The Discovery of the Americas: Who Came Before Columbus?

Christopher Columbus. To many, he is still the man who discovered America. Yet, there had been others before him.

And he knew it. There were tales and even maps pointing the way. But who were the bold men who had preceded Columbus?

Best known among them, the Viking Leif Eriksson, 500 years before Columbus. A Welsh Prince named Madoc, supposed to have built fortified castles along the Ohio River, 300 years before Columbus. Or King Abubakari from West-African Mali, who is said to have used his immeasurable riches to finance a gigantic fleet, 200 years before Columbus.

Seville, at the time of the "Semana Santa". Even in the days of Columbus, the holy week was the biggest religious feast in all of Andalusia. The widely-travelled seafarer and outstanding navigator is preparing for an extraordinary voyage that will bring him everlasting fame.

In the cathedral of Seville, they have erected a grandiose monument to honour the man, who - in 1492 - allegedly discovered a new continent for the Spanish Crown. Columbus opened the gate to fabulous riches and to an overseas empire for Spain. To this day, his name is synonymous with the discovery of America.

But was his achievement really unique? There's another tomb in the cathedral, that of his son, Hernando Colon. He inherited the personal papers of his father and spent his life collecting information about the famous discoverer.

Today, his library is kept in the Institución Colombina. You might well call it the most important library of the Renaissance worldwide, because Hernando Colon strove to bring together everything about his father and all the knowledge of his time. Columbus meticulously recorded geographical data of contemporary discoveries as well as ancient sources.

When he set out on his famous voyage, he had already travelled most of the known world. As early as 1477, one of his forays even took him as far north as the mythical island of Thule. Modern historians believe that he must have reached Iceland.

The land of the Sagas, with tales of its most famous inhabitant, Leif Eriksson. His nickname was "the Fortunate". He was born into a family of daring explorers.

Leif's grandfather had emigrated from Norway to Iceland. His father, the legendary Erik the Red, had navigated the icy waters off Greenland and became the first settler on its eastern shores. Iceland.

This is where Leif grew up. At Eiriksstadir, the farm of Erik the Red. When Leif was 12 years old, his father was banned from Iceland for three years for manslaughter.

Erik wasn't called the Red simply because of his fiery red hair. Archaeologist Natascha Mehler is an expert on the history of the Norsemen. To her this is familiar ground.

The site where Leif and Erik lived. Within walls of sod, two metres thick. Wood is rare on Iceland.

There are no windows, just a small smoke outlet in the ceiling. In these dark, sparse rooms Leif was born in the year 970 AD. 15 years later, his father took him and his family to Greenland, an ice-covered island in the west, discovered during Erik's banishment.

It was an incredibly daring undertaking for all those giving up their farms on Iceland. Leif stood beside his father during the dangerous crossing, and he also witnessed how Erik managed to persuade others to come along. He told his people that he had discovered a green land to the west, what we now call Greenland.

It was, of course, a marketing trick to lure other settlers into joining him. Anyway, he won over so many people, that a fleet of 25 ships set sail for Greenland. Erik's glowing descriptions apart, at the end of the tenth century there were definitively good reasons for leaving Iceland.

Natasha takes us to an excavation in Olafsdalur, the valley of Olaf, which clearly shows what made the Vikings leave. According to Natascha, the discovery of America can only be understood by the phenomenon of "Island hopping" from Norway via Iceland to Greenland. The excavators are investigating a farm from the tenth century, exactly the period when Erik and Leif set out westward.

The ship-like layout of the house is still visible. Obviously, this was a considerable estate. So, what had happened?

This homestead dates from the tenth century when most of the arable land had already been occupied. So, when Olaf came to Iceland, he had little choice but to put up with this patch of land here. It was far from ideal for a farmer.

During the past 100 years, Norsemen settling here had exploited the island's nature to such a degree, that its resources could no longer meet the demands of everyone. Erik knew where he wanted to go. He took his fleet and sailed along the ice-covered east coast of Greenland around Cape Farvel, and after 1.

500 storm-tossed kilometres steered them into a fjord, duly named Erik's Fjord. In their open boats, they had fought their way west, through floating ice, murderous waves and icebergs threatening to rip open their vessels. 14 of the 25 boats made it.

