Columbus sailed to outflank Islam, not merely to explore

Evidence

Columbus set out his aims in a document addressed to Ferdinand and Isabella: ‘Your Highnesses, as good Christian and Catholic princes, devout and propagators of the Christian faith, as well as enemies of the sect of Mahomet and of all idolatries and heresies, conceived the plan of sending me, Christopher Columbus, to this country of the Indies, there to see the princes, the peoples, the territory, their disposition and all things else, and the way in which one might convert these regions to our holy faith.’ When Columbus set sail across the Atlantic, he was careful to include in the ship’s complement an Arabic-speaking Jew, for his expectation was that they would reach the East Indies, where there were known to be many Arabic-speaking Muslim traders in the ports of China, Malaysia and India. It must have been somewhat disappointing to discover when he first touched land that the Caribs were quite ignorant of Arabic. — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 116

Categorization

• SHARE: The detail that Columbus packed an Arabic-speaking Jew expecting to trade with Muslims in the East Indies — and found Caribs ignorant of Arabic — is a great story for a history-buff friend.
• CANDY: The comic anticlimax of the Arabic-speaking interpreter meeting Caribs who don’t know Arabic is a light, memorable anecdote.