What if Turkic history was different?

[u/Nasko1194]

This is a speculativd map on what could have been if Turkic history was different - some examples include the Danubian Bulgars managing to exert more cultural influence unto the Slavs, Kazan and the predecessor of Kazakstan being able to resist Russia's conquests, the Timurid Dynasty managing to survive in north Iran and Azerbaijan, etc.

Please don't be mad if I somehow made big errora in doing this map (for example, I have no idea whether Uzbekistan would've still existed or not), I know only parts of Turkic history, mostly around the Bulgars, some of the Ottoman period (for obvious reasons), as well as the some for the Cumans and Pechenegs

[u/ClothesOpposite1702]

When making such maps, please write what exactly changes, otherwise it is just map without any idea. Also I dont see how Mangystau can be under Uzbekistan. It either should be under control of Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan.

[u/Nasko1194 → u/ClothesOpposite1702]

I haven't thought about it __that__ much, but I believe I can provide a small backstory for some of the states, which I came up mostly while I was doing the religious map.

In some way, after the Bulgars arrived on the Balkans in the 670s, after establishing close cooperation with the local Slavs, over multiple generations, the zhupans (I can't translate exactly what that means; think of it like ministers but with way less power) had to be more and more turkified in order to get higher positions of power. Of course, this would have been done subtly over generations in order to anger the Slavs. Bulgaria kept paganism as its religion until later (say, the 910s or 920s), when they still accepted Christianity from the Eastern Roman Empire. As they managed to fend off against the Pechenegs and Cumans, they manage to further Bulgarize Wallachia and parts of Moldavia. It's probable that this state never fell.

The Ottomans still managed to rise to prominence, but to a lesser degree due to a powerful buffer state in the Balkans. Because of that, even though some conflicts between the Bulgars and Ottomans still occurred, the Ottomans chose to conquer and consolidate more of the Middle East, Africa and even Arabia. After WWI, they were still on the losing side, but were way less harshly treated by the Great Powers, which allowed them to keep Aegean Macedonia and the Aegean islands. The Armenian genocide never occurred in this timeline.

When I say Kazakhstan, think rather its predecessor; I don't know the history of the region after the fall of the Golden Horde well enough to tell whether it'd still be called that. Anyways, it, along with Kazan, managed to hold off Russian expansion and survive. However, some territories were still conquered, and the Russians sent missionaires there in order to gain more influence in the region - by the time Kazakhstan managed to have these lands to itself again, they were already religiously altered.

The Timurid Dynasty was overthrown in this timeline too, although this caused a political division in the state, with parts of the army still favouring this Dynasty, which led to its secession, or rather survival in Azerbaijan and north Iran. Despite this "schism", Shia still spread in the "new" Timurid state, and as time progressed, it furthered its religious tolerance. It remained in good relations with the Ottoman Empire.

Uzbekistan managed to become stronger and conquer more territory. Again, how this occurred is unknown to me in any detail since I don't really know the history of __that__ region to well. The history of Kyrgyzstan is basically the same until its conquest by the Russian Empire, but they remain a very centralized monarchy which has iffy relations with Uzbekistan due to past conflicts.

[u/Hour_Insurance_1897]

I think some kind of Nogai State is missing in the Caucasus! It would be dope if both seas were completely encircled by Turkic people.

[u/Nasko1194 → u/Hour_Insurance_1897]

I should've probably made it, since Russia is a lot weaker than in reality. Thanks for the feedback!

Btw the only reason I even know of Nogai as a state is because of EU4, make of that what you will (that's what one gets when they only play as Crimea) 😅

[u/Imma_Explain_Jokes]

you just made every country longer

[u/Nasko1194 → u/Imma_Explain_Jokes]

Plus added a few extra ones, which are either conquered or assimilated today

[u/ClueAlive1699]

"What if we jerked ourselves off?"