What if Columbus Was Right?

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When Columbus sailed the ocean blue he figured he was headed for Asia. He didn't. But what if he did? What if the world actually looked like Columbus thought it did? All the strange misconceptions Europe had included.
Twitter: / althistoryhub
Patreon: / alternatehistoryhub
0:00 Intro
1:47 How We Viewed The World (Literally)
7:56 Scandia
11:20 Africa
14:06 Break
16:53 India (and Sundaland)
26:53 A Different Journey
34:39 Other Ideas
36:03 Outro

[@AlternateHistoryHub]

Apologies on the delay. House got flooded, new kid and this video idea being stupid led to a whole month without a vid. Aiming for the schedule to go back to normal after dealing with the house stuff and easier videos. Enjoy

[@6000.]

RIP

[@RiggsBF]

Please make a video about what if South Africa still had nukes.

[@LegitInspectable]

I seriously believed this whole video (it's announcements included) was just a joke. And that there was no way it was going to be an actual video.

[@theshenpartei]

It’s fine it happens you are forgiven

[@concept5631]

7 minutes after upload.

[@bababababababa6124]

What I find so funny about this map is how they were able to get Africa almost perfect, yet their own continent looked completely wrong 😂

[@Kasaaz]

It's inertia. People still using the same old maps of their own continent and never really updating them because those are the ones they've always used and so they had to be correct, right? Then making newer ones with better skill and technology for their later discoveries.

[@prestonjones1653]

@@Kasaaz You would still expect the Swedish to notice there was a gigantic ocean missing from the middle of their country.

[@Kasaaz]

@@prestonjones1653 Eh, up in those mountains, anything could happen. Maybe it's just a larger than average snowmelt.

[@ciaranwilde5629]

the big island of the old map (near Africa) is said to be a badly drawn Cuba lol. But it looks similar to some landmass in the Carribean looked like that 12000+ years ago approximately. (end of the last ice age)

[@gunargundarson1626]

I believe that had something to do with trading existing maps, especially with tribes that existed 1000s of years before European colonization.

[@william.i.herman]

Rather than Asia being bigger, I always imagined that Columbus thought the planet was smaller, and the ramifications of *that* would be even more entertaining to imagine.

[@TheFranchiseCA]

Earth has a lead core, perhaps?

[@TV-ge3uj]

At least Wikipedia certainly seems to think so as well: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#Geographical_considerations Although according to that article, at least Columbus himself believed this different structure as well, believing the distance from the Canary Islands west to Japan to be about 4400 km instead of 19600 km, and if the experts in Spain did not hold those misconceptions, it becomes clear why they advised the crown not to support this folly.

[@jonnunn4196]

He envisioned both.

[@captmoroni]

You're right. Columbus did think the world was smaller. That's why he had critics. They knew his math was off.

[@vinpap779]

@@captmoroni thing is, not everyone thought he was wrong. That belief came from Ptolémée, who took accurate calculation of Earth's size (difference of 500ish km) and redid the math wrong, which lead to a planet 1/3 smaller And then his calculation and maps were considered "the right ones" by the church and it became the defacto mesures and representation of Earth. The only reason that it would get corrected further down the line was through was with the Muslims and access to their maps which were much more detailed than what Europe ever had at that point (whole still being wrong) because the Muslims had used the original Greek texts and calculations to base their models. Also helps that Muslims went really far down on the western African coast and also had contracts with Asia much more often than Europe, so they continuously corrected and updated their maps. Had a really fascinating class in university about the development of geography in Europe and Northern Africa from the Greeks all the way to modern days

[@DiamondAppendixVODs]

I thought this was gonna be "what if america didn't exist and columbus actually did get to the indies", but looking at the belled up fantasy world map is even more fun

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

same

[@CiderVG]

Would've preferred if it was that

[@xianxiaemperor1438]

Yeah, Imagine a Futuristic Fantasy story in this world or a Retrofuturistic Fantasy story. That would be amazing ;)

[@DevinDTV]

woulda been a better video

[@tabletgenesis3439]

Same

[@Izzak_Beck]

Fun fact, Columbus was very likely aware that he was wrong by the time of his death. However, he was contractually obligated to say that he found a route to Asia, because that was what he had been hired to do.

[@jessesturgeon5327]

I had a history professor who thought that Columbus realized pretty quickly that he wasn't in the Indies, but had to insist that he was in Asia to guarantee his position because of his contract.

[@K3t4k4t]

That's actually a good theory tbh and it makes sense.

