Nestorian Christian Mongol Empire

Hello there, I'm obviously new to the forums, but I've been lurking around for a few days checking things out. I wanted to share an idea me and a friend discussed a while ago with you guys here. As the title suggests, it is the idea of a Nestorian Christian Mongolian Empire.

How could this happen? Well, simply put, in this timeline, Nestorian Christianity was able to make a larger impact on the Eastern world, and in particular Mongolia. Perhaps unlikely, but by no means impossible, I am most interested in what effects you believe this might have had on the Mongol Empire, no matter how big or small you feel they may be.

You can decide what you wish the POD to be, and why the Mongolians are now Nestorian Christians, but try and keep it from being less than 100 years before the rise of Temujin, as the idea is for the majority of Mongolia's population to already be Nestorians by the time of Temujins rise to power.

One interesting thought is what effect this might have on the nomadic Mongols, and if indeed, they still would be nomadic as Nestorians. Also, do you believe they would be as brutal as they were OTL? Not to say that Christianity hasn't had its share of brutal adherents, but I fear Nestorianism may taper Temujin's desire for world domination.

Assuming they do go on their bid for world domination, what differences do you see from the original timeline and this one in their methods and chances of success? Would Temujin and his heirs still practice religious tolerance? Would they still adapt the religion of the regions they conquered when/if the Mongol Empire breaks up into separate realms, or would they try to convert them?

Please feel free to ask your own questions too, bringing more to the discussion can never hurt! :D
 

Hendryk

Banned
Welcome to AH.com, hope you enjoy it here.

You'll find that there is quite a bit of interest about the AH potential of the Mongols, and some of our members are fairly knowledgeable about the history of Nestorianism. Yet no full-fledged ATL about a Nestorian Mongol empire has to my knowledge been written yet; there's only this thread, which didn't go very far.
 
If the Mongols are Christians, particularly of a sort the West views as heretical, it might slow/prevent their assimilation in conquered territories, particularly the Islamic world.

And which Mongols go Nestorian? I believe Nestorians were particularly influential in the Ilkhanate (to the point where the Muslim faction essentially purged the Christian-Buddhist "Old Mongol" faction) but I don't know much about the rest of them.
 
I think that having the Mongols be Nestorian might make a small impact on their conquests and the afteraffects:

their destructive urge might be toned down a bit, but if you get a fanatic like Kuchlug in charge then the death and destruction will be directed mainly against Muslims, but still, Nestorian mongols probably would do some damage to Orthodox areas.


also, Nestorian mongols probably would resist assimilation for much longer, because I doubt there would be much toleration of a mongol marrying anyone but another Nestorian Mongol (maybe marring a Nestorian in the Levant area, but that's different), so a Nestorian ruling class might be able to remain seperate from the people they ruled, kind of like the Dorians over Sparta,,,, for several centuries if not more.
 
Yeah, I figured its effects on Muslims wouldn't be too positive. Though I think the west, though still certainly frightened, would find a horde of Nestorian Christian Mongols a bit less terrible than a Pagan one. After all, there was the fear that Christianity itself would be destroyed by the Pagan Mongols. Not likely, but they feared that it would be nevertheless. At least with the Mongols Nestorian, they might feel more assured that Christendom would survive in some form at least.

One interesting thing I'd like to have your opinion on is what effect these Nestorian Mongols would have on China, assuming they conquered it as they did OTL.
 
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