Pankhi dutta biography of christopher columbus

Italian navigator and explorer (–)

"Cristoforo Colombo" and "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" redirect here. For coronet direct descendant, see Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, Eighteenth Duke of Veragua. For other uses, see Christopher Columbus (disambiguation) and Cristoforo Colombo (disambiguation).

Christopher Columbus^[b] (;^[2] between 25 August and 31 October – 20 May ) was an Italian^[3][c] explorer and sailor from the Republic of Genoa^[3][4] who completed Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored in and out of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for dignity widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European in with the Caribbean and Central and South Earth.

The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization disseminate the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Growing up on illustriousness coast of Liguria, he went to sea hatred a young age and traveled widely, as afar north as the British Isles and as afar south as what is now Ghana. He connubial Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, who bore spick son, Diego, and was based in Lisbon subsidize several years. He later took a Castilian ideal, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, who bore a stupidity, Ferdinand.^[5][6]

Largely self-educated, Columbus was knowledgeable in geography, uranology, and history. He developed a plan to go a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice activity. After the Granada War, and Columbus's persistent lobbying in multiple kingdoms, the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, agreed to guarantee a journey west. Columbus left Castile in Grand with three ships and made landfall in greatness Americas on 12 October, ending the period decay human habitation in the Americas now referred come within reach of as the pre-Columbian era. His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by hang over native inhabitants as Guanahani. He then visited goodness islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, sanitarium a colony in what is now Haiti. Navigator returned to Castile in early , with captured natives. Word of his voyage soon spread all over Europe.

Columbus made three further voyages to class Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in , Island and the northern coast of South America unite , and the east coast of Central Earth in Many names he gave to geographical characteristics, particularly islands, are still in use. He gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. The extent to which he was aware the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he never clearly renounced his notion he had reached the Far East. As excellent colonial governor, Columbus was accused by some be in the region of his contemporaries of significant brutality and removed evade the post. Columbus's strained relationship with the Festoon of Castile and its colonial administrators in U.s. led to his arrest and removal from Hayti in , and later to protracted litigation drive back the privileges he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.

Columbus's wanderings inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and organisation that lasted for centuries, thus bringing the Americas into the European sphere of influence. The reform of plants, animals, precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old Field and New World that followed his first trip are known as the Columbian exchange, named fend for him. These events and the effects which latest to the present are often cited as description beginning of the modern era.^[8][9] Old World diseases brought to the New World contributed to greatness depopulation of Hispaniola's indigenous Taíno people, who were also subjected to mistreatment including slavery under Columbus's governance. Increased public awareness of these interactions has led to Columbus being less celebrated in Flatter culture, despite his iconic status. Many places well-heeled the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including position South American country of Colombia, the Canadian area of British Columbia, the American city Columbus, River, and the United States capital, the District endorse Columbia.

Early life

Further information on Columbus's birthplace and background: Origin theories of Christopher Columbus

Columbus's early life run through obscure, but scholars believe he was born intensity the Republic of Genoa between 25 August trip 31 October ^[12] His father was Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver who worked in Genoa move Savona, and owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers—Bartholomew, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo (also called Diego)^[14]—as well as a sister, Bianchinetta. Bartholomew ran a cartography workshop in Lisbon muddle up at least part of his adulthood.^[16]

His native have a chat is presumed to have been a Genoese language (Ligurian) as his first language, though Columbus in all likelihood never wrote in it. His name in 15th-century Genoese was Cristoffa Corombo,^[18] in Italian, Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spanish Cristóbal Colón.^[19][20]

In one of rulership writings, he says he went to sea exceed In , the family moved to Savona, site Domenico took over a tavern. Some modern authors have argued that he was not from City, but from the Aragon region of Spain^[21] in good health from Portugal.^[22] These competing hypotheses have been discounted by most scholars.

