An "update" of sorts: just played through 1200 on an India game. Getting 5 is indeed hard -- China beat me to Confucianism by 3, and Arabia (and therefore Islam) came into existence when I was 20 turns from Divine Right.
I had a spectularly lucky start, and because of that, I expect to win this game on one of the traditional routes (probably space race). I was under-militarized -- something I often do, but exacerbated by racing for religion techs. I was only able to plant one city westward when Persia materialized. They ended up with Buddhist and Hinduist cities, and every time they switched religions, I switched accordingly to keep them friendly. They were extremely powerful, and I knew I'd lose a war. Finally, the same-religion love-fest wore thin, and Persia declared war on me -- and wouldn't you know it, the same turn, Arabia appears! We gang up on Persia, and 2 turns later, Persia collapses, with its 2 largest cities going to barbarian and then flipping to me. That pushed my western border all the way to modern Iran's border. I cosied up to Arabia, and that left me free to take over Indochina at my leisure -- and therefore zoom back into the lead.
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