Building Mecca

[Hengest]

Could anyone give their advice on this problem. We have Mecca as a Permanent Stone Fort rather than as a settlement in the game. We can set ancillaries or traits to generals for control of the PSF or effects for being in the region ('general has been on Hajj pilgrimage') which have religious bonuses.

However, another way of doing this is to add a building tree in the region's settlement representing the Islamic conversion and religious bonuses directly across the settlement and from the region into neighbouring regions. This would also represent the massive traffic of pilgrims coming to and fro, which having Mecca's 'power' just assigned to a PSF would not allow us to do.

Ok, so you got all that? -Right, here comes the problem, in Dominion- Islam is represented as two separate religions- Shia and Sunni. So the question is which buildings can we represent Mecca by and assigned to which religions- Sunni or Shia?

You can only have 9 buildings in a tree, so choose wisely.
Here's my current sketch

1. al-Kaʿbah -THE KAABA- Large growth, tax & trade bonus (no religion since both Shia and Sunni)
2. al-Hajaru-l-Aswad -The Black Stone- ????
3. Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām -The Sacred Mosque- Sunni (conversion)
4. ???????? -Post of Abraham- ????
5. Ruknu sh-Shāmī -Corner of Syria- Sunni (conversion)
6. Ruknu l-ˤĪrāqī -Corner of Iraq- Shia (conversion)
7. Ruknu l-Yamanī -Corner of Yemen- Sunni (conversion)

[drogoal]

Mecca never been under Shia rule !
see this picture :

9-Corner of Yemen (South-West). Pilgrims traditionally acknowledge a large vertical stone that forms this corner.
10-Corner of Syria (North-West).
11-Corner of Iraq (North-East).


they're parts of Kabba itself

[raven63]

Hi, great research! Number 1 on the list includes 2, 5,6, and 7. So it would be redundant to have them separate.

I have some solid knowledge on the region. And some good ideas:

"1. al-Kaʿbah -THE KAABA- Large growth, tax & trade bonus"

Well it would be funny if you can build this, as it has been built at least a few hundred years before 1080 (actually Muslims believe that it was built around 10,000BC - but historians and anthropologists disagree).

Instead, a building tree could look like this:

1. Custody of the Ka'bah:

Caring for and providing Kiswa to the Holy Ka'ba ( Kiswa = the black clothing that the stone building is covered with - can be fancy, with writings written with threads mixed with gold, google: gate\door of the Ka'aba and prepare to see a lot of gold). Kiswa was traditionally made annually - and provided by the Caliph himself, or in later times by the Sultan. Providing Kiswa for Ka'ba had a huge impact on how legitimate the people saw the ruler.

2. Pilgrims' Hospitality:

Historically, the two acts of a) supplying water to the pilgrims " Al - Siqaya" and b) providing food and shelter to them "AL - Rifadah" - were two sacred practices, existing even before Islam did, and entailing whoever does it to great honour and a high reputation - just to give an idea: Pre-Islamic tribes of Mecca fought over which tribe has the obligtion (and honour) to do these, bitter wars occurred, and they would usually settle on agreements that one tribe would do Siqaya, and their rivals would do Rifadah.

3. Guard Pilgrims:

From the mid ninth century onward, Arab Bedouin tribes learned to make a living as bandits, raiding the annual pilgrimage caravans that passed in their regions. From then on, a Caliph, or Sultan, would appoint one of his trusted commanders as a Hajj Guard. This man would accompany the (for example) Egyptian Hajj caravan with his troops. Syrian and Iraqi Caravans would coordinate and make sure to meet the Egyptian Caravan before entering the Arabian Peninsula. (BTW - the three major Hajj Caravans: Egyptian, Shami (Syrian), and Iraqi, if you were from somewhere else, you would still go with one of these Caravans, as crossing the desert in small numbers was unwise).

4. Send Sadaqat to Mecca:

Despite the business that annual Hajj brought to Mecca, people in Mecca were very poor compared to people in Egypt, Sham and Iraq. Every now and then, a Caliph\Sultan would send out a large charity caravan (Sadaqat: donations) - and distribute it to the people of Mecca - such acts brought instant respect throughout islamic world. (maybe link it to reputation in DotS?)


5. Expand\renovate Al-Masjid Al-Haram:

Literally meaning "Holy Mosque" - it is the structure which contains the Ka'ba at its center. It is very old, and as such in constant need for renovations. The number of pilgrims is always increasing, and so expansions were undertaken from time to time.

I need to think for a bit before I can come up with more stuff - PM me if you want to know my sources.

[raven63]

Did I just reply to a 1.5 year old post?

Sorry to disturb your peace post, go back to eternal rest

[Resurrection]

Did I just reply to a 1.5 year old post?

Sorry to disturb your peace post, go back to eternal rest

Don't worry, dedicated people are always welcome. However Mecca has changed to settlement in the meanwhile so this is irrelevant as settlements can't have custom models without limiting their growth.