Collaborative timeline: Dunes of the Desert, a Timeline without Islam

Overview: A Political Map of the Known World in 1200AD
So here I present you the map of the known world by 1200 AD. It may not be complete and may lack a few details here and there, but here it is:
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In terms of geographical extent, perhaps the largest realms are:
  • The Rhomaic Empire
  • Cumania
  • Jurchen (Jin) Dynasty of Northern China
  • Dynasty of Song
  • Mandeshi Dynasty of India
 
The region of Tamasga[1] is going to be our next focus. Notice, that my conlangs for Maourtanya and Tafirka Afirka, are still in the process of development, so the place names may change.
View attachment 514560
Maourtanya is weakened by the civil war and division. Afirka remains dominant.
Maourtanya dominates the maritime regions north of the Atlas Mountains. In the previous century, it has grown to become the regional hegemon, and Maourtanyans have converted most of the Berbers to Catholicism within their realm. The conversion to Catholicism meant close contact with the rest of the Mediterranean world, but has also fuelled resistance among the highland clans of the Berbers.
The cultural divide between the Highlands and Lowlands in Maourtanya is very strong and feels as if the two were totally different realms. In a way, they were.
[2] The Lowlands were fully Romanized by this time, with the people speaking a Latin-derived language, being Catholic, and preserving as much from Roman culture as happened possible; living in cities and the countryside being dominated by originally large plantations turned villages. Feudal bonds have developed in this region in a similar way as they did in most of the former Western Roman Empire.
The people in the highlands have a radically different lifestyle. Living in the hilly terrain, they rely on herding livestock, and are, or at least were, led by native chiefs, living in clan structures.
View attachment 514567
A mountain scenery in the Atlas Mountains
These differences resulted in tensions, which were not settled by political means. Rather, they resulted in a bloodbath, when the king Frimyanu[3] was murdered along with most of his nobles in Voluviđ[4]. They were encircled by Hillman warriors, who were summoned by conspiring Berber chiefs. The chiefs were led a certain Baga, from the Izayen tribe in the Middle Atlas. Baga declared himself king, and had the lordships of the murdered nobles seized and confiscated. This feat put the remaining Mawritan nobles on high alert, and the result was of course civil war.
The chaos generated by the civil war meant that the areas to the east of the Middle Atlas ridge reasserted its independence, becoming known as the kingdom of Késaryensi (as it corresponded geographically very much to the Province of Mauretania Caesarensis), the capital of which shifted Atlava
[5] to Fótu Diviňi [6]. The shift of the capital to the coast means that this realm is more open to the Mediterranean world, and influences; resulting in the Catholicization of the remaining Donatist clans in the region.
Relations of the Késaryensi across the sea are very close with Constestania, which employs many Berber mercenaries.
Meanwhile, further westwards, the revolt of the Latinate nobles is successful to a degree that the Izayen clan warriors cannot siege their castles and domains, while neither can they defeat the Izayen in the mountainous terrain. Essentially, the war reaches a stalemate and while the Izayen dynasty remains on the throne, ancient rights of the cities and nobles remain untouched.
Further southeast we reach the independent regions on the southern foothills of the Atlas Mountains and plateaus, reaching further into the Teneré
[7] Desert. Given the trend of disintegration throughout Europe, why not continue in this area as well? Well, this half-desert region is likely to be divided into two, the western region has become the Holy State of Aghlan[8]. [9] Aghlan has thus become a theocratic state, located at the very edge of the greatest hot desert in the world, and has become a centre of education and science within the berber world, focusing on predominantly astronomy and mathematics.
