MotF 148: The Sick Man

[Upvoteanthology]

MotF 148: The Sick Man

The Challenge
Make a map of a declining great power.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not. However, for this particular contest, some ASB is allowed.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me or comment in the main thread. Sometimes it isn't as clear as I intend it to be.

Please try to keep images posted in this thread a reasonable size - feel free to post a smaller version of your image and provide link to a full-size version if you want to.

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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday, January 15th.
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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.

Remember to vote on the previous MotF round!​

 

[Indicus]

The sudden rise of the Arab tribes and their transformation into the leading dynasty of Eranshahr can be traced by one man: The prophet Muhammad. A merchant in the western Arab city of Yathrib[1], he often secluded himself and prayed in a cave. It was here that, according to various biographies, he was visited to Ahura Mazda, was revealed the text that later made up the later Avestas, and was asked to bring the world back to the word of the prophet Zarathushtra. Muhammad set out to spread the word of Ahura Mazda, converting a few locals. However, the polytheistic elite of Yathrib refused to listen, and persecuted the Muhammadans to the ends of the city, forcing them to flee to Medina. Here, many were converted, and Muhammad made a document that protected local groups like the Jews in obvious emulation of the great Zarathushtra follower Cyrus the Great. It was here that he created a large force and invaded Yathrib, destroying the polytheistic citadel known as the Kaaba that existed there and replacing it with a vast fire temple - the fire there remains lit to this day. Muhammad thus declared himself Shahanshah, or "King of Kings", of all of Arabia, and in his later years he achieved the unification of the peninsula and became truly worthy of the title prior to his death.

After his death, the great saga of the Arabs truly began. Succeeded by his son Ali, the Arabs declared war on both the decaying Sassanid and Byzantine Empires. Though they proved unable to conquer much of the Byzantines, against the Sassanids, they really showed their greatness, and to the shock of many, the entirety of the empire was conquered. To the Muslims, they must have truly seemed the agents of Ahura Mazda, conquering all of a massive empire and forcing their royal family to flee to China. In conquered Eranshahr[2], the Magi, or the royal priestly class, were seen as kapirs[3], or infidels. Throughout the land, Magi were murdered, and anyone found to be connected to the priestly class were killed for betraying the word of Zarathushtra. The Magi were promptly replaced by people who accepted the new words of Muhammad, and the fire temples began anew.

After these great purges, the Arabs were intent on expanding east towards the lands of Hindustan and north to the lands of the Turks. Hindustan was a very difficult conquest, for the people were divided up into many small kingdoms, with most of them being ruled by members of the Rajput clan. After several tough battles, the Rajputs were either conquered or forced east. The more sparsely populated north proved to be easier, but the Shahanshahs were gradually losing their expansionist fire, and after a few conquests, they were merely content with sending missionaries north. It was here that its expansionism ended, and the so-called "Golden Age of Muhammadan Zarathushtrism" began. Trade from the east brought about an innovative numerical system from Hindustan, and these numbers were traded further west, to the point that in Europe they are still known as "Persian numerals"[4]. In the empire itself, many scholars made new discoveries. For instance, Kurosh-e-Khwarizm made many mathematical discoveries to the point that mathematical series of operations are known as chorasmians to this day[5]. Babylon became one of the greatest cities, and would later become the site of the court of the Shahanshah. In addition, the Pahlavi script used in Eranshahr outgrew the native Arabic script and became the script used for Arabic as well as Persian. Slowly, the Arabs became a Persianate people, and Persian even became a major language used by the imperial court.

However, the empire grew fat with wealth, and blind to growing threats on its borders. In Hindustan, the Rajputs united together and formed an empire stretching from Kashmir to Bengal, and touching the Deccan. This empire proved to be a force to be reckoned with, and was intent on expanding to its lost lands. In Transoxiana, despite the conversion of Turkic peoples to Muhammedan Zarathushtrism, they were not subservient to the Shahanshah, and they were intent to migrate to more fertile lands. The Byzantine Empire was intent to take over the only Arab port to the Mediterranean. All of these threats came at once, and all of them proved to results in losses. Furthermore, along the Caspian, a Persian noble family declared its independence. Though they did accept the words of Muhammad and Zarathushtra, they did not accept the word of the Shahahshah. The empire remains prosperous, but that prosperity has lessened. Yet, Muhammadan Zarathushtrism shows no sigh of receding. The words of Ahura Mazda shall never be forgotten again.

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[1] Mecca.
[2] This was the name by which the Sassanids referred to themselves.
[3] Arabic is more Iranized, and this will pop up in a number of words.
[4] IOTL, they were known as Arabic numerals
[5] IOTL, this scholar is named Muhammad al-Khwarismi, and mathematic series of operations are known as algorithms.

 

[Tanystropheus42]

Not the most serious of scenarios, or the best of maps, just something quick I made when I realized that there was only one other entry:

Not really sure on a detailed history.

Basically, America intervenes in the Mexican revolution, occupying the northern states and installing a new pro-American president. With problems on their doorstop, the USA never gets involved in WW1. The Great depression is delayed until 1931, and when the crash comes, it's bigger. The government is caught up in a string of endless arguments and gradually loses it's grip over most of the country, that promptly falls into anarchy. Taxes aren't paid, roads and rail aren't maintained, and government jobs like the police and postal services, see mass lay offs. American troops pull out of Mexico and the Caribbean, though not before propping up 3 new republics in northern Mexico (Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua). Order collapses. In a few regions, state governments step in to fill the void left by the loss of central power, with their governors becoming de facto warlords.

This lasts from 1937 to 1946, allowing time for several of the western states to consolidate into de facto independent nations. By 1946, the world is mostly recovered from the great depression, and the wave of conflict and instability it unleashed (due to butterflies in Europe from a different first world war, WW2 never materialized. There were major regional conflicts and a few civil wars through the Period, but no large continent spanning war). In the late 40's, the old government finally relinquished their claims to the most powerful of the breakaway republics, focusing on pulling the rest together, and preventing any further loss of territory. What emerged was a very loose federation, with the states maintaining considerable autonomy, and behaving in a semi independent way on the world stage.

But this didn't bring prosperity.

The new America was still shaky and unstable, fractious, and the new semi independent states could never coordinate enough to present a unified face to the world. Foreign policy was particularly fractious, with policies and decisions being reversed on a monthly basis. The office of president had little real power, and anyway, the task of keeping the states interests roughly aligned was as hard as trying to herd cats. Faced with uncertain prospects in the USA, investors turned to its more stable neighbors, like New York, Cascadia, California and Mexico.

In the late 70's the nation again slid into recession, then collapsed for a second time in less than fifty years. A conservative nationalist faction won the brief civil war that ensued, then began centralizing - removing the sates autonomy and replacing it with a strong central government. During the civil war, a few more peripheral regions like the Upper peninsula of Michigan and southern Florida were allowed to go their separate ways.

In 2017, the USA is considered a rogue state - a very right wing nationalist nation with irridentist claims against most of its neighbors, ruled by an ageing oligarchy of Party heads from the revolution in 1977. There is a lot of military posturing, and the USA's nuclear program is beginning to scare the rest of the world. The best OTL analogue would probably be Putin's Russia. But all is not as stable as it at first seems. The current President is now old and frail, and when he dies a power struggle is inevitable. The world watches uncertainly to see what will become of the United States.

Not the best of maps, but then again this is my first map contest entry.