Islam reaches Taiwan

If Islam reaches Taiwan prior to heavy Han colonization (1200s), there's no reason why it couldn't become Islamic. I'm not sure what real effect it would have on China - it's not a very important part of the Chinese world, and the presence of the much more significant Indonesian states didn't really have any effect on China...
 

Hendryk

Banned
China is no stranger to Islam. There were lots of Muslims in south China at one time.
Not only in South China. The Hui are a community of Chinese converts to Islam that has been around for centuries.

Not sure how a Muslim Taiwan would turn out. Islam may give the aborigines a stronger sense of shared community against Han encroachment, and with trade and cultural contacts with the Malay sultanates, it may encourage the development of an agrarian lifestyle resulting in a higher population. In the end, though, they would probably still be pushed aside by Han settlers at least in the coastal lowlands.
 
Even if they didn't get pushed out by settlers, they would likely be very heavily sinicized culturally. Which would be interesting in itself.

By the by, whats worth trading on Taiwan in the early period?
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
If Islam reaches Taiwan prior to heavy Han colonization (1200s), there's no reason why it couldn't become Islamic. I'm not sure what real effect it would have on China - it's not a very important part of the Chinese world, and the presence of the much more significant Indonesian states didn't really have any effect on China...
Would that be better, though? I mean, I understand why it would be harder to convert Han Chinese, but weren't the natives pretty marginalized after colonization? If that's the case, Islam might be viewed as an uncivilized and barbaric religion.
 
Would that be better, though? I mean, I understand why it would be harder to convert Han Chinese, but weren't the natives pretty marginalized after colonization? If that's the case, Islam might be viewed as an uncivilized and barbaric religion.

I think Muslim natives would be less marginalized actually. Islam is a familiar and respectable religion in China. OTOH being illiterate and completely without the trappings of civilization is a big minus in Chinese eyes.
 
I think Muslim natives would be less marginalized actually. Islam is a familiar and respectable religion in China. OTOH being illiterate and completely without the trappings of civilization is a big minus in Chinese eyes.
Yes, but presumably a Muslim converted Taiwan wouldn't be like that would it? Islam has had tremendous success in acculturating with similar societies in Indonesia, so I think this POD is totally possible.

One of the major effects I foresee is the collapse of many of taiwan's aboriginal languages due to the (probable) large scale integration of the Island that will happen.
 
One of the major effects I foresee is the collapse of many of taiwan's aboriginal languages due to the (probable) large scale integration of the Island that will happen.

Yep large scale integration that will cause the closely related languages to merge and cause competition between the languages in the end only a few languages will survive..
 
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Yep large scale integration that will cause the closely languages to merge and cause competition between the languages in the end only a few languages will survive..
An unfortunate side-effect of our current ability to integrate cultures. This will probably significantly set back our understanding of the origins of proto-Austronesian without the Formosan group.
 
If Islam reached Taiwan during the waning days of the Ming via Koxinga (A Half-Japanese General who led loyalists to the waning Ming monarchy), and if Koxinga were to pursue somewhat different courses of action, it's possible that the Taiping Rebellion would have some kind of microcosm in a small muslim kingdom in the South of China. An intifada to the North by muslim Ming Loyalists might change history slightly, but i doubt teh difference would be significant assuming Koxinga WAS successful in protecting the Ming Emperor.
 
If Islam reached Taiwan during the waning days of the Ming via Koxinga (A Half-Japanese General who led loyalists to the waning Ming monarchy), and if Koxinga were to pursue somewhat different courses of action, it's possible that the Taiping Rebellion would have some kind of microcosm in a small muslim kingdom in the South of China. An intifada to the North by muslim Ming Loyalists might change history slightly, but i doubt teh difference would be significant assuming Koxinga WAS successful in protecting the Ming Emperor.

You need for the Sultanate Manila to survive in that timeline so that islam spreads to taiwan but at that time the population of OTL luzon or the Island of Manila is much higher than OTL at that time.

At that timeline the Kingdom of Middag survives as well but as a sultanate.


An unfortunate side-effect of our current ability to integrate cultures. This will probably significantly set back our understanding of the origins of proto-Austronesian without the Formosan group.
Studying austronesian origins will be more hard at that timeline but it will be more easier if the chinese never expanded to modern fujian..
 
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