View attachment 514568
Tuggurt at the edge of the desert
The second country further east is the Duchy of Tuggurt, also located in the semi-desert region. These semi-desert regions were the last vestiges of Donatism, a Christian denomination, that used to encompass much of the Tamazghan region; by this time, its last believers have been reduced to a rump community at the very edge of the Teneré desert. True, there were vibrant and flourishing communities to the south of the desert, such Songhay and Wagadou.
View attachment 514565
By this time, Donatism is restricted from the coastal regions
The currents currently present within the Donatist thought, building on the tradition of the infamous Kirkumkellions[10], who used to harass travellors on the road and actually sought to get killed. In modern eyes, we can see them as the first suicide-terrorists. This tradition was of course rationalized, and given the harsh climate and scarcity of resources, as well as the Berber clan structure, what has happened is that we can witness a new phenomenon : warrior monks. These warrior monks are trained to excel in all forms of combat possible in this forbidding climate: to be brilliant riders on camels and on horse, to be perfect archers and dagger holder. Throughout Tuggurt and Aghlan, and into Fasania, they have built a network of monasteries. The sole duty of these men is to fight, and with nothing to lose, they fight with fanatical zeal. An important teaching that developed in the school of Aghlan is that no one is permitted to decide and choose his day of martyrdom.
View attachment 514566
A map of the Donatist diocese in the 12th century
The Donatists saw themselves as fully righteous, and were looking down on Carthage, as the place of decandence and consummery.
Further northwest, we arrive into Afirka, the coastal regions around Carthage, but also extending westwards, to incorporate also historical Numigia. Afirka has developed is seen a continuation of Italy further southwards, and Afirkans are greatly engaged in Mediterranean trade. Especially prosperous were the cities of Carthage and Adurmetum
[11], which were free cities without any form of feudal overlordship. The wish for profit drove also Afirkans to reconquer lost Tirfwitanya[12] from the Berbers, as this is the end station of the Trans-Tenerean trade network. This resulted in an invasion of the area and the conquest of the coastal regions, to gain control of the trade routes. The areas further inland were pretty much left alone, and rather were used as a nice buffer zone.
View attachment 514558
While feudalism was prevalent in most of the region, you could also find free cities and a theocracy
Religion is not a primary issue for the Afirkans. More important than how you pray, is whether you can make profit. This has become a cornerstone in Afirkan policies when dealing with their neighbours and subjects. Therefore, Donatist bishops and priests are allowed to operate within Afirkan territory, given that they follow the law and do not cause public trouble. This was of primary concern, as it had to do with the evolution of Donatist thought in the broader region.
Afirkans also control the Balearic Islands and southern Sardinia. Unfortunately for them, they have lost the island of Sicily to the Rhomaic Empire. Nevertheless, Afirkans have also conquered the small border town of Syrte, on the border with Cyrenaica. Its continued independence would present a problem due to possible smuggling, and therefore had to be brought under control.
View attachment 514562
You can see the Romance-speaking coast and the Berberophone interior
Syrte is possibly the last place where Punic language is spoken. While the place was garrisoned with Afirkan troops, life in the city continues as before, yet the town becomes more and more a backwater.

