Monday, October 14, 2013

How are we supposed to celebrate ethnic cleansing? প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগের জেরে রাজ্যের বেশ কিছু এলাকা কার্যত লন্ডভন্ড হয়ে গিয়েছে। এখনও পর্যন্ত পাঁচজনের মৃত্যুর খবর মিলেছে। তছনছ হয়ে গিয়েছে আসানসোল, দুর্গাপুর, পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুরের বিস্তীর্ণ অঞ্চল। " ... On October 14, 1956, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers converted to Buddhism at a place in Nagpur which is now called Deeksha Bhoomi. ... 'Before Babasaheb Ambedkar, we would be treated like animals. He gave us identity, showed us the right path, taught us to fight for our basic rights,' ... 'Babasaheb Ambedkar is more than a God to us. God may have given us life, but Babasaheb taught us how to live it with dignity.'" विकिपीडियावर टिळकांची पोलखोल बाळ गंगाधर टिळक हे लोकमान्य नसून भटमान्य होते तमिलनाडु सचिवालय में एससी-एसटी (19%) और ओबीसी (50%) का क्वोटा रिक्त नहीं है, सता में पर्याप्त सामाजिक हिस्सेदारी है और उच्च वर्णीय का प्रशासन पर एकाधिकार नहीं है, फिर भी मानव विकास - राज्य विकास में तमिलनाडु न. 1 है. वास्तव में एससी एसटी और ओब

How are we supposed to celebrate ethnic cleansing?

প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগের জেরে রাজ্যের বেশ কিছু এলাকা কার্যত লন্ডভন্ড হয়ে গিয়েছে। এখনও পর্যন্ত পাঁচজনের মৃত্যুর খবর মিলেছে। তছনছ হয়ে গিয়েছে আসানসোল, দুর্গাপুর, পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুরের বিস্তীর্ণ অঞ্চল।



" ... On October 14, 1956, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers converted to Buddhism at a place in Nagpur which is now called Deeksha Bhoomi. ... 'Before Babasaheb Ambedkar, we would be treated like animals. He gave us identity, showed us the right path, taught us to fight for our basic rights,' ... 'Babasaheb Ambedkar is more than a God to us. God may have given us life, but Babasaheb taught us how to live it with dignity.'"


विकिपीडियावर टिळकांची पोलखोल बाळ गंगाधर टिळक हे लोकमान्य नसून भटमान्य होते

तमिलनाडु सचिवालय में एससी-एसटी (19%) और ओबीसी (50%) का क्वोटा रिक्त नहीं है, सता में पर्याप्त सामाजिक हिस्सेदारी है और उच्च वर्णीय का प्रशासन पर एकाधिकार नहीं है, फिर भी मानव विकास - राज्य विकास में तमिलनाडु न. 1 है. वास्तव में एससी एसटी और ओबीसी की प्रशासन में पर्याप्त हिस्सेदारी के बिना न देश का विकास संभव है या न राज्य का विकास संभव है.


Palash Biswas

Indian inflation rates continued to accelerate in September, lifted by rising prices of vegetables as well as the weak rupee, adding to concerns that the country's central bank is likely to increase key interest rates again.On the other hand,RIL net profit in the first half of the financial year increased 9.4 per cent to Rs 10,842 crore. SummaryReliance Industries first company in India to achieve sales in excess of Rs 1,00,000 cr in quarter.Infosys has replaced Reliance Industries as the number two stock in the BSE Sensex in terms of weightage. The Infosys stock now commands a weight of 9.05 per cent in the BSE Sensex displacing Reliance Industries to number three at 8.69 per cent.


প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগের জেরে রাজ্যের বেশ কিছু এলাকা কার্যত লন্ডভন্ড হয়ে গিয়েছে। এখনও পর্যন্ত পাঁচজনের মৃত্যুর খবর মিলেছে। তছনছ হয়ে গিয়েছে আসানসোল, দুর্গাপুর, পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুরের বিস্তীর্ণ অঞ্চল।


Facing flak from victims of the temple stampede as well as opposition Congress, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said politics on any tragedy like the stampede at Ratangarh temple in Datia district is unwanted.


রবিবার দমকা ঝড়ে আসানসোলের জামুড়িয়ার পড়াশিয়া কোলিয়ারি এলাকার একটি মণ্ডপ ভেঙে পড়ে। শর্ট সার্কিটের কারণে বিদ্যুত্‍স্পৃষ্ট হয়ে দুজনের মৃত্যু হয়। আহত হন ছজন।  দোকানঘরের দেওয়াল ধসে পড়ায় গোপালপুরে এক বৃদ্ধের মৃত্যু হয়েছে। আসানসোল বাজারে একটি দোতলা পুরনো বাড়ি ভেঙে পড়ায় কয়েকজন চাপা পড়ে যান। চারজনকে উদ্ধার করে জেলা হাসপাতালে ভর্তি করা হয়।


Fearing a communal flare-up, the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday decided to ban the 'Sankalp Diwas' stir of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to be held in Ayodhya on October 18.



উত্তর আসানসোলের বেশ কিছু মানুষ গাড়ুই নদীর স্রোতে জলবন্দি হয়ে পড়েন।  বিপর্যয় মোকাবিলা বাহিনীর লোকজন তাঁদের উদ্ধার করে।  


বর্ধমানের বনকুল গ্রামে প্রায় ২০০ কাঁচা বাড়ি ভেঙে পড়েছে। আহত হয়েছেন তিরিশজন গ্রামবাসী। ঝড়ের দাপটে প্রায় তিরিশটি গবাদি পশু মারা গিয়েছে। প্রায় ধংসস্তূপে পরিণত হয়েছে কাঁকসার বসুধা এলাকা। ঝড়ে ভেঙে পড়েছে বহু বাড়ি। বহু গাছ উপড়ে গিয়েছে। আহত হয়েছেন আঠেরোজন।


প্রবল ঝড়ে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুরের বহু গ্রাম। গাছ চাপা পড়ে সুকুমার ঘোষ নামে এক ব্যক্তির মৃত্যু হয়েছে চন্দ্রকোনা টাউনে। কেশপুর, মেদিনীপুর সদর, চন্দ্রকোনা এক নম্বর ব্লকের শতাধিক বাড়ি ভেঙে পড়েছে। দেওয়াল চাপা পড়ে আহত হন তিনজন।


ঝড়বৃষ্টির জেরে পুরুলিয়ায় বেশকিছু মণ্ডপের তোরণ ভেঙে পড়ে। দেওয়াল চাপা পড়ে মৃত্যু হয়েছে এক শিশুর। পুরুলিয়ার আঢ়ষা ও পুরুলিয়া দু-নম্বর ব্লকের কয়েকটি গ্রাম জলমগ্ন হয়ে পড়েছে।


ঝড়বৃষ্টি হয়েছে বাঁকুড়ার বিভিন্ন এলাকাতেও। দিঘায় সমুদ্রে তীব্র জলোচ্ছ্বাস হয়। প্রশাসনের তরফে পর্যটকদের সমুদ্রে নামতে নিষেধ করা হয়েছে।


Time of issue: 1630 hours IST Dated: 14-10-2013


Bulletin No.: BOB 04/2013/45


Sub: Well marked Low Pressure area over southwest Bihar


The Depression over Jharkhand and adjoining areas of north Chhattisgarh and Odisha has

weakened further and lies over Southwest Bihar and neighbourhood as a well marked low pressure

area at 1430 hrs IST of today.


Warning for Jharkhand, Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim


Heavy rainfall: Rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls would occur over Bihar

including Kosi and Gandak river catchments during next 24 hour and over Sub-Himalayan West

Bengal & Sikkim including Teesta river catchment during next 48 hours. Rainfall at many places

would occur with isolated heavy falls over north Jharkhand during next 12 hours.


This is the last bulletin for Cyclone Phailin. Forecast for Heavy rainfall warning will be

available in regular All India weather bulletins of IMD.


Lastrealindians

Media/News/Publishing · 67,230 likes

Remembering the genocide of the Taino peoples today. Strength to all those who continue to resist the legacy of colonialism and devastating impacts of the discovery doctrine. LRI stands with you.

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WORLDWIDE
October 6, 2000

Ministry for Information, 
American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council

Press Contact:
WaBun-Inini, Ind-diz-Nikaz
Anishinabe Ojibwe Nation
aka, Vernon Bellecourt, National Representative
Phone: 612-721-3914       Fax: 612-721-7826
aimggc@worldnet.att.net
www.aimovment.org




RE: Indigenous People's Opposition to Celebration and Glorification of
Colonial Pirate Christopher Columbus

As we enter the new Millennium on October 9 or 12, 2000, the settler governments and peoples of North, Central and South America, who occupy the lands of various Indigenous nations of peoples, will again celebrate with holiday parades and festivals the invasion of our sacred lands by the colonial pirate Christopher Columbus.

Columbus was the beginning of the American holocaust, ethnic cleansing characterized by murder, torture, raping, pillaging, robbery, slavery, kidnapping, and forced removals of Indian people from their homelands.

To our Italian American friends, we say that to celebrate the legacy of this murderer is an affront to all Indian peoples, and others who truly understand this history. It would be the same as if German people would celebrate and glorify Adolf Hitler and the rise of fascism, and the Nazi holocaust by holding parades through the Jewish communities of America and throughout the world.

We unequivocally support the right of Indian peoples of all the Americas along with friends and supporters to peacefully hold demonstrations and vigils, and exercise firm and resolute civil disobedience against any groups, religious, other organizations, and governments who continue to insist on celebrating and glorifying the murderous Columbus with parades, festivals, and celebrations.

In order to end the Columbus legacy we call on the Congress of the United States to repudiate the Columbus legacy by eliminating the Columbus holiday by following the lead of states such as Louisiana, and South Dakota who declare October 12th each year honoring American Indians. American Indians gave you your spiritual, cultural, social, economic, and political freedom and sanctuary.

The legacy of Columbus continues against the original people of all of the Americas, north, south and central. At this time, murderous acts against the people of Guatemala are fresh in mind. On Thursday, march 10, 1999 speaking in Guatemala City, President Clinton expressed regret for the United State's role in Guatemala's 36-year Civil War saying:

"Washington was wrong to have supported Guatemala Security Forces in a brutal counter-insurgency campaign that slaughtered thousands of civilians." He went on to say, "It is important that I state clearly that support for military forces or intelligence units who engaged in violent and widespread repression of the kind described in the report of the Historical Clarification Commission was wrong." Clinton said, reading carefully from handwritten notes, "And the United States must not repeat that mistake."

It is because of United States' support for a series of military death-squad governments in Guatemala that, at least, 150,000 Mayan Indians and tens of thousands other Guatemalan civilians lost their lives. At least 467 villages have disappeared. Men, women, and children have been brutalized, tortured, raped, mutilated, and buried in mass graves throughout the countryside in Guatemala in the past fifteen (15) years alone.

We call on all governments and peoples of goodwill worldwide to give support to the lawsuit filed in Spain by Rigoberta Menchu Tum the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and the Alliance Against Impunity, calling for the arrest and prosecution of Efrain Rios Mont. Mont was one of several leaders of the brutal death squad governments of Guatemala who ordered the attack on the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City, which caused the incendiary burning to death of more than thirty (30) Mayan Indian peaceful protestors, including the father of Rigoberta Menchu, and Spanish embassy staff. Additionally, Rios Mont was responsible for the murders of tens of thousands of civilians, the vast majority of which were Mayan Indians.

We call on Amnesty International, the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), the Working Group on Indigenous People to move the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and all appropriate United Nations organs at the highest level to launch an immediate investigation as to the role of the United States.

We are calling on the World Court, the Permanent United Nations War Crimes Tribunal to investigate and bring to trial the political and military leaders of the death squad governments of Guatemala and the United States CIA, military, political, and business leaders, who are complicit in what is clearly ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

We call on the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights who were doing forensic investigations of mass graves in Bosnia and Kosovo to come to Guatemala to examine all the mass graves in Guatemala, which hold as many as 200,000 to 300,000 civilian victims.

We are not so naïve to expect that the United States Senate would investigate itself since past and present Senate and House Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee Members are aware of these war crimes, which makes them complicit and culpable. Nonetheless, it is their duty to the American people, and to the suffering people, and those in mass graves throughout the countryside of Guatemala.

In defense to charges of crimes against humanity and other war crimes, German military officers, political leaders, industrialists, and the German people, during their trial before the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, defended themselves by saying, "As subordinates, we were only following orders." The German people plead innocent for reasons of ignorance by declaring that, "We did not know what was going on in the concentration camps."

Justice Robert Jackson of the United States Supreme Court, who was the lead American Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal challenged their defense in these words:

"If certain acts and violations of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether Germany commits them, or whether the United States commits them. We are not prepared to impose a code of criminal conduct against others that we would not be willing to have invoked against us."

William Jefferson Clinton and Madeline Albright, who were preaching morality to the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo, Yugoslavia, East Timor and to the Chinese about their human rights violations, must now direct their full attention to what will prove to be United States government complicity in this continuing American holocaust. Along with the death-squad governments of Guatemala, they must be held to the standard set by Justice Robert Jackson.

Attachments:
Excerpts from Guatemala Memory of Silence, 
Tzinil Na' Tab' Al Report of the Commission for Historical Clarification, 
Conclusion and Recommendations
http://hrdata.aaas.org/ceh/report/english

Dalits throng Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dalits-throng-deeksha-bhoomi-in-nagpur/article5231936.ece?homepage=true



Banglar Bagh
Durga Puja te OSUR BODH BONDHO Hok! Sob Nagorik der "Osur Bodh bondho" korte sohojogita chai!

OSUR BODH ar kono dorkar aache bole mone korina. Osura ra tader matri Bhumi rokhya korar jonyo andolon korte giye Bodh hoyeche- karon Osur ra Bhumiputra, Arya ra noy. Amra jaara aaj adbasi noi, tader PurbaPurush jemon Osur temon so called Arya temni Pan Mongolian der gene o bohon kori.

Temni anek Adibasi aachen, jader mishro gene ney. Amar moto anek Bangali Osur bodh niye oto bhabtona, choto bela theke dekhe esechi, Durga Osur Bodh korche, aar setakei normal bhebe esechi. Kokhono deeply bhabini, je amra adibasi der ekhono choto korchi.


Durga puja choluk, kintu OSUR BODH chara. Matri Durga r aaradhona kora jaay. aaj somoy eseche amader purbaPurush der sristi kora bebodhan ke ghochabar. Sobai amra manush. keho "OSUR" Noy. somajer jonyo kono kichu aasha na kore je kaaj kore, se "DEBOTA", osur bonsher lokerao debota hote paare temni Mishro Bonsher Manush rao "Osur" hote paare! Bobhed noy, Oikyo chai!

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ओबीसी . एससी-एसटी का क्वोटा पर्याप्त .......

TUESDAY, 08 OCTOBER 2013 02:00

USER1

HITS: 18

तमिलनाडु सचिवालय में एससी-एसटी (19%) और ओबीसी (50%) का क्वोटा रिक्त नहीं है, सता में पर्याप्त सामाजिक हिस्सेदारी है और उच्च वर्णीय का प्रशासन पर एकाधिकार नहीं है, फिर भी मानव विकास - राज्य विकास में तमिलनाडु न. 1 है. वास्तव में एससी एसटी और ओबीसी की प्रशासन में पर्याप्त हिस्सेदारी के बिना न देश का विकास संभव है या न राज्य का विकास संभव है.


International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)
Last week's acquittal of 26 men who were previously sentenced for carrying out a horrible massacre against a Dalit village in Bihar, India, has caused shock, fear and anger. 58 Dalits, mostly women and children, were killed in Laxmanpur Bathe in 1997 - now the survivors fear further attacks by 'upper caste' groups.
Read the IDSN story here: http://idsn.org/news-resources/idsn-news/read/article/acquittals-in-massacre-case-shock-dalits/128/
Shubha Shamim
Why benefit of doubt is always given to the Upper Caste people accused in the case of Dalit massacre? The judgement is similar to the Bhanwari Devi, Khairlanji and many other cases.

Unacceptable Judgment | Communist Party of India (Marxist)

cpim.org

The acquittal of all the accused in the Laxmanpur Bathe case by a division bench of the Patna High Court is an unacceptable judgment. The lower court had sentenced sixteen of the accused to death and given life sentence to ten others. To now give them the "benefit of doubt" when there is no doubt th...


Vidya Bhushan Rawat
हकीकत यह है के भगवान् केवल अपने भक्तो का ही विनाश करते है क्योंकि जो नहीं मानते उनका वे खूंटा भी नहीं उखाड़ सकते। इसलिए जो लोग मरना चाहते है उन्हें इन सभी तीर्थ स्थलों पर खूब जाना चाहिए क्योंकि भक्तजन कभी अनुशाशन में चलने के तो आदि नहीं हैं और पुलिस और प्रशाशन उन्हें कुछ कह नहीं पाटा इसलिए दुर्घटना घटने पर उन्हें सरकार और प्रशाशन को दोष नहीं देना चाहिए क्योंकि जब भगवान् इतना शक्तिशाली और न्यायी है तो अपने भक्तो पर ही अत्याचार क्यों करता है. लेकिन करे भी क्यों न, भक्त तो भगवान् से न तो शिकायत करते हैं और न ही कोई प्रश्न पूछते हैं, इसलिए उनके जीवन में दुःख है.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Great. The world must seek answer from these powers who today enjoy fruits of colonialism. I wish if the Dalits in India can also do the same with the brahmanical masters. Seek compensation on caste system and particularly untouchability. Should the Balmikis of India file case against the brahmanical system. The government of India is not even ready to apologise. Let the Parliament of India, the monsters of religion apologise to the Dalits of India. Let us hope positive results from this case.

14 Caribbean nations sue Britain, Holland and France for slavery reparations that could cost...

www.dailymail.co.uk

Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, said European nations must pay for the 'awful legacy' of the slave trade.




" ... On October 14, 1956, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers converted to Buddhism at a place in Nagpur which is now called Deeksha Bhoomi. ... 'Before Babasaheb Ambedkar, we would be treated like animals. He gave us identity, showed us the right path, taught us to fight for our basic rights,' ... 'Babasaheb Ambedkar is more than a God to us. God may have given us life, but Babasaheb taught us how to live it with dignity.'"



Deepak Kurare, 48, a BSNL worker from Jamboli village in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, did not stop chanting 'Buddham Saranam Gachchami, Sangham Saranam Gachchami' (a Buddhist hymn), despite being completely drenched in the heavy rains that Nagpur witnessed on Sunday.


Deepak travelled more than 1,000 km to be at Deeksha Bhoomi on the Dhammachakra Pravartan Din on Sunday, the day of Vijayadashmi Dussehra, for on this day in 1956, millions of Dalits 'broke the shackles of Hindu religion and converted to Buddhism,' according to him.


On October 14, 1956, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers converted to Buddhism at a place in Nagpur which is now called Deeksha Bhoomi.


Just as every year, lakhs of Dalits across India gathered at the place to remember their 'Babasaheb' and to celebrate the Dhammachakra Pravartan Din.