[@thespanishinquisition4078]

@@K3t4k4t No. No it really doesn't. Because Columbus' contract was voided when he was arrested and stripped of all titles, besides which, the crown of castille recognized the new world long before said arrest, and didn't consider it at all part of the contract. Which is actually why it was named after Americo Vespuci, as he was the first scholar to actually describe it. So had columbus accepted the truth, it's likely America would be called Colombia. Yes like the country. So no, he wasn't bound by contract, at all, indeed part of what led to his arrest was how uncooperative and close minded he was. Another big part was just how thoroughly he ignored spanish laws giving rights to the natives and banning practices like enslaving them... He was a very particular man.

[@K3t4k4t]

@@thespanishinquisition4078 well it wasn't just the contract it was his reputation as well. If he stated he was wrong he'd look like an idiot, so he'd have to make the thing look bigger than it was once he landed in the Caribbean.

[@kamm6001]

@@thespanishinquisition4078 your phrasing of the second paragraph might be easy to misinterpret, the spanish were the ones giving rights to the natives and banning the enslavement of them, and columbus ignored that

[@tomtomtrent]

That reminds me of the Portuguese who were instructed to find Christians in India, so when they finally went beyond Muslim territory and discovered a Hindu temple, they reported that it was a church and that the statues of their gods were really of Mary and the saints

[@DocBroxxi]

You know, for medieval times, it's actually not a terrible map. Without knowing there was a new world, and probably getting your info off the silk road, it makes sense.

[@ciphergacha9100]

Africa is surprisingly accurate

[@lennysmileyface]

Medieval maps aren't supposed to be satellite images anyway. The most important part is direction and distance. Like a land map would just be a chain of towns/cities/roads to get somewhere.

[@frantisekhajek6775]

@@lennysmileyface Yes, the Romans created maps as a metroline, just cities conected by rodes with the distance (in time) writen.

[@alyssarichardson2544]

Getting your anything from Silk Road was quality assurance though ;)

[@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty]

It got some areas mostly correct. Back then the silk road was one of the more reliable sources of information.

[@Urlocallordandsavior]

As a Thai person, you seem to have quite the appreciation for Thai culture, which unfortunately not many other English-speaking history channels seem to appreciate.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

Love Thailand 🇹🇭🇬🇧

[@theonebman7581]

Thailand is fascinating but legit criminally underrated

[@tomtommerson6320]

​@@Joker-yw9hl shoutout to Thailand. Gotta be my favorite gender out there

[@theenjoyer1445]

oh boy, wait till you learn about passport bros...

[@cilantro_4839]

@@theenjoyer1445 Was gonna say, there's a subset of guys out there who have a strong appreciation for Thailand

[@anonymousstock9548]

What if the "mirror Polynesians" set sail into the big ocean and settled Antilla from the other direction? Assuming they had a similar tech level to Europe and decided to keep going from there, it could be a realistic opportunity for a "sunset invasion".

[@bamfingerguns2754]

Since the islands of “Polynesia” would be really close to each other, I doubt they would develop or invest as heavily into blue water exploration. It would be really interesting to see though

[@wires-sl7gs]

@@bamfingerguns2754 You could say the same for Europe too though, nothing about Geography suggests Blue Water Exploration, but both Inland Seas, Peninsulas, and Archipelagos do make developing naval technology rather important if you want to defend yourself from and compete with your neighbors.

[@Huojunta]

The thing about Toscanelli's world map is that he not only believed the ocean to be smaller and Eurasia to be wider, but he also believed that the Earth itself was just straight up smaller than we now know it to be. Back then, there was only a limited amount of accuracy one could get in measuring the diameter of the planet, so it was a more believable hypothesis at the time (believable enough to convince Columbus, at least).

[@archiegrishipol]

I thought the circumference of the world had been calculated with great accuracy by this point? Wasn't there that Greek bloke with his pillars and their shadows?

[@Huojunta]

@@archiegrishipol That is true, but the calculations of Eratosthenes were not undisputed at the time. More modern measurements have revealed them to be accurate, but in the time of Columbus it was more difficult to ascertain these calculations, allowing others like Toscanelli to present contrary measurements for the size of the Earth.

[@Balsiefen]

@@Huojunta My understanding was that the measurements were known and accepted, but there was a confusion between different cultures' definitions of a 'mile' which caused the error, and no-one repeated the experiment to discover it.

[@diegorosario2040]

I Heard Columbus thought the World was smaller because for him Vegetatation wouldnt come up ashore so often if Asia was that far Away. What he didn't know Is that it actually came from America

[@dimanyak373]

It's interesting to see if the earth was smaller, maybe we'd get to space earlier as single-stage orbital rockets would be possible.