[1] Tamazgha, the Berber word for Maghreb
[2] You can think of the who Highland-Lowland divide in a similar manner as in Scotland
[3] One of the Latin names (Primianus?) for which I do have reocrded sound changes.
[4] Volubilis, according to our sound changes.
[5] Altava
[6] Portus Divini, at the location of present-day Oran.
[7] Teneré is the Berber name of the desert. Given the region is not populated by Aras, the name Sahara is not going to be used as its name.
[8] Mozabite name for the M´zab Oasis
[9] Given that Mzab is a theocracy in EU4, why not it become such in ATL?
[10] The Circumcellions were devout Donatists who were looking forward to martyrdom, seeing it as the most important feat one can do.
[11] Hadrumetum, modern Sousse
[12] Previously spellt Tibwitanya. This appears to be a more realistic outcome of sound changes. Actually, the soudn changes ought to result in Tirfowitanya, but ommitting the „o“ between the „f“ a „w“ is more than likely

Excellent. The Roman name you sound-changed could have been Firmianus.
 
Overview: Forms of Societal Organization in 1200 AD
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By the end of the twelfth century, there remained numerous ways of organizing a society:
  1. Tribal (brown)- tribal realms ruled by mighty chiefs can be found throughout much of Africa and Siberia, as well as more remote parts of Asi.
  2. Nomadic (golden) - much of the Steppe and the Teneré (Sahara)
  3. Feudal (blue) - the feudal system is inherently tied to western Christendom, but can also be foundin parts of Arabia, Subsaharan Africa and elsewhere. Relies on the power of the military caste, who own most of the land
  4. Republic (pink)- republican societies can be found mainly in places where the wealthy merchants have taken control, in place such as Aden, Alexandria, Novgorod, but mainyl northern Italy, Iceland and parts of Spain
  5. Despotic monarchy (indigo) -can be found in various emergent states mainly outside the reach of Christendom
  6. Caste (purple) - native to India
  7. Mandala (carrot) - native to Southeast Asia
  8. Hierocratic (beige) -developped in Egypt and was adopted by African states in its proximity
  9. Theocracy (white)
  10. Meritocracy (green) - The Chinese meritocratic system was indeed adoptepted by the Karakhitai in Central Asia
  11. Imperial (purple) - Rhomania
  12. Satrapy (golden-orange) - Iran
  13. Plutocracy (cream) - Philippines, Swahili Coast Hausa
  14. Monastic Feudal (brown) - Tibet
 
Overview: Religions and Denominations in AD 1200
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On the above mapy you may see the various religious systems. In terms of geographic expanse, the most widespread is Christianity, featuring four major branches: Catholicism in the west, Orthodoxy in the middle and north, Miaphysitism in the south and Nestorianism in the east. The second most widespread faith in Buddhism, with Mahayana in India, Tarim Basin and Manchuria, Theravada in Sri Lanka and Burma and Vajrayana in Tibet.
The Iranian religions continue to be represented by Manichaeism, split into its Denawar (Central Asian) and Mazdakik (Indian Ocean) sects; Toxoxian Manichaeism appears to have merged into Buddhism in the Tarim Basin.
 
Overview: Scripts Used Throughout the Known World
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Similarly to religion, the usage of writing systems tells us much of cultural connections in the world, it tells us also of civilizational divides. While Europe is divided mainly into Latin, Cyrillic and Greek-writing regions, Africa shows also a variety of local scripts such as Tifinagh, Mande, Songhai, Coptic, Nubian and Geez; Himiaritic script is spread along much of Yemen and Zanj as well as the Horn of Africa. The Middle East sees two main scripts, Syriac and Pahlavi, while Central Asia sees Sgodian (Blue), Manichean, Turkic (gold-brown) and Mongol.
Of course, India has many writing systems, as does SE Asia
 
Chapter 91: The Rise of Genghis Khan
Taibuqa[1] waited, as the other khans gathered to the hilltop, where the Kurultai was held. This was his moment. He has been fighting a decade, defeating clan after clan, khan after khan. They gathered, one after the other, arriving naturally on horseback: Ong khan of the Keraites, Yesugei of the Khamag, and the chiefs of the Mergit and Tatar people. Taibuqa saw already the shamans of the old religion,the worshippers of Tengri, the Sky God, dressed in furs with feathers on their heads. Side by side with them, there were the most senior clergymen of the new religion: the metropolitan archbishop of Beth Kerayit, Abdishu, and the bishops of the Naimans and the Onguts. This was the new religion of the tribes in the south and west – who did not look to the Almighty Tengri, the Sky God, but prayed to Yesu, the most powerful shaman to have ever walked on earth. True, he was the Son of God, and therefore had all power.


Taibuqa was already a Christian. His tribe had converted to this faith about a century and half ago, and already has seen much of the benefits that came with it. Most importantly, the monks, zealous preachers of Yesu, brought with them knowledge. Knowledge, that the shamans never had and never will. They brought with them writing, brought with them curing of diseases and contacts.

