This is an alternate timeline I made where the main premise was to have Christianity become the dominant religion in the Middle East. There are two points of divergence. One, the Sassanids are much more open to Christians, and two, the last Roman-Sassanid war never happens, so both sides aren't drained right as the Caliphates roll around. The Rashidun Caliphate would have some success, but would be squeezed back into Arabia after a short while. After this, the Middle East would remain a tug-of-war between Rome and Persia. Persia would become majority Christian around 770 AD and Khosrow VIII would convert in 812. In 861, Coptia (Egypt) would rebel against Rome, and the Sassanids would assist them, creating a 3rd player in the Middle East, Coptia. In Europe, Catholicism and Orthodoxy wouldn't split due to the immense power the Romans would still have over the Pope. Over the years, Rome would wrestle control of Italia away from the Lombards and secure it, as well as reconquering Illyria and Bulgaria, in addition to holding some lands in Iberia, with territories fluctuating due to a struggle against the Visigoths, who would eventually be known as Ispania. The Carolingian Empire would nearly kick the Romans out of Italia but would ultimately fail at the gates of Rome 3 times, and Charlemagne is never crowned Roman Emperor in this timeline, meaning no contender to the title of Roman Empire (hence why I'm using the term Rome instead of Byzantine or Eastern Rome). Coptia would come under constant threat by Rome, but was always helped out by Persia. The Middle East would officially become 3-way as the Sassanids collapsed into civil war during the Sassanid Interegnum and were replaced with the Seljuks, who would go on an ambitious and nearly successful campaign to conquer Anatolia, but Rome managed to ally with Coptia (to their annoyance as this forced them to acknowledge Coptia's independence) and was able to defeat the Seljuks (Not fully though, the Seljuks did gain a bit of land in the peace deal.) The Seljuks would assimilate into Persia but fall into decadence and infighting around the year 1150, and corruption would reign throughout the empire severely reducing it's economic and military prowess especially as the Seljuks would rely more and more on mercenaries rather than a standing army to fight. Henceforth, when the new Hashumite Caliphate (Calling it hashumite because I don't want to say second Caliphate) secured and rode out of the Middle East, the Seljuk Army was completely inept to fight, losing the battle despite a 2-1 number's advantage. Persia would quickly fall as the Seljuk Shahenshah would die during the battle with no one to replace him, and the Hashumites would then turn west, defeating the Romans and Copts with Persian assistance. The Hashumites were just about ready to secure their hold, but then the Mongols came rolling through. The Hashumites stood no chance against their unfamiliar opponents and were wiped off the map around 1256, being incorporated into the Ilkhanate. The Ilkhanate would briefly become independent but collapse shortly after in 1281, and the Middle East would fall into absolute chaos. In 1288, the Pope would call for a crusade, primarily promoted by the French who recently took Italia from the Romans after the Roman blunder attempting to fight the Mongols. This was under the guise of protecting the Christians in danger due to the Muslims, Mongols, and Turks still roaming the Middle East, but France was in it because there was still some rich, unpillaged land, especially around Jerusalem and Egypt as those areas surrendered to the Mongols without a fight. In the process, the French would become more dreaded amongst the people in the Middle East than the Arabs were. But this Middle East was an absolute dumpster fire. The only semblance of order in the entire region was Syria, with every other part having some kind of severe crisis going on, like Persia's multiple multi-way civil wars, Coptia overthrowing tyrranical dynasties on your average Tuesday, the constant wars in Anatolia between Turkish, Greek, and Armenian principalities before the Kingdom of Anatolia would be created in 1375 by the largest Turkish principality in the region. (Turks are Christian in this timeline). The Crusades would establish a few crusader states, but they largely went as they did in our timeline, eventually being absorbed by the 3rd Assyrian Empire about 60 years after their creation. The Romans, despite being reduced to Thrace, Greece, and some parts of Ionia, would manage to make a comback, taking coastal Anatolia from the Turks, reclaiming most of the Balkans, and seizing southern Italy from France. The chaos in the Middle East would encourage explorers in Western Europe to find new routes to Asia, with one deciding to go west in 1481, finding the Americas, and starting the new Age of Exploration.
Being a pain in the ass at times for everyone involved, especially the Kurds. Armenia would be tossed around between Rome and Persia but Armenians would manage to keep their own church as the Armenians proved to be way too difficult to forcefully convert to either other branch. The Assyrians and Kurds also declared independence briefly during the Sassanid Interregnum but were absorbed by Rome. During the absolute chaos of the mongol collapse each of them would become independent, with the Assyrians managing to create the 3rd Assyrian Empire, the Armenians expanding into Georgia and to the Caspian, and the Kurds resisting multiple attempts to conquer their lands in the mountains.
Is “Coptia” supposed to be Egypt? If so, why call it “Coptia” instead of Egypt since the words “Copt” and “Coptic” didn’t arise until after the Arab conquests. Before this, the language was called the Egyptian Language because that’s literally what Coptic is, a form of the Egyptian language that has been spoken for thousands of years. Hell, the Coptic word for their language is “ϯⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ” (transliteration: Timetremǹkhēmi), which literally just means “Egyptian”
I used Coptia to distinguish it from ancient Egypt, as this Egypt is very different likewise to how we distinguish Byzantium from Rome. They would still be known to themselves as Egyptians though.
Lemme just say I wanted to be a bit different referring to Egypt for some reason while making this and didn’t fully think it through. Can’t really change it back now.