[@dysphoria-chan]

I love old maps like these, makes me see the world as something mythical. Specially when different cultures have their own records of how the strangers were. Names like Serica, Cathay or Cipango make it looks like from another universe, or how Chinese imagined Romans because they heard about them from others cultures.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Chinese and Roman people visited each other.

[@kevinagnew1519]

I especially like the large lake (equivalent to great lakes) in Georgia that existed for decades

[@NaughtiusMaximu5]

same, they give me great inspiration for DnD games

[@timurthejerk9270]

@@NaughtiusMaximu5 this map is probably perfect for DnD close enough to our own to add some of our worlds influences, but far bizarre enough you could add your own

[@Potato-yd3hv]

Agreed. Antillia is super interesting to me, an island in the middle of the Atlantic colonized by eight Visigothic priests escaping the Moorish conquest of Spain.

[@kylejohnson1440]

I'd like to see this map in a game similar to Civilization, but with entirely unique empires based on the "lore" of this world.

[@charliescales6398]

EU4 mod?

[@kylejohnson1440]

@@charliescales6398 I don't play EU4 but that would definitely work

[@shzarmai]

same here

[@JohaDahlgaard]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how simple, yet cool Cody's animation style is?

[@RandomInternetGuy1011]

No stfu

[@scintillam_dei]

I?m an atheist. He didn'tcreate it. It exploded into existence. Atheism wins again. Mindlessness-of-the-gaps wins again.

[@Roxor128]

As an Australian, I appreciate the fire overlaid on the map of Australia when you said "Australia isn't exactly the coldest place in the world." It's a nice nod to many of our ecosystems being adapted to fire.

[@InnesTahtinen]

Also as an Australian, Bris-Bane

[@Roxor128]

@@InnesTahtinen I was willing to let it slide for the fire bit.

[@lachy6178]

@@InnesTahtinen All Aussies collectively cringed

[@redrainer]

@@InnesTahtinen I couldn't help but cringe like nails on a chalkboard

[@schad1738]

@@InnesTahtinen As a Bris-Bane resident, Please kill me.

[@matildachalmers]

as an australian, i physically flinched when cody said “brisbane” 😅

[@plugmanjohnson7456]

Do you come from a land down under?

[@Enyavar1]

why, did he pronounce it wrong?

[@joejoonhoyang]

@@Enyavar1 It's pronounced more like "breeze bun"

[@Enyavar1]

@@joejoonhoyang With a long -eeze? Wow, but I can't argue, we people are picky about pronounciations since the stone age apparently. Also, I still try to wrap my head around Kansaw and Arkansace.

[@Emerald_Raven08]

@@joejoonhoyang I thought it was "brizz-been".

[@blockyhistory5072]

Interesting fact, whenever I was doing research for Christopher Columbus for a youtube video I found that during Columbus 4th voyage he was so sure he was in Asia that he threaten any sailor that question him that he would cut their tongue off.

[@scintillam_dei]

Learn about Black Legend anti-Spanish propaganda.

[@Rynewulf]

Yeah the guy was so nuts the Spanish crown imprisoned him, because even the Spanish thought his level of colonies and enslaving was too far

[@timoteoooo]

I find it very ironic that such a eurocentric map would lead to a much less eurocentric world

[@dontcomply3976]

It is more of an Asiacentric map, I'd say

[@sadiqahmed4143]

@@dontcomply3976 It's more of a Eurasia centric map

[@wires-sl7gs]

@@sadiqahmed4143 Or perhaps an Indian Centric considering how Cody Stated the Indian Ocean would be the center of the world in this timeline

[@sadiqahmed4143]

@@wires-sl7gs true enough

[@Spongebrain97]

It is pretty interesting to see how people in the ancient world viewed the land around them and only had a limited understanding. It's like playing and old RTS game where parts of the map are just covered with dark shade and you dont know whats out there unless you send a unit to go out and see. Except in real life it could take years, would be expensive, and you didn't know if that scout would ever return

[@4realm8rusirius]

Also the land you can see in the fog of war is incorrect

[@kakyoin9688]

@@4realm8rusirius fog of war do be crazy

[@Klishar122]

As an RTS fan, I approve of this comment.

[@LilyoftheLake14]

Also similar to ubisoft games like Assassin's Creed and Farcry where you have to climb to a vantage point to unlock that area on the map. Lol

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!?!

[@iwantdie2539]

I just dont understand how by the time of columbus, that map got Scandinavia totally wrong. I mean Scandinavia was part of the christian world at that time and regularly interacted with the mainland.

