Plausibility Check: Mongol Invasion of India

As we all know, the Mongol Empire never crossed the Himalaya's into India proper, settling only for the western most parts of modern Pakistan. I am currently gathering building blocks for a timeline, and I am not afraid to say that the alternate exploits of the Mongols will play a huge role in the general developments of Eurasia. One of these alternate decisions is a Mongol attack on India, opening exciting avenues that I will not discuss at present. However, I want to be sure that such a scenario is not simply pulled straight out of ASB 101. So I ask you, members of the forum, whether this scenario is plausible, likely or not.

Where could the Mongols attack from? I understand that launching an invasion from the north, through the Himalaya's, is absolutely impossible, but what of a crossing of the Indus in the west? Would they require allies on the other side of the Indus to make such a strike? How far in could the Mongols realistically manage before the sheer weight of people and logistics become too great that they are forced to a halt?

Your feedback may have significant effects on how the timeline would proceed, so I look forward to hearing from you.
 
As we all know, the Mongol Empire never crossed the Himalaya's into India proper, settling only for the western most parts of modern Pakistan. I am currently gathering building blocks for a timeline, and I am not afraid to say that the alternate exploits of the Mongols will play a huge role in the general developments of Eurasia. One of these alternate decisions is a Mongol attack on India, opening exciting avenues that I will not discuss at present. However, I want to be sure that such a scenario is not simply pulled straight out of ASB 101. So I ask you, members of the forum, whether this scenario is plausible, likely or not.

Where could the Mongols attack from? I understand that launching an invasion from the north, through the Himalaya's, is absolutely impossible, but what of a crossing of the Indus in the west? Would they require allies on the other side of the Indus to make such a strike? How far in could the Mongols realistically manage before the sheer weight of people and logistics become too great that they are forced to a halt?

Your feedback may have significant effects on how the timeline would proceed, so I look forward to hearing from you.

Did they ever get across the Hindu Kush? (Maybe if they try it's Mongol Kush, or whatever 'killer of mongols' would be in Punjabi/Hindi.)




OTOH, the word "Moghul" is apparently Persian for "Mongol" so you could investigate that connexion.
 
OTOH, the word "Moghul" is apparently Persian for "Mongol" so you could investigate that connexion.

"Mughal" or "Moghul" is indeed the Persian for "Mongol", and the empire was built on essentially Mongolian lines (nomadic horse archers and the like--descendants of the Timurids, themselves descendants of the Mongols). It seems plausible that Mongol forces could cross the Indus and effect some sort of Indian conquest. After all, something similar happened about 3-400 years later under Babur with much less support than a Mongol force from their peak might recieve from the other Mongol rulers.
 
After all, something similar happened about 3-400 years later under Babur with much less support than a Mongol force from their peak might recieve from the other Mongol rulers.
On the flip side, the early Mongol Conquest took place around the same time that the Delhi Sultanate was rising-- Babur faced a bunch of squabbling kingdoms, not a united (north-) Indian state.
 
On the flip side, the early Mongol Conquest took place around the same time that the Delhi Sultanate was rising-- Babur faced a bunch of squabbling kingdoms, not a united (north-) Indian state.
Not to mention how unsuccessful the OTL attacks against the Delhi Sultanate proved to be...
 

Keenir

Banned
On the flip side, the early Mongol Conquest took place around the same time that the Delhi Sultanate was rising-- Babur faced a bunch of squabbling kingdoms, not a united (north-) Indian state.

if the Mongols strike when the Delhi Sultanate is rising, could that prevent it {Delhi} from reaching its OTL heights, or force it to move eastwards?
 
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