Mississippi Rice (v2.0)
This my reboot of my timeline, because I wanted to change the PreColumbian aspects and it required a complete restart. The title is very misleading because the river isn't called the Mississippi, and wild rice is not called rice ITTL. But I like the name. The PoD is the development of a much more useful cultiver of Zizania palustris, or wild rice, and it's fusion with the Eastern Agricultural Complex.
Some elements I'm still not sure about, such as a few of the names (Mesocolombia being one that rankles.) Most of the native names and words are taken from Mayan, Shawnee or Creek, occasionally twisted around to indicate effects the hand of butterflies, linguistic drift or European misinterpretation. Due to the changes to geographical naming, it may be quite confusing but a map will be forthcoming soon.
Rough Timeline of the PreColombian Era
Until 2500 BC: Development of the Megalopotamian Agricultural Complex, with the cultivation of North American squash (Cucurbita pepo), followed by sunflower (Helianthus annuus), marsh elder (Iva sp.), and goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.) Over time, these will all be genetically altered and found far outside their natural range. The single most important crop of this agricultural package is tame (Zizania palustris, known in OTL as wild rice), which will grow to become the staple source of food for the agricultural peoples of the region. However, in the early stage tame cultivation was rudimentary at best due to the way the native form of the crop shattered easily and the variation in which the seeds reached maturity.
2500 BC to 1000 BC: The Megalopotamian Agricultural Package expands to include maygrass, knotweed, little barley and ragweed. Much as teosinte was genetically adapted over time into maize in the south, the natural tame assumed a form more conducive to human exploitation. This manipulation led to a crop with seeds that matured at a more uniform rate than the wild variety, and which were less vulnerable to shattering. This reduced many of the difficulties in raising the crop and increased yields. The new tame was a crop that compared relatively favorably with other staple grains used around the world, and was able to support a much larger settled population. This period saw an expansion in social complexity, elaborate mortuary customs, the rise of long distance trade in exotic items, the first ceramics and the construction of localised mounds, dykes, storage pits and flooded fields. Along river systems that were conducive to the raising of tame there was a steady and inexorable move from semi-horticultural to agricultural lifestyles.
1000 BC to 300 AD: Increasing settlement based around tame agriculture during this period. Funeral urnery, the most distinctive element of Megalopotamian culture, develop in northern Megalopotamia. Along the Pelewa [Ohio] river, the Lenawe people are ascendant, slowly wiping out or assimilating the horticultural and hunter-gatherer groups around them. In Lenawe history, they speak of the first empire known as Pacan, though later historians consider this to be a semi-mythical history. Other cities and polities have formed in much of the upper Megalopotamian region, mostly speaking Algic languages similar to that of the Lenawe.
300 AD to 800 AD: A productive warm-climate cultiver of tame sees the spread of agricultural societies to the south, along the Gulf coast, into the Temegua peninsula (Florida) and then later along the Atlantic coast. These cultures build on an earlier tradition of mound-building to create larger and more impressive structures. Trade routes first spread across the Gulf of Masaguay (Gulf of Mexico). The Algonquin speaking city of Weaku rises in the south. Influenced by both upper Megalopotamian and Mesocolombian [Mesoamerican] cultures to the south, the peoples of the lower Mississippi develop a fusion culture. This period sees the rise of the Maaneth dynasty among the Lenawe.
800 AD to 1200 AD: Spread of maize, beans and new species of squash from Mesocolombia. From this date, the Lenawe begin to expand westwards, absorbing and conquering the smaller and less organized polities of the north Megalopotanian river. The Lenawe expansion causes a series of migrations down the river, as Algic peoples attack Weaku and the southern Algonquian polities of the south. Weaku itself has declined, it's former influence was based on its large population based on its sophisticated southern tame agriculture and the use of maize allows other peoples in the southern region and along the Gulf coast to catch up. In the Yucatan, the southern highland cities of the Maya collapse, and the onus of Maya civilization moves to the cities in the north. The burgeoning trade with the Gulf coast spurs the great Maya naval expansion and the beginnings of their conflict with the Muskogee. The Muskogee, their numbers increased by the introduction of maize and trade with the south, invade and settle western Temegua pushing the settled Timucua to the east where they displace the Calusa tribes there, who flee to the Liquintas (Bahamas). The Zapotecs and Mixtecs, who have occupied the area of the old Highland Maya culture and have copied Yucatan Maya shipbuilding techniques, begin limited trade with the Chimu.
