The Church of the East in Asia, an analysis

[Tomislav Addai]

This thread will take a look at Asia, if, for some reason, the Church of the East manages to remain present in Asia, although its position is way too far from that of Christianity in Europe.

Syria,Iraq and the Levant
Syria

Syria has never had a significant Nestorian population outside Hasakeh province. Within the territory of Syria,there are nominally six dioceses:

• Hasakeh (ܚܣܟܗ)
• Beth Zalin (ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ), also known as Qamishlo
• Callinikus/Raqqa
• Manbij (ܡܒܘܓ)
• Beroea/Aleppo (ܚܠܒ)
• Damascus (ܕܪܡܣܘܩ) Darmsúq

Effectively, the faithful of the Church of the East make some 30% of Hasakeh province, perhaps made 5% of Raqqa province (before the war), and 7% of Aleppo province. Less than 5% of Damascus city and countryside belongs to the Church of the East.
The faithful along the Khabour river speak mostly Aramaic (Syriac), while those of Aleppo and Raqqa provinces would use Syriac in church and Arabic for daily life. The parishioners in Damascus would use Western Aramaic for liturgy and sometimes they would speak it at home as well. Many in Aleppo, Manbij, or Raqqa have arrived after WW1.

The civil war has hit the Nestorian population in Syria quite hard: the Dioceses of Manbij and Raqqa are in name only; most of their Christians have fled from ISIS. Aleppo is severely dameged as well.
The Christian - populated areas of Hasakeh province have remained for quite a long time an exclave of government-held territory; subsequently, its leaders have unilaterally declared autonomy from Damascus, exchanged all Arabic labels for Syriac ones, but otherwise remained loyal to Assad.

Occasional clashes with YPG have confirmed the status quo on the ground, and led to an Agreemend of Ras-al-Ayn.

The retaking of Manbij and Raqqa from ISIS after heavy fighting did notresult in return of Christians (although a few families have returned to Manbij). Those who did, sold their estates as fast as possible, while buying houses in the Khabur region.
Lebanon
In Lebanon, there is only one Diocese, located in Beirut. In general, most adherents to the Church of the East have arrived after WW1. They make around 2% of Lebanese population, and have one deputy in the parliament. Most were at first Arabised, but later picked up the Western Aramaic dialect (The Maronites were very eager to propmote the Aramaic language, for which they employed instructors from Maaloula).

Iraq
Iraq is considered to be the hearland of the Nestorian Church. The seat of the Patriarch of the East is located in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, while his offices are in Baghdad.
Within Iraq , there are the following doceses:

• Nohadra (ܢܘܗܕܪܐ)
• Bakhdida (ܒܲܓܼܕܹܝܕܵܐ)
• Niniveh (ܢܝܢܘܐ)
• Tagrit (ܬܓܪܝܬ‎)
• Arbela (ܐܲܪܒܝܠ)
• Kerka d Beth Slok (ܟܪܟܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܣܠܘܟ)
• Baghdad (ܒܓܕܐܕ)
• Anbar (ܐܢܒܐܪ)
• Hira (ܚܝܪܐ) -SW Iraq
• Kashkar (ܟܫܟܪ) near Wasit
• Prath d´Maishan (ܦܪܬ ܕܡܝܫܢ) / Basra

The Christians of Iraq can be divided roughly into two communities: those who inhabit the northern parts of Iraq, and those south of Baghdad. The osutherners have largely adopted Arabic, while the northerners for most part speak Assyrian Neo-Aramaic. The Assyrians make around 15% of Iraq; their major cities were Zakho, Nohadra, Bakhdida and around the Piedmont all the way to Kerkuk, and Tagrit as well.
More precisely:

• Nohadra governorate:65%
• Ninewah governorate: 25%
• Erbil governorate: 45%
• Kirkuk governorate: 25%
• Saladin governorate: 30%
• Anbar: 5%
• Maysan 15%
• Wasit 8%
• Babil governorate 6%
• Basra 8%
• Baghdad city: 11%

The rest have a proprortion below 10%.
Legislatively, one tnetg of the seats in tge Iraqi parliament is reserved for Christians;'another twentieth for Yazidis, Jews, Mandeans and Zoroastrians. On the ID documents, the religious affiliation of the citizens is shown. The Nohadra and Arbela governorates have had Christian governors for quite some time; while the large Sunni population of Mosul greatly outnumbers the rural Christian population of Nineveh. Christias have angrily protested proposals of banning of alcohol and other Muslim laws;'in many places they have held large demos. Assyrian strikes led to revocation of the passages speaking of islam being state religion, to saying: "The national religions of the Republic of Iraq are Islam and the Church of the East, which are considered equal in rights and privileges".
Syriac is considered official in some of the governorates.

