AHC: Greek Speaking Yet Islamic Turks

What is the best way to get the Turks to remain Islamic but adopt the Greek language? Also, what would be the effects of a Greek Speaking Islamic Turkish state that revolves similarly to the Ottomans?
 

GdwnsnHo

Banned
Personally, I'd have the PoD be that instead of trying to take Egypt and the Holy Land - have Manuel Komnenos fix at least two things

1) Michael Palialogos needs to be reminded to be less abrasive - if he can avoid alienating his allies in S.Italy, then that will certainly help there - and keep some Byzantine forces commited in Italy and Sicily long term.

2) Directly attack the Dashmenids (or however it is spelt) - this circumvents the initial issues with the Sultanate of Rum, who for the sake of this, are still defeated in the first round, and nominally submit. Manuel takes the Dashmenids, on, wins, and stablises Anatolia.

3) There is now a ticking time bomb. Any Emperor stupid enough to try and force the Anatolian Turks to convert is risking everything, inevitably, one will appear - perhaps an arrogant zealot, or any number of reasons.

Pisses off the largely Greek-Speaking Turks. They are still Turks, rather than Greeks, but a lifetime working with, and speaking with Greeks in Greek makes Greek a more important language for them to learn - but after a rebellion, most of their records, and retained knowledge is in Greek - perhaps there is even a Greek 'Turk' leading the new state, but a Muslim.

So a Muslim Greek-Speaking Turkish State emerges in rebellion, shattering an Empire.

NOTE : 1) is important, as it distracts resources from elsewhere that would make the rebellion easier to stop. I'd assume a rebellion would work best when the Byzantines get themselves embroiled in an Italian War.
 
Could work if you could have the Seljuks conquer all of Byzantine Anatolia, thus giving them a mostly Greek-speaking population of subjects to lord over. Some of the aristocracy decides to turn coat and join the Seljuks in exchange for converting into Islam. The Turks set up shop in Nicaea and intermarry with the Byzantine nobility, adopting Greek but otherwise converting the populace into Islam, thus branding the Seljuks as "Turks."
 
I'd suggest it's probably quite tricky with a late PoD, so how about something like...

The Arabs fail to make a real impression against Sasanian Iran and are kept firmly out of Mesopotamia and Iran itself, but are as successful as ever in Syria and Egypt, and end up conquering much of the Caucasus too, which becomes a three-way warzone between the Arabs, Iranians and Byzantines. Due to ruling exclusively over Greek speaking lands, the Arabs do not ITTL abandon their use of Greek in administration, and the Caliphate in many ways looks rather "late Roman" by the middle of the eighth century.

As the wars go on in the Caucasus, all sides start to employ Turkish mercenaries, and as IOTL, the Turks eventually turn on their Arab masters after having been converted to Islam. A Greek-speaking Islamic state ruled by a Turkish noble family rules, by 1100, a large kingdom encompassing much of Arabia, Syria, Egypt and various surrounding areas.

Something a little different!
 
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