Abya Yala
From Alternative History
Intensive trade develops in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, allowing the exchange of goods between Mesoamerica, North America and South America from 2nd Century BCE and 6th Century CE.
Events in the Europe, Africa and Asia follow on schedule. The rise of the Roman Empire, Christianity and Islam, develops as OTL.
598 CE, some American explorers reach Africa and come back. By 700 CE, Americans have circumnavigated the world skipping Europe and China.
Low intensity trade follows and except for some minor butterflies, major historical events in Europe happen on schedule up to 1050.
Note: most names will use OTL names while the ATL names are available.
Contents |
[edit] The Rise of the Caribbean
Ca. 200 BCE, chief 
in Borinquen makes a decision to focus on the Sea. He built a port city in southern Borinquen (OTL Ponce) and had his engineers focused in building better ships.
The Tainos(?) begun founding port cities all over the Caribbean as trade outposts. In 160 BCE they reach the Mississippi and found a city in its mouth (OTL Baton Rouge).
By year 80 BCE, the Tainos had a singular nation in Borinquen and had founded colonies in OTL Barranquilla, Baton Rouge, Cartagena, Colón, Cumaná, Havana, La Gaira, Port Spain, Mobile, Santiago de Cuba, Veracruz, among others. The Tainos trade with crops, gold, fabrics, salt, etc.
Trade by the Tainos inspires local populations to compete. By 100 CE, the trade network extends as south as Rio de La Plata, and as north as Hudson River, and has expanded to the Pacific also, from Valparaiso to the Sea of Cortes. Trade networks include land networks from the Caribbean to the Pacific, the most important being Kuna controlled Isthmus of Panama.
Technology increases, and by 300 CE, the model of port cities is being replicated far inland. Brick technologies, discovered by chance in Mexico ca 150 CE, have been spread by trade networks and from the Andes to the Mississippi plains, are becoming the preferred material for laying down cities, while stone is used, when available, for temples and palaces, and uncooked mud and wood for villages.
[edit] Africa
Year 598 CE, a small fleet of 10 ships, navigating to Rio de la Plata to the Trinidad, get lost while dealing with a storm near Recife. Two ships are lost, and the reminding eight head eastwards till they reach the coast of Africa.
Impressed by some goods like ivory, the fleet (now with a ninth ship built in Africa), comes back to Trinidad before Hurricane season 599 CE.
By 650 CE, the Americans had founded several trading colonies in Africa, and discovered the Azores. Americans are exploring the east coast of Africa northwards but, near Casablanca, they find pirates from the Mediterranean.
After three consecutive incidents between American traders and Mediterranean pirates, Americans restrain to explore northwards. The pirates never found out where these American explorers came from. Neither of them had unique goods from the Americas as they had already exchanged goods in sub-Saharan Africa before exploring northwards.
The American traders not only brought ivory and other goods from Africa. They also brought some diseases, which attacked mainly the port cities that had attempted trade with Africa. From ca. 620 to 740, disease and pirates had reduced the pace of the exploration of Africa.
But as population begun to recover ca 740, the exploration continued. 756 CE, the Americans reached Cape of New Hope, and 765 CE the Kuna financed a very large exploration to explore far beyond New Hope.
By this time, some iron goods had reached the Americas, but no iron had been discovered yet in the Abya Yala.
[edit] The first circumnavigation
In 765 CE, a fleet of 120 blue water ships depart from Kuna Yala eastwards to Recife and Africa, crossing Good Hope and then northwards. They discover Madagascar (767), Somalia (767), India (768), Indochina (769), the Philippines (770), Japan (772), and Hawaii (774) and arrive in California in late 775 CE. Recognizing they had reached the Americas, they travel south and reach Kuna Yala in 776. Only 22 ships are left. The reminding ships had either wreaked, been sent back, or were left for founding trading posts.
For the following 250 years, the Kuna, among other parties, concentrate in establishing permanent trading posts. Cotton, sugar and rice reach the Americas, as well as water buffalos.
By year 900, water buffalos and pigs are being raised on most of the Americas.
American sailors had discovered Australia and Aotearoa, but nobody had ever come back to Hawaii.
Ca 820, iron was discovered in the Great Lakes area. By 840, iron items were being cast, and they made their way south down the Mississippi and to the Caribbean and Central America.
