Plausibility Check : Islamic Indochina

Since I've been under impression that they were pretty much overall isolated from any meaningfully potential source of Islamic stream, despite they're being next to Bengal, which has never been completely Islamic itself. Unless you can demonstrate that a Bengal conquest of Burma should've been plainly possible.

Well that's why I proposed a Muslim conquest of Assam, which AFAIK neither the Delhi Sultanate nor the Mughal Empire ever achieved. The earlier, the better, so preferably a Delhi-wank in a TL where either the Mongol conquests don't happen at all or they manage to conquer Burma but for some reason never reach the borders of the Delhi Sultanate (and Tamerlane is butterflied away).
 
Well that's why I proposed a Muslim conquest of Assam, which AFAIK neither the Delhi Sultanate nor the Mughal Empire ever achieved. The earlier, the better, so preferably a Delhi-wank in a TL where either the Mongol conquests don't happen at all or they manage to conquer Burma but for some reason never reach the borders of the Delhi Sultanate (and Tamerlane is butterflied away).

I have been under impression that any movement from Bengal to Burma (and vice versa) would have to overcome a pretty tough terrain condition :

Burma_topo_en.jpg


Your idea is maybe doable, but I'm not sure what would ever draw anyone into pacifying Assam area. It's just to isolated and unimportant. Maybe if there is a lasting Tibetan Empire that will become an ever present threat to Greater Bengal area, that a solid and permanent hold of the region becomes a necessity....
 
Hmmm, I see now that there's mountains between Assam and Burma. But I imagine they're not an impassible barrier, since Burma conquered Assam in the early 19th century. And according to Wikipedia, Chittagong in Bengal was conquered by the Mughals from Arakan, so Assam can be bypassed altogether in favor of the southern route into Burma. You just need a Muslim empire with the strength and willingness to expand in that direction.
 
It is easy if we have the Arakan become more Muslim and then the Arakan influence the Mons, the question is how.

Hmmm, I see now that there's mountains between Assam and Burma. But I imagine they're not an impassible barrier, since Burma conquered Assam in the early 19th century. And according to Wikipedia, Chittagong in Bengal was conquered by the Mughals from Arakan, so Assam can be bypassed altogether in favor of the southern route into Burma. You just need a Muslim empire with the strength and willingness to expand in that direction.

Both of you have brought up a sound point about Arakan. I guess that a speedier spread of Islam in India can actually result in a muslim Arakan. From there, Arakan can later grow into a prestigious regional power that can kick the spread of Islam in Burma. And a Hanafite muslim country in SE Asia would look intriguing.

Antagonism between Thais and the muslim Burmese would likely to drive the later making distance from Islam though....
 
Antagonism between Thais and the muslim Burmese would likely to drive the later making distance from Islam though....

That may not be that much of an obstacle. The Burmese managed to inflict some pretty bad defeats against the Thais in OTL and held suzerainty over Chiang Mai for a long time. In short, they usually held the upper hand in that rivalry. The religious factor, in combination with an expansionist Champa from the other direction, may be enough to ensure Muslim primacy in Indochina - I'm thinking of jihadist states throughout history.
 
That may not be that much of an obstacle. The Burmese managed to inflict some pretty bad defeats against the Thais in OTL and held suzerainty over Chiang Mai for a long time. In short, they usually held the upper hand in that rivalry. The religious factor, in combination with an expansionist Champa from the other direction, may be enough to ensure Muslim primacy in Indochina - I'm thinking of jihadist states throughout history.

The mental image of Thai equivalent of Sokoto Caliphate is kind of intimidating.... O.O

So far, it seems to me that basically it's best to have multiple streams of Islamization coming from different directions in order to Islamize the whole Indo-China (though most likely with the exception of the Viets). Muslim Burma in the west and muslim Khmer/Champa in the east(better with the former since they had better population base) will likely going to give the Thais impetus to differentiate themselves from surroundings, unless maybe if they are strong enough to dominate Malay peninsula under that condition, AND understanding what would be the better choice....
 
I heard the muslims east of India are HUGELY much more Sunnites than Shi'ites, and the only serious Shi'ites communauty was one created by persian evangelism or something, in india.. oddly, if Shi'ism arrived in the region, would that change the scenario?

And who know here much about the Karens?
 
I heard the muslims east of India are HUGELY much more Sunnites than Shi'ites, and the only serious Shi'ites communauty was one created by persian evangelism or something, in india.. oddly, if Shi'ism arrived in the region, would that change the scenario?

I think it will be strikingly anomalous to have any significant part of Indochina becomes Shiite. The source of Islamization would be either Bengal or the straits. The former will carry Hanafi madzhab, while the later Syafi'i.
 
Maybe some of this indochinese islamisation could come from this indian state where there is a shi'ite population... it's how they got converted, it seems, from persian dudes.
 
Top