Ismail al-Osman
| Ismail al-Osman | |
 | |
| Physical information | |
|---|---|
| Species | Human |
| Race | Babkhi |
| Gender | Male |
| Biographical information | |
| Date of birth | 1690 AN (52 AN years) |
| Allegiance(s) | |
Ismail al-Osman, born in 1690 AN, is the eldest son of Daniyal Aurangzeb Kalirion-Osman, the former Szodan of Elluenuueq. Khan of Vijayanagara, and claimant of the title of Count Palatine of Mirioth and Amity from 1732 AN onwards.
Character
An accomplished equestrian, his passions included riding, the hunting of hogs and fugitives, and the no less frenetic pursuit of "debutantes and gallant youths" in Chrysean society. A tall and well built man, his capacity for food and drink was said to be "disconcerting" for those who make his acquaintance. Energetic and gregarious, he did not enjoy a reputation for honouring his debts and was known to duel with certain of his creditors whom he deemed to be overly forward in their demands for payment.
In spite of his reputation, he banked with the Imperial and Emirati Bank of the Sathrati Islands and, as a consequence, seldom experienced difficulties in obtaining lines of credit, initially to his father's advantageous attainment of high office in the realm of Elluenuueq, and subsequently to his own brief term as Mesazon of Constancia (1724–1726).
Biography
Education
At the age of nine, Ismail al-Osman was enrolled with the School of Erudition. The school, situated in the eponymous port on the island of Amity, was a residential institution with a reputation for harshness and a focus upon the classics and sports.
Service career
As of the year 1712 AN, Ismail al-Osman held the rank of Fiþnan in the Benacian Union Defence Force for which his commission was with the Household Cavalry Regiment of the Saznan Bivarhins. Granted concurrent commission of Lochagos (Captain) in the 508th (Raspur Khanate) Army of the Imperial Constancian Army.
Participated in a staff ride organised by the GHQ of the Central Banner Group of Benacia Command during Operation Penitent.
Appointed to the post of Commandant General of the Arboreal Guard on 18.XV.1719 AN. The sudden elevation of one who was still relatively youthful, at the age of twenty-nine, to a senior command, raised eyebrows in certain quarters, even if he was grandnephew to the reigning Princess of Arboria. Remained at this post until the end of 1723, since he was ordained to become Mesazon beginning 1724.
Politics
With the conclusion of the Eleventh Imperial Synkletos of the Imperial State of Constancia in 36.XV.1709 due to the Recession of 1709 and subsequent convention of the Twelfth Imperial Synkletos on 14.1.1710, he was unsurprisingly elected as one of the five Dikastis representing the Khanate of Raspur on the Nationalist & Humanist Party list. Appointed Deputy Minister of Raspur under Mesazon Alissa Guadalim.
In 1724, with the start of the 14th Imperial Synkletos, he was selected to become the new Mesazon, in light of political considerations such as his connections to Raspur. He inherited a situation where national economic growth was slowing, local governance and revenue collection efficiency left much to be desired, and there was much discontent among ordinary Constancians due to the state of the economy.
An initial priority of his administration was the Strategic Defense Review, which involved the assessment of the present structure of the Imperial Constancian Armed Forces and establishing a suitable framework for it to adequately meet future challenges. He has also publicly stated that among his priorities as Mesazon is to "...ensure some measure of economic development is focused on Raspur".
His term of office was ultimately derailed by the 1725 Constancian crisis, with the general election in the following year being widely believed to have been orchestrated in order to engineer his removal from office.
After declining a consolation appointment to an overseas ambassadorial post offered by the court at Petropolis, he subsequently departed for Surenshahr via Raspur, travelling on a Benacian passport.
In the fifth month of 1727 AN, following his introduction to the Surenid court, he received a firman confirming his appointment to as shahrbān (satrap) in the Suren Ostan, replacing Mirza Rustaham Sūrēn who was in turn dispatched to the Trucial Isles to assume the mantle of governorship there.
In the ninth month of 1729 AN he relinquished command of the satrapy to Sardar Nur Mir, the former garrison commander, and attended upon the Shahbanu to receive his new appointment as director of the main intelligence and security agency of the confederacy.
His first challenge in the new role would occur early in the following year, with the commencement of the year of the so-called Bitter Spring, a period of instability fuelled by popular discontent, the resurgence of Azad Eura, and vicious competition between a range of state and non-state actors for control of the continent's reserves of Alexandrium.
He would subsequently be entangled in the events of the Surenid Civil War.
Family
In 1732 AN he received startling orders from the N&H Future Leadership Programme to immediately take measures to secure his family lineage, as he had remained unmarried up to that point. When his reply intimated that other matters presently demanded his attention, he was placed on notice that he would have a year within which to make satisfactory arrangements or else a solution would be imposed.
Having failed to address this matter, he was consequently included in those obliged to attend the mass wedding at Teldrin, held in the eighth month of 1733 AN.