[@TheDanEdwards]

31:06 "Japanese population migrated from Korea around 300BC" - not quite. While it is true that DNA (and culture) shows a strong tie to the Korean population, the migration into Japan created an admixture with the pre-existing populations. This is show by DNA and also by culture, given that the Japanese language is fundamentally different than that of Chinese or Korean.

[@inductivegrunt94]

Alternate history is always interesting to theorize. But even better watching Cody ramble on about it.

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus ?!?!?!?!!

[@Methus3lah]

*frantically scribbles fantasy worldbuilding notes* In all seriousness, as someone who enjoys writing and worldbuilding, these alternate geography videos are really inspiring. Thank you.

[@concept5631]

Felt

[@merrittanimation7721]

Mood.

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!?!

[@stormruner9183]

I usually skip the sponsor parts of videos, but my god, Cody is cooking up some comedic gold with his Nord sponsorhips

[@kimarous]

I hope this video gets a follow-up or two. The end segment shows so much potential in exploring this strange new world.

[@VelvetMagician]

Congrats on the baby Cody! I see things were insane recently for you but we’re glad to hear you doing well

[@concept5631]

Agreed

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!??!!

[@hugoguzman4985]

I'm 100% gonna flesh out some of these regions, especially Antilla. The idea of a Visigothic island kingdom in the Atlantic is so weird and cool.

[@rimfire8217]

good luck

[@fatalshore5068]

I like the idea of a political story (aka the fall of Rome) set in a huge city on the north coast of the India Isle. That would be the capital and have schemers from all over the place trying to gain an advantage. The city would be the last vestige of a once mighty continent spanning empire

[@Potato-yd3hv]

Agreed. Might base a NationStates nation off of it.

[@accidiaet]

Where? I really wanna see this

[@kringle7804]

Make a video

[@forgetful9845]

Cody, as a history ed major you have been SO important over the years to me since I've been like 13 years old. Thank you SO much, I'm so glad I can still watch your videos and come back to them seeing new content. It's like a nostalgic happy place. I mean holy shit your videos are the first way I found out about some fundamental historical things like who Trotsky was, simply insane.

[@jordinm5120]

Great video. As someone who kinda cares about history, I've seen a lot of these old European maps that were just way off, but it'd be interesting to do something similar for old maps from Africa or China or India to see what kinda strange interpretation of Europe they had

[@blackwatertv7018]

I feel like Cody should do more of these wacky fantasy scenarios.

[@cocacola4blood365]

Columbus also thought the Earth was shaped like a pear. What if *that* had been true?

[@sillypuppy5940]

@@cocacola4blood365 Technically Magellan only proved that the world was round, not necessarily a sphere. So it could have been banana shaped. Or we're inside a hollow sphere (gulp).

[@cocacola4blood365]

@@sillypuppy5940 Gulp indeed. I'd prefer Minecraft, or a rubix cube.

[@afz902k]

Heck yes I enjoyed the viddie

[@mrmarmellow563]

AaayaE Eye CAPTIANO #CODY More #MOO PLEACE ‼️😂❤️

[@GlaceonStudios]

0:00 Intro 1:47 How We Viewed The World (Literally) 7:56 Scandia 11:20 Africa 14:06 Sponsor (NordVPN) 16:53 India (and Sundaland) 26:53 A Different Journey 34:39 ideas during editing 36:03 Outro/Patrons

[@AlternateHistoryHub]

Thank you completely skipped my mind

[@GlaceonStudios]

@@AlternateHistoryHub No prob.

[@peterp4037]

It's fascinating how the Spanish could build an empire of that size and the indians fought along side them. I wonder why the scandinavians couldn't do it.

[@pyeitme508]

@@AlternateHistoryHub lol

[@luzellemoller6621]

Didn't have to do that there's already chapters -_-

[@StarshadowMelody]

"LOW FANTASY!" **yeets map at screen, crashing noise**

[@williammatos8546]

Here's an idea for a video: what if the Iberian union, via wedding, succeded? There's actually 2 instances when this could take place. Some background, for context. In the late 1400's crown princess Isabella of Castille and Aragon was actually wedded to the crown prince of Portugal, Afonso. This didn't last long, because he fell of a horse and died due to the injuries (on a side note, his esquire was a castillian who, after the event, vanished). Later on, the same princess was wedded to the king of Portugal, Manuel. They actually had a child, and she died of childbirth complications. The child would be educated by is grandparents, the catholic kings. Said child would only live 2 years.

[@loltwest9423]

Honest to God, the first thing I thought of when I saw that question, my mind immediately went to the obvious: "He actually did land in the Indies." Never did I think it was something else.