On-board were 300 settlers, their cattle and their household goods. Greenland became a crucial stepping stone on the path to the New World. The sagas relate this in colourful detail.

Of the daring crossing to Greenland and of the nature of the newly discovered land. When reaching Thule, Columbus must have been thrilled by these stories. And most of all, by the deeds of their greatest hero, Leif Eriksson.

Who, as the sagas go, had discovered another mysterious land west of Greenland. And since he found grapes there, he called it Vinland - wine land. In Iceland's capital Reykjavik, Natascha joins historian Gisli Sigurdsson to take a closer look at the original texts of the Sagas.

So, how factual are these heroic tales of a legendary Wine Land? The picture that is drawn up of all these voyages, the chronology, the origins of the people and so on, all fit the general story that the archaeology tells us. And there was no way that the people in Iceland at the time could have this accurate historical information from anywhere but a continous oral tradition.

But that doesn't prove that the love affairs and the individuals of the stories are all reflections of what actually happened 200 or 300 years earlier. But something along theses general lines is very likely to have been part of reality in the settlement period. To the historian, the sagas are more precious than a hoard of gold.

Here it is written how in the year 1000 AD Leif founded the first settlement on a land which had to wait another 500 years to be called America. Sigurdsson is convinced that Columbus knew of these sagas. Yet, what conclusions might he have drawn from them?

How are they related to his later voyages? The important learning or information that he obtained is that he could cross over open waters, sail away from the continent and continue and continue into the West without ever risking falling off. So, the enquiring young seafarer who collected all available information and all the maps he could lay his hands on, must have known - there is land in the West, and it had been reached by Europeans long before him.

But he also must have known about the dangers of the northern route through the ice-ridden waters off Greenland. Natasha follows the settlers' route into Erik's Fjord. With the help of engine power, GPS and a compass, it's considerably easier than a thousand years ago.

But back then, how did the Vikings chart their route and navigate in the vastness of the Atlantic between Iceland, Greenland and America? The key to their navigational skill was a small wooden dial with a needle rising in the middle. When sighting the sun, its shadow would fall on a groove which gave the sailor the cardinal point, enabling him to keep course along a specific latitude.

This is what made the Vikings the most proficient seafarers of their time. Brattahlid in Southern Greenland. This is where Leif Eriksson lived after he had turned 16.

And it’s from here that he would soon set out on his own, on voyages to Iceland and Norway, where he took on the Christian faith. A current excavation further inland hints at why Leif left his home once more to venture yet again to pastures new further west. At first glance the site seems unusual.

Three kilometres form the coast at the foot of a glacier. It's only accessible via an arduous track. Why did the Vikings choose this barren place?

The excavation shows, as on Iceland, late settlers had to go where they still could find unoccupied pastures. As a matter of fact, only a few of Greenland's coastal strips are actually green. Four-fifths of the gigantic island's surface are covered by a solid layer of ice.

And so, all fertile ground was quickly settled. Greenland's population back then must have soon reached a critical size. As proved by an abundance of Viking finds in the area.

There are about 20,000 of them, according to chief excavator Christian Koch Madsen. And this is the showpiece. The skull of a walrus.

Only the tusks are missing. Walrus ivory was in high demand among the medieval rulers of Europe. It was used to carve prestigious sets of chess figures or reliquaries.

Walrus tusks became a prime export commodity for the Greenlanders. When Northern Europe had been christianized, they were even used to pay the tithes. On the other side of the fjord, on a mysterious island off Gadar, Natasha comes across another unusual source of income for the Viking settlers.

Today, Gadar, now called Igaliku, is merely a cluster of wooden huts. Once this was a rich settlement and even the seat of a bishop. There was a cathedral as well as the bishop's manor and huge stables.

The measurements of the foundations reveal that the walls must have been massive and solidly constructed. Only wealthy settlers could have afforded such buildings. Written sources document that the inhabitants were able to offer a large sum of money to Norway's King Sigurd to be granted the seat of a bishop.

But the Norwegian King demanded more. Something very select indeed. To find out more, Natasha heads for an islet offshore.

There are strange heaps of stone. The archaeologist recognizes at once, that they are the remains of the same massive way of building as on the mainland. But what would have been the purpose of such laboriously and elaborately erected houses on such a tiny island?

