Dharma Expansion mod for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

1. The reference to Bidaris, as far as I know, comes from the 17th century, meanwhile the Maratha horsemen were being called Ghor Rawat, when coming with their own horses, and Bargir/Bargi, when being provided with state horses as far back as the 15th century. Besides, we have records from Ferishta in the early 17th century, where he specifically differentiates Marathas from the regular cavalry of the Sultanates, describing them as expert light cavalry. My suggestion was based on the fact that the Bargir tradition was very established during late Medieval period, meanwhile for Bidari, at least I don't know if a systematic categorization as a specialized corps existed prior to the 17th century.

2. Odias did have some good horses, but the amount and representation is still not deserved in my opinion. While I'm not denigrating Odia cavalry, the contemporary records give them around 10000 horses at their peak, I'm not remembering the source right now, simple reason being that humid and forested areas are not suitable for horse breeding. However, that being said, both the eastern Ganga and the Suryavamsi did have a crack force of elite horsemen, fewer in numbers, but enough to have attracted the Malwa Sultan to make a raid to capture elephants and 'good breeds' of horses. Still having 2 unique cavalry units, I think over represents the cavalry factor in their army. After all, the contemporary texts call them the Gajapati (Lord Elephants), while Vijayanagar as Narapati (Lord of Men), and Bahamani as Ashvapati (Lord of Horses). Compared to the contemporary states, their cavalry numbers were seemingly modest. A single elite cavalry unit would be much more appropriate in my view.

3. Now about the Rajput point, I'm sorry for having come across so persistent on this one, let me be clear that I'm grateful for all the efforts put in this mod, so consider these as just suggestions. As far as the Western Rajput army compositions from 13th to 16th century is concerned, strangely, we don't see much heavy cavalry. A lot of this image of heavy cavalry image comes from the Mughal period, the Rajputs before that were typically offensive light cavalry, using raids and ambushes more than actually having pitched battles, a bit like the Marathas, but without the tactics of elaborate feigned retreat and envelopment. In fact places in Central and Western Rajasthan like Marwar (Jodhpur) did not even have good and adequate horses till the late 15th century, they mostly had poor country nags that could not bear the weight of an armored rider, while places like Mewar in southern Rajasthan, which did have plentiful good horses, were often hilly and rugged, and thus the Rajputs there adopted light cavalry tactics rather than heavy cavalry, unless not having some advantage. So my suggestion remains the same, giving Raputs a high attack light cavalry unit, best used against Cavalry Archers. Also, I've never come across any source describing Rajputs as fighting with the Gauntlet swords, especially not in the Pre-Mughal period, in fact the Deccan Sultanates and the Marathas seem to have had a lot more elaborate tradition of Patta swordsmen than anyone in the North.

5. Lastly about the Hindustanis, I'm a bit disappointed that the Hindustanis have not been given Fully Upgradeable Cavalry archers when armored horse archers were the core of both the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire. The Indo-Gangetic armies had no answer to the Turkic horse archers, and that is what accounted for the Turco-Afghan and later Mughal dominance of the Gangetic plains.

Lastly, thank you for having listened in and considered these suggestions. I'm really grateful for all the efforts you guys have put in!

Most welcome, and thanks for the reply.

I understand that you're limited by the game mechanics. As such, I'll just put some suggestions that I think may be more feasible.

1. Maybe give the Hindustanis fully upgradeable Cavalry Archer line, and to balance it, maybe remove their last cavalry upgrade. The Hussars can represent the Gangetic auxiliaries from the local landholders and so would not be top quality cavalry, while the fully upgradeable Cavalry archer will represent the elite Silahdars and the Turkish elements of the Sultanate. In addition maybe give them a technology called 'Murattab or Silahdar', giving the Hindustani Cavalry Archers +4 pierce armor, reflecting the Sultanate triumphs against the Mongol horse archer armies.

2. As for Sindh, I think they should not have the Shrivamsha rider since the horse breed was not used by them, they had their famed Sindhi breed. However, I would give Sindh fully upgradeable Hussar line and Cavalry Archer line, reflecting their Cavalry prowess. In case of Sindh, maybe you can add a tech to give their Hussars some bonus attack against villagers, make them more raider like.

3. Rajputs: You should give them the Shrivamsha Riders since that horse breed was limited to them. I think the Shrivamsha should be designed as a fast anti-cavalry archer unit, reflecting the Pratihara and also the later post Ghurid Rajput tactics in fighting against the Sultanate and Mughal armies where they relied on raids and ambushes. The Ranas of Mewar were famed for using their kingdom's hilly terrain to make quick surprise attacks on the enemy. The Rajputs should also get Cavalry Archers, but without the Parthian Tactics upgrade, or the final archer upgrade.

Finally, these are just suggestions for your perusal, I hope they will be helpful.

In that case, I would recommend only a few things:

Give Parthian Tactics to the Hindustani Cavalry archers.

Change the name of the Shrivamsha riders to something more appropriate for Sindh.

Give Rajputs a fast light cavalry with bonus vs cavalry archers, though no projectile shield since they famously were defeated by the Mughal guns. They can be then named Shrivamsha or Rawat Cavalry.

And I'm not sure about the the Gauntlet Sword infantry is also more a Deccan thing I think. Shivaji, the founder of Maratha kingdom, has a portrait of him holding it. Rajputs used Khanda boradswords and Tulwars. Maybe you can remove that unit, and give Rajputs a cavalry unit in its place since Rajput stables only have 3 units right now, and only one horse unit.