But now it was his day. The khans of all the tribes took him and seated him on white felt, and rose him thrice into the air. They lift him and carried him around. Then they gave him the golden sword, and the archbishop poured oil upon his head. Thus was he declared to be the Genghis Khan, the Khan of Khans.

Measures were made so that such things would not happen. If one ought to be the Great Khan, and to rule all the clans, he ought not to prefer one clan over the other. Men from defeated and subdued hordes were accepted into the horde, and given position according to their capabilities.

Thus, they became one horde, under one banner. No more were there to be like fingers, one longer, one thicker, but a strong and unified fist, a fist that could strike with ease any target it pleases, a unified fist of the nomads in the Eastern Steppe…

Upon hearing of the unification of the various clans, the Uyghurs submitted and the Tanguts in Western Xia were waged war upon. Despite asking the Jin for help, they were refused, and thus the strategic Gansu corridor, linking China with Central Asia was in the hands of Taibuqa.

The next enemy were the Jin dynasty. The Jin dynasty were a foreign Tungusic dynasty, ruling over former Liao (Khitan) lands in northern China. Unfortunately for the Jin, they had many subdued peoples, who were ready to help the Mongols, such as the Onguts, who showed them a safe passage across the Gobi Desert, or the Khitans, who helped to conquer Manchuria.


The Jin were also in a state of war with their southern neighbours, the Song dynasty of China. This happened to be a strategic mistake, as that meant that they had to divide their resources to fight on two fronts, when they were badly needed to remain concentrated on halting the Naiman Empire from conquering the heartland of northern China. The conquest of northern China was particularly bloody. The invading army did not understand why one ought to cultivate the land and plow: and the horsemen did try to liberate the land from the yoke of the plough, to restore the freedom of the pastures. For the nomad, that was the natural order of things
[2]


But Taibuqa looked westwards, to subdue the last of the Liao Empire, the Kara Khitai. This was a sinicized dynasty ruling over Central Asia. His armies were already exhausted, but he took advantage of the factional strife within the realm, and therefore he spared only a small portion of his army to do the job and destroy that realm as well.

The conquest of the Kara Khitai was relatively easy, as Taibuqa took advantage of extant internal disputes. More importantly, the conquest of the Kara-Khitai happened with relatively little bloodshed, as due to extensive cultural contacts between the area and the Eastern Steppe the peoples could be described as belonging to the same civilization, should I speak in the terms of S. Huntington. Usually, any surrendering city would be demanded to give a declared amount of gold, horses and recruits. Any city which offered resistance would be given to the mercy of the army for three days, and thenafter, order was restored. In all circumstances, churches, monasteries and Manichean temples were left intact and untouched.





[1] Taibuqa, the chief of the Naimans, takes up the role that historically was filled up with Genghis Khan. Why the Naimans? Well, I believe that as they were one of the first clans to convert to Christianity, and were geographically very close to the silk Road, they would get a degree of advantage over their neighbours, such as ideas and technology. With Taibuqa being a Christian, we will see a different attitude of the Naiman warfare, mainly in dealing with his enemies. Historically, it happenned quite often that the garrisons of enemy fortresses were slaughtered, despite surrendering on terms that their lives be spared. In many cases, each soldier was given a quota of heads he ought to deliver his commander. With the Naimans being Christian, and conquering Christian populations throughout much of Asia, I doubt that such unscrupulous behaviour would happen. Of course, you are going to see lootings and war crimes, yes but most likely not in such horrid manner.



[2] The very same way, as was natural for agricultural societies to expand the rule of the plough over grasslands such as the Steppe or the Prairies, which were turned in to the breadbaskets of their respective continents in our timeline. Of course, the primary reaction to any nomad once entering the sedentary society would be plunder, often accompanied by rape, looting and burning entire cities to the ground. Once conquering the sedentary are, agricultural land would be turned into pastures, causing depopulation. Of course, before the whole policy could be implemented, a reasonable official could be found, such as Yelu Chucai who would convince the invaders that they would make more profit from taxing the conquered population than from their death by starvation.