After the 2003 war, many Christians have fled northwards,to the Nineveh plains. With the coming of ISIS, Assyrians have held the Tigris line in Mosul for four years; with its northeastern bank being defended heavily, while the soutwestern was occupied by ISIS. The coming of ISIS meant the abandonment of Tagrit and the diocese of Anbar as well, while internal refugees continued to arrive in Arbela and Kerka.

With the defeat of ISIS, things are gradually returning back to normal, and the government in Baghdad is thinking of recognizing the Assyrian Regional Government in the governorates of Niinveh, Dohuk, Erbil , Tikrit and Kirkuk (with border alterations so that Kurduish inhabited moutains can be excluded).

The group "Sons of Marduk" is an Assyrian nationalist organization, not so much affiliated with Christianity, but holding the principle of retaliation for terrorist attacks against Christians. Their slogan is ten for one; and have made a name during the Saladin (Tirhan) campaign. While denounced by the Church hierarchy and politicians, they have sympathy among Assyrians in areas susceptible to attacks, or who suffered under ISIS.

Relations with the Sunnis are very bad; the relations with Shias are careful and distrusting; threats from Shia extremists were responded by counterthreats by Sons of Marduk; usually the issues were then solved by the provincial governors who insisted on calming of tensions.

Currently, Assyrian militias who have participated greatly in the Mosul offensive are trying to convict as many collaborators as possible;'while preventing and detering the return of refugees. Their aim is to make a demographic change in the Nineveh province (it is estimated that today the proportion of Christians is at 42%).

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Egypt
The adherents of the Church of the East have been arriving to Egypt in different waves- some arrived at the times of the crusades, others after the establishment of the Egyptian State under Muhammad Ali, others after the establishmento of the British protectorate and others after WW1. The Nestorians in Egypt number around 0,25% (some 240 000 people) of the population. They can be found in urban areas of Lower Egypt and Cairo; they have a social status similar to Maronites and Armenians, and have largely assimilated to mainstream Arabic culture, while using Garshuni (syirac alphabet used to write Arabic language). There is only one diocese centred at Cairo

Diocese of Jerusalem
The Diocese of Jerusalem extends across Israel, the Palestinian territories through Jordan and northern parts of Saudi Arabia.

In the Gaza Strip, there are virtually no adherents (although some 1500 used to there until 2007); following Hamas takevoer most have fled to Israel, Palestine or Egypt. There used to be one church in Gaza City, which was destroyed and hasnt been repaired. Cannonically the terriotry is subject immediately to the Bishop of Jerusalem, and is not organized into parishes

Israel is home to some 7000 Nestorians (5% of its Christian population), who live in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Lydda, Accre and the villages of Jish, Kafr Birim and others. Some of the villages in Galilee are mixed Maronite-Nestorian; and the Chrisitans there have adopted western Aramaic language, mostly in order to distinguish themselves from Muslim Arabs.

The West Bank has a total of 6 600 (2% of the local population) Nestorians, living in the suburbs of Jerusalem, in Tulkarm and Bethlehem. Most speak Arabicand continue to report tensions with Israeli settleres.

Jordan is home to 10 000 (0,2%) people adhering to the Church of the East; with an additional large number of refugees from Palestine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia as well. Areas of northern Saudi Arabia are to be canonically administered by Jerusalem; in reality there are perhaps a few hundred Christians in the area.