'Before Babasaheb, we would be treated like animals. He gave us identity, showed us the right path, taught us to fight for our basic rights,' said Waman Kamble, 64, of Sheval town in Kolhapur. 'We were not allowed to drink water from public wells. We had no entry into temples because we were labelled untouchables. But Babasaheb fought for us all his life and today we at least have our basic rights,' added Mr. Kamble.


For Dalits like Mr. Kamble and Deepak, coming to Deeksha Bhoomi and paying tribute to Dr. Ambedkar is a yearly ritual but for youngsters like Krishna Kamble, 'Dhammadisksha. (Conversion to Buddhism) was a 'revolution'.


'It was a revolution,' said Krishna, who studies in the Industrial Training Institute of this town, adding, 'Our ancestors lived like animals for ages until Babasaheb awakened us.'


But Krishna and his friends are also unhappy with the present days Dalit leadership.


'Babasaheb started a movement. Conversion to Buddhism was a revolutionary step but he died and left a vacuum in the leadership, which has still not been filled,' said Bhimdas Naik of Yavatmal.


Mr. Naik blamed the Congress for the divisions in the Dalit movement and was all the more angry watching Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde and NCP leader Sharad Pawar as the chief guest of the day's function.


'This is purely a religious ceremony when we celebrate our freedom from the shackles of exploitation. What is the need to invite politicians as chief guests on this day? Last year it was Gadkari, this year it is Sharad Pawar and Shinde,' said Mr. Naik.


There are disputes among different sections of Dalits over the celebration of Dhammachakra Pravartan Din. A section led by some Dalit writers has launched a campaign to celebrate it on October 14 and not on Vijayadashami Dussehra for it is a Hindu festival.


'But most of the people prefer Vijayadashami Dussehra,' said Mahendra Raut, a defence sector employee. 'Although, a large number of people have started coming on October 14 also and if this trend persists, after 10 or 15 years, Dhammachakra Pravartan Din will be celebrated only on October 14 and not on the day of any Hindu festival,' he added.


But for 65-year-old Lakshmibai of Ner Tehsil in Yavatmal, who claimed to be present in the ceremony when Dr. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956, the day did not matter.


'Babasaheb is more than a God to us. God may have given us life, but Babasaheb taught us how to live it with dignity,' she said.


बाबा साहेब को काफी लम्बा समय बीत चुका था बहुजन समाज के अधिकारों की लड़ाई लड़ते-लड़ते पर सवर्णों का दिल नहीं पसीजा l अतः उन्हें लगा की धर्म परिवर्तन ही इसका निदान हो सकता है, और उन्होंने अछूतों की दयनीय दशा का जिम्मेदार हिन्दू धर्म को ठहराया और अपने विषय में घोषणा की, "मैं हिन्दू धर्म में पैदा हुआ हूँ, जो मेरे वश की बात नहीं थी, परन्तु हिन्दू धर्म में मरूँगा नहीं, यह मेरे वश की बात है l "

धर्म परिवर्तन की घोषणा के पश्चात् मुस्लिम, ईसाई और सिख धर्म-पंथों की और से निमंत्रण मिलने लगे, बनारस की महाबोधि संस्था ने भी अम्बेडकर जी को अपने अनुयायियों सहित एशिया के महत्वपूर्ण धम्म- बौद्ध धम्म में दीक्षित होने का निमंत्रण दिया l इस पर विचार करने के लिए सन 1936 में एक सभा का आयोजन भी किया गया, युवा अछूतों की सभा में सब इस बात पर एक मत से सहमत थे कि शीघ्र-अति-शीघ्र असंगठित हिन्दू धर्म को छोड़ देना चाहिए l'धर्म मनुष्य के लिए है, मनुष्य धर्म के लिए नहीं l ' अम्बेडकर जी ने हिन्दू देवताओं की पूजा, हिन्दू त्योहार, व हिन्दुओं की तीर्थ यात्रा करने से मना कर दिया l

लोकनाथ नामक एक इटालियन बौद्ध ने अम्बेडकर जी से भेंट कर बौद्ध धम्म स्वीकारने का आग्रह किया l बौद्ध धम्म का काफी अध्ययन करने के पश्चात् बाबा साहेब ने 1950 में एक महत्वपूर्ण लेख लिखा l बाबा साहेब डा बी.आर. अम्बेडकर ने कहा की बौद्ध धम्म नीति पर आधारित है उन्होंने अपने आप को पैगम्बर या देव नहीं, मार्गदाता कहा है l बौद्ध धम्म स्वतंत्रता, समता व बंधुत्व पर आधारित है l उन्होंने कहा बौद्ध धम्म के प्रचार के लिए आधारभूत ग्रन्थ चाहिए l


१४ अक्तूबर 1956 को धर्मान्तरण का दिन निश्चित हुआ l दीक्षा समारंभ के लिए मुंबई, सारनाथ और नागपुर तीन स्थानों पर चर्चा की गई, बुद्ध धर्मीय नाग लोगों की पुण्यभूमि होने से नागपुर उन्हें प्रिय मालूम हुआ l " मेरे सभी लोग मेरे साथ धर्म परिवर्तन करे इसी विचार से में धर्म परिवर्तन के दिन आगे बढ़ाता रहा हूँ पर अब धर्म परिवर्तन आगे नहीं बढाया जा सकता क्योकि मेरा शरीर अधिक साथ नहीं देगा, जिन्हें मेरे साथ आना हो आ जाये अन्यथा वे स्वतंत्र है l "23 सितम्बर को एक पत्रक निकल कर घोषणा की गई कि विजयादशमी के दिन 14 अक्टूबर 1956 को सुबह नौ बजे से ग्यारह बजे के बीच में बुद्ध धम्म की दीक्षा ली जाएगी इसके लिए गोरखपुर जिले के कुसीनारा के महास्थविर चंद्रमणि को विशेष रूप से आमंत्रित किया गया l अम्बेडकर जी ग्यारह अक्टूबर को नागपुर पहुँच गए, वे श्याम होटल में ठहरे l अछूत विशेषतः महार जाति के लोग, पन्द्रह दिन तक नागपुर में रहे l " भगवान् बुद्ध की जय, बाबा साहेब की जय, तथा "बाबा साहेब करे पुकार, बौद्ध धर्म करो स्वीकार" आदि नारों की प्रतिध्वनि से सारे रास्ते गूंज उठे थे l

विकिपीडियावर टिळकांची पोलखोल बाळ गंगाधर टिळक हे लोकमान्य नसून भटमान्य होते, याची दखल विकिपीडियाने घेतली आहे. बाळ गंगाधर टिळक या नावाचे पान विकिपीडियावर असून त्यात टिळका चरित्रातील अनेक बहुतांश वादग्रस्त बाबींचा स्पष्टपणे उल्लेख करण्यात आला आहे. इतकेच नव्हे तर टिळक चरित्रात घुसडविण्यात आलेल्या खोट्या गोष्टींचा पर्दाफाशही या पानात दिसतो. लोकमान्य या उपाधीने त्यांचा उल्लेख केला जातो. तथापि, नव्या संशोधना नुसार त्यांची हि उपाधी वादग्रस्त ठरली आहे. अनेक संशोधक त्यांना "भटमान्य" ही उपाधी लवतात. विशेषत: बहुजनवादी लोक भटमान्य ही उपाधी टिळकांना लावतात. बाळ गंगाधर टिळक यांनी मराठी पत्रकारितेत मोठे योगदान दिले. तथापि,

http://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B3_%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%9F%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B3%E0%A4%95" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; position: absolute; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; max-width: none; left: -5px; top: 0px; " width="368" height="260">

त्यांनी पुण्यातील प्लेगच्या साथीच्या काळात घेतलेली भूमिका वादग्रस्त ठरली होती. बाळ गंगाधर टिळक यांनी मराठी पत्रकारितेत मोठे योगदान दिले. तथापि, त्यांनी पुण्यातील प्लेगच्या साथीच्या काळात घेतलेली भूमिका वादग्रस्त ठरली होती. सक्तीच्या फवारणीसाठी ब्रिटिशांनी पुण्यात महार रेजिमेंटच्या सैनिकांची मदत घेतली म्हणून टिळकांनी केसरीतून सरकारवर टीकेची झोड उठविली. "रँड साहेबांचे सोल्जर आमची घरे बाटवित आहेत", अशी वादग्रस्त भूमिका टिळकांनी घेतली. या भूमिकेने टिळकांच्या देदिप्यमान पत्रकारितेला दलित विरोधाचा कलंक लागला. वेदोक्त प्रकरणात टिळकांनी कोल्हापूर संस्थानचे छत्रपती शाहू महाराज यांच्या विरोधात भूमिका घेऊन पुरोहितशाहीला समर्थन दिले. त्यामुळे त्यांच्यावर भटशाहीचे कट्टर पुरस्कर्ते असा शिक्का बसला. कुणबटांना पार्लमेंटात नांगर हाकायचा आहे काय? अशी भूमिका टिळकांनी केसरीतून मांडल्यामुळे ते बहुजन समाजाच्या विरोधात होते, असे आरोप त्यांच्यावर होतात. ब्राह्मण इतिहासकारांनी हे आरोप खोडून काढले आहेत.http://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B3_%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%9F%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B3%E0%A4%95 —




विमुक्त जाति के 147 परिवारों की जमीन को रौंद कर मोदी रैली की तैयारी

मोदी की कानपुर रैली पर फिर विवादों का साया   लखनऊ। कानपुर में 19 अक्टूबर, 2013, को कल्याणपुर में इंद्रा नगर स्थित बुद्ध पार्क के सामने वाले मैदान पर भारतीय जनता पार्टी के प्रधानमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी की प्रस्तावित रैली से विवाद समाप्त होने का नाम नहीं ले रहे हैं। आरोप है कि समाज कल्याण अधिकारी ने बिना 127 परिवारों से पूछे उनकी जमीन पर किसी और को कार्यक्रम करने की इजाजत दे दी। इसके उपरांत सलीना देवी की अपनी जमीन को जोतने के लिए आए ट्रैक्टर को स्थानीय भाजपा नेताओं ने रुकवा दिया।

प्राप्त सूचना के अनुसार प्रशासन ने इसे खाली मैदान माना है जबकि यह जमीन राजकीय उन्नयन बस्ती के रूप में भांतु व हबूड़ा विमुक्त जातियों से जुड़े 127 परिवारों को 1972 में समाज कल्याण विभाग द्वारा कृषि के माध्यम से अपने पालन पोषण हेतु दी गई थी। हबूड़ा समुदाय की सलीना देवी और उनकी मां नारायण देई ने अध्यक्ष, राष्ट्रीय अनुसूचित जाति आयोग, को एक लिखित शिकायत में बताया है कि अंग्रेजों ने 1872 के करीब उनके समुदाय को अपराधी जनजाति घोषित कर दिया था। सलीना देवी के बाबा गोविंदा को यहां बसाया गया था। उसके पिता की मृत्यु के बाद एक एकड़ का खेत संख्या क्रम 47 उसकी मां के नाम हो गया जिस पर वह आज मां के साथ रहती है और खेती करती है। उसके पास समाज कल्याण को दिए गए जमीन के लगान की रसीदें भी हैं।

सोशलिस्ट पार्टी (इण्डिया) के राज्य अध्यक्ष गिरीश पाण्डेय, राष्ट्रीय महामंत्री ओंकार सिंह,राष्ट्रीय उपाध्यक्ष मोहम्मद शोएब और संदीप पाण्डेय ने बताया कि 5 अक्टूबर, 2013 को भाजपा के आवेदन पर विद्युत विभाग, समाज कल्याण विभाग, पुलिस विभाग, तहसीलदार सदर ने एक ही दिन में विमुक्त जातियों को पुनर्स्थापित की गई जमीन पर रैली कराने की अनुमति दे दी। जिला समाज कल्याण अधिकारी के अनुसार जमीन खाली पड़ी है एवं कुछ घंटों की रैली के लिए देने में उनको कोई आपत्ति नहीं है। यानी समाज कल्याण अधिकारी ने बिना 127 परिवारों से पूछे उनकी जमीन पर किसी और को कार्यक्रम करने की इजाजत दे दी। इसके उपरांत सलीना देवी की अपनी जमीन को जोतने के लिए आए ट्रैक्टर को स्थानीय भाजपा नेताओं ने रुकवा दिया। 9 अक्टूबर को भाजपा नेताओं प्रेमलता कटियार, रघुनंदन भदौरिया, लक्ष्मीकांत वाजपेयी, सत्यदेव पचैरी, नीरज चतुर्वेदी, राकेश सोनकर,श्याम बिहारी मिश्र, भोले सिंह, आदि ने जबरदस्ती सलीना देवी के खेत में घुस कर धमकी देते हुए अपने साथ लाए मजदूरों से भूमि पर लगे पौधे उखड़वा कर जमीन साफ करा कर भूमि पूजन भी करा लिया। सलीना देवी विरोध करती रहीं लेकिन उनकी वहां उपस्थित पुलिस ने भी नहीं सुनी।


अक्टूबर, 20111 में हिंदी लेखक व सामाजिक चिंतक प्रेमकुमार मणि ने 'फारवर्ड प्रेस' की कवर स्टोरी 'किसकी पूजा कर रहे हैं बहुजन' में अनेक विचारोत्तेजक सवाल उठाते हुए कहा था कि बंगाल की वेश्याएँ दुर्गा को अपने कुल का बताती हैं. जिस महिषासुर की दुर्गा ने हत्या की, वह भारत के (यादव) बहुजन तबके का था. इस प्रसंग को आदिवासी मामलों के जानकार लेखक अश्विनी कुमार पंकज ने फारवर्ड प्रेस के अक्टूबर, 2012 अंक में आगे बढाया था और महिषासुर को आदिवासी बताया. आज जब उत्तर भारत के कई शहरों में महिषासुर शहादत दिवस मनाए जाने की सूचना आ रही है, तो यह आवश्यक हो जाता है कि इस आयोजन के प्रस्तोताओं के मूल तर्कों को समझा जाए. प्रेमकुमार मणि का उपरोक्त लेख विभिन्न वेबसाइटों पर उपलब्ध है, जिसे आप गुगल करके खोज सकते हैं. अश्विनी कुमार पंकज का यह लेख वेब पर अभी तक उपलब्ध नहीं था. हम यहां इसे अपने पाठकों के लिए विचारार्थ प्रस्तुत कर रहे हैं.

सदियों से चले आ रहे असुरों के खिलाफ  हिंसक रक्तपात के बावजूद आज भी झारखंड और छत्तीसगढ़ के कुछ इलाकों में 'असुरों' का अस्तित्व बचा हुआ है


-अश्विनी कुमार पंकज||

विजयादशमी, दशहरा या नवरात्रि का हिन्दू धार्मिक उत्सव, असुर राजा महिषासुर व उसके अनुयायियों के आर्यों द्वारा वध और सामूहिक नरसंहार का अनुष्ठान है. समूचा वैदिक साहित्य सुर-असुर या देव-दानवों के युद्ध वर्णनों से भरा पड़ा है. लेकिन सच क्या है ? असुर कौन हैं? और भारतीय सभ्यता, संस्कृति और समाज-व्यवस्था के विकास में उनकी क्या भूमिका रही है?

इस दशहरा पर, आइये मैं आपका परिचय असुर वंश की एक युवती से करवाता हूं.

वास्तव में, सदियों से चले आ रहे असुरों के खिलाफ  हिंसक रक्तपात के बावजूद आज भी झारखंड और छत्तीसगढ़ के कुछ इलाकों में 'असुरों' का अस्तित्व बचा हुआ है. ये असुर कहीं से हिंदू धर्मग्रंथों में वर्णित 'राक्षस' जैसे नहीं हैं. हमारी और आपकी तरह इंसान हैं. परंतु 21 वीं सदी के भारत में भी असुरों के प्रति न तो नजरिया बदला है और न ही उनके खिलाफ हमले बंद हुए हैं. शिक्षा, साहित्य, राजनीति आदि जीवन-समाज के सभी अंगों में 'राक्षसों' के खिलाफ  प्रत्यक्ष-अप्रत्यक्ष ब्राह्मणवादी दृष्टिकोण का ही वर्चस्व है.

भारत सरकार ने 'असुर' को आदिम जनजाति की श्रेणी में रखा है. अर्थात् आदिवासियों में भी प्राचीन. घने जंगलों के बीच ऊंचाई पर बसे नेतरहाट पठार पर रहने वाली सुषमा इसी 'आदिम जनजाति' असुर समुदाय से आती है. सुषमा गांव सखुआपानी (डुम्बरपाट), पंचायत गुरदारी, प्रखण्ड बिशुनपुर, जिला गुमला (झारखंड) की रहने वाली है. वह अपने आदिम आदिवासी समुदाय असुर समाज की पहली रचनाकार है. यह साधारण बात नहीं है. क्योंकि वह उस असुर समुदाय से आती है जिसका लिखित अक्षरों से हाल ही में  रिश्ता कायम हुआ है. सुषमा इंटर पास है पर अपने समुदाय के अस्तित्व के संकट को वह बखूबी पहचानती है. झारखंड का नेतरहाट, जो एक बेहद खूबसूरत प्राकृतिक रहवास है असुर आदिवासियों का,  वह बिड़ला के बाक्साइट दोहन के कारण लगातार बदरंग हो रहा है. आदिम जनजातियों के लिए केन्द्र और झारखंड के राज्य सरकारों द्वारा आदिम जनजाति के लिए चलाए जा रहे विशेष कल्याणकारी कार्यक्रमों और बिड़ला के खनन उद्योग के बावजूद असुर आदिम आदिवासी समुदाय विकास के हाशिए पर है. वे अघोषित और अदृश्य युद्धों में लगातार मारे जा रहे हैं. वर्ष 1981 में झारखंड में असुरों की जनसंख्या 9100 थी जो वर्ष 2003  में घटकर 7793  रह गई है. जबकि आज की तारीख में छत्तीसगढ़ में असुरों की कुल आबादी महज 305  है. वैसे छत्तीसगढ़ के अगरिया आदिवासी समुदाय को वैरयर एल्विन ने असुर ही माना है. क्योंकि असुर और अगरिया दोनों ही समुदाय प्राचीन धातुवैज्ञानिक हैं जिनका परंपरागत पेशा लोहे का शोधन रहा है. आज के भारत का समूचा लोहा और स्टील उद्योग असुरों के ही ज्ञान के आधार पर विकसित हुआ है लेकिन उनकी दुनिया के औद्योगिक विकास की सबसे बड़ी कीमत भी इन्होंने ही चुकायी है. 1872 में जब देश में पहली जनगणना हुई थी, तब जिन 18  जनजातियों को मूल आदिवासी श्रेणी में रखा गया था,  उसमें असुर आदिवासी पहले नंबर पर थे,  लेकिन पिछले डेढ़ सौ सालों में इस आदिवासी समुदाय को लगातार पीछे ही धकेला गया है.

झारखंड और छत्तीसगढ़ के अलावा पश्चिम बंगाल के तराई इलाके में भी कुछ संख्या में असुर समुदाय रहते हैं. वहां के असुर बच्चे मिट्टी से बने शेर के खिलौनों से खेलते तो हैं,  लेकिन उनके सिर काट कर. क्योंकि उनका विश्वास है कि शेर उस दुर्गा की सवारी है,  जिसने उनके पुरखों का नरसंहार किया था.

