The next three maps in my Timezone ISOT series.
UTC+05:00
Regions transported: Russia (Yekaterinburg time), Kazakhstan (western provinces), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Maldives, French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Kerguelen, Amsterdam and St Paul islands), Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Russia found itself in both a good position and a bad position following the Event. While the gas fields were retained, thus allowing the continued supply of energy to meet consumer and commercial demands and maintain a comfortable standard of living, their only access to the wider world was now either through Kazakhstan's territory or the wilderness. Rather than commit themselves to either one of these options, the Russians instead pursued both, following the Volga and Don Rivers to re-establish a Russian presence on the Caspian and Black Seas. Many Russians also crossed the Kazakh border, a development that was not welcomed by the reformed Kazakh government in Aktobe who wanted to preserve the country's new ethnic near-homogenity and territorial integrity. Mirroring the Russian settlement in the north, Uzbek settlers were also moving in along the Syr Darya. After many years of frosty relations between the Kazakh, Russian and Uzbek communities, a solution was finally found in which Kazakhstan's borders would be preserved in exchange for autonomy for those areas with non-Kazakh populations.
While tensions had been escalating in central Asia, in the south of the continent, the Pakistan had been peacefully expanding it's control along the Ganges and the shores of the Arabian Sea. This process had not been without its hiccups though as the instablity that had plagued Pakistan continued with the country going through periods of military and civilian rule, as well as dealing with the hold over issues of the status of Kashmir and the presence of Islamists and foreign troops. Nevertheless, Pakistan is without doubt the world's primary power with Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and the Maldives in its orbit and Uzbekistan looking likely to follow.
UTC+05:30
Regions transported: India, Sri Lanka
Unimpeded by foreign distractions, the world's largest democracy (first out of two is still first) set about expanding the Hindu realm both eastwards into its former domains in southeast Asia, and also internally within India itself. The Muslims of Kashmir were the first to feel the full extent of this policy, with many fleeing first to Azad Kashmir and then into the Hindu Kush. India's other religious minorities did not fair much better and soon Buddhists, Christians and Jains alike were seeking sanctuary beyond India's ever-expanding borders. While some followed the Kashimiris in setting up their own states, others made it to Sri Lanka, swelling the island's population and fuelling Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte's nascent Sumatran and Javanese colonisation efforts. The situation to the north continued to deteriorate as the view that to be a true Hindu and Indian, one must speak Hindi began to proliferate. Perhaps inevitably, this linguistic nationalism was ill-received in the south and the states of the old northeast, sparking a series of protests that soon increasingly descended into violence and then into a fully fledged insurgency in the Eastern Ghats and Assamese hills. The deteriorating situation in these regions prompted a further wave of emigration, with east Africa and Madagascar being the primary destinations. After a decade of near civil war, and the formation of a more conciliatory-minded government in New Delhi a comprehensive peace agreement was reached whereby many non-Hindi speaking states would be given greater powers with similar powers to be granted to East India, and East and South Africa.
UTC+05:45
Regions transported: Nepal
Finding themselves cut off from their biggest trading partners, foreign tourists and everything else, the years following the Event were tough for the Nepali people. While some responded by expanding their mountain home further along the Himalayas, others opted for a change in altitude and descended into the Gangetic Plain. For most this was simply a matter of finding an easier environment to live in, others were attracted to the idea of a 'Greater Nepal' covering the territories conquered by their Gorkha predecessors. These differing opinions on the future direction of Nepal, coupled with geographic considerations, lead to a decentralisation of government with many lowland areas being granted autonomy or even nominal independence.
