To elaborate on the title more, during the Mongol invasions, several 'nations' (to use the loosest possible definition of the term) were destroyed and annexed outright (Jin and Song China, Khwarezm, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Cuman Khaganate, Volga-Bulgaria, Kiev, Alania) while several more were weakened, sometimes beyond recovery (Poland, Hungary, Second Bulgarian Empire, Georgia, Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium, Trebizond).
What I'd like to discuss is what would happen with each of these 'nations' had Genghis Khan, say, died as a child.
Here are a few off the top of my head:
1. The Bulgarian Empire would eventually annex the crusader principalities of Achaea and Athens. Whether they could take Constantinople depends upon the position of the Empire of Nicaea.
2. OTL, the defeat of the Seljuks by the Mongols gave Nicaea some breathing space to retake their European lands and led to the breakup of the Sultanate into smaller beyliks, notably the Ottomans. In this scenario, the Seljuks are still strong and might vassalise or annex Trebizond and Nicaea earlier.
3. The Khwarezmian Shah Mohammed was, at the time of the invasion, on bad terms with the Caliph in Baghdad and was planning to invade Mesopotamia. Would he try vassalising the Abbasids or would he instead turn his attention to either Delhi or Georgia?
4. Georgia would continue to to rule as one kingdom. Depends on what happens with the Seljuks, Ayyubids/Mamluks or Khwarezmians.
5. I'm not sure where I read/heard this, but the Cumans were considering converting to Christianity when the Mongols invaded. OTL, several fled to Hungary and converted to Catholicism. Here, would they convert? Would they eventually be overthrown by another group, like, say, the Kazakhs?
6. The Volga-Bulgarians were an island of Muslims in a sea of shamanistic steppe nomads and Christian Russians. Any chance they could become a bigger regional power?
What I'd like to discuss is what would happen with each of these 'nations' had Genghis Khan, say, died as a child.
Here are a few off the top of my head:
1. The Bulgarian Empire would eventually annex the crusader principalities of Achaea and Athens. Whether they could take Constantinople depends upon the position of the Empire of Nicaea.
2. OTL, the defeat of the Seljuks by the Mongols gave Nicaea some breathing space to retake their European lands and led to the breakup of the Sultanate into smaller beyliks, notably the Ottomans. In this scenario, the Seljuks are still strong and might vassalise or annex Trebizond and Nicaea earlier.
3. The Khwarezmian Shah Mohammed was, at the time of the invasion, on bad terms with the Caliph in Baghdad and was planning to invade Mesopotamia. Would he try vassalising the Abbasids or would he instead turn his attention to either Delhi or Georgia?
4. Georgia would continue to to rule as one kingdom. Depends on what happens with the Seljuks, Ayyubids/Mamluks or Khwarezmians.
5. I'm not sure where I read/heard this, but the Cumans were considering converting to Christianity when the Mongols invaded. OTL, several fled to Hungary and converted to Catholicism. Here, would they convert? Would they eventually be overthrown by another group, like, say, the Kazakhs?
6. The Volga-Bulgarians were an island of Muslims in a sea of shamanistic steppe nomads and Christian Russians. Any chance they could become a bigger regional power?