Christian Turks

Was there any plausable point in history where the Seljuk Turks, or any other Turkish group, could have adopted Orthodox Christianity instead of Islam? If so, how would this have affected the expansion of the Turks in Anatolia and conflicts with the Byzantines?

EDIT: When I say Turks, I mean Anatolian Turks. Hearing about the other European Turkish groups is appreciated and awesome, but I'm thinking Seljuks, Karamanese, etc. Sorry for not being clear!
 
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In the Age of Miracles, some Turks converted to Orthodox Christianity; some stayed in Anatolia, others went to Mesopotamia.
 
While I think Christian Turks are possible. How it would that have effected expansion against the Byzantines is another story. I still believe that Christian or no that there would be conflicts against Byzantium if it was in their interests or there was an opportunity.
 
Hello there.

Ideally, you may have the Ottomans being defeated in some crusade, the Karamanids becoming christian before or after this event, and there you have it.

A rise of the Karamanids after a fall of the Ottomans is quite obvious, to me. Second most powerful beylik, you know.
 
Hello there.

Ideally, you may have the Ottomans being defeated in some crusade, the Karamanids becoming christian before or after this event, and there you have it.

A rise of the Karamanids after a fall of the Ottomans is quite obvious, to me. Second most powerful beylik, you know.
Cool! Thanks for the info!

I think a conflict between an Orthodox Byzantine state and an Orthodox Turkish one would have been interesting.
 
The Chuvash fit the bill in the same way as the Gaugaz... They're descendants of the Bulgars/Bolgars, the same Turkic group that wandered into the Balkans and became Slavicized/Christianized as they formed Bulgaria.
 
I recalled it mentioned once by an old-timer, perhaps Abdul when he was still in this forum, that up to fifteen percent of the Turkish population that made the initial migration to Anatolia had converted to Christianity so that alone would meet the requirements from the POD. I think if you want the Turks to become predominately Christian, you might need more missionary activity directed at Central Asia, perhaps from the Nestorian community.
 
Was there any plausable point in history where the Seljuk Turks, or any other Turkish group, could have adopted Orthodox Christianity instead of Islam? If so, how would this have affected the expansion of the Turks in Anatolia and conflicts with the Byzantines?

Chorni Klobuky (Ukrainian - Чорні Клобуки - "Black Hats (Hoods)"; Turkic Karakalpak or Qaraqalpaq) were a group of semi-nomadic Turkic tribes that settled on the frontier between the Rus states and the Pechenegs (and later the Cumans) during the 11th century and 12th century CE. They fought as mercenaries for various Rus princes, forming part of the cavalry for the fledgling Rus armies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherniye_Klobuki
IIRC majority of these "Black Hats" were Orthodox Christians by the 13th century.

I guess the 12th century AD is the latest possible time when the Byzantines might settle some equivalent of Rus "Black Hats" in Anatolia. First they had to find some pagan Turkic tribes (there were plenty of them in Cuman steppes) and then relocate them into Anatolia to form the Byzantine frontier troops against the Muslim Turkic tribes.
After some time the converting of these moved Pagan Turks to Orthodox Christianity is inevitable as they are under direct political authority of Constantinople.

After the appearance of the Golden Horde and its accepting of Islam such POD is almost impossible.
 
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I recalled it mentioned once by an old-timer, perhaps Abdul when he was still in this forum, that up to fifteen percent of the Turkish population that made the initial migration to Anatolia had converted to Christianity so that alone would meet the requirements from the POD. I think if you want the Turks to become predominately Christian, you might need more missionary activity directed at Central Asia, perhaps from the Nestorian community.

IIRC the Turkic migration to Anatolia lasted for centuries and it was kind of wave after wave after wave and then again many waves. Some of the waves were Islamic only on the surface their shamanistic traditions were very strong. Some of the waves were almost pagan.
I think that these Turks were liable to Christianization.
I've never heard about any Christian Turkic wave to Anatolia, but I guess there might be a Nestorian one theoretically. The Mongols pushed a lot of tribes and drove them from Central Asia into Anatolia as well.
 

Germaniac

Donor
What about a stronger nestorian church in the post Islamic conquest era. The church was banned from converting Muslims but if there is a strong enough focus on incoming pagan Turkic tribes their numbers grow and they eventually move into Anatolia.

They might even seize control of the eastern empire, and as Christians they will probably be accepted as a new dynasty ruling the empire.
 
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