This is another story I have been working on. I hope you enjoy it.
The Indian Columbus Was Looking For
Chapter I
It had been more than three months since Christopher Columbus had set sail and still there was no word from him. Every day, people would line the seashore to scan the horizon to see if there were any signs of him returning. They pictured him crest-fallen, defeated and humiliated. Others went to church to pray for his miserable soul, but most were glad to see him go. “Good riddance,” they would say, of this insufferable fellow who irritated everyone with his idiotic and nonsensical notion that the world is round and that he could reach the East by sailing west. They hoped he had fallen into that deep abyss at the edge of the earth – never to pester them again.
Queen Isabella of Spain was the most anxious of all. She was really irritated at herself. She couldn’t believe that she could have allowed herself to have been taken in by a foreigner. He had come to her with this incredible dream of finding a westerly sea route to India where unimaginable wealth lay in the trading of silk, spices and other valuable commodities. He would rattle off such names as cardamoms, gloves, cinnamon, saffron, pepper and other odd-sounding names. She often wondered as to where he had obtained all this information from and concluded that he had probably got it from that other Italian fellow, Marco Polo or something.
Queen Isabella realized that they were, at that time, in an age of imperialism and economic competition between expanding European nations, seeking wealth from established overland trade routes and from their colonies. Spain, she concluded, was lagging far behind. Therefore, she argued, that the cost of financing the expedition would not be very great. If it failed, the loss could be borne. Should it be successful, the gain would be incalculable and would divert the wealth of Asia to Spain.
Ferdinand II of Aragon had married Isabella I of Castile, thus uniting many kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula. However, Granada had been the last Muslim stronghold and that conquest had drained the treasury. Being the resourceful and powerful person that she was, she knew that she could pressure the royal treasurer to juggle the various royal accounts and furnish her with the funds she needed for the voyage. She also managed to get several private sponsors to finance the venture. It was a monumental sum and they were worried because they believed the world was flat and that Columbus would never return.
Not only would three ships be required, but Columbus would also need vast sums of money to establish a trading post and pay for all those spices he constantly kept talking about and promising to bring back. There were not too many products European nations could sell to India. Woolen cloths and garments would command a very small market, given the tropical climate. The Europeans, therefore, would have to make their purchases by paying mostly in silver and gold. However, He convinced her that those ships would be so laden with goods that they would far exceed any caravan using overland routes. It was only a matter of time, he assured her, before Spain would not only be wealthy, but would be a dominant military and economic force in Europe as well. For his endeavors, he insisted that he should be made Admiral of the Seas; be appointed Viceroy of all the new lands and should receive 10% of all revenues acquired from those new discoveries.
Columbus’ campaign became the rage of the country and the laughing stock of the local people. They would persistently question him as to how he had come to the conclusion that the world is round. Anticipating this, he would always carry an egg in his pocket. When asked, he would produce the egg. When they were assured that it was indeed an egg, he would tell them that it was round, but when he fried it, it would become flat. In this manner, he would triumphantly prove that what appeared to be flat could also be round. The locals found it impossible to argue with Columbus. He was so terribly one track-minded that they left him alone. People who once mocked him as a “dreamer” now dubbed him, “Eggie.”
But Christopher Columbus was not one to be easily discouraged. India still haunted his dreams and he was determined to make them come true. Often, he would gather people around him in the town square and ask a bystander what he had for breakfast. Before the poor man could answer, he would tell him that he was sure he had eggs for breakfast and that he was also sure he had a dash of salt on the eggs. But, did the man have a dash of pepper on the eggs as well? Dumbfounded, the man would want to know what exactly pepper was. With a twinkle in his eye and that far-away look on his face, Columbus would explain to the crowd gathered around him that pepper was a spice found in India and if he could only get a few ships and some money he would sail to that distant land and bring home ships laden with pepper and other exotic spices.
Eventually, it was on the third day of August in 1492, Columbus, with three ships, the “Santa Maria”, the “Pinta” and the “Nina” sailed the ocean blue – which, of course, was the color of the Atlantic in those days. He chose the westerly route because the Portuguese had by then, complete control of the western coast of Africa. If Spain had any hopes of competing with Portugal for the lucrative spice trade, Columbus would have to find an alternative route. Columbus had a pretty good idea where India lay and because he was confident that the earth is round, he brilliantly deduced that if he kept sailing westward he would circle the earth and eventually reach India in the East
The first two weeks of sailing went by without incident. But eventually the crew became restless. Columbus would repeatedly remind them the earth is round and that India lay on the other side of the globe and that they would have to sail around it, in order to reach India. He called for patience.
The third week went by and there were still no signs of land. Ugly rumors began floating around. Weren’t they nearing the edge of the earth? Any moment now, they would be plunged into that deep abyss, lost forever. They wanted to turn back and threatened to mutiny. Columbus realized that punishment or the threat of punishment would not work. Calling the men to assemble on the deck he confided that he planned to lay claim to whatever he discovered and assured them that they would have a share in that as well. There were cheers and shouts of joy. They sailed on – full speed ahead.
It was in the fifth week that land was eventually sighted. Columbus took one look at it and called it, “INDIA” and since then people, not white and on that side of the Atlantic, have been called “Indians” Columbus always insisted that he had discovered India, even when he returned to Spain without the spices.
Chapter 2
The merchants of Venice had, by the early fifteenth century, gained much wealth, control and supremacy over the trading of spices – this trade, being one of the oldest known to man. For centuries, southern Arabia had been a trading centre for frankincense, myrrh and various spices. Much of the wealth of King Solomon came from “the traffic of the spice merchants.”