Beth Qatriye (ܒܝܬ ܩܛܪܝܐ)
The Diocese of Beth Qatriye encompasses the Nestorian commuities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia; there is one church in Kuwait, two in Qatar, one in Bahrain, three in the UAE and to in Saudi Arabia :
one in Jubail and one in Dammam. The Christians still suffer from severe discrimination in Saudi Arabia, while inBahrain and Kuwait their situation is more favourable. Kuwait has previously been part of the Basra diocese, but was attached to Beth Qatriye following pleas from the Kuwait government. The total number of parishioners is roughly at 20 000, most of them being immigrant workers.

Beth Mazun/Oman
The Nestorians in Oman number 0,5% (22 000), many reside in Mascat and the northern ocast of Oman, while others reside in Dhofar region. Again , a lot of them are descendants from immigrant worke. They have mostly blended in into the Omani society.

Yemen
The Nestorians make the largest Christian group within Yemen, roughly 150 000 people. (Around 0,5% of the total population). Over two thirds of Yemen Christians reside in Soctra; the rest was organized as the Diocese of Sanaa (with parishes in the capital -3 and towns such as Aden-2, Taizz -1 and three in Hadhramawt.) In addition the town of Najran has two Nestorian churches, for the 50 000 Saudi Christian citizens (10% of the population of Najran region).
The Nestorians in the mainland of Yemen have largely fled to either Oman or Socotra, which has declared independence in 2016. Itremained an unrecognized country until late 2017; aomong the first countries to recognize Socotra were Armenia, and Nagorno Karabakh, followed by Lebanon, Cyrus, Georgia, Greece, Hungary and and Mongolia. The Republic of Socotra remains the only country in the world to have declared Nestorianism as its state religion. The Republic of Socotra is not a UN member, and is recognized by a lot of countries to be part of Yemen, which is nevertheless a failed state and still experiencing a civil war. Recently Mike Pence has hinted that the US could recognize Socotra.

In regards to the Diocese of Sanaaa, it is currently mostly a de iure fiction only- the Bishop has fled to Socotra after its independence declaration, and a five priests were abducted or killed during the war. One church in Sanaa still operates, while the rest has been closed down.

Saudi Arabia has been threatening to close down the churches as a response to criticism of its foreign policy by the Church of the East hierarchy, especially due to its engagement in Yemen and alleged engagement in Iraq and Syria.

 

[kasumigenx]

Actually, Luzon is a possibility, however they need to address the lack of literacy in the area.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Iran is a country with quite a significant Nestorian population.
There are the following dioceses:

1. Urmia
2. Salmas
3. Tabriz
4. Maragh
5. Hamadan
6. Hulwan
7. Nehavend
8. Shush
9. Shushtar
10. Ramhormoz
11. Ahwaz
12. Ispahan
13. Rayy (and Tehran)
14. Gorgan and Dailam
15. Nishapur (and Parthia)
16. Hormuz
17. Shiraz and Fars

The Republic of Iran is religiously diverse country:while the majority are Shias, the country is home to some 8,5 million Zoroastrians, and the Nestorian Christians make some 7,5 million as well. The Church of the East is the largest Christian denomination in Iran; followed by Armenians at around 60 000.Further groups include Georgians and Mandeans.
Anyhow, the Constitution recognizes seven religions in Iran:

• Islam (which is understood as its Shia form, yet the law does not further investigate the denominations)
• Zoroastrianism (organized in a similar fashion as Christianity; with a hierarchy led by the Mobedan Mobed, and Merbads being in charge of regions with population roughly of 300-600 thousand faithful; particularly strong in Yazd, Kerman and Mazandaran, considerable in Hormuz, Ispahan and Fars)
• Church of the East
• Armenian Apostolic Church
• Georgian Orthodox Church
• Judaism
• Mandeism.

The non-islamic religions have reserved one fifth (58 out of 290) of the seats in parliament, out of which 25 are for Zoroastrians, 21 for Nestorians , 6 for Armenians, 3 for Georgians, 2 for Mandeans and 1 for Jews.

In regards of language, the adherents of the Church of the East can be divided into two groups:

1. Western Iran (Urmia, Zagros and Khuzestan): the overwhelming majority are of Assyrian ethnic background, or Syriacized Kurds/Persians/something. In the region of Tabriz some are also ethnic azerbaijanis. The liturgical language in these areas is Syriac
2. Central and Eastern Iran: The majority speak Persian or Turkic; the liturgical language is Middle Persian.

