AHC? Iran a major power, but rest of history as convergent as possible

I'm just proposing this because I want to know how it could be done. How can Iran be a really major world power, but still in a world that is more or less as convergent as possible? Ideas some have toyed with is better Qajars, Reza-Shah holding onto power, and so on- among these and of course others that I have not mentioned, how can we prevent things from rippling too much outside of Western Asia?
 
I'm just proposing this because I want to know how it could be done. How can Iran be a really major world power, but still in a world that is more or less as convergent as possible? Ideas some have toyed with is better Qajars, Reza-Shah holding onto power, and so on- among these and of course others that I have not mentioned, how can we prevent things from rippling too much outside of Western Asia?

That'd be hard. Strong Persian = Weaker Ottomans = Stronger Austria = Stronger HRE = Weaker France = Stronger Britain.
 
Shah Abbas II doesn't leave a policy of disallowing Safavid Mirzas from governing. This was intended to stop sons constantly using their base of power to start rebellions for the throne and the asuccession wars that occurred so commonly, but instead it led to a series of increasingly incompetent Shahs who couldn't rule properly. Instead I suggest Shah Abbas II, who had contacts with Europeans, enacted a law of succession that meant the oldest son succeeded as Shah.

From there, another Shah could remove the enroaching influence of the eunuch, hire European advisors, build a powerful navy to dominate the Persian gulf/Indian Ocean, and exploit Ottoman defeat at Vienna in 1683. From there, Persia is the major power of the Middle East, and with enough wanking and taking areas of Iraq/Afghanistan/Turkmenistan/Bahrain, it could become a major power when it's industrial revolution (hopefully a smooth transition) comes. By the 20th century, it could even make some land grabs for colonies in the way Japan did.
 
Shah Abbas II doesn't leave a policy of disallowing Safavid Mirzas from governing. This was intended to stop sons constantly using their base of power to start rebellions for the throne and the asuccession wars that occurred so commonly, but instead it led to a series of increasingly incompetent Shahs who couldn't rule properly. Instead I suggest Shah Abbas II, who had contacts with Europeans, enacted a law of succession that meant the oldest son succeeded as Shah.

From there, another Shah could remove the enroaching influence of the eunuch, hire European advisors, build a powerful navy to dominate the Persian gulf/Indian Ocean, and exploit Ottoman defeat at Vienna in 1683. From there, Persia is the major power of the Middle East, and with enough wanking and taking areas of Iraq/Afghanistan/Turkmenistan/Bahrain, it could become a major power when it's industrial revolution (hopefully a smooth transition) comes. By the 20th century, it could even make some land grabs for colonies in the way Japan did.

It might be hard to do that without getting butterflies. 1683 is far-off from the 1800s, and it's likely that there will be great butterflies.

Perhaps the Persians invade India after the collapse of the Mughals, since they could establish a new dynasty of India (after all, it's super rich - who wouldn't want to invade?)

But that itself changes a lot. Still, it sets up Persia for being a major power (especially if they stick with 'India' up to the Indus River or so, to make sure that they aren't assimilated into India). Of course, if you're fine with them getting assimilated, you might get an Indo-Iranian great power ;)
 
Honestly, this can probably be done in the After 1900 forum. An Iran that pursued development-friendlier policies after WW2 and avoided the Mossadegh-Shah-Khomeini arc could plausibly have achieved first-world living standards by now. Given how big it is, it would have the same GDP as Germany, which is one of the top world powers today thanks to its domination of the EU.
 
Honestly, this can probably be done in the After 1900 forum. An Iran that pursued development-friendlier policies after WW2 and avoided the Mossadegh-Shah-Khomeini arc could plausibly have achieved first-world living standards by now. Given how big it is, it would have the same GDP as Germany, which is one of the top world powers today thanks to its domination of the EU.

That's what I was thinking. Don't worry, my timeline's going to wank Persia a bunch :p SPOILER
 
It might be hard to do that without getting butterflies. 1683 is far-off from the 1800s, and it's likely that there will be great butterflies.

Perhaps the Persians invade India after the collapse of the Mughals, since they could establish a new dynasty of India (after all, it's super rich - who wouldn't want to invade?)

But that itself changes a lot. Still, it sets up Persia for being a major power (especially if they stick with 'India' up to the Indus River or so, to make sure that they aren't assimilated into India). Of course, if you're fine with them getting assimilated, you might get an Indo-Iranian great power ;)

The Mughal empire doesn't officially end till 1857, and by then it's basically a British puppet state to keep a relatively respected Indian institution in place, and there's no way the Qajars can pull that off. If you mean the collapse of real Mughal power following the death of Aurangzeb, Nader Shah would theoretically be able to go as far as all of OTL Pakistan minus Sikh majority territory in terms of a land grab.
However, whilst this is plausible, this changes European colonisation of India (especially if the 'Naderids' are able to hold on ot their gains), which changes first whether the Seven year war happens (and how it happens), which has tremendous effects on the New World, the future of France etc. So whilst Nader Shah would be a good way to wank Iran into a major power, I don't think invading India would allow for a similar world to our own.
 
I think better Qajars is doable. Persia needs to get its self in a better financial situation and resist foreign domination. Perhaps have Amri Kabir not be executed and slowly reforms the Persian state?
 
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