Inspired by a game of EU3 as Hungary, where after liberating Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire they were an Islamic Sultanate, are there any possible POD that would allow for an Islamic Bulgarian state to come into existence before 1900?
Islamic Bulgaria?
- Thread starter Kayin Dreemurr
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The way I interpreted the question at least the challenge was to get the ethnic Bulgarians to convert and for eventually a majority (Or at least plurality) ethnic Bulgarian Muslim state to form.
Actually, that's not necessarily true. Back then what is modern-day Bulgaria was actually two provinces, Rumelia and Bulgaria. Rumelia was the Southern half, which I believe was more populous. Bulgaria was the Northern part, which was poorer and more sparsely populated. Now, IIRC, Bulgaria (Northern part) had a significant Turkish minority and more conversions to Islam. At some point the Muslims were expelled. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I've read a published AH story (in an AH collection) in which that happened & had this result. Think that it might have been one of Turtledove's...
This was basically it. An ethnic Bulgarian Muslim state, rather than say a Bulgaria ruled by Turkish muslims that is independent of the Ottoman Empire or something like that.
Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
Kill Mehmed sometime before 1453. Whoever succeeds him won't aspire to try and emulate the Roman Emperors of old and thus leaves the Patriarchate to die after Constantinople is conquered, thus faciliating the conversion of Eastern Christians to Islam. Given that Bulgaria was heavily Muslim in OTL (populated by a mix of Turkish settlers and Bulgarian Muslims), then it could work.
Read that story too, it was very interesting. It was called "Islands in the Sea" or something like that...
Dementor
Banned
No, it wasn't. There are some claims that the Danube province had almost as many as many Muslims as non-Muslims, but the Danube province also included areas that are not part of Bulgaria and the cited estimates underestimated the non-Muslim population by as much as 50%. Meanwhile, the area south of the Balkan mountains certainly had a non-Muslim majority.
There is also the fact that most of the claims of Bulgaria being majority Muslim are made by authors who are, to put it mildly, biased. More neutral authors estimate the Muslims population to be about 30-33%.
And "even" is more misleading, considering that in the 19th century the Muslim proportion of the population was increasing due to immigration of foreign Muslims and the emigration of Christians.
Not exactly. Northern Bulgaria had about twice the population of what became Eastern Rumelia in 1878. Both had about the same proportion of Muslims. And indeed Northeastern Bulgaria was majority Muslims but the larger western part was predominantly Bulgarian.
And the Muslims were not expelled, they are still more than 10% of the total population.
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Dementor
Banned
Why wouldn't they restore the Patriarchate? It was a very convenient tool for controling the Christian population of the Empire (which was probably in the majority at the time).
Also, if the Christians would be that willing to convert as you describe them, there would be few Christians left in the Balkans today. When you consider that the Patriarchate often was an additional burden on many Christians, it may be argued that the Balkans remained mostly Christian not because, but despite the Patriarchate.