Ghāzī: Burden of the Sword

Heaven's reward attends the holy warrior — the umma is checking.

Choosing ghazi_sultanate in Age 1 places the dynasty under the caliphal shadow as sword of the faith. The reform is cheap and quiet — monthly_legitimacy = +0.10, clergy and manpower bonuses, a softer hostility ambient. The catch is that the doctrine the dynasty has just publicly avowed is a hunger. A ghāzī who is not fighting ghazā is a ghāzī in name only.

The Ghāzī Burden of the Sword disaster (ghazi_burden_of_sword) is the umma's audit. It is automatic, unavoidable, and structurally inverted from the Farr Proof: where farr is paid off in continuous conquest, ghazā is paid off in continuous war against the right kind of enemy.

The hunger

The disaster fires within months of the reform's adoption. On start:

• add_legitimacy = -60 — the khuṭba now names you ghāzī; the world is waiting to see it. Larger initial hit than farr, because the claim is more specific.
• trigger_event_non_silently = ghazi_burden.1 — the opening event.

Standing modifier while active:

Field	Value	Reading
monthly_legitimacy	−0.5	Calibrated so that one true ghazā removes the penalty.
clergy_estate_target_satisfaction	−0.05	Jurists withhold endorsement.
global_levy_size_modifier	−0.10	Volunteers absent — the mutaṭawwiʿa don't come to a quiet court.
monthly_religious_influence	−0.10	Pulpits cool.
monthly_prestige	−0.05	Foreign chanceries omit the title.

Each line is a specific in-world silence. Together they are the cost of having publicly avowed the ghāzī claim without yet visibly executing on it.

The defining mechanic — ghazi_lord_at_war

The Ghāzī disaster's signature is decay-at-rest. The peacetime bleed is offset by a single, large auto-modifier that fires only while the dynasty is at war with a qualifying target:

ghazi_lord_at_war — in_game/common/auto_modifiers/03_eranzamin_legitimacy_crisis.txt:

• monthly_legitimacy = +0.75
• monthly_prestige = +0.10
• global_levy_size_modifier = +0.25
• global_manpower_modifier = +0.25

Trigger condition: the dynasty has ghazi_sultanate, is at_war = yes, and the war includes a country whose religion != root.religion.

Net while at qualifying war during the disaster: +0.25 legitimacy/month. Net at peace: −0.5. The doctrine's wager is the policy commitment to never being at peace for long.

Two softer variants cover edge cases (03_eranzamin_legitimacy_crisis.txt):

• ghazi_lord_at_war_yasa — at war with a country holding mongol_law_policy. A Muslim target whose retention of yāsā the doctrine refuses to recognize. +0.5 leg, +0.05 prestige, +0.125 levy and manpower — half the credit, but real.
• ghazi_lord_at_war_lax — at war with a country holding lax_hisba_enforcement. The din-panāh inference: a court that tolerates vice is legible prey. +0.25 leg, +0.025 prestige, +0.125 levy/manpower — quarter credit. This is the Mubāriz al-Dīn at Shīrāz doctrine, priced.

And one explicit penalty:

• ghazi_lord_has_yasa_law — fires whenever a ghazi_sultanate realm itself holds mongol_law_policy. Mongol customs are not law to be respected; for the ghāzī to hold them is blasphemy. monthly_legitimacy = −0.25, monthly_prestige = −0.10, −0.25 levy and manpower. Purge the tent's law first — this is the design's point.

Tier classification of war targets

War credit on on_winning_war is sorted by the scripted trigger family ghazi_target_is_tier_X (05_ghazi_triggers.txt):

• Tier-3 — true dār al-ḥarb. Non-Muslim states (Christian, Hindū, Tengri, polytheist). Native food. +10 legitimacy per won war, increments ghazi_tier3_wins, applies ghazi_conquest_glory for 12 months (monthly_legitimacy = +0.4, land_morale_modifier = +0.05, mode add_and_extend). No caveats.
• Tier-2 with fatwā — yāsā-holders and heterodox Muslim states, after the Jihad-Within apparatus has been claimed (ghazi_fatwa_acquired variable set). +5 legitimacy, six months of ghazi_conquest_glory. The fatwā provides the doctrinal weight to call the war legitimate.
• Tier-2 without fatwā — same target class, but the apparatus not yet acquired. +2 legitimacy + a jurist-complaint event (ghazi_burden.102). Half credit, with public theological cost.
• Ordinary Sunni — no credit, jurist complaint event fires. The umma will not endorse a ghāzī warring on fellow Sunnīs.

The ghazi_tier3_wins counter feeds the Sword of Islam resolution gate. The Sword cannot be claimed on tier-2 victories alone.

