Moonlight in a Jar: An Al-Andalus Timeline
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Well, at least for now who converted were just the leaders, i don't think that it prevents the mixtecs from having a non-muslim plurality at all, probably now they have a non-muslim majority because of the recent conversion, don't lose hope so easily!
Yep, a great ride indeed, but for real i think they still have quite a lot going for them, since the region still needs to bounce back from disease stuff, so the Mexica can maintain their position for a bit longer i think. Chichimeca cavalrymen is always a promising thing!Wait, is the Mexihca kingdom to the west the Mexica/Aztecs of OTL? If so, that is one great detour they have made! Whatever the case, it seems like their hegemony is now being short-circuited by the number of nominally-Islamized Mesoamerican states surrounding them. I shudder to think what'll happen once the Guachilchil gets used to Old World horses...
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I'm the only one don't care that much the natives but more the muslims preaching and native (mis)understanding of the message? still nice the new Walis, wonder what will come next
Planet of Hats
Donor
They did. They've had a lot of time to get their hands on things like corn and tomatoes. The biggest impact of New World crops has actually been in Senegambia, largely because of cassava, maize and peanuts.
Nice. How have new world crops and crops from Africa influenced Andalusian cuisine?
I'm not sure whether cultures in the Americas had any philosophical-cultural backing for not fully covering yourself, but in India, Muslim culture ended up permitting very thin translucent hybrid silk and cotton cloth for men and women that both was seen to accomodate Islamicate ideas about modesty and Indic ideas about the king allowing his body to be seen as a sign of sovereignty and semi divinity. Also thinner cloth is just more practical in humid environments.
Planet of Hats
Donor
I actually have a post coming on some of this soon, but the Otomi Alliance in particular is experiencing a trend of urban elite Arabization of dress code, language and mannerisms. Women are wearing hijab more, Arabic is becoming the language of state and there's a trend towards embracing a more orthodox religious manner. That's mainly true in the major cities. That said, in the countryside people tend to retain their indigenous styles of dress and worship, and even though an Ajami script exists for the Otomi language, Otomi is still the spoken language of most commoners.
ACT VIII Part XXII: Atlantic Piracy and the First Anglo-Asmarid War
Planet of Hats
Donor
Excerpt: Christianity in the Crossing Age - Mark Magnuson, Epic Libropress, AD 1999
The arrival of the Anglish in the Farthest West - late as it was in comparison to the century-long headstart of Western Islam - was nevertheless a product of the numerous advantages the island kingdom held. Of the Christian kingdoms of Europe, Angland was the closest one with the wealth and infrastructure to construct a good-sized stock of ships capable of navigating the Atlantic Ocean. The kingdom's seafaring tradition - in part inherited from the Danish roots of its aristocratic class following the Danish Conquest - ensured a class of wealthy Anglish with enough familiarity with seafaring to expand their knowledge of seafaring.
Contact with the Iberian kingdoms of Santiago and Navarre influenced Anglish shipbuilding from the ground up, most notably in the southwest and in Wales. Basque whalers were among the first Christians to adopt Islamic ship designs such as the qarib and the later saqin, and whalers from cities like Bristow, Cardyf and Berrum[1], competing with the Basques on the high seas, quickly adopted similar designs of their own.
By the early 15th century, the basic Anglish ship designs of the Crossing Period had resolved themselves. The most common ship, the skene, was broadly similar to the Moorish saqin, equipped with lateen sails enabling west Anglish whalers to handle the dangerous Atlantic conditions. By the 1450s, skenes were widespread along the Atlantic coast, and Anglish fishermen and merchants were making regular contact with the Andalusian settlements on the Maghurine Islands. In fact, some of the early letters of Galin Keats suggest his journey west was in part inspired by whalers' tales of islands in the west, suggesting that Anglish fishermen or whaling boats may have sighted Alaska[2] even before Keats and Avezade's journey in 1453. By that time, the skene had been complicated by the larger and wider norry, a type of clinker-built merchant ship loosely derived from Danish ships of prior centuries. These ships could carry larger cargoes across rough Atlantic waters, and they were widely used by merchantmen to conduct trade with the Christian kingdoms of Iberia as well as for trips to Norway or Iceland.