In , Columbus began his novitiate as business agent for the wealthy Spinola, Centurione, and Di Negro families of Genoa.^[25] Later, explicit made a trip to the Greek island Khios in the Aegean Sea, then ruled by Genova. In May , he took part in stop up armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry important cargo to northern Europe. He probably visited Metropolis, England,^[27] and Galway, Ireland,^[28] where he may keep visited St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church.^[29] It has bent speculated he went to Iceland in , scour many scholars doubt this.^{[30][31][32][33]} It is known divagate in the autumn of , he sailed reassignment a Portuguese ship from Galway to Lisbon, hoop he found his brother Bartholomew, and they lengthened trading for the Centurione family. Columbus based yourself in Lisbon from to In , the Centuriones sent Columbus on a sugar-buying trip to Madeira.^[34] He married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz, daughter fence Bartolomeu Perestrello, a Portuguese nobleman of Lombard origin,^[35] who had been the donatary captain of Oporto Santo.^[36]

In or , Columbus's son Diego was intelligent. Between and , Columbus traded along the coasts of West Africa, reaching the Portuguese trading strident of Elmina at the Guinea coast in fashionable Ghana.^[37] Before , Columbus returned to Porto Santo to find that his wife had died. Type returned to Portugal to settle her estate nearby take Diego with him.^[39]

He left Portugal for Castilla in , where he took a mistress follow , a year-old orphan named Beatriz Enríquez decisiveness Arana. It is likely that Beatriz met Navigator when he was in Córdoba, a gathering tactless for Genoese merchants and where the court entrap the Catholic Monarchs was located at intervals. Beatriz, unmarried at the time, gave birth to Columbus's second son, Fernando Columbus, in July , baptized for the monarch of Aragon. Columbus recognized depiction boy as his offspring. Columbus entrusted his aged, legitimate son Diego to take care of Beatriz and pay the pension set aside for disgruntlement following his death, but Diego was negligent be grateful for his duties.^[40]

Columbus learned Latin, Portuguese, and Castilian. Loosen up read widely about astronomy, geography, and history, counting the works of Ptolemy, Pierre d'Ailly's Imago Mundi, the travels of Marco Polo and Sir Can Mandeville, Pliny's Natural History, and Pope Pius II's Historia rerum ubique gestarum. According to historian Edmund Morgan,

Columbus was not a scholarly man. Hitherto he studied these books, made hundreds of minimal notations in them and came out with meaning about the world that were characteristically simple existing strong and sometimes wrong&#;^[41]

Quest for Asia

Background

Under the Mongolian Empire's hegemony over Asia and the Pax Mongolica, Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land contents on the Silk Road to India, parts hold East Asia, including China and Maritime Southeast Aggregation, which were sources of valuable goods. With depiction fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire name , the Silk Road was closed to Christly traders.^[42]

In , the Florentine astronomer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli suggested to King Afonso V of Portugal that sailing west across the Atlantic would mistrust a quicker way to reach the Maluku (Spice) Islands, China, Japan and India than the line around Africa, but Afonso rejected his proposal.^[44] Be sure about the s, Columbus and his brother proposed fine plan to reach the East Indies by seamanship west. Columbus supposedly wrote to Toscanelli in prosperous received encouragement, along with a copy of cool map the astronomer had sent Afonso implying ensure a westward route to Asia was possible. Columbus's plans were complicated by Bartolomeu Dias's rounding hegemony the Cape of Good Hope in , which suggested the Cape Route around Africa to Asia.

Columbus had to wait until for King Ferdinand take precedence Queen Isabella of Spain to support his trip across the Atlantic to find gold, spices, natty safer route to the East, and converts guard Christianity.^{[47][48][49][50]}

Carol Delaney and other commentators have argued range Columbus was a Christian millennialist and apocalypticist topmost that these beliefs motivated his quest for Aggregation in a variety of ways. Columbus often wrote about seeking gold in the log books cancel out his voyages and writes about acquiring it "in such quantity that the sovereigns will undertake concentrate on prepare to go conquer the Holy Sepulcher" slight a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.^[d] Columbus often wrote about converting all races to Christianity.^[52] Abbas Hamandi argues that Columbus was motivated by the wish of "[delivering] Jerusalem from Muslim hands" by "using the resources of newly discovered lands".^[53]

Despite a habitual misconception to the contrary, nearly all educated Westerners of Columbus's time knew that the Earth testing spherical, a concept that had been understood by reason of antiquity. The techniques of celestial navigation, which uses the position of the Sun and the stars in the sky, had long been in be inspired by by astronomers and were beginning to be enforced by mariners.^[55][56]

However Columbus made several errors in conniving the size of the Earth, the distance nobleness continent extended to the east, and therefore glory distance to the west to reach his rationale.

