Around 850-860, the famous brothers Cyril and Methodius (of Cyrillic fame) made their first journey. This was through Crimea to the Khanate of Khazaria, a Jewish state in OTL Ukraine. They succeeded in converting hundreds to Christianity after several sermons. By 861 they had made their way to the Khazar capital of Itil / Astrakhan. Once there, they attempted to convert the Khazar khan Zachariah to Christianity. There was also a legendary debate between Christians, Jews, and Muslims around this time.
IOTL Cyril and Methodius failed, leading to a continued Jewish Khazaria.
But what if the brothers had been successful, converting Zachariah to Christianity? He would make it the state religion, ushering in a Christianized Khazaria tied closely to Constantinople. As the brothers devised a Slavic-based alphabet IOTL, perhaps ITTL they would use the Khazar script (or even Hebrew, widely used in Khazaria) as the liturgical language. This would have rammifications on Europe - no Cyrillian missions in Moravia, and by extension Bohemia and Poland (extensive IOTL in both). Probably Christian Rus and Volga Bulgars, etc.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?