What if Islam Never Existed? - A Roman & Persian World | Alternate History

Intro Islam has shaped much of the world's history for over a millennium its profound influence on culture science philosophy and politics reached far beyond its Arabian birthplace weaving into the fabric of societies across Africa Asia and Europe the Islamic Golden Age spurred great Innovations meanwhile the rapid spread of it along with the Arabic language assimilated countless cultures throughout the Middle East but what if Islam had never existed what if the Arabian Peninsula never United under the banner of a single Faith but instead remained a diverse and fragmented region that is what I will 600s AD attempt to answer in this video so following the Roman assassinate Wars there is no Islamic caliphate to take advantage of the weakened Empires instead we have a much more diverse Arabia split between countless tribes that follow Christianity Zoroastrianism Judaism and Arabian polytheism this however does not mean there would be no major repercussions from the Eastern Romans and sassanids beating each other to a pulp while there isn't a cohesive political entity like the early Islamic caliphate to swoop in and reshape the whole Middle East the now War t Bor and barely defended Egypt Levant and Mesopotamia would be extremely vulnerable to raids and even conquests by smaller neighboring Arab tribes in the west Egypt faces invasions from the Nubian kingdoms and the Arab ginet tribe facing threats on all sides patriarch Benjamin I of Alexandria and prominent local land owners across Egypt come together to elect the ganid ruler king of Egypt introducing a third major power 700s AD of the region for the first time in Millennia further east the lakids an Arab tribe and vassel of the assassinates declare independence and try to carve out an Empire as well for the first time in centuries the Middle East is no longer a Roman Persian playground but home to its own homegrown Powers further west much of North Africa remains under Rome for the time being with the remainder being divided between many Christian Berber tribes and Petty kingdoms the region broadly develops a unique blend of North African romance Greek and Berber cultures Italy faces the Lombard invasions and is decimated but with Rome being stronger it retains 800s AD a firmer grasp on the peninsula and the city of Rome than in real life rather than becoming a complete administrative mess central and southern Italy remain under the Roman Empire while the north is under Lombard control in Iberia the visigothic kingdom is never conquered by an Islamic caliphate instead the visigothic kingdom survives for a bit longer it was however plagued by internal divisions and strife and would succumb to these divisions as local Nobles and Lords became more powerful than the visigothic king in this power vacuum several kingdoms rise and VI for power Iberia while the Frankish Kingdom expands and takes advantage of the power vacuum instead of being characterized by the Islamic Golden Age The Following several centuries are a continuation of the Roman Persian rivalry Now with an additional major player Egypt this is a completely different world Persian zoroastrian religion and civilization remain prominent and distinct in some sense taking the place of Islam perhaps also translating and Reviving many ancient works the Eastern Roman Empire Still loses a lot of power and influence but broadly speaking retains more power as the newly independent Egypt and the surviving Persian Empire do not pose as existential a threat as the various caliphates the Franks rise to prominence but Charlamagne is never crowned Roman Emperor as much of Italy and importantly Rome and the pope for the time being are still under Eastern Roman rule in this 1100s AD world the Normans still arrive in southern Italy and North Africa and establish their own kingdom while Rome or Romania as it would be called with time is much stronger it still couldn't entirely defeat the Normans especially with its focus being more on its East where it constantly fought the Persians and Egyptians and now had to deal with the selic Turks Romania keeps more of Italy for longer while the Normans focus more of their attention on the south the Norman Kingdom eventually adopts the name Kingdom of ifrica after the old Roman province and the Normans themselves gradually adopt the African language a form of Vulgar Latin much like French and Spanish in the real world meanwhile the Turks do not see as much success a stronger R does not mean it simply wins all its Wars but it does mean it defeats are less severe so the Turks don't conquer all of Anatolia instead staying throughout Persia adopting Zoroastrianism mostly assimilating into Persian culture but still becoming a majority cultural and linguistic group in a region roughly corresponding to where Modern aarani Turks live meanwhile European civilization looks entirely different as instead of the Holy Roman Empire we have the feudal and disunited Germany that mirrors France the real world France itself meanwhile is much stronger having kept more of its Holdings in Iberia thanks in part to to the squabbling Iberian kingdoms but also to its more numerous and Consolidated neighbors very early in its history posing more of a threat than the real world HRI this led to the French centralizing power earlier than in real life the Mongol invasion 1200s AD still happen much like in the real world they decimate Central Asia and the Persian oror asrian World using turkic tribes as puppet allies much like in real life the aftermath of the Mongol invasions is where we see the more significant change as its successor States adopt Zoroastrianism the ilate while led by Mongols and Turks continues Persian and zor asrian traditions as they gradually assimilate their push into Eastern Anatolia would be relatively shortlived as the alanate would not long after collapse to 1300s AD internal conflict in Wake of this collapse in the region of fars historically the heartland of ancient Persian dynasties a charismatic nobleman named ardashir claiming descent