Sufi Mosque

Sufi Mosque
The Sufi Mosque Trading Post icon
Settlement information
Introduced in	The Asian Dynasties
Continent	Asia, Africa
Units	War Elephant
Technologies	Pilgrimage Fasting Sharia
Maps	Borneo Darfur Deccan Fertile Crescent Horn Indochina Indonesia Malaysia Mongolia Nile Valley Silk Road Siwa Oasis Swahili Coast

The Sufi Mosque is a native Asian religious settlement featured in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. Like all natives, they can be allied with by building a Trading Post at their Trading Post site.

Unit

War Elephant: Indian Heavy War Elephant powerful in close combat. Inflicts area damage. Good against Archers and Skirmishers.

Technologies

Age	Technology	Cost	Effect
	Pilgrimage	250 food, 250 coin	Ships 1 Fattened Goat for every 2 minutes the game has passed, up to 30 minutes
	Fasting	200 wood, 200 coin	Villager (and Fishing Boats) get -40% hit points but Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons, and Villagers gather 10% faster.
	Sharia	100 food, 100 coin	Villager train limit +10%

Trivia

• The Sufi Mosque resembles the Shrine of Ali mosque and overall it appears to be based on the architecture of Shiite mosques.
• In the Sufi Mosque an elderly figure which looks similar to the Brahmin can be seen, although there is no correlation between them.

History

“

This Holy Site is identical to a Native Trade Site. Allying with Natives allows a player to train special Native units, usually warriors, and also grants access to a group of improvements to that tribe. Native units do not cost any population spaces, but can only be built in limited numbers. The word “sufi” first appeared in the 8th century and is considered to be a reference to the coarse wool garments worn by spiritual men who sought lives of spiritual harmony, free from bodily pleasure and in harmony with nature. The word “sufism” was first used in the 9th century, and became a blanket term for a variety of different forms of Islamic mysticism incorporating such disparate elements as Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian mysticism. Because Sufism encompasses a number of belief systems, its origins can be linked to a wide range of geographic regions and periods. However, many consider Sufism to have begun with the practice of Shiite Muslims in the 7th century in what is now Iraq, although others claim that Sufism predates Islam and simply used the other religion as a vehicle for its teachings. Throughout its long history, Sufism has been criticized for its mystical elements. While it has made significant contributions to the spread of Islam and the development of Islamic culture, conservative Muslims still disagree with its abundance of non-Islamic customs.

”

Gallery

A Sufi settlement

An actual Sufi Mosque; note the similarities with the one in the game

A War Elephant