Defeats

ghazi_defeat_shame (on losing a war): monthly_legitimacy = −1.0, land_morale_modifier = −0.05. Six months. Heaven's reward visibly withheld.

ghazi_capital_lost (capital changes hands): monthly_legitimacy = −0.3, monthly_prestige = −0.10. Permanent until the seat is recovered. Less catastrophic than the Farr version (the ghāzī doctrine survives capital loss better than the farr doctrine — frontier mobility is its native condition) but still painful.

The frontier-designation system

The disaster supports three frontier designations — ghazi_frontier_caucasus, ghazi_frontier_rum, ghazi_frontier_hindustan. Each grants:

• global_manpower_modifier = +0.10
• global_levy_size_modifier = +0.05

A designation is the dynasty publicly committing to a theater. Volunteers stream toward it. The catch is that the commitment must be executed on — the disaster ticks a designation_expectation counter when a frontier is designated with no recent progress, and after enough ticks fires the ghazi_designation_failed_scar modifier (monthly_legitimacy = −0.2, −0.05 levy) and increments ghazi_designation_failures. Two failures recorded is one of the preconditions for the Dervish Rising resolution.

Tier-3 conquest in the designated theater resets the expectation counter.

Apparatus claims (50 / 65 / 80 / 90+)

Four buttons on the disaster panel, each a deliberate institutional commitment that costs legitimacy and pays back a permanent refund plus an irreversible legacy. The refund cancels its slice of the standing bleed; the legacy persists past resolution (stripped only by Dervish Rising).

The wiring (effects in 04_ghazi_effects.txt, generic actions in ghazi_burden_actions.txt):

claim_jihad_within — leg ≥ 50, no chinggisid_regency (costs −10 leg)

The jihād al-akbar — the censor walks the bazaar in the sultan's name; jurists concede that the dynasty is at least cleaning its own house. Fires ghazi_burden.50. Sets ghazi_fatwa_acquired (which is the unlock for the tier-2 fatwā path).

• Refund ghazi_jihad_within_refund: monthly_legitimacy = +0.10, clergy satisfaction +0.05.
• Legacy ghazi_hisba_apparatus: monthly_religious_influence = +0.05, tolerance_own = +1, clergy satisfaction +0.03. The muḥtasib's office now a permanent feature. Also the precondition for the internal-campaign action.

The yāsā / Chinggisid-regency exclusion is explicit — a Türk-descended ghāzī must purge the tent's law before this rung is available.

claim_ribat_network — leg ≥ 60, gold ≥ 100 (costs −15 leg, −100 gold up front)

Endows the frontier khānqāhs / ribāṭs. Volunteers now have somewhere to muster. Fires ghazi_burden.65.

• Refund ghazi_ribat_network_refund: monthly_legitimacy = +0.10, global_levy_size_modifier = +0.10.
• Legacy ghazi_the_lodges_endowed: global_levy_size_modifier = +0.03, global_manpower_modifier = +0.05, Tribes satisfaction +0.05. Also the precondition for the Dervish Rising — the constituency must exist before it can defect.

claim_caliphal_investiture — leg ≥ 60 (costs −15 leg)

The diploma from Cairo. Fires ghazi_burden.80.

• Refund ghazi_investiture_refund: monthly_legitimacy = +0.10, monthly_religious_influence = +0.10.
• Legacy ghazi_caliphal_diploma: diplomatic_reputation = +1, monthly_prestige = +0.05, clergy satisfaction +0.05. Also unlocks the Sultan of the Ghazis claim at the lower (75) threshold.

claim_sultan_of_ghazis — leg ≥ 75 with investiture, else leg ≥ 90 (costs −25 leg)

The title in your own right — the Tabrīz-1358 move. Fires ghazi_burden.90.

• Refund ghazi_sultan_of_ghazis_refund: monthly_legitimacy = +0.20, monthly_prestige = +0.05. With all four refunds standing, the bleed is fully nulled (+0.10 + 0.10 + 0.10 + 0.20 = +0.50).
• Legacy ghazi_sultan_of_ghazis_in_protocol: monthly_prestige = +0.10, antagonism_received_modifier = −0.15, diplomatic_reputation = +1.

The two paths: take investiture and then assume sultan at 75 (the historical ladder, Cairo to Tabrīz), or skip the diploma entirely and assume the title at 90 in the dynasty's own right (the proud path: never bind the dynasty to Cairo). Both are valid.

Internal campaigns (tier-1)

The fifth disaster-panel button, launch_internal_campaign, is a different shape from the apparatus buttons. It is repeatable (up to 3 times, the cap encoded as var:ghazi_internal_campaigns < 3) and represents the ghāzī turning the sword inward — vice campaigns, heterodoxy campaigns, sectarian campaigns.

Gates (ghazi_can_launch_internal_campaign in 05_ghazi_triggers.txt):

• Disaster active.
• ghazi_hisba_apparatus legacy held (must have claimed Jihad Within).
• Realm on the strict side of hisba_law — either strict_hisba_enforcement or muhtasib_regime. The lax / customary postures will not back a public morals campaign.
• At least one hisba_office building owned somewhere — the censor needs a desk.
• Counter < 3.