We have found a number of houses in the Igaliku area. But even out here, there are remains of two very large massive stone buildings. Since they stood directly opposite the mainland, they must have had a very special function.

So, why apply so much effort to transporting blocks of stone weighing up to a ton across the water to build here, when there is ample space and material on the mainland? Was the tiny island a kind of prison - a Viking's Alcatraz? Or were these houses intended as storage rooms for luxury goods?

Walrus ivory was an important commodity that was traded from here to many parts of Europe. But there are also hints that there was trade in polar bears' fur and maybe even in live polar bears. A live polar bear.

That is exactly what King Sigurd had wanted. A risky proposition for the people of Gadar. But they succeeded.

The king got his polar bear, and Greenland its own bishop. Hunting the largest land-based predator may have been profitable, but it was also highly dangerous. Even when captured, the white giants were a deadly menace.

There is a story that Leif Eriksson went hunting for his first polar bear when he was merely 16. Awaiting their transport to Europe, the huge beasts had to be held in massive cages. And to keep them away from the settlements - just in case - the tiny island would have been the perfect spot.

Even if luxury items like polar bears, ivory and furs could be traded for expensive Norwegian wood, life on Greenland remained a constant struggle. For the surplus population, there was only one way out - expansion beyond their homeland. Leif Eriksson was of course one of those who looked west.

Yet, Natascha believes that, apart from escaping imminent pressures, there may have been other things on his mind. He was out for fame and glory. He knew, that if he returned with precious goods from the new territories, his fellow Norsemen would hold him in great esteem.

And so, Leif made his bid and secured himself a place in history. He set course across the Davis Strait, the shortest distance between Greenland and America, followed the coast southward until he became the first European to set foot on American soil, probably in Newfoundland. It was a venture into the unknown, a murderous struggle against the waves.

But Leif and 35 companions made it. Manoeuvring his ship past towering icebergs. Until he made landfall somewhere along the north-eastern shores of the American continent.

An incredible achievement. If Columbus - as is presumed - heard of Leif's exploits and of his tales of a land far across the Atlantic Ocean, the 26-year-old navigator from Genoa might well have been prompted to envisage a voyage of his own steering true West. Knowing he would make landfall somewhere.

Where exactly Leif Eriksson set foot on the new continent for the first time and where else he might have landed is one of the great unsolved questions of Archaeology. Remains of houses near L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland testify to the fact that he did reach America. The layouts are the same as in Greenland or on Iceland.

They are the best-documented Viking remains ever found in America. Their excavation in the 1960s was a breakthrough in Viking research, proving the historical veracity of the Sagas. Eleven houses have been located and excavated.

Three of them massive, winterproof buildings. Spindle whorls tell of the presence of women. This was a permanent settlement, with a smithy erected in about 1000 AD.

Iron nails - an item unknown to the indigenous Americans - bear witness to its Viking origin. The fabled Vinland offered what the Norsemen needed most. Wood in abundance - for their boats and their large assembly halls.

Yet, there remains one question. How much further south did the Vikings advance? These butternuts were found on site her at L'Anse aux Meadows.

And why they're so relevant and important is, as you can probably see when you are walking around today, there is no butternuts growing in this area, and there never has been. And also, the Norse came here looking for grapes, and there was never any grapes growing in L'Anse aux Meadows. So, where did they come from?

Butternuts and grapes only grow much further south. Historians presume that the Vikings must have progressed as far as today's New York City. A survey from space was launched to locate settlements further south.

When evaluating these images, American archaeologists thought that Point Rosee in Southern Newfoundland might be a site worth exploring. Point Rosee excavation site, it's interesting because they originally had identified what might be a farm based on satellite imagery. And so, they went in to go and investigate and look at it in more detail.

And what they were really hoping to find was evidence of a Viking-age farm. And it looked like there could be a long-house, it looked like there could be a nice field around it, it looked like there might be some other features. Yet, as Douglas Bolender recalls, excavating it was anything but easy.

The terrain is barely accessible, and the features which stood out so clearly in the satellite images, defied precise locating on the ground. However, the team around archaeologist Sarah Parcak found discolorations in the soil which may have resulted from walls of sod, as well as materials that resembled iron clinker from the smithies of the Vikings. One of the exciting things to come out of the work at Point Rosee, whether or not it is a Viking site, is that the satellite imagery work does seem to be effective We've tried it in other places, Sarah Parcak has tried it in other locations.