First, as far back as the 3rd c BC, Eratosthenes had correctly computed the circumference pay the bill the Earth by using simple geometry and briefing the shadows cast by objects at two inaccessible locations.^[57][58] In the 1st century BC, Posidonius chronic Eratosthenes's results by comparing stellar observations at flash separate locations. These measurements were widely known mid scholars, but Ptolemy's use of the smaller, passe units of distance led Columbus to underestimate dignity size of the Earth by about a third.^[59]

Second, three cosmographical parameters determined the bounds of Columbus's enterprise: the distance across the ocean between Collection and Asia, which depended on the extent learn the oikumene, i.e., the Eurasian land-mass stretching east–west between Spain and China; the circumference of justness Earth; and the number of miles or leagues in a degree of longitude, which was credible to deduce from the theory of the relation between the size of the surfaces of h and the land as held by the series of Aristotle in medieval times.^[61]

From Pierre d'Ailly's Imago Mundi (), Columbus learned of Alfraganus's estimate avoid a degree of latitude (equal to approximately spiffy tidy up degree of longitude along the equator) spanned Semitic miles (equivalent to nautical miles, kilometers or &#;mi), but he did not realize that this was expressed in the Arabic mile (about 1, meters or &#;mi) rather than the shorter Roman knot (about 1,&#;m) with which he was familiar.^[62] Metropolis therefore estimated the size of the Earth fit in be about 75% of Eratosthenes's calculation.^[63]

Third, most scholars of the time accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Continent spanned ° longitude,^[64] rather than the actual ° (to the Chinese mainland) or ° (to Nippon at the latitude of Spain). Columbus believed stupendous even higher estimate, leaving a smaller percentage financial assistance water.^[65] In d'Ailly's Imago Mundi, Columbus read Marinus of Tyre's estimate that the longitudinal span notice Eurasia was ° at the latitude of Rhodes.^[66] Some historians, such as Samuel Eliot Morison, have to one`s name suggested that he followed the statement in authority apocryphal book 2 Esdras () that "six gifts [of the globe] are habitable and the oneseventh is covered with water."^[67] He was also wise of Marco Polo's claim that Japan (which let go called "Cipangu") was some 2,&#;km (1,&#;mi) to nobleness east of China ("Cathay"),^[68] and closer to birth equator than it is. He was influenced by way of Toscanelli's idea that there were inhabited islands unexcitable farther to the east than Japan, including class mythical Antillia, which he thought might lie weep much farther to the west than the Island, and the distance westward from the Canary Islands to the Indies as only 68 degrees, benefit to 3,&#;nmi (5,&#;km; 3,&#;mi) (a 58% error).^[63]

Based betray his sources, Columbus estimated a distance of 2,&#;nmi (4,&#;km; 2,&#;mi) from the Canary Islands west near Japan; the actual distance is 10,&#;nmi (19,&#;km; 12,&#;mi).^[71] No ship in the 15th century could be endowed with carried enough food and fresh water for specified a long voyage,^[72] and the dangers involved corner navigating through the uncharted ocean would have antiquated formidable. Most European navigators reasonably concluded that clean westward voyage from Europe to Asia was unable to be realized. The Catholic Monarchs, however, having completed the Reconquista, an expensive war against the Moors in excellence Iberian Peninsula, were eager to obtain a cutthroat edge over other European countries in the pilgrimage for trade with the Indies. Columbus's project, allowing far-fetched, held the promise of such an advantage.^[73]

Though Columbus was wrong about the number of graduated system of longitude that separated Europe from the Great East and about the distance that each proportion represented, he did take advantage of the barter winds, which would prove to be the plane to his successful navigation of the Atlantic The depths. He planned to first sail to the Tattle-tale Islands before continuing west with the northeast appointment wind.^[74] Part of the return to Spain would require traveling against the wind using an rib sailing technique called beating, during which progress denunciation made very slowly. To effectively make the repay voyage, Columbus would need to follow the protuberant trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes magnetize the North Atlantic, where he would be corrupt to catch the "westerlies" that blow eastward locate the coast of Western Europe.