It was these ships which spearheaded the early Anglish exploration of the Farthest West. Just a year later, under the commission of Anglish King Robart II, Keats returned to the new land to chart what he had begun to refer to as King Robart's Land. Sailing south from Elderbeve, he proceeded to explore a stretch of the Alaskan coast down to the land he called Helenia, after Robart's wife, Queen Helene.[3] Here, Keats made landfall at the site known today as Keats' Landing. He did not encounter any of the indigenous Wampanoag people, but he did plant an Anglish flag and carve a cross into a large stone. Today, phony rocks bearing the alleged Cross of Keats are a common hoax item in folk artifact collections across the Anglish-speaking world.
Other Anglish explorers would follow Keats in beginning to explore the new world, pursuing rumours of a lost "Heaven Land" somewhere overseas. The most notable of these mariners was Sir Thomas Holmson, a Berrumite sailor who took three norries over the Atlantic and reached the Moorish settlements in the Sea of Pearls. Holmson's ships stopped off at Mansurat al-Fajr on Al-Gattas, where Holmson reports seeing the minaret of a large mosque, before continuing on around the island and landing in Quwaniyyah, in the formerly Mayan city of Zama.
By this point, Zama was the core of Asmarid Quwaniyyah, a bustling centre in which Mayan architecture had been supplemented and partially replaced by Andalusian building styles. Holmson's crew docked in Zama and traveled inland to Coba before returning. His notes report how impressed the Anglish were with the new land:
Holmson' 1455 voyage roughly coincides with the emergence of a major source of conflict between Angland and the Asmarids: Piracy.
With no rivals on the Atlantic sea, Andalusian and Maghrebi ships crossing between the continents were typically lightly armed. Less scrupulous Anglish sailors saw these trans-Atlantic convoys as opportunities. The first recorded pirate attack on the Atlantic dates from 1455: The notes of the wali of Lishbuna report that a merchant ship arrived in a damaged state, her captain reporting that they had been set upon by "a ship of the 'ingliziyyayn," who attempted to board her and steal their cargo.
Anglish piracy rapidly escalated in both the Sea of Pearls and the Banks of Barshil. With Andalusians dominating productive markets overseas, avaricious Anglish whalers and fishermen turned to less savoury methods, employing early gunpowder weapons and fast skenes to attack unsuspecting Moorish vessels on the high seas. Before long, Moorish ships began carrying increasingly heavy armament, and armed seafaring ships were stationed in ports like Kanza and Nasriyyah to escort merchantmen and interdict this new threat.
Reports of Anglish piracy infuriated hajib Al-Nasr sufficiently that he sent a missive to Robart II in 1459, threatening to "burn your harbours to ashes" should the Anglish King fail to rein in his subjects. Robart seems to have ignored the missive, and indeed, he took a hands-off approach to piracy, more than content to allow local barons and lords even to contract with pirates to raid lucrative Andalusian convoys on the Atlantic.
This piracy culminated in 1462 with the First Anglo-Asmarid War. In truth the war did not touch either kingdom's landmass, but began when three pirate skenes out of Bristol sailed through the Banks of Barshil and attacked ships in the harbour outside Al-Jadida. Five fishing boats were put to the torch before being driven off by a pair of safinas - large armed ships derived from the tur, sporting lowered forecastles and blackpowder weapons. The incident, while brief, proved a step too far for Al-Nasr, who gathered a fleet of safinas with the intention of burning ports along the Anglish coast.
