Thank you very much. The twelfth century will begin quite soon. The world is large. Again I shall be asking for helping hands in this project
question when do you plan to stop 20th century?
Thank you very much. The twelfth century will begin quite soon. The world is large. Again I shall be asking for helping hands in this project
Indeed ideally we shall reach present day.question when do you plan to stop 20th century?
I will help out as I have always done, my comrade.Indeed ideally we shall reach present day.
The Seljuks are in control of Iran and the Levant as well . Most probably not going to penetrate into AnatoliaDo the Turks still expand?
Most probably there should be a Church, which is currently held by NestoriansReally liking things so far.
One question though. From the main lack of Islam there's also no Dome of the Rock built on the temple mount. So what is built on the ruins of the second temple? A church? Or even an eventual effort to rebuild a third temple?
Vinland already exists as a thing, and contact is thus beginning the the region of the Maritimes. Given Luso-Norman exploration, they may soon reach the Capverds and the Azores; yet I doubt they will reach America just now.We won't be discussing the Americas or Oceania, I believe, until the 1400s, or if possible we could just begin now. The New World is relatively unaffected by this POD until the age of exploration. Is there an earlier age of exploration?
Chapter 71? What years?Let us return back to our timeline. We shall begin as we did before, commencing in northeastern Asia.
The previous rulers of northern China, the Liao, were overthrown by another people, called the Jurchens, who have set up their own dynasty in northern China. The Liao were exiled westwards by a joint operation of the Jurchen, a Tungusic people from Manchuria, and the forces of the Song dynasty of China. They lived a sedentary agricultural lifestyle, and used to organized under chiefs, the most powerful held the title Beile.(1) Authority was not transferred from father to son, but rather was transferred to the most capable relative
View attachment 500995
The collapse of the Liao resulted in Jin (green) becoming their geopolitical heirs; and the various Mongol clans asserted independence
The Han Chinese, living within the borders of the former Liao empire, greatly resisted any incorporation into the Song state; rather they favoured cooperation with the new conquerors, the Jurchens. The Jin dynasty expanded its borders southwards, to include large parts of the great Chinese Plain.
Around three million people, that is half of the original Jurchen population, migrated south, mixing in with the 30 million Han subjects within the borders of the Jin realm. The core areas of the Jin state were in the basin of the Yellow River; the basin of the Yangtse on the otherhand was the core area of the rival Song Dynasty.
The Jurchens had vanquished their opponents by superior military tactics. In their early years, it was mainly due to effective heavy cavalry; after consolidating their rule over much of northern China, they welcomed in their ranks many Song and Liao soldiers, and started building also an early artillery department: using cannons, grenades, rockets and gunpowder. To defend the northern borders, the Jin repaired and built new sections of the Great Wall of China.
View attachment 500994
Great Wall of China
While the ethnic groups at first were very different, the superiority of Chinese culture soon resulted in assimilation of the relatively small number of southward migrating Jurchen. Nevertheless, the Jurchen invented their own script, which was based upon the Khitan script used by the Liao, and some works of the Chinese classics were translated into Jurchen.
In terms of religion, Buddhism apparently expanded rapidly, especially among the Jurchens in Manchuria (smaller Tungusic clans however retained their own and earlier tribal beliefs). Among the Han, the dominant belief system was Taoism.
Further inland, we have the eastern Steppe. The individual clans and tribes have managed to to reassert their independence after the previous period of Liao rule.
Among the different Mongolic clans and tribes of the plateau, we can see four major contenders: the Khamag in the northeast (2), the Tatars in the southeast, the Khereits in the south and the Naimans in the west. Smaller clans include the Onguts, the Merkits, the Buryats and the Tuvans, all living in northern forest-steppe border zone.
Nestorian Chrisitianty becomes more ingrained among the southern Mongolian tribes, the Naimans and the Kereits, as well as well as among the Ongut. The Christianization of these tribes means also the establishment of a network of monasteries; with Assyrian monks setting up libraries and schools and hospitals as well as churches. In the proximity of these monasteries, perhaps the earliest permanent villages were established, as the yurts would not have moved for at first a couple of years, and then their inhabitants decide to build them more comfortable.
