Khazaria

I'm suprised we've never done anything with the Khazars, they're a incredibly unique occurance in history. So, here's some stuff to work with:
1) What if they lasted longer?
2) What if they didn't last as long?
3) What if they converted to Christianity or Islam instead of Judaism?

Here's a good site for those who don't know anything about them:
http://www.khazaria.com/
 
Yeah, I've seen that one before. But they have the Khazars becoming a world power. I'm more interested in them being a regional power.
 
DominusNovus said:
Yeah, I've seen that one before. But they have the Khazars becoming a world power. I'm more interested in them being a regional power.

This is difficult since so little is known of them. Nobody really knows what was the depth of their conversion to Judaism; was it just the ruling class, or did it filter down? Were the Khazars Iranian, or were they Turkish?

If they had lasted, it would have been because they developed a more stable administrative structure, ala the Ottomans, but I'm not sure this was likely given their much different geographical position. They were usually allied with the Byzantines, though, so its possible something could have rubbed off. In any case, this would have resulted in a much different Russia, perhaps preserved the Byzantines, and the Khazars might have been able to hold off the Mongols, too, although this last is doubtful.
 
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