The punitive expedition - about 20 ships - made it close to the Isles of Scilly before being intercepted by a fleet of about 30 smaller armed skenes under the Anglish flag. The so-called Battle of St. Agnes was the first known full-scale battle between oceangoing warships, and it proved a surprising humiliation for the Asmarids: The safina fleet had come with only a few blackpowder weapons, while the Anglish made ample use of them, largely throwing fireballs and utilizing large tannants[4] to inflict serious damage. Andalusian combat doctrine had been heavily influenced by the threats they'd faced in the new world, among them the Tapajos, who had inflicted heavy losses on explorers by packing archers into boats. Safina-type ships were built for similar tactics: While carrying some blackpowder weapons, they tended to have high aft castles from which crossbowmen would attack the enemy crews. The Anglish use of blackpowder was more comprehensive, and it allowed them to cut off the Asmarids and rout their flotilla.
The small Anglish fleet pursued the Asmarid survivors south, but poor weather off the Santiagonian coast caused their fleet to become scattered. Only a dozen ships arrived off the Andalusian coast, where they were met by another group of safinas. This time the Andalusian ships were able to scatter the remnants of the Anglish battle group, largely through the use of tanins.
The war flickered on back and forth until 1465, with both sides attempting to launch raids on the other's port infrastructure. Ultimately the conflict petered out after Asmarid ships managed to blockade the mouth of the Severn estuary. Ricard's successor, Ricard III, settled the conflict by paying a sum of gold to the Asmarids and agreeing to crack down on piracy - a hollow promise he would have no hope of enforcing.
[1] Barnstaple.
[2] North America.
[3] Cape Cod.
[4] The Anglish form of the cannon.
The arrival of the Anglish in the Farthest West - late as it was in comparison to the century-long headstart of Western Islam - was nevertheless a product of the numerous advantages the island kingdom held. Of the Christian kingdoms of Europe, Angland was the closest one with the wealth and infrastructure to construct a good-sized stock of ships capable of navigating the Atlantic Ocean. The kingdom's seafaring tradition - in part inherited from the Danish roots of its aristocratic class following the Danish Conquest - ensured a class of wealthy Anglish with enough familiarity with seafaring to expand their knowledge of seafaring.
Contact with the Iberian kingdoms of Santiago and Navarre influenced Anglish shipbuilding from the ground up, most notably in the southwest and in Wales. Basque whalers were among the first Christians to adopt Islamic ship designs such as the qarib and the later saqin, and whalers from cities like Bristow, Cardyf and Berrum[1], competing with the Basques on the high seas, quickly adopted similar designs of their own.
By the early 15th century, the basic Anglish ship designs of the Crossing Period had resolved themselves. The most common ship, the skene, was broadly similar to the Moorish saqin, equipped with lateen sails enabling west Anglish whalers to handle the dangerous Atlantic conditions. By the 1450s, skenes were widespread along the Atlantic coast, and Anglish fishermen and merchants were making regular contact with the Andalusian settlements on the Maghurine Islands. In fact, some of the early letters of Galin Keats suggest his journey west was in part inspired by whalers' tales of islands in the west, suggesting that Anglish fishermen or whaling boats may have sighted Alaska[2] even before Keats and Avezade's journey in 1453. By that time, the skene had been complicated by the larger and wider norry, a type of clinker-built merchant ship loosely derived from Danish ships of prior centuries. These ships could carry larger cargoes across rough Atlantic waters, and they were widely used by merchantmen to conduct trade with the Christian kingdoms of Iberia as well as for trips to Norway or Iceland.
It was these ships which spearheaded the early Anglish exploration of the Farthest West. Just a year later, under the commission of Anglish King Robart II, Keats returned to the new land to chart what he had begun to refer to as King Robart's Land. Sailing south from Elderbeve, he proceeded to explore a stretch of the Alaskan coast down to the land he called Helenia, after Robart's wife, Queen Helene.[3] Here, Keats made landfall at the site known today as Keats' Landing. He did not encounter any of the indigenous Wampanoag people, but he did plant an Anglish flag and carve a cross into a large stone. Today, phony rocks bearing the alleged Cross of Keats are a common hoax item in folk artifact collections across the Anglish-speaking world.