Cost: 50 gold and −3 legitimacy up front. Fires ghazi_burden.500, which branches into the three campaign types (vice / heterodoxy / sectarian).

Diminishing returns (ghazi_apply_internal_campaign_credit):

Campaign #	Legitimacy	Clergy satisfaction
1	+5	+0.08
2	+3	+0.05
3	+1	+0.03

Each branch also applies a permanent scar reflecting the political cost the campaign pays:

• ghazi_vice_campaign_scar — burghers_estate_target_satisfaction = −0.05, tax_income_efficiency = −0.025, global_monthly_prosperity = −0.001. Hāfeẓ's Shīrāz, quantified.
• ghazi_heterodoxy_campaign_scar — tolerance_heretic = −1, monthly_religious_influence = +0.05, peasants −0.03. Ghulāt circles dispersed; the orthodox jurists pleased, the heterodox poor remember.
• ghazi_sectarian_campaign_scar — global_pop_conversion_speed_modifier = +0.10, tolerance_heretic = −1, monthly_religious_influence = +0.05. Conversion edge on home religion; mixed-religion provinces simmer.

The design's "the realm runs out of sin" — the third campaign reads as theater, not righteousness.

The hisba_law axis

The hisba_law law-category sits beside the ghāzī disaster (008_muhtasab_laws.txt). It is not part of the disaster but it gates the internal-campaign system and pairs with the doctrinal posture.

• lax_hisba_enforcement — Inju Shīrāz under Abū Isḥāq. Bazaar and dīwān flourish; piety demobilizes (global_levy_size_modifier = −0.10, land_morale_modifier = −0.10). A ghazi_sultanate court flipped to lax should pay a legitimacy / farr-ledger cost. The din-panāh inference makes such a court legible prey — the ghazi_lord_at_war_lax auto-modifier above is the wire.
• customary_enforcement — the qāḍī enforces what the quarter expects, ʿurf and discretion. Default posture for most courts.
• strict_hisba_enforcement — the muḥtasib with a stick. Piety converts to manpower (global_levy_size_modifier = +0.10, land_morale_modifier = +0.25); merchants pay for it in fines and fled custom.
• muhtasib_regime — unique = yes, gated on ghazi_sultanate AND dar_al_jihad. Mubāriz al-Dīn's actual practice: enforcement as the throne's identity. +0.25 levy, +0.25 land morale, +0.10 religious influence, +0.25 conversion speed — but Hāfeẓ's complaint, quantified: prosperity −0.001, tax −0.025, burghers −0.10.
• zill_allah_regime — unique = yes, Shīʿa-only, requires mysticism_vs_jurisprudence <= −50. The Safavid murshid posture: legitimacy through charisma, not enforcement. tolerance_heretic = +1 — the ghulāt drink at the same table.

The interaction with the disaster is two-fold. The internal-campaign action requires strict or muhtasib_regime. The ghazi_lord_at_war_lax auto-modifier credits war against lax-holding states. The full mobilized-vs-monetized piety axis runs underneath the ghāzī claim.

The four resolutions

The disaster polls monthly. Four endings; mutually exclusive.

Sword of Islam — ghazi_sword_of_islam

Gate (ghazi_can_resolve_sword_of_islam): legitimacy ≥ 75, ghazi_high_months >= 60, ghazi_tier3_wins >= 2. The doctrine requires the wars actually happened — high legitimacy alone is not enough.

The Ghāzī Corps institutionalized. Modifier ghazi_sword_of_islam — permanent:

• monthly_legitimacy = +0.20
• global_levy_size_modifier = +0.10, land_morale_modifier = +0.10, global_manpower_modifier = +0.10
• tolerance_own = +2, monthly_prestige = +0.10.

Identity locked as dār al-ḥarb's neighbor. All apparatus legacies retained.

Guardian of the Thughur — ghazi_guardian_of_thughur

Gate (ghazi_can_resolve_guardian): 25 years elapsed (ghazi_burden_months >= 300), realm intact (no ghazi_capital_lost), AND the realm borders dār al-ḥarb directly. Interior states cannot claim — this is the murābiṭ's answer, geographically gated.

Modifier ghazi_guardian_of_thughur — permanent: monthly_legitimacy = +0.10, +0.05 levy / morale / prestige. Smaller than Sword but the doctrine stands.

Doctrine Lapses — ghazi_doctrine_lapsed

Gate (ghazi_can_resolve_doctrine_lapse): ghazi_low_months >= 60 without the Dervish Rising's preconditions met.