बीबीसी की एक रपट में जलपाईगुड़ी ज़िले में स्थित अलीपुरदुआर के पास माझेरडाबरी चाय बागान में रहने वाले दहारू असुर कहते हैं,  महिषासुर दोनों लोकों- यानी स्वर्ग और पृथ्वी,  पर सबसे ज्यादा ताकतवर थे. देवताओं को लगता था कि अगर महिषासुर लंबे समय तक जीवित रहा तो लोग देवताओं की पूजा करना छोड़ देंगे. इसलिए उन सबने मिल कर धोखे से उसे मार डाला. महिषासुर के मारे जाने के बाद ही हमारे पूर्वजों ने देवताओं की पूजा बंद कर दी थी. हम अब भी उसी परंपरा का पालन कर रहे हैं.

सुषमा असुर भी झारखंड में यही सवाल उठाती है. वह कहती है, मैंने स्कूल की किताबों में पढ़ा है कि हमलोग राक्षस हैं और हमारे पूर्वज लोगों को सताने,  लूटने, मारने का काम करते थे. इसीलिए देवताओं ने असुरों का संहार किया. हमारे पूर्वजों की सामूहिक हत्याएं की. हमारे समुदाय का नरसंहार किया. हमारे नरंसहारों के विजय की स्मृति में ही हिंदू लोग दशहरा जैसे त्योहारों को मनाते हैं. जबकि मैंने बचपन से देखा और महसूसा है कि हमने किसी का कुछ नहीं लूटा. उल्टे वे ही लूट.मार कर रहे हैं. बिड़ला हो, सरकार हो या फिर बाहरी समाज हो, इन सभी लोगों ने हमारे इलाकों में आकर हमारा सबकुछ लूटा और लूट रहे हैं. हमें अपने जल, जंगल, जमीन ही नहीं बल्कि हमारी भाषा-संस्कृति से भी हर रोज विस्थापित किया जा रहा है. तो आपलोग सोचिए राक्षस कौन है.

यहां यह जानना भी प्रासंगिक होगा कि भारत के अधिकांश आदिवासी समुदाय 'रावण'  को अपना वंशज मानते हैं. दक्षिण के अनेक द्रविड़ समुदायों में रावण की आराधना का प्रचलन है. बंगाल,  उड़ीसा,  असम और झारखंड के आदिवासियों में सबसे बड़ा आदिवासी समुदाय 'संताल' भी स्वयं को रावण वंशज घोषित करता है. झारखंड-बंगाल के सीमावर्ती इलाके में तो बकायदा नवरात्रि या दशहरा के समय ही 'रावणोत्सव' का आयोजन होता है. यही नहीं संताल लोग आज भी अपने बच्चो का नाम 'रावण' रखते हैं. झारखंड में जब 2008  में 'यूनाइटेड प्रोग्रेसिव एलायंस', यूपीए) की सरकार बनी थी संताल आदिवासी समुदाय के शिबू सोरेन जो उस वक्त झारखंड के मुख्यमंत्री थे,  उन्होंने रावण को महान विद्वान और अपना कुलगुरु बताते हुए दशहरे के दौरान रावण का पुतला जलाने से इंकार कर दिया था. मुख्यमंत्री रहते हुए सोरेन ने कहा था कि कोई व्यक्ति अपने कुलगुरु को कैसे जला सकता है, जिसकी वह पूजा करता है,  गौरतलब है कि रांची के मोरहाबादी मैदान में पंजाबी और हिंदू बिरादरी संगठन द्वारा आयोजित विजयादशमी त्योहार के दिन मुख्यमंत्री द्वारा ही रावण के पुतले को जलाने की परंपरा है. भारत में आदिवासियों के सबसे बड़े बुद्विजीवी और अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर के विद्वान स्व. डा. रामदयाल मुण्डा का भी यही मत था.

ऐसा नहीं है कि सिर्फ आदिवासी समुदाय और दक्षिण भारत के द्रविड़ लोग ही रावण को अपना वंशज मानते हैं. पश्चिमी उत्तर प्रदेश के बदायूं के मोहल्ला साहूकारा में भी सालों  पुराना रावण का एक मंदिर है,  जहां उसकी प्रतिमा भगवान शिव से बड़ी है और जहां दशहरा शोक दिवस के रूप में मनाया जाता है. इसी तरह इंदौर में रावण प्रेमियों का एक संगठन है, लंकेश मित्र मंडल. राजस्थान के जोधपुर में गोधा एवं श्रीमाली समाज वहां के रावण मंदिर में प्रति वर्ष दशानन श्राद्ध कर्म का आयोजन करते हैं और दशहरे पर सूतक मानते हैं. गोधा एवं श्रीमाली समाज का मानना है कि रावण उनके पुरखे थे व उनकी रानी मंदोदरी यहीं के मंडोरकी थीं. पिछले वर्ष जेएनयू में भी दलित-आदिवासी और पिछड़े वर्ग के छात्रों ने ब्राह्मणवादी दशहरा के विरोध में आयोजन किया था.

सुषमा असुर पिछले वर्ष बंगाल में संताली समुदाय द्वारा आयोजित श्रावणोत्सव्य में बतौर मुख्य अतिथि शामिल हुई थी. अभी बहुत सारे लोग हमारे संगठन झारखंडी भाषा साहित्य संस्कृति अखडा को अप्रोच करते हैं सुषमा असुर को देखने, बुलाने और जानने के लिए. सुषमा दलित-आदिवासी और पिछड़े समुदायों के इसी सांस्कृतिक संगठन से जुड़ी हुई है. कई जगहों पर जा चुकी और नये निमंत्रणों पर सुषमा कहती है,  'मुझे आश्चर्य होता है कि पढ़ा-लिखा समाज और देश अभी भी हम असुरों को ई सिरों, बड़े-बड़े दांतो-नाखुनों और छल-कपट जादू जानने वाला जैसा ही राक्षस मानता है. लोग मुझमे राक्षस  ढूंढते हैं, पर उन्हें निराशा हाथ लगती है. बड़ी मुश्किल से वे स्वीकार कर पाते हैं कि मैं भी उन्हीं की तरह एक इंसान हूं. हमारे प्रति यह भेदभाव और शोषण-उत्पीडऩ का रवैया बंद होना चाहिए. अगर समाज हमें इंसान मानता है तो उसे अपने सारे धार्मिक पूर्वाग्रहों को तत्काल छोडऩा होगा और सार्वजनिक अपमान व नस्लीय संहार के उत्सव विजयादशमी को  राष्ट्रीय शर्म के दिन के रूप में बदलना होगा.'



Read more: http://mediadarbar.com/23082/i-am-a-offspring-of-mahishasur/#ixzz2hi8UxaQO

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[Exclusive] Muzaffarnagar Riots: Rape accused roam freely as victim hides in refugee camp

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http://is.gd/Fm6Nhg

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Would Ekalavya Have Benefited From Reservation?
By Dr. Sylvia Karpagam

Ekalavya came up to the level of Arjun (and more) not because a system supported him. He came up entirely on merit (NO RESERVATION) but the system still broke him. It broke him by taking away the only thing he had (AND LOVED). This has happened for generations and it has broken people's will and people's self esteem

07 October , 2012

The Mad Flower-Man 
By Dhiresh Moyong

If you visit his village you can still see him—'Mad Flower-Man' he is now called—sitting all day outside his house, waiting for Licha with the remains of the flower she had asked him for in his hands, hoping that one day she might come back so that her last wish can be fulfilled

14 September , 2012

Defying Manu, Bowing To Mammon: On The Silent Emergence of Dalit Capitalism 
By Subhash Gatade

The debate being peddled around Dalit Capitalism by renowned Dalit intellectuals with due support from their friends in the media/establishment needs to be challenged and questioned not only because of it is devoid of any merit, shows ignorance of social dynamics in India, looks at capitalism with gratitude for enhancing freedom' and is an apologist for globalization – the latest modus operandi of capitalism'- but also because it is attempting to present a vulgarized image of Ambedkar

03 September , 2012

Cast Away Caste: Breaking New Grounds … 
By Subhash Gatade

The left movement has often been criticized – and rightly so – for ignoring the social dimension of Indian reality and for its mechanical approach that attempts to reduce all social phenomena to the economic or the class dimension. It is high time that it sets its social agenda for the 21 st century

24 June , 2012

Punishment For Leading Struggle Against Land Grab: 
Dalit Youth Tied To Railway Tracks, Legs Amputated In Dadri, UP
By Aslam Khan

On July 15, Tika Ram was among the youths from Ramgarh village in Dadri who attended the Convention on Bathani Tola in Delhi, and spoke of their struggle against the grab of land allocated to dalits by the gram pradhan Kuldeep Bhati. On July 20, Tika Ram was found on the railway tracks, his body mutilated and both legs severed. Doctors at the AIIMS Trauma Centre have had to further amputate his legs to save his life, which is still in danger. Meanwhile, four other youth leaders of the struggle against land grab have been jailed – on fabricated charges of shooting a girl

22 June , 2012

Yet Another Massacre of Dalit People In Andhra Pradesh 
By Revolutionary Democratic Front

Four dalit people were hacked to death, and about 30 dalit men and women were critically injured in a well-orchestrated attack by Turpu Kapu backward caste brahmanical forces in Lakshimpeta village of Vangara block in Srikakulam District on 12 June 2012

21 June , 2012

Pakaha's Wait For Independent India's Constitution 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Story of how a dalit community in India ostracised

04 June , 2012

Amartya Sen's Imagined India 
By Braj Ranjan Mani

Intellectual compromise of the best gives rise to the worst. Amartya Sen's sanitised, caste-blind perspective on social unfairness, Hinduism and Indian culture, despite the show of reason, eclecticism and inclusive sensibility, is a gross distortion of historical reality, and a classic example of the limitation—and danger—of elitist liberalism

02 June , 2012

Bathani Tola And The Cartoon Controversy 
By Anand Teltumbde

Why has there been such a silence from dalit leaders over the Bathani Tola judgment acquitting all those accused of killing 21 dalits? At the same time, what explains their loud protests over the Ambedkar cartoons in the textbooks? Has the elevation of Ambedkar as an icon relegated the dalit leadership to a politics of empty symbolism? Is the issue of a lack of accountability in the judicial system towards dalits not more important than the hollow iconisation of Ambedkar?

06 May , 2012

Jai Bhim Comrade, A Soulful Song Of The Nowhere People 
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

A Review of Jai Bhim Comrade, a documentary by Anand Patwardhan

04 May , 2012

Higher Education And Social Mobility Among MuslimsAnd Dalits In India ,
A Comparative Perspective In The Globalised Times  
By Mr. Ajmal khan

This paper is an attempt to see how globalisation has impacted the higher education of Muslims and Dalits in India in a comparative and historic perspective. Based on the different secondary data sets, it tries to show how Dalit community across India has utilised the process of globalisation and achieved educational and social mobility mobility higher than Muslim

03 May , 2012

Ambedkar And Media 
By Ratna Mala

This article explores the newspaper initiatives of Ambedkar, study the representation of Ambedkar in media and recognize his views on media. The paper will discuss the data observed using desk research

18 April , 2012

BSP's Maya and Dalits in UP 
By Anand Teltumbde

While Mayawati is all the way winner, the Dalits in this game have been the certain losers. The illusion of political power as the master key for their emancipation has proved a chimera. They better realize that their real emancipation lies in the radical change of the system and not in being playthings of someone within it

24 March , 2012

Urgent Redress Required in The Wake of 
Another AIIMS Suicide 
By Gurinder Singh Azad

On 3 March, Anil Kumar Meena, a tribal student Baran, Rajasthan, hung himself in hostel No. 6. The eldest amongst his siblings, Anil Kumar, was the son of a poor farmer. He scored 75% in Class XII and got second rank in the AIIMS entrance examination. However, his dream of becoming a doctor could not succeed in the unsupportive ambience of AIIMS

Pakistan: Dalits In Peril 
By Chander Kumar

A brief overview of the condition of dalits in Pakistan

20 March , 2012

Andre Beteille's Dream World: Caste Today 
By Gail Omvedt

A recent article by Andre Beteille, "India's destiny not caste in stone" argues that caste in fact is dying down, that it lives on mostly in consciousness, and that this is a result of the manipulations of the media during elections. The piece shows that elite social scientists are living in a dream world of their own making

The Politics of Knowledge And Caste 
By Braj Ranjan Mani

Brahmanism cannot be sent to jail; it can only be banished from our minds and hearts, replacing it with a better ideology. We cannot ban or banish a bad idea, it can only be buried by a better idea. The way to defeat bad books is to write good books

14 March , 2012

The Death Of Anil Meena 
By Anoop Kumar

Suicides by Dalit and tribal students is a story of discrimination

17 February , 2012

Fact-finding Report On Caste-Violence 
In Balangir, Odisha 
By Fact Finding Team

A nine member team of students from JNU, Jamia Milia Islamia and Delhi University rvisited Balangir, Odisha where the entire Gandapara of Lathore village was gutted down to ashes on the 22nd January by a mob of more than 500 people

06 February , 2012

SC/STs And The State 
In The Indian Constitution (PDF) 
By Anand Teltumbde

62nd Republic Day Special Lecture at Dr BR Ambedkar Research and Extension Center, University of Mysore, Manasgangotri, Mysore

05 January , 2012

Rethinking Social Justice 
By Yogendra Yadav

The first part of the article defends the assertion that the policies and politics of social justice have reached a dead end. It identifies five signs or characteristics of the current impasse of social justice. It then looks at how and why we have reached this impasse. This leads, finally, to some concrete proposals for a second wind of policies and politics of social justice. The essay proposes five directions for rethinking social justice

The Riddle Of Representation: 
Issues in The Caste Census Debate 
By Cynthia Stephen

The question is, will those who suppressed the fact of Dalits and OBCs backwardness succeed in keeping the veil over the numbers and let the riddle of representation continue into the 21 st century? Or will the veil be drawn aside, the numbers gathered and crunched and the long-neglected OBCs, and specially the OBC women of India finally get their rightful share and voice in the affairs of the nation?

31 December , 2011

Caste And Politics In Regard To Anna Hazare 
By Gail Omvedt

Hazare is perhaps the major figure on the Indian political scene to have as his base such a traditionally run village. It is the internal secret of its politics – and it rests on the maintenance of the caste hierarchy. It is thus not accidental that Dalits (and many OBCs) are firmly opposed to the Lokpal

23 November , 2011

Total Muslim Reservation: A Lesson To learn 
For SP, BSP & Congress 
By Ashok Yadav

Equipped with Bihar experience the Pasmanda may spring surprise in the coming UP elections. Beware, SP, BSP and Congress!

01 November , 2011

Ever Suffering Dalits 
By Rahul Kumar Balley

No doubt ,India is making progress by leaps and bounds in every sector but the condition of the Dalits in India is deteriorating day by day in the society

30 October , 2011

Killing Pallars To Propitiate Thevars 
By Anand Teltumbde

A fact Finding Report on Police Firing at Paramakudi

23 October , 2011

A Rebuttal To S.Anad's Critque Of Periyar 
By Dr. Iniyan Elango

A rebuttal to S.Anand's 2004 article on Periyar, "Iconoclast, Or Lost Idol?"

12 October , 2011

Butchery Of Dalits In Paramakudi 
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

Summary of fact finding report by Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties on the killing of dalits in Paramakudi

24 September , 2011

Reservation In Private Sector: 
A Legitimate Demand 
By Rahul Kumar Balley

Liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation have eroded opportunities for SC/ST and marginalised people to retain the gains already achieved, what to talk about pacing with time and space. In this context the demand for reservation in private sector is a legitimate demand

31 August , 2011

Caste Discrimination And Dalit Rights
Over Natural Resources
By Goldy M. George

Caste discrimination and Dalit Rights over natural resources is one of the most complicated issues that the country is today faced with. Raising this issue would unfold the conspiracy of the upper caste rulers of this country to which they may be obliged to answer

24 August , 2011

Why Are Dalits Not Enthusiastic About 
Anna's Movement? 
By Bhanwar Megwanshi

Babasaheb Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution, and so Dalits have an emotional attachment to the Constitution. If a movement sets itself above the Constitution and challenges democracy, a key pillar of the Constitution, Dalits will refuse to support it. That is why Dalits and other oppressed caste groups remain indifferent to Anna Hazare's movement

In The Name Of The Cow: Banjaras 
Targetted By Hindutva Forces 
By Bhanwar Megwanshi

For several years now, across large parts of Rajasthan Hindutva activists have been targeting members of the Banjara community in the name of 'cow-protection'. Scores of such incidents have been reported—more than 200 in the last decade

Bollywood In Transition For Marginalized 
By Surendra Rote

The movie Arakshan extends platform of Hindi Cinema for marginalized to share their issues

19 August , 2011

Hindutva And The Dalit Question 
By Bhanwar Meghvanshi

Of late, the RSS has been making a tremendous hue-and-cry about what it calls the 'social assimilation' (samarasta) of the various castes. The curious fact, however, is that it has no intention whatsoever of promoting the genuine 'assimilation' of, leave alone equality between, the various castes. A clear indication of its attitude to the caste question is that from the very beginning it has been strongly opposed to reservations or any other form of protective discrimination for Dalits, Adviasis, OBCs and religious minorities

Dignity Defiled: Law And Policies 
For Manual Scavengers 
By Sanjay Kumar Chaudhary

Dry latrines, which are cleaned by manual scavengers, still exist in public establishments and private houses in many parts of India, defying the mandatory provisions of law and morality. While the schemes and policies of the state have had some impact, they have failed to liberate and rehabilitate all the manual scavengers. For this, the approach and behavior of all concerned stake-holders, especially agencies of the state and the dominant castes/classes, have to change in order to serve Constitutional and human rights values

16 August , 2011

Public Hearing On Atrocities On Adivasis
And Dalits In Western Rajasthan 
By Bhanwar Megwanshi

Oka Ram's is not a voice in the wilderness. He speaks for thousands of Dalits and Adivasis in this far-flung corner of Rajasthan, who insist that they must fight for their dignity and rights. The public hearing marked a major turning point in that struggle

Sub-Classification Of Dalits: Law And Politics 
By Sanjay Kumar Chaudhary

This article seeks to explore some aspects of ongoing debates among Dalits about the need for sub-classification of Scheduled Castes in the light of complaints of particular Dalit castes who feel that other castes have benefitted disproportionately from the reservation policy. It also critically looks at the Supreme Court judgment, delivered in 2004, with regard to the legality and constitutionality of the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes

08 August , 2011

Playing Foul With The Oppressed 
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

The current instance of disowning its responsibility towards 13 lakh school students from these marginalised social groups goes beyond callousness; it reveals how the Maharashtra state government plays foul and un-scrupulous games with the oppressed

07 August , 2011

Dalits Denounce Anti-Secular Order Geared To Promoting Caste Hindu Hegemony 
By Yoginder Sikand

The continued denial of SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims makes a complete mockery of the Indian state's much-vaunted claims of being democratic and secular

06 July, 2011

The Farce Of Bhimshakti And Shivshakti 
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

The alliance between Ambedkarite Dalits and Shivsena is simply a big farce

13 June , 2011

Some Fundamental Issues in Anti-Caste Struggle 
By Anand Teltumbde

The transcription of the Inaugural Speech delivered at the biannual conference of the Kula Nirmulan Porata Samiti in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh on 11 June 2011

