AHC/WI: Persian Caliphate

Was it possible to recreate the Islamic Caliphate led by the Iranians?

It can be Sunni or Shiite or any other sect. Perhaps, the ruling dynasties are Persianized. Tho' it can be difficult, given the fact there're majority Arabs and most likely opposed the Persian caliphate.

There're fewer candidates in mind like the Safavids or the Afsharids.
 
If you don’t have the Abbasid Caliphs flee Baghdad, you may find the Ilkhanate open to at least an empowered Caliph under it’s rule, at least once it converts to Islam. From there all you need is a particularly devout il-Khan and you could just about finagle a Sunni Caliph with a powerbase in Persia, though realistically the caliph would still be centred in Baghdad.

Alternatively, the Safavids seem a likely candidate for a Shia Caliph especially in opposition to the Sunni Caliph in Istanbul, all it would take was a Shah looking to assert supranational religious authority to equalise their status against the Ottoman claim.
 
The Safavids and Afsharids are Twelver Shi'as which don't recognize a Caliph, but an Imam, this Imam being the Mahdi in Occultation that'll reveal himself on Judgement Day, so no Caliphate for them.
 
Perhaps an expanded Khanate of Bastak could reclaim the caliphate? The rulers were Persianized Sunni Abbasids, after all.
 
Last edited:
Did the Saffarids have a chance? They conquered all the way from Afghanistan to the Zagros, but couldn't manage to take Baghdad in battle against the Abbasids, in the 9th century.
Perhaps, if the Saffarids had restored Persia to the borders of the Sassanian Empire, they could have ended up gradually exerting influence towards the Caliph of Baghdad, who already employed a lot of Persian bureaucrats.
I don't see a Persian taking the Sunni title of caliph, which, if i'm not mistaken, required the muslim candidate to be descended from the Quraysh. But a Kharijite caliph could be Persian in ethnicity.
 
Last edited:
Did the Saffarids have a chance? They conquered all the way from Afghanistan to the Zagros, but couldn't manage to take Baghdad in battle against the Abbasids, in the 9th century.
Perhaps, if the Saffarids had restored Persia to the borders of the Sassanian Empire, they could have ended up gradually exerting influence towards the Caliph of Baghdad, who already employed a lot of Persian bureaucrats.
I don't see a Persian taking the Sunni title of caliph, which, if i'm not mistaken, required the muslim candidate to be descended from the Quraysh. But a Kharijite caliph could be Persian in ethnicity.

This is probably the best option. Have one of the major Kharijite rebels of the Mid Abbasid period Iran have more success. Perhaps Ammar Ibn Yassar’s movement in Sistan could lead to a rump khilafah in the east. In otl, Ammar Ibn Yassar was defeated and killed in battle with Ya’qub Ibn Layth al-Saffar in 865.
 
Top