Have Buddhisim become dominant in Alexanders empire.
Maybe have the Magyars convert to Buddhism sometime before they cross into Europe?
There would have had to been an earlier Buddhist push into Central Asia that mingled well with the local Tengriism and Zoroastrianism. The only way to get that is to prevent the breakup of the Sassanid and Tang Empires.
That would be a sick TL in and of itself.![]()
Have Buddhisim become dominant in Alexanders empire.
That's a bit more difficult than just saying "it happens".
If Islam was either butterflied or else did not succeed in conquering Sassanid Persia, Central Asia would remain a mixture of Nestorian, Zoroastrian, Manichean, and Buddhist peoples. Presuming the Turkic expansion happens roughly as IOTL, you could end up with a Seljuk Turk like group which espoused Buddhism, eventually leading to a Buddhist "Ottoman Empire" and the conversion of some Christians in the Balkans to Buddhism.
In OTL, the Buddhist Kalmyks emigrated in the eartly 17th century from Central Asia to the lower Volga. In TTL they migrate to the lower Danube instead and manage to keep their religious identity in the Ottoman Empire.