02 May, 2011

The Colonised And The Damned 
By Cynthia Stephen

It has long been the contention of the subalterns in Indian society – the Dalits, Adivasis and religious minorities, especially the Christians and Muslims who are also Dalits and Adivasis – that the Indian state, while theoretically set in a liberal secular frame, is actually functioning as a colonial power over the subaltern castes and classes

01 May, 2011

Celebrating Babasaheb Ambedkar In Lahore 
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

Speech in the Ambedkar Day Seminar organized by Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation in Pearl Continental, Lahore on 26. April, 2011

30 April, 2011

On Suicides of Dalit Students In 
India's Premier Educational Institutions 
By Insight Foundation

The disproportionate numbers of Dalit and Adivasi students committing suicides, especially, in premier institutions also points towards the kind of caste discrimination prevalent in these campuses

22 April, 2011

Crisis Of Ambedkarites And Future Challenges 
By Anand Teltumbde

Ambedkar Memorial Lecture at Ambedkar Habba, Spoorthi Dham, in Bangalore on 14 April 2011

12 April, 2011

Justice Denied For The Dalit Girl 
Thrown Into Fire By Upper Caste Men 
By Madhu Chandra

A six year old little girl from dalit community in UP was tossed into the burning fire by the members from upper caste community in her village three years ago. Her pregnant mother who tried to rescue her was severly burnt and lost her mental balance due to the shock. But the court had closed the case as there were no witnesses to testify against the culprits

07 April, 2011

From The Underbelly Of Swarnim Gujarat 
By Anand Teltumbde

Landmark collective take over of their own land by Dalits in Gujarat. In the Vav taluka itself 35 Dalit families would be benefitted by the ownership of over 150 acres

22 March, 2011

Muslim And Christian Dalits Victims Of 
Religious Apartheid Sanctioned By The State 
By Yoginder Sikand

In 1950 a Presidential order specified that no person professing any religion other than Hinduism would be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste. This patently anti-secular and grossly anti-democratic order was stiffly resisted by non-Hindu Dalits. In the face of strong protests, over the years the Indian state was compelled to extend Scheduled Caste status to Sikh and Buddhist Dalits. Yet, it continues to deny the same to Christian and Muslim and Dalits

21 March, 2011

Fatehpur's Balmikis Fight For Life 
With Dignity And Honor 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Today nearly 6 villages voluntarily left the work of manual scavenging in Fatehpur and the campaign is growing

07 March, 2011

Dalit Capitalism And Pseudo Dalitism 
By Anand Teltumbde

Let Dalit individuals become big bureaucrats, big bourgeoisie or any big gun, he or she cannot count much in the emancipation project of Dalit community, which lies only in thoroughgoing social transformation

10 February , 2011

U.P. Tops In Atrocities Against Dalits 
By S.R.Darapuri

Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) has earned the dubious distinction of being a state where the highest numbers of atrocities have been committed against the Dalits (Scheduled Castes) for the last many years. It is in spite of the fact that this state is being ruled by a Dalit Chief Minister for the fourth time who is going to complete her fourth year in office. U.P. has the largest Dalit population in India numbering about 35.1 million and nearly 21.5% of total state population

Judiciary And Its Brahmanical Prejudices In India 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Two Judges of Supreme court recently, for the first time in our judicial history, had the courage to challenge the religious text of the Brahmanical order. In an order favoring tribal women's land right violating which the powerful in the village termed her as witch and paraded her in the village

02 February , 2011

The Comet Of Social Revolution: 
Bihar Lenin - Martyr Jagdeo Prasad 
By Ashok Yadav

With every passing year the martyrdom of Jagdeo Prasad is becoming more and more solidified on the stone of time. His legacy of blending culture with politics and of uncompromising struggle against caste-based exploitation and oppression will continue to shine like lode star for the millions and millions of marginalized people of this country

25 December, 2010

Burning Of Two Dalit Girls Is The Lingering
Funeral Pyre Of The Rule Of Law
By Avinash Pandey Samar

The ghoulish killings of two Dalit girls in Moradabad, an industrial town not far away from the national capital Delhi, is yet another reminder of almost everyday recurrence of attacks on Dalit communities in India. They encompass, also the grim truth of the complete failure of the Indian state in containing, leave aside eradicating, violence committed against the Dalit communities

11November, 2010

Caste'ing Live Chitradurga's Madigas And Nayakas 
By Anand Teltumbde

Caste in India is a terrible thing. It can surface anywhere in a weirdest manner and forms. In the Chitradurga district of Karnataka, famed for the rule of Nayakas, the chieftain whose descendents have strangely found a place in the schedule for Tribes, prepared by the independent India to do them social justice, it still survives in its pristine glory

05 November, 2010

CasteAnd Caste-Based Discrimination Among 
Indian Muslims - Part 4 -
Early Anti-Aryan Movements in India
By Masood Alam Falahi

Part 4 of Masood Alam Falahi's Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman ('Casteism Among Muslims in India')

04November, 2010

Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination 
Among Indian Muslims - Part 3 
The Impact of the Aryan Invasion of India
By Masood Alam Falahi

Part 3 of Masood Alam Falahi's Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman ('Casteism Among Muslims in India')

03 November, 2010

Caste And Caste-Based Discrimination 
Among Indian Muslims - Part 2 
Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand

This is a translation of Dr. Fazlur Rahman Faridi's Introduction to Masood Alam Falahi's Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman -'Casteism Among Muslims in India'

02 November, 2010

Caste And Caste-Based Discrimination
Among Indian Muslims - Part 1 
By Masood Alam Falahi

A translation of the first part of Masood Alam Falahi's pioneering Urdu book titled Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman ('Casteism Among Muslims in India')

27 October, 2010

An Open Letter To President Obama 
By Ravikiran Shinde

Your mentor Martin Luther King Jr. visited India when Dr. Ambedkar was alive but met only the then prime minister Nehru and seems to have been kept in the dark about his civil rights counterpart in India and perhaps never came to know about him. Please do what MLK couldn't. Get introduced to Dr. Ambedkar and his thoughts and contribution to India's democratic system. This will definitely make your trip a worthwhile in the long run

28 September, 2010

The Stink Of Savanur
By Anand Teltumbde

On 20 July 2010, some manual scavengers of Savanur, a small town in Haveri district of north Karnataka performed a novel act in protest against their helplessness. They smeared themselves with human excreta in public before the municipal council office. The stink of it strangely attracted many, including Pramod Muthalik of the notorious Sriram Sene, the militant Hindutva outfit to the Bhangi Colony and thrown up numerous issues of consequence

10 September, 2010

Casteism Is Racism And India Should 
Stop Interfering In 'Internal Affairs' Of Britain! 
By Avinash Pandey Samar

Britain, in a major victory for the movement against caste based discrimination and atrocities, can soon declare caste prejudice unlawful under laws against racial discrimination becoming the first country of the world to do so

Nagpur Declaration On Untouchability 
And Manual Scavenging 
By People's Alliance Against Untouchability

" People's Alliance Against Untouchability " plea for and work towards "National alliance" of all civil societies organisations, academicians, institutes, unions, professionals, students and activists to end all forms of discrimination based on caste and dissent such as untouchability particularly with reference to manual scavenging and other unclean (allied) occupation

Reservations For Indian Muslims: 
Conflicting Claims About Caste 
By Yoginder Sikand

One of the reasons for the overall 'backwardness' of the Indian Muslims is undoubtedly the fact that the vast majority of the community are of 'low' caste origin. Further, in contrast to 'Hindu' Dalits, who have won crucial gains by mobilizing on the basis of caste, the Muslim 'low' castes have witnessed no such substantial caste-based mobilization for their rights

03 September, 2010

'We Merely Want To Raise The Curtain' 
By Mohd. Noor Hasan Azad & Khalid Anis Ansari

Mohammad Noor Hasan Azad , one of the founding members of the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, discusses the contemporary lower caste movement among Indian Muslims

02 September, 2010

Caste, Untouchability And Discrimination 
Led To The Balaudi incident
Report of the fact finding team

A joint fact finding report by Dalit Mukti Morcha and PUCL Chhattisgarh

28 August, 2010

Caste Census And Indian Muslims 
By Khalid Anis Ansar

A rejoinder to Abusaleh Shariff

14 August, 2010

Bhagwan Das As I Know Him
By S.R.Darapuri

An article on Bhagwan Das, an outstanding Ambedkarite, human rights activist, writer and a living legend

09 August, 2010

HC Verdict On Khairlanji: 
Diluting The Design Justice 
By Anand Teltumbde

While commuting the death sentence of the six convicts in the Khairlanji dalit killings case to imprisonment for 25 years, the high court did not think there was a caste angle or any planning or outraging modesty of women was involved in the crime. The whole episode reveals, in a microcosm, the character of the state vis-à-vis dalits

06 August, 2010

60 Years Of Constitutional Rights Denied To
20 Millions Indian Dalit Christians
By Madhu Chandra

A million dollar worth question in the minds of Indian Dalit Christians is "Will the Government of India take up Dalit Christian issue this time?" The Supreme Court of India has informed on February 16, 2010 in hearing of Dalit Christian reservation case that Government of India is considering implementing the recommendation of Misra Commission. The commission report has suggested to De-link Religion from Scheduled Caste and Dalits who, irrespective of their religion, suffer caste stigma and Scheduled Caste status to should be given all Dalits irrespective of their religions

29 July, 2010

Because Khairlanji Is Not 
Just Another Murder Story! 
By Avinash Pandey Samar

Khairlanji is a negation of the very idea of India and its democracy. It is an assault on the basic principles the country is based upon. It shows what kind of a decayed and deficient democracy we have evolved into

27 July, 2010

Elimination Of Manual Scavenging Should Be Made
The National Priority 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

India has failed to protect its own people. It has failed to implement the rule of law as far as manual scavenging is concerned. It is a national shame that the country is unable to eliminate it and that its children are still into this shameful practice. It is time it become our national priority and political parties and social movement takes the issue more seriously and not in symbolic way

24 July, 2010

Empowerment Strategies: 
Private Reservations For Dalits 
By Dr. K. Vidyasagar Reddy

The Dalits have been discriminated by those upper castes who were at the helm of affairs. It is only after a couple of decades of independence, that they were encouraged to use their constitutional rights. But then, they were denied any job opportunities in the private sector that was gaining strength over a period of time. Meanwhile, the demand for private reservation attracted the attention of policymakers in several states and the Central government

21 July, 2010

Khairlanji Verdict Expose Our National Concern 
On Violence Against Dalits
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Khairlanji's incident has proved that our courts have not yet sensitized to the Dalit cause

16 July, 2010

Kherlanji Verdict –What Next? 
By Ravikiran Shinde

The Nagpur High Court bench's verdict on Kherlanji of diluting the 6 culprits' of death sentences given by Bhandara session court and refusal to accept it as caste based killings by removing the SC/ST Atrocity (PoA) act provisions proves one thing - There is no support for Dalits in any form. They incur Social Apathy, Police Apathy, Government Apathy, Media Apathy and now the Judicial Apathy

14 July, 2010

Counting Castes: Advantage Ruling Class 
By Anand Teltumbde

Anand Teltumbde argues that counting caste can never benefit people; it benefits only the ruling classes

09 July, 2010

Dalit Woman Humiliated And Victimized
In Allahabad 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Her one eye is completely turned red at the moment as the upper caste goons threw slippers at her. The entire body bears the brunt of the brahmanical violence on July 3rd, 2010 at the Sheetalpur Tikari village under Tharwai police station in Allahabad. Her cloths were torn and the goons tried to pee on her mouth but the police kept her in the police station for 24 hours and try to deny anything like that happened

13 June, 2010

Who's Afraid Of Caste Census? 
By Kancha Ilaiah

Let all castes — not just OBCs — be counted for strengthening our democratic system. I know that even mine is a blind-spot theory but it may have the effect of an antidote

11 June, 2010

Whither Dalit Politics? 
By Neerja Dasani

Reflections on Dalit identity and politics in the context of a documentary film festival held in Chennai called 'Imaging Dalit Reality: Politics of Visual Representation'

24 May, 2010

Mr. Bachchan, Caste And Being An Indian First 
By Joseph D'souza

According to Bollywood star Mr. Amitabh Bachchan being an Indian first means not to believe in caste. That could be one great definition of being an Indian first and putting India first. Yet when Mr. Bachchan told the census enumerators that he does not believe in caste and is an Indian first, did he unwittingly reveal the discomfiture the privileged castes feel in coming to terms with the caste issue in modern India?

10 May, 2010

Who Is Afraid Of Caste Census And Why? 
By S.R.Darapuri I.P.S. (Retd)

Actually higher Castes are allergic to the Caste Census because it will expose their low numbers and the share of development and national wealth they have usurped at the cost of lower Castes. Their fear is further accentuated by the probable high number of OBCs who are bound to demand a greater share in services and benefits of development and national wealth. That is why higher Castes are afraid of Caste Census

10 May, 2010

Modi Vomits Caste Venom 
By Dr. Anand Teltumbde

On 25 April 2010 Narendra Modi is reported to have observed while releasing his book Samajik Samrasata that Dalits were like mentally retarded children. Earlier, Modi had said that Valmiki community was involved in manual scavenging for a "spiritual experience"

07 May, 2010

Where Is Brahmeshwar Singh 'The Great'? 
By Subhash Gatade

Myth of the Misuse of Laws meant for the protection of dalits and tribals

03 May, 2010

Manual Scavenging: Must Be Eradicated
Right Away 
By Ram Puniyani

Manual Scavenging was officially supposed to have been banned in 1993 by the Government of India. Official lapses and apathy apart, the surveys by the activists working against this practice show that even now over 14 lakhs of scavengers are still suffering ignominy and nearly 95% of these workers are women

29 April, 2010

Interview: Iqbal Ahmad On Dalit-Muslim Unity 
By Yoginder Sikand

Bangalore-based advocate Iqbal Ahmed Shariff is an activist associated with the Bahujan and Dalit-Muslim unity movements. Author of numerous books in Urdu, he was also the editor of the Urdu and Hindi Dalit Voice. In this interview he talks with Yoginder Sikand on a wide range of issues, including Dalit-Muslim unity and the problems of the Muslim leadership in India

25 April, 2010

Why No Dalit Personal Law? 
By Prabhat Sharan

Recently in a seminar "Modernity, Tradition and Resistance in South Asia," organized by Mumbai University, during an informal talk, a radical sociologist, Dr. Neshat Quaiser from Jamia Millia Islamia Central University, raised a startling proposition and a query. Dr. Quaiser's proposition was that since Dalit community has always been outside the realm of Hindu fold and the Brahmanical structure, Dalits should have their own Personal Law since they have an independent identity

20 April, 2010

Pakistan's Dalits Demand Their Rights 
By Zia Ur Rehman

Long accustomed to discrimination, Pakistan's Hindu Dalits are fighting a new form of harassment that is driving them from their ancestral villages in the Tharparkar District of Sindh. About 70 Dalit families have left to protest the growing incidence of kidnapping of their young women. The kidnapping typically leads to rape or forced conversion to Islam and marriage

 

15 April, 2010

Ambedkar's Idea Of A Humanist India 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Ambedkarism is an idea for all democratic struggle who are fighting for social justice and support equality, liberty and fraternity. Let the tribes of Ambedkarites grow and work for social change and human rights. Let it reach on every nook and corner of the country to develop it as 'Prabuddha Bharat', as Baba Saheb had visualized so that people do not pick up guns to counter any hegemony but arguments to demolish historical myths of the ruling elite. It is the right moment in our history and we have to accept the challenge and use Ambedkar's thought to develop counter culture of democracy, freedom and humanism

13 April, 2010

Mayawati's Mega Service To The Nation 
By Anand Teltumbde

Every other move of Mayawati has shattered the sanitized sensibility of middle India and left it gasping for the expression. It invariably ended, "Oh, it is too much!" Whether it is her mega memorials or her rallies, her style evokes stunning responses of this kind. The point to ponder is whether, beyond her deliberately designed-for-Dalit demeanour, there is anything essentially novel or unique. The answer would be in definite negative. Mayawati is essentially the product of the system and she represents it in full measure albeit in her inimitable way. Insofar as it appears excessive, it only helps us to see the system in its naked form

11 April, 2010

Dimensions Of The Revolution Against Casteism
A Preliminary PROUT Synthesis

The UN Human Rights Commission in October 2009 declared casteism as a form of human rights abuse and has begun the process of criminalizing casteism. However, this will not end casteism in South Asia. The UN can only create a little pressure internationally. To annihilate casteism (jati pranasha), an internal revolution is required

18 March, 2010

Sree Narayana Guru, The Left, And Chitralekha 
By Joe.M.S.

In spite of the cultural specificities of northern Kerala where these atrocities were perpetrated on Chitralekha, I think a general study of the impact of Srinaraynism on the whole of Kerala may be of some help to analyse the increasing backward caste arrogance on Dalits. This is particularly so as the discourse on the assumed efficacy of SriNarayana Guru's metier is invoked constantly by the civil society of Kerala, eternalising his importance in all spheres. So I think, a glance at the impact of his life and efforts can shed light on the of the constitution/ construction of modern Ezhava identity and the problems associated with it

17 February, 2010

Jayaram And Tamil: Some Scattered Thoughts 
On The Anti-Black Mass Culture In Kerala
By Joe MS

The recent 'jest 'of film star Jayaram against the Tamil as black skinned , buffalo like and therefore less human has been taken as just a joke by the cultural scene of Kerala. Not only that sympathy was expressed for the poor victim that he is, inadvertently cracking an innocent joke and thereby exposing himself to the ire of 'violent' Tamil,even solidarity was expressed with the right to crack such jokes by the 'ordinary folks'. The latent ideological and cultural premises hidden behind this whole controversy needs to be enquired into to understand the reality

07 February, 2010

Three Idiots: A Film With A Message 
By Dr. Shura Darapuri

The film "Three Idiots" is a great satire on the education system and the attitude of society. It tells us rote learning can be very harmful and why and how a casteistic eduactional system promotes it

19 January, 2010

Trade, Corporate Market And Indigenous People
By Goldy M. George

The Copenhagen drama is over. Nothing came out of it. It was predicted the same by many expert and many intellectuals, activists, professional experts kept a distance from this proscenium. But what is that concerns the ordinary people of this nation? How does market and market values related with people at large and particularly the Dalits, Adivasis and the exploited sections of Indian society? What is the correlation between trade, corporates, market and indigenous communities of this land who still have the noble quality of surviving on a minimum basis?