In regards to governmnet offices the provinces of Urmieh and Beth Huzaye have Christian governors, while Yazd and Kerman have Zoroastrian governors.

 

[Whiteshore]

Republic of Iran

I'd take it secular left-leaning nationalists won out in the power struggle after the Shah got kicked out.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

I'd take it secular left-leaning nationalists won out in the power struggle after the Shah got kicked out.

First of all the Qajars are not so keen on Shia-fiing Iran. This resulted in a large number of Christians and Zoroastrians in Iran at the time. The 1979 revolution was promoted by the followers of Mohammed Mossadegh (although he himself was dead). Amongst the supporters were also Shia clerics, but you can't call your country "Islamic republic" when some 20% aren't Muslims anyway. By definition the forces behind the coup could be called nationalist, secular not-so-much (I would say it is similar to OTL Iran regime, but apart from Shia islam having practically monopolized its position, in ATL it is more of a cartel-like arrangement with Zoroastrians and Christians)
One would call it rather left-wing to American standards, in terms of nationalizing the oil industry, but the welfare state is rather non existent.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Java and Aceh could have some communities, from where it could arrive to Brunei. If does arrive to the Philippines in time (before the Spanish), I wonder what their attitude would be like

 

[Whiteshore]

What about China?

 

[Tomislav Addai]

What about China?

I have already mapped China: however I will describe Turkey and Turkestan before; for now I will reveal that there is a strong presence in Xinjiang.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Turkey
There are 10 dioceses in the Repulbic of Turkey:

1. Hakkari (ܗܲܟܵܐܪܝ̣ )
2. Gzira (also known as Cizre; ܓܙܝܪܐ)
3. Nisibin (ܢܨܝܒܝܢ ) and Mardin
   
4. Edessa/Urhoi (ܐܘܪܗܝ)
5. Siirte (ܣܥܪܬ)
6. Ahlat and Armenia
7. Antiochia (ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ)
8. Tarsus and Mopsuestia
9. Konya
10. Istambul

Regarding Nestorian population in Turkey:

• Hakkari province: 110 000 (out of 276 000)
• Sirnak province: 70 000 (out of 489 000)
• Mardin province 10 000 (out of 788 000)
• Urfa province 15 000 (out of 1846 000)
• Diyarbakir province 15 000 (out of 1363 000)
• Siirt province 45 000 (out of 264 000)
• Batman province 10 000 (457 000)
• Hatay province 5 000 (out of 1254 000)
• Adana province 20 000 (out of 1854 000)
• Bitlis province 10 000 (out 389 000)
• Van province 15 000 (out of 1085 000)
• Konya province 105 000 (out of 2108 000)
• Ankara province 45 000 (out of 5150 000)
• Izmir province 35 000 (out of 4 113 000)
• Istambul province 95 000 (out 14 377 000)
• Rest of Turkey 105 000.

Which makes a total of 710 000 people (with Turkey having a population of 82 million, thus making around 0,9% of the countrys population).
Contrary to what one may think, they are not a single population group. The 280 000 people of the southeastern regions speak almost exclusively Syriac or their local Aramaic dialects; the 30 000 faithful in Adana and Hatay regions would speak Arabic in everyday speech and Syriac at church. The Bitlis and Van regions hold some 25 000 people of Armenian descent, who have converted to the Church of the East to be able to return home after genocide and forced expulsion. Interestingly Konya province holds a significant number of ethnic Turks who have remained Christian ( as Seljuks have originally converted to Nestorianism, later the vast majority turned to islam, but still there are some Christians. Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir are a mix of Christian Turks and Assyrians.