Eventually, the Metropolitan recognizes that the Eastern Steppe offers a great potential for preaching, and Keraites are elevated to the seat of a metropolitan province, and the Naimans and the Onguts receive their own bishops.
During the eleventh century, two more clans accept baptism: the Tuvans (technically a Turkic people) and the Oirats. The Tatars, living on the southeastern edge of the plateau, have been exposed to Buddhism; yet the Mongol clans viewed it as largely incompatible with their culture, especially as it is largely vegetarian and pacifist. Talk about that to a steppe nomad. Furthermore, Christians drink alcohol during mass.
View attachment 500999
While Buddhism spreads in Manchuria, Nestorian Christianity spreads throughout the southern parts of the Mongolian plateau
However, folk Christianity as practiced in Mongolia was very different from Assyrian Christianity practiced in Mesopotamia. To standardize the faith and teach the Gospel, of course, monks established monasteries. But a standard church in the steppe would be a yurt church, moving around with the yurts of its parishioners as the seasons change.
Many Christian symbols already had a meaning in Mongolian traditions, a base that the early missionaries could build on. For example the name Yesu means “nine” in Mongolian, a sacred number. The sign of the Cross also signifies the four directions of the compass. For many, Yesu was a powerful shaman and healer, and this aspect of his ministry was often put forwards.
According to the letters of the Visitor of the Order of Mar Addai in for the province Beth Karayit “The understanding of the faith in Steppe is generally poor despite the very best efforts of our abbots and monks. The Naimans, the Keraits and the Onguts consider themselves to be Christian, yet their practice is generally barbaric, intertwined with their ancient shamanic traditions, and often led astray by the heresy of Manicheism. However, given proper preaching and effort, the word of the Lord can spread far and wide across the grasslands and steppes, as the Mongols found that the name of our Messiah also means the number nine, which they view as sacred, and they took great joy when hearing that we drink wine during liturgy. When I look at these people, tough and hardened by the freezing winters, they would make the best protectors (3) of our faith, should the need arise”.
Ultimately, some elements of Christian worldview and religion appear to have gotten ingrained also into the mythology of the other tribes, without receiving baptism just yet.
The peoples to the north of the steppe were collectively known to the Mongols as oin irged, meaning forest peoples. The tribes and clans living in the proximity of the steppe were indeed related to their southern cousins, mainly the Buryats; among the forest peoples were also the Tuvans, the Kyrgyz and the more distant Sakhas, forming the Siberian or northeastern branch of the Turkic family.
The Sakha have settled as reindeer-herders in the Middle Lena basin (4); the speakers of the northern Tungusic languages – the Evenk and the Lamut- are located between the northern tip of Lake Baikal and the Sea of Okhotsk.
View attachment 500996
Society hasn't changed much, has it?
Large swathes of Siberia east of the Yenisei are still inhabited by Paleosiberian hunter-gatherer tribes: the Yeniseians, of whom the most famous are the Ket, inhabit the are middle Yenisei basin as well as the Central Siberian Plateau up until they find the border with the Sakha; the area beyond the Verkhoyansk ridge, based around the Kolyma river basin is inhabited by the Yukaghirs.
View attachment 500998
No, the Yeniseians are not a northrn branch of the Mongolic languages
Ultimately, the northeasternmost extremities of Asia, the peninsulas of Chukotka and Kamchatka are home to the Chukchi, the Koryaks and the Kamchadals, being still on Stone age technology.
(1) Cognate with Turkish bey
(2) Those who historically united Mongolia
(3) Are we going to see the Mongols as the Vikings for Asia? The Normans of the Nestorian faith?
(4) More or less in the region of Yakutsk.
Note: Apart from the areas discussed, other regions depicted on the map have not yet been changed. Therefore, Central Asia and South China may be depicted inaccurately.
No but i also meant labalted as chapter 71I meant label it as Chapter 71. Also are you from Slovakia?
I am, yes. From the central part (most of the time in Bystrica )I meant label it as Chapter 71. Also are you from Slovakia?
Also perhaps not written anywhere but starting a 12th century tour of the world. Starting from the East, mainly because history is "cooked" over there (horde invasions)No but i also meant labalted as chapter 71
LOLi have opended a 12th century history book
India, Southeast Asia and TibetWhere do we head next?