Muezzins on the Seine

Polish Eagle

With the defeat of the Franks, the Emir's border extended out to the Rhine, and he pledged fealty to the Caliph of Cordoba. The Caliph had other ambitions, including a possible invasion of England, and a war against the African kingdoms further south. After the Caliph's son married into the Frankish ruling dynasty, a new Caliphate, stretching from the Rhine to west Africa, was assured.

So, in 1172, the armies of Caliph Hisham IV launched an assault on the northern border of the Ghana Empire. Armies of cavalry, including many berbers, crossed the deserts and reached Koumbi Saleh within months, numbering around 300,000. Though the local armies fought hard, they were hopelessly outmatched. The cavalry forces of the Caliphate were equipped with heavy weapons and armor, and smashed through infantry equipped with reed shields. Though the cavalry fought harder, they too were driven out. Koumbi Saleh fell, and with it, the Ghana. Within a few years, the entire Ghana Empire had been subjugated by the Caliphate.

When Hisham died in 1181, his son, Mohammad, inherited the Caliphate, and when the Emir of Bordeaux died in 1183, Mohammad inherited that state as well. The Caliphate stretched from West Africa to the Rhine.

In Cuba, a Taino chieftain began to unite the city-states of Cuba under his rule, in response to more Maya attacks on the island to gather sacrifices. He built a fleet of war canoes, each with crews of over 60 men, which patrolled the shores, and sometimes even attacked Maya cities on the Yucatan Peninsula. The fleet even defeated Viking ships on the Florida coast.
 

rad_vsovereign

Oh wow, I like this TL :)
Youre very knowledgeable about all those little details as well as numerous butterflies.

A Caliphate all the way from Ghana to the Rhine?
Hmmm....that sounds like an overstretch to me.
 

Polish Eagle

The first major political entity to form in Druerland was the Kingdom of Druerland, under a leader remembered simply as Magnus Erikkson. The Kingdom started as a confederation of city-states on the banks of Egil's River (OOC: St. Lawrence). He united the city-states for plunder of neighboring states, especially the rich ones on the east coast. His territories by the end of his life in 1196, stretched from Druerland proper (the island) to Lake Ontario. His son Harald extended the domains further, conquering Indian tribes as far as the Great Falls in the west and forcing tribute out of Viking states as far as Grunland (Greenland). However, the expansion of Druerland was not entirely negative for the Indians. When animals escaped, they found new niches in the New World, which was without megafauna since the last mammoth died. It did not take long for Indians to start farming, herding, and riding horses, and raising musk oxen, cows, and pigs for food. When the megafauna reached the plains, their populations exploded.

At this time a new form of architecture emerged in Europe. In the Frankish Empire and Italy, architects began building taller Churches, with great bell spires above and around it. This was not OTL's gothic architecture. Rather, this was influenced by Islamic styles, which had been imported into Christian Europe over the centuries. The most obvious example was the bell spire, a feature similar in form and function to the Islamic minaret.

Caliph Mohammad spent his reign planning a further offensive, an invasion of Viking England. However, before he could launch such a plan, he came down with a new ailment in 1185, and was confined to his bed for weeks. He planned to postpone the invasion for a year. He didn't live that long. By 1186, he was dead.

He wasn't the only victim of the plague. A new disease struck Cordoba that year, one that wiped out a third of the population. Similar fatalities were recorded in every major city. The disease spread to every European nation, but seemed to disappear by the end of the decade. It was a recurring plague, coming back every few decades. It was spread by Roman merchants.

The most noticable symptom was black boils forming across the body.
 

Polish Eagle

Update:

***

The effects of the Plague in Europe varied depending on where the disease hit. Its effects were typically less severe in Islamic lands, like Infranja and Andalus. However, the death toll hovered around 50% even in these lands. In other parts of Europe, the death toll reached 60% and even 80% in some places. The Roman Empire took about as much damage as the Islamic states did.