The quiet failure. Title goes ceremonial. muhtasib_regime law option lost. Bleed ends. ghazi_doctrine_lapsed_scar permanent: monthly_prestige = −0.10, monthly_legitimacy = −0.05, clergy satisfaction −0.05. The court keeps "ghāzī" in the protocol and everyone knows it is furniture.

Dervish Rising — ghazi_dervish_rising

Gate (ghazi_can_resolve_dervish_rising): legitimacy <= 25, ghazi_low_months >= 60, ghazi_the_lodges_endowed held (the constituency must exist before it can defect), AND ghazi_designation_failures >= 2.

The ribāṭ network defects to a charismatic shaykh. Reform stripped. Legacies stripped — the only outcome that wipes them. Scar ghazi_dervish_rising_scar permanent: monthly_legitimacy = −0.10, tolerance_heretic = −2, clergy −0.10, monthly_religious_influence = −0.10.

The disaster's generative clause feeds the murshid-i kāmil lineage. The frontier-volunteer pool the dynasty endowed has turned into a movement; this is the Ṣafavī-origin moment in code, and the path to Age 2 mushasha_messianism and Age 3 murshid_i_kamil opens.

How to manage the disaster

The arithmetic dictates the strategy: never be at peace with no qualifying enemy.

The standing posture:

1. First six months — absorb the −60 hit. Identify a tier-3 neighbor. Designate the corresponding frontier (ghazi_frontier_caucasus, _rum, or _hindustan).
2. Through 50 — fight one tier-3 war. The +10 leg per win plus the ghazi_conquest_glory pulse (+0.4/mo for 12 months) is the platform. Claim Jihad Within the first time you can hit 50. This is also the precondition for everything else: it sets ghazi_fatwa_acquired, unlocks the tier-2 fatwā path, and opens the internal-campaign system.
3. Through 60 — claim Ribāṭ Network when you have the gold spare (the 100-gold cost is genuinely expensive in the first decade) and Caliphal Investiture as soon as 60 holds. The investiture unlocks the 75-threshold path to Sultan of the Ghāzīs, which is a much easier wager than the 90-threshold proud path.
4. Through 75 — keep the tier-3 counter accumulating. Sword of Islam requires ghazi_tier3_wins >= 2 — plan two real conquests against dār al-ḥarb, not skirmishes.
5. Hold legitimacy ≥ 75 for 60 months — with all four refunds standing the disaster's bleed is fully cancelled and the floor holds. Vindicated.

The yāsā problem. A Türk-descended ghāzī who starts the disaster with mongol_law_policy is in a deep hole — the ghazi_lord_has_yasa_law penalty stacks under everything else. Repealing the yāsā is the first action.

The strict-law tradeoff. Going strict_hisba_enforcement or muhtasib_regime opens the internal-campaign system (the easiest legitimacy in the disaster — +5 leg for 50 gold the first time), but at a real economic cost (tax / prosperity malus, burghers irritated). The internal campaigns are best held in reserve as legitimacy first-aid when conquest stalls.

Border arithmetic for Guardian. A dynasty that has been holding the disaster for 20+ years without resolving Sword or breaking should check ghazi_borders_dar_al_harb. If interior, Guardian is unreachable and the only routes out are Sword (still possible — push to that border) or eventual lapse.

Sword vs Dervish Rising. The Dervish path is only available to a dynasty that took Ribāṭ Network (the lodges exist to defect). A dynasty avoiding the Safavid endgame can simply not claim the network — but at the cost of leaving the disaster's global_levy_size_modifier = −0.10 slice un-cancelled. The trade is real.

Payoffs in plain numbers

A Sword of Islam dynasty that has claimed all four apparatus and held the disaster through stands at:

• monthly_legitimacy = +0.20 (Sword) + apparatus legacy traces — the dynasty's permanent legitimacy floor.
• global_levy_size_modifier = +0.13 (+0.10 Sword + +0.03 lodges).
• global_manpower_modifier = +0.15 (+0.10 Sword + +0.05 lodges).
• land_morale_modifier = +0.10, tolerance_own = +3 (+2 Sword + +1 hisba), monthly_prestige = +0.25 total across Sword + diploma + protocol.
• antagonism_received_modifier = −0.15, diplomatic_reputation = +2.
• Religious influence +0.05 ambient, internal-campaign route still available (up to 3 uses).
• Standing as a recognized ghāzī sultanate; identity locked.

A Guardian of the Thughur dynasty stands at roughly half those numbers, with the geographic flavor — the frontier-defender, not the standard-bearer.

A Doctrine-Lapsed dynasty has lost the muḥtasib regime option, holds a permanent prestige scar, and cannot re-declare.

A Dervish Rising dynasty has lost the reform itself, the legacies, and is now likely the seed-state of a successor messianic movement.

See also: Government reforms, Erānzamīn situation, Türk vs Tāzīk, the Farr Proof of Fortune (the parallel disaster for the farr path).