So I've been reading The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan and he's been covering the rise of the Seljuk Turks. According to Frankopan, common names that the Seljuks used included names like "Matthew" and "Israel". These naming conventions imply that the Seljuks were either Jewish or Christian before their rise in the Islamic world. He went on to speculate that the Seljuks' conversion to Islam came in response to their rapid rise to power and if they had risen slower they might have kept their original faith, even as they took over much of the Islamic world. Could a Jewish or Christian empire have risen in Iran and the Levant? Is there any way that the Seljuks could have been slowed down without stopping their rise entirely?
AHC/WI: Slowed Down Seljuks
- Thread starter Chillvillain
- Start date
These names may well come from the fact that under the big umbrella of the Seljuks, some Khazars may have migrated, too.
A Christian Empire in Iran and the Levante in the 11th/12th Century (other than that of the crusaders) is difficult to imagine.
Much like the Mongols eventually did, they would end up going native (and thus Islamic) sooner or later.
If Seljuks don't convert to Islam then they won't conquer anything because their rise was dependent upon attracting followers in Transoxiana which had already been Muslim for centuries. If they remain Jewish or Christian none there will join them.