And, frequently, if it looks like there is something, there has been something there. So, this is clearly a very effective technique tot try to find additional sites. Alas, at Point Rosee the high hopes of the researchers were to be disappointed.

After all finds had been analysed, there was only one conclusion. What seemed to have been the traces of Viking houses had been caused by natural phenomena. A major disappointment.

But there are other new promising approaches of research. Natascha is on her way to Halifax to meet Kevin Smith. He's the foremost expert on Viking archaeology in North America.

And his smoking gun - is flint. Kevin applies forensic science to examine the samples that have been found at L’Anse aux Meadows along with the butternuts. The finds from America's only known Viking settlement to date are of inestimable value.

Accordingly, they are treated with the utmost care. I think, modern technology that we have really gives us a great opportunity. The device that we're using, portable x-ray fluorescence, means that we can work on these objects which are part of a world heritage site without having to destroy any part of them.

In the past, 10, 20 years ago, we'd have had to grind the objects out, put them into a nuclear reactor or another sort of a thing, and the object would be partially destroyed. In this case, we can try to solve new mysteries and try the get data right down to the elemental level without having to destroy or damage anything of the heritage. And that's really an important thing.

Changes the game entirely. Natascha is more than eager to join in the new game. Will it produce clues pointing to another Viking settlement on the North American continent?

Flint might provide the answer to this question, since there is no natural layer of flint in the area around L'Anse aux Meadows. So, where does it come from? What we're trying to do here, is to find out where the Vikings travelled.

Using pieces of stone. Basically the pieces of stone they used to start fires with, and tracing them back to the places where they came from. It's a little bit like in the old detective movies where the detective solves the puzzle of the murder by finding a match-book.

And on the match-book, it says where the person had been before. These were the matches in the pockets of the Vikings. And if we can find out where the stones came from that they used to make their stone tools, we know where they came from, and where they travelled out to.

Sounds simple enough. But it means that the archaeologists must find samples which match the geo-chemical fingerprints of the finds in L’Anse aux Meadows. Given the length of the North American East Coast, it’s like searching for a needle in haystack.

Finds which resemble the existing samples are checked on the spot for a possible match by using the mobile gauge. Part of the reason we're doing this, we're trying to figure out if people went out to different places, and they had to get new - as I said - matches, new things to strike fires. If we can find where the sources of those are, we can at least narrow the search down to the areas where those are found.

It’s an immense help in surveying an area of such enormous magnitude. Did the Vikings set up colonies on the new continent as they had done on Iceland and Greenland? The fact is, that after Leif Eriksson's discovery of America there was a busy trade with Vinland.

Ships from Greenland, Iceland and even Norway called at the coast. But where exactly? Drnes equipped with state of the art cameras and 3-D-software are a potential means to facilitate the search.

It’s a technology which allows wide areas to be scanned in a comparatively short time. The new generation of American Viking hunters hopes that soon not just one but a swarm of drones will set forth to look for anomalies along the coastal zones. If their 3-D-profiles reveal conspicuous features reminiscent of, for instance, the layout of a Viking house, archaeologists could pinpoint those sites and inspect them.

Anything to narrow down the search. Meanwhile, Kevin’s geological research has paid first dividends. There are hints that the Norsemen forayed considerably further south than previously assumed, and that they also might have moved further inland.

Kevin tells Natasha of his preliminary results. The flint at L’Anse aux Meadows originates from Newfoundland and probably from Nova Scotia. Kevin assumes that the Vikings even reached the greater area of Quebec and the region of New York.

Since this is where the butternuts and the grapes might have come from. Whether the Norsemen also established settlements there, can only be answered by future excavations. L’Anse aux Meadows was abandoned after some 50 years.

The reason why is another enigma of American Viking research. Many experts assume that the Nordic newcomers clashed with the indigenous population they disparagingly called Skraelingers - weaklings. It certainly had something to do with the indigenous people.

Yet, we don’t know exactly what happened. However, another important reason is that the settlers did not get any support from the parent colony on Greenland. Columbus had strong backing from the Spanish Queen, whereas the Viking settlers were on their own.