Historically the Assyrians have suffered genocide from the ottoman state during the First World War, however Ataturk offered the Assyrian millet the right to return. As a matter of compensation. Ataturk named Agha Petros governor of Hakkari province,and allowed Syriac to be used in provinces of Cizre, Mardin and Hakkari (and Urfa in a limited extent) to a limited extent (while requiring every public label to be written inTurkish first, however).
During the PKK conflict, the Assyrians were allowed to organize militias to protect their villages from Kurdish insurgents, and the governmnet of Turkey has been supporting and prefering Assyrians, whom they deemed more loyal than separatist Kurds. Assyrian activists in Turkey often speak about the historical hatred they have to Kurds, for their taking away of their land, and have been writing newspaper columsn speaking about Kurdish persecutions of Assyrians. They stress the shared interest of Assyrians and Turks in weakening of the Kurds. This has been received well by many Turkish nationalist parties and groups, who are willing to grant Assyrians cultural rights in return for their loyalty and support against the Kurds.

Politically, the Assyrians have been mostly voters of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), and some also supported the Iyi party
Currently, under the Erdogan government and its islamization policies is causing concern among the Assyrians. Armenian-descended Nestorians have reported intimidation. The decades-long symbiosis is now very tangible, especially after the bishops of Urfa and Antioch publicly criticised Erdogans invasion of Syria.
Assyrian is used as a language of instruction in some schools, while all textbooks must be approved by the governmnet and follow national curricula.

Greece
The Assyrian diaspora in Greece numbers around 9 000 people, who ale living in Athens and Thessaloniki. There is only one diocese with its seat in the capital. They are well integrated, and maintain a cultural center in Athens. In everyday communication, they speak Greek, while using Syriac at church

Cyprus
The Diocese of Famagusta and Cyprus operates throughout the island. the Turkish invasion has caused around two thirds of the Nestorians to flee into the Greek held area, while the Bishop and some urban residents remained in both Famagusta and Kyreneia. Previously, the Nestorians lived almost exclusively in the north. Nowadays, there are around 3000 Nestorians in the south and 2000 in the north (in the city of Famagusta). In the Republic of Cyprus, Maronites, Nestorians, Armenians and Latins are considered a third group along with Greeks and Turks. They have one representative in the parliament.
In Northern Cyprus usually Famagusta district elects one person of Assyrian descent.
The Nestorians of Cyprus use Aramaic at home and in church, while Greek or Turkish in everyday life.

Georgia
The Assyrians in Georgia number about 3500, led by a bishop in Tbilisi. The territory of Georgia has four parishes. They speak Georgian at home, and Syriac at church.
Armenia
Assyrians number 7000 in Armenia, and have their own schools. The Armenian-Assyrian intermarriages are very common. Overall, Armenia gives almost every cultural right ot this small community. There is one diocese in Yerevan
Azerbaijan
There are two peoples adhering to the Church of the East in Azerbaijan: the Tsakhur and a part of the Udi. A small part of the Tsakhur people, around 2 000 belong to the Church of the East, where they use the Udi language for liturgy, but else retain their own tongue. Another 3000 Udi are Nestorians as well (Originally there used to be a small Nestorian community among the people of Arran ; but after the collapse of the Church of Caucasian Albania, the majority joined the Armenian church and became mostly assimilated into Armenians. Others joined the Nestorians. A second divide came with the Russianss, when some left the Armenian Church and joined the Russian one. During the Artsakh war, even more people quit the Armenian church; some tried to reestablish the Church of Caucasian Albania, yet others joined the Church of the East. With that being said, currently the Church of the East has 7000 adherents (the other 2000 are ethnic Azeris), with two dioceses one in Barda and the other in Nakhichevan. (The Diocese of Nakhichevan used to be part of Yerevan diocese, but was detatched following the fall of the Soviet Union after petition of Azeri government. It has only one church/parish in the city itself.
The seat of the other diocese is Barda, associated with the historical Caucasian Albania.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Afghanistan
In Afghanistan there are 6 dioceses. (Originally there used to be only five, Kabul was established later).

• Herat archdiocese: 200 000. (the Guzara district has some 40%)
• Farah diocese: 65 000
  
• Zaranj diocese: 25 000
• Kandahar diocese: 45 000
• Balkh diocese: 75 000 (Balkh district has 33% Christian)
• Kabul diocese: 110 000

The 520 000 Christians make less than 2% of the population of Afghanistan; most were supportive of the communist regime and over a half of Christian of Afghan descent have fled across h borders to the Soviet Union. The Christians of Afghanistan use either Middle Persian for liturgy (Farrah, Zaranj, Kandahar, Kabul) or Bactrian (Balkh and Herat); for daily life Pashto is used south of the Hindukush, while Bactrian (basically Tajik using Aramaic script and frequent aramaicism) in the north.
The Christian exodus from Afghanistan is a notorious phnomenom, safe regions are in Herat and balkh provinces, as well as Kabul. The "Brigades of Mar Addai" are a Christian militia, protecting the villages and churches from Taliban and IS.