 
Without Islam I think the Arabs remain as isolated tribes in Arabia controlling their different territories similar to the tribes Lawrence of Arabia had to deal with.
 
Chapter 92: Japan, the Frontier of the East
Chapter 92: Japan, the Frontier of the East

Japan, otherwise known as the land of the Rising Sun, emerged in the 3rd century AD as a civilization independent of China and Korea, following the merger of the Jomon (southern) and Yayoi (northern) cultures. The endonym (native name) for the Japanese ethnic group is the Yamato, or Wajin, and the endonym for the Japanese nation-state is Nippon, or Nihon. The islands in which the Yamato inhabited were Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu.

The origin of the Japanese language is heavily debated amongst scholars, even to the modern day. The dubious Altaic theory claims that Japanese, along with neighboring Korean, are related to Tungusic, Mongolic, and Turkic, the dominant language families of the Eurasian steppe. An even more controversial theory claims that Japanese is actually an offshoot of the Austronesian languages, a family encompassing Taiwan, the Philippines, southern Thailand, Nusantara, and Madagascar. The most accepted hypothesis is that Japanese is a language isolate, in a family of its own.

The origin of the Japanese nation is one where fantasy and reality blend. According to traditional lore, Jimmu, a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, united all the warring tribes and brought unity to the archipelago in the year 660 BC. However, Jimmu was born in 711 BC, and died in 585 BC, which would make him 126 years old at the age of death, which is highly unlikely for anyone who lived at the time. The most reasonable explanation of Japan's origin would be the start of the Kofun period in 269 AD, when the Yamato clan rose to power in the southwest, founded the Imperial House (the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world) and gave the namesake to the Japanese endonym.

The indigenous faith of the Japanese is Shintoism, which was practiced ever since the nation's founding. The tenets of Shintoism include the worship of kami (spirits), the belief that kami inhabit all things (animate and inanimate), and that shrines are dedicated to such kami. Modern-day scholars classify this religion as animistic and pantheistic. However, over time, Shinto eventually became more of a way of life instead of dedication to specific deities. Buddhism arrived in the archipelago around the 6th century AD, brought over by missionaries from Korea, which inherited the religion from China, which inherited it from India. This variant of Buddhism was known as Mahayana, which differentiates itself from Theravada in that it encourages bodhisattva, a utilitarian, hedonistic ideology that seeks complete enlightenment for all sentient beings. Although originally condemned, Shinto and Buddhism eventually came to coexist in the archipelago, with each acquiring traits from the other.

The successive periods to the Kofun were the Asuka (539-710), Nara (710-794), and Heian (794-1185). During these several centuries, Japan continued to inherit influences from the larger China, including Taoism, Confucianism, and even way of life. The imperial court funded a golden age of art, architecture, literature, and poetry. However, although the imperial court held some degree of power, a new form of government came to prominence: The shogunate, a form of feudalism combining military rule and honor codes with territorial hierarchies and social stratification.

As of 1200 AD, Japan had few political connections to the outside world, aside of some trade links to China and Korea. Christianity, Judaism, and Manichaeism still haven't made their way to the archipelago yet; its isolation by sea makes it difficult to reach. The current ruling family is the Kamakura dynasty, which had recently taken power; the head of government being Minamoto no Yoriie[1]. Not even a single European has visited Japan, as China was the center of attention. Japan was doing its own thing, for a really long time. However, sooner or later, they eventually had to be integrated into the greater Afro-Eurasian geopolitical network.

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Paleographic map of Japan. The writing system, kanji, which adopted influences from traditional Chinese orthography, consisted of thousands of characters.

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Linguistic map of Japan. The Ainu, which inhabited northern Honshu and Hokkaido, spoke their own language isolate, unrelated to Japanese.