Other Anglish explorers would follow Keats in beginning to explore the new world, pursuing rumours of a lost "Heaven Land" somewhere overseas. The most notable of these mariners was Sir Thomas Holmson, a Berrumite sailor who took three norries over the Atlantic and reached the Moorish settlements in the Sea of Pearls. Holmson's ships stopped off at Mansurat al-Fajr on Al-Gattas, where Holmson reports seeing the minaret of a large mosque, before continuing on around the island and landing in Quwaniyyah, in the formerly Mayan city of Zama.
By this point, Zama was the core of Asmarid Quwaniyyah, a bustling centre in which Mayan architecture had been supplemented and partially replaced by Andalusian building styles. Holmson's crew docked in Zama and traveled inland to Coba before returning. His notes report how impressed the Anglish were with the new land:
"The people here seemed most rich and content. The Moors and the native people, the Mayans, live side by side. All of them are Mohammedans, though we saw many women with their heads uncovered. The port we beheld was busy and full of traders exchanging goods, and we saw many fat vessels laden with wealth arriving and departing. Thus we knew that there was a great wealth in the land, one which the Mohammedans must have kept secret for many generations, for the cities we saw appeared ancient. Many of the buildings are as great tiers of steps, and they had the appearance of great antiquity."
Holmson' 1455 voyage roughly coincides with the emergence of a major source of conflict between Angland and the Asmarids: Piracy.
With no rivals on the Atlantic sea, Andalusian and Maghrebi ships crossing between the continents were typically lightly armed. Less scrupulous Anglish sailors saw these trans-Atlantic convoys as opportunities. The first recorded pirate attack on the Atlantic dates from 1455: The notes of the wali of Lishbuna report that a merchant ship arrived in a damaged state, her captain reporting that they had been set upon by "a ship of the 'ingliziyyayn," who attempted to board her and steal their cargo.
Anglish piracy rapidly escalated in both the Sea of Pearls and the Banks of Barshil. With Andalusians dominating productive markets overseas, avaricious Anglish whalers and fishermen turned to less savoury methods, employing early gunpowder weapons and fast skenes to attack unsuspecting Moorish vessels on the high seas. Before long, Moorish ships began carrying increasingly heavy armament, and armed seafaring ships were stationed in ports like Kanza and Nasriyyah to escort merchantmen and interdict this new threat.
Reports of Anglish piracy infuriated hajib Al-Nasr sufficiently that he sent a missive to Robart II in 1459, threatening to "burn your harbours to ashes" should the Anglish King fail to rein in his subjects. Robart seems to have ignored the missive, and indeed, he took a hands-off approach to piracy, more than content to allow local barons and lords even to contract with pirates to raid lucrative Andalusian convoys on the Atlantic.
This piracy culminated in 1462 with the First Anglo-Asmarid War. In truth the war did not touch either kingdom's landmass, but began when three pirate skenes out of Bristol sailed through the Banks of Barshil and attacked ships in the harbour outside Al-Jadida. Five fishing boats were put to the torch before being driven off by a pair of safinas - large armed ships derived from the tur, sporting lowered forecastles and blackpowder weapons. The incident, while brief, proved a step too far for Al-Nasr, who gathered a fleet of safinas with the intention of burning ports along the Anglish coast.
The punitive expedition - about 20 ships - made it close to the Isles of Scilly before being intercepted by a fleet of about 30 smaller armed skenes under the Anglish flag. The so-called Battle of St. Agnes was the first known full-scale battle between oceangoing warships, and it proved a surprising humiliation for the Asmarids: The safina fleet had come with only a few blackpowder weapons, while the Anglish made ample use of them, largely throwing fireballs and utilizing large tannants[4] to inflict serious damage. Andalusian combat doctrine had been heavily influenced by the threats they'd faced in the new world, among them the Tapajos, who had inflicted heavy losses on explorers by packing archers into boats. Safina-type ships were built for similar tactics: While carrying some blackpowder weapons, they tended to have high aft castles from which crossbowmen would attack the enemy crews. The Anglish use of blackpowder was more comprehensive, and it allowed them to cut off the Asmarids and rout their flotilla.