from the ancient assassinate Kings begins to unite local Persian Lords under his Banner with the support of the zor asrian clergy who Proclaim him a Divine protector of Asha ardashir gathers a formidable army composed of local Persian Warriors and zor asrian militias by rallying Persian cities under the promise of restoring Persian glory and protecting the zor asrian faith he gradually reunify Persia to the north the roof develop quite differently as the ever persistent Romania maintains a lot of influence in the region as the 1400s AD golden horde weakens and the introduction of gunpowder makes step tribes less formidable this mostly benefits the poles and Romans with only ve Rina a Roose Republic centered around novarad remaining as an independent Roose power to the West the Iberian kingdoms have been consolidating and a growing African Empire having conquered much of morania begins to look for alternate trade routes around its Egyptian and Roman Rivals establishing settlements on the Canary Islands and eventually by accident discovering the Americas much like in real life this leads to a rush to settle the continent As Old World diseases devastate the locals and make the land ripe for the taking back in the old world meanwhile both Romania and the newly reestablished Persian Empire under a Persian Dynasty are seeing a sudden rise in power as the 1500s AD Mongol successor States quickly succumb to new gunpowder weapons and strategies the two ancient empires alongside Poland and Vetra in a process almost mirroring the colonization of the Americas expand and establish settled civilization in the previously wh dominated step TOA in particular Romania step territories would develop a very unique culture due to its separation from the rest of the Empire across the Black Sea as well as its very different landscape and diverse demographics another major shift that would have been unfolding over the past millennium is the decentralization of Christianity by this time it would have reached its natural conclusion with each kingdom and Empire primarily managing their Church Affairs internally and independently although the patriarch of Rome was once acknowledged as a ceremonial figurehead theological differences gradually diminished his influence over churches and regions like England Germany and Sweden instead of a Protestant Reformation as seen in real history which was driven by the Catholic Church's overreach this world experiences a steady decentralization of Christianity after the decline of Rome in the West consequently religious Administration becomes more localized allowing for greater Freedom of Information in some regions this decentralization combined with advancements in technology such as the printing press which enabled the rapid dissemination of information spurred the emergence of a scientific revolution particularly in Western Europe This accelerated technological development and along with the colonization of the Americas led to the gradual decline of established powers like Romania Egypt and Persia which struggled to adapt to these changing circumstances es this 1600s AD trend would continue gradually for Centuries with Western powers and 1700s AD nationalist revolutions chipping away 1800s AD particularly at Romania territory however Western worldwide domination would not continue forever TOA the former Romanian step territories split off in the mid 1800s during a nationalist Republican Revolution inspired by the success of republicanism in vraa unlike its mother nation TKA would very successfully adapt to the New World Order and technological advancements as another greek-speaking Roman Des civilization toa's success triggers serious reform in Romania by the early 1900s along with the other empires of old Romania begins rapid industrialization suddenly changing the geopolitical climate and ending Western hegemony a continent spanning Great War 1900s AD takes place in the wake of this as the Western Powers desperately try to hold on to power a stable peace follows as a 2000s AD more sustainable balance of power is established with Romania and its allies Victory by the modern day the most powerful entities in the old world are as follows the ocidental union formed out of the surviving Western Powers mainly as a means of Defending against the resurgent Romania Romania of course is perhaps the strongest it has been since the fall of the West both these Powers each stand as the leaders in the Western World with a clear divide within it being between the Romanian influenced West and the Frankish French and later ocidental Union influenced West Persia which following the Great War kicked the Egyptians out of Arabia liberated the majority zoroastrian population and reestablished itself as a major world power and of course center of the zoroastrian world which to some extent has replaced the Islam of our world Egypt which saw a major setback during the Great War still extends its influence across East Africa and Japan which adapted much more quickly than China to industrialization and Western influence carved out an Empire and settled large swaths of land on the Eastern step before China eventually became strong enough to oppose it the Americas meanwhile are also quite interesting North America is home to several important world and Regional Powers with the United provinces being on par with the major powers of the old world having benefited greatly from its isolation the same can be said of the less powerful but still relevant Argentina originally colonized by afria but later seized by Lucitania after Africa lost its mortanian territories broadly speaking Latin America in this world is much more stable than in real life as without the same mentality shaped by the Reay Kista the Iberian kingdoms and afria dealt with their colonies in an entirely different way not being quite as harsh more reminiscent of other European powers which resulted in more stable and successful societies developing but End that's about all for now leave a like And subscribe if you enjoyed the video and a big thank you to all my channel members see you next time