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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Mar 10, 2024 18:57:04 GMT
What if it was the kshatriyas who rose to dominate India instead of the brahmins?
How would India be different?
For sure, it'd have been more powerful militarily and more easily able to resist foreign invasions. We might see larger, more centralized Indian empires and ones actually trying to invade outside of India.
With less brahmin influence we might also see a more secular culture with less emphasis on religious literature and more on stuff like history (OTL there had been no historical works written in India until the arrival of Muslims since the dominant brahmins considered worldly affairs to be unimportant relative to spirituality).
What else?
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Post by Max Sinister on Mar 10, 2024 22:08:35 GMT
One thing is sure, you'd have to change Hinduism from its very beginning.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Mar 10, 2024 22:12:20 GMT
One thing is sure, you'd have to change Hinduism from its very beginning. Yes, I thought of a very early PoD (before 500 BC) |
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Post by Max Sinister on Mar 10, 2024 22:19:26 GMT
One thing is sure, you'd have to change Hinduism from its very beginning. Yes, I thought of a very early PoD (before 500 BC) I think you'd have to go back even farther - to 1000, if not 1500.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Mar 11, 2024 13:24:12 GMT
Yes, I thought of a very early PoD (before 500 BC) I think you'd have to go back even farther - to 1000, if not 1500.
Then let's go that far and just... change it |
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Mar 12, 2024 12:48:54 GMT
What potential directions of expansion do you imagine for Indian empire(s) starting ca. 500-600 BC? Is expansion into Iran a valid direction goven that the Achaemenids never emerge due to butterflies?
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Post by Max Sinister on Mar 12, 2024 23:46:27 GMT
What potential directions of expansion do you imagine for Indian empire(s) starting ca. 500-600 BC? Is expansion into Iran a valid direction goven that the Achaemenids never emerge due to butterflies? Iran is a very mountainous country, I have no idea how well Indian troops would do there. Sure, they have elephants, but I don't know. Has it ever happened in history that someone attacked Persia from India?
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Mar 13, 2024 19:05:41 GMT
What potential directions of expansion do you imagine for Indian empire(s) starting ca. 500-600 BC? Is expansion into Iran a valid direction goven that the Achaemenids never emerge due to butterflies? Iran is a very mountainous country, I have no idea how well Indian troops would do there. Sure, they have elephants, but I don't know. Has it ever happened in history that someone attacked Persia from India?
Not aware of any. Generally either the Iranian plateau or Central Asia have been the source of invaders into India. Not actually sure why as India has the basis in terms of population and wealth to be an expansive empire but never really seems to have looked to the NE. Possibly until the Achaemenids it was never an area of wealth that might attract such interests having a lot of mountains and deserts.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Mar 16, 2024 10:18:25 GMT
Another potential direction for expansion is Southeast Asia. Might lead to an encounter with China and an interesting mixing/clash of cultures.
Any ideas how SE Asia looked like in 500-400 BC?
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