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Religious map of Japan. The Shinto faith found its way amongst the Ainu, as they found its animistic elements favorable.

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Societal map of Japan. The state was organized in a manner similar to feudalism, but the military class, known as the samurai, were at the top, not the nobility or clergy.

japanpolitical.png

Political map of Japan. The Kamakura shogunate was the dominant over Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu, while the Ainu still maintained sovereignty over Hokkaido.

[1] Son of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shogun.
 
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I must say, this is an excellent TL, extremely detailed with so much attention given to various religions, languages, forms of government and even writing. I absolutely enjoyed reading it, and seeing just how many forms of Christianity form, and how wide they spread, further diversifying and fragmenting. Mongols that adopt Christianity, and it seems they will bring it into China, then we have Scandinavian settlement of the New World on a large scale, a much earlier contact between cultures, with both disease and technological exchange.

Great work everyone, keep it up.
 
Chapter 93: The Naiman Conquest of Iran
The Naiman conquest of Seljuq Persia and Transoxiana has been historically very significant. At first, the Naimans, who have relatively recently conquered the Khitan realm in the Central Asian Steppes, sought to establish direct trade relations with the powers that were present in the Sogdian region; eventually however, a few provocations happened and the Naiman armies have proceeded and conquered the entire cultural region of Greater Iran.

The conquering armies have met relatively heavy resistance, especially in the fortresses and walled cities. The conquering steppe nomads were perceived as barbarians, who were somewhat accepted as being on the outmost fringe of the civilizational sphere of the Nestorian Asian cultural unity. Anyhow, the rich multicultural fabric of Sogdia, with elements of Iranian, Indian, Sinitic as well as Altaic civilizations; being the crossroad of cultures, similarly the Iranian plateau with its ancient cultural and historical legacy cannot be compared to the nomadic empire of the Naimans. Their perceptions of the conquering armies as barbarians were indeed not biased and based upon reality.

The invading armies sought to ease their conquest by using terror as a tactic[1], by using violence against civilians and military garrisons were they offer resistance; any town that would agree to surrender ended up unharmed.


Compared to China however, the Naiman conquest of Persian was much easier. For its part, the bulk of the country lacked a strong network of fortifications
[2], relying mostly on walled cities (built of mud bricks), which could be brought down easily by siege engines. Furthermore, one ought to note, that the defender´s urban population was concentrated in a handful of large cities, such as Samarkand, Nishapur, Reyy, Ispahan, Merv, Balkh and Bost. This meant that the capture of these urban centres was a relatively easy task. Similarly, as the Seljuqs themselves were historically steppe nomads, they have also developed a tradition of cavalry warfare, which is highly effective in open plains, but once given the task of defending walled cities, your cavalry skills are effectively useless. However, the Seljuqs ´reliance on cavalry meant that they neglect in developing a professionally trained infantry; rather they had to rely mostly on poorly trained recruits. In all cases, the urban population of the empire was engaged in all sorts of task and professions, but military was not among them.


The practical results of this was a dramatic depopulation of the region, this affected mainly the urban centres, mainly along the Silk Road, where it affected primarily the region of Khorasan; in Sogdia and Khwarezm it was particularly the Naiman invasion which has changed the demographic balance in favour of the Turkic peoples and pushed the linguistic border of the East Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Khwarezmian way southwards; indeed Khwarezmian became virtually extinct, remaining as a liturgical language of the Denawari Manicheans in Central Asia, who have also suffered greatly in Sogdia. On the other hand, further southwards in the regions of Farah and Birjand, it was Nestorianism which was in decline and the demographic balance shifts in favour of Manichaeism.

The central regions of Persia itself have experienced quite drastic depopulation, to such significant extent, that the demographic balance has shifted once more towards Zoroastrianism. This may appear to be a peculiar outcome, as both overlords, the old and the new, were Nestorian Christians in religion. However, within Seljuq Persia, it was mostly the Turkic conquerors, the Seljuq clans and their vassals, who formed the bulk of the military, and then the townspeople, the urban populations who were Christian. These demographics suffered disproportionally greater during the Naiman conquest; the predominantly Persian Zoroastrian villagers, living in rural areas fared of well, relatively untouched.

