With a POD no earlier than 1400, make the the kingdom of Prester John become highly successful, conquering at least most of the Horn of Africa. Bonus points if the patriarchate of Alexandria is properly restored and under coptic christian control.
AHC: Wank Ethiopia
- Thread starter Pentapolim
- Start date
Wank Etheopia would probably be able to conquer Italy, if we are judging by normal Ethiopia's performance 
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.But, but, but, why not have an earlier PoD? Say, the Roman Empire collapses in the Crisis of the 3rd Century. The Palmyrene Empire incorporates Aksum, the highlands grow in power and prestige until bam! An Aksumite warlord rebels and conquers the rest of it. Mega Ethiopia-Egypt-Levant, who doesn’t like the sound of that!?
But, okay, I guess there are opportunities with the golden era of Zara Yaqob and all. Could the Oromo migrations be butterflied? IIRC those were a major destabilizing factor in the Empire...
But, okay, I guess there are opportunities with the golden era of Zara Yaqob and all. Could the Oromo migrations be butterflied? IIRC those were a major destabilizing factor in the Empire...
That Prestor John achievement of EUIV keeps alluding me. Granted, a mega Ethiopian would be a fun timeline to do.
My guess could be Ethiopia could play the various Islamic factions against one another and probably even recruit a few nations with traditional beliefs as vassals to counter Islam in East Africa.
After that, it’s kicking the Mamluks while they’re down with an Arabian ally’s help, then once Egypt is stabilized in Coptic control, probably assist in chewing the Ottoman Empire to pieces through insurgency groups and whomever you please.
With Ethiopia the big concerns are (1) keeping whatever Muslim power controls Egypt from becoming too interested in them until they're strong enough to fend them off, and (2) being introduced to firearms and other modern technology/learning without it being both physically devastating to the country (Ahmad Gragn's campaigns) and culturally destabilizing (Jesuit presence in the court and Susenyos's conversion to Catholicism).
(2) can be achieved in part by a narrow victory at the battle of Shimbra Kure, which was Ahmad Gragn's first major incursion into Abyssinia and historically ended in victory for Adal. They might also have to catch another break by having Gragn die shortly afterward, throwing Adal into chaos. It's been hypothesized that the reason Adal could narrowly defeat the numerically superior Abyssinian force was because of the presence of firearms in their army. If the Ethiopians could adapt the technology based on arquebuses/arquebusiers captured as a result of the victory, and with no major threat in the form of Adal to their East, they would be in a much stronger position to trade with Portugal and could maybe avoid the destabilizing influence Portuguese Jesuit dominance of the Imperial Court would prove to have.
(1) will still be a big issue. Got to keep the Ottomans off Ethiopia's back somehow. Some kind of large scale revolt or military disaster in Europe might do the trick. But the Ottomans have to not be looking south for quite some time, and I don't know enough about their history to be able to figure out what could do that.
(2) can be achieved in part by a narrow victory at the battle of Shimbra Kure, which was Ahmad Gragn's first major incursion into Abyssinia and historically ended in victory for Adal. They might also have to catch another break by having Gragn die shortly afterward, throwing Adal into chaos. It's been hypothesized that the reason Adal could narrowly defeat the numerically superior Abyssinian force was because of the presence of firearms in their army. If the Ethiopians could adapt the technology based on arquebuses/arquebusiers captured as a result of the victory, and with no major threat in the form of Adal to their East, they would be in a much stronger position to trade with Portugal and could maybe avoid the destabilizing influence Portuguese Jesuit dominance of the Imperial Court would prove to have.
(1) will still be a big issue. Got to keep the Ottomans off Ethiopia's back somehow. Some kind of large scale revolt or military disaster in Europe might do the trick. But the Ottomans have to not be looking south for quite some time, and I don't know enough about their history to be able to figure out what could do that.
I think OTL Ethiopia did pretty well, being reunified after a period in which it fractured into dozens of states and resisting colonialism.
Anyways, here’s a post I made a while back with a rather late POD.
Anyways, here’s a post I made a while back with a rather late POD.
This sounds like it could become a Persia situation with significant British influence on the government, as opposed to outright conquest/annexation. I bet Ethiopia ITTL would get involved in the World Wars on Britain’s side; they might invade Italian Somaliland, for instance.
Being the breadbasket of the Horn, it certainly has the potential to control the entire region, from Yemen to Somalia. Ironically, I think it would be the most natural development if Ethiopia converted to Islam in some point like their neighbours (it would destroy Prester John-rule of cool which this forum loves, though )
)1400 is a bit late for that I'm afraid, at least for the incursion into Egypt. They can still unite the Horn though.