Dalit: Towards The Search For
Alternative Strategies
By Rajkumar

This paper argues for the need for some strategies that suits the emerging scenario in the given context of democratic space available in the Indian and the mass psychology. I try to portrait a frame of analysis for this argument which needs further debate and refinement at various circles and level

11 January, 2010

"Honouring Dalits With Blood" 
By Pardeep Singh Attri

A look into the increase in the number of Khap Panchayat's illegal decrees, 'fatwas' against Dalits

04 January, 2010

Salute To Women Liberator - Savitribai Phule- 
On Birthday, 3rd January
By Pardeep Singh Attri

It is indeed a measure of the ruthlessness of elite-controlled knowledge-production that a figure as important as Savitribai Phule fails to find any mention in the history of modernIndia. Her life and struggle deserves to be appreciated by a wider spectrum, and made known to non-Marathi people as well

01 January, 2010

1st January, 1818: 'The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon'
By Pardeep Singh Attri

January 1st 1818, when everyone around the world was busy in celebrating the 'new year', when everyone was in cheerful mood, but not for a small force of 500 untouchable soldiers were preparing them to for battleground. Who knows this battle is going to write future of 'Brahmin Peshwa Baji Rao-II'? It wasn't just another battle; it was a battle for self respect, esteem and against the supremacy of Manusmriti. This battle is important in history, as everyone know that after this battle rule of 'Peshwa Rao' ended

Tribal Rights 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

I can only wish if the tribal had their own Kanshi Ram who could have made them emerge as an independent entity and not look for messiahs. Dalits in India salute Kanshiram for this political contribution that he has made them an entity where they can stand at their own in this democratic polity. Tribal need political leaders who can stand at their own and fight their battle at their own and not look for imported messiahs. Once they have this, they will win the democratic battle and their own survival as their political class will not remain unaccountable as it seems today

28 December, 2009

Salute To The Indefatigable Spirit Of Struggle Of
Subedar Jasram 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Struggle of Subedar Jasram to get justice for over 150 landless Dalit families in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar

22 December, 2009

Bhagat Singh On Dalit Question 
By Ashok Yadav

Bhagat Singh's article 'Achoot Samasya' (The Untouchability Problem) is very important because we get glimpses of his revolutionary thoughts on this basic problem of Indian society. Now when in the post-mandal phase caste and dalit questions have acquired paramount importance in socio-political discourse it has become relevant to understand his thoughts on this question

17 December, 2009

Kerala's So Called Dalit Terror: How A Dalit Minister 
Turns Against His Own Community
By B.R.P Bhaskar

Inquiries have revealed that Balan, who is himself a Dalit, turned down the proposal for a visit to Thoduve by a team headed by the chief minister, saying it was impractical. He termed the proposal for rehabilitation of the colony residents also as impractical. He effectively killed the proposal for an impartial inquiry into the police conduct by referred it to the DGP

16 December, 2009

Udit Raj's Fast For Reservation In Private Sector 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Udit Raj on fast unto death against non implementation of reservation in private sector

14 December, 2009

Savarna Terror Erupts In Kerala 
By J Devika

Dalits are on the receiving end in Kerala, be it from the police, sangh parivar or the so called saviours of the downtrodden, Communist Party of India (Marxists)

10 December, 2009

How Long Casteism? 
By Garda Ghista

The Times of India on December 7 reported that Dalits in Gujarat are banned from Hindu temples. Yet, they are Hindu, isn't it? If they are banned from their own Hindu temples, then why on earth should they remain Hindus? Better they become Buddhist, Christian or Muslim. Tragically, even by converting to one of these other religions, they remain Dalits. We have here in India such a thing as Dalit Christians and upper caste Christians. Is it not mad? If I tell this to friends back in America, their jaws will drop in disbelief

08 December, 2009

The Legacy Of Criminal Tribes Act
In The Present Context 
By Goldy M. George

How long the criminal tribes or denotified tribes are supposed to face the brute inhuman demeanour of the state and society? Do they have any rights of claiming to be citizens of this free nation? It is time to find answers to these persisting questions; or one has to turn to be a fatalist and keep dreaming of the day when everything would be fine automatically

05 December, 2009

Concepts Of Reservation 
By Ashok Yadav

The creamy layer concept is nothing but a ploy to protect upper caste hegemony in job and education. It is not without reason that the BJP and the Congress like forces support the creamy layer concept. The democratic forces of India have yet to realise the importance of reservation in job and education to the SC/ST/OBC in their struggle for democratising the Indian polity

29 November, 2009

The Hindu: The Insensitivity Of A Sensitive Paper
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

In a November 27th write up by Praveen Swamy on Mumbai's horrific incidents under headline ' where style has trumped substance' has unnecessarily compared the issue of scavengers with police men

28 November, 2009

Uncivil Society, Apathetic Administration 
Fact Finding Report issued by Nagrik Adhikar Manch and Yuva Samvad

The situation in the Gadarwara Sub Division of District.Narsinghpur (Madhya Pradesh) has been in a state of constant flux for the last 3-4 months. The Dalits living in the villages adjoining Gadarwara have been condemned to a life of fear and intimidation.Their human rights and dignity are being at stake

22 November, 2009

Encountering Ambedkar In Hungary 
By Pardeep Attri

The Romas, a discriminated minority in Hungary, turn to Ambedkar and Buddhism in their quest for dignity and equality. Pardeep Attri journeys to Sajókaza and Budapest to find out how the Dalits and Romas connect

20 November, 2009

Ambedkar's Lost Boys?
By Ajit Sahi

A dalit organisation in Kerala is accused of terrorist links

16 November, 2009

Feminism And Dalit Women In India 
By Cynthia Stephen

Thus, Dalit women are slowly attempting to come to grips with their invisibility in the discourse, and are beginning not just to speak out, but also to theorise and build wider solidarities so as to earn the place, hitherto denied, under the sun

14 November, 2009

Understanding Existential Castes
Through Atrocity Metrics
By Anand Teltumbde

Brief of the paper "Understanding Existential Castes through Atrocity Metrics" presented at the seminar Caste in Contemporary India, Columbia University on 16 October 2009

19 October, 2009

UN Anti-Caste Charter: Annihilation Of Caste 
By Ram Puniyani

Today sixty years after Independence and coming into being of Indian Constitution, the prevalence of untouchability and caste practices are a matter of shame for us. It is time we intensify our own efforts to eradicate it and join the global efforts to end this carry over from our past

14 October, 2009

Is It Not Time For The Minorities 
To Become The Majority?
By Dr.K.Vidyasagar Reddy

Since the majority-Lower castes are found oppressed socially and otherwise at the hands of Upper castes, they wish to break the chains of Hinduism only to join the religious minorities of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism as a larger entity. Since the idea is based on apprehensions of the marginalised communities, its implementation would certainly alter the social composition of the majority and minority notions. Ultimately, this larger entity would make them majority for political purpose that would ensure political power over a period of time

12 October, 2009

The Pointing Finger Of Babasaheb Ambedkar 
By Dr. Shah Alam Khan

I am sure if he was alive today Ambedkar would have been pained to see the contemptible misuse of money in building parks and statues. Mayawati too needs to learn from this message of salvation and social elevation. Political power is temporary, social elevation permanent. Statues can be a way to display social arrival and arrogance but surely it would be better if the same money is used for genuine emancipation of the most depressed sections of the Indian society

08 October, 2009

Caste And Land : Message From
Chengara And Khagaria 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Both the Bihar and Kerala experience shows how the governments which are in power have used particular ideological formulations to build their own political empire and how they manipulate people's sentiments. Such stories are emerging from everywhere and they will always happen as long as the movements are not democratic and their leaders embedded with a particular formulation dictate their fancies to the people. The condition of both the Dalits and Adivasis remain a matter of concern in all these states whether they come to power in the name of social justice or Marxism

19 August, 2009

Dalits And The Arts As An Intrument Of Repression 
By Gauthama Siddharthan

If only we become aware of these evil designs in Art and Literary forms, identify them and understand their layers of covert interpretations and connotations and raise against these, taking all necessary initiatives to expose and destroy them we would be able to save ourselves and our suffering brethren from the cruel and bitter cultural onslaught that has been going on from time immemorial. Only then we can emerge as an emancipated and liberated wholesome human race

18 August, 2009

(De)Meritized Reservation 
By Goldy M. George

Howsoever, unsatisfactory the results of the implementation may be, the importance of reservations from the Dalit viewpoint cannot be overemphasized. As could be evidenced by the organized private sector, where it would be difficult to find a Dalit employee

17 August, 2009

Rethinking The Dalit Muslim Movement 
By Khalid Anis Ansari

All in all, the crux of the argument submitted here is that Pasmanda Movement (PM) needs to grow beyond quota politics and rethink its abnegation of the social/cultural/economic aspects of the movement. Along with its present accent on democratisation of the state it would do well to also consider the more far-reaching issue of the democratisation of society at large. PM needs to engage in a balancing act between the political and social. This will create the much desired synergy necessary for launching the libratory promise of PM on track

22 July, 2009

Rape As An Instrument Of Politics 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

What Rita Bahuguna said was not an outburst but a continuous assumption of our patriarchical political thought that does not want to address the root cause but use the incident for political purposes

17 July, 2009

Mayawati's Idolization And The Questing Of
Dalit Emancipation 
By S.R.Darapuri

The emancipation of dalits can be achieved not by installation of statues but by working out a Dalit development agenda and implementing it honestly. Instead of spending crores on the statues, establishing educational institutions, hospital, libraries and useful institutions in the name of Dalit icons will be a true honour and memorial to them

13 June, 2009

Caste And Democracy In India 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Only a modern democratic theory with republican ideas as envisioned by Dr Ambedkar can be their true emancipator otherwise, caste based identities are threatening basic Dalit unity in the country and it is fast becoming a self defeating exercise

28 May, 2009

Fire At Vienna Exposes Ugly Realities Of
Caste Discrimination In Punjab
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Punjab is burning. The Dalits are at the street. The government is seeking peace and every one is amused why the Dalits have taken to the street. Some are amused as why attack on Sant Niranjan Dass, head of Dera Guru Ravidas Sachkhand Balan and death of Sant Ramanand could spark such violent protest in Punjab. Unfortunately, they forget to understand the first question itself as why such Deras face attack by the fundamentalist Sikh groups. Is it because these Deras have provided a glimpse of hope and identity to a massive Dalit population in Punjab? Is it also not true that these Deras are also giving the upper caste Sikhs a run for their money and power?

Identity And Religious Conversion 
By Tomichan Matheikal

Put an end to the discriminatory caste system. This would engender a sense of respectability among the adivasis and the lower castes. Then there would be no need for religious conversion as a means of attaining respectability. Give economic independence to the adivasis and the lower castes. This would put an end to the Maoist violence as well as the charm held out by poverty to Christian missionaries

02 April, 2009

Hypocrisy Of Brahminical And Mainstream 
Feminist Movements 
By Surendra Gopinath Rote

Mainstream feminist movement could focus on the livelihood issues of women. However, the point is not to feed the stomach only but it is question of self respect, dignity and of equal status which all denied by caste system. My question still stands there those feminist who worships Rama, Krishna, Shiva and Ganesh how could they become the emancipatory force for Dalit women or even for mainstream women?

04 March, 2009

Dalits In 'Hindu Rashtra' 
By Subhash Gatade

All over Gujarat one finds thousands and thousands of boards put at prominent places by one of the affiliates of the Sangh Parivar that 'you are entering this or that locality of Hindu Rashtra' which is completely illegal and an open proclamation of 'secession' from the rest of the society

18 February, 2009

Rethinking Pasmanda Movement 
By Khalid Anis Ansari

Pasmanda, a word of Persian origin, literally means 'those who have fallen behind', 'broken' or 'oppressed'. For our purposes here it refers to the 'dalit' and 'backward' caste Indian Muslims which constitute, according to most estimates, 85% of Muslim population and about 10% of India's population

07 February, 2009

Reservation In Faculty Recruitment, 
Viva 'Academic Untouchability'?
By Subhash Gatade

The return of 'academic untouchability' with due sanction of the parliament and the further legitimisation it would provide to the 'merit' versus 'quota' debate need to be questioned and challenged uncompromisingly

http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit.htm

Christopher Columbus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the explorer. For other uses, see Christopher Columbus (disambiguation).
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"Cristoforo Colombo" and "Cristóbal Colón" redirect here. For other uses of "Cristoforo Colombo", see Cristoforo Colombo (disambiguation). For other uses of "Cristóbal Colón", see Cristobal Colon (disambiguation).
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus.PNG
Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus bySebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus.[1]
Bornbefore 31 October 1451
Genoa, Republic of Genoa, in present-day Italy
Died20 May 1506 (aged c. 54)
Valladolid, Crown of Castile, in present-day Spain
Other namesItalian: Cristoforo Colombo
Catalan: Cristòfor Colom
Spanish: Cristóbal Colón
Portuguese: Cristóvão Colombo
Latin: Christophorus Columbus
Genoese: Christoffa Corombo
OccupationMaritime explorer
TitleAdmiral of the Ocean Sea;Viceroy and Governor of the Indies
ReligionRoman Catholic
Spouse(s) Filipa Moniz Perestrelo
Partner(s)Beatriz Enríquez de Arana
ChildrenDiego
Fernando
RelativesBrothers:
Giovanni Pellegrino
Giacomo (also called Diego)[2]
Bartholomew
Sister:
Bianchinetta Columbus
SignatureColumbus Signature.svg

Christopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo; Spanish: Cristóbal Colón;Portuguese: Cristóvão Colombo; born between October 31, 1450 and October 30, 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy.[3][4][5][6] Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World.

In the context of emerging western imperialism and economic competition betweenEuropean kingdoms seeking wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies, Columbus's speculative proposal, to reach the East Indies by sailing westward, eventually received the support of the Spanish crown, which saw in it a promise, however remote, of gaining the upper hand over rival powers in the contest for the lucrative spice trade with Asia. During his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus landed in the Bahamas archipelago, at a locale he named San Salvador. Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire. In his search for wealth, numerous contemporary sources accuse Columbus of tyranny, torture, and genocide.

Though Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas (having been preceded by the Norse expedition led by Leif Ericson in the 11th century[7]), Columbus's voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for several centuries. They had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion.[3]

Never admitting that he had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans, rather than the East Indies he had set out for, Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands he visited indios (Spanish for "Indians").[8][9][10] Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and dismissal as governor of the settlements on the island of Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits which Columbus and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.

Early life

For more details on Columbus's birthplace and family background, see Origin theories of Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus at the gates of the monastery of Santa María de la Rábida with his son Diego. Painting by Benito Mercade y Fabregas

The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Italian is Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spanish, it is Cristóbal Colón. Columbus was born before 31 October 1451 in Genoa, part of modern Italy.[11] His father was Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver who worked both in Genoa and Savona and who also owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked as a helper. Christopher's mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo were his brothers. Bartolomeo worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood.[12] He also had a sister named Bianchinetta.[13]

Columbus never wrote in his native language, which is presumed to have been a Genoese variety of Ligurian (his name would translate in the 16th-century Genoese language as Christoffa[14]Corombo[15] pron. IPA: [kriˈʃtɔffa kuˈɹuŋbu][16][17]). In one of his writings, Columbus claims to have gone to the sea at the age of 10. In 1470, the Columbus family moved to Savona, where Domenico took over a tavern. In the same year, Columbus was on a Genoese ship hired in the service of René I of Anjou to support his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. Some modern historians have argued that Columbus was not from Genoa, but instead, from Catalonia,[18] Portugal,[19] or Spain.[20]These competing hypotheses have generally been discounted by mainstream scholars.[21]

Columbus's notes in Latin, on the margins of his copy of The Travels of Marco Polo

In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro and Spinola families of Genoa. Later, he allegedly made a trip to Chios, a Genoese colony in the Aegean Sea.[22] In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry a valuable cargo to northern Europe. He docked in Bristol, England[23] and Galway, Ireland. In 1477, he was possibly in Iceland. In 1479, Columbus reached his brother Bartolomeo in Lisbon, while continuing trading for the Centurione family. He married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the Porto Santo governor and Portuguese nobleman ofLombard origin Bartolomeu Perestrello.[24] In 1479 or 1480, his son Diego Columbus was born. Between 1482 and 1485, Columbus traded along the coasts of West Africa, reaching the Portuguese trading post of Elmina at the Guinea coast.[3] Some records report that Filipa died in 1485. It is also speculated that Columbus may have simply left his first wife. In either case, Columbus found a mistress in Spain in 1487, a 20-year-old orphan namedBeatriz Enríquez de Arana.[25]

Ambitious, Columbus eventually learned Latin, Portuguese, and Castilian, and read widely about astronomy, geography, and history, including the works of Claudius Ptolemy, CardinalPierre d'Ailly's Imago Mundi, the travels of Marco Polo and Sir John 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. Yet he studied these books, made hundreds of marginal notations in them and came out with ideas about the world that were characteristically simple and strong and sometimes wrong, the kind of ideas that the self-educated person gains from independent reading and clings to in defiance of what anyone else tries to tell him.[26]

Throughout his life, Columbus also showed a keen interest in the Bible and in Biblical prophecies, and would often quote biblical texts in his letters and logs. For example, part of the argument that he submitted to the Spanish Catholic Monarchs when he sought their support for his proposed expedition to reach the Indies by sailing west was based on his reading of the Second Book of Esdras (see 2 Esdras 6:42, which Columbus took to mean that the Earth is made of six parts of land to one of water). Towards the end of his life, Columbus produced a Book of Prophecies, in which his career as an explorer is interpreted in the light of Christian eschatology and ofapocalypticism.[12]

Quest for Asia

"Columbus map", drawn ca. 1490 in theLisbon workshop of Bartolomeo and Christopher Columbus[27]

Background

Under the Mongol Empire's hegemony over Asia (the so-called Pax Mongolica, or Mongol peace), Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage, the so-called "Silk Road", to China and India, which were sources of valuable goods such as silk, spices, and opiates. With the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the land route to Asia became much more difficult and dangerous. Portuguese navigators, under the leadership of King John II, sought to reach Asia by sailing around Africa. Major progress in this quest was achieved in 1488, when Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope, in what is now South Africa. Meanwhile, in the 1480s, the Columbus brothers had developed a different plan to reach the Indies (then construed roughly as all of south and east Asia) by sailing west across the "Ocean Sea", i.e., the Atlantic.

Geographical considerations

Washington Irving's 1828 biography of Columbus popularized the idea that Columbus had difficulty obtaining support for his plan because many Catholic theologians insisted that the Earth was flat.[28] In fact, most educated Westerners had understood that the Earth was spherical at least since the time of Aristotle, who lived in the 4th century BC and whose works were widely studied and revered in Medieval Europe.[29] The sphericity of the Earth is also accounted for in the work of Ptolemy, on which ancient astronomywas largely based. Christian writers whose works clearly reflect the conviction that the Earth is spherical include Saint Bede the Venerable in his Reckoning of Time, written around AD 723. In Columbus's time, the techniques of celestial navigation, which use the position of the sun and the stars in the sky, together with the understanding that the Earth is a sphere, had long been in use by astronomers and were beginning to be implemented by mariners.[30]

Where Columbus did differ from the view accepted by scholars in his day was in his estimate of the westward distance from Europe to Asia. Columbus's ideas in this regard were based on three factors: his low estimate of the size of the Earth, his high estimate of the size of the Eurasian landmass, and his belief that Japan and other inhabited islands lay far to the east of the coast of China.[citation needed] In all three of these issues Columbus was both wrong and at odds with the scholarly consensus of his day.[citation needed]

As far back as the 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes had correctly computed the circumference of the Earth by using simple geometry and studying the shadows cast by objects at two different locations: Alexandria and Syene (modern-day Aswan).[31] Eratosthenes's results were confirmed by a comparison of stellar observations at Alexandria and Rhodes, carried out by Posidonius in the 1st century BC. These measurements were widely known among scholars, but confusion about the old-fashioned units of distance in which they were expressed had led, in Columbus's day, to some debate about the exact size of the Earth.

