Steven Barne's Lion's Blood takes place in an alternate historical timeline, where the main point of divergence (POD) from our own appears to be a revelation to Alexander the Great of Macedonia which keeps him in Egypt, rather than making forays into Asia (a lesser POD occurs with a reference to Greek philosophers making a permanent academy in Egypt). From there, changes are plenty. Counterfactuals are inherently thorny, as the timeline past the POD can shift in any direction. Any thoughts on this one?

from Wiki:

World of Lion's Blood:

The story is set in an alternate history world where Islamic African nations are the dominant world power, with colonies in Europe and the New World, commonly referred to by the characters as Bilalistan instead of North America. The dominant nations are Egypt which is still ruled by the Pharaohs and Abyssinia which is controlled by a monarch known as the Immortal Empress.

Due to the destruction of Rome by Carthage and Egypt in 200 B.C., Europe remained largely tribal while Africa advanced technologically and culturally with steamboats, rifles and airships or "flying boats" by the late 19th century. The dominant Africans consider Europeans to be inferior and treat them as a source of slave labour which is supplied to them by Viking raiders. Southern Africa is controlled by the Zulus while the Vikings control much of Northern Europe.

The Middle East is presumably Islamic-dominated, with references to Egypt being at war with Persia, though a Jewish state known as Judea is also mentioned to have been established by the Prophet Muhammad in 623 AD as part of a mutual assistance pact between Islam and the Jews. The Gupta control much of India while China is ruled by Emperors and apparently has a colony on the New World's western coast. Much of modern day Mexico is ruled by the Aztecs while Native Americans compete with the African immigrants.

On a map of Bilalistan shown in the book, Bilalistan is divided into four provinces which include: New Alexandria, New Djibouti, Azania and Wichita. Most of the story takes place in Dar Kush in New Djibouti, around where the real world state of Louisiana lies. It is also mentioned that the African settlers have driven the Native Americans out of their territories as the European powers had done to the native populations from the 19th century. To the south lies the Aztec nation of Azteca which often fights with Bilalistan. Vikings maintain a colony in the New World known as Vinland to the north of Bilalistan and there is a Chinese colony in California.

Christianity is also mentioned in the novel, though it failed to become a dominant world religion, with the majority of its followers being Europeans. Without the influence of Rome, Christianity is much more divided between traditional and Gnostic thought over whether Christ was divine or merely a man. The Gospel of Mary is also an important part of the Christian beliefs.

History:

Following Alexander the Great's conquest of much of the known world, Alexander made himself the Pharaoh of Egypt following a vision of Pharaoh-hood after he had lost his leg. After the death of his first wife, he married a Kush princess named Mesgana, who bore him twin sons. When his sons came of age, he set one as ruler of Alexandria with the other reigning over Abyssinia. Alexander eventually adopted the title of Pharaoh Haaibre Setepenamen which literally translates as "Jubilant is the heart of Re, Chosen of Amen". As in our timeline, Alexander's capital was at Alexandria which became the capital of Egypt. Over the centuries, history was rewritten to portray Alexander as an African to suit the perceptions of the dominant Africans.

In 200 BC, the combined forces of Egypt, Carthage and Abyssinia destroyed Rome, removing the last European power and paving the way for African dominance. For a thousand years the descendants of Alexander ruled much of the known world with Egypt ruling an empire stretching from Eastern Europe to India. Egypt and Abyssinia also created a major trade route along the Nile and immense networks of canals. By 420, steamboats had been invented and were used to trade with other kingdoms in Africa. Eventually, most of sub-Saharan Africa was under joint Egyptian and Abyssianian rule.

With the advent of Islam, Arabic became the dominant language of that region. In 623, Muhammad approved of a mutual assistance pact with the Jewish people which would lead to the establishment of the Jewish state of Judea. With Muhammad's death in 632, his followers fought among themselves as they did in our timeline. However, this was stopped by the intervention of Bilal. He rescued Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and fled to Abyssinia, where they were protected.

Fatima continued Muhammad's teachings and her form of Islam became known as Fatimite

Islam which eventually swept through much of North Africa, resulting in a unified Islamic coalition against Egypt's royal house. In the end, Alexandria was defeated through the use of a disease carried by black barges which may be an analogue to the Black Plague. This disease eventually swept through Egypt and its territories in the Middle East and southern Europe. With Egypt defeated the Fatimite Caliphate was established but both nations would remain separate.

