AH Challenge: Eurafrica

[Midgard]

Your challenge, should you accept it, is to have Europe and Africa culturally much more closely intertwined and considered a part of the same overarching "history", along the lines of how far Asian states such as China, and various Indian states seem to have their history intertwined with that of Europe since antiquity.

Bonus points if it is Asia, not Africa, that is considered to be almost completely different continent despite geography - so "Eurafrica" replaces "Eurasia" as the cultural/historical unit. No major geographic changes or such are allowed.

 

[pa_dutch]

What exactly do you mean that China and India were more intertwined with Europe than Africa was?

Maybe you could start by having the Phoenicians establish colonies all along the African coast, as far south as Cape Town... Then prevent Islam from gaining much ground in North Africa, leaving Christian Europe much closer to Christian Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Barbary Coast. From there, Christianity would spread to the Sahel, and, if the Phoenician colonies have continued to develop since that time, as far as South Africa.

 

[Midgard]

What exactly do you mean that China and India were more intertwined with Europe than Africa was?

Trade, embassies, potential routes for conquest... numerous Hellenic and Roman rulers were on the record as having received embassies from Chinese Emperors and various rulers of India, while the trade between the East and the West has always flourished, being one of the reasons for relative well-being of Byzantium due to Constantinople's location on the trade route. With Africa, past North Africa which was very much in the European cultural/social sphere, Sub-Saharan Africa was practically unknown.

 

[Max Sinister]

Geography stands against that. If there was more friendly terrain instead of the Sahara (more rivers like the Nile?), and OTOH sheer impassable terrain between Europe and Asia, then it could work. And even then, there's be the problem that climate doesn't vary much along west-east, but very much from north to south.

 

[pa_dutch]

Well, you could argue that much of Africa was within the cultural sphere, seeing as Arab trade routes went as far as northern Nigeria and coastal Mozambique...

According the "Guns, Germs, and Steel" that has to with the way the continents are situated. Eurasia has that east-west axis, allowing ideas from one end of the continent to spread quickly and easily to the other side along the Silk Road, which is mostly within a similar climate zone. Africa has a north-south axis, so ideas have to spread through desert, savanna, jungle, forest, and many other differing climates.

The only way to achieve what you're looking for is to have earlier sea exploration of the West African coast. The Phoenicians may have sailed around the entire continent, but they didn't leave any impact. If they set up colonies along the West African coast this will help ideas spread there faster. It is likely that the much of the interior will remain isolated, though.

 

[Alcuin]

With Africa, past North Africa which was very much in the European cultural/social sphere, Sub-Saharan Africa was practically unknown.

The Romans certainly knew of the Niger, although they thought it was the upper Nile, believing that the Nile flowed West to East before turning North to flow through Egypt.

Perhaps if they came across a kingdom like Mali on one of their visits, they might have come to believe there were untold riches in Africa.

On the other hand, there's no non-geographical way to separate India from the East Coast of Africa, the Indian Ocean Coast is a relatively easy sail from Mozambique to Malacca.

 

[ninebucks]

A good start would be a strong surviving Carthage, that completely eclipses Rome, and establishes trading outposts along West Africa.

However, that alone would not be enough, to stop the developement of the trans-Eurasian trade, the emergence of any strong empire in the Middle East must be halted, (so Islam must be taken out of the equation). A strong Egypt would be good, strong enough to suppress the emergence of any other power in the Middle East, and maybe even establish a few trading posts of its own down East Africa. Stunting Persia would also be needed.

So yes, Eurafrica could just about be brought about, but an the expense of a significantly stunted Middle East and Eastern Europe.

 

[Cherico]

Have islam fail to take north africa this would continue a lot of the
roman influance, with north africa still a part of the western culteral
sphear along with intermarrage between royal famlys you can have
christian north africa considered to be a part of the west and have
islamic middle east as the other.