True, but based on the limited info we have, Africa had a much lower population than either India or China even 1000 years prior to that. Just sheer fertility

True, but based on the limited info we have, Africa had a much lower population than either India or China even 1000 years prior to that. Just sheer fertility of regions, navigability of rivers, etc, as a Civilization of EU4 player would put it, meant a "better starting position" for some :-p