Empire Of The 'Stans

The premise here is that Russia never becomes a major player in Eurasian affairs and the "Stans"-Afghanistan, Kasakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc-are able to form a tribal "Empire" of their own instead-perhaps ruled by Attila's descendents, and later the Kazakhs themselves? Could such an Empire then become a counterweight to the Ottoman Empire, thus hastening its decline?
 
The premise here is that Russia never becomes a major player in Eurasian affairs and the "Stans"-Afghanistan, Kasakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc-are able to form a tribal "Empire" of their own instead-perhaps ruled by Attila's descendents, and later the Kazakhs themselves? Could such an Empire then become a counterweight to the Ottoman Empire, thus hastening its decline?
Do you know anything about A) Russian history, or B)the butterfly effect?
If there is a POD with Attila, there will not be any kind of Ottoman Empire. Also, please learn about Central Asian history before posting these (and I don't mean read a few Wikipedia articles... :rolleyes:). The Turks were not a major power in the region until the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Behold the mighty Uzbekh Empire!! (Don't know why, but a Uzbekh Empire sounds like a lot of fun).
And remarkably like OTL...
 
IMHO the best way to prevent the rise of Russia is to keep it divided between smaller states. Maintaining the strength of the Golden Horde might achieve this, or possibly a duality of powers arising, which may require some sort of change in succession law.

I don't know enough to comment beyond vague generalities I'm afraid

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The premise here is that Russia never becomes a major player in Eurasian affairs and the "Stans"-Afghanistan, Kasakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc-are able to form a tribal "Empire" of their own instead-perhaps ruled by Attila's descendents, and later the Kazakhs themselves? Could such an Empire then become a counterweight to the Ottoman Empire, thus hastening its decline?

First of all, by the time the Ottomans were around, the Stans weren't tribal, they were the center of a high civilizations, albeit lately devastated by the Mongols. If they had coalesced into an empire, they would be in no direct competition with the Ottomans, and most likely allies.
 
One thing to consider is agricultural base.

Desertification is a long-term trend in Central Asia, even though Soviet Cotton exacerbated the situation somewhat. So the high point of the Empire of the Stans would have to be on the cusp of easy power projection but before it becomes too dry.

I'm not sure about precise numbers, however. It's just something to think about.
 
One thing to consider is agricultural base.

Desertification is a long-term trend in Central Asia, even though Soviet Cotton exacerbated the situation somewhat. So the high point of the Empire of the Stans would have to be on the cusp of easy power projection but before it becomes too dry.

I'm not sure about precise numbers, however. It's just something to think about.

I don't think it was every really a garden spot - it's wealth came from trade, and it's military power from extensive steppe for horse nomads. Since the OP specifically mentions the Ottomans, the POD has to be no earlier than 1300 or so, so I think the impact of dessication is relatively small, but not insignificant. Probably greater would be the post-Columbian rerouting of trade.
 
One thing to consider is agricultural base.

Desertification is a long-term trend in Central Asia, even though Soviet Cotton exacerbated the situation somewhat. So the high point of the Empire of the Stans would have to be on the cusp of easy power projection but before it becomes too dry.

I'm not sure about precise numbers, however. It's just something to think about.

IIRC Transoxiana was pretty fertile until the Mongols destroyed Khwarezm. So there could be a POD similar to Max's, no Genghis Khan leads to no Mongol invasions.
 
This would seem possible,I think it's somewhat interesting. A plateu "empire" or unified state north of the Middle East but west of Mongolia? Interesting...
 
IIRC Transoxiana was pretty fertile until the Mongols destroyed Khwarezm. So there could be a POD similar to Max's, no Genghis Khan leads to no Mongol invasions.

It was developed, and had irrigation infrastructure, but it was still largely an collection of oversized oases. However, and empire covering the whole region would still have respectable resources - certainly enough to conquer more.
 
In many Europa Universalis 3 games, the Golden Horde often ends up controlling everything between the Volga and Siberia, if not further .... is the plausibility of that what you are looking for? Or perhaps a long lasting Timurid Empire that does not collapses within 100 years , and ends up Stretching from Anatolia to Bengal , from the Persian Gulf all the way up to Siberia?
 
It was developed, and had irrigation infrastructure, but it was still largely an collection of oversized oases. However, and empire covering the whole region would still have respectable resources - certainly enough to conquer more.
As it did countless times - the Parthians were originally from that area IIRC. So were the Samanids, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Khwarezmians, Timurids, etc.
 
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