The small Anglish fleet pursued the Asmarid survivors south, but poor weather off the Santiagonian coast caused their fleet to become scattered. Only a dozen ships arrived off the Andalusian coast, where they were met by another group of safinas. This time the Andalusian ships were able to scatter the remnants of the Anglish battle group, largely through the use of tanins.
The war flickered on back and forth until 1465, with both sides attempting to launch raids on the other's port infrastructure. Ultimately the conflict petered out after Asmarid ships managed to blockade the mouth of the Severn estuary. Ricard's successor, Ricard III, settled the conflict by paying a sum of gold to the Asmarids and agreeing to crack down on piracy - a hollow promise he would have no hope of enforcing.
[1] Barnstaple.
[2] North America.
[3] Cape Cod.
[4] The Anglish form of the cannon.
Let the battle for the seas commence! Guess even when Spain is muslim, their oceanic rivalry with England is eternal.
Guessing TTL's "Alaska" has a different etymology than OTL.
So even in conquered areas elements of pre-colombian civilizations are much more visible. Nice.
I've been reading this timeline for quite a while and it's honestly fantastic work. The amount of well-developed characters and worldbuilding put into this timeline is honestly quite insane and is comparable to more popular works in the genre. Considering the amount of divergences and the extremely rapid pace of scientific/cultural development that's going to happen under the Blossoming, it's going to be a wild ride for hereon out.
I do have some questions/statements as of the current state of the TL (1465) and the future of the TL in the Blossoming Period that I've been wanting to say.
This is going to be a very long post, so be warned!
Not Al-Andalus:
I do have some questions/statements as of the current state of the TL (1465) and the future of the TL in the Blossoming Period that I've been wanting to say.
This is going to be a very long post, so be warned!
Not Al-Andalus:
- Christian Europe:
- Will Christian Europe experience a Renaissance? Amidst the political chaos of Europe and the growth of Muslim powers like the Roman Empire and Asmarid Empire it seems unlikely they can do it on their own as the balance of power is shifting to those states while the Italian city states are going to languish and decline due to the decrease in trade, but I wonder if Hats will have Christians rediscover Greek/Latin knowledge from Islam.
- With the Anglish reaching the New World, they have the opportunity to acquire colonies in the Eastern Seaboard far earlier than OTL Jamestown in 1620 or Roanoke in 1585. The current rivalry between a Muslim Al-Andalus and a Christian Angland/Britain in the New World is going to be very interesting with an MiaJ Anglo-Santiagoan alliance being a possibility in the future, mirroring our own timeline's Anglo-Portuguese alliance. Perhaps Al-Andalus can rely on an alliance with the oppressed Irish or the Scottish?
- Although this timeline is trying to focus on the Algarves, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, I seriously hope that there are at least some stories on less known Christian European nations like Ireland, Poland, Ruthenia, Prussia, Russia, and etc. since there's not a lot of information about them besides mapdates and some small tidbits. I live for the day of the Polish-Ruthenian Commonwealth.
- Islamic Europe / Ar-Rumaniyah (Roman Empire):
- With Christendom currently divided at the moment and previous Adventures being defeated in the past, the Bataids look poised to eat both everyone in Eastern Islam and Christian Europe under the Roman double-headed eagle despite the loss of Croatia. Unlike OTL Ottomans, I see the Hellenized Bataids to be even more zealous towards taking former ERE territories in order to legitimize their claims as the rightful Roman Empire and to emulate Justinian of centuries past. The declining Harabids of Egypt look to be a prime target under the eyes of the Romans, as well as the Mezinids, although they will prove to be a far more formidable target like the OTL Safavids. A Kaysar even more capable than Al-Mansur the Great, like a MiaJ Suleiman the Magnificent could prove deadly. Someone like that or even a sucession of good Kaysars capable of destroying both the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary in a military campaign is going to prove extremely dangerous to the HRE, Italy, and Rome itself.
