You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
Emir Timur chooses not to ride northward with his armies in 1395, deciding that Tokhtamish, Khan of the Golden Horde, is more valuable as an ally than a rival. The great empire of the northern steppes is spared. Timur instead directs his energies westward toward Iraq, Syria, and Asia Minor.
Possible results:
Russia remains dominated by a Muslim/Turkic empire. Greater transmission of Islamic culture into Russia. (I know that Russia successfully resisted Islamification while under the GH, but add a century or two of GH rule and you're bound to see some cultural transmission.)
Among the Christian states, Moscow still becomes dominant (it was the most successful appeaser of the khans), but an Islamic overlord remains in power over it.
The rising Ottoman Empire and the fading Byzantine receive the full brunt of Timur's armies. The Ottomans are never able to regroup.
After Timur's death, the power vacuum in the Balkans is filled by local powers. Venice and Genoa tighten their hold on the coasts. Hungary becomes a major power in the northwest. In the northeast, the Crimean Tatarss, themselves loyal to the Golden Horde, expand into the Danube valley. Greece itself is divided among petty principalities that show only nominal loyalty to the Emperor in Constantinople.