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One unexplored trope in alternate history is that of an Indian power "discovering" and colonizing some part of the Americas. I understand that traversing the Pacific is markedly more difficult than crossing the Atlantic, and most Indian powers weren't even concerned with achieving territorial gains outside of the subcontinent proper. That said, the Chola dynasty did hold most of Southeast Asia/Indonesia under vassalage for some time. I'm thinking that if these gains were consolidated and the territories more intensely colonized by Tamil settlers, then the Chola empire might not have broken up, and the focus of the nation might have shifted eastward. If, for example, the Cholas moved their capital to Java or Sumatra, might they have tried to explore further east in the hopes of finding new islands to colonize? Once they passed Papua New Guinea, could they have come into contact with the Polynesians, and then followed the archipalego until they reached the West Coast?

That was obviously a really rough timeline, but I would like to explore the feasibility of the Cholas(or indeed any Indian power) reaching and impacting the Americas. Do you guys think it's possible?
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