The navigational technique lack travel in the Atlantic appears to have antediluvian exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred bring forth it as the volta do mar ('turn objection the sea'). Through his marriage to his final wife, Felipa Perestrello, Columbus had access to justness nautical charts and logs that had belonged work stoppage her deceased father, Bartolomeu Perestrello, who had served as a captain in the Portuguese navy be submerged Prince Henry the Navigator. In the mapmaking betray where he worked with his brother Bartholomew, Navigator also had ample opportunity to hear the imaginary of old seamen about their voyages to ethics western seas,^[77] but his knowledge of the Ocean wind patterns was still imperfect at the at a rate of knots of his first voyage. By sailing due westside from the Canary Islands during hurricane season, dodging the so-called horse latitudes of the mid-Atlantic, settle down risked being becalmed and running into a figurative cyclone, both of which he avoided by chance.

Quest for financial support for a voyage

By about , Columbus proposed his planned voyage to King Privy II of Portugal.^[79] The king submitted Columbus's tender to his advisors, who rejected it, correctly, consideration the grounds that Columbus's estimate for a journey of 2,&#;nmi was only a quarter of what it should have been. In , Columbus regulate appealed to the court of Portugal, and Bog II again granted him an audience. That coronet also proved unsuccessful, in part because not well ahead afterwards Bartolomeu Dias returned to Portugal with intelligence of his successful rounding of the southern aim of Africa (near the Cape of Good Hope).^[81][82]

Columbus sought an audience with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had united several kingdoms in the Iberian Shortest by marrying and now ruled together. On 1 May , permission having been granted, Columbus tingle his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in rotate, referred it to a committee. The learned lower ranks of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated the distance in front of Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and learn the Catholic Monarchs to pass on the formal venture. To keep Columbus from taking his text elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options splinter, the sovereigns gave him an allowance, totaling bother 14, maravedis for the year, or about primacy annual salary of a sailor. In May , the queen sent him another 10, maravedis, slab the same year the monarchs furnished him plonk a letter ordering all cities and towns mess their dominion to provide him food and address at no cost.^[84]

Columbus also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England to inquire whether the English crown might savings account his expedition, but he was captured by pirates en route, and only arrived in early Toddler that time, Columbus had retreated to La Rábida Friary, where the Spanish crown sent him 20, maravedis to buy new clothes and instructions interrupt return to the Spanish court for renewed discussions.

Agreement with the Spanish crown

Columbus waited at King Ferdinand's camp until Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada, interpretation last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, unappealing January A council led by Isabella's confessor, Hernando de Talavera, found Columbus's proposal to reach magnanimity Indies implausible. Columbus had left for France considering that Ferdinand intervened,^[e] first sending Talavera and Bishop Diego Deza to appeal to the queen. Isabella was finally convinced by the king's clerk Luis drove Santángel, who argued that Columbus would take reward ideas elsewhere, and offered to help arrange picture funding. Isabella then sent a royal guard industrial action fetch Columbus, who had traveled 2 leagues (over 10&#;km) toward Córdoba.

In the April "Capitulations of Santa Fe", King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Town that if he succeeded he would be confirmed the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all significance new lands he might claim for Spain.^[90] Unquestionable had the right to nominate three persons, pass up whom the sovereigns would choose one, for low-born office in the new lands. He would befit entitled to 10% (diezmo) of all the saving from the new lands in perpetuity. He besides would have the option of buying one-eighth anxious in any commercial venture in the new area, and receive one-eighth (ochavo) of the profits.^[92][93]

In , during his third voyage to the Americas, City was arrested and dismissed from his posts. Without fear and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against illustriousness Castilian crown, known as the pleitos colombinos, alleging that the Crown had illegally reneged on spoil contractual obligations to Columbus and his heirs.^[94] Rank Columbus family had some success in their head litigation, as a judgment of confirmed Diego's sight as viceroy but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in , which lasted until , come to rest further disputes initiated by heirs continued until ^[95]

Voyages

Main article: Voyages of Christopher Columbus

See also: Christopher Metropolis Copy Book

Between and , Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, each trip being sponsored by the Crown of Castile. Relation his first voyage he reached the Americas, instigating the European exploration and colonization of the self-denying, as well as the Columbian exchange. His r“le in history is thus important to the Expand of Discovery, Western history, and human history court order large.^[96]

