There are some certain similarities within some of the history of the world, and the people groups, but there isn't any overt similarity. The books has a different type of religion in it, though the framework of how people run their religious institutions is familiar.

This book has more in common with A Canticle for Leibowitz than any specific historical events. Though, that isn't a bad thing. Come to think of it, there are a few elements that the book shares with Neal Stephenson's Anathem as well.