[@Xedlord]

Same

[@Merennulli]

Yeah. Gotta be honest, I don't know what the "oh, you thought I meant..." part was supposed to be. Being the only explorer to be half-a-planet off course is kind of what Columbus is known for.

[@starkillersneed]

Me too. I expected a video about a world where the New World is never colonized or something

[@watchman0062]

@@starkillersneed I expected a video where the Americas simply didn’t exist.

[@nukesrus2663]

@@Merennulli Yeah I'm pretty confused rn tbh

[@FacterinoCommenterino]

Today's fact: The first person to write about tofu in the English language was Benjamin Franklin.

[@foxeon6496]

@Eye I havent

[@snai1_gutz104]

Yes

[@deleted-something]

Lol

[@justsomemajor8923]

Just another wacky Ben Franklin fact

[@hurgcat]

what a whacky little guy he was

[@oscar_eslava_]

Of all your Alternate Geography worlds, this has been the most inspiring to wonder about. My imagination is already running wild with all the implications and consequences. Thanks!

[@isaacalien]

I recall when you did that Collab with Atlas Pro how excited you were by the possibilities in a more occupied Indian Ocean, and it comes up here as well. That concept of a large sea that connects three wholly different continents/cultures that are among the world's oldest and most diverse is really inspiring and kinda addictive

[@wariodude128]

The map of the world as Columbus saw it would be a really interesting place to set either a board or videogame in. I'm already imagining a Risk Old Map Edition.

[@ffejpsycho]

or a screwball comedy/psychological thriller.

[@sethleoric2598]

I feel like Mount And Blade does this

[@couchpotato4928]

I love alternate history geography like this, it creates a world which is kind of familiar but still fantastical. Another interesting idea: what if the earth spun in retrograde? What if ocean currents were all reversed? The climate and geography of most of the world would be completely different, and how would that affect societies around the world?

[@loke6664]

Or if Mars stayed wet and we actually evolved there instead of here. The maps of a wet Mars is really strange looking and a civilization evolving there would be really strange.

[@XwX1001]

Based on a certain anime: "What if the continents were flipped upside-down?"

[@theonebman7581]

I once saw a map (I have it saved but, at least now in 2023, KZbin doesn't let you share image files on the comments haha) exactly about that Climate zones reverse - the Sahara straight up disappears and is replaced by a temperate savanna; with no Gulf current, Europe and eastern North America are frozen, while the exact opposite happens in eastern Asia - temperate climates extend all the way into Chukotka, while southern China is a desert. South America sees the Atacama desert switch places with the Patagonia, while the Amazon rainforest is afaik largely untouched (but WAY larger because the southern Pampas becomes way more humid); up north, everything from North Carolina to Venezuela is one massive desert, essentially a literal reverse Sahara. Australia also flips It's pretty fascinating *I love alternate geography lmao*

[@dannyboi4458]

You forgot that Columbus literally thought the earth was pear shaped

[@DodgeDart]

It might be. The science is inconclusive as of now.

[@johnallen6836]

@@DodgeDartbro we can see the earth.

[@leitt3937]

The translation on his statement isn’t great and a little out of context. What he was trying to say was that the earth wasn’t entirely spherical because of what he has observed with star positions on his journeys and he believed there was a bulge of some sort somewhere near the equator… which is true.

[@sadham2668]

@@DodgeDartAre you joking or just stupid?

[@MoldycheeseJr]

Not sure why people think Columbus was so silly for thinking he was in asia. Number one, one of the best map makers at the time, Tuscanelli, was the guy who drew the map for Columbus. Basically it was the most up to date map for that time and made specifically for the voyage by a professional map maker. Two, they didn’t have google back then. They didn’t have an answer to everything back then. Keep in mind they didn’t even know there would be another continent there, they didn’t expect there to be a completely brand new landmass as far as they knew the americas didn’t exist. Three, back then if anybody had found the new world, European or Asian or Arab, they have conquered them as well. Earth was a lot more violent back then, so we cannot judge based on our modern morals. We can only learn from the past mistakes and avoid repeating them

[@theonebman7581]

History and humanity are doomed to be judged by the far future

[@ngrader]

No Google?... Pfff. Plebs! Next you are going to tell me they didn't have GPS.

[@MoldycheeseJr]

@@ngrader apparently some people in the modern age are too arrogant to understand that they didn’t automatically know which continent they were on back then so I felt the need to state the obvious to those people

[@Donerci_Pikacu_Usta]

Kinda dissapointed that you didnt even mention that Caspian sea becomes Black sea without Crimea. I feel like you could make another video, explaining Middle East and Siberia and maybe the Indian Ocean becoming center of the world. But I m glad you made this video. It s a great and fun idea to think about.