Toscanelli's notions of the geography of the Atlantic Ocean, which directly influenced Columbus's plans

From d'Ailly's Imago Mundi Columbus learned of Alfraganus's estimate that a degree of latitude (or a degree of longitude along the equator) spanned 56⅔ miles, but did not realize that this was expressed in the Arabic mile (about 1,830 m) rather than the shorter Roman mile with which he was familiar (1,480 m).[32] He therefore estimated the circumference of the Earth to be about 30,200 km, whereas the correct value is 40,000 km (25,000 mi).

Furthermore, most scholars accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Eurasiaspanned 180° longitude, rather than the actual 130° (to the Chinese mainland) or 150° (to Japan at the latitude of Spain). Columbus, for his part, believed the even higher estimate of Marinus of Tyre, which put the longitudinal span of the Eurasian landmass at 225°, leaving only 135° of water. He also believed that Japan (which he called "Cipangu", following Marco Polo) was much larger, farther to the east from China ("Cathay"), and closer to the equator than it is, and that there were inhabited islands even farther to the east than Japan, including the mythical Antillia, which he thought might lie not much farther to the west than the Azores. In this, he was influenced by the ideas of Florentine physician Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, who corresponded with Columbus before his death in 1482 and who also defended the feasibility of a westward route to Asia.[33]

Columbus therefore estimated the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan to be about 3,000 Italian miles (3,700 km, or 2,300 statute miles), while the correct figure is 19,600 km (12,200 mi),[citation needed] or about 12,000 km along a great circle. No ship in the 15th century could carry enough food and fresh water for such a long voyage, and the dangers involved in navigating through the uncharted ocean would have been formidable. Most European navigators reasonably concluded that a westward voyage from Europe to Asia was unfeasible. The Catholic Monarchs, however, having completed an expensive war in the Iberian Peninsula, were desperate for a competitive edge over other European countries in the quest for trade with the Indies. Columbus promised such an advantage.

Nautical considerations

Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented, he did possess valuable knowledge about the trade winds, which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Ocean. During his first voyage in 1492, the brisk trade winds from the east, commonly called "easterlies", propelled Columbus's fleet for five weeks, from the Canary Islands to The Bahamas. To return to Spain against this prevailing wind would have required several months of an arduous sailing technique, called beating, during which food and drinkable water would probably have been exhausted.

Instead, Columbus returned home by following the curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where he was able to catch the "westerlies" that blow eastward to the coast of Western Europe. There, in turn, the winds curve southward towards the Iberian Peninsula.[34][35][36]

It is unclear whether Columbus learned about the winds from his own sailing experience or if he had heard about them from others. The corresponding technique for efficient travel in the Atlantic appears to have been discovered first by the Portuguese, who referred to it as the Volta do mar ("turn of the sea"). Columbus's knowledge of the Atlantic wind patterns was, however, imperfect at the time of his first voyage. By sailing directly due west from the Canary Islands during hurricane season, skirting the so-called horse latitudes of the mid-Atlantic, Columbus risked either being becalmed or running into a tropical cyclone, both of which he luckily avoided.[33]

Quest for support

In 1485, Columbus presented his plans to John II, King of Portugal. He proposed that the king equip three sturdy ships and grant Columbus one year's time to sail out into the Atlantic, search for a western route to the Orient, and return.

Columbus and Queen Isabella. Detail of the Columbus monument in Madrid(1885).[37]

Columbus also requested he be made "Great Admiral of the Ocean", appointed governor of any and all lands he discovered, and given one-tenth of all revenue from those lands.

The king submitted Columbus's proposal to his experts, who rejected it. It was their considered opinion that Columbus's estimation of a travel distance of 2,400 miles (3,860 km) was, in fact, far too low.[33]

In 1488, Columbus appealed to the court of Portugal once again, and once again, John II invited him to an audience. That meeting also proved unsuccessful, in part because not long afterwards Bartolomeu Dias returned to Portugal with news of his successful rounding of the southern tip of Africa (near the Cape of Good Hope). With an eastern sea route to Asia apparently at hand, King John was no longer interested in Columbus's far-fetched project.

Columbus traveled from Portugal to both Genoa and Venice, but he received encouragement from neither. Columbus had also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England, to inquire whether the English crown might sponsor his expedition, but also without success.

Columbus had sought an audience from the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had united many kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula by marrying, and were ruling together. On 1 May 1486, permission having been granted, Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, the savants of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated the distance to Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture.

However, to keep Columbus from taking his ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the Catholic Monarchs gave him an annual allowance of 12,000 maravedis and, in 1489, furnished him with a letter ordering all cities and towns under their domain to provide him food and lodging at no cost.[38]

~ Flagship of Columbus ~ Fleet of Columbus ~
~ 400th Anniversary Issues of 1893 ~
U.S. stamps reflecting the most commonly held view as to what Columbus's first fleet might have looked like. The Santa Maria, the flagship of Columbus's fleet, was a carrack—a merchant ship of between 400 and 600 tons, 75 feet (23 m) long, with a beam of 25 feet (7.6 m), allowing it to carry more people and cargo. It had a deep draft of 6 feet (1.8 m). The vessel had three masts: a mainmast, a foremast, and a mizzenmast. Five sails altogether were attached to these masts. Each mast carried one large sail. The foresail and mainsail were square; the sail on the mizzen was a triangular sail known as a lateen mizzen. The ship had a smaller topsail on the mainmast above the mainsail and on the foremast above the foresail. In addition, the ship carried a small square sail, a spritsail, on the bowsprit.[39][40]

Agreement with the Spanish crown

After continually lobbying at the Spanish court and two years of negotiations, he finally had success in 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella had just conquered Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, and they received Columbus in Córdoba, in theAlcázar castle. Isabella turned Columbus down on the advice of herconfessor, and he was leaving town by mule in despair, when Ferdinand intervened. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch him, and Ferdinand later claimed credit for being "the principal cause why those islands were discovered".[41]

About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, whom Columbus had already lined up. Financially broke after the Granada campaign, the monarchs left it to the royal treasurer to shift funds among various royal accounts on behalf of the enterprise. Columbus was to be made "Admiral of the Seas" and would receive a portion of all profits. The terms were unusually generous, but as his son Diego later wrote,[citation needed] the monarchs did not really expect him to return.

In the "Capitulations of Santa Fe", King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Columbus that if he succeeded he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he could claim for Spain. He had the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. He would be entitled to 10% of all the revenues from the new lands in perpetuity. Additionally, he would also have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture with the new lands and receive one-eighth of the profits.[33]

Columbus's coat of arms, as depicted in his Book of Privileges(1502)

Columbus was later arrested in 1500 and dismissed from his posts. He and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against the Castilian crown, known as thepleitos colombinos, alleging that the Crown had illegally reneged on its contractual obligations to Columbus and his heirs. The Columbus family had some success in their first litigation, as a judgment of 1511 confirmed Diego's position as Viceroy, but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in 1512, which lasted until 1536, and further disputes continued until 1790.[42]

Voyages

Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Between 1492 and 1503, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, all of them under the sponsorship of the Crown of Castile. These voyages marked the beginning of theEuropean exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of enormous significance in Western history. Columbus always insisted, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, that the lands that he visited during those voyages were part of the Asian continent, as previously described by Marco Polo and other European travelers.[12] Columbus's refusal to accept that the lands he had visited and claimed for Spain were not part of Asia might explain, in part, why the American continent was named after the Florentineexplorer Amerigo Vespucci and not after Columbus.[43]

First voyage

12 October 1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers The Americas forSpain, painting by John Vanderlyn.

On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships: a larger carrack, the Santa María ex-Gallega ("Galician"), and two smaller caravels, the Pinta ("Painted") and the Santa Clara, nicknamed the Niña (lit. "Girl") after her owner Juan Niño of Moguer.[44] The monarchs forced the Palos inhabitants to contribute to the expedition. The Santa María was owned by Juan de la Cosa and captained by Columbus. The Pinta and the Niña were piloted by the Pinzón brothers (Martín Alonso and Vicente Yáñez).

Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands, which belonged to Castile, where he restocked the provisions and made repairs. After stopping over in Gran Canaria, he departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on 6 September, for what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean. A lookout on the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana (also known as Juan Rodríguez Bermeo), spotted land about 2:00 on the morning of 12 October, and immediately alerted the rest of the crew with a shout. Thereupon, the captain of the Pinta, Martín Alonso Pinzón, verified the discovery and alerted Columbus by firing a lombard.[45] Columbus later maintained that he himself had already seen a light on the land a few hours earlier, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension promised by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first person to sight land.[46]

First voyage. Modern placenames in black, Columbus's placenames in blue.

Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas)San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani. Exactly which island in the Bahamas this corresponds to is unresolved. Prime candidates are San Salvador Island (so named in 1925 on the theory that it was Columbus's San Salvador),[47]Samana Cay, and Plana Cays.

The indigenous people he encountered, the Lucayan, Taíno, or Arawak, were peaceful and friendly. Noting their gold ear ornaments, Columbus took some of the Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold.[48]From the 12 October 1492 entry in his journal, in which he wrote of them, "Many of the men I have seen have scars on their bodies, and when I made signs to them to find out how this happened, they indicated that people from other nearby islands come to San Salvador to capture them; they defend themselves the best they can. I believe that people from the mainland come here to take them as slaves. They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians, for they seem to have no religion. If it pleases our Lord, I will take six of them to Your Highnesses when I depart, in order that they may learn our language."[49] He remarked that their lack of modern weaponry and even metal-forged swords or pikes was a tactical vulnerability, writing, "I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased."[50]

Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October. On 22 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took thePinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of an island called "Babeque" or "Baneque", which the natives had told him was rich in gold. Columbus, for his part, continued to the northern coast of Hispaniola, where he landed on 5 December.[51]

There, the Santa María ran aground on Christmas Day 1492 and had to be abandoned. Columbus was received by the native caciqueGuacanagari, who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus left 39 men, including Luis de Torres, the Converso interpreter, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, and founded the settlement of La Navidad at the site of present-day Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti.[52] Columbus took more natives prisoner and continued his exploration.[48] He kept sailing along the northern coast of Hispaniola with a single ship, until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January.

On 13 January 1493, Columbus made his last stop of this voyage in the New World. He landed on the Samaná Peninsula, where he met the hostile Ciguayos who presented him with his only violent resistance during his first voyage to the Americas. The Ciguayos had refused to trade the amount of bows and arrows that Columbus desired; in the ensuing violence two were stabbed to death.[48] Because of this and because of the Ciguayos' use of arrows, he called the inlet where he met them the Bay of Arrows (or Gulf of Arrows).[53]Today, the place is called the Bay of Rincón, in Samaná, the Dominican Republic.[54] Columbus kidnapped about 10 to 25 natives and took them back with him (only seven or eight of the native Indians arrived in Spain alive, but they made quite an impression onSeville).[55]

The return of Christopher Columbus; his audience before King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Painting by Eugène Delacroix

Columbus headed for Spain, but another storm forced him into Lisbon. He anchored next to the King's harbor patrol ship on 4 March 1493 in Portugal. After spending more than one week in Portugal, he set sail for Spain. He crossed the bar of Saltes and entered the harbor of Palos on 15 March 1493. Word of his finding new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe.

Second voyage

The Inspiration of Christopher Columbus by José María Obregón, 1856.

Columbus left the port of Cadiz on 24 September 1493, with a fleet of 17 ships carrying 1,200 men and the supplies to establish permanent colonies in the New World. The passengers included priests, farmers, and soldiers, who would be the new colonists. This reflected the new policy of creating not just "colonies of exploitation", but also "colonies of settlement" from which to launch missions dedicated to converting the natives to Christianity.[56] Modern studies suggest that, as reported by the Washington Post, "crew members may have included free black Africans who arrived in the New World about a decade before the slave trade began."[57]

As in the first voyage, the fleet stopped at the Canary Islands, from which it departed on 13 October, following a more southerly course than on the previous expedition. On 3 November, Columbus sighted a rugged island that he named Dominica (Latin for Sunday); later that day, he landed at Marie-Galante, which he named Santa María la Galante. After sailing pastLes Saintes (Los Santos, "The Saints"), he arrived at the island of Guadeloupe, which he named Santa María de Guadalupe de Extremadura, after the image of the Virgin Mary venerated at the Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadalupe, Cáceres, Spain. He explored that island from 4 to 10 November.

Michele da Cuneo, Columbus's childhood friend from Savona, sailed with Columbus during the second voyage and wrote: "In my opinion, since Genoa was Genoa, there was never born a man so well equipped and expert in the art of navigation as the said lord Admiral."[58] Columbus named the small island of "Saona ... to honor Michele da Cuneo, his friend from Savona."[59] The same childhood friend reported in a letter that Columbus had provided one of the captured indigenous women to him. He wrote, "While I was in the boat, I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral gave to me. When I had taken her to my cabin she was naked - as was their custom. I was filled with a desire to take my pleasure with her and attempted to satisfy my desire. She was unwilling, and so treated me with her nails that I wished I had never begun. But - to cut a long story short - I then took a piece of rope and whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, that you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores."[60] This letter has been interpreted by some as providing evidence that Columbus knowingly aided the rape of captured indigenous people.[61]

Pedro de las Casas, father of the priest Bartolomé de las Casas, also accompanied Columbus on this voyage.[62]

Second voyage

The exact course of Columbus's voyage through the Lesser Antilles is debated, but it seems likely that he turned north, sighting and naming several islands, including:

  • Montserrat (for Santa María de Montserrate, after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located on the Mountain of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain),
  • Antigua (after a church in Seville, Spain, called Santa María la Antigua, meaning "Old St. Mary's"),
  • Redonda (Santa María la Redonda, Spanish for "St. Mary the Round", owing to the island's shape),
  • Nevis (derived from the Spanish Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, "Our Lady of the Snows", because Columbus thought the clouds over Nevis Peak made the island resemble a snow-capped mountain),
  • Saint Kitts (for St. Christopher, patron of sailors and travelers),
  • Sint Eustatius (for the early Roman martyr, St. Eustachius),
  • Saba (after the Biblical Queen of Sheba),
  • Saint Martin (San Martín), and
  • Saint Croix (from the Spanish Santa Cruz, meaning "Holy Cross").

Columbus also sighted the chain of the Virgin Islands, which he named Islas de Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, "Islands of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins" (shortened, both on maps of the time and in common parlance, to Islas Vírgenes). He also named the islands of Virgin Gorda ("Fat Virgin"), Tortola, and Peter Island (San Pedro).

He continued to the Greater Antilles, and landed in Puerto Rico, which he named San Juan Bautista in honor of Saint John the Baptist(a name that was later retained only for the capital city of San Juan). One of the first skirmishes between native Americans and Europeans since the time of the Vikings[63] occurred when Columbus's men rescued two boys who had just been castrated by their captors.

On 22 November, Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where he intended to visit the fort of La Navidad, built during his first voyage and located on the northern coast of Haiti. Columbus found the fort in ruins, destroyed by the native Taino people.[64] Among the ruins were the corpses of 11 of the 39 Spaniards who had stayed behind as the first colonists in the New World.

In retaliation for the attack on La Navidad, Columbus demanded that each Taino over 14 years of age deliver a hawk's bell full of gold powder every three months or, when this was lacking, twenty-five pounds of spun cotton. If this tribute was not delivered, the Taínos had their hands cut off and were left to bleed to death. Columbus then sailed more than 100 kilometers eastwards along the northern coast of Hispaniola, establishing a new settlement, which he called La Isabela, in the present-day Dominican Republic.[65] However, La Isabela proved to be poorly located and the settlement was short-lived.

Columbus left Hispaniola on 24 April 1494, arriving at Cuba (which he named Juana) on 30 April. He explored the southern coast of Cuba, which he believed to be part of a peninsula attached to mainland Asia, as well as several nearby islands, including the Isle of Pines (which he named La Evangelista, "The Evangelist"). He reached Jamaica on 5 May.[citation needed] He retraced his route to Hispaniola, arriving on 20 August, before he finally returned to Spain.

Third voyage

On 30 May 1498, Columbus left with six ships from Sanlúcar, Spain, for his third trip to the New World. Three of the ships headed directly for Hispaniola with much-needed supplies, while Columbus took the other three in an exploration of what might lie to the south of the Caribbean islands he had already visited, including a hope-for passage to continental Asia.[66]

Third voyage

Columbus led his fleet to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, his wife's native land. He then sailed to Madeira and spent some time there with the Portuguese captain João Gonçalves da Camara, before sailing to theCanary Islands and Cape Verde. As he crossed the Atlantic, Columbus discovered that the angle between North as indicated by a magnetic compass and North as measured by the position of the pole starchanged with his position (a phenomenon now known as "compass variation"). He would later use his previous measurements of the compass variation to adjust his reckoning.[3]

After being becalmed for several days in thedoldrums of the mid-Atlantic, Columbus's fleet regained its wind and, dangerously low on water, turned north in the direction ofDominica, which Columbus had visited in his previous voyage. The ships landed on the southern coast of the island of Trinidadon 31 July. After resupplying with food and water, from 4 to 12 August Columbus explored the Gulf of Paria, which separates Trinidad from what is now Venezuela, near the delta of the Orinoco River. He then touched the mainland of South America at the Paria Peninsula.

Columbus correctly interpreted the enormous quantity of fresh water that the Orinoco delivered into the Atlantic Ocean as evidence that he had reached a continental landmass. As he sailed the Gulf of Paria, he observed the diurnal rotation of the pole star in the sky, which he erroneously interpreted as evidence that the Earth was not perfectly spherical, but rather bulged out like a pear around the new-found continent.[3] He also speculated that the new continent might be the location of the biblical Garden of Eden. He then sailed to the islands of Chacachacare and Margarita. He sighted Tobago (which he named "Bella Forma") and Grenada (which he named "Concepción").

In poor health, Columbus returned to Hispaniola on 19 August, only to find that many of the Spanish settlers of the new colony were in rebellion against his rule, claiming that Columbus had misled them about the supposedly bountiful riches of the New World. A number of returning settlers and sailors lobbied against Columbus at the Spanish court, accusing him and his brothers of gross mismanagement. Columbus had some of his crew hanged for disobedience. He had an economic interest in the enslavement of the Hispaniola natives and for that reason was not eager to baptize them, which attracted criticism from some churchmen.[67] An entry in his journal from September 1498 reads: "From here one might send, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as many slaves as could be sold ..."

Columbus was eventually forced to make peace with the rebellious colonists on humiliating terms.[68] In 1500, the Crown had him removed as governor, arrested, and transported in chains to Spain (see "Accusations of tyranny and genocide during governorship"section below). He was eventually freed and allowed to return to the New World, but not as governor.