Turkmenistan
The Turkmeni Christian population was almost non-existent prior to the Russian takeover. The only extant Diocese of Mary (Merv) was greatly boosted by Nestorians fleeing from either Iran but more importantly multiple waves from Afghanistan.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a considerable ammount of Nestorians have fled the country. Currently, there are some 130 000 Nestorian adherents (some 2,5% of the population), located in either the capital or Mary province.

The indigenous Christian population used Persian, while refugees from Afghanistan have introduced Bactrian/Tajik. Anyhow, the Christians use Russian currently , especially those in the capital.

The Church of the East is allowed to operate in the country, but the priests are required to have special government permissions in order to perform their duties. The government has banned Bibles in Turkmen and Russian languages however.

The political representation is minimal; there is only one MP in the parliament of Bactrian background.

Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is divided into four dioceses:

• Bukhara
• Samarkhand
• Tashkent
• Fergana

The Bukhara diocese extends over the largest part of the country; it has some 450 000 adherents
The Samarkhand archdiocese is the one bordering Afghanistan, with some 1 100 000 Christians
The diocese of Tashkent has another 450 000 in Uzbekistan, while Fergana diocese has some 1 100 000; this makes a total of 3 100 000 (out of almost 33 million), making some 9% of the population.

Historically the Christian population was divided into two populations: Bukhara spoke Khwarezmian while the rest stuck to Sogdian. (the extreme south spoke Bactrian). Sogdian has survived as an ecclasiastical language in Uzbekistan, while in Bukhara valley it displaced Khwarezmian.

In daily life, the Christians of Uzbekistan use Neo-Sogdian, which developped from Classical Sogdian with heavy Uzbek influences and got nearer and nearer to Tajik.

Despite severe human rights restrictions, Uzbekistan is viewed as a safe country for Christians in Central Asia. The regime has promoted itself as a home of persecuted Nestorians within Central Asia, especially those coming from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Tajikistan
Despite the fact that a large ammount of Christian throughout the region are closely related to ethnic Tajiks, Tajikistan has not a single cathedral. The Sughd province is part of the tashkent dioceses, and is home to some 150 000 adherents, while the rest of the country has some 100 000 Nestorians (with the country having 2,8%).
Prior to the independence,the percentage was higher, but during the civil war, a lot of people left for neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Historically the christians used Bactrian, but under Russian imperial rule, Sogdian laguage was imposed. Nowadays, they use standard Tajik in daily life.

Kirgyzstan
While Kirgyzstan is majority Muslim, it is home to one diocese based in Bishkek the capitla, which is to encompass the whole of the country.

The Nestorian Christians number 400 000, (6,7%), being present in Bishkek, the Chuy province surrounding it, Batken, Issyk-kul and Talas Regions. This makes them more numerous than ethnic Russians in the country. While sometimes facing bureaucratic harrassment in smaller towns , dominated by their Muslim neighbours, the Nestorians in Kirgyzstan view their conditions as rather tolerable.
Historically, the ecclasiastical language used to be "Church Tourkish", an archaic variant of the Kipchak language, however in the late Tsarist period morst texts were translated into modern Kirgyz. The Christian Kirgyz are well integfrated into the society.

Kazakhstan
The Nestorians of Kazakhstan are descended mainly from the Keraite and Naiman tribes, which have converted quite early on to the Church of the East.

The territory of Kazakhstan is organized into four dioceses: Otra, Almaty, Astana and Karagandy .
The diocese of Otrar is the earliest known diocese in Kazakhstan, encompassing the valley of Syrdarja. The seat is no longer Otrar itself, but rather Kizylorda, and some 150 000 people there are Nestorians.
Almaty, the old capital is the seat of another diocese with 750 000 faithful, and previously encompassing Kirgyzstan as well.
Karaganda presides over a rather small diocese with 450 000 adherents (almost a quarter of the province population), and Astana was detatched from Karaganda afte its founding, along with most of the terriotry of Kazaklhstan, having some 300 000 faithful in total.