1200 - 1492 AD: Mayan and Muskogee colonies spread throughout the Gulf of Masaguar, largely displacing the native peoples in many of the islands. Trade routes through Mesocolombia are disrupted by the collapse of the cultures of the Southwest, and the shift to sea trade by the Maya and Muskogee. Rise of polities along the Atlantic coast, and the establishment of the distant Maya city of Saamal on the coast of New Spain [Georgia]. The New World enters the Bronze Age in this period, both in Mesocolombia and Megalopotamia (but not the Andes). The Lenawe invade and conquer the Algic peoples of the northwest, extending their rule into those rich copper-producing regions. Some Algic states remain as vassals to the Lenawe but they are later unified under the warlike Wakhanwe who are able to resist Lenawe encroachment. Cholula rises to dominance on the central Purapeccan [Mexican] highland, maintaining a network of tributary arrangements to dominate the city-states of that region before coming afoul of the rising empire of Tzintuntzan. Tzintzuntzan conquers and destroys Cholula, creates a territorial empire. The Chimu remain the most powerful state to the south.
Snapshot of the New World in 1492
The Lenawe empire rules the vast majority of the Central Lowland regions of the Colombian [North American] continent, particularly it's river system. The centre of the Lenawe empire is the heartland along the Pelewa [Ohio] river, where their capital Otojel stands. Their influence extends up the Rio Blanco [Wabash] river, and they control a key stretch of the central Megalopotamian [Mississippi], the Kiccaccami [Illinois] and the eastern portion of the Tapaccimocci [Missouri]. The empire borders both Lake Mescecce [Michigan] and Lake Menela [Erie] and is expanding rapidly up the Kilechi [Lower Michigan] Penisula toward Lake Holacicci [Huron]. It has recently consolidated it's rule, and it maintains a vassal relationship with the kingdoms along the far northern Megalopotamian and the western Tapaccimocci. It controls all river trade through it's fortified trade cities: Citoni (on the convergence of the Megalopotamian and Pelewa rivers; Aljamecca (on the convergence of the Megalopotamian, Tapaccimocci and Kiccaccami rivers and Maccachanela (on the convergence of the Pelewa and Mabila [Tennessee] rivers.
There are many independant kingdoms, city-states, confederacies and other polities. Far northern Megalopotamia contains the Wakhanwe kingdom, who herd bison and send tribute down the river to Aljamecca begrudgingly but field a relatively impressive army equipped with bronze armour. The kingdoms that exist along the western Tapaccimoci and it's tributaries give tribute in proportion to their proximity to the border with the Lenawe, but they are largely left alone. They are so far the only culture in the New World to make limited use of iron. They are also bison herders, and share with the Lenawe a respect for the animal. South, there is a similar situation along the Mabila river, but these cities are expected to provide a larger tribute being close to both overland trade with the south as well as important sources of gold.
The southern Megalopotamian contains a number of important Algonquian-speaking city-states and kingdoms, most of whom are forced to pay heavy tribute to the Lenawe to the north. Their cultural influence extends up the Copper [Arkansas] and the Cate [Red] rivers. These cultures make a far more extensive use of corn compared to the tame cultures of the north, meaning that there is an obvious cultural divergance between the cultures of the northern Megalopotamian and those of the south. Around the Gulf coast extends the trade cities of the Muskogee, who have extended their influence to Sacaguay [Cuba] and trade extensively with the Nahua city-states of the Purapeccan [Mexican] coast and through them with the Tzintzuntzan Empire of the central Purapeccan plateau. They continue to penetrate inland in Temegua [Florida], confronting the Temecua there.
