Christopher Columbus Reaches America; 21 Mehr, 534 Years Ago

Contrary to popular belief, Columbus did not set sail to prove the Earth is round, but based on flawed calculations, to find a shorter route to the riches of Asia. The voyage that brought Spain to the height of power ended in the destruction and enslavement of millions of Indigenous people of the Americas

According to Ambassador Arjan, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, saw an island in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, and thought he had reached East Asia, he set foot on land. He acquired this land in the name of Isabel and Ferdinand, the kings of Spain; Patrons who financed his voyage to find a western sea route to China, India and the fabled islands of gold and spices in Asia.

Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Little is known about his early life, but we do know that he worked first as a sailor and then as a maritime entrepreneur. At that time, he was so enamored of finding a sea route from the west to Cathay (China), India and the rich islands of spices and gold in Asia that he occupied all his thoughts and thoughts. At that time, the Europeans had no direct sea route to South Asia, and the route through Egypt and the Red Sea was also closed to them due to the dominance of the Ottoman Empire over many land and sea routes.

Contrary to popular legends, the Europeans of science and knowledge believed that the earth was spherical at the time of Columbus; A theory that was also proposed by "Isidore of Seville" (Saint Isidore) from the 7th century AD. However, Columbus and most of his contemporaries estimated the dimensions of the globe to be much smaller than its actual size. Their calculations showed that East Asia should be located roughly where North America is today (they didn't know about the Pacific Ocean at the time).

Believing that only the Atlantic Ocean stood between Europe and the riches of the East Indies, Columbus met with King Joao II of Portugal and tried to convince him to finance his plan—which he called the "Indian Project." Rejecting this request, he went to Spain, but there he was rejected at least twice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. However, after the fall and capture of the Moorish (Muslim) kingdom in Granada by Spanish troops in January 1492, the Spanish rulers, intoxicated with victory, finally agreed to finance the voyage.

On August 3, 1492 [13 August 871], Columbus set off from the Spanish port of Palos with three small ships named "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Niña". On October 12 [21 Mehr 871], the expedition sighted land that was probably Watling Island in the Bahamas. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba and thought he had reached mainland China, and in December his convoy docked at Hispaniola; The land that Columbus believed to be Japan. He founded a small colony there with 39 of his sailors. This sailor returned to Spain in March 1493 with gold, spices and captives from the local people (whom he called "Indians") and was received in the Spanish court with the highest ceremonies and honors. He was the first European to explore the American continent since the Vikings established bases in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.

During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four exploratory voyages to the "New World", during which he traveled to various parts of the Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the mainland of South and Central America, but he never reached his main goal, which is to find a sea route from the west to the big cities of Asia. He finally died in Spain in 1506, without knowing the true dimensions of his achievement: he had discovered a new world for Europe, and the wealth that arose from it in the following century made Spain the richest and most powerful empire in the world. At the same time, this event ushered in centuries of brutal colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and the deaths of millions of Native Americans from massacres and disease outbreaks.

In 1937, Columbus Day was registered as a federal holiday in the United States. But since 1991, many cities, universities, and a growing number of states have recognized Indigenous Peoples Day; An occasion dedicated to celebrating the history and role-playing of Indians and Native Americans. This occasion does not coincide with "Columbus Day" (the second Monday in October) for no reason, and in some places it has completely replaced it. But why was the Day of Indigenous Peoples instead of Columbus Day? Critics argue that commemorating the day ignores Columbus' enslavement of natives and gives him credit for "discovering" a land inhabited by humans centuries before his arrival.