Alternate Battle of Talas

I think the changes should be significant; the Abbasids (probably) get paper on schedule, but the vibrant manichaean, Nestorian, and Buddhist communities of Central Asia continue to thrive and develop.

I don't know what the outcome would be, but it'll certainly result in a vastly different Central Asia.
 
I agree with Faeelin that the changes would be significant.

If the Chinese gain/retain a strong influence in that part of Central Asia, then this will almost certainly butterfly the Samanids away, and the Samanids played a *major* role in the formation of an Islamic Persian culture, as well as the propagation of Islam in Iran and among the Turkish peoples of Central Asia.

Muslim influence in Central Asia would be much weaker, and without large numbers of Islamized Turks in western Central Asia, the rise of the major Medieval Muslim Turkish empires like the Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Delhi would almost certainly be butterflied away.

ITTL, it is quite likely that the Muslims never make it into the heartlands of India, and they might not even manage to bring eastern Afghanistan under their control - there was a Hindu dynasty (IIRC the Shahi dynasty) that controlled parts of eastern Afghanistan until the 11th century, and they were only driven out by the Ghaznavids, who were a Muslim Turkish dynasty that would almost certainly be butterflied away if Islam never really spreads among the Turkish peoples of southwestern Central Asia...
 
Trouble is the Chinese have to _keep_ winning: the Arab Caliphate is at it's most energetic, and it's easier to get to Transoxania from Iran than it is from China proper. If the T'ang have a breakdown in central power comparable to OTLs An Lushan rebellion (which is probably butterflied), we simply get a delayed Arab conquest. I'd say we need the T'ang to stay strong and keep winning for at least a century [1] to get our Happy Multicultural Central Asia. (Of course, what arises when the T'ang go the way of all Chinese dynasties and lose control is hard to say: the Turks take over? Local governor creates an empire of his own? A Manichean state? A Bhuddist one? Lots of possibilities)

Bruce

[1] OTL, the Abbasid Caliphate didn't start peeling off chunks in the East until the 860's. Of course, things might be different ATL: A Byzantine-Chinese alliance vs the Abbasids/Ummayads/NoNameDeterminedDynasty?
 
Supposing this to be possible, that the Tang manage to hold Central Asia for a while, could we actually get a large Manichean area? I mean, a few states around, and, later, Manichean Turks invading Persia?Or is this too difficult to happen?
 
Top