The Maya are divided between cities that have accepted northern trade through Muskogee middlemen or those who have attempted to circumvent it. They have expanded throughout the Gulf, trading extensively in regions the Muskogee have little presence or interest. Their colonies exist as far east as Qualental [Puerto Rico] and they have some trade presence along the northern Brasilian [South American] coastline. Their furthest flung colony is the city of Saamal on the coast of New Spain [Georgia], founded to circumvent the Muskogee. The Saamalians have expanded their trade presence up the coastline as well as into the interior, and their formidible navy has managed to ward of Muskogee attacks on their trade routes through the Liquintas Islands (Bahamas, taken from the Maya Liqin-tas describing the eastern route of trade around Sacaguay]). They trade up the Baat [Savannah] and Mutsh [Pee Dee] rivers and across the Tzakuitz mountains [Appalachians] with the [Tennessee ] city-states and the Lenawe. Their coastal trade has brought Mesocolombian [Mesoamerican] goods as far north as the Kuuk (Micmac, taken from their Mayan name) polities. Along the Atlantic coast are a number of tribes and polities, politically and culturally isolated from the Lenawe by the Tzakuitz but who have adopted tame to a certain extent, particularly in the north and have begun to make use of maize as well.
In the Purapeccan highlands , the last generation saw a series of wars between the rival cities of Cholula and Tzintzuntzan, leading eventually to the subjugation and destruction of the former and extension of Tzintzuntzan authority all the way to the Nahua trading cities on the eastern coastline. Tzintzuntzan reorganised it's empire along truly territorial lines, and begins a long process of homogenisation in it's empire. The Cholula tribute and flower war system has been dismantled and Tzintzuntzan has embarked on the most extensive program of road-building in the New World to facilitate a reorganisation of their heterogenous empire. However, they have encountered trouble as they have recognised the independence of some Nahua cities in the east while attempting to assimilate others through forced migration west. This has been largely been due to the distant Tzintzuntzan authorities giving responsibility for controlling the region to their Otomi allies, who have managed to alienate many of the other groups.
In the Andes the Chimu have the largest power and influence, trading sporadically with Mixtecs and others in the Oaxaca. The moon-worshipping Chimu have taken to importing a variey of exotic good through the Mixtecs, but this trade is still relatively limited as the Chimu are preoccupied by their gradual military expansion and the inferiority of Mixtec trading vessels compared to the Maya and Muskegee flotillas of the Gulf. To the south, squabbling kingdoms are perpetually locked in warfare, the most powerful being Qosqo, Guapondeleg and the Chachapoyas. So far none have been able to clearly dominate the others. Further south the Aymara people around Lake Titicaca and further south remain organised in states and subtribes based on ethnicity and language.
This my reboot of my timeline, because I wanted to change the PreColumbian aspects and it required a complete restart. The title is very misleading because the river isn't called the Mississippi, and wild rice is not called rice ITTL. But I like the name. The PoD is the development of a much more useful cultiver of Zizania palustris, or wild rice, and it's fusion with the Eastern Agricultural Complex.
Some elements I'm still not sure about, such as a few of the names (Mesocolombia being one that rankles.) Most of the native names and words are taken from Mayan, Shawnee or Creek, occasionally twisted around to indicate effects the hand of butterflies, linguistic drift or European misinterpretation. Due to the changes to geographical naming, it may be quite confusing but a map will be forthcoming soon.
Rough Timeline of the PreColombian Era
Until 2500 BC: Development of the Megalopotamian Agricultural Complex, with the cultivation of North American squash (Cucurbita pepo), followed by sunflower (Helianthus annuus), marsh elder (Iva sp.), and goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.) Over time, these will all be genetically altered and found far outside their natural range. The single most important crop of this agricultural package is tame (Zizania palustris, known in OTL as wild rice), which will grow to become the staple source of food for the agricultural peoples of the region. However, in the early stage tame cultivation was rudimentary at best due to the way the native form of the crop shattered easily and the variation in which the seeds reached maturity.
2500 BC to 1000 BC: The Megalopotamian Agricultural Package expands to include maygrass, knotweed, little barley and ragweed. Much as teosinte was genetically adapted over time into maize in the south, the natural tame assumed a form more conducive to human exploitation. This manipulation led to a crop with seeds that matured at a more uniform rate than the wild variety, and which were less vulnerable to shattering. This reduced many of the difficulties in raising the crop and increased yields. The new tame was a crop that compared relatively favorably with other staple grains used around the world, and was able to support a much larger settled population. This period saw an expansion in social complexity, elaborate mortuary customs, the rise of long distance trade in exotic items, the first ceramics and the construction of localised mounds, dykes, storage pits and flooded fields. Along river systems that were conducive to the raising of tame there was a steady and inexorable move from semi-horticultural to agricultural lifestyles.