Bilal would live long enough to see the fall of Alexandria and was thus revered by the masses as the last of the Prophet's companions. He saw that politics and religion had intertwined in the Old World and that the resulting chaos of that union were beyond repair. It was on his deathbed that Bilal received a vision from the angel Gabriel who told him of the existence of a continent beyond the oceans which would be the promised land, and that the masses should colonize it for their own.

By 1000, African Muslim explorers had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the New World through the use of huge ocean-going steamboats. As the early European explorers had done, the Africans traded with the natives for gold and exotic fruits and founded cities there. The explorers would move westward and would come into conflict with the native populations there. When the last of these explorers had perished far west in Texas, their burial site became the location of the Shrine of the Fathers. By 1100, the Fatimites were trading with the Aztec/Toltec empires though Bilalistan would only be officially colonised in 1700.

Lion's Blood Timeline:

402 BC Peloponnesian War
401 BC Trial of the Admirals.
400 BC Socrates leaves Athens
399 BC Pogrom against Philosophers in Greece
397 BC Plato, other Philosophers leave Athens
396 BC Establishment of Academy in Egypt
390 BC Alexander the Great in Egypt--conversation with Aristotle
390 BC Alexander loses leg. Receives visions of Pharaoh-hood
378 BC "Pharaoh Haaibre Setepenamen (“Jubilant is the heart of Re, Chosen of Amen” ) Alexander I" establishment of dynasty.
368 BC Setep's Egyptian wife dies
370 BC Setep meets Kai
300 BC "Egyptian Fire" Egyptian/Greek War
100 BC Aqueduct system in Sub-Saharan Africa "Wonder of the World"
1 AD Birth of Christ
30 AD Death of Saul of Tarsis--kicked in head by donkey.
200 AD Steamboats on Nile
210 AD 1st plague of Europe
215 AD Djinn Theory of Disease
300 AD Kai's contact with Gupta Dynasty
500 AD Rise of New Church-Papal Domination-Rejection of Djinn Theory
599 AD 2nd Plague of Europe (Devastating)
609 AD Mohammad's vision
610 AD Mohammad begins preaching at Mecca
610 AD Mohammad's daughter born (Fatima)
622 AD Fatima married to Ali Ibn Abu Talib
623 AD Treaty of Khibar--Mohammad cuts a non-aggression mutual assistance pact with the Jews.

627 AD Sons born to Fatima: Hassan, Hussain
630 AD Bilal returns to Ethiopia
630 AD Jews align with Mohammad instead of Abu Sufiyan
May 23, 632 AD Mohammad dies. Fatima dies same year.
622 AD Hegira (Flight from Mecca)
Hassan Poisoned,
648 AD Bilal rescues Mohammad's family (daughter) at Karbala: Hussein, takes them to Ethiopia (rescue Hussein, wife, children, Hassan’s children)
670 AD At 108, Bilal dies in Ethiopia. On deathbed, angel Gabriel comes to him and has a vision of a New World to the West.

700 AD Defeat of Decadent New Egypt by Fatimite Kaliphate/ “Black Barges on Nile.” Parrot fever.
701 AD Push into Europe
750 AD Ethiopia takes Europe. Fatamite Dynasty takes over.
750 AD Charles Martel at Battle of Tours--chooses Islam instead of Christianity. Becomes Satrap king of France
750 AD Great Holy War Africa/Europe
760 AD Arabic becomes dominant language
800 AD Fatimite Caliphate allied to Persia, fights Baghdad Caliphate,
1000 AD Discovery of Bilalstan
1100 AD trading with Aztec/Toltec Empires
1300 AD Mongol War
1301 AD Smallpox in Europe
1492 AD Columbus drowns in the public baths.
1500 AD Leonardo designs “Flying Carpet” Hot air dirigibles (strong Arabic influences)
1550 AD Great Kush/Gupta War
1700 AD Colonization of Bilalstan
1800 AD Chaka Zulu born
1873 AD Bilalstan/Aztec War