Queen Isabella of Spain did indeed finance the expeditions of Columbus and thereby laid the foundations for an immense colonial empire overseas. The Institución Colombina in Seville holds thousands of original documents from that era. Research these days focuses more and more on texts relating to Columbus' travels before he set out across the Atlantic.

Thanks to these documents, we are able to comprehend the thoughts, experiences and the acts of Christopher Columbus. Apart from documents on the voyage to Iceland in 1477, the Spanish researcher is particularly interested in a paper in which Columbus refers to a stay in the English port of Bristol one year earlier. Back then, Bristol was the starting point for the Iceland trade.

Its harbour was filled with ships from Norway, Denmark and Britain. In the quayside taverns sailors from many countries would meet, boast of their adventures, of daring voyages far out into the Atlantic and to newly discovered lands. The perfect spot for Columbus and his enquiries.

There were tales of travels to a mysterious country far out in the West. Saint Brendan, the patron saint of seafarers, was said to have crossed the Atlantic as early as the 6th century AD. In 1460, the Irish monk had even been immortalized in a book illustration.

In Bristol, Columbus may also have heard another fascinating lore. It told of a Welsh King named Owen Gwynedd, who, when he died, left 19 sons. One of them was Prince Madoc.

As the story goes, he took to sea to escape vicious fighting focused on the accession to his father's throne. In today's Snowdonia National Park, near castle Dolwydellan, a previous building has been located which, archaeologists believe, was the place where young Madoc was born and raised. Bill Jones of the Dolwydellan Historical Society is an expert on the life of Madoc.

He is convinced that the Welsh prince did indeed brave the Atlantic Ocean. It was a tale long cherished by the sea-faring nation of Great Britain, ideally suited to bolster its claim on the American colonies. Today, scientists believe, that it may hold some truth.

So, what was the situation like in Wales, some 750 years ago? There was a lot of family feuding. Owen Gwynedd and his sons, they didn't get on.

As it was in this part of Wales at that time, yeah. I would describe that time as a period of political upheaval. We had a lot of feuding going on between different family members, we had different dynasties.

Possibly a good description might be The Game of Thrones. The Joneses agree that those were wild times. Bill took part in the excavations of the castle where Madoc was born.

To him the ruins are proof that there was a King Owen, that he had numerous sons, and that the oral tradition can be trusted. The castle was perfectly situated to dominate the valley. So, it was a good place to be, but also the site of a relentless Game of Thrones.

I think that, potentially, you could relate it to the modern day. Many people feel the need to escape if things are chaotic. Therefore, yes, potentially it's just that general feeling.

He was quite young. I think he was born in 1150, and then he left in 1170. So he was, you know, in his early twenties.

Therefore, yes, potentially that's the reason. This had happened 200 years before with the Vikings. They too, had left everything behind to find a new home beyond the horizon.

Allegedly, Madoc even returned one more time in 1171 to recruit settlers for his new land across the Ocean and then set sail with ten ships. Researchers have reconstructed his possible route. From Wales across the Irish Sea, then on across the Atlantic Ocean heading south-west making landfall in Mobile Bay, Alabama.

There are several large rivers flowing into the bay, and on each of them Madoc and his boats could have penetrated far inland. Time and again historians have tried to verify the legend of Madoc on American soil, with the De Soto Falls in Georgia catching their attention. Next to them are strange caves, intriguingly called "Welsh Caves" by the locals.

The entrances, it is said, were once protected by stone walls. For good reason, because the Welsh were certainly not alone. And the new world is new only to them.

The indigenous people had expelled the Vikings up in the North. Did the same happen down here? Yet, is there really any substance to the legend of Madoc?

At Athens State College in Alabama, historian Ronald Fritze has followed up on the countless stories woven around the Welsh Prince. In those tales, the arrival in Mobile Bay is a recurring theme, as are the references to strife and feuds among the clans of 12th century Wales, which are given as the cause for Madoc’s exodus. Other than in Wales, the story of Madoc is little known in the United States.

There are only a few researchers like Ronald Fritze who seriously engage in evaluating historical and archaeological data on his alleged presence in North America. One of the key questions in the debate is whether the voyage of Madoc is a legend or merely a myth. Ronald Fritze explains the difference and its implications.

