Berke's Disappointment

The year is 1248, and Berke, son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan, is at the recently conquered city of Bukhara in Khwarizmia. He encounters a group of Muslim travellers, who attempt to convince him to convert. Unlike in our timeline (OTL), Berke, although sympathetic to Islam, is disappointed by the religion they describe and declines to convert. By 1257, the Mongol Empire has fractured and Berke, a devout Buddhist, becomes khan of the Golden Horde, the northernmost of its successor states. Rather than going to war with the Ilkhanate, the Mongol state to its south, which had, under Hulegu Khan, conquered Persia and Mesopotamia, Berke sees no reason to ally with the Muslims against his Mongol cousins, as he did OTL. Instead, he launches a westward campaign in 1262, attacking Poland and Germany, where his general Nogai will confront the assembled armies of the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Hulegu is free to invade Egypt, seeking vengeance on the Mamluk Sultanate for his armies' defeat at Ain Jalut as he meets Sultan Baibars' troops at Mount Tabor. The Mongol states will not survive long - but the consequences of this last moment of Mongol unity will be vast.