A House of Lamps: A Moorish America

[dontfearme22]

What about the Cuban or Iranian?

It will be bits of each. If you look at the situation right now, you have a new government that is moving between more freedom for the colonies / lower classes and less. This was the same under the Ayshunids but the Wazirate was built on power sharing between a much wider circle of interests than the old Sultanate. It is more beholden to colonial interests, middle-class interests etc. Once it betrays those interests one time too many, unrest is inevitable, its only what form it will take.

Spoiler: Big things are coming

 

[haider najib]

Can we please have a Luxemburg wank here. Also a luxemburg update important place we need answers to its future.

 

[TimTurner]

Can we please have a Luxemburg wank here. Also a luxemburg update important place we need answers to its future.

 

[mythmonster2]

Good update! Poetry is always a fascinating subject when it comes to Islamic empires, so I'm glad to see the attention paid to it here.

 

[dontfearme22]

I would love to wank online for you all. No guarantees on when that update will come though. Theres a few other things in the pipeline coming up first.

Good update! Poetry is always a fascinating subject when it comes to Islamic empires, so I'm glad to see the attention paid to it here.

Originally the post was going to be literature in general, but the more I researched the more I realized that poetry occupies such a deep, unique place in Arab culture that it deserved its own post. In a place historically known for its literature doubly so.

I like writing about culture because it feels underrepresented in most TL's where it is such a all-encompassing part of real society. Not everyone was a king, fought in a war, explored the unknown. Everyone has a family, everyone wears clothes, everyone speaks a language, everyone has likes and dislikes, everyone has obligations. Culture affects every single human being. So does a common urge to protect their genitals, but its surprisingly difficult to write a compelling post on underwear. And oh god have I tried...

 

[last admiral]

Once it betrays those interests one time too many, unrest is inevitable, its only what form it will take.

Spoiler: Big things are coming

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Oh god! ITTL-version heresy is coming!! Burn, burn them all!!!! Let me get Exterminatus button here.

When revolution came, someone going to rear its ugly head.

 

[dontfearme22]

Spoiler: The Map of Virginia, 1680

 

[Talus I of Dixie]

Spoiler: The Map of Virginia, 1680

One question, the capital of Virginia still an analogue of OTL Salvador or is other city/settlement?

 

[dontfearme22]

One question, the capital of Virginia still an analogue of OTL Salvador or is other city/settlement?

The capital of Virginia is at Aubreytown. By this point its a well-developed town with several thousand inhabitants, and even its own assembly building.

 

[Al-numbers]

That is one sweet map! The detail and patterning is incredible, as is the word font and style!

 

[Ricard (i.e. Rdffigueira)]

One question, the capital of Virginia still an analogue of OTL Salvador or is other city/settlement?

The capital of Virginia is at Aubreytown. By this point its a well-developed town with several thousand inhabitants, and even its own assembly building.

Judging by it, seems that Aubreytown is situated more or less in the place of contemporary "Touros", a small city some kilometers north of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte state.

Excellent map indeed!! I'm a newcomer to the TL, but from what I've seen, it is very impressive already. Keep up the good work!

 

[Joriz Castillo]

What's that land between two rivers with the English seal on it?

 

[dontfearme22]

What's that land between two rivers with the English seal on it?

It is just jungle frontier country. Its detailed on the map cause well, pre-modern map-makers had a pathological fear of empty spaces.

 

[Gabingston]

How are the English surviving in Northeastern Brazil?

 

[Talus I of Dixie]

How are the English surviving in Northeastern Brazil?

Isn't that hard, c'mon...The english can survive in the northeast (mainly in the coast, where everything is fine), and the soil is pretty good to cultivate. (Unfortunately this also make Virginia be an slave-colony much more likely)

AFAIK, epidemic diseases weren't much common in colonial northeastern Brazil, so probably is less a problem. What make everything go wrong to the region OTL was a sequence of droughts that punished hard the soil and the population, apart from that the region was pretty much liveable.

And i have to say, i want an english "cangaço" in Virginia

 

[Gabingston]

Isn't that hard, c'mon...The english can survive in the northeast (mainly in the coast, where everything is fine), and the soil is pretty good to cultivate. (Unfortunately this also make Virginia be an slave-colony much more likely)

AFAIK, epidemic diseases weren't much common in colonial northeastern Brazil, so probably is less a problem. What make everything go wrong to the region OTL was a sequence of droughts that punished hard the soil and the population, apart from that the region was pretty much liveable.