The story of Madoc can be viewed by some people and by other people as a myth. And if it's a legend, That would make it where there actually was a Welsh voyage, and we're just trying to piece together the details. If it's a myth, that' a story that's actually made up and did not occur.

And there's arguments for both sides whether it be a legend or a myth. Deep in the forests of Tennessee there are, however, some remarkable clues in favour of the presence of Europeans. They consist of huge blocks of stone which have been carved into shape by metal tools.

Madoc-researchers assume that they once were part of a fortress. It might have looked like this. Placed on high ground to control the river valley.

There is no archaeological evidence that the indigenous people of the area ever built in stone. So, had this fortress been erected by people from medieval Europe? As experts on the other side of the Atlantic see it, the building’s design, materials and the size of the blocks all fit the details of Welsh castles.

The Tennessee ruins may be a hint. But they alone are not sufficient proof of Madoc’s presence on American soil. Yet, there’s a most unexpected clue.

And it concerns an alleged encounter between the Welsh and the native Americans. What if the Welsh warriors had met an Indian tribe which back then roamed the area between the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers? What if this encounter had been peaceful, in contrast to that of the Vikings and the tribes of the North?

Ronald Fritze can call up a witness, albeit an indirect one. George Catlin, the painter, when he visited them in the early 1830s, he basically observed what he thought were Indians with, like, blue eyes or bloodish coloured hair and that sort of thing. Catlin’s observations are confirmed by another explorer, the German Maximilian Prince zu Wied, who travelled the land of the Mandan at about the same time.

He, too, noticed that some of the Indians were particularly light skinned under their war paint. And so, another legend was born. That of Prince Madoc and the White Indians.

Did the Welsh warriors merge with the Mandan tribe? And did the Mandan in turn pick up some of their vocabulary? A Welsh missionary who was active in the area was allegedly able to communicate with them rather well.

And what’s more, their huts are said to have resembled those of medieval Welsh villages. And some had strikingly blue eyes. George Catlin was one of the first to state that there were Welsh words embedded in the Mandan language.

However, such encounters were prone to all sorts of misunderstandings. And now, it's impossible to follow up on Catlin's observations. At the end of the 19th century, the Mandan had been expelled from their land and forced into reservations where they were almost totally wiped out by epidemics.

Yet, there is some more evidence of a link between the Welsh and the Mandan. As this old sketch shows, their boats have nothing in common with the typical canoes of other indigenous tribes. They closely resemble the Coracles, simple contraptions made of tarred animal skin and elastic lumber struts, which are still used by Welsh fishermen today.

It's hard not to come to the conclusion that the Mandan boats owed their design to Welsh immigrants. The same goes for another find from the Mandan's territory. Roman coins.

In Madoc's days, they were still used as a currency throughout medieval Europe. Another strange tale concerns a grave on the banks of the Ohio River, supposedly dating from 1186. In 1799, a party of locals is said to have exhumed six skeletons covered by breastplates displaying a Welsh coat of arms.

Alas, if they ever actually existed, the breast plates have long since vanished. So, there’s a lot of evidence, but it’s mostly circumstantial. Over in Wales, however, they are convinced that the legend of Prince Madoc having arrived in America, 300 years before Columbus, is based on facts.

I don't think there is any archaeological evidence. However, there is a lot of mention of him in literature. So, potentially, yes, there is potentially some truth behind it.

In Northern Wales, where Madoc once lived and from where he allegedly set sail, they firmly believe in a hero, whom history has almost and unjustly forgotten. Well, they said that Christopher Columbus was the first to have discovered America. But I think that Prince Madoc did that about 300 years before.

Back to Seville. The city is deeply marked by its Moorish past, and Columbus would have encountered it wherever he turned. Especially in its libraries which still hold hundreds of Arabic documents.

Some of them tell of an expedition that set out westward from Africa. As an eager collector of any nautical data, Columbus would not have missed these reports. His travels, be it up north or along the African coast, helped him to develop an ever more complete image of the world.

And on these journeys, he met many people who provided him with new information. In 1483, Columbus signs up on a Portuguese trading ship. Its destination suits him perfectly - the Arabic world of West Africa.

