Azande led by Gbudwe is a custom civilization mod by RawSasquatch, with contributions from TopHatPaladin, DarthKyofu, and Senshi.
This mod requires Brave New World.
Overview[]
Azande[]
The Azande (plural of "Zande" in the Zande language) are an ethnic group of North Central Africa. They live primarily in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in south-central and southwestern part of South Sudan, and in southeastern Central African Republic. In the early 19th century, the Bandia people ruled over the Vungara and the two groups became the Azande people. They lived in the savannas of what is now the southeastern part of Central African Republic. After the death of a king, the king's sons would fight for succession. The losing son would often establish kingdoms in neighbouring regions, making the Azande kingdom spread eastward and northward. Sudanese raids halted some of northward expansion later in the 19th century. The Azande became divided by Belgium, France, and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The word Azande means "the people who possess much land", and refers to their history as conquering warriors. Variant spellings include Adio, Zande, Zandeh, A-Zandeh and Sandeh. The name Niam-Niam was frequently used by foreigners to refer to the Azande in the 18th and early 19th century. This name is probably of Dinka origin, and means "great eaters" in that language, supposedly referring to cannibalistic propensities. This name for the Azande was in use by other tribes in South Sudan, and later adopted by westerners.
Gbudwe[]
Gbudwe was the Azande King in South Sudan in 1870–1905. His real name was Mbio, which means "a kind of small antelope", but he renamed himself "Gbudwe", also known as Gbudue, meaning "to tear out a man's intestines". He was unusual among Azande kings in preferring to lead from the front, and as a young man he often took part in the fighting in person. He possessed a magic whistle, which was said to guarantee victory if blown before a battle. He encouraged his men to eat the Arabs they killed, although cannibalism was probably not normal Azande practice. Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard quotes a description of King Gbudwe of the Azande:
"King Gbudwe was a short man, though not excessively short... he was stout also... His breasts protruded like those of a woman... His eyes were little protruding eyes, and they sparkled like stars. When he looked at a man in anger they were terrible; then they went grey like ashes... When he approached people from afar you could not mistake King Gbudwe. He was a marvelous prince."
King Gbudwe hated and despised both Egyptian Arabs and whites, dismissing them all in a memorable phrase as "dirty little crop-headed barbarians". In the early 1870s he fought a vicious civil war with his brothers after the death of their father, and after consolidating his power he went on to win several battles against the Arabs, French and the British. In 1882, after one disastrously unsuccessful attempt, an official expedition was sent against him by the Egyptian authorities in Bahr el Ghazal Province, whose governor at the time was the Englishman Lupton Bey. The Egyptians with the help of rival Azande captured King Gbudwe and imprisoned him. In the following year the Mahdists overran the Sudan, and they decided to release him. King Gbudwe then went home and supervised the extermination of all the Arabs who were left in his country (Zandeland). One of Evans-Pritchard's informants summarises his subsequent relations with his fellow Azande:
"When he heard it said of a prince that he had many followers he made war against him, and he set one of his sons in his place to reside there and to rule over all who used to be his subjects. Thus Gbudwe prospered and became a great king, for he made war against any prince who opposed him. He only was a great king and continued as such. Gbudwe was a powerful and a daring man, for he overcame all princes, and for him alone they became meek. After he had overcome them all he rested in peace; and he distributed provinces to all his sons, and he left it to them to make war against many peoples."
The Mahdists left him alone until 1898, when, just months before their own regime was destroyed at the Battle of Omdurman, they sent an army under Arabi Dafalla to deal with him. King Gbudwe soundly defeated these force at the battle of Birikiwe (Yambio). By this time, however, the main threat was not from the Arabs, but from the three European powers whose spheres of interest met in Azandeland - the British, the French, and the Belgian king Leopold's Congo Free State. Other Azande princes had already been fighting the whites, with varying success, since the beginning of the 1890s. In 1904 Gbudwe was persuaded to lead an attack on some forts which the Belgians had built in his territory, even though - because of his policy of hostility towards all foreigners - he had still not managed to acquire significant numbers of firearms. The Azande assault was beaten off with heavy losses.
In the aftermath, many of his vassals defected to the Belgians and British, and the combination of heavy casualties and demoralisation fatally weakened the once-mighty conqueror. King Gbudwe's capital, Yambio, was in an area which was allocated to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan when the border with the Congo Free State was eventually settled, and in 1905 a British column arrived there. Its intentions were unclear to the Azande, but as it approached the people fled, and King Gbudwe was discovered sitting at the door of his hut, entirely alone.
Isolated, deserted by his warriors, and staring into the rifle barrels of a company of tough Sudanese soldiers, the old chief picked up a rifle and started shooting. At least one askari fell wounded; then return fire hit Gbudwe in the arm and thigh. He dropped his rifle, and some soldiers ran up to take him prisoner, so he drew a pistol which he had been hiding behind his back and dropped three more of them. Showing remarkable restraint, the soldiers grabbed him and took him alive, but soon Gbudwe was dead - he either starved himself to death or was murdered while in custody by his own grandson. Either way, with his demise the era of Azande independence was finally over; their country was partitioned among the colonial powers, and their traditional warlike activities were forbidden.
Dawn of Man[]
"Glory upon you, magnificent Gbudwe, King of all Azande! You reigned over the twilight years of Zande independence and fiercely resisted the incursions of the "dirty, crop-headed barbarians" to the bloody end. With power cemented by destroying neighboring princes and placing your own sons upon their thrones, your proved a mighty adversary for even the more technologically-advanced invaders. The Zande warriors you led from the front succeeded in terrifying all those who heard tale; the cannibalistic tendencies, sharpened teeth and even sharper blades of the "Niam-Niam" haunted the nightmares of European adventurers and dying moments of Arab slavers alike. The difficulty of procuring firearms for your forces would be your downfall, however, but even as your people fled, you sat defiant and fought to the bitter death against the Askaris beset upon you.
Art by RawSasquatch.
Blooded King, your people call out for your leadership once more. Will you once again forge a kingdom of blood and iron to inspire awe and terror the world over? Can you build a civilization to stand the test of time?"
Introduction: "You're too close already, damned crop-headed barbarian! If you inflict any of your mangu upon me, I shall spare you the benge and judge you instead with my blade."
Defeat: "You cannot take me alive! Death awaits us both, barbarian!"
Unique Attributes[]
Azande (Gbudwe)
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 Art by RawSasquatch Units outside your borders gain |
  Art by RawSasquatch
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  Art by RawSasquatch
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City List
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Spy List
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Strategy[]
Music[]
| Peace Theme | War Theme |
|---|---|
| "You Carry What You Must", from Far Cry 2. | "African Militia", from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. |
Mod Support[]
Unique Cultural Influence[]
"Our people are now forging knives shaped like genitals and accusing their neighbors of witchcraft. I worry the rest of the world will soon succumb to the influence of your culture."
Mod Support[]
| Mod Support | |
|---|---|
Additional Achievements
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Unknown |
| No | |
| Yes | |
| Unknown | |
Ethnic Units/R.E.D.
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No |
| No | |
| Yes | |
Map Labels
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No |
| Yes | |
Unique Cultural Influence
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Yes |
YnAEMP
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No |
Full Credits List[]
| Steam Workshop Downloader | |
| Steam Workshop | |
| Latest Version: | v 1 |
| Last Updated: | 31 Oct 2020 |
- Creator, XML, Art: Sasquatch (AKA Kramer)
- Lua: TopHatPaladin
- Civ Colors: Senshidenshi
- Civ Icon: DarthKyofu