- If Rome is ever threatened by a group of zealous Muslims seeking to take the city both to realize the glory of Rome and to conquer both centers of Christendom under Islam, it proves an interesting dilemma for Al-Andalus, as an expanding Bataid Empire would undoubtedly change the balance of power in Europe unfavorable to them, so it seems more likely that the Andalusis would side with the Christian nations in preventing Rome from being taken, solidifying the schism between the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, although I find this to be unlikely as long as the Hungarians remain a bastion of Christendom. A more likely conflict could happen in Ifriqiya, as the Asmarids and the Bataids would definitely fight over influence or territory in that region, since the Nasrids are currently under the Asmarid sphere of influence, although it's unlikely that it will bring a complete schism between both sides of Islam as the previous scenario would be.
- Zhongguo / Sin:
- The glorious Middle Kingdom is the preeminent power of the world, with an industrial, agricultural, and technological capability unmatched by even the Andalusians colonizing literally every corner of the globe. However, they seem to be in the same scenario as the Ming, being relatively isolationist even with the growth of tributary nations currently under their thumb, this can certainly change however. As Hats mentioned, there are Chinese fisherman or sailors currently travelling up the northern seas. Discovery of the Western Algarves could change their minds about exploration or colonization, although I will be very surprised if Hats will actually go through with Chinese colonization of the Algarves.
- Industrialization and mass production in Zhongguo past the 15th century is going to be absolutely insane, as they're already a self-sufficient economy that is exporting tons of manufactured products across the world like textiles and porcelain through their massive labor force alone. The effects of industrialization is going to be felt not only economically, but also militarily and culturally. Culturally, seeing utopian/socialist theories being sprung up in China as opposed to Europe is going to be interesting, as there is always a possibility of Andalusian theories of humanism or secularism spreading through the Middle Kingdom through trade. Militarily there could be so many ways that the Wu could develop, like new and improved tanins, muskets, rockets, trains, steamships, and so much more. Also, I implore you to call a Chinese-made steamship a "dragon ship", please!
- Nusantara / Ma-I Islands:
- With the Wu dynasty probably not interested in giving Asmarids a makzan like OTL Macau due to their cold relationship with them, it only makes sense that the Asmarids should expand more towards the Ma-I islands and take over it as a colony in order to use it as a jumping off point towards China as well as a colony to produce exotic foodstuffs or acquire raw materials. Islam is known in Mindanao during this time although much of the archipelago is still Hindu/Buddhist.
- Nusantara is different, as the Janggala are a very strong kingdom with a navy that is stronger than the Asmarids at the moment, due to their inclusion of blackpowder tanins into their ships (Their ships are awesome as heck!), although how long they will remain united remains to be seen. Considering inhabitants of Nusantara see it as a golden age not unlike the OTL Majapahit Empire, we will see if the Asmarids will claim territory or just hold far greater influence in the smaller kingdoms or nations once the Janggala have collapsed.
- The Sudan:
- The Simala Emirate is definitely the most interesting polity in the area right now, as Hats did mention they were making their own navy a few years or decades back, meaning they might begin exploring the Algarves as information begins to flow through their area from the Andalusis/Berber traders within their domain. In addition, the introduction of Asian rice and Algarvian crops into the region is going to leave them with a population explosion that might leave them with a greater population that is able to support colonies. A Sub-Saharan country possessing colonies is going to be very cool and an act of defiance against the sole colonizer in the Asmarid Empire and another country that can colonize besides Angland.
- The Algarves:
- The proliferation of horses into the Southwest and the Great Plains regions of the Algarves probably happened earlier than OTL, and it's going to change everything in those regions. Entire cultures broke off and developed or adapted purely because of the horse and its advantages like the Comanche, Puebloans, Cheyenne, or the Sioux. With the Berbers proliferating everywhere and Andalusian explorers continuing to explore northern Anawak and the OTL Mississippi region, it's only going to be inevitable for them or the Otomi/Chichimecs to be in conflict with horse riding raiders and slavers from a group like some sort of MiaJ Comanche Empire and it will be glorious.
