Selvan respectfully handed over a thick folder to Vijay.
"There are a total of 12 kingdoms and 3 empires in the region of Central Africa right below the Sahara Desert."
He then took out a large map, hung it over the clips that were present on the wall, and started pointing.
Vijay turned his seat sideways and looked on with interest. Indigenous kingdoms and empires around Africa were not too well known in his previous life, leaving Vijay himself mostly clueless. The only kingdoms, empires, or, for that matter, even civilizations he was remotely aware of originating from the African continent in the new millennium were only the Egyptian civilization or the kingdom built by King Solomon and nothing else. Therefore, because of his ignorance, he did not know how the history of Africa changed in this timeline. A lot of things had changed in Europe—heck, even the Bharatiya Empire, where he took over the Vijayanagar Empire at its strongest when his grandfather had successfully unified the whole southern part of the Bharatiya Subcontinent. Similarly, he was sure a lot of things should have changed in Africa as well, but unfortunately, he wouldn't know even if he wanted to.
Selvan, not paying attention to Vijay being distracted, started to report.
"I have marked the general area of influence these kingdoms have and their general location. Please take a look."
"The Kingdom of Kongo is a centralized monarchy with a population of over 500,000 people, the dominant religion of Christianity, the national language of Kikongo, and ruled by a 37-year-old king, Antonio I."
"The Luba Empire is a sacred kingship where the king is viewed as a divine figure with both spiritual and political authority. It has a population of over a million people, with the main religion being Buchongo, the most spoken language being Chiluba, and is ruled by a 45-year-old king, Ilunga Tishibinda."
"The Sultanate of Sennar is an Islamic monarchy with the main religion being Islam, a population of over a million people, the language being Arabic, and ruled by a 47-year-old sultan named Sultan Badi II."
"The Ethiopian Empire is the largest of the Central African nations, ruled by a Solomonic monarchy where the emperor claims his descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, ruling with absolute power over a population of four million people. The main religion is Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, the language is Amharic, and it is ruled by a 59-year-old emperor called Fasilides."
"The Ajuran Sultanate is an Islamic monarchy ruled by a sultan over a population of 350,000 people, with the dominant religion being Islam, the language being Somali, and ruled by a 72-year-old king called Sultan Nur ibn Mujahid."
"The Kingdom of Buganda is ruled by a hereditary kingship where the king, called Kabaka, inherits the power from his parents and oversees the military while appointing chiefs to manage the regions. This kingdom has a population of over 500,000, the religion being the traditional Bugandan religion, and the language being Luganda. The current king is a 52-year-old Kimbugwe Kamegere."
"The Kingdom of Bunyoro is a sacred kingship where the king, called the Umukama, rules over a population of 700,000 people, having a traditional religion of Bunyoro and the language of Runyoro, with the current king being the 39-year-old Masamba."
"The Kingdom of Bugesera is a hereditary monarchy over a population of 200,000 people with their own Bugeserian religion, speaking the language of Kinyarwanda. The current king is the 58-year-old Nassro Nyabarega."
"The Wanga Kingdom is a hereditary monarchy with a population of 150,000 people following their own traditional Wanga religion, speaking the language of Luhya, and ruled by a young 32-year-old king called Wabala."
"The Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba is a hereditary monarchy, but it has a very special feature that makes its system stand out among all the other African governance systems—it is not actually ruled by a king but by a queen, a warrior queen to be more precise, where the queen rules with absolute power, controlling the military and diplomacy of the land. The kingdom has a population of 300,000 people, with the religion being mixed between Christianity and indigenous beliefs, with the language being Kimbundu, currently ruled by an old 79-year-old queen called Queen Nzinga Mbande."
"The Oyo Empire surprisingly relies on a constitutional monarchy where the king, called Alaafin, shares power with the Council of Chiefs called Oyo Mesi, who check his authority. It is a nation with a population of over a million people, the religion being the traditional Yoruba religion, and the language being Yoruba. It is currently ruled by a 42-year-old king named Oba Ajagbo."
