Maize-2
The Maize designation is used for worlds were Maize has been the trigger of changes that otherwise can't be traced. In this Q7 world, someone brought Maize seeds across the Atlantic in what researchers think must have been Roman times, details are foggy. This dark blue cultivar of maize spread south from Egypt and wasn't stopped by the
Sudd as each little village got Maize, by trade or theft, from the next village. By the beginnings of Europes Dark Ages, Subsaharan Africa had a highly productive grain crop. It's now 1450, Portuguese sailors are meeting African sailors coming North looking for an all water route to Egypt.
Henry the Navigator has ascertained that these African sailors know the way to India. However, as they are Muslim, they aren't friendly to Christians sailing through their seas. Henry isn't the man to be so lightly turned from his prize.
Basically, Crusades, Jihads, and swashers, all at sea.