The whole of Kazakhstan thus has 1650 000 members of the Church of the East, out of roughly 18 million making some 8-9%.
However, the Nestorians are less numerous than ethnic Russians, and have been the intellectual avantgarde of Kazakh nationalism. In fact, even many current governmnet officials are Christians. During the russian empire, some muslims converted to the Church of the east, rather than to the Russian Orthodox Church, as the Nestorian church wasnt viewed as foreign.
It is thought that the Church of the East will experience further boom in the urban and steppe regions as well, as it is tied closely to Kazakh nationalism.

While all Nestorians in Kazakhstan are of Kazakh ethnicity, their dialect contains many archaic features in regard to the Muslim speech.
The "script question" in Kazakhstan is especially passionate, and some Muslim clerics have proposed a return to Arabic, which was quickly dismissed by the government. The presidents advisors have spoken about the latin alphabet, while the bishop of Otrar has proposed the return to Syriac script. Old turkish script hasnt been uled out either, but everyone agrees that Kazakhs should do away with Cyrillic.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Spoiler: WIP

 

[Thanksforallthefish]

Just wanted to drop by and say I'm loving this.

Are there sects in Nestorianism? You also mentioned that Zoroastrianism is more widespread; is that the case with other 'minor' religions OTL?

 

[Tomislav Addai]

The Peoples Republic of China is home to 22 dioceses, out of which 5 are located in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang

1. Diocese of Urumqi
2. Diocese of Turpan
3. Diocese of Kashgar
4. Diocese of Khotan
5. Diocese of Almaliq

Tibet

1. Diocese of Lhasa

Inner Mongolia

1. Diocese of Hohhot
2. Diocese of Ordos
   
3. Diocese of Tongliao

Manchuria

1. Diocese of Liaoyang

North China

1. Diocese of Beijing
2. Diocese of Datong

East China

1. Diocese of Yangzhou
2. Diocese of Zhenjiang
3. Diocese of Hangzhou
4. Diocese of Quanzhou

South Central China

1. Diocese of Kanton
2. Diocese of Loyang

Southwest China

1. Diocese of Yunnan
2. Diocese of Chengdu
3. Diocese of Emeishan

Northwest China

1. Diocese of Xian
2. Diocese of Zhangye (Gansu)

The total number of Nestorian Christians in China is around 21 million, out of whom almost 6,4 million live in Xinjiang and another 3,5 million live in Inner Mongolia. The only other province having over one million Christians is Sichuan with 1 345 000 followed by Jiangsu with 940 000. The Nestorians make 1,577% of the total population of China.

Regarding proportions, these provinces had Nestorian populations over 1%:

1. Macao 70,00%
   
2. Xinjiang 29,33%
3. Inner Mongolia 14,7%
4. Nigxia 3,73%
5. Tibet 3,67%
   
6. Qinghai 3,48%
   
7. Gansu 2,68%
   
8. Tianjin 2,52%
   
9. Fujian 2,47%
10. Yunnan 1,71%
    
11. Sichuan 1,67%
    
12. Hongkong 1,48%
13. Shaanxi 1,47%
    
14. Zheijiang 1,38%
15. Hainan 1,21%
    
16. Beijing 1,20%
    
17. Jiangsu 1,19%
    
18. Lianing 1,02%

As we can see, the Christians of Nestorian brand are greatly dispersed throughout China, with considerable concentrations only in the peripheral parts of China (such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. Most Christians live in the same neighbourhoods in the cities, and are concentrated only in a handful of counties per province; therefore while in some counties of a province the Nestorians make even 40%, in the rest of the province they are virtually nonexistent.

