Islam would probably fill in some gaps too. Nestorian Christianity would probably see a boost as well.
Islam would probably fill in some gaps too. Nestorian Christianity would probably see a boost as well.
Well, of course, Islam and Christianity (let alone any given variant thereof) are butterflied away by any PoD as early as preventing/suppressing Buddhism.
Will there be some ascetic, fanatic religion come out of the desert and sweep across continents? Certainly. Will it be based on Judaism? Quite possibly. Will it particularly resemble Christianity or Islam in many details? Almost certainly not.
Said religion could also be based on e.g. Zorastrianism or possibly some other local nation's peculiar god. (Peculiar TO the nation, not 'odd'.)
Taoism and Confucianism still co-exist like in OTL. Or, should we say it would be a perfect example of "yin and yang".I would be interested to see the progression of Taoism without later Buddhist influence. I wouldn't be surprised if Taoism became the more important counterweight to Confucianism in China,.
Hinduism covers a larger area and it doesn't feel the pressure to reform. Maybe a modified Hinduism outright takes the place of in East Asia. What the effects greater than that would be, I can't guess.
More likely it stays Bön, or something similar at least. Mongolia might likewise be primarily a Tengri-worshipping folk. Too many people seem to assume an evangelical religion must take the place of Buddhism rather than the native folkloric beliefs Buddhism supplemented.Ooh, I just thought of a Tibetan Nestorian Christianity, with a Dalai Lama/Pontiff/Patriarch analogue.
Taoism and Confucianism still co-exist like in OTL. Or, should we say it would be a perfect example of "yin and yang".
More likely it stays Bön, or something similar at least. Mongolia might likewise be primarily a Tengri-worshipping folk. Too many people seem to assume an evangelical religion must take the place of Buddhism rather than the native folkloric beliefs Buddhism supplemented.
Would Hinduism necessarily replace Shenism/Shinto? I'm not entirely convinced this would be the case.
Hinduism covers a larger area and it doesn't feel the pressure to reform. Maybe a modified Hinduism outright takes the place of in East Asia. What the effects greater than that would be, I can't guess.
The thing is, most varieties of modern Hinduism developed out of the same Axial Age forces that spurred the development of Buddhism and Jainism. "Hinduism" before the Axial Age was quite different. if you remove Buddhism, alt-Hinduism will be very different.
Wouldn't Jainism be more present ITTL?
I'm thinking to the possible persecution by Ashoka, for example but even without this, is less religious rivality could have an impact?
Well, of course, Islam and Christianity (let alone any given variant thereof) are butterflied away by any PoD as early as preventing/suppressing Buddhism.
Will there be some ascetic, fanatic religion come out of the desert and sweep across continents? Certainly. Will it be based on Judaism? Quite possibly. Will it particularly resemble Christianity or Islam in many details? Almost certainly not.
Said religion could also be based on e.g. Zorastrianism or possibly some other local nation's peculiar god. (Peculiar TO the nation, not 'odd'.)
How different, exactly ? How did pre-Buddhism Vedic religion even look like ?
I wrote a large post for this but my iPad closed the page just before finishing it
So a short version, I can't think of any good candidates for a religion as universal and translatable in values as Buddhism is. Certainly not Jainism (unless it evolves considerably).
What I would love to see (although I can't imagine it gaining too much traction for reasons I will explain below) would be a successful Carvaka movement. A long lasting and well established hedonistic and atheistic philosophy being established as a cultural norm in the kingdoms of India and beyond would be a fantastic divergence from the stereotypes of the somber asceticism usually associated with the subcontinent.
I don't think this is likely however as a mass hedonist movement has little justification for compliance from criminals and disgruntled peasants. In a Buddhist culture, banditry or rebellion could easily get you bad karma and effective meditation can help remove your angst. Unless it becomes super complex, Carvaka has a hard time doctrinally preventing this as it is both famous for suggesting no bad side effects from terrible crimes (a quote that stands out for this goes something like "I can slaughter my way up the Ganges and receive no bad karma") and with its hard line hedonism actually gives decent justification for criminal behaviour as long as you don't mess up.
The only way I could see it surviving would be in a similar fashion to Buddhism in china, a brotherhood of ideas with a local belief system. The only one I can think of that is compatible however would be Yangism but that too would fail for (as I understand it similar reasons).
...I'm now imagining a timeline of an Asia dominated by complex atheistic and egoist schools of thought... That sounds like such a fun read.