USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The use of the term Indian for the natives of the Americas originated with Christopher Columbus, who mistakenly believed that the Antilles were the islands of the Indian Ocean, known to Europeans as the Indies.

Detailed explanation-2: -When Christopher Columbus set out on his first voyage in 1492, he thought that he was heading for India’s spicelands, the Kerala coast. Columbus went the wrong way, but his commercial rival, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama, went the right way and found a land rich in the treasures that Europeans sought: spices.

Detailed explanation-3: -The word Indian came to be used because Christopher Columbus repeatedly expressed the mistaken belief that he had reached the shores of South Asia. Convinced he was correct, Columbus fostered the use of the term Indios (originally, “person from the Indus valley”) to refer to the peoples of the so-called New World.

Detailed explanation-4: -What did Columbus aim to do? In the 15th and 16th centuries, Europeans wanted to find sea routes to the Far East. Columbus wanted to find a new route to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands. If he could reach these lands, he would be able to bring back rich cargoes of silks and spices.