What if Khan was picked up by someone else?

[Commishsleer]

Because the script called for it.
Hollywood had a long tradition of casting actors/actresses in roles that were different than their cultural background. This was really no different. Usually it was caucasians playing a character from another ethnic group. Westerns were often quite guilty of this. And how about John Wayne playing Genghis Khan in the Conqueror? Actually, look at the entire cast of that movie. There are tons of other examples.
What they could (and maybe should) have done is change Khan's character to hispanic.

"

Looks like in the initial scripts Khan was supposed to be Scandinavian or an "Aryan" Sikh (whatever that is
). I think it would have been so inappropriate to have a race of "supermen" be led by an Aryan. I'm glad they changed it to be someone of different ethnicity (even if he wasn't really).
I think their intentions were good when they intended to portray Montalban as a Sikh. But even as a child when I saw Space Seed for the first time I never though Khan was an ethnic Sikh (or Indian). I thought he was just doing a Lawrence of Arabia getting his tan and mannerisms after living with them for years. Perhaps McGivers though Khan to be a Sikh because of his "20th century Sikh supermen" hair-do and clothes that she'd seen on historical documentaries of the time,.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Looks like in the initial scripts Khan was supposed to be Scandinavian or an "Aryan" Sikh (whatever that is

Aryan comes from the same root as Iran and has it's origins in the language of the Indo-Iranian people of northern India,

 

[Commishsleer]

Aryan comes from the same root as Iran and has it's origins in the language of the Indo-Iranian people of northern India,

So not the Nazi Aryan (which was obviously very white/blonde).
I didn't realise the real meaning of Aryan.

 

[Poltargyst]

I have only the most rudimentary understanding of this myself, so anyone feel free to correct me, but my understanding is that several thousand years ago, there was a group of people who came out of the Russian steppes and migrated into/conquered their way into India, the Middle East, and across Europe. It was once thought that these people were called the Aryans. I think the Nazis latched onto them because they were Caucasian and because they were thought to be mighty conquerers, and so representing the highest and best of humanity and the Nazis could claim Germans and Nordics were their direct descendants or even that the Aryans originated in Germany or Nordic areas. These people are no longer known as Aryans since it's no longer thought that they called themselves that. Now they are called Proto-Indo-Europeans, and the term Aryan is reserved for certain Iranian and Indian cultures.

 

[cgervasi]

Instead of Kirk and the Enterprise, what if it had been a Vulcan starship, Romulan, Klingion, or another species?

With a Vulcan ship Khan's "I have five times your strength" would no longer apply, and suducing a Vulcan historian probably wouldn't have worked.

Regardless of where he woke up, he would have tried to make inroads with people to get to be in charge. He would have read the Vulcan, Klingon, or whatever society's writing's and mythology. There's no guarantee his attempt would succeed or fail. He was a risk taker. Going into hibernation on a sublight ship heading into deep space was a huge risk. He knew he might not wake up. Trying to take the Enterprise was a similar risk. He didn't have enough luck to succeed, but he was lucky not to be killed in the attempt.

Would Khan have been able to take control of a Klingon ship with seventy odd people. Would Khan have been mentally able of handling waking up on a ship completely crewed by aliens.

It would have been one more thing for him to deal with. He seemed to adapt quickly to the technologies of the TOS era, so I think he would adapt faster than an ordinary human to waking up surrounded by aliens. When he went into hibernation, he knew if he woke up at all it would be waking up in the unknown.

 

[Marsden]

In that event, Khan probably would have gone insane from frustration.

It's so useless!