AHC: Byzantium and Sassanian Persia reverse fates

With a POD after 610, your challenge is for the Byzantine Empire crumble before the Arab invasion while the Sassanid Empire, despite losing large swathes of territory, manages to hang on in its "heartland" (roughly modern-day Iran) and survive for a few more centuries. Bonus points if you manage to have the entire Roman Empire as it was in 117 CE be under Muslim rule.
 

mad orc

Banned
It would be easier if the Sassanid king suddenly sees Islam as the true faith and accepts it.
 
With a POD after 610, your challenge is for the Byzantine Empire crumble before the Arab invasion while the Sassanid Empire, despite losing large swathes of territory, manages to hang on in its "heartland" (roughly modern-day Iran) and survive for a few more centuries. Bonus points if you manage to have the entire Roman Empire as it was in 117 CE be under Muslim rule.

Easy.

Just have Persia "win" the war with Byzantium, which in OTL they lost. Both powers will be ruined, but the winning side at least has a stable royal house ruling there, while the losing side descends into civil war.

If Persia "wins", then the civil wars that led to their conquest by the Arabs do not happen. Conversely, if Byzantium loses, then civil war there is much more likely, making it a lot easier for the Arabs to advance.

The trouble will be Constantinople, though. It's surrounded on three sides by water and the Byzantine fleet is strong. They also have Greek fire. The Arabs would have a hard time crossing into Europe and capturing it, even in the most favourable circumstances. Which is why they OTL tried and failed twice.

On the other hand, the Fourth Crusade in 1204 succeeded because there was dynastic weakness and they exploited a claim to the throne, so perhaps something similar could happen much earlier to allow the Arabs to gain access in a Byzantine civil war scenario.

Persia itself has excellent natural frontiers along the Zagros mountains, so if this can be held, Persia stands a good chance to survive in the long run. Perhaps Persia can even retake Mesopotamia eventually, because whoever holds the Iranian plateau is in a great position to descend out of the mountains and overrun the plains of Iraq.
 
Top