His enthusiasm comes across in his log. He draws maps, makes precise notes of wind conditions and currents. He is now 32 years old and has spent 18 of them on the high seas, becoming a master mariner.

After the return from his African voyage, he begins to put together plans for a westward venture that, he believes, will take him to India. In Africa, he cannot but have heard more of the legendary westward expedition of Abubakari the Second, the King he had already read about in the Arabian chronicles back in Seville. In the markets of West Africa, storytellers still animatedly recount the feats of the King who, according to them, in 1310, boldly set sail for America.

A tale brimming with pride about past exploits. Abubakari, it says, took to sea with a gigantic fleet, in search of the shores beyond the great sea of al Muhit, the Atlantic Ocean. It may sound fantastic, but the story has a good number of supporters here in Africa.

The Empire of Mali back then encompassed parts of today’s Niger, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Its rulers viewed themselves as the successors of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Ancient Mali was an African superpower.

The Trans-Sahara trade to Timbuktu as well as huge deposits of gold made the rulers of Mali immensely rich. Abubakari's successor, King Musa, has left a report on the voyage of his predecessor which is cited in Arabic documents. To Momadou Diallo from Gaston Berger University in Senegal these sources are highly reliable since they emanated at almost the same time as the events they describe.

In the 14th century, this African King undertook an expedition to America. It was an undertaking of pharaoh-like dimensions. The estuary of the Senegal River provides a huge natural harbour.

It's from here that Abubakari is said to have set sail with a fleet of 2,000 ships. Surely an exaggeration, yet he definitely had the means to do so. His successor, King Musa, probably was the richest man of his times, if not of all time.

An extrapolation of his wealth runs up to 400 billion Dollars. On his pilgrimage to Mecca he allegedly took along a retinue of 60,000 and 12 tons of gold, carried by 80 camels. During a stay in Cairo he mentioned Abubakari's fantastic voyage to the Governor.

This conversation was duly chronicled by an Arab scribe. Momadou Diallo has thoroughly analysed the content of this source. Even today, the Senegal Estuary is filled with hundreds of boats, traditional pirogues used by the African fishermen to venture far out onto the open sea.

Western experts, however, are doubtful that Africans, 700 years ago, had the know-how to cross the Atlantic Ocean. I am convinced that African ships back then had the same kind of rigging as their European counterparts when they began navigating the high seas. Western researchers doubt that a fleet once sailed from Saint Louis across al Muhit to America.

To their African colleagues this is a clear case of Eurocentric arrogance. Arabic knowledge of geography, navigation, astronomy and the prevailing winds and currents would have provided a sound basis for a crossing from West Africa to South America. At least for a one-way voyage.

That's why several experts believe Abubakari could have made it there. But not back. His whereabouts remain a mystery.

However, did some of his boats reach the American continent after all? Columbus states in his logs, that he had heard of black natives and had seen cotton cloths like those he had come across in Guinea. And metal spear heads, which when he had them analysed in Spain, fitted exactly the composition of those in West Africa.

Voyages like that of Abubakari had two goals. One was discovery, to find another continent beyond the great sea. The second was conquest.

Between the 13th and 16th centuries, during the African Middle Ages, there were many expeditions sent out to conquer new land. So, were there Arabic-African conquistadors in America? Maybe, since many seafarers following in Columbus' wake mentioned black-skinned people among the indigenous populations.

One thing is certain. Columbus was not the first to reach America. There were others before him whose tracks he followed.

The ruler of Mali might have reached South America by making use of the trade winds. It’s possible, but there’s no proof. Welsh Prince Madoc could have reached the Gulf of Mexico.

There are several written hints to that end as well as some evidence on the spot. That Leif Erikson was the first European to set foot on American soil 500 years before Columbus is an established fact. Latest research has even shown that the Vikings intended to establish a far-flung net of colonies, or had at least achieved much in this direction.

Christopher Columbus knew that others had preceded him, having read or heard about their voyages. He did not venture into the unknown. He knew there was a landmass in the West.

And that it must be of immense size if it could be reached from Africa as well as from the British Isles and from the far North. Nevertheless, when he brought home the news of a new world, Columbus heralded a turning point in the history of mankind. An age of exploration, conquest and exploitation.

That is what has secured him a place in history.