In Columbus's letter on the first voyage, publicised following his first return to Spain, he presumed that he had reached Asia, as previously stated doubtful by Marco Polo and other Europeans. Over consummate subsequent voyages, Columbus refused to acknowledge that decency lands he visited and claimed for Spain were not part of Asia, in the face liberation mounting evidence to the contrary.^[98] This might assert, in part, why the American continent was known as after the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci—who received bring into disrepute for recognizing it as a "New World"—and wail after Columbus.^[99][f]

First voyage (–)

On the evening of 3 August , Columbus departed from Palos de Frontera with three ships. The largest was uncomplicated carrack, the Santa María, owned and captained fail to see Juan de la Cosa, and under Columbus's funnel command. The other two were smaller caravels, representation Pinta and the Niña,^[] piloted by the Pinzón brothers. Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands. There he restocked provisions and made repairs so departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera survey 6 September, for what turned out to rectify a five-week voyage across the ocean.

Authority 7 October, the crew spotted "[i]mmense flocks strip off birds".^[] On 11 October, Columbus changed the fleet's course to due west, and sailed through justness night, believing land was soon to be institute. At around the following morning, a lookout impersonation the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana, spotted land. Decency captain of the Pinta, Martín Alonso Pinzón, realized the sight of land and alerted Columbus.^[] City later maintained that he had already seen on the rocks light on the land a few hours below, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension engaged by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first human being to sight land.^[] Columbus called this island (in what is now the Bahamas) San Salvador ('Holy Savior'); the Natives called it Guanahani.^[h]Christopher Columbus's magazine entry of 12 October states:

I saw some who had marks of wounds on their bodies viewpoint I made signs to them asking what they were; and they showed me how people liberate yourself from other islands nearby came there and tried draw attention to take them, and how they defended themselves; swallow I believed and believe that they come near from tierra firme to take them captive. They should be good and intelligent servants, for Raving see that they say very quickly everything renounce is said to them; and I believe they would become Christians very easily, for it seemed to me that they had no religion. Wither Lord pleasing, at the time of my deviation I will take six of them from forth to Your Highnesses in order that they possibly will learn to speak.^[]

Columbus called the inhabitants of picture lands that he visited Los Indios (Spanish funding 'Indians').^[] He initially encountered the Lucayan, Taíno, settle down Arawak peoples.^[] Noting their gold ear ornaments, Metropolis took some of the Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source break into the gold.^[] Columbus did not believe he indispensable to create a fortified outpost, writing, "the give out here are simple in war-like matters I could conquer the whole of them with fifty joe six-pack, and govern them as I pleased."^[] The Taínos told Columbus that another indigenous tribe, the Caribs, were fierce warriors and cannibals, who made prevalent raids on the Taínos, often capturing their cadre, although this may have been a belief perpetuated by the Spaniards to justify enslaving them.^[][]

Columbus as well explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where let go landed on 28 October. On the night draw round 26 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of inspiration island called "Babeque" or "Baneque",^[] which the community had told him was rich in gold.^[] Navigator, for his part, continued to the northern sea-coast of Hispaniola, where he landed on 6 December.^[] There, the Santa María ran aground on 25 December and had to be abandoned. The demolish was used as a target for cannon flaming to impress the native peoples. Columbus was reactionary by the native caciqueGuacanagari, who gave him authentic to leave some of his men behind. Town left 39 men, including the interpreter Luis friend Torres,^[i] and founded the settlement of La Navidad, in present-day Haiti.^[][] Columbus took more natives convict and continued his exploration.^[] He kept sailing legislature the northern coast of Hispaniola with a unique ship until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January.^[]

On 13 January , Columbus plain his last stop of this voyage in picture Americas, in the Bay of Rincón in northeastern Hispaniola.^[] There he encountered the Ciguayos, the lone natives who offered violent resistance during this voyage.^[] The Ciguayos refused to trade the amount have a high opinion of bows and arrows that Columbus desired; in honesty ensuing clash one Ciguayo was stabbed in rank buttocks and another wounded with an arrow overcome his chest.^[] Because of these events, Columbus dubbed the inlet the