Mahdivarian War of Independence

Prelude to Conflict
For most of its founding, the Sultanate of Mahdivari was unchallenged as the supreme power in northeastern Allyra, as the Middle Sea separated them from the Dean Alliance to the south, and the vast Laurentian Steppes was inhabited by mostly smaller city-states and wandering tribes until Sultan Tariq of Laurentia consolidated many of those people under a single banner in 6312. Tariq, having spent his childhood among the vast cities of Kisrah to the west, inspired the Laurentians to settle down and form cities. For about 400 years, the Laurentians showed mostly peaceful intentions in their dealings with the neighbors on either side, a tradition long continued by Laurentian sultans until a man named Sultan Yusuf Laurentia rose to power in 6739. As part of his display of power, he lowered taxes along the Spice Roads running through his lands, encouraging more traders to stop at Laurentian cities and bring their wares there instead of traveling through Mahdivari and the Dean Peninsula. Encouraged by their higher sales in Laurentia, traders began establishing more routes through the once-barren steppes, which now teemed with trading posts and small communities around trading hubs.

All of this was not only meant to enrich the Laurentian citizens, but also to support a growing standing army. Yusuf had ambitions of breaking the long-standing tradition of peaceful negotiations with his neighbors; for him, it was time to make Laurentia an economic and military powerhouse on a global scale. To do this, the first step would be to establish dominance over northern Allyra. Mahdivari was, in his eyes, the most enticing option, as militarily they were noticeably weaker than the Kisrans to the west, and controlling Mahdivari would grant access to the Middle Sea and the Dean Causeway, the two main connections to the rest of Allyra. Over the course of half a decade, Sultan Yusuf trained a massive standing army

In 6743, the nomarchs of Mahdivari were fractured. Nomarchs along the northern and southern borders of the Empire were pushing for a stronger standing army, as (in the north) the people watched with fear as the Laurentians mobilized their horsemen to great effectiveness in subduing the small nation of Berkenia, while in the south traders feared that a weaker army and navy would make them easy pickings for the Dean Alliance, newly unified under the city-state of Arkangel, should they set conquering eyes northward, across the sea. Nomarchs reigning over the central provinces were instead petitioning Sultan Muhrad III for a greater emphasis on spreading their trading influence outwards, as the Mahdivarians already dominated trade across the Spicers' Sea, having established the first trade routes with Mulna and established a strong cultural presence on that continent. After years of trying to appease both sides with paltry concessions, Muhrad finally declared that the trading influence of Mahdivari was its strong suit, and that trying to build a rapport with its neighbors, and the world, through commerce and culture was a smarter long-term strategy than giving in to fearmongering from the border provinces.

The Laurentians Move South
Seeing that their hold in the north was slowly waning, the Laurentians began to consolidate their strength around the Mahdivari capital of Anandapur and wait until their Faroshi allies had arrived with the reinforcements necessary to drive back the Rebellion Army.

Final Conflicts
After the Laurentian, Faroshi, and Mahdivari forces were all weakened by the Battle of Dean Causeway, the Laurentians and Faroshi armies finally retreated from Mahdivari and established a military presence just north of the Medon River. There, they would re-gather their strength while being able to safely defend against any Mahdivari counterattacks from across the river.