AHC - Post-Mongol Keraites Survive and Migrate West

The Challenge is to have the Post-Mongol Keraites survive dispersal and migrate West, essentially becoming a rough earlier ATL Nestorian analogue to the OTL Kalmyks.
 
The Challenge is to have the Post-Mongol Keraites survive dispersal and migrate West, essentially becoming a rough earlier ATL Nestorian analogue to the OTL Kalmyks.
Oh, nomadic tribes fleeing from the Mongols to the other side of the world is quite an ordinary thing. Westwards mostly.
The problem is that the Mongols are expanding in the same direction and may catch up.
The only place which comes to mind is Anatolia (a lot of Turks even from Afghanistan fled there from the Mongols).

That might have been interesting.
The Keraites might ally there with the Byzantines, Armenians, Georgians and other Christians.
When the Mongols come, they would probably vassalize Anatolia as in OTL.
But the Keraites would have a chance, as most naturally non-Muslims are more preferable for the non-Muslim Mongols and deserve better treatment. The Christian Keraites would be useful for the non-Muslim Mongols to keep in check their conquered Muslim population and against some other Muslim entities like the Mamelyuk Egypt or the Golden Horde.

So the Keraites might have survived the Mongol invasions adding one more Christian element into the Anatolian politics. And that might have changed the future of the region dramatically.

The Keraites allying with the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert might save the Empire...
 
I think it is quite a romantic idea to have the Keraites 'Go West' especially if they then arrive during the Latinokratia. If they are able to be a force still, allying with the Nicaeans or Trebizond could lead to a new Turkic group controlling Anatolia, but this time a Christian one (which would probably be preferable), or perhaps being that force that ends the Latinokratia early.

If you can have the Keraites agree to leave when they lose to Temujin, then that is a satisfying story (if a bit unusual), having them flee west puts them in the position to interact with Georgia during its Golden Age, or the Romans during the Latinokratia. It'd be a cool TL to have Nicaea, Georgia and the Keraites agree to throw the Seljuks out of Anatolia - the issue is between Trebizond and Nicaea.

A Komnenid Restoration via Keraits would be amazing - no more dependence on Georgia, simply agreeing to the terms of the Keraites and Georgians - No Nicaean Restoration, and forewarning of the Mongols.

In fact, if you get that all working - Georgia as a client state of the Mongols rather than fighting against them, could remain a regional force once the Khanate collapses. A strong set of clients in Komnenid Rome, Georgia (and Free Kerait?) could well be a consequence.

Considering the willingness of Trebizond IOTL to marry across faiths, I could see an alt-Trebizond-Keraite being an interestingly tolerant Empire.
 
Oh, nomadic tribes fleeing from the Mongols to the other side of the world is quite an ordinary thing. Westwards mostly.
The problem is that the Mongols are expanding in the same direction and may catch up.
The only place which comes to mind is Anatolia (a lot of Turks even from Afghanistan fled there from the Mongols).

That might have been interesting.
The Keraites might ally there with the Byzantines, Armenians, Georgians and other Christians.
When the Mongols come, they would probably vassalize Anatolia as in OTL.
But the Keraites would have a chance, as most naturally non-Muslims are more preferable for the non-Muslim Mongols and deserve better treatment. The Christian Keraites would be useful for the non-Muslim Mongols to keep in check their conquered Muslim population and against some other Muslim entities like the Mamelyuk Egypt or the Golden Horde.

So the Keraites might have survived the Mongol invasions adding one more Christian element into the Anatolian politics. And that might have changed the future of the region dramatically.

The Keraites allying with the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert might save the Empire...

Like the idea of them migrating West earlier, though was envisioning that the ATL Keraites survive dispersal and migrate West sometime after the Mongol Empire fractures yet prior to Nestorian Christianity being destroyed in Mongolia from the 1380s onwards.
 
If they (the Keraites) are able to be a force still, allying with the Nicaeans or Trebizond could lead to a new Turkic group controlling Anatolia, but this time a Christian one (which would probably be preferable)
The most fascinating and exciting scenario for me is the Keraites becoming alt-Osmans, alt-Ottomans; I mean Christian ones, waging holy wars against the Muslims, uniting all the Christians at hand against Islam; enslaving Muslim boys and making them Christian Janissaries.

The Keraites become so successful that at one moment they take Constantinople (may be even peacefully installing their Keraite Roman emperor) and revive the (Eastern) Roman Empire at it's former might and glory.

That might make a nice TL btw...
 
The most fascinating and exciting scenario for me is the Keraites becoming alt-Osmans, alt-Ottomans; I mean Christian ones, waging holy wars against the Muslims, uniting all the Christians at hand against Islam; enslaving Muslim boys and making them Christian Janissaries.

The Keraites become so successful that at one moment they take Constantinople (may be even peacefully installing their Keraite Roman emperor) and revive the (Eastern) Roman Empire at it's former might and glory.

That might make a nice TL btw...

Having the Keraites become alt-Ottomans would definitely make for an interesting TL, admittingly was expecting them at most to become the atl-Kalmyks who manage to reestablish (or establish a successor) Khanate roughly located in the OTL Kalmyk Khanate with the Greater Caucasus serving as its southern border.
 
The most fascinating and exciting scenario for me is the Keraites becoming alt-Osmans, alt-Ottomans; I mean Christian ones, waging holy wars against the Muslims, uniting all the Christians at hand against Islam; enslaving Muslim boys and making them Christian Janissaries.

The Keraites become so successful that at one moment they take Constantinople (may be even peacefully installing their Keraite Roman emperor) and revive the (Eastern) Roman Empire at it's former might and glory.

That might make a nice TL btw...

Having the Keraites become alt-Ottomans would definitely make for an interesting TL, admittingly was expecting them at most to become the atl-Kalmyks who manage to reestablish (or establish a successor) Khanate roughly located in the OTL Kalmyk Khanate with the Greater Caucasus serving as its southern border.

Never underestimate the power of events.

But in all seriousness, I think the Keraites might struggle to set themselves up as alt-Ottomans with any great pace - with the Georgians, Mongols, and Muslim Turks in Anatolia. Hence why I think they'd work with Trebizond, and perhaps Georgia. Unlike the Ottomans who essentially rebuilt the Sultante of Rum post-Mongol invasion, I could see the Keraites becoming akin to the Cossacks. A distinct culture, but certainly part of the Eastern Christian World of Constantinople, Georgia, and the Kerait. It would be amusing to see Trebizond and Georgia both form marriage pacts with the Kerait, only for a Kerait to inherit both realms within a few generations.
 
Top