Truth be told, I never expected my TL to be nominated for best TL of the year, but I'm thankful to those who nominated it.
I admit that it was created on a whim, but I figured that when making a TL, I ought to make it believable by basing it on some real history. Wikipedia and Google were heavily used to validate facts, and it was hard but fun work.
In the same vein as the others who have their TLs nominated, here's my summary:
Light of Africa (A Jewish Ethiopia TL):
The Empire of Aksum was originally founded as early as 80 BC in OTL. In this TL, it was founded a few decades after the time of Julius Caesar, when the Roman Empire decided to create a penal colony dedicated to accepting troublesome Jews as penal colonists in a bid to keep their rebellions down. Whilst it works, it only does so for about a century before they declare independence due to a conspiracy that threatened the existence.
It is a TL exploring a big what-if scenario where the nation of Ethiopia was founded on a foundation of Roman influence and laws, but which eventually comes to resemble China more closely in terms of its bureaucracy, military tactics and size, and assimilation policies as it grows in power and majesty. It is also a nation that explores a big possibility of gender equality becoming a norm as early as the middle ages, and how it will affect other nations as time passes.
I plan to eventually go past 1900 and continue it in another thread in the 'Beyond 1900' forum, and into the modern day era, so I believe there is yet much to do in building up the history.
Do please read if you're interested, and a big thanks to all who have read it!