Fourth voyage

Fourth voyage

Before leaving for his fourth voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to the Governors of the Bank of St. George, Genoa, dated at Seville, 2 April 1502.[69] He wrote "Although my body is here my heart is always near you."[70]

Columbus made a fourth voyage nominally in search of theStrait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean. Accompanied by his brother Bartolomeo and his 13-year-old son Fernando, he leftCadiz on 11 May 1502, with his flagship Santa María and the vessels Gallega, Vizcaína, and Santiago de Palos. He sailed to Arzila on the Moroccan coast to rescue Portuguesesoldiers whom he had heard were under siege by the Moors. On 15 June they landed at Carbet on the island of Martinique(Martinica). A hurricane was brewing, so he continued on, hoping to find shelter on Hispaniola. He arrived at Santo Domingo on 29 June but was denied port, and the new governor refused to listen to his storm prediction. Instead, while Columbus's ships sheltered at the mouth of the Rio Jaina, the first Spanish treasure fleet sailed into the hurricane. Columbus's ships survived with only minor damage, while 29 of the 30 ships in the governor's fleet were lost to the 1 July storm. In addition to the ships, 500 lives (including that of the governor, Francisco de Bobadilla) and an immense cargo of gold were surrendered to the sea.

After a brief stop at Jamaica, Columbus sailed to Central America, arriving at Guanaja (Isla de Pinos) in the Bay Islands off the coast ofHonduras on 30 July. Here Bartolomeo found native merchants and a large canoe, which was described as "long as a galley" and was filled with cargo. On 14 August he landed on the continental mainland at Puerto Castilla, near Trujillo, Honduras. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before arriving in Almirante Bay in Panama on 16 October.

On 5 December 1502, Columbus and his crew found themselves in a storm unlike any they had ever experienced. In his journal Columbus writes,

For nine days I was as one lost, without hope of life. Eyes never beheld the sea so angry, so high, so covered with foam. The wind not only prevented our progress, but offered no opportunity to run behind any headland for shelter; hence we were forced to keep out in this bloody ocean, seething like a pot on a hot fire. Never did the sky look more terrible; for one whole day and night it blazed like a furnace, and the lightning broke with such violence that each time I wondered if it had carried off my spars and sails; the flashes came with such fury and frightfulness that we all thought that the ship would be blasted. All this time the water never ceased to fall from the sky; I do not say it rained, for it was like another deluge. The men were so worn out that they longed for death to end their dreadful suffering.[71]
Columbus awes the Jamaican natives by predicting the lunar eclipse of 1504.

In Panama, Columbus learned from the Ngobe of gold and a strait to another ocean, but was told by local leader Quibían not to go past a certain point down the river. After much exploration, in January 1503 he established a garrison at the mouth of the Belén River. On 6 April one of the ships became stranded in the river. At the same time, the garrison was attacked by Quibían and the other ships were damaged. Shipworms also damaged the ships in tropical waters.[72] Columbus left for Hispaniola on 16 April heading north. On 10 May he sighted the Cayman Islands, naming them "Las Tortugas" after the numerous sea turtles there. His ships next sustained more damage in a storm off the coast of Cuba. Unable to travel farther, on 25 June 1503 they were beached in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica.

For one year Columbus and his men remained stranded on Jamaica. A Spaniard, Diego Méndez, and some natives paddled a canoe to get help from Hispaniola. The governor,Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres, detested Columbus and obstructed all efforts to rescue him and his men. In the meantime Columbus, in a desperate effort to induce the natives to continue provisioning him and his hungry men, successfully won their favor by predicting a lunar eclipse for 29 February 1504, using Abraham Zacuto's astronomical charts.[73][74][75] Help finally arrived, no thanks to the governor, on 29 June 1504, and Columbus and his men arrived in Sanlúcar, Spain, on 7 November.

Accusations of tyranny and genocide during governorship

Following his first voyage, Columbus was appointed Viceroy and Governor of the Indies under the terms of the Capitulations of Santa Fe. In practice, this primarily entailed the administration of the colonies in the island of Hispaniola, whose capital was established inSanto Domingo.

By the end of his third voyage, Columbus was physically and mentally exhausted: his body was wracked by arthritis and his eyes byophthalmia. In October 1499, he sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern.

By this time, accusations of tyranny and incompetence on the part of Columbus had also reached the Court. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand responded by removing Columbus from power and replacing him with Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava.

Bobadilla, who ruled as governor from 1500 until his death in a storm in 1502, had also been tasked by the Court with investigating the accusations of brutality made against Columbus. Arriving in Santo Domingo while Columbus was away in the explorations of his Third voyage, Bobadilla was immediately met with complaints about all three Columbus brothers: Christopher, Bartolomé, and Diego. A recently discovered report by de Bobadilla alleges that Columbus regularly used torture and mutilation to govern Hispaniola. The 48-page report, found in 2006 in the state archive in the Spanish city of Valladolid, contains testimonies from 23 people, including both enemies and supporters of Columbus, about Columbus and his brothers' treatment of colonial subjects during his seven-year rule.[76]

According to the report, Columbus once punished a man found guilty of stealing corn by having his ears and nose cut off and then selling him into slavery. Testimony recorded in the report claims that Columbus congratulated his brother Bartolomé on "defending the family" when the latter ordered a woman paraded naked through the streets and then had her tongue cut out for suggesting that Columbus was of lowly birth.[76]

The document also describes how Columbus put down native unrest and revolt; he first ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed and then paraded their dismembered bodies through the streets in an attempt to discourage further rebellion.[77]

"Columbus's government was characterised by a form of tyranny," Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian who has seen the document, told journalists.[76] "Even those who loved him [Columbus] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place."[76]

Columbus before the Queen, as imagined[78] by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1843

Based on these testimonies and with Bobadilla denying him the chance to offer a defense, Columbus, upon his return, was chained and imprisoned to await return to Spain. On 1 October 1500, Columbus and his two brothers, likewise in chains, were sent back to Spain.

Once in Cadiz, a grieving Columbus wrote to a friend at court:

It is now seventeen years since I came to serve these princes with the Enterprise of the Indies. They made me pass eight of them in discussion, and at the end rejected it as a thing of jest. Nevertheless I persisted therein ... Over there I have placed under their sovereignty more land than there is in Africa and Europe, and more than 1,700 islands ... In seven years I, by the divine will, made that conquest. At a time when I was entitled to expect rewards and retirement, I was incontinently arrested and sent home loaded with chains ... The accusation was brought out of malice on the basis of charges made by civilians who had revolted and wished to take possession on the land ... I beg your graces, with the zeal of faithful Christians in whom their Highnesses have confidence, to read all my papers, and to consider how I, who came from so far to serve these princes ... now at the end of my days have been despoiled of my honor and my property without cause, wherein is neither justice nor mercy.[79]

Other testimony from the period accuses Columbus of systematic brutality against the natives and engineering a program of forced labor that reduced their population from millions to thousands in little over a decade. The priest Bartolomé de las Casas, son of the priest Pedro de las Casas who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, described Columbus's treatment of the natives in hisHistory of the Indies:

Endless testimonies...prove the mild and pacific temperament of the natives... But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they tried to kill one of us now and then... The admiral (Columbus), it is true, was blind as those who came after him, and he was so anxious to please the King that he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians.[80]

Under Columbus and subsequent governors, enslaved Hispaniola natives were forced to toil under brutal conditions in mining and farming camps. According to Las Casas, up to a third of the male slaves died during each six- to eight-month mining operation. The mines were many miles away from the farms, and the enslaved men and the women only saw each other every eight to ten months. This segregation, along with the grueling conditions, took its toll on the native population:

Thus husbands and wives were together only once every eight or ten months and when they met they were so exhausted and depressed on both sides. . . they ceased to procreate. As for the newly born, they died early because their mothers, overworked and famished, had no milk to nurse them, and for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desperation.... In this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk . . . and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fertile ... was depopulated.... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write...."[80]

De las Casas records in stark numbers the genocide that took place under Columbus and the Spaniards, writing that when he first came to Hispaniola in 1508, "there were 60,000 people living on this island, including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it...."[80]

Columbus and his brothers lingered in jail for six weeks before busy King Ferdinand ordered their release. Not long after, the king and queen summoned the Columbus brothers to the Alhambra palace in Granada. There the royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and wealth; and, after much persuasion, agreed to fund Columbus's fourth voyage. But the door was firmly shut on Columbus's role as governor. Henceforth Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres was to be the new governor of the West Indies.

Later life

Replica of the Santa María, Columbus's flagship during his first voyage, at his Valladolidhouse.[81]
Tomb in Seville Cathedral. The remains are borne by kings ofCastile, Leon, Aragon andNavarre.[82]

While Columbus had always given the conversion of non-believers as one reason for his explorations, he grew increasingly religious in his later years. Probably with the assistance of his son Diego and his friend the Carthusian monk Gaspar Gorricio, Columbus produced two books during his later years: a Book of Privileges(1502), detailing and documenting the rewards from the Spanish Crown to which he believed he and his heirs were entitled, and aBook of Prophecies (1505), in which passages from the Bible were used to place his achievements as an explorer in the context ofChristian eschatology.[12]

In his later years, Columbus demanded that the Spanish Crown give him 10% of all profits made in the new lands, as stipulated in the Capitulations of Santa Fe. Because he had been relieved of his duties as governor, the crown did not feel bound by that contract and his demands were rejected. After his death, his heirs sued the Crown for a part of the profits from trade with America, as well as other rewards. This led to a protracted series of legal disputes known as the pleitos colombinos ("Columbian lawsuits").

Illness and death

During a violent storm on his first return voyage, Columbus, then approximately 41, suffered an attack of what was believed at the time to be gout. In subsequent years, he was plagued with what was thought to be influenza and other fevers, bleeding from the eyes, and prolonged attacks of gout. The suspected attacks increased in duration and severity, sometimes leaving Columbus bedridden for months at a time, and culminated in his death fourteen years later.

Based on Columbus's lifestyle and the described symptoms, modern doctors suspect that he suffered from Reiter's Syndrome, rather than gout.[83][84] Reiter's Syndrome is a common presentation of reactive arthritis, a joint inflammation caused by intestinal bacterial infections or after acquiring certain sexually transmitted diseases (primarily chlamydia or gonorrhea). "It seems likely that [Columbus] acquired reactive arthritis from food poisoning on one of his ocean voyages because of poor sanitation and improper food preparation," writes Dr. Frank C. Arnett, a rheumatologist and professor of internal medicine, pathology and laboratory medicine the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.[83] 

The death of Columbus. Lithograph by L. Prang & Co., 1893.

On 20 May 1506, aged probably 54, Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain.

Silver Caravel. Ashes of Christopher Columbus[85]

Columbus's remains were first interred at Valladolid, then at the monastery of La Cartuja inSeville (southern Spain) by the will of his son Diego, who had been governor of Hispaniola. In 1542 the remains were transferred to Colonial Santo Domingo, in the present-day Dominican Republic. In 1795, when France took over the entire island of Hispaniola, Columbus's remains were moved to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba became independent following theSpanish-American War in 1898, the remains were moved back to Spain, to the Cathedral of Seville,[86] where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque.

However, a lead box bearing an inscription identifying "Don Christopher Columbus" and containing bone fragments and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo in 1877.

To lay to rest claims that the wrong relics had been moved to Havana and that Columbus's remains had been left buried in the cathedral at Santo Domingo, DNA samples of the corpse resting in Seville were taken in June 2003 (History Today August 2003) as well as other DNA samples from the remains of his brother Diego and younger son Fernando Colón. Initial observations suggested that the bones did not appear to belong to somebody with the physique or age at death associated with Columbus.[87] DNA extraction proved difficult; only short fragments of mitochondrial DNA could be isolated. The mtDNA fragments matched corresponding DNA from Columbus's brother, giving support that both individuals had shared the same mother.[88][89] Such evidence, together with anthropologic and historic analyses led the researchers to conclude that the remains found in Seville belonged to Christopher Columbus.[90] The authorities in Santo Domingo have never allowed the remains there to be exhumed, so it is unknown if any of those remains could be from Columbus's body as well.[89][90] The location of the Dominican remains is in "The Columbus Lighthouse" (Faro a Colón), in Santo Domingo.

Historians have traditionally argued that Columbus remained convinced to the very end that his journeys had been along the east coast of Asia,[91] but writer Kirkpatrick Sale argues that a document in the Book of Privileges indicates Columbus knew he found a new continent.[92] Furthermore, his journals from the third voyage call the "land of Paria" a "hitherto unknown" continent.[93] On the other hand, his other writings continued to claim that he had reached Asia, such as a 1502 letter to Pope Alexander VI where he asserted that Cuba was the east coast of Asia.[94] He also rationalized that the new continent of South America was the "Earthly Paradise" that was located "at the end of the Orient".[93] Thus, it remains unclear what his true beliefs were.

Commemoration

~ Christopher Columbus ~
U.S. Columbian Issue of 1893.

The anniversary of Columbus's 1492 landing in the Americas is usually observed asColumbus Day on 12 October in Spain and throughout the Americas, except Canada. In the United States it is observed annually on the second Monday in October.

The World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893, commemorated the 400th anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.[95] Over 27 million people attended the exposition during its six-month duration.

The U.S. Postal Service participated in the celebration issuing the first US commemorative postage stamps, a series of 16 postage issues called the Columbian Issue depicting Columbus, Queen Isabella and others in the various stages of his several voyages. The issues range in value from the 1-cent to the 5-dollar denominations. Under Benjamin Harrison and his Postmaster General John Wanamaker the Columbian commemorative stamps were made available and were first issued at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893. Wanamaker originally introduced the idea of issuing the nation's first commemorative stamp to Harrison, the Congress and the U.S. Post Office. To demonstrate his confidence in the new Columbian commemorative issues Wanamaker purchased $10,000 worth of stamps with his own money. The Columbian Exposition lasted several months and, and over $40 million in commemorative postage stamp had been sold.[96] The 400th anniversary Columbian issues were very popular in the United States; more than a billion of the two-cent editions were printed.[citation needed]

In 1982, a second Columbian issue was released that was identical to the first to commemorate the 500th anniversary. These issues were made from the original dies of which the first engraved issues of 1893 were produced. In 1992 along with the United States, Spain also issued an almost identical series of Columbian issues, (using 'Spain' instead of 'United States of America') celebrating the 500th anniversary of the voyages.[citation needed]

Legacy

Columbus Lighthouse (Faro a Colón),Santo Domingo[97]

Though Christopher Columbus was long considered to be the "discoverer of America" in popular culture, his true historical legacy is more nuanced. America was first discovered byits indigenous population, and Columbus was not even the first European to reach its shores as he was preceded by the Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows. But the lasting significance of Columbus's voyages outshone that of his Viking predecessors because he managed to bring word of the continent back to Europe. By bringing the continent to the forefront of Western attention, Columbus initiated the enduring relationship between the Earth's two major landmasses and their inhabitants. "Columbus's claim to fame isn't that he got there first," explains historian Martin Dugard, "it's that he stayed."[98]

The idea that he was the first person to envision a rounded earth is popular misconception. The rounded shape of the earth had been known to scholars since antiquity, and was common knowledge among sailors.

Replicas of Niña, Pinta and Santa Mariasailed from Spain to the Chicago Columbian Exposition.

The scholar Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to America in the years following Columbus's first voyage, was the first to speculate that the land was not part of Asia but in fact constituted some wholly new continent previously unknown to Eurasians. His travel journals, published 1502-4, convinced Martin Waldseemüller to reach the same conclusion, and in 1507—a year after Columbus's death—Waldseemüller published a world map calling the new continentAmerica from Vespucci's Latinized name "Americus". According to Paul Lunde, "The preoccupation of European courts with the rise of the Ottoman Turks in the East partly explains their relative lack of interest in Columbus's discoveries in the West."[99]

Columbus monument near the state capitol in Denver, Colorado[100]

Historically, the British had downplayed Columbus and emphasized the role of the VenetianJohn Cabot as a pioneer explorer, but for the emerging United States, Cabot made for a poor national hero. Veneration of Columbus in America dates back to colonial times. The nameColumbia for "America" first appeared in a 1738 weekly publication of the debates of the British Parliament.[101] The use of Columbus as a founding figure of New World nations and the use of the word "Columbia", or simply the name "Columbus", spread rapidly after the American Revolution. Columbus's name was given to the federal capital of the United States (District of Columbia), the capital cities of two U.S. states (Ohio and South Carolina), and the Columbia River. Outside the United States the name was used in 1819 for the Gran Colombia, a precursor of the modern Republic of Colombia. Numerous cities, towns, counties, streets, and plazas (called Plaza Colón or Plaza de Colón throughout Latin America and Spain) have been named after him. A candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church in 1866, celebration of Columbus's legacy perhaps reached a zenith in 1892 with the 400th anniversary of his first arrival in the Americas. Monuments to Columbus like theColumbian Exposition in Chicago and Columbus Circle in New York City were erected throughout the United States and Latin America extolling him.

In 1909, descendants of Columbus undertook to dismantle the Columbus family chapel in Spain and move it to Boalsburg near State College, Pennsylvania, where it may now be visited by the public.[102] At the museum associated with the chapel, there are a number of Columbus relics worthy of note, including the armchair that the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" used at his chart table.

More recent views of Columbus, particularly those of Native Americans, have tended to be much more critical.[103][104][105] This is because the native Taino of Hispaniola, where Columbus began a rudimentary tribute system for gold and cotton, disappeared so rapidly after contact with the Spanish, because of overwork and especially, after 1519, when the first pandemic struck Hispaniola,[106]because of European diseases.[107] Some estimates indicate case fatality rates of 80–90% in Native American populations duringsmallpox epidemics.[108] The native Taino people of the island were systematically enslaved via the encomienda system,[109] which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe.[110] The pre-Columbian population is estimated to have been perhaps 250,000–300,000. According to the historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes by 1548, 56 years after Columbus landed, fewer than five hundred Taino were left on the island.[111]

There is evidence that the men of the first voyage also brought syphilis from the New World to Europe. [112] Many of the crew members who served on this voyage later joined the army of King Charles VIII in his invasion of Italy in 1495. After the victory, Charles' largely mercenary army returned to their respective homes, thereby spreading "the Great Pox" across Europe and triggering the deaths of more than five million people.[113]

The term "pre-Columbian" is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors.

Physical appearance

Although an abundance of artwork involving Christopher Columbus exists, no authentic contemporaryportrait has been found.[114] James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, said that the various posthumous portraits have no historical value.[115]

Sometime between 1531 and 1536, Alejo Fernández painted an altarpiece, The Virgin of the Navigators, that includes a depiction of Columbus. The painting was commissioned for a chapel in Seville's Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) and remains there to this day, as the earliest known painting about the discovery of the Americas.[116][117]

At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, 71 alleged portraits of Columbus were displayed; most did not match contemporary descriptions.[118] These writings describe him as having reddish or blond hair, which turned to white early in his life, light colored eyes,[119] as well as being a lighter-skinned person with too much sun exposure turning his face red. Accounts consistently describe Columbus as a large and physically strong man of some six feet or more in height, easily taller than the average European of his day.[120]

The most iconic image of Columbus is a portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, which has been reproduced in many textbooks. It agrees with descriptions of Columbus in that it shows a large man with auburn hair, but the painting dates from 1519 and cannot, therefore, have been painted from life. Furthermore, the inscription identifying the subject as Columbus was probably added later, and the face shown differs from other images, including that of the "Virgin of the Navigators."[121]

Popular culture

Isabella and Columbus byLarkin Mead under dome ofCalifornia State Capitol[122]

Columbus, an important historical figure, has been depicted in fiction, cinema and television, and in other media and entertainment, such as stage plays, music, cartoons and games.