Islamic regions fared better because of medicinal advances. Muslim physicians figured out contagious diseases in the eleventh century, and their ideas of pathogens dated back to Muhammad himself. They managed to quarantine infected individuals, but they weren't counting on the transmission of the plague through rats. The Muslims also struggled with a cultural and religious stigma against cremation. The Christians, though disapproving of the practice, had long cremated corpses if they were in multitude. The rats ate particularly well in large cities like Cordoba and Bordeaux. Another difference was the lack of dogs in Islamic cities. Islamic law forbid dogs as pets, and frowned upon using them even in work. As such, the rats lacked a major predator. However, Christians suffered more fatalities from the plague because of the general lack of hygiene among the peasants and even the nobles.

After the first few recurrences of the Plague, it settled down for a few decades. In this time, most of the western Frankish Empire, parts of northern Italy, and southern England, were entirely depopulated. It was almost inevitable that the Caliphate, even in its weakened state, would expand into these regions. By 1240, everything west of the Elbe, south of the Thames, and between the Po and Panaro rivers was in Islamic hands.
 

Ridwan Asher

orangnumpanglewat said:
Am I the only fan here?
Come on this is one of the best Islam-wank around :)
Click to expand...

Well, I certainly am an induced fan of the theme ! :)

And this TL certainly has turned out to be more Islam-wank then expected. Frankly to be said, I am now eager enough to see the development of the New World after the establishment of permanent connection with Europe.... :)
 

Polish Eagle

Update:

When the Caliphate expanded to the Elbe, the remains of the Frankish Empire were absorbed into the Kingdom of Poland. The latter nation was largely spared the plague, as were its neighbors, the Kur Kingdom, Novgorod, Kiev, and the northern part of the Frankish Empire. In 1227, the Emperor of the Franks came to the King of the Poles for help in beating a rebellion in eastern Saxony. The King of the Poles agreed, but only if the Emperor became his vassal. The deal was done. Further manuevering by King Zygmunt led to the total absorbtion of the Empire by the Poles in 1238.

In Russia, the Kievans had finally converted to Christianity, of the Eastern rite. As Christianity west of Italy grew more and more into a minority faith, power shifted to the Roman Empire, in the city of Constantinople. The Bishop of Rome accepted the Primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Basil Constantine, making the Bishop of Rome the final Patriarch to accept Constantinople's leadership. Now, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and by extension the Emperor who selected him, ruled Christian theology in Europe. Recognizing the power of this new, finally united Christianity, the Prince of Kiev, Fiodor the Christian, converted in 1248.

In the New World, the Taino Kingdom of Cuba began a campaign of conquest of the natives in Florida and Hispaniola, and began to trade with the Vikings of Druerland. The Taino were soon using iron weapons, and building large ships that they tipped with a metal prow. But the Taino were not the only ones to adopt European ship technology. Viking merchants operating out of the Taino cities in Cuba eventually let the secret loose among the Maya pirate cities of the Yucatan. Soon metal-prow ships were dueling in the Caribbean Sea.

In Mexico, the Purhepecha Kingdom had expanded, as far as lake Texcoco in the east and Tlaquepaque in the north-west. They developed bronze working on their own, having not yet contacted the Europeans or the metal-working Mayans. With their mettalurgy came a practice of building larger boats out of multiple trees, and they soon traded with natives as far north as Baja California and even had sporadic trade relations with the Peruvians.

In north America, the Great King (replacement for the old title Over-King) of Ocmulgee expanded his domain to the border of Taino possessions in Florida, and as far west as the Mississippi delta.

Map:

kingdomofmiamiunderosca.png
 

Ridwan Asher

That is a seriously large Islamic Europe there.... I think once the area has recovered from the plague and emerge as more muslim, we can expect decentralization and eventually fragmentation of the Western Caliphate, in addition to the gradual shift of power into the north by time as well.
 

Polish Eagle

Sa'id Mohammed said:
What are the demographics of this Islamic Europe?
Click to expand...

Al-Andalus is about 80% Muslim, in some places around 90%, with minorities mostly Christians (of various sects. Being cut off from a power center located in Constantinople means a few heresies took shelter.) and Jews. Infranja is about 65% Muslim, and the western portion of Germany plus the Muslim portion of England have about 40% Muslim populations.