Chinese government has been supporting the renaissance of Christianity among the Uyghurs rather than islam; and a similar policy has begun in Inner Mongolia and Tibet as well in order to diminish the influence of the Dalai Lama.
These policies differ to those in China proper. While west of the city of Chongqing (that is Tibet, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansui, Qinghai, Sechuan, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi, Nestorians are supported by the governmnet officials, things are different and Communist party officials make bureaucratic complications to prevent Christians from openly practicing their faith. As a result, many devout Nestorians are moving westwards.
A big exception is Taiwan, which as a Portuguese colony accomodated Christians fleeing from Guangdong when it was seized by the Portuguese.

In Xinjiang, an archaic Uyghur language using the old Uyghur script has been used at liturgy until recently, when in 2002 it was decided to use the modern Uyghur , and the PRC government has ordered the contemporary Uyghur language to be once more written in Old uyghur Script, to diminish any links with the Muslim Arab world.
The Mongolian language is used for liturgy in Inner Mongolia. Elsewhere in China, Mandarin,Min (in Fujian) and Hakka (Guangdong region) are used. However, it is quite common to see Chinese written in Mongolian or Manchu script in the northern parts of the country in missals.

The question of investiture was resolved vy the Concordate of Xian: the local church makes a list of 100 candidates for a bishop. This list is sent to Chinese authorities, who are allowed to cross out a maximum of 75 names; from the remaining 25 or more,the Patriarch of the East choses the bishop.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Just wanted to drop by and say I'm loving this.

Are there sects in Nestorianism? You also mentioned that Zoroastrianism is more widespread; is that the case with other 'minor' religions OTL?

I tried to change as little as possible in this timeline, just boost Nestorian numbers significantly; given this, however I believe that throughout Asia, islam is considerably weaker, and Afghanistan appears to have a Zuni, Buddhist and Kalash minority as well.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Pakistan
Pakistan has relatively few Nestorians; the territory is organized into two diocese of Lahore and Karachi, with some 100 000 Nestorians in Karachi region and 240 000 believers in the Lahore diocese (encompassing the northern regions of Pakistan). All in all, the 340 000 Nestorians of Pakistan make a negligible 0,2% of the countrys population. the Christian community has diminished since the partition of India, while partly boosted by refugees from Afghanistan. Anyhow the security environment is very bad. The predominant languages are Punjabi and Urdu in the north while the Christian community of Karachi speaks Konkani and Urdu.
India
Historically, the Malabar coast has had a deep binding with the Nestorian church.
The state of Kerala consists of the dioceses of Kollam, Cranganore (Metropolitan) and Cochin. These areas speak mostly Malaylam. In the south of India there are also the dioceses of Goa, Mylapore (Ast coast) and Kalyan (west coast). All of these stem from the tradition of Saint Thomas.
To the north, in the Ganges valley, the majority of Christians speak Urdu a nd have arrived with the waves of conquerors from Afghanistan. They are organized into the dioceses of Ludhiana, Delhi and Lucknow. Later, the last diocese, that of kolkatta was established in the time of the British Raj, serving all of NE India.

The number of Nestorian christians in India per region is as follows

• Kerala 7,450 000
• TamilNadu 3 100 000
• Rest of South India 1 115 000
• Goa 1 800 000
• Rest of Western India 4 150 000
• Northern India: 1 900 000
• Central India: 9 350 000
• Eastern india 910 000
• North east India : 110 000

Total:42 885 000 people, what is 3,23 % of the total population of India. The Nestorian community isviewed as belonging to an upper caste, with many of them being entreprenuers, businessmen and are more likely to have university education.
Sri Lanka
The Church of theEast in sri Lanka has been introduced in the first millenium, currently there are two dioceses: that of Colombo and that of Anuradhapura. Christianity has never been a major religion in Sri Lanka, yet it has manged to survive, though a large part of the original Nestorian community has converted to either Islam or Catholicism. currently, there are some 640 000 Nstorians on the island, who form some 3% of the population
Bangladesh
The Church of the east is a minority religion in Bangladesh, having some 95 000 adherents. Administratively it belongs to the archdiocese of Kalkata. There has been a wave of emigration to neighbouring West bengal due to poverty and ongoing persecution.
Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal
Bhutan and Nepal had never had any Nestorian presence. In the case of the Maldives the Nestorians had been expelled and took refuge in either Kerala or Sri Lanka.