Ok, I dug a bit deeper and it seems it can have something to do with the Hunic Horde, but I don't know what the Dis they are doing in Pannonia so far away from the Rha (OOC: Volga)
That would certainly explain it, but first there's the question of what might've driven them to make such a migration.
It makes a lot of sense, actually.
Exactly, that's why I'm surprised. Maybe Zhongguo conquered the Turkish Steppe, forced the Turkish tribes out, and the Ottomans united them under their banner. But that's just my theory.
History has shown that steppe nomads can end up in bizarre places without major displacements. There is a Jurchenic [OOC : Tunguskic] language pocket in the Carpathians descended from a steppe nomad conquest about 800 years ago, although the language has almost entirely died out.
Ok, I've got a wack theory about the Papal States. It's a bit silly, but it can explain them: so Rome becomes Christian in this world, right? Well, the head of the Christian religion is a successor of Peter, whom Jesus of Nazareth made the head and the father of all Christians. Father - papa in Latin. Now, if Christianity takes over Rome, it would be only natural for the Eternal City to become the center of the religion, just like it happened with many religions IOTL. The papa of Christianity took Rome over, or got it from the Empire, given that it's Holy. State of the papa - Papal State - Papal States.
Why would they do that? I could understand why they would conquer the northern steppes (the people there did raid into and sometimes take over parts of China), but the Turkish Steppe?
Well... it's not exactly like you can just choose whether or not your capital gets conquered.
In fact, is it even an empire? Because if that scattershot mess of color is to be believed, it seems more like a confederation or something.
My theory is that "Holy Roman Empire" and "Papal States" were accidentally swapped by the map-maker, with the "Papal States" being vassals of Rome (or, possibly, being patriarchates subordinated to Rome).