Of course, this demographic discrepancy in the northern portions will lead to some interesting social experiments I will soon elaborate upon (on the weekend).
 

vultan

Bump, plus questions:
1. Can we expect the Byzantine Empire to not only survive, but thrive in the new enviroment?
2. Since the Caliphate has an enormous native Christian population, would it be reasonable to assume that they might make some concessions to make the inhabitants happy that would effectively become a quasi-reconciliation, even reunification, if you will, of the two faiths in the long-run? Sort of like Abrahamic ecumecism? This could especially be the trend if the Byzantines remain strong.
 

Communard 1871

Polish Eagle said:
Al-Andalus is about 80% Muslim, in some places around 90%, with minorities mostly Christians (of various sects. Being cut off from a power center located in Constantinople means a few heresies took shelter.) and Jews. Infranja is about 65% Muslim, and the western portion of Germany plus the Muslim portion of England have about 40% Muslim populations.
Click to expand...

Are we looking at a massive conversion program or immigration of peasant population from originally Muslim territories? If the Muslims commit the normal rampages of a conquering army of the times, it would be highly unlikely that peasants in conquered territories would convert to something they associated with the people that they hate. Also, while the top levels of society may follow the trend of conversion to Islam, the religious convictions of the masses would be slow to follow. I just don't think percentages that high would work. An immigration program just wouldn't work, since even with the combined populations of Spain and North Africa wouldn't be enough to replace 65% of the population of France. Also, it seems to me that the Islamic regime in Al-Andalus was far too tolerant, IOT at least, to enact either policies. Of course, I probably missed some incredibly obvious reason, but it just doesn't seem that those percentages would work.

Other than that spasm of nit-picking, I absolutely love this.:eek:
 
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Mirza Khan

Communard 1871 said:
Are we looking at a massive conversion program or immigration of peasant population from originally Muslim territories? If the Muslims commit the normal rampages of a conquering army of the times, it would be highly unlikely that peasants in conquered territories would convert to something they associated with the people that they hate. Also, while the top levels of society may follow the trend of conversion to Islam, the religious convictions of the masses would be slow to follow. I just don't think percentages that high would work. An immigration program just wouldn't work, since even with the combined populations of Spain and North Africa wouldn't be enough to replace 65% of the population of France. Also, it seems to me that the Islamic regime in Al-Andalus was far too tolerant, IOT at least, to enact either policies. Of course, I probably missed some incredibly obvious reason, but it just doesn't seem that those percentages would work.

Other than that spasm of nit-picking, I absolutely love this.:eek:
Click to expand...

Its not impossible at all. After the initial conquest (which would be largely forgotten after a couple centuries), most Muslim states were fairly tolerant towards their Christian populations. However, Christians did have to pay extra tax, and most of the higher positions were reserved for Muslims. Conversion thus became a method of social advancement, and Islam became a more "prestigious" religion, especially after a few hundred years of Muslim rule. This generally induced the population to start converting on their own-IIRC OTL al-Andalus was about 70-80% Muslim by 1200 (of course, by then it only included the southern part of the peninsula, which was historically closer to North Africa). Likewise, most of the Middle East was overwhelmingly Christian when it was first conquered, but became majority Muslim by around 1000-1100 IIRC. I don't find PolishEagle's percentages to be that implausible.
 

Communard 1871

Mirza Khan said:
Its not impossible at all. After the initial conquest (which would be largely forgotten after a couple centuries), most Muslim states were fairly tolerant towards their Christian populations. However, Christians did have to pay extra tax, and most of the higher positions were reserved for Muslims. Conversion thus became a method of social advancement, and Islam became a more "prestigious" religion, especially after a few hundred years of Muslim rule. This generally induced the population to start converting on their own-IIRC OTL al-Andalus was about 70-80% Muslim by 1200 (of course, by then it only included the southern part of the peninsula, which was historically closer to North Africa). Likewise, most of the Middle East was overwhelmingly Christian when it was first conquered, but became majority Muslim by around 1000-1100 IIRC. I don't find PolishEagle's percentages to be that implausible.
Click to expand...

The Middle East was a completely different kettle of fish, since the land passed from Eastern Orthodox to Jewish to Zoroastrianism relatively often. In western Europe, the culture was much more religiously homogenous than it would have been, and therefore less open to change. I see your point with the taxes, though. I stand corrected.
 
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