"The Kingdom of Warri is a hereditary monarchy where the king, called Olu, has all the power centralized for him to rule over a population of over 250,000 people, following the faith of Christianity mixed with indigenous beliefs, speaking the language of Itsekiri, currently ruled by a 37-year-old king called Olu Omoluyere."
"The Idama Kingdom is ruled by a unique clan-based system that has control over 100,000 people, following the faith of indigenous Ijaw spiritual beliefs, speaking the language of Ijaw, currently ruled by a 42-year-old chieftain called Ekpenyong."
"The Kingdom of Duala is similarly a hereditary chieftaincy with control over a population of 50,000, following an indigenous faith system with Sawa spiritual beliefs, and they speak the language of Duala, with the current chieftain being the 55-year-old Mbedi a Mbongo."
"The Mandara Kingdom, ruled by an Islamic sultanate, has a population of over 200,000 people, with the major religion being Islam and some other indigenous beliefs, speaking the language of Mandara, ruled by a 57-year-old Sultan Bukar Aji."
"Most of these kingdoms are separated by a large gap, but there are some kingdoms like the Kingdom of Kongo and the Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba who share a border and frequently have disputes, thereby changing their kingdom map quite a bit. Currently, the Kingdom of Kongo is in the upper hand, but a decade ago, the Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba had the upper hand and had control of the whole southern part of the current Kongo with borders stretching until the slave-trading city of Luanda."
"Other examples include the Oyo Empire, Idama Kingdom, Kingdom of Warri, and Kingdom of Duala in the west."
"And the Kingdom of Bunyoro, the Kingdom of Buganda, the Kingdom of Bugesera, and the Kingdom of Wanga in the east who have frequent conflicts with each other due to territorial disputes, given that they are all bordering each other."
"The condition in the east is a little better due to the giant Ethiopian Empire being in close proximity, but the kingdoms in the west change every once in a while."
"Between all these kingdoms, there is a giant gap stretching millions of square kilometers. It is possible that there exist kingdoms and empires in this region too, but unfortunately, Your Majesty, except for hearsay and folk tales, I could not find out any more definitive information from the African Bharatiyas in the empire."
"If you would like, Your Majesty, I can prepare a team to expedition the area."
Vijay thought about it for a while but then shook his head.
Preparing an expedition team is not that difficult, but the difficult part is protecting themselves from the diseases that have not left Africa. Once infected, no known cure can save the infected people.
In fact, the cinchona tree, whose bark could be used to produce the magical drug quinine, has been transplanted to the Bharatiya Empire after importing it from the Americas, but Vijay is yet to release the drug to the international market because instead of curing a dangerous disease like malaria, it might become the devil's blood which takes the life of millions of indigenous Africans.
At least now, due to the fear of disease, the Europeans are being very cautious in entering Africa, but if Vijay exports quinine, which can cure the problem disease malaria, then he could already expect Africa to become the prime focus of European colonizers, especially now that the whole of Southern Asia and Southeast Asia has been cut off from their grasp with the existence of the Bharatiya Empire.
Vijay already feels a little guilty for being indirectly responsible for millions of Native Americans getting butchered more severely than his past life. He does not want to make it more severe.
He thought a lot, but it only lasted for a split second as he looked at Selvan and shook his head, "There is no need to pick out these hidden kingdoms. The currently discovered ones are enough."
Selvan nodded without much expression, but he was very happy in his heart because he really did not want to take on such a troublesome task which would take several years to complete.
"Have you trained all the agents who will be making contact with these kingdoms?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have selected the agents to complete any sort of mission you want, and these agents are originating from these kingdoms, so it will not be too difficult for them to fit in and remain unnoticed."
Vijay nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good, but this task won't be an espionage mission where the agents will have to hide their identity. Instead, they will have to complete a very special task I have for them."
Thinking about it, Vijay asked,
"Are they in the headquarters right now?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have asked them to stay back until they receive further orders. I was hoping to receive your directions today."
"Good, then let's go together. I will brief them myself."