And i have to say, i want an english "cangaço" in Virginia

In what regions were tropical diseases the most trouble for European colonists? I'm surprised Northeastern Brazil wasn't one of them, considering that it's just south of the Equator.

 

[Talus I of Dixie]

In what regions were tropical diseases the most trouble for European colonists? I'm surprised Northeastern Brazil wasn't one of them, considering that it's just south of the Equator.

Mostly the areas surrounding the Caribbean Sea, Northeastern Brazil is too south and don't have the requirements to be a disease-haven, unlike areas like Florida, Louisiana, The Caribbean Isles and the Amazon Basin.

The northeast is too much drier than this places, especially in the interior, so don't is suitable to diseases spread like in Florida, Louisiana, Caribbean Isles, etc...

 

[dontfearme22]

How are the English surviving in Northeastern Brazil?

It was rough going for a while. The first 60 years of the plantation were faced with disease, drought, alien environmental conditions (especially heat) etc. but they were graced by not having many native attacks, since most tribes in the area had fled inland to avoid Arab slavers. It was in fact, Arabs who proved the greatest human opponent. Arab pirates and slavers freely raided the fledgling English settlements for decades before a greater English population and military committment was able to stem the problem. After the 1630s it was less rapacious Arab raiding and a more conventional to and fro of raids and counter-raids. More peaceful trade and a upswing in native attacks from the interior pushed the two groups towards peace and after the 1670s, state-sanctioned raiding was largely over. Roving bandits still operated all across the coast however. By the date of this maps creation, English Virginia is well-established, with a growing population, a sizable cultivated area and is regularily expanding both down the coast and inland.

As for comparisons to OTL Brazil, yes there is a thriving slave trade and yes there is a serious bandit problem. The Arabs do not import black slaves due to long-standing policies stemming from a fear of slave revolt - they use either natives if possible or more commonly indentured servants. Europeans are just as greedy as ever, and a triangle trade is well-established, if modified somewhat due to the presence of Arab intermediary powers at important stopping points in Macaronesia and Africa that necessitate a more diverse business than the wholly white-dominated OTL one.

Banditry is common because its a large area, with lots of wilderness and a deep heritage of lawlessness. The region is crawling with European mercenaries of every flavor who are paid by local officials, Arab and English, to supplement their own colonial garrisons. Add to this regular criminals, native attacks, bands of escaped slaves, Arab slavers who still, despite official policy, target English settlements, and enterprising frontiersmen create a cocktail of outlaw culture at the fringes of colonial society.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

I should note Europeans survived just fine in tropical areas... When the infrastructure is there. That includes draining swamps, building in highlands, having stable roads, and figuring out various tricks against mosquitos and other parasites. Like peppermint, ginger, clove, eucalyptus, etc.

 

[FleetMac]

Isn't that hard, c'mon...The english can survive in the northeast (mainly in the coast, where everything is fine), and the soil is pretty good to cultivate. (Unfortunately this also make Virginia be an slave-colony much more likely)

AFAIK, epidemic diseases weren't much common in colonial northeastern Brazil, so probably is less a problem. What make everything go wrong to the region OTL was a sequence of droughts that punished hard the soil and the population, apart from that the region was pretty much liveable.

And i have to say, i want an english "cangaço" in Virginia

Yeah, the whole "Europeans can't go tropical" trope is pretty badly overstated. Not that it's entirely without reason, but it gets over-extrapolated WAY too much as a thing, especially once mitigators like @Soverihn mentioned are factored in (NE-to-South Brazil, central-highland Mesoamerica, and trade-wind-adjacent parts of the Antilles demonstrate this). It is a shame that slavery seems as likely (or more) to spring up in Virginia here. However, I'm still holding out hope that an OTL post-1660 hard "white-everyone else" line doesn't evolve, since at least that way some folks could dodge remaining in bondage. Plus, a white-dominant English colony is boring.

While I've never been, what I find fascinating about Northeastern Brazil is the contrast in landscape it seems to offer, based on pictures and video. It seems that along the coast, you have what appears to be a very Caribbean-esque strand of beaches and tropical woodland (with consistently flowing rivers to avoid mosquito vectors to boot), but as soon as you go a few dozen kilometers upland you might as well be in Arizona. Hopefully I didn't get the wrong impression.