So I was looking for a good alt-hist story centred around India when I came across this one by Jayant Narlikar, who's famous in India as an astrophysicist and author of science fiction, but not someone I'd expect to write alt-hist. Then I read it and found that it was actually science fiction, using chaos theory to explain alternate timelines. The science is kinda advanced but not too heavy.
So the story revolves around this Marathi professor of physics who's gonna give a lecture on what if the Maratha Empire won the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). he's discussing catastrophe theory with one of is friends and brings up that topic when suddenly he's transported to ATL.
ITTL , the Marathas win at Panipat due to Sadashivrao not being hit by a shell. He goes on to establish a stable dynasty at Delhi, eventually conquering most of the subcontinent and restricting the EIC to Bombay, Calcutta and a few other ports (There's obviously no 1857 revolt, so the British Empire doesn't own anything directly). The Marathas speaking Persianized Hindavi, that becomes a common dialect instead of Sanskritized Hindi . India probably industrializes and transitions into a constitutional monarchy, but that isn't mentioned except for the mention of a figurehead Shehenshah at Delhi.
The story takes a few liberties, such as killing of several butterflies (modernisation, development of tech and the fact that somehow the main character exists IATL . But all in all, it was a fascinating read, using an underrated POD.
You can find the story here.
So the story revolves around this Marathi professor of physics who's gonna give a lecture on what if the Maratha Empire won the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). he's discussing catastrophe theory with one of is friends and brings up that topic when suddenly he's transported to ATL.
ITTL , the Marathas win at Panipat due to Sadashivrao not being hit by a shell. He goes on to establish a stable dynasty at Delhi, eventually conquering most of the subcontinent and restricting the EIC to Bombay, Calcutta and a few other ports (There's obviously no 1857 revolt, so the British Empire doesn't own anything directly). The Marathas speaking Persianized Hindavi, that becomes a common dialect instead of Sanskritized Hindi . India probably industrializes and transitions into a constitutional monarchy, but that isn't mentioned except for the mention of a figurehead Shehenshah at Delhi.
The story takes a few liberties, such as killing of several butterflies (modernisation, development of tech and the fact that somehow the main character exists IATL . But all in all, it was a fascinating read, using an underrated POD.
You can find the story here.