No Islam: Later Effects and Scenarios in India,Afghanistan,Iran and Central Asia

Albert.Nik

Banned
Suppose there is no Islam. Arab tribes convert to Christianity centuries before that or Gallus conquers them and brings them under Augustus or something like that.

What are the effects and different scenarios that could be unleashed in North India,Afghanistan,Central Asia? More Iranian and Zoroastrian settlement and influence? Different type of Open Hinduism or Buddhism takes root in these regions and others from the North and the West convert? Different ethnic makeup in these regions? You can think of many more scenarios. You are at full freedom to post the relevant timeline of your own.
 
  • India will remain Hindu, and Iran Zoroastrian. The two could possibly emerge as somewhat of cultural twins ittl. Without the Muslims flipping the table of global politics and creating a new major cultural sphere the two might drift closer together.
  • Personally, I discredit the idea of a "Nestorian Asia" that gets tossed around here a lot. It was a minority in Central Asia next to Tengrins, Buddhists, and others. Even in Mesopotamia, I recall reading that it was losing ground to Miaphytism. Although regions in Persia like Arabia, the Caucuses, and Mesopotamia will all likely become Christian.
  • The Sassanid Dynasty is screwed, though any replacement will likely be ethnically Persian.
  • Afghanistan will either be Buddhist or Zoroastrian, depends on if the Turks invade and what religion they adopt. In any case, while Afghanistan will still probably be strongly conservative in their leanings, I do doubt that any Taliban like group could emerge here.
  • Many future events depend on if the Turks still invade, and I imagine they will. Now Seljuk is butterflied, so that means no khanate under him, so the Turks down south could either still invade Iran or go for India centuries earlier. Regardless, I doubt that any empire like his will ever reach Anatolia, so no Turkish base there(at least not in the way it was done OTL).
  • Many centuries later Central Asia will likely be a mixture of primarily Buddhists, Zoroastrians in Afghanistan and western Pakstan, some Christians, and the last remnants of Manichaeism. Most Tengrins will probably convert to one of the three religions for the same reasons the people did iotl. I don't think Manichaeism has much-staying power, being Gnostic in nature tends to reduce popular support for a religion compared to its contemporaries. I know about the Uyghur Khanate, but that's basically the only major example of it having power. It will likely survive much longer ittl, but it will still lose relevance over the centuries to the older religions that already offered most of what it did.
  • Speaking of Christianity, Russia still likely goes Orthodox, although it could possibly be more ethically Turkish/Tatar (possibly via Khazars, or any later invaders), if these two adopt that religion and assimilate into the culture of the land. They may, however, become a larger influence on Russia's ethnic and linguistic make-up, and as a result, Russia may be more culturally Asian, with stronger ties to the East. Internally, they will be much more divided than OTL. If they can still expand into some of central Asia then Eastern Orthodoxy may have a chance of spreading as well. (Khazakstan is a potential convert, historically being so connected to Russia.)
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Afghanistan,parts of North India and Sogdia are the grey areas between Hindu/Buddhist India and Zoroastrian Persia. These regions could turn out far more interesting. Many Turks could probably assimilate into these populations in these regions as did the Huns who went towards India. Beyond this,Central Asia wasn't having too big population to make a huge impact. You might have Persians strong there too with their settlements as would the Buddhist empires/parts of India.
 
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