In games
In literature
  • In 1889, American author Mark Twain based the time traveler's trick in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on Columbus's successful prediction of a lunar eclipse during his fourth voyage to the New World.
  • "Columbus", a poem by Florence Earle Coates, was published in Harper's Weekly on 22 October 1892.
  • In 1941 the British author Rafael Sabatini published a novel Columbus, based on a screenplay he had written for a planned film. The story provided the inspiration for the 1949 film about Columbus.
  • In 1958, the Italian playwright Dario Fo wrote a satirical play about Columbus titled Isabella, tre caravelle e un cacciaballe (Isabella, three tall ships and a con man). In 1997 Fo was awarded theNobel Prize in Literature. The play was translated into English in 1988 by Ed Emery and is downloadable on the internet.[124]
  • In 1991, author Salman Rushdie published a fictional representation of Columbus in The New Yorker, "Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492".[125]
  • In Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card focuses on Columbus's life and activities, but the novel's action also deals with a group of scientists from the future who travel back to the 15th century with the goal of changing the pattern of European contact with the Americas.
  • British author Stephen Baxter includes Columbus's quest for royal sponsorship as a crucial historical event in his 2007 science fiction novel Navigator (ISBN 978-0-441-01559-7), the third entry in the author's Time's Tapestry Series.
  • American novelist Steve Berry's 2012 book The Columbus Affair revolves around the premise that Columbus's voyages held a secret purpose, with clues to an ancient Jewish treasure.
In music
  • Christopher Columbus is regularly referred to by singers and musical groups in the Rastafari movement as an example of a European oppressor. The detractors include Burning Spear (Christopher Columbus), Culture (Capture Rasta), and Peter Tosh (You Can't Blame The Youth, Here Comes The Judge).
On Screen
In sculpture
In space

References

Footnotes

  1. Jump up^ Portraits of Christopher Columbus – COLUMBUS MONUMENTS PAGES. Vanderkrogt.
  2. Jump up^ Wikisource-logo.svg "Columbus, Diego. The youngest brother of Christopher Columbus". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Christopher Columbus Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 8 June 2010.
  4. Jump up^ Scholastic Teacher – Christopher Columbus (1451–1506)Teaching Resources, Children's Book Recommendations, and Student Activities. Milton Meltzer. Author, Columbus and the World Around Him.
  5. Jump up^ World Book – Columbus, Christopher "Columbus, Christopher". World Book Store has the encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, homework help, study aids, and curriculum guides. 2010
  6. Jump up^ Questia – COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER "Columbus, Christopher". Questia – The Online Library of Books and Journals. 2010
    Memorials Of Columbus: Or, A Collection Of Authentic Documents Of That Celebrated Navigator (page 9) Country of origin: USA. Pages: 428. Publisher: BiblioBazaar. Publication Date: 2010-01-01.
    Native American History for Dummies (page 127) Authors: Dorothy Lippert, Stephen J. Spignesi and Phil Konstantin. Paperback: 364 pages. Publisher: For Dummies. Publication Date: 2007-10-29.
    The peoples of the Caribbean: an encyclopedia of archeology and traditional culture (p. 67) Author: Nicholas J. Saunders. Hardcover: 399 pages. Publisher: ABC-CLIO. Publication Date: 15 July 2006.
  7. Jump up^ "Parks Canada – L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada". Pc.gc.ca. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  8. Jump up^ Hoxie, Frederic E. ed. Encyclopedia of North American Indians Houghton Mifflin (March 1997) ISBN 978-0-395-66921-1p.568 [1][dead link]
  9. Jump up^ Herbst, Philip The Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States Intercultural Press Inc (31 December 1997) ISBN 978-1-877864-97-1 p.116 [2]
  10. Jump up^ Wilton, David; Brunetti, Ivan Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends Oxford University Press USA (13 January 2005)ISBN 978-0-19-517284-3 pp. 164–165 [3]
  11. Jump up^ Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Page 9.
    "Even with less than a complete record, however, scholars can state with assurance that Columbus was born in the republic of Genoa in northern Italy, although perhaps not in the city itself, and that his family made a living in the wool business as weavers and merchants ... The two main early biographies of Columbus have been taken as literal truth by hundreds of writers, in large part because they were written by individual closely connected to Columbus or his writings. ... Both biographies have serious shortcomings as evidence."
  12. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993 ed., Vol. 16, pp. 605ff / Morison, Christopher Columbus, 1955 ed., pp. 14ff
  13. Jump up^ Bergreen, Lawrence (2012). Columbus The Four Voyages, 1493–1504. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 978-0-14-312210-4.
  14. Jump up^ Rime diverse, Pavia, 1595, p.117
  15. Jump up^ Tasso, Torquato (1755). Ra Gerusalemme deliverâ. Genoa: Ra Stamparia de Tarigo. p. XV-32. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  16. Jump up^ Çittara zeneize – Regole d'Ortografia, Genoa, 1745
  17. Jump up^ Consulta ligure, Vocabolario delle parlate liguri, SAGEP, 1982, ISBN 88-7058-044-X
  18. Jump up^ Telegraph, 14 October 2009, Georgetown University team led by Professor Estelle Irizarry claims that Christopher Columbus was Catalan
  19. Jump up^ da Silva, Manuel Luciano and Silvia Jorge da Silva, 2008.Christopher Columbus was Portuguese. Express Printers, Fall River. ISBN 978-1-60702-824-6.
  20. Jump up^ "Georgetown University". Explore.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  21. Jump up^ Davidson (1997, pp.3ff), Phillips & Phillips (1992, pp.85ff)
  22. Jump up^ "Christopher Columbus". Thomas C. Tirado, PhD Professor History. Millersville University.
  23. Jump up^ "It is most probable that Columbus visited Bristol, where he was introduced to English commerce with Iceland." Bedini, Silvio A. and David Buisseret (1992). The Christopher Columbus encyclopedia, Volume 1, University of Michigan Press, republished by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-13-142670-2, p. 175
  24. Jump up^ Freitas, Antonio Maria de (1893). The Wife of Columbus: With Genealogical Tree of the Perestrello and Moniz Families. New York: Stettinger, Lambert & Co.
  25. Jump up^ "Christopher Columbus Biography Page 2". Columbus-day.123holiday.net. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  26. Jump up^ Morgan, Edmund S. (2009). "Columbus's Confusion About the New World". Smithsonian Magazine.
  27. Jump up^ "Marco Polo et le Livre des Merveilles", p. 37. ISBN 978-2-35404-007-9
  28. Jump up^ Boller, Paul F (1995). Not So!:Popular Myths about America from Columbus to Clinton. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-509186-1.
  29. Jump up^ Russell, Jeffrey Burton 1991. Inventing the Flat Earth. Columbus and modern historians, Praeger, New York, Westport, London 1991;
    Zinn, Howard 1980. A People's History of the United States, HarperCollins 2001. p.2
  30. Jump up^ See, e.g. "Mariner's Astrolabe", Navigation Museum, Institute of Navigation
  31. Jump up^ Sagan, Carl. Cosmos; the mean circumference of the Earth is 40,041.47 km (24,881 mi).
  32. Jump up^ Morison (1942, pp. 65,93).
  33. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: The Life of Christopher Columbus, (Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1942). Reissued by the Morison Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4067-5027-1
  34. Jump up^ "The First Voyage Log". Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  35. Jump up^ "Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire". Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  36. Jump up^ "Trade Winds and the Hadley Cell". Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  37. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Madrid". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  38. Jump up^ Durant, Will The Story of Civilization vol. vi, "The Reformation". Chapter XIII, page 260.
  39. Jump up^ "Christopher Columbus Ships". Elizabethan-era.org.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  40. Jump up^ "Columbus's Sailing Ships". Evgschool.org. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  41. Jump up^ Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1993). The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge University Press. p. 132.ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
  42. Jump up^ Mark McDonald, "Ferdinand Columbus, Renaissance Collector (1488–1539)", 2005, British Museum Press, ISBN 978-0-7141-2644-9
  43. Jump up^ "The Naming of America". Umc.sunysb.edu. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  44. Jump up^ "THE ORIGINAL NIÑA". The Niña & Pinta. British Virgin Islands: The Columbus Foundation. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  45. Jump up^ Morison (1942, p.226); Lopez, (1990, p. 14); Columbus & Toscanelli (2010, p. 35)
  46. Jump up^ Lopez, (1990, p. 15)
  47. Jump up^ William D. Phillips Jr., 'Columbus, Christopher', in David Buisseret (ed.), The Oxford Companion to World Exploration, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, online edition 2012).
  48. ^ Jump up to:a b c Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 1–22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
  49. Jump up^ Robert H. Fuson, ed., The Log of Christopher Columbus, Tab Books, 1992, International Marine Publishing, ISBN 0-87742-316-4.
  50. Jump up^ Columbus (1991, p.87). Or "for with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them." (Columbus & Toscanelli, 2010, p.41)
  51. Jump up^ Keith A. Pickering, The First Voyage of Columbus
  52. Jump up^ Maclean, Frances (January 2008). "The Lost Fort of Columbus". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
  53. Jump up^ Oliver Dunn and James Kelly, The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America (London: University of Oklahoma Press), 333–343.
  54. Jump up^ Robert Fuson, The Log of Christopher Columbus (Camden, International Marine, 1987) 173.
  55. Jump up^ James W. Loewen (1995). Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Touchstone Books. ASIN 1402579373.
  56. Jump up^ Baccus, M. Kazim Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources in the Early West Indian Colonies, Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2 January 2000) ISBN 978-0-88920-982-4 pp.6–7
  57. Jump up^ "Who Went With Columbus? Dental Studies Give Clues.".The Washington Post. 18 May 2009.
  58. Jump up^ Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Columbus, Oxford Univ. Press, (1991) pp. 103–104
  59. Jump up^ Paolo Emilio Taviani, Columbus the Great Adventure, Orion Books, New York (1991) p. 185
  60. Jump up^ Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. NY: Penguin. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
  61. Jump up^ Hazlehurst, Kayleen M. (1995). Popular justice and community regeneration: pathways of indigenous reform. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 124. ISBN 0275951316.
  62. Jump up^ Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas. University Press of America. p. 48. ISBN 0-8191-9642-8.
  63. Jump up^ Phillips, Jr., William D. & Carla Rahn Phillips (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-35097-6.
  64. Jump up^ "The Spanish Conquest of the Tainos" – Latin American Studies – Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  65. Jump up^ "Teeth Of Columbus's Crew Flesh Out Tale Of New World Discovery". ScienceDaily. 20 March 2009.
  66. Jump up^ Christopher Minster, "The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus"
  67. Jump up^ Varela (2006, p.111)
  68. Jump up^ Keith A. Pickering, "The Third Voyage of Columbus, 1498–1500"
  69. Jump up^ 'Letter from Christopher Columbus to the Governors of the Bank of St. George, Genoa. Dated at Seville, April 2nd, 1502'. Google Books. 1894. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  70. Jump up^ The authentic letters of Columbus – Google Books. Google Books. 1894. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  71. Jump up^ Morison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, Boston, 1942, p. 617.
  72. Jump up^ The History Channel. Columbus: The Lost Voyage.
  73. Jump up^ Joy Jakim, The First Americans: Prehistory-1600 A History of US Oxford University Press 2005
  74. Jump up^ Clayton J., Drees, The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal: 1300 - 1500 a Biographical Dictionary, 2001, pp. 511
  75. Jump up^ Djelal , Kadir, Columbus and the Ends of the Earth: Europe's Prophetic Rhetoric As Conquering Ideology.,University of California Press, 1992, pp. 67-68
  76. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Giles Tremlett (7 August 2006). "Lost document reveals Columbus as tyrant of the Caribbean". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  77. Jump up^ "Columbus Controversy". , A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  78. Jump up^ The Brooklyn Museum catalogue notes that the most likely source for Leutze's trio of Columbus paintings is Washington Irving's best-selling Life and Voyages of Columbus (1828).
  79. Jump up^ Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, p. 576.
  80. ^ Jump up to:a b c de las Casas, Bartolome (1971). History of the Indies. New York: Harper & Row.
  81. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Valladolid". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  82. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Sevilla". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  83. ^ Jump up to:a b "Christopher Columbus Suffered From a Fatal Form of Arthritis". University of Maryland School of Medicine. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  84. Jump up^ Hoenig, LJ (February 1992). "The arthritis of Christopher Columbus.". The Archives of Internal Medinal 152 (2): 274-7.PMID 1472175. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  85. Jump up^ John Boyd Thacher (1904). Christopher Columbus: his life, his works, his remains: as revealed by original printed and manuscript records, together with an essay on Peter Martyr of Anghera and Bartolomé de las Casas, the first historians of America.. G. P. Putnam & Sons. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  86. Jump up^ "''Cristóbal Colón: traslación de sus restos mortales a la ciudad de Sevilla'' at Fundación Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes". Cervantesvirtual.com. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  87. Jump up^ Giles Tremlett, Young bones lay Columbus myth to rest,The Guardian, 11 August 2004
  88. Jump up^ Lorenzi, Rossella (6 October 2004). "DNA Suggests Columbus Remains in Spain". Discovery News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2006.
  89. ^ Jump up to:a b DNA verifies Columbus's remains in Spain, Associated Press, 19 May 2006
  90. ^ Jump up to:a b Álvarez-Cubero, MJ; Martínez-González, LJ; Saiz, M; Álvarez, JC; Lorente, JA (8 March 2010). "New applications in genetic identification". Cuadernos de Medicina Forense 16 (1–2): 5–18. ISSN 1135-7606.
  91. Jump up^ Thomas F. McIlwraith; Edward K. Muller (2001). North America: the historical geography of a changing continent. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-7425-0019-8.
  92. Jump up^ Sale, Kirkpatrick (1991). The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy, pp. 204–209
  93. ^ Jump up to:a b Eviatar Zerubavel (2003). Terra cognita: the mental discovery of America. Transaction Publishers. pp. 90–91.ISBN 978-0-7658-0987-2.
  94. Jump up^ Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 227.
  95. Jump up^ "Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  96. Jump up^ "JOHN WANAMAKER, Postmaster General". United States Postal Service. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  97. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Santo Domingo". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  98. Jump up^ Dugard, Martin. The Last Voyage of Columbus. Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2005.
  99. Jump up^ "Piri Reis and the Columbus Map". Paul Lunde. Saudi Aramco World. May/June 1992.
  100. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Denver". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  101. Jump up^ The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 8, June 1738, p. 285.
  102. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Boalsburg". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  103. Jump up^ Howard Zinn. "Christopher Columbus and the Indians". Newhumanist.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  104. Jump up^ "Jack Weatherford, Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus". Hartford-hwp.com. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  105. Jump up^ "Pre-Columbian Hispaniola – Arawak/Taino Indians". Hartford-hwp.com. 15 September 2001. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  106. Jump up^ Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange, Westport, 1972, pp. 39, 47.
  107. Jump up^ Austin Alchon, Suzanne (2003). A pest in the land: new world epidemics in a global perspective. University of New Mexico Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-8263-2871-7.
  108. Jump up^ "The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology". Arthur C. Aufderheide, Conrado Rodríguez-Martín, Odin Langsjoen (1998). Cambridge University Press. p. 205. ISBN 0-521-55203-6.
  109. Jump up^ "Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America." (PDF). Latin American Studies.
  110. Jump up^ Lyle N. McAlister (1984). "Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492–1700". University of Minnesota Press. p.164.ISBN 0-8166-1218-8.
  111. Jump up^ Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange (Westport, 1972) p. 45.
  112. Jump up^ Harper, Kristin, et al. (January 2008). "On the Origin of the Treponematoses: A Phylogenetic Approach". Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  113. Jump up^ CBC News Staff (January 2008). "Study traces origins of syphilis in Europe to New World". Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  114. Jump up^ Alden, Henry Mills. Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Volume 84, Issues 499–504. Published by Harper & Brothers, 1892. Originally from Harvard University. Digitized on 16 December 2008. 732. Retrieved on 8 September 2009. 'Major, Int. Letters of Columbus, ixxxviii., says "Not one of the so-called portraits of Columbus is unquestionably authentic." They differ from each other, and cannot represent the same person.'
  115. Jump up^ Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me. 1st Touchstone ed, Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0-684-81886-8. 55.
  116. Jump up^ John Noble, Susan Forsyth, Vesna Maric, Paula Hardy. Andalucía. Lonely Planet, 2007, p. 100
  117. Jump up^ Linda Biesele Hall, Teresa Eckmann. Mary, mother and warrior, University of Texas Press, 2004, p. 46
  118. Jump up^ Morison, Samuel Eliot Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, pg. 47–48, Boston 1942.
  119. Jump up^ Bartolomé de Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, ed. Agustín Millares Carlo, 3 vols. (Mexico City, 1951), book 1, chapter 2, 1:29. The Spanish word garzos is now usually translated as "light blue," but it seems to have connoted light grey-green or hazel eyes to Columbus's contemporaries. The word rubio can mean "blonde," "fair," or "ruddy." The Worlds of Christopher Columbus by William D. and Carla Rahn Phillips, p. 282.
  120. Jump up^ "DNA Tests on the bones of Christopher Columbus's bones, on his relatives and on Genoese and Catalin claimaints". Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  121. Jump up^ "Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus", Metropolitan Museum of Art
  122. Jump up^ "Columbus Monuments Pages: Sacramento". Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  123. Jump up^ Civilization Revolution: Great People "CivFanatics" Retrieved on 4 September 2009
  124. Jump up^ "Dario Fo Archives online". Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  125. Jump up^ The New Yorker, 17 June 1991, p. 32.
  126. Jump up^ Bach, Ira and Mary Lackritz Gray, A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculpture, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1983 p. 226
  127. Jump up^ Riedy, James L., Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1981 pp. 203–204
  128. Jump up^ McCue, George, Photographs by David Finn and Amy Binder,Sculpture City: St. Louis, Sculpture in the "Gateway to the West"Hudson Hills Press NY and Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, 1988, pp. 43–45
  129. Jump up^ Photographs of the World's Fair: An elaborate Collection of Photographs of the Buildings, Grounds and the Exhibits of the World's Columbian Exposition with a special description of The Famous Midway Exposition, The Werner Company, Chicago, 1894, p. 191
  130. Jump up^ Small, Herbert, The Library of Congress: The Architecture and Decoration, Classical America, WW Norton & Company, New York, 1982, p. 93
  131. Jump up^ "Christopher Columbus Memorial, (sculpture)". Siris-artinventories.si.edu. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  132. Jump up^ Nawrocki, Dennis Alan, Art in Detroit Public Places, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan, 1980, p. 26
  133. Jump up^ Riedy, James L., Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1981, pp. 204–205
  134. Jump up^ "Chicago – Christopher Columbus". Vanderkrogt.net. 21 November 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  135. Jump up^ Harris, Moira A., Monumental Minnesota: A Guide to Outdoor Sculpture, Pogp Press Inc., 1992, p. 17
  136. Jump up^ Bach, Ira and Mary Lackritz Gray, A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculpture, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1983, pp. 9–10
  137. Jump up^ Evert, Marlyn and Vernon Gay, photographs, Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 1983, pp. 182–183
  138. Jump up^ Beajer and Style, Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials and Masterpieces in the Badger State, SOS! Wisconsin, Save Outdoor Sculpture and Fine Arts Conservation Services, Madison Wisconsin, 1999, p. 106

Bibliography

External links

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