Prophet Swap (cover of RvBOMally)
This is a cover for one of RvBOMally’s old maps as part of the B_Munro Cover Project (although as you can see, we are now doing other people as well). Other posts are on alternatehistory.com, and I hope you enjoy it!
History
When he was forty years old, the prophet Muhammad (Pax ei, as his two billion followers would state after hearing his name) reportedly received visions from the archangel Gabriel while meditating in a cave. From then on, he would spread the word of Allah among the people of his town of Mecca. Muhammad’s religion, Islam, would not be tolerated among the pagan Arabs, and he and his followers were cast out within a few years, some going to the lands of Abbasinya across the Red Sea and others (Muhammad among them) would going the city of Ta’if.
Ta’if rejected him immediately, and with nowhere to go he set off on a journey which would fundamentally shake humanity to its core. He traveled North, echoing the paths of the caravans which he partook in, travelling to Yathrib, Tabuk and then finally ending up in the city of Jerusalem. The prophet was caught by the Roman authorities, who put him on trail and took him to the great city of Constantinople, where Muhammad was granted audience with emperor Heraclius himself, who was weary from the recent war with the Persians.
To everyone’s surprise, Heraclius embraced the message of the prophet, which sparked a devastating civil war within Christendom. The pope from Rome, having heard the message of the prophet, converted to Islam along with much of the Roman church. The Emperor, the Prophet and his followers fighting for their life in Jerusalem would flee to the city of Rome.
Muhammad died a few years later, having had his revelations, the Quran documented by Roman scholars. However, the city was under siege, but miraculously, it was broken by armed and angry defenders of the faith. The city of Rome, the site of one of the largest empires the world had ever seen, would now unleash a campaign of pure tactical brilliance against the Christian world. Byzantium was beat down so hard that all that were left of them were some possessions in Egypt and the Levant; not to mention that the Franks, Visigoths, Lombards and Saxons were completely enveloped by the Caliphate of Rome, now under the banner of Islam.
The Roman Caliphate could eventually fall, leaving way to many smaller yet formidable kingdoms. Major ones include Hispania, Saxony, Frankia, Bulgaria, Angland and Africa, who would fight many wars with each other over control of the holy land in Italia. New sects were spawned from mainstream Islam, such as Aliic Islam, which emphasized the importance of Muhammad’s bloodline, the Carthaginian Orthodox Caliphate, which was formed due to disagreement with the policies in Rome, and the much later formed Johanid branch of islam, which preaches liberation from all caliphates and a personal connection with god (as well as getting rid of doctines such as the ban on interest and pork).
Despite being thoroughly humiliated, the Christian world would not back down. Missionaries spread across the Arabian peninsula and into Himyar (although they would fail to re-convert Abbasinya, now a Muslim stronghold) and eventually bring Christianity to Persia by the conversion of one of their greatest emperors, who spread the religion into India. Many wars occurred in India between Christianity and Hinduism, who battled across many kingdoms on the subcontinent. Eventually, Christianity would reach the islands of Sumudera, which is now the largest Christian country in the world.
Competition between Islamic Europe and the Christian middle east would be a major point of contention in the coming millennia. Famous among these were the Proelian Wars, fought in response to the Christian turk’s retaking of Constantinople (although the war eventually shifted into a campaign for the holy land, where the Muslims of Europe managed to gain a small foothold in Jerusalem, but failed to reach Mecca). Another notable incident would be the conquest of the city of Carthage in the Christian year of 1453 (843 of the much more widely used Islamic calendar centered around Muhammad’s revelation), which sent shock waves across Europe and the Islamic world, bringing it into conflict with the Christian Kananid Empire of the Sahara.
The taking of Egypt by the Kananids would result in Europe being locked out of the spice trade (save for a rather wealthy Greek Mercantile republic), which caused European traders to look outwards. A Hispanian Explorer named Vitalan De Lafama would sail across the Atlantic Ocean, looking for a route to the Asian spice trade, but stumble upon a few previously undiscovered continents, the lands of Aquilafama and Australafama, which would be conquered and settled by the Hispanians, Anglanders, Franks, Frisians, Navaros and even the Kanarids (whose colonies would be taken over by other powers).
Eventually, the Islamic world eclipsed the Christian one, with the advent of industrialization and new social theories rapidly changing the worldview of Europe. Secular politics would come to dominate the Western world, while the Kanarids and their rival, the Atabeg Empire (a Turkic empire centered in Persia) would fall back on reactionary politics. The European powers established worldwide trade networks, whose outposts soon became colonies, transforming them into world powers.
Europe would become a victim of its own successes, though. The first and second Great European wars saw these intercontinental empires fighting each other across the world, greatly diminishing European morale, leading to the breakup of their colonial empires. New ideologies, such as Bulgaria’s Ferregulism (Iron rule, essentially fascism) and Collectivism (decentralized communism used in China and Tawantia) would add gunpowder to the barrel Europe was building. And the Franks and Saxons, historical enemies, are what would likely set the spark to what coil be the most deadly conflict in human history.
The world today
Aquilafama and Australafama are locked in a three way power struggle between Marcellia (an incredibly wealthy former Hispanian colony), Wexterland (a strong former Anglish colony with a massive population) and the Collectevists (currently just Tawantia and Newumbria, although they rapidly expanding). Most Lafaman countries are allies of one of these three power blocks, and they are mostly separate from European politics, although the Europeans do still hold a couple islands and territories in the new world.
Europe is a powder keg, as described before. Tensions are high between Saxony and Frankia, with the Ferregulist powers of Brittania and Bulgaria looking to sweep them clean once an opportunity arises. There are also large amounts of refugee flows coming in from Africa, with Hispania taking in the bulk of them. It seems as if the age of European dominance is over, and it is time for new powers to take their throne.
Africa is a jumbled postcolonial mess. Civil wars are common across the continent, with the Europeans superimposed borders causing large amounts of strife across the land. A few powers have broken this cycle, those being the Nigerians, the Ethopians and Imaziya (which came out of the core of the Kanarid Empire).
Just because it is mainly Christian instead of Muslim does not change the fact that the middle east is about as unstable as a place you can get. Kurds are revolting, Persians are covertly funding terrorists and you get discriminated on your religion every day. The biggest point of contention, though, would be the Holy Republic of Arabia, which was made up of Islamic pilgrims wishing to return to the holy city of Mecca, much to the dismay of everyone else in the region. Christians send suicide bombers there every day and talk about how persecuted they are in Arabia, while the Arabians point out on how they have the highest living standards and most tolerant laws in the region, while sending out missiles into the Amharan occupied territory.
The rest of Asia is generally a mix of Christian and other religions. India is mainly run by Christian Emperors ruling over Hindu subjects, as well as a couple angry Hindu states. Bulgaria dominates Central Asia, while the Chinese run much of Southeast Asia, with the incredibly diverse Sumudera rising to challenge their power in the region. The rising power of Joseon (Korea) and China are currently fighting an apocalyptic war with one another, which would likely be roped into European conflicts. And again, the Bulgarians are waiting to strike.
An odd entity in this world, the United Dominions of Australia is a confederation of former Anglic colonies under the rule of Angland’s old monarch, which fled the Ferregulist government of Britannia. Australia is a rather wealthy place, and is neutral in world politics, although it is likened to a sleeping dragon.
Link to deviantart in case the image does not show up:
https://www.deviantart.com/nizamz7/...t_new=10:1609520489&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1