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!??!!!

[@Donerci_Pikacu_Usta]

@@weirdyoutubechannels You made a banner for him? Sure I wanna see that

[@scintillam_dei]

If anyone likes Age of Empires, and maps, I did 2 videos comparing the best maps of the world.

[@stormstaunch6692]

I could imagine a state forming around the bay in between Big Burma and Sundaland, and then spreading north, west, southeast, and northeast to form some kind of alternate East Asian Roman Empire.

[@balashibuyeeter2704]

Yeah probably some indian empire, but way more thalassocratic I guess.

[@someitguy2175]

Are you saying I'm the only one that clicked the video expecting the topic to center on geography and not overplayed social commentary?

[@WhaleOfAStory]

Really cool scenario here, I love when you take this alternate maps and run wild with them, they make some of my favorite videos from you!

[@compatriot852]

I wonder could you do a follow up video in regards to ancient explorers? It's even more interesting seeing how Punic and Greek explorers viewed the world outside the Mediterranean sea

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!??!!!!

[@overshocklifts]

I always love these alternate geography videos. Would love to see more alternate history series like you did with Rome!

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!?

[@Voyager1excavation]

I feel like the island of Antillia would already change so much of history. I wish he had just made a video about Antillia

[@restoredtuna8264]

What if... the native Americans went to Europe before Europe went to them...

[@Franio_PL123]

Ck2 Sunset Invasion DLC be like:

[@238mob8]

Its so cool to me seeing my country, Cabo Verde, in such old maps. Its actually letting me know of some part of our story I did not know. It sometimes is not shown in current maps due to the correction of the dimensions. Its much smaller than it looks compared to Africa. At the time, given its importance to the slave trade it had to show on maps.

[@scintillam_dei]

Italians discovered Cape Verde, not the Porko geese.

[@justinambru8529]

I love alternate geographies. Hope to see more of these, from you Cody.

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !?!?!?!??!!!

[@justinambru8529]

@@weirdyoutubechannels That small one?

[@AvatarVader]

This was really well thought out. Just wanted to take a moment and say thank you for putting the effort in on this!

[@nathanlesueur9312]

Ouaaa I think this is one of the best video you ever did, I love the subject, the way you did it, presented it and you scenario. Congratulation you did a really nice jobs there, I would like a part 2 going more into some history of some of those civilization, i'm particularly exited about the one of east Asia like China, Japan and India. Continue like this.

[@skeepodoop5197]

Man this is such an interesting concept. I'd LOVE to see a sequel talking about more stuff in this wildly interesting alternate earth. Another thing is the speculative evolution in this world would go HARD with all the islands and the Sundaland rainforest.

[@amogus57]

I like the idea that sipengu was connected to Asia during the ice age leading to many people with similar cultures to the American natives having to fend off Polynesian raids like the Europeans and Vikings

[@wazza5175]

i love your videos please make even longer ones it's a good format

[@Vampy_Rhombus5006]

6:29 bruh, tell me how he says “I’m making this up. I’m going off a cliff. Help me” and it cuts to a commercial 🤣 Perfect timing!

[@bigbo1764]

I mean, they also didn’t know that Antarctica existed, so they could help make up for a small amount of the water lost to a more full pacific.

[@concept5631]

True

[@sadiqahmed4143]

Oh Terra Australis Can just say hi I am interested in the Arctica this world has a strange Greenland place

[@stormerkromy988]

Didn't he also think the world was wayyy smaller? So you could have the same size asia just by shrinking the Pacific? If you need some displacement of water just increase the Atlantic.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

If the planet were smaller that would have WAY bigger effects. And no, he didn't think the Earth was smaller.

[@TheFranchiseCA]

@@PlatinumAltaria If the core has more lead in it, that would help. But then we'd have more lead on the surface anyway, and that's a problem.

[@PennyAfNorberg]

Sure he did and people told he was wrong to....

[@Merennulli]

Yes, Columbus did think the Earth was smaller in addition to having the east coast of Asia off by a ludicrous amount. He used Al-Farghani's estimates of the Earth's circumference then converted them as if Al-Farghani were using Roman miles (1.48km/0.92 miles) but Al-Farghani was using Arabian miles (2.16km/1.34 miles). And he picked Al-Farghani's estimate because it was 56.67 (Arabian) miles at the equator instead of the more widely accepted (and accurate) 59.5 nautical miles. Then he converted the outcome he got to nautical miles, resulting in an imaginary Earth 25% smaller. And it wasn't entirely accidental either. He WANTED to believe the journey was possible so he cherry picked what estimates gave him the best sounding result. Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli separately had used the writings of Marco Polo to modify the work of Ptolemy, but also incorporating earlier work by Marinus of Tyre to sort of un-correct what Ptolemy had corrected. The sum of those changes was Asia growing 5,000+ miles eastward. Toscanelli corresponded with Columbus and was also a major proponent of the expedition Columbus would eventually go on.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

@@Merennulli The way you should have been tipped off that this isn't correct is that you just said that the guy knowingly sailed to his death... You said he wanted to believe it was possible, and I guess he was willing to die to prove it? The size of the Earth has been known accurately for thousands of years, and has never been in serious dispute due to how easy it is to calculate. On the other hand, measuring a continent that barely any Europeans have visited is hard.

