Your challenge is to have at least one Muslim country establish at least one colony in the New World. It doesn't have to be very successful or last very long, it just has to exist for a time.
AHC: Muslim colonization of the New World
- Thread starter Mort the Reaper
- Start date
Perhaps Morocco manages to keep the Canaries (not sure how plausible it is). They then hear that Spain has discovered the New World (if butterflies don’t cause it to not occur). They then send a voyage of their own and it lands in the Caribbean in 1494. They land on otl Dominica and for a few years colonise it. However it is eventually conquered by Spain and it becomes a footnote in history.
not sure how plausible any of this is put I suspect Morroco (if it stays together) would be the most likely candidate for Muslim colonisation.
not sure how plausible any of this is put I suspect Morroco (if it stays together) would be the most likely candidate for Muslim colonisation.
It happened OTL. The Dutch imported Indonesian Muslims to Suriname in the 19th century. Technically it is a Muslim colonization.
I think they mean colonisation by a Muslim country, but that kind of counts I guess.
It depend on what exactly is your PoD but a surviving United Al Andalus could do it . Morocco too to some extent with the good PoD , Barbary pirate having some kind of base in the caraïbe too. All is possible especially if the colony only need to be temporary . I have recently done a discussion thread about the possibility of Moroccan colonization they’re some good idea for Moroccan colonization.
Osman Aga
Banned
Morocco: It has the most optimal position on the Atlantic. It is ideal if you don't want too much changes in the New World Colonization
Mali: If it remains united and voyages to Brazil leave with success and return to form existing colonies there while also keeping communication with Africa
Al Andalus: If you want a New World dominated by Muslims. Could even work with Granada, though the colonists must be as much as possible from North Africa rather than Al Andalus. Though Granada may need long term protection from a dominant Muslim Power (Moroccan or Hafsid led North Africa/Ottoman Empire). If Granada were to fall, the colony will likely join the new Muslim Power, assuming the Christians haven't burned it to the ground yet.
Ottoman Empire: Not an ideal position, but most colonization efforts can be done by Algerians, Andalusians and/or Moroccans. The difference is, they declare loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. The reason for going? Taking advantage of the wealth the Spanish found there. Another reason could a penal colony for later periods. Sending unruly Turkmens, Greeks, Serbs, Arabs etc. to the New World who have no chance to return anymore.
Osman Aga
Banned
That is one way... But the Ottoman conquest of North Africa wasn't like the conquest of Hungary or the Caucasus. Algeria was taken by Muslim Pirates from local rulers and Spanish occupants and the conquerors declared to be a part of the Ottoman Empire. Tunis might be the farthest the Ottoman Armies moved in North Africa. A lot of wars there were done by local forces. Still Ottoman but unlike Hungary, no direct participation from Constantinople. Which brings me to the point... Unless the Wattasids join the Ottoman Empire, or the same analogue for Algiers is applied for Northern Morocco, the Ottomans won't conquer Morocco to have an Atlantic Port. Not past the 1540s at least...
This does not render Ottoman colonization impossible but it makes it rather indirect. Which means: Andalusians, Moroccans, Algerians do the colonization in the Americas but they are nominally Ottoman even if the Sultan has zero control over it. He confirms the rule of a local 'Beylerbey' of the Americas or New World or whatever to conduct diplomacy and engage in warfare (Jihad). The Ports of North West Africa and Granada are used for colonization.
Have Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad story be real. Comes back and decides to "conquer" this new land in the name of Islam. Or someone else does.
Or as was mentioned.
Abu Bakr II from Mali goes on his voyage hits Brazil and makes a settlement.
Or as was mentioned.
Abu Bakr II from Mali goes on his voyage hits Brazil and makes a settlement.
Yes that why if one want Muslim presence in the new world the easiest way would be a long living and solidified Caliphate of Cordoba .
as much as I like the idea of a emirate of Grenada in America it seem extremely unlikely to happen with OTL situation we might need some Castille screw in the 14 /15 century they won’t be establishing colony in the new world with the Castilian pressuring them in the North . But if the emirate manage to adapt their military and fortifications to the gunpowder era and have the support of a dominant Muslim power they might last long but I still think they’re very doomed in the long term .
Lusitania
Donor
The problem is that a surviving Caliphate of Cordoba would do away with the reasons that the Age of Exploration started which was Christian countries (namely Portugal( trying to go around West Africa. This led to development of new ocean going ships and exploration of West Africa Coast and eventual Portuguese national project to sail around African to India and Orient. Columbus lived in Portugal for several years and there came up with his flawed theory he could reach the Orient sailing west.
With a Muslim Iberian Peninsula none of that would of happened and any exploration would be accidental and occur much later.
Not necessarily. The primary reason of course was to make that sweet cash from monopolizing easier trade routes to the Asian markets. An endeavor an Al-Andalus would be interested in.
Though we can throw in political ones like say the Caliphate split continues or the Cordobans adopt a more diverging view of Sunni Islam or their eastern neighbors controlling the East Med just raise taxes like crazy for imports
Their location is just too far from the Bering Strait I think.
I can see Mali doing voyages tho, like what this post said.
Lusitania
Donor
I often see posts about Mali settling Brazil or establishing colonies in new world. But Mail sailing vessels while capable of sailing to new world be hard pressed to return. The winds and currents are from Africa to Americas. The return is way to the north or south. So very likely got Mail ships to end up along the Amazon I not see them as colonizing it.
I tend to think that if Christian states make it harder for Al-Andalus to trade with the Eastern Muslim states then it's possible for them to be incentivized towards finding a way to circumvent the Mediterranean through Africa. The New World would simply be a bonus in their eyes. A united Umayyad Al-Andalus obviously makes it easier for this to happen while a politically fragmented Iberia would be a harder sell since they're distracted by internecine conflicts between Muslims and/or Christians.
Honestly I think a united Al-Andalus timeline (Umayyad, Almoravid, and Almohad) and a Mali timeline are where you can see some very successful inroads into the New World. The possibility of a Muslim majority population taking root in some New World territory would be very high in those scenarios. Morocco at a 15th century POD would be much more difficult to execute though since Portugal and Castile are rising powers during the period and they don't have any incentive to travel past the coast (they often took control of the Saharan trade routes directly by land instead of the navy). At best they'd be Barbary Pirate bases which could compete as a unique Pirate Republic in the region (an interesting scenario actually....).
Religion isn't really a factor though. Portuguese interest in going around Africa has nothing to do with who is dominating the Mediterranean spice trade (which was invariably dominated by Catholic Italians), but because they were peripheral to the Mediterranean trade network. Portugal rightly saw the profit to be made by cutting out the Mediterranean middlemen and sought a way to do just that. It doesn't matter if the middlemen are Venetian, Genoan, Ottoman, or Egyptian, what matters is that there's any middlemen.
A Muslim Iberia is going to feel that same pressure of being peripheral and have the same impetus for exploring as Portugal did.