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This is an alternate-history timeline in which the Great Shun Dynasty, founded by Li Zicheng, survives and ultimately becomes the last feudal dynasty of China.

In this parallel universe, the plague that historically struck Beijing never occurs. As a result, Ming forces are able to tie down much of the Qing military strength. Even so, Li Zicheng successfully compels the defenders of Beijing to surrender. At the same time, Wu Sangui submits to the Shun regime rather than cooperating with the Qing. Without Wu Sangui's assistance, the Qing are unable to rapidly enter China proper and are forced into a temporary stalemate with the Great Shun.

The Shun government then turns south to eliminate the remaining Ming loyalist forces and the regime established in Sichuan by Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong organizes a determined resistance against the advancing Shun armies, but in the end three of his adopted sons betray him and surrender to the Shun. Only one adopted son, Ai Nengqi, remains loyal. Following Zhang's death, Ai Nengqi leads the remnants of his forces to join the surviving Ming loyalists.

Although the remaining Ming forces attempt to resist the Shun advance, most are intimidated by the overwhelming strength of the Shun armies marching south and choose to surrender. The only force that continues fighting to the very end is Ai Nengqi's army. Nevertheless, after a prolonged struggle, it too is defeated by the Shun. By this point, the Great Shun has unified all territories within the Great Wall.

Having consolidated control over the Chinese heartland, the Shun Dynasty does not abandon its struggle against the Qing. A massive final campaign is launched in the northeast, culminating in a decisive battle in which the main Qing army is destroyed. Most of the Qing princes and senior nobles are killed during the conflict, effectively ending Qing resistance as a major political force.

Following its victory, the Great Shun assumes control over the Mongol tribes of Southern Mongolia that had previously been under Qing influence. At the same time, Shun forces successfully repel bands of Russian Cossack raiders who have begun penetrating into Manchuria. These victories secure the dynasty's northern frontier and establish the foundations for a powerful and expansive empire that will dominate East Asia for generations to come.

What destiny awaits the Great Shun, and where will its path ultimately lead?

In 1798, on the eve of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the envoys dispatched by Tipu Sultan successfully persuaded Baji Rao II and his principal sardars (Scindia, Holkar, and others), making them deeply aware that the British threat was existential and far greater than their internal conflicts. Shortly thereafter, Mysore and the Maratha Confederacy concluded a mutual defense treaty, effectively making the two states allies. The treaty stipulated that if either party was attacked by British forces, the other must launch diversionary attacks in its rear and sever its supply lines. During the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, while the main British force advanced on Mysore, Maratha cavalry carried out large-scale raids on British-controlled areas in the Bombay Presidency and western Bengal, preventing the British from coordinating their front and rear. Although the British still held a technological advantage, they were unable to achieve a decisive victory. The war descended into a stalemate, imposing immense financial strain on the East India Company. In 1799, Britain signed a peace treaty with the Mysore-Maratha alliance, buying precious time for the Indian nations.

Meanwhile, Napoleon's campaign in Egypt drew the attention of both Britain and the Indian states, and Mysore and other Indian kingdoms began actively seeking French military assistance and technical advisors. After 1805, with the Napoleonic threat escalating in Europe, the British Parliament was unwilling to pour limitless resources into the "secondary theater" of India and was forced to halt its expansion there. In 1809, the Kingdom of Mysore supported the anti-British uprising in the Carnatic, triggering the First Carnatic War, which, however, ended inconclusively in less than a year.

During the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), thanks to the Mysore-Maratha alliance, although British forces repeatedly defeated Maratha armies on the battlefield, they were never able to secure a decisive victory and even faced the constant risk of having their supply lines severed by Mysore forces. The Maratha and Sikh polities would more consciously socialize the war effort. Exploiting their home-ground advantage, they mobilized local armed forces and militias to conduct incessant harassment in British-occupied areas, turning the entire countryside into a quagmire for the British and greatly suppressing the effectiveness of British line infantry. Every step the British took forward came at a huge cost in maintaining local security. In the end, Britain signed a peace treaty with the Indian states, temporarily abandoning its plan to conquer the Indian subcontinent by force.

After the war with Britain ended, Maratha generals and foreign advisors alike realized that the Marathas' partial Westernization of their military had not proven a panacea for defeating the British. A European officer who had participated in the Peninsular War proposed that the Maratha Empire revive its earlier cavalry raiding tactics, and a more flexible hybrid military system was developed. Under the impetus of Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, the Maratha Empire undertook a large-scale Westernization movement and military reform, greatly enhancing the empire's military capabilities. Beyond this, Baji Rao II sought to leverage the prestige gained from the war victory to advance further policies, particularly strengthening central authority and weakening the power of regional families. This overreaching act immediately triggered direct conflict between the Maratha center (the Peshwa) and the powerful sardars. In 1826, the major sardars—Scindia (centered on Gwalior), Holkar (centered on Indore), and Bhonsle (centered on Nagpur)—once again united to oppose the Peshwa in order to defend their autonomy. Most members of these regional families had participated in or promoted the earlier Maratha military reforms as officers, and they mostly possessed their own private modern armies. Coupled with interference from Britain, Hyderabad, and the Sikh Empire, the Maratha Confederacy dissolved entirely into an extremely loose confederation. The Peshwa was reduced to a nominal "first among equals," powerless to organize any unified external action. The princely states of central India achieved de facto independence.

Meanwhile, under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Empire in the north unified the Punjab and, leveraging the balance-of-power dynamics among the British, Marathas, and Mysore, along with its own formidable military strength, conquered much of the Gangetic Plain and became a major power in the northwest. During the Maratha civil war, the Sikh Empire supported the various factions resisting the Peshwa. After the civil war ended, the Sikh Empire stood as the most powerful indigenous state on the Indian subcontinent.

Amid the Great Game between Britain and Russia that emerged in the 19th century, the Sikh Empire established friendly relations with Russia and maintained its independence by maneuvering between Britain and Russia. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the Sikh Empire became the leader of the anti-British alliance on the Indian subcontinent, completely taking over the role previously held by the Marathas. Many of the Sikh Empire's military actions on the subcontinent had Russia's backing. In 1867, Britain, allied with Hyderabad, launched a final war against the Kingdom of Mysore but met with united resistance from various Indian nations. The war ultimately ended in failure in 1872, marking the final chapter of British expansion in India. By 1880, the Sikh Empire had annexed Oudh, Gwalior, and Jodhpur and frequently supported the anti-British wars of South Indian states. The Kingdom of Hyderabad initially was a British vassal, but after Britain's repeated military defeats and the eruption of its own succession crisis (with the anti-British prince gaining support from various Indian states), it gradually moved to break free from British control. During this period, wars between the major indigenous Indian kingdoms also continued unabated: the powerful Kingdom of Gwalior gradually declined under the combined pressure of Indore and the Sikhs; the Kingdom of Baroda fell into internal chaos after a popular anti-British uprising and was annexed by the Kingdom of Indore; Hyderabad was partitioned among the Marathas, the Kingdom of Nagpur, and the Kingdom of Mysore...

Author : 「SHENGXIONGGANDIXIBANYAQIU」

This map depicts an alternative timeline centered on a Central Powers victory in the Great War."