Ethiopia needs more urbanisation and internal development to be properly wanked. IIRC one reason against this is the need for firewood in the highlands which made the Ethiopian rulers frequently move their capital around. There's probably a way to get around this, like importing wattle trees of the Acacia genus into Ethiopia (like some development programs have), to have some nice firewood trees (plus also producing seeds which are nutritious and useful to mix into teff flour). Maybe to do this, get early penetration of the Indies which would make a base in Western Australia useful and from there the Acacia trees spread far into Africa as a result of European colonisation? Everyone likes to compare Ethiopia to Meiji Japan, but even Tokugawa Japan was far ahead of Ethiopia in terms of urban development.
Second, Ethiopia conquered most or all of modern Somalia is pretty useful, since that eliminates their main enemies and also gives them many useful ports on the international trading routes to and elsewhere. That's without a doubt easier said than done, of course, but Somalia is a natural point for Ethiopian expansion.
Religion-wise, Ethiopia would do well to maintain a Christian Sudan/Nubia, with Alodia and Makuria serving as buffers against Muslim Egypt and also as useful allies. The influence of these Christian states would hopefully allow groups like the Funj of Sennar to convert to Christianity (instead of Islam) to gain the support of the natives and for prestige reasons.
Second, Ethiopia conquered most or all of modern Somalia is pretty useful, since that eliminates their main enemies and also gives them many useful ports on the international trading routes to and elsewhere. That's without a doubt easier said than done, of course, but Somalia is a natural point for Ethiopian expansion.
Religion-wise, Ethiopia would do well to maintain a Christian Sudan/Nubia, with Alodia and Makuria serving as buffers against Muslim Egypt and also as useful allies. The influence of these Christian states would hopefully allow groups like the Funj of Sennar to convert to Christianity (instead of Islam) to gain the support of the natives and for prestige reasons.
As I see, the thing is quite simple: as Chrstians, Ethiopians are not "a part of the gang".
To integrate with the outside world they need to 1) be strong enough to subdue everyone by force alone (which is pretty hard considering their geography) or 2) "join the Muslim gang" and integrate their economy with their neighbours and eventually, also by the force of their geography, be the strategic center of a regional empire which will most possibly also control the Strait of Aden and be a commercial power.
Thus, unless you're thinking of radically change the development of Islam and/or create an Uber-Crusade, IMHO Muslim Ethiopia would be a better Ethiopia.
To integrate with the outside world they need to 1) be strong enough to subdue everyone by force alone (which is pretty hard considering their geography) or 2) "join the Muslim gang" and integrate their economy with their neighbours and eventually, also by the force of their geography, be the strategic center of a regional empire which will most possibly also control the Strait of Aden and be a commercial power.
Thus, unless you're thinking of radically change the development of Islam and/or create an Uber-Crusade, IMHO Muslim Ethiopia would be a better Ethiopia.
That would be interesting. A Christian/Jewish Ethiopian empire would definitely include what you said, and maybe expand down the east coast of Africa, and into Arabia. Islam would be butterflied away for sure.
The empire would of course emphasize its ancient connections to Solomon/Sheba to back up its authority. By the 21st century ITTL, you might be looking at a fully Christianized Africa & Middle East.
Not necessarily. They could probably attack the Mamluks the same time the Ottomans are
Could an Ethiopia that regains control of the coast become something like an AH Portugal? Trading goods from Indonesia and India directly to Europe by going all the way around Africa? You'd have to invent an awful lot of brilliant naval innovators to do that though.
Somali went down to Mozambique and proto-Malagasy may have gone around the Cape of Good Hope so maybe.
Interesting, I was not aware of this firewood complexity. If not having a base in western Australia, I assume they could trade easily with any colonial power that happens to consolidate in the area, provided they had a larger coastal presence in the horn and decent ports.
It's position is certainly favorable, but I think 1400 is a bit too late for such developments, considering what Ethiopia would have to do in order to get in a condition favorable enough to focus on trade the same way Portugal did. With a particularly menacing enemy to the north (mamluks, turks or any other muslim empire that manages to retain Egypt), I can't help but think this ATL Ethiopia is going to be more concerned about defending it's land borders.
If you wish to wank Ethiopia, then wank Ethiopia proper and let them start the Industrial Revolution!
SEE: Fossil Fuel Energy Resources of Ethiopia: Coal Deposits
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166516207000523