It's been sort of a pain to move against my neighbors because they're all allies, but I've been able to beat them down a few times now. I guess my next step is to bring Tomara down a peg in the north, and take one of his kingdoms.

He's gay, but I was able to sire a Quick child with a concubine. He's a much better diplomat than his father and he has an excellent Stewardship, so no complaints here. Right now I'm playing Vidurathpal the Just. Sallaksanavarman wasn't as lucky as Nerdalirta in fathering strong heirs, but he did alright. Also, his stats were excellent (great warrior, steward, and, of course, scholar). He got the title 'the Bold' despite having a lifelong problem with shyness. Having a limit of 12 is obviously pretty great, and I realized I needed to really crank out those castle towns and get my economy going before the Abbasids decide to roll over me. I was able to take all the county holdings for my two rajs, and I picked up a few border territories that won't ruffle any domestic feathers. Sallaksanavarman was able to focus on consolidating and building his demesne. I was always saving Purity and Gold in case of attack. At the start everyone hated my guts, and the Hindu combat bonus was scary. I probably could have done quite a bit more with Nirdalirta during his reign, but I played it very conservatively.

Nirdalirta Noogihara the Wicked finally died in his 80s, and I was able to set myself up with a great heir. I now border them, and they're finishing up with Abyssinia. Italy and Bavaria are friends and are currently vying for power with Germany in western Europe. The Umayyads are strong, and have finished up clearing out Spain of Catholic rulers. History is heating up right now in my game. I like the idea of going north and developing all those empty tribal holdings up there. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to form India with this crazy game I've got going right now.

Crusader kings 2 education