, he clearly knew the gap in strength between the two parties. He was actually hoping that the Bharatiya Empire would follow their request and not mess it up. Otherwise, he definitely knew the chief would evacuate the tribe without hesitation and cut off contact with the Bharatiya Empire for as long as possible.

"Inform the chief," Barzan said as he continued to stare at the people from the Bharatiya Empire.

---

*Rustle!* *Rustle!*

Just when Jaishankar was getting a little tired from standing for the last 30 minutes and was about to sit down on a rock, he heard a rustling sound coming from the nearby shrubs.

The soldiers suddenly became alert and aimed their bows and arrows at the place where the sound was heard.

Balwan Pannu looked at the shrubs with both weariness and anticipation.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Finally, three people came out of the shrubs. These people were wearing unique clothes that resembled the typical attire worn in the Arabian region, but there were minor differences that set them apart.

Jaishankar almost immediately identified that the leader among the three was the man in the middle, who, despite his young age, looked as calm as His Majesty. His eyes revealed the vicissitudes of life, just like someone who had gone through a lot of suffering.

Next to him was a young man who had a curious expression on his face, but what attracted Jaishankar to him was his eyes, which looked as though they could pierce the soul.

The third person was a middle-aged man who looked burly and strong like a bull.

Jaishankar went forward with a friendly gesture. "Hello, if I may be a little bold, can I ask if you three are the representatives of the Yazidi people?" he spoke in Farsi, a widely spoken language in the Persian region of the Middle East.

Ezidi Serwan, Barzan, and Tawfan were immediately surprised.

"I did not expect Your Excellency to know Farsi," Ezidi Serwan said with a surprised expression on his face.

"Haha!" Jaishankar laughed a little. "Well, Persia is not only the neighbor of our empire but also a friend that has had a relationship with our Bharatiya Empire since ancient times, so it is only natural that I, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, would learn one of the most widely spoken languages in the Persian region."

Ezidi Serwan's eyebrows immediately rose as he gleaned several clues from this one sentence alone. For one, he realized that the Bharatiya Empire did not recognize the legitimacy of the Safavid Empire. For another, he understood that the Bharatiya Empire wished to befriend the Persian Empire.

Suddenly, he got an inspiration: 'Does the Bharatiya Empire want to support the revival of the Persian Empire, and does it want the Atashban family to take the lead?' This thought greatly surprised him, but considering everything he knew until now, he could not come to any other conclusion.

Ezidi's heart began to pound rapidly as hope and expectation sprouted wildly within him. 'Can I get the support of the Bharatiya Empire to build a Yazidi nation?' he began to think wildly.

He was unable to control his emotions as his adrenaline soared through the roof. He immediately realized that this was bad. But unfortunately, fueled by his lust for revenge and his lifelong goal of giving his people a better future, he had become a slave to this hope and expectation that bound him like a venomous snake.

Fortunately, just when he was about to lose his reason and put all his cards on the table to directly ask for the support of the Bharatiya Empire, he remembered the look on his father's face the last time he had seen him, and he immediately sobered up.

Jaishankar immediately realized that his carefully designed words, made to appear as if spoken carelessly, had caused a huge reaction on the young man's face. He could see Ezidi's face becoming red with excitement, but he also noticed the young man reigning in his emotions in a very short span of time. This action greatly impressed Jaishankar, but unfortunately, he had already gotten what he wanted—he now knew that the Yazidi people were desperate.

However, he did not show that he realized Ezidi's mishap.

Ezidi let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Bharatiya standing opposite him without making any unusual expression. *'Thank God,'* he thought.

He quickly smiled. "I was worried that we would not be able to communicate because of the language barrier. Fortunately, although you do not know our language, we do have a common language, which is a huge relief."

This time Jaishankar was extremely surprised, and he did not try to hide it since there is no reason to do so, otherwise he would seem too fake. "Your people originally do not speak Farsi? that's unexpected."

Ezidi shook his head and responded, "No, our people speak Ancient Kurdish in our day-to-day life, but due to the influence of ancient Persia, Farsi is also passed down among our people like many other ethnicities in the region."

Jaishankar understood. In fact, he did not have much research on the Yazidi people since he had no idea they existed, so in terms of general knowledge, he was still a little lacking.

"Well, it looks like I will have to learn one more language."

He made a joke, which made Ezidi smile.

"Anyway, nice meeting you, sir. Let me start our discussion by introducing myself."

The joking expression on Jaishankar's face immediately disappeared, replaced by a dignified appearance, which caught Ezidi by surprise.

"My name is S. Jaishankar, a minister in the Ministry of External Affairs in the central government of the Bharatiya Empire," he said with a Namaskara.

Ezidi and his companions were not familiar with the gesture, but they vaguely understood its meaning through body language. Ezidi immediately mirrored the action and did a Namaskara on his own.

"Welcome to the Middle East, Baghdad, Mr. Minister. My name is Ezidi Serwan, and I am the chief of the last and largest Yazidi tribe in the Persian region," Serwan said as he stretched out his hand for a handshake.

Jaishankar was a little taken aback because the form of greeting used by the Yazidis was similar to the greeting used by Westerners, but he felt it should be due to Western influence on Persia, so he did not think much of it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency Serwan," Jaishankar said with a smile on his face.

The next moment, he did not directly go into the negotiations, knowing how urgently the Yazidis needed the support of the Bharatiya Empire.

Instead, he discussed some topics that interested him, like the reason behind their people using a peacock as their symbol and the similarity between their practices of worshipping their god and the Bharatiya Empire's own practices.

He even delved into the clever intelligence network of the Yazidi people.

"I have to say, Your Excellency, the use of homeless orphans as intelligence agents was a very clever plan. Although these kids are not professionals, they are the most widely present everywhere, and they are the most ignored group of people. Your strategy of using these little kids went under the radar of all the noble families of the Safavid Empire and even the Atashban family."

To be Continued...

Map in comments