- Is Anawak a region or a country? Unlike Cawania, it is honestly a lot more vague whether it exists as a united country in modern times or a region consisting of much smaller ethnic states controlled by Yaqui, Nahua, Chichimecs, Otomi, and Mixtec peoples. If it does exist as a united country, I think the Otomi Alliance has the highest chance of subjugating the entire Mesoamerican region if it becomes an official vassal of Andalusia.
- The most interesting group in the Northern Algarves are probably the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois. They are inevitably going to fall prey to the power play between the Muslim Andalusia and the Christian Angland once both start exploring and colonizing the area. Despite this, they are an organized society that can probably mount a fierce resistance against an aggressive invader. In addition, they managed to become quite powerful by manipulating the OTL French/English against one another before the American Revolution, so we'll see if the Haudenosaunee in this timeline can play the same game, quite possibly enough for them to assert their own independence from the foreigners.
- It's honestly fascinating as to how Western Islam will evolve during the Blossoming amidst this growth of knowledge from both East and West. Medieval Islamic thinking during the Golden Age was already humanistic and secular, especially in Al-Andalus where Maliki jurisprudence relies on logical reasoning and individual thought. With the Islamic Golden Age continuing and with the wealth and power from the Algarves, it only seems fitting that Al-Andalus will spearhead a super-Enlightenment out of the coffeehouses/teahouses that is seriously going to challenge both Christian and Eastern Islamic thinking on the nature of God and the state within a century or two, causing major chaos in a wake of secularism. An early Industrial Revolution doesn't hurt to blow up the political powderkeg, don't you think?
- Are there going to be Algarvian migrants travelling into Al-Andalus, the Maghreb, and Senegambia? With the domination of Muslim powers in the region and the freedom of travel between merchants, scholars, mystics, and other peoples between the Algarves and Afro-Eurasia, I can only expect that Algarvian migrants, whether scholars, travellers, merchants, or even slaves are going to head towards Al-Andalus, Maghreb, and Senegambia. Ikal and Uiara/Hadil were one of the first, but they were only a few, so it's going to be interesting to see Otomi, Maya, or Nahua peoples in the Old World.
- Will Native Algarvians play a role in the Blossoming? Unlike OTL where Spain burned most of the Aztec, Inca, and Maya records and killed most of them alongside with the Old World diseases, Al-Andalus is in an interesting position where there are friendly Natives that are willing to pass on their own knowledge to travelling scholars or even visit Al-Andalus to transmit that knowledge themselves.
- Are Barbary pirates a thing? With the decline of France and Italy as a threat and the Asmarids getting better and better ships compared to their Christian neighbors, I wonder if Andalusi and Berber pirates are a thing as of right now and are marauding the coasts of the Mediterannean and the Bay of Biscay, seeking Christian slaves as opposed to trading with the Bataids. While I don't think white Christian slaves are going to outpace the trade of Zanj slaves in the Sudan, I definitely think they're going to be a presence in the Algarves.
- Slavery in Al-Andalus/Algarves is going to be interesting, as much as it pains me to say it, because of the presence of Algarvian, European, and Zanj slaves in the Algarves could lead to some unusual circumstances and exchanges of culture leading to weird Pagan/Christian syncretism in addition to slaves adopting Islam in order for them or their children to escape it. While chattel slavery seems unlikely under the Asmarid administration, some sugar and cash crop barons are probably going to practice it anyways despite possible crackdowns, but the memory of the Zanj Rebellion runs deep. This does leave as to how slavery will end in Al-Andalus or in the Algarves, since most male and female slaves work as sex workers, domestic servants, or soldiers. Perhaps abolitionism will be linked to worker/feminist movements in the future as slavery declines in importance in the Algarves similar to how U.S. slavery declined before the cotton gin.