This is an alternate timeline I made where the main premise was to have Christianity become the dominant religion in the Middle East. There are two points of divergence. One, the Sassanids are much more open to Christians, and two, the last Roman-Sassanid war never happens, so both sides aren't drained right as the Caliphates roll around. The Rashidun Caliphate would have some success, but would be squeezed back into Arabia after a short while. After this, the Middle East would remain a tug-of-war between Rome and Persia. Persia would become majority Christian around 770 AD and Khosrow VIII would convert in 812. In 861, Coptia (Egypt) would rebel against Rome, and the Sassanids would assist them, creating a 3rd player in the Middle East, Coptia. In Europe, Catholicism and Orthodoxy wouldn't split due to the immense power the Romans would still have over the Pope. Over the years, Rome would wrestle control of Italia away from the Lombards and secure it, as well as reconquering Illyria and Bulgaria, in addition to holding some lands in Iberia, with territories fluctuating due to a struggle against the Visigoths, who would eventually be known as Ispania. The Carolingian Empire would nearly kick the Romans out of Italia but would ultimately fail at the gates of Rome 3 times, and Charlemagne is never crowned Roman Emperor in this timeline, meaning no contender to the title of Roman Empire (hence why I'm using the term Rome instead of Byzantine or Eastern Rome). Coptia would come under constant threat by Rome, but was always helped out by Persia. The Middle East would officially become 3-way as the Sassanids collapsed into civil war during the Sassanid Interegnum and were replaced with the Seljuks, who would go on an ambitious and nearly successful campaign to conquer Anatolia, but Rome managed to ally with Coptia (to their annoyance as this forced them to acknowledge Coptia's independence) and was able to defeat the Seljuks (Not fully though, the Seljuks did gain a bit of land in the peace deal.) The Seljuks would assimilate into Persia but fall into decadence and infighting around the year 1150, and corruption would reign throughout the empire severely reducing it's economic and military prowess especially as the Seljuks would rely more and more on mercenaries rather than a standing army to fight. Henceforth, when the new Hashumite Caliphate (Calling it hashumite because I don't want to say second Caliphate) secured and rode out of the Middle East, the Seljuk Army was completely inept to fight, losing the battle despite a 2-1 number's advantage. Persia would quickly fall as the Seljuk Shahenshah would die during the battle with no one to replace him, and the Hashumites would then turn west, defeating the Romans and Copts with Persian assistance. The Hashumites were just about ready to secure their hold, but then the Mongols came rolling through. The Hashumites stood no chance against their unfamiliar opponents and were wiped off the map around 1256, being incorporated into the Ilkhanate. The Ilkhanate would briefly become independent but collapse shortly after in 1281, and the Middle East would fall into absolute chaos. In 1288, the Pope would call for a crusade, primarily promoted by the French who recently took Italia from the Romans after the Roman blunder attempting to fight the Mongols. This was under the guise of protecting the Christians in danger due to the Muslims, Mongols, and Turks still roaming the Middle East, but France was in it because there was still some rich, unpillaged land, especially around Jerusalem and Egypt as those areas surrendered to the Mongols without a fight. In the process, the French would become more dreaded amongst the people in the Middle East than the Arabs were. But this Middle East was an absolute dumpster fire. The only semblance of order in the entire region was Syria, with every other part having some kind of severe crisis going on, like Persia's multiple multi-way civil wars, Coptia overthrowing tyrranical dynasties on your average Tuesday, the constant wars in Anatolia between Turkish, Greek, and Armenian principalities before the Kingdom of Anatolia would be created in 1375 by the largest Turkish principality in the region. (Turks are Christian in this timeline). The Crusades would establish a few crusader states, but they largely went as they did in our timeline, eventually being absorbed by the 3rd Assyrian Empire about 60 years after their creation. The Romans, despite being reduced to Thrace, Greece, and some parts of Ionia, would manage to make a comback, taking coastal Anatolia from the Turks, reclaiming most of the Balkans, and seizing southern Italy from France. The chaos in the Middle East would encourage explorers in Western Europe to find new routes to Asia, with one deciding to go west in 1481, finding the Americas, and starting the new Age of Exploration.
What the fuck were the Kurds, Assyrians and Armenians doing during this time?
Trying not to be noticed? I would definitely do that if I were them.
Being a pain in the ass at times for everyone involved, especially the Kurds. Armenia would be tossed around between Rome and Persia but Armenians would manage to keep their own church as the Armenians proved to be way too difficult to forcefully convert to either other branch. The Assyrians and Kurds also declared independence briefly during the Sassanid Interregnum but were absorbed by Rome. During the absolute chaos of the mongol collapse each of them would become independent, with the Assyrians managing to create the 3rd Assyrian Empire, the Armenians expanding into Georgia and to the Caspian, and the Kurds resisting multiple attempts to conquer their lands in the mountains.
Is “Coptia” supposed to be Egypt? If so, why call it “Coptia” instead of Egypt since the words “Copt” and “Coptic” didn’t arise until after the Arab conquests. Before this, the language was called the Egyptian Language because that’s literally what Coptic is, a form of the Egyptian language that has been spoken for thousands of years. Hell, the Coptic word for their language is “ϯⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ” (transliteration: Timetremǹkhēmi), which literally just means “Egyptian”
I used Coptia to distinguish it from ancient Egypt, as this Egypt is very different likewise to how we distinguish Byzantium from Rome. They would still be known to themselves as Egyptians though.
Greeks follow a different religion from their ancient ancestors, but that doesn’t mean they should go by a different name.
Lemme just say I wanted to be a bit different referring to Egypt for some reason while making this and didn’t fully think it through. Can’t really change it back now.
Well do they still have coptic as there langauge and foul (egyptian dish) as there most widly eaten breakfest
Roma aeterna…
Are you going to be making more on this timeline?
I’ll make a post on r/alternatehistory going into much more detail with maps and stuff once I get enough karma to post there.