One of the largest atrocities was the siege of Ispahan. Located in central Iran, Ispahan was the seat of Seljuq power. Upon route to Mesopotamia, the Patriarch of the East, Makikha went to meet the proceeding Naiman armies, and had the khan crowned Shahanshah of Persia, of Iran and Aniran. This gesture of the Patriarch has given results: and the city of Qtespon was spared from plunder; rather, the khan´s entry was similar to Alexander´s entrance into Babylon, and the Naimans themselves were astonished by the wonders of the city itself.

Ultimately, the Naiman invasions proceeded further westwards, into Upper Mesopotamia, also known as Assyria and Armenia. Both of these states submitted to the Naimans before they would actually cross their borders, which further allowed them to preserve their own autonomy. Thus the Naimans ended up controlling the entire Iranian Plateau, with its northern border being the southern foothills of the Caucasus Mountain in the Kura Valley of Kakheti, Hereti and Aghbania, and in the west bordering the Rhomaic Empire on a line from the Trebizond to Damascus.


And then in the east, the borders extended beyond those of the Seljuq domains, to extend also into the previously held Mandeshi lands, into the basin of Helmand Valley, Zabulistan, Makran, Kabulistan beyond the Hindukush and into Badakhshan. In general, the borders indeed corresponded to the linguistic borders of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages
[3].


One of the lasting changes which is worth noticing is however the fact that by this time practically the entirety of the Nestorian world has come unified within the political boundaries of the Naiman Empire. This benefitted the Church of the East indeed, as it was the religion of most of the Khan´s subjects anyway, as well as the not-as-strictly enforced state religion, but still, with one monarch wielding practically all power, the Church has had to adapt to the new changes. As it goes, the Church has come more and more under the influence of the state, losing parts of its independence. However, also the Naimans relied on the Church to gain some degree of legitimacy
[4].





[1] This is something very similar to the conduct that happened in OTL. However, the massacres committed by the Naiman (Mongol) armies were lesser in extent than happened in our timeline, and the promises given by the individual commanders of the army were kept. Thus, when a city did negotiate with the nomads on the terms of capitulation, which has included their lives being intact, they would not massacre them afterwards. However, they did demand a high penalty (such as gold, slaves, recruits etc.). Similarly, the commanders would not demand each soldier deliver a given amount of human heads to their commander, mainly based upon the teachings of Christian mercy, perhaps upon the advice of Nestorian court chaplain or monk.



[2] This is stated in the OTL wikipedia article. Here, I would assume that this fact was not as decisive as in OTL, as the Seljuqs have become somewhat stable.



[3] The divide roughly divides OTL Pakistan into two, with Sindha and Punjab on the Indian side and Balochistan and Pashtun areas on the Iranian side of it. Thus, Afghanistan and Balochistan plus FATA and Khyber Pashtunwa were conquered by the *Mongols*



[4] Pulling a Constantine or Charlemagne...


Maps:
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Asia, political, sofar
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Asia, linguistic
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Asia, religion.

Note: These maps are not definitive.
 
I think that without Islam, and the existence of a Christian elite in the Mongol empire, much more of the world would be conquered. While I'm not sure about the fate of India or Japan, I do know that much more of Europe would fall to Mongol rule, due to the lack of an incentive to fight against anti-Christian forces.
 
I think that without Islam, and the existence of a Christian elite in the Mongol empire, much more of the world would be conquered. While I'm not sure about the fate of India or Japan, I do know that much more of Europe would fall to Mongol rule, due to the lack of an incentive to fight against anti-Christian forces.
But at the same time they are still not catholic and a lack of Islam could mean less Christian Unity without having to Justify itself against the force of Islam
 
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