[@kuroshine]

I really appreciate this video for helping me think through alt-history based on maps of a fantasy world I'm making. "What is the world like because of the actual geography" "What are the politics of the people living in various areas" "What do the people know of the world?" "Are their maps accurate" Great video all and all

[@Sauwk]

awesome work!

[@lemmonboy6459]

Fun video! These speculative geography videos are always interesting and fun to talk about Many things to work with for fictional works as well

[@nickbandeira5923]

With how polished he makes his alt geography maps, I wish I knew if someone has blanks online so we can try our hand at alternate world building.

[@lenalongbottom80]

A love these videos. Thank you for making them.

[@sickjuicysjamshack3580]

You really knocked it out of the park with this one, Hub

[@ConqueredBread]

If you plan to do more of these, I'd suggest going with the Greeks version of the world, especially with the mythology that came to affect the world today, even with ww2. Also, with the kasierreich video, possibly expansion onto other mods in hoi4 you cover fe2 briefly, but it would be great if you could go in depth. TNO, TWR, and Red flood would be great starters. Love your videos, though, for original content, just a fan for seeing new interpretations.

[@Enyavar1]

Do you mean the Erastothenes map? You can find it on Wikipedia. Sounds equally interesting: No China or Scandinavia, tiny Africa, Northeast passage into India around Tartaria-Scythia-Sarmatia is possible. Alexander conquered half the old world, too. Eurasia would be so much smaller, allowing for much closer cultural connections and rivalries. Land war in Asia would be possible, even. And on the other side of the world there would be the huge unexplored and unsettled Americas. So imagine Columbus landing in a truly empty continent... where no natives ever eradicated the megafauna. The new world would be known as the land of monsters. With nobody to exploit or trade with, and dangerous untamed monsters "everywhere" the Europeans would be hesitant to establish colonies or outposts. What for? None of the plants would have been known, so even if there was an ur-potate or ur-maize: Guys like Columbus wouldn't have been patient enough for that. The only people interested in colonizing would have been.... hm... Pilgrim-like people, but not the wimps from the mayflower. Maybe "dragonhunters", going for megafauna trophies.

[@jacobmaloney2554]

I get why you said it the way you did but the way you said Brisbane killed a part of my soul

[@dontcomply3976]

Is it the bane of your existence? I'll see myself out

[@invaderfrombeyond]

14:09 So, happy you brought this up (even in passing). I adore this prehistoric creature so much, I oft imagine an alternate universe where these giant lemurs were allowed enough time on their island paradise habitat to evolve into a convergent design to humans. Smart and extremely communal tool-users.

[@superduper2813]

Your videos are good 🔥 🔥 And I hope adds pay you good, your advertisements for them are entertaining as always

[@NeroPiroman]

while watching the scandinavian part i got an idea, what if history happened exactly how it was portrayed in the show vikings?

[@ado6693]

Well history pretty much did happen the way vikings portrayed it

[@NeroPiroman]

@@ado6693 for start, kategat never existed, ube wasnt the one to discover vinland, the rus never invaded norway, vikings knew about the existance of britain long before ragnar, in the show bjorn never becsme the king of sweden, etc

[@antaine1916]

My favorite D&D setting takes place in an alternate 1366 and takes the premise that the Hereford Mappa Mundi was totally accurate (and also that monsters and magic invaded our earth in 366 and was responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire).

[@TheWizardDudeguy]

Romans be like: Them barbarians are changing, what the fuck did we do that the Christ has forsaken us

[@Avitymist]

Very fun video. I liked your exploration a lot.

[@audiosurfarchive]

Love, love these hypotheticals. Keep at it.

[@generalaigullletes5830]

To be honest I'm inspired by how people of the past imagined the world to worldbuild my own world for something I'm writing. Also this is basically the setting of a gam I'm working on, so kinda funny lol. Great video, it's kind of great to look on the past and how people saw the world back then.