1000 BC to 300 AD: Increasing settlement based around tame agriculture during this period. Funeral urnery, the most distinctive element of Megalopotamian culture, develop in northern Megalopotamia. Along the Pelewa [Ohio] river, the Lenawe people are ascendant, slowly wiping out or assimilating the horticultural and hunter-gatherer groups around them. In Lenawe history, they speak of the first empire known as Pacan, though later historians consider this to be a semi-mythical history. Other cities and polities have formed in much of the upper Megalopotamian region, mostly speaking Algic languages similar to that of the Lenawe.
300 AD to 800 AD: A productive warm-climate cultiver of tame sees the spread of agricultural societies to the south, along the Gulf coast, into the Temegua peninsula (Florida) and then later along the Atlantic coast. These cultures build on an earlier tradition of mound-building to create larger and more impressive structures. Trade routes first spread across the Gulf of Masaguay (Gulf of Mexico). The Algonquin speaking city of Weaku rises in the south. Influenced by both upper Megalopotamian and Mesocolombian [Mesoamerican] cultures to the south, the peoples of the lower Mississippi develop a fusion culture. This period sees the rise of the Maaneth dynasty among the Lenawe.
800 AD to 1200 AD: Spread of maize, beans and new species of squash from Mesocolombia. From this date, the Lenawe begin to expand westwards, absorbing and conquering the smaller and less organized polities of the north Megalopotanian river. The Lenawe expansion causes a series of migrations down the river, as Algic peoples attack Weaku and the southern Algonquian polities of the south. Weaku itself has declined, it's former influence was based on its large population based on its sophisticated southern tame agriculture and the use of maize allows other peoples in the southern region and along the Gulf coast to catch up. In the Yucatan, the southern highland cities of the Maya collapse, and the onus of Maya civilization moves to the cities in the north. The burgeoning trade with the Gulf coast spurs the great Maya naval expansion and the beginnings of their conflict with the Muskogee. The Muskogee, their numbers increased by the introduction of maize and trade with the south, invade and settle western Temegua pushing the settled Timucua to the east where they displace the Calusa tribes there, who flee to the Liquintas (Bahamas). The Zapotecs and Mixtecs, who have occupied the area of the old Highland Maya culture and have copied Yucatan Maya shipbuilding techniques, begin limited trade with the Chimu.
1200 - 1492 AD: Mayan and Muskogee colonies spread throughout the Gulf of Masaguar, largely displacing the native peoples in many of the islands. Trade routes through Mesocolombia are disrupted by the collapse of the cultures of the Southwest, and the shift to sea trade by the Maya and Muskogee. Rise of polities along the Atlantic coast, and the establishment of the distant Maya city of Saamal on the coast of New Spain [Georgia]. The New World enters the Bronze Age in this period, both in Mesocolombia and Megalopotamia (but not the Andes). The Lenawe invade and conquer the Algic peoples of the northwest, extending their rule into those rich copper-producing regions. Some Algic states remain as vassals to the Lenawe but they are later unified under the warlike Wakhanwe who are able to resist Lenawe encroachment. Cholula rises to dominance on the central Purapeccan [Mexican] highland, maintaining a network of tributary arrangements to dominate the city-states of that region before coming afoul of the rising empire of Tzintuntzan. Tzintzuntzan conquers and destroys Cholula, creates a territorial empire. The Chimu remain the most powerful state to the south.
Snapshot of the New World in 1492
The Lenawe empire rules the vast majority of the Central Lowland regions of the Colombian [North American] continent, particularly it's river system. The centre of the Lenawe empire is the heartland along the Pelewa [Ohio] river, where their capital Otojel stands. Their influence extends up the Rio Blanco [Wabash] river, and they control a key stretch of the central Megalopotamian [Mississippi], the Kiccaccami [Illinois] and the eastern portion of the Tapaccimocci [Missouri]. The empire borders both Lake Mescecce [Michigan] and Lake Menela [Erie] and is expanding rapidly up the Kilechi [Lower Michigan] Penisula toward Lake Holacicci [Huron]. It has recently consolidated it's rule, and it maintains a vassal relationship with the kingdoms along the far northern Megalopotamian and the western Tapaccimocci. It controls all river trade through it's fortified trade cities: Citoni (on the convergence of the Megalopotamian and Pelewa rivers; Aljamecca (on the convergence of the Megalopotamian, Tapaccimocci and Kiccaccami rivers and Maccachanela (on the convergence of the Pelewa and Mabila [Tennessee] rivers.
