Chinese-ruled Indian state

Zhu Youlang was a Chinese prince of the Ming Dynasty, who became Emperor of the Southern Ming during the Manchu conquest. He retreated into Burma after several defeats, and was eventually turned over to the Manchu by his Burmese hosts for trying to create a state in Burma.

But could a similar situation arise where a Chinese prince and a number of followers, fleeing China from either the fall of their dynasty or some internal civil war, could arrive in India and gain influence and eventually control of a local state? India seems a bit easier to subvert than Burma, given the often fragmented nature of the subcontinent. It also lacks a close border with China, which is a barrier to a Chinese prince attempting to do this but also a barrier to this prince's enemies in China.

Although I'd love a wank of a Chinese Indian state where they become as strong as the Mughals or even a lesser Indian Empire (if a state like that existed, then you know there'd be threads about that here), I think a decent-sized state controlled by the descendents of this Chinese prince is as much as we could ask for. It would definitely be culturally Indian, and even the Chinese rulers would become very Indian, but just how much so? Would there be a Buddhist revival in this part of India, since Chinese Buddhists would make up a significant part of the state's governance, at least at first?
 
Burma was often fractured, too. Ming is a bit late for a revival of Buddhism. But maybe some administrative practices and even paper money might find their way into this little Empire?
 

Skallagrim

Banned
India is also a lot bigger than Burma, so I'd hardly call it easier to subdue. Expecially not since we're talking about an exile prince with no logistical support from back home. That said, the very same prince, instead of trying to carve out a state in Burma and making enemies of his hosts, could perhaps gain their support for carving out a new state - allied to Burma - in northwestern India.
 
I'm not putting the Late Ming as my POD, even though I mentioned Zhu Youlang in the first paragraph of my OP. It could've happened as early as the Han Dynasty, although a later POD is more interesting since you could have a new center for a Buddhist revival based on the few thousand Chinese who follow their leader to India.

Zhu Youlang is comparable to KMT general Li Mi at the end of the Chinese Civil War, but for the purpose of my POD, we might as well have another Li Mi leading some followers to go to India and establish a state.

India is also a lot bigger than Burma, so I'd hardly call it easier to subdue. Expecially not since we're talking about an exile prince with no logistical support from back home. That said, the very same prince, instead of trying to carve out a state in Burma and making enemies of his hosts, could perhaps gain their support for carving out a new state - allied to Burma - in northwestern India.

A Chinese subjugation of Burma seems very unlikely, although there was Taksin in Thailand who was half-Chinese, but that's different than a Chinese imperial prince and a band of a few thousand followers ending up in Burma, India, or Thailand and making a state.
 
This is quite difficult, especially since at Zhu's time the Mughals are at the peak of their power. But assuming an earlier exile, I guess that's possible. Such a state would likely co-opt the native elites, absorbing massive amounts of Indian culture. As this would amount to a few thousand people conquering a country, and unlike, say, Babur, there's no pre-existing lengthy period of rule by the same ethnic group, Chinese culture would be lost quite early, maybe in a few generations.

The latest POD possible for a revival of Buddhism is probably the late Pala dynasty, but that wouldn't somehow amount to Buddhism becoming a massive religion anywhere. No, it may prove quite prominent only in Bengal itself, but it would probably then fail to spread any further.
 
Top