| “ | What have the Mongols sent me? No doubt a bribe begging me not to destroy them. | ” |
| —Greetings Mongol envoys in The Horde Rides West | ||
The Shah is a hero King in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. He is named after the traditional title of Persian monarchs and other rulers. He appears as an enemy in the fourth scenario of the Genghis Khan campaign, where his assassination is an optional objective, and as an ally in the first scenario of the Vlad Dracula campaign under the name Sultan Murad II. He is also available in the Scenario Editor.
Like other King units, the Shah such has no attack, but has a fast movement speed and decent Line of Sight. As a hero, he cannot be converted and can regenerate health (since The Conquerors). Since The Forgotten, the Shah has the sprite of a Middle Eastern King.
Campaign appearances[]
Genghis Khan[]
- The Horde Rides West: The Khwarazmshah rules over the city of Samarkand and needs to be assassinated in order to weaken the Khwarazmian empire. Failing to do so will result in greater Persian resistance to the Mongol invaders.
Vlad Dracula[]
- The Dragon Spreads His Wings: In the HD Edition, Sultan Murad II is a renamed Shah and grants Vlad an army with which to conquer Wallachia and drive away Vladislav II's forces.
- The Return of the Dragon: Bogdan II, the ruler of Moldavia and Vlad Dracula's cousin, is a renamed Shah and offers to help Vlad retake Wallachia. After Vlad rejoins the Order of the Dragon, he will help wage war against the Ottomans.
Sforza[]
- O Fortuna: Duke Visconti of Milan, a renamed Shah, commands Sforza to raid Tuscany. He also needs to be warned about the Venetian invasion and protected from landing Venetian troops.
Bari[]
- The Great Siege: The merchant Louka Procopius is a renamed Shah. Andreas Nautikos will have to get his Trebuchet to destroy an enemy tower. Later on, he will also offer a transport to evacuate the city with.
Historical Battles[]
- Cyprus: In the HD Edition version, king Tancred I of Sicily is a renamed Shah, helping to organize the crusader forces in Sicily.
- Honfoglalás: In the HD Edition version, the Khazar Khagan and Leo the Wise of Byzantium are renamed Shahs, striking bargains with the Magyars in the face of the Pechenegs and Bulgarians respectively.
- Bapheus: In the HD Edition, the Sultan of Rum is a renamed Shah, tasking Osman with gaining the support of the five Turkish tribes.
Prithviraj[]
- The Digvijaya: In the Definitive Edition version, the Lohara Raja is a renamed Shah. Killing him will force Lohara to surrender.
Francisco de Almeida[]
- Lion of Africa: In the HD Edition, a Merchant south of El Araich is a renamed Shah.
- Ruins of Empires: In the HD Edition, Swahili Merchants are next to their Markets in the mainland interior.
- A Son's Blood: In the HD Edition, there are a couple of Gujarati Merchants next to their Markets in the west.
Sundjata[]
- Djeriba Gold: In the HD Edition, an Arab Merchant in the southeast is a renamed Shah. He will offer to reveal locations of interest if provided with 4 Camels. He will also build a Market if provided with wood.
Babur[]
- The Last Timurids: Husain Baiqara is initially present inside Herat, as a renamed Shah. He dies shortly before Babur comes to Herat.
Tamar[]
- The Queen in the Panther's Skin: Khwarazmshah taunts Tamar before the final battle.
Trivia[]
- Although the stat board displays his attack power as 0, he can actually attack, inflicting minimal damage on the target; however, his AI causes him to immediately flee when being attacked. In the original version of Age of Empires II, he had a special attacking sprite which was taken from the Laser Trooper, a cheat unit from Age of Empires. This was a remnant from alpha versions, where the Laser Trooper's graphics were used as a placeholder for the King, with a crown icon in the owning player's color above it. From The Conquerors onwards, the Laser Trooper sprite is no longer used and the Shah's attacking motion is hard to even make out.
- The Shah's role in The Horde Rides West is a combination of three different historical characters:
- Shah Muhammad II of Khwarazm (1169-1220), who incurred the wrath of Genghis Khan by turning down an offer of alliance and killing the Mongol ambassadors and traders. Genghis sent an army to kill him, but Muhammad II escaped to an island in the Caspian Sea where he died of pleurisy.
- His uncle Inalchuq (d. 1219), the governor of Otrar, who caused the diplomatic riff by seizing the aforementioned Mongol traders under accusations of espionage, and was captured and executed by the Mongols (reportedly, by pouring molten silver on his eyes and ears).
- His son Manguberdi (1199-1231), who advocated an offensive policy against the Mongols and led the Khwarazmian resistance after the fall of the main cities (hence the Khwarazmians becoming stronger if you don't kill the Shah in the scenario).
- This is the only King unit whose AI does not garrison.
Gallery[]
Views of the Shah in the Definitive Edition
Shahs of different players attacking a Wild Boar in The Age of Kings, each one assuming the appearance of a Laser Trooper with a crown above it
The Persian Shah beset by Mongol assassins in The Horde Rides West