- Will the Asmarids ever acquire silkworms? The Eastern Romans actually managed to steal silkworms from China before the POD, so it would make sense that the Bataids or the Romans in this timeline have possession of silk making facilities in 1458. If this was lost due to the Great Plague and the fall of Constantinople in 1198, then it arguably makes things even more interesting since the Asmarids with their Sinophilia, would inevitably steal silkworms from the Wu dynasty in some epic heist mission not unlike the Romans centuries past to satisfy their craving of silk.
- Industrialization of Al-Andalus and the Maghreb will be interesting, as they probably have more a reason to industrialize with their smaller pool of labor compared to Sin. With the existence of the water wheel already in effect in Al-Andalus and the presence of coal in the region, they could repeat the same uses for steam engines for weapons or for draining water. If Al-Andalus already has a strong textile industry, then they seem poised to repeat OTL Britain's path to industrialization.
- While I'm on the "keep Santiago/Navarre as separate nations" camp on Christian Iberia, the presence of the Bullfighters in Modern Al-Andalus suggests that the Muslims completed the Reverse Reconquista and subsumed both kingdoms under its wing while more radical Christians fled to the Pyrenees or Southern France in order to fight against Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Otherwise, why would they try to commit terrorism against Al-Andalus if there were separate Christian nation-states? Terrorists in the centuries before Iqal's time would immediately sour relations between Santiago and Al-Andalus, enough for a war that other nations probably wouldn't want to be involved with if Al-Andalus was far more powerful than them.
- Homosexuality is also something of note. In OTL, Spain was famous for brutally destroying homosexuals and other sexual minorities when they colonized the New World. With an already existing upper class/scholarly class full of men that have relationships with other men (especially the Caliph) and the light handling of Asmarid colonization, it seems that the acceptance of homosexual relationships during the Precrossing is going to continue, even with Maliki jurists bringing orthodoxy to the Algarves. This is most likely the same for the Sudan as well. The interactions between China and Japan, who were at least ambivalent or supported homosexual relationships themselves are also going to be interesting if individual Andalusis/Berbers become entrenched within their territories. In modern times, I don't know if this discrete acceptance of homosexual relationships between men and possibly women is going to lead to a similar model of gender/sexual orientation of our own today or if it's going to end up entirely different in the long run.
- I really hope that we get to see an Andalusi or an Anglish explorer like a MiaJ Magellan or James Cook soon enough. I love stories involving the rihla of explorers in the previous chapters like Al-Mustakhif so hopefully we'll get someone that explores Terra Australis, the Western Algarves, or Polynesia, which have yet to be explored.
- What is the symbol of Islam? The Ottomans became firmly entrenched with the identity of Islam due to their control of the holiest sites of Islam while also claiming the Caliphate for themselves. With that gone, it seems likely that Al-Andalus or the Bataids become the face of Islam amongst the international community. I personally like the Rub el Hizb, although Islam could just simply be represented by the word for Allah.
Yeah, "Alaska" as a name for North America is weird, considering its etymology unless this is meant to show a domination of Russian or Aleutian mapmakers? Or perhaps it's the Chinese who put "Alaska" on maps of North America? Somehow, I doubt the Chinese would use native names because, historically, they have a conceit toward their own naming customs. Whenever they use native names, they tend to mangle the names to Sinofy them, as it were. I mean, there's very little resemblance between "Anxi" and "Arsacid".
I think there's a mix-up in the names of King Robart and Ricard?
I think there's a mix-up in the names of King Robart and Ricard?
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And Brazil is just an island(newfoundland of otl),yeah for the welsh was an island but yeah things that changes with the butterflies.
I'm not and i forgot that detail.....thanks for remind it
Apples and pineapples. Not apples and oranges, because these names have very different etymologies and origins. Seriously. Look up the etymology for Alaska and see why it's weird to see it here. Unless it can be said the name is due to the great power and influence of China that just happened to use a name from OTL Alaska for its maps (if so, it'd indicate a concerted Chinese effort to colonize the New World in this TL's future), it's stretching suspension of disbelief nearly to the breaking point.