[@wetwillyis_1881]

This is truly the dumbest and most extensive thing I've seen in a while. Great work, Cody, I love this video and it's amazing.

[@kekero540]

these are my favorite types of videos tbh always interesting

[@snickel2584]

Another great video ❤

[@WizardToby]

Based on the latitude of Cipangu on those Marco Polo maps, I always figured it was the Philippines and not Japan. But I guess the spelling is closer to that of Japan with the "pan" in there.

[@chrish9698]

Fantastic video! This might be one of my favourites of yours yet. In the end the possibilities are indeed endless.

[@jamessanford2991]

It would be really interesting if someone did decide to make a fantasy series based on this world's geography

[@Magniv22]

I love your geography videos!

[@thealphasam7350]

I love how the oldest globe map literally painted the red sea red xD

[@ericpopcorn6607]

With out the change of the map if Columbus landed on the east coast of America (say Georgia for example) There would be a chance he thought he was in "Japan" and so instead of calling people Indians the word Cipangu might have been used to describe the people there.

[@jonnunn4196]

GA is actually the center of the zone least likely place on America for someone to first discover from Europe; it's both too close to 30 degrees latitude (which was avoided due to frequent calm winds) and also further West. Basically the major alternate to the Caribbean was Newfoundland and then sail west from there to Canada and then Southwest; but that was much easier to travel under sail the opposite direction.

[@dontcomply3976]

Doesn't Cipangu look more like Taiwan than Japan?

[@weirdyoutubechannels]

see my banner for Columbus !??!?!?!?!!

[@doomfan8603]

@@dontcomply3976 You mean China proper?

[@brandonrobinson3724]

Great vid as always. Any word on writing a new book? I'm a HUGE fan of The Atlantropa Articles and would love to read more stories set in that world!

[@socratesthecomedian]

I love this video. I wish there could be a miniseries on the lore/history of this world.

[@councilofknowledge]

I'm a huge fan of your channel! You were one of the main channels that inspired me to create my channel!

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

once again great video and once again great to see a longer video 9.5/10 it was very inspiring, I got ideas for my own book project, thank you!

[@Andy_Babb]

This was really cool lol one of your more interesting videos in my book. It’s a short book with a lot of pictures and large, double spaced text.

[@bignapoleonproductions7388]

I love this idea make more like it

[@AureliaLux]

I have no idea how this world would work, but you did inadvertantly help me flesh out some of the background stuff in my book

[@Eterna7Forms]

Great video. I love these type of scenarios! I watched the whole video.

[@Sippy6447]

Western Hemisphere: *Left the chat* Europe: Got some tumor goin on Africa: 4 year old scribbled on a map Asia: Google doc pics stretched out

[@KouRien]

As soon as I saw this map, I thought it would make for a great EU4 mod, and you reference it in the vid. Noice

[@Discosaturn]

I don't want to live in an alternate universe where not only Columbus was right where he landed. Why? Because the absence of New World foods would make world cuisine very dull in taste (example: no tomatoes for Italian cuisine).

[@erraticonteuse]

Not only taste but also nutrients. Potatoes are a total game-changer. When the Irish under British subjugation were in extreme poverty and dependent on potatoes as almost their only food, they were still some of the healthiest, strongest people in Europe. Tons of wars were only possible because potatoes could travel farther than any other vegetable. The Inca bred potatoes to grow in almost any kind of soil, opening previously barren swathes of Afro-Eurasia to cultivation. Potatoes are magic.

[@DermDerm]

Cody dropped a banger as always ,appreciate the effort

[@The_Empty_Shadow]

Now I'm wondering what Columbus and his crew would have done if they'd miraculously had an accurate world map…with or without the Americas, maybe with the Caribbean.

[@blondie8265]

He would continue discovering America in the same way, but embark on a different place further south. Maybe in Brazil? (If the map didn't have the Americas)

[@alexandrevieira2410]

Would it change something? He got to the americas in real life tho

[@DAAYFRM510]

Great video.

[@joaobaptista320]

Cody, why didn't I hear "This is cody from alternatehistoryhub"? I'm crying and shaking in my corner how could cody do this

[@aidanbarrett9313]

You should do a video on the islands that in classic maps appear in the North Atlantic that don't appear in real life.

[@concept5631]

Seconded.

[@sadiqahmed4143]

Thirded

[@justanotheranimeprofilepic]

Honestly I only ever thought you were talking about the map with the title. I think we know you well enough that alternate geography is a subject you like and this is the most famous alternative geography question

[@monkieillustrations]

bruh i was interested and curious about how the ancients viewed the world and what if their maps were actually how the world was and look what pops up in my feed, love your channel man!!