There are many independant kingdoms, city-states, confederacies and other polities. Far northern Megalopotamia contains the Wakhanwe kingdom, who herd bison and send tribute down the river to Aljamecca begrudgingly but field a relatively impressive army equipped with bronze armour. The kingdoms that exist along the western Tapaccimoci and it's tributaries give tribute in proportion to their proximity to the border with the Lenawe, but they are largely left alone. They are so far the only culture in the New World to make limited use of iron. They are also bison herders, and share with the Lenawe a respect for the animal. South, there is a similar situation along the Mabila river, but these cities are expected to provide a larger tribute being close to both overland trade with the south as well as important sources of gold.
The southern Megalopotamian contains a number of important Algonquian-speaking city-states and kingdoms, most of whom are forced to pay heavy tribute to the Lenawe to the north. Their cultural influence extends up the Copper [Arkansas] and the Cate [Red] rivers. These cultures make a far more extensive use of corn compared to the tame cultures of the north, meaning that there is an obvious cultural divergance between the cultures of the northern Megalopotamian and those of the south. Around the Gulf coast extends the trade cities of the Muskogee, who have extended their influence to Sacaguay [Cuba] and trade extensively with the Nahua city-states of the Purapeccan [Mexican] coast and through them with the Tzintzuntzan Empire of the central Purapeccan plateau. They continue to penetrate inland in Temegua [Florida], confronting the Temecua there.
The Maya are divided between cities that have accepted northern trade through Muskogee middlemen or those who have attempted to circumvent it. They have expanded throughout the Gulf, trading extensively in regions the Muskogee have little presence or interest. Their colonies exist as far east as Qualental [Puerto Rico] and they have some trade presence along the northern Brasilian [South American] coastline. Their furthest flung colony is the city of Saamal on the coast of New Spain [Georgia], founded to circumvent the Muskogee. The Saamalians have expanded their trade presence up the coastline as well as into the interior, and their formidible navy has managed to ward of Muskogee attacks on their trade routes through the Liquintas Islands (Bahamas, taken from the Maya Liqin-tas describing the eastern route of trade around Sacaguay]). They trade up the Baat [Savannah] and Mutsh [Pee Dee] rivers and across the Tzakuitz mountains [Appalachians] with the [Tennessee ] city-states and the Lenawe. Their coastal trade has brought Mesocolombian [Mesoamerican] goods as far north as the Kuuk (Micmac, taken from their Mayan name) polities. Along the Atlantic coast are a number of tribes and polities, politically and culturally isolated from the Lenawe by the Tzakuitz but who have adopted tame to a certain extent, particularly in the north and have begun to make use of maize as well.
In the Purapeccan highlands , the last generation saw a series of wars between the rival cities of Cholula and Tzintzuntzan, leading eventually to the subjugation and destruction of the former and extension of Tzintzuntzan authority all the way to the Nahua trading cities on the eastern coastline. Tzintzuntzan reorganised it's empire along truly territorial lines, and begins a long process of homogenisation in it's empire. The Cholula tribute and flower war system has been dismantled and Tzintzuntzan has embarked on the most extensive program of road-building in the New World to facilitate a reorganisation of their heterogenous empire. However, they have encountered trouble as they have recognised the independence of some Nahua cities in the east while attempting to assimilate others through forced migration west. This has been largely been due to the distant Tzintzuntzan authorities giving responsibility for controlling the region to their Otomi allies, who have managed to alienate many of the other groups.
In the Andes the Chimu have the largest power and influence, trading sporadically with Mixtecs and others in the Oaxaca. The moon-worshipping Chimu have taken to importing a variey of exotic good through the Mixtecs, but this trade is still relatively limited as the Chimu are preoccupied by their gradual military expansion and the inferiority of Mixtec trading vessels compared to the Maya and Muskegee flotillas of the Gulf. To the south, squabbling kingdoms are perpetually locked in warfare, the most powerful being Qosqo, Guapondeleg and the Chachapoyas. So far none have been able to clearly dominate the others. Further south the Aymara people around Lake Titicaca and further south remain organised in states and subtribes based on ethnicity and language.
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