Here's another way of looking at this -- of the two more popular scenarios, the Caliphate fracturing longer term or the Zubayrids prevailing in the civil war, which one is more likely/plausible? And going with this option, what needs to happen for this to come about? And once we have that, what...
This does make me think -- what would the Arabs do with "Roman" institutions they find in the Imperial capital? I imagine the episcopate, at the very least, are going to be left alone for the most part -- people of the book and all that --but what about, say, the Senate?
I would have to think...
How realistic do you think this much is:
the Ummayads take Constantinople in the 717-18 Siege
the Ummayads win the Battle of Toulouse in 721
in the following years, the Ummayads launch further campaigns in Anatolia, at minimum outright conquering the eastern themes
Since (1) and (2) are...
PoD I imagine is in 717 or 718; if Constantinople falls, I would think the Umayyads would see some of their financial concerns at least temporarily ameliorated; my guess, if this means the militarists continue to get support for aggressive action on Byzantine remnants, the most likely targets...
I think the fate of the Ummayad Dynasty, and the if/who of their successors, is absolutely something worth talking about here. One thing I think we’re overlooking is that the conquest of so much of the ERE is going to be adding so many more formerly-Roman Christians to the Caliphate’s population...
So this might be a thread topic, but I wanted to check first -- so paging anyone familiar with early Islamic history (@wakobear @GoulashComrade, @John7755 يوحنا etc) -- but What if Ali had been among the casualties at the Battle of the Camel? If we assume everyone else who died in the battle OTL...
Have to say, looking back, I'm surprised this is pretty much the only thread with any discussion of the Alids coming to power in Islam's early history.
One thing I'd want to note here -- even putting the Sindh are India aside entirely, the vast majority of the Caliphate's population at this...
It’s not important that it happens, but it is important to the extent that it happens, we’re in the loop about it; that way, in anticipating what comes next, we know what’s the same about the context of future decisions, and what’s different.
From the sound of it, the things that made Gascony...
Speaking of religious minorities -- how are Christian-Pagan relations faring TTL? Seeing as this is after the Theodosian Reforms but still well before pushes toward religious unity in the 6th Century, what does the non-Abrahamic religious landscape look like?