AHC: Buddhist Seljuk Invasions

Sometimes I wonder how the history of the Middle East would've turned out had the Seljuk Turks converted to one of the Mahayana Buddhist sects (something expansionist/zealous like Pure Land Buddhism or something) and conquered the middle east under the teachings of Buddha.
 

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What incentive do they have to convert to Buddhism? Turkic mercernaries were used for centuries now under Muslim commanders; having a different religion than them means one is likely to get less favor from them. Plus it makes ruling over the population much harder.
 
I agree with Soverihn. Buddhist Seljuk Turks requires a PoD such that the Seljuk Turks are likely to never emerge. Really what you're asking for, IMO, would best be served by a stunning Chinese victory at Talas such that the Caliphate cannot exert much power in the region, which might potentially lead to enduring Sinic influence in Central Asia. China remains the power broker, and eastern ideas and influences inform the culture and religion of the Turkic peoples as far west as the Caspian.

From there, ignoring butterflies, we get a group called the Seljuk Turks to invade Persia. They're Buddhists for a little while, before they, like so many others before them, begin to assimilate. Eventually, like OTL's Mongols, they convert to (likely Sunni) Islam to solidify their hold over the region.

If you want a Buddhist Middle East, I'd suggest a much earlier point of divergence. Some of the Iranian steppe peoples were Buddhists and in Late Antiquity Zoroastrianism was easier to displace than Medieval Islam. The Kidarites or Xionites are probably your best bet. With one of them you could probably get a world where much of the Middle East is ultimately Buddhist, although it would be no sure thing.
 
I agree with Soverihn and Practical Lobster.

Another interesting idea how to bring the Buddhist Middle East about could be to have it start in Arabia, too. There was a lot of trade between Southern Arabia and India (although much of it was intermediary) even before the 7th century and the rise of Islam. Now, "Indianisation" and / or the spread of Buddhism occurred in the preceding centuries in such unlikely and heterogeneous places as Southeastern Central Asia, the jungles of South-East Asia, the islands of OTL Malaysia and Indonesia etc. It stuck with steppe nomads and thalassocracies alike, with tribal and half-urbanised societies, with pastoralist and agriculturalist societies, with literate (China, Korea) and illiterate ones (Malays) alike, and it jumped high linguistic and cultural borders.

Why not have it extend onto Southern Arabia, where religious changes were occurring anyway? From there, interaction could take it to the desert-dwelling Arabs up North (either through peaceful contact and conversion, or by means of a nomadic conquest of the rich kingdoms in the South and then cultural assimilation, or by any other means), slowly adapting more and more to the cultural environment of the Middle East.

If Arabia later still explodes into the entire region, it might take its own version of Buddhsim wherever it goes. (The question is, though, whether it would have the same amount of appeal to wider parts of the population that Islam had... you`d probably have to create some serious alterations... It´s not excluded, though. There were enough revolts led by Buddhist monks in medieval history, especially in China.)
 
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