So it would be impossible for a Shia Iran to realistically have an oversea empire without a pod much earlier in history?
Yeah at minimum you'd have to avoid the Mongol apocalypse.So it would be impossible for a Shia Iran to realistically have an oversea empire without a pod much earlier in history?
So it would be impossible for a Shia Iran to realistically have an oversea empire without a pod much earlier in history?
Yeah at minimum you'd have to avoid the Mongol apocalypse.
It's not a question of POD but one of geography; the coastline of Persia is a thin strip of desert pinned up against a mountain range with little in the way of fresh water rivers and high soil salinity (Thus making it garbage for agriculture and, therefore, any kind of high population density). There's very little in the way of "good harbours", even if the isolation from the highlands and lack of local productivity would give them little motivation or means to develop one. As for the north, in theory it's possible but it's going to be an uphill battle: Centeral Asia is by and large an open steppeland with all the political instability and porious borders nomadic populations tend to produce. Without a major obstacle to those movements to fortify and their northern border being so long, any security is going to be temporary and subject to sudden change as tribes move around and conquer one another.
You forgot that at various times in its history, Persia ruled over Iraq including the area around Basra, where the Euphrates and Tigris enter the Persian gulf. They could have used a port located there...
It seems to me that if Muscat/Oman could colonize parts of the eastern African coast, like Zanzibar and I think Mombasa, it's not a huge stretch to imagine the Persians doing something similar.
The Zagros are just as much of an obstacle unless you move the center of the Empire to Khuzestan/Mesopotamia, which makes holding the majority of the nation you just left highly difficult as well as making the state highly vulnerable by removing it's protective geography and isolating themselves from the tribal populations that provide the core of your military might in the form of light cavalry.
Now I could see them expand north into the various Central Asian countries or as I call them “Stan”.Do they have to be overseas colonies? Because if not I could sea Persia colonizing Central Asia in the absence of Russia.
Do they have to be overseas colonies?
The Sasanians? At their height, they controlled the eastern and southern coasts of Arabia. If they had maintained peace with the Romans, they could have controlled trade in the western Indian Ocean. Trading posts/factories on the eastern coast of Africa and western coastpig India are easy to imagine.
None of these would have the sailing technology to compete against the Europeans. Look at Oman, it was the most powerful naval force along the African east coast and Arabia and they not only lost their colonies their capital Muscat was conquered.Would the Safivids have the will or enough power to create and maintain such a colonial empire is the question we need to ask then if we don't want to discuss the things that happened previously.
At best,they could have set up small colonies in India or somewhere near. Nowhere near to an European colonial empire(it is just due to the turn of events that came before them and not for any other reason).None of these would have the sailing technology to compete against the Europeans. Look at Oman, it was the most powerful naval force along the African east coast and Arabia and they not only lost their colonies their capital Muscat was conquered.
If they would get colonies anywhere (they wouldn't) it would be Africa. Australia would be totally out of the question.It is possible. Actually, only Australia is possible in this case... or just maybe South Africa...
Requirements:
- No open hostilities with the Ottoman Empire
- Get rid of the Qizilbash ASAP
- Try to fight the Portuguese on Sea for Naval Experience
- Growing Population
If still Shia: you cannot get Sunni's to settle in Australia so your settler numbers are limited as defense of Persia is also necessary.
The Sassanids also spent much of their time losing eastern Iran to steppe nomadsThe capital of Sassanid Persia was Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia for four centuries. I have a vague memory they may have spent part of the year in Iran too, although it's been too many years since I studied this period to be sure.