Iron and buffaloes, begin changing the face of the Americas. In agriculture and warfare they are decisive factors.
[edit] Europe up to 1000 CE
Up to year 1000 CE, European history had been pretty much OTL, at least what referred to major events.
There were a few tales about a sailing people in the South. A few people that lived in OTL did not exist in the ATL and vice versa but none were kings or other key historic figures.
Christianity and Islam arose on schedule. The Roman Empire fell in the West. Soon the Franks would begin the Christianization of Eastern Europe. The Moors conquered Spain, and the Norse expanded.
Any history book based on wars and kings would be indistinguishable to OTL in Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Year 1000, history begins to change.
The Norse had been expanding westwards to Iceland and Greenland, and year 1000, a Christian expedition lead by Erik the Red, reached Newfoundland.
In Newfoundland, Erik encounter some villages built of wood and brick. The natives were not hostile, and let the Norse stay and build their own village.
[edit] Europeans meet Americans
Year is 1002. Erik and his men had explored southwards and near Cape Breton, they found a trading vessel with goods including silk and gold, they intended to trade in exchange of iron in the St Lawrence area.
They heard histories about richer kingdoms in the South, but they did not go south to investigate.
1002, News reached back in Greenland and Iceland. And a Viking raid was organized.
The Vikings mounted the St Lawrence up to the Niagara Falls, where a trading city with important deposits of iron and gold were raided. Then they continued southwards to the Hudson, destroying and raiding four other coastal towns.
The Vikings came back to Iceland, and their adventures soon reached Norway and Denmark.
From 1003 to 1006, eight more Viking raids hit the North American coast, one of them reached the Chesapeake in 1005. The Viking bounties included great amounts of gold, but also some silk, emeralds, ivory, diamonds, silver, iron, pottery, slaves, etc.
Americans were unprepared. When the raiding season of 1007 began, however, villages and cities in the Hudson-St Lawrence area had asked for reinforcements.
Erik's settlements had disappeared when their villages were attacked in 1005 as retaliation. Now, in 1007, two Viking raids were successfully beaten. A third raid managed to get a bounty near Massachusetts bay, however, on their way back, the longboats met a fleet of vessels, of the kind used to go to India by the Atlantic and Good Hope.
The Americans followed the Vikings back to Norway, where they realized that they had no way to retaliate.
The Norse, being Norse, soon changed the Viking raids into conquest and settlement parties. They begun exploring the St Lawrence up to the Great Lakes, and by 1010 they had reached the Mississippi, conquering the peoples and replacing their rulers by Norsemen. On the other hand, they also allowed American ships to use Norse ports and trade with them.
The discovery of the Norse, and realizing that they are not invincible, were enough to raise the implicit ban to explore Northern Africa.
In 1008, a fleet of Americans explored the African coast up to the Gibraltar straits reaching Arab dominated Cadiz and Seville, before coming back.
Year 1012, a first exploration reached Norway from Africa, and came back to the Americas using the northern path. Year 1011, the Americans had reached Constantinople.
Trade between America and Europe was small, however, except for the Northern path. Americans had very little demand for European products, compared to products from Africa and Asia, but soon Europeans discovered a demand of American products.
[edit] World situation in 1020
In 1020 there are several sea trading peoples, mainly in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Sea of China.
The Mediterranean peoples control most of inter-European trade, as well as northern Africa and Middle East, and are expanding to West Africa, North America and the Caribbean.
The Caribbean peoples trade on the whole Americas, but focus mainly on the east coast, from Rio de La Plata to the St Lawrence, but they also have some networks extending to West Africa and China.
The Seas of China and Japan peoples trade on all southeastern Asia but also reach regularly the West coast of the Americas, India, and East Africa.
As complement, the Norse had expanded to all Northern Europe, but focused mainly on Scandinavia, Denmark, Scotland, Normandy, and are expanding through the Volga and the Mississippi.
Christian Faith is expanding. As most Scandinavian kings had been Christianized, they are bringing their religion to both Eastern Europe and North America.
In the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish peoples are beginning to displace the Muslims from Andalusia.
[edit] World situation in 1022
The Genoese land on OTL Andros Island, which they call Santo Basilio, because they landed on it on St. Basil's Day. The Carib revolt against the Taino because they feel downtrodden and the Genoese aid them, which leads to a 9 year war between the two.
