AHC: Pre-Columbian Contact with America

It's a long-standing topic among fringe historians, conspiracy theorists, and all manner of people. The idea that some ancient peoples from the Old World arrived in the Americas before Columbus or even before the Vikings.

From Solutrean hypothesis, which posits that European Indians settled the continent around 13,500 years ago, to the Polynesians, the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Israelites, the Mali Empire and other African cultures, Arabs, the Phoenicians, and the classic tale of Zheng He's purported visit to the Americas in 1421. There are so many different proposals for the idea that it's hard to keep track.

A lot of these are obviously based on flawed evidence, but what I'm asking isn't whether or not they did. I'm asking if they could have. Between antiquity and late 15th century, were there any other groups who had the capability to reach the Americas? If so, how could they have managed it?

And if they did, could they have established a colony or at least returned home?
 
East Asians definitely could have, and almost certainly did regarding Japanese fishermen in Alaska and on the west coast, but the question is why? They almost certainly can't return home because they wouldn't know the way back and their boats would be heavily damaged with no real way to repair them. Their governments won't establish a colony because there's no reason to. Not saying it's impossible for Japanese/Chinese pre-Columbian colonisation, but it would require a POD around the early Heian/Tang period and mean Chinese and especially Japanese culture, politics, and history are unrecognisable by the time Europeans discover their colonies.
 
It has already been proven that Pacific Islanders had access to sweet potato way before the Columbian Exchange and the words for the vegetable in Quechua and Maori bear a striking resemblance.
 
East Asians definitely could have, and almost certainly did regarding Japanese fishermen in Alaska and on the west coast, but the question is why? They almost certainly can't return home because they wouldn't know the way back and their boats would be heavily damaged with no real way to repair them. Their governments won't establish a colony because there's no reason to. Not saying it's impossible for Japanese/Chinese pre-Columbian colonisation, but it would require a POD around the early Heian/Tang period and mean Chinese and especially Japanese culture, politics, and history are unrecognisable by the time Europeans discover their colonies.
Maybe Song loyalists fleeing the Mongols hear about the tales of Chinese sailors going to a place called Fusang and decide to risk it all by trying to find this land (and wind up discovering the Americas)?
 
My bet has always been on the Mali Empire, I mean they did have an advantage in location, ship building, and resources.

King Abu Bakr II of Mali was said to have first sailed to the West with 200 ships, but returned with only one after encountering a river of currents across the sea. He returned with 2000 ships, but was never heard of again.
 
I accidentally added an R to the thread title when reading it, and was like, "Wait, do you mean some sort of time-traveling Newt Gingrich, or just his politics? What?"
 
Maybe Song loyalists fleeing the Mongols hear about the tales of Chinese sailors going to a place called Fusang and decide to risk it all by trying to find this land (and wind up discovering the Americas)?
That's possible but it would be more likely that they would flee to Dai Viet rather then a "mystical" land.
 
That's possible but it would be more likely that they would flee to Dai Viet rather then a "mystical" land.

Basically, why go that far away (and probably die) when you go to a place which is still far away but at least has some manner of civilisation (although barbaric and inferior to China of course). Southeast Asia or Japan are obvious options.
 
My bet has always been on the Mali Empire, I mean they did have an advantage in location, ship building, and resources.

King Abu Bakr II of Mali was said to have first sailed to the West with 200 ships, but returned with only one after encountering a river of currents across the sea. He returned with 2000 ships, but was never heard of again.

Mali is too late though. Abu Bakr II was 14th century even if you believe the legend. For west Africans to make a real impact it would have to be something much earlier, perhaps Ghana with an interest in the sea.
 
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