The sea routes in the spice trade had grown rapidly. Egyptian trade with India was developed by the Romans and soon countless ships sailed between ports in the Red Sea and India. Alexandria became the greatest commercial centre for spices from India. It was about this time that Venice came to be a great state and by the thirteenth century it prospered and enjoyed a virtual monopoly of the spice trade. Two centuries later, it was a wealthy and formidable power in Europe. Most of its wealth came from trading in the spices of India, Ceylon and the Far East which it obtained in Alexandria and sold to European countries at exorbitant prices. Europeans were fully well aware of the origin of those spices but were unable to break the strangle hold of Venice. So they were determined to build ships and venture out seeking a route to the spice-producing countries. Thus began the famed voyages and the “Age of Discovery.”
From the early fifteenth century, the Portuguese were expanding their knowledge of the western coast of Africa. The object was to gain as much knowledge of that continent’s coastline to its southern-most tip. Their ultimate goal was to chart a reliable sea route to India from the Atlantic Ocean and gain access to the riches of that country. In 1474, King Alfonso entrusted his son, Prince John with the task of overseeing Portugal’s exploration of Africa’s west coast. On ascending the throne, King John II, commanded new voyages to be undertaken to ascertain the southern limit of that great African continent. Under the command of Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese ships rounded the Cape. It soon became clear that India could be reached by sea, via this route. Due to inclement weather that often prevailed there, Dias named it, “The Cape of Storms.”
On July 8, 1497, under orders from Manuel I of Portugal and with four ships, the “Sao Gabriel,” the “Sao Rafael, the “Berrio” and a storage ship, Vasco da Gama set sail along the western coast of Africa, a route that was pioneered by his compatriot, Bartolomeu Dias, a decade earlier. Da Gama had the advantage of the experience of Dias who had returned to Portugal with the knowledge that an unknown coast stretched away to the northeast from the Cape. Previous land explorations supported the theory that India could be reached by sea from the Atlantic Ocean It was a challenge now for Vasco da Gama to connect the land explorations with the naval expeditions of Dias. On reaching the “Cape of Storms” – the southern-most tip of Africa, and true to its name, a storm was raging. Waiting out the storm, he sailed eastward. Before doing so, Vasco da Gama renamed the “Cape of Storms” and called it instead, the “Cape of Good Hope.” History records him as being the first European to actually sail the open waters of the Indian Ocean.
Chapter3
Thirty-seven-year old Gopal Krishnan Subramanian was serving his customers in a little shop in Calicut, in the State of Kerala, on the south western coast of India. It was one of many shops that lined a street along the seashore. It was hot and humid and he was sweating profusely. A little girl sat a few feet behind him pulling on a chord that in turn made a heavy cloth attached to the rope sway back and forth. This make-shift fan did little to ease the stifling heat and the oppressive humidity. He was an intelligent fellow, good-natured and hard-working. He owned this little spice shop that had been handed down to him from his father and his forefathers. They had been in the spice business for generations. It was his livelihood and he blessed and thanked his God for that mercy.
However, he was restless and yearned for more exciting things. He read and gathered as much information as possible from travelers who did business at his shop. He heard fascinating stories of explorers and adventurers who passed through India on their way to fame and fortune. However, nothing of importance and exciting ever happened in this little corner of India.
The landscape and wealth of this picturesque state of Kerala was dominated by tall, elegant, coconut palms. The resourceful people there, even used the husk of the coconut, giving rise to a flourishing coir industry. The cashew nut and the fragrant cardamom were also cash crops. The very name, “Kerala” was derived from the local language that meant “Palm.” There was not a spot in that beautiful state where one could not see a palm tree. The great natural beauty of the land was bordered by a shoreline where fishermen landed their catch to ancient and timeless rhythms. Its backwaters offered a calm and refreshing sail on wooden crafts. Since time immemorial, this land had beckoned and welcomed the traveler and held him in a loving embrace.
As Gopal Krishnan Subramanian was serving his customers, an excited and animated commotion was taking place on the golden, sandy beaches. He looked up and what he saw, took his breath away. A magnificent sailing ship was approaching. It was the 20th May, 1498 and on that beautiful, tall ship was Vasco da Gama, the great commander and explorer.
The Captain and the crew were warmly received but negotiations with local authorities did not go well due to complications arising from the resistance and flat refusal of support from Arab merchants. Da Gama was eventually able to secure a letter of concession for trading rights and returned to Portugal leaving a number of his men behind to set up a trading post.
While the fame and fortune of discovering a sea route from Europe to India was his to claim, Vasco da Gama had unfortunately and unwittingly ushered the European greed for the wealth of India and had ushered in the age of European imperialism in Asia. Over the centuries, the state of Kerala witnessed and played an important role in the colonizing struggles of the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch and the British – European nations that fought their wars on foreign soil and set the pages of Indian history ablaze.
When Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain, he sought the sea route to India – the land of spices, the land that grew the world’s best pepper, known to Europeans as “Black Gold” that led to their violent, power struggles for its control.
The honor and glory of discovering the sea route to this enchanted land did not go to Columbus. All his efforts were ill-rewarded. He found no spices, silks or precious stones. Instead he encountered disgruntled sailors, dissident colonists and two disappointed Monarchs. Over the years, he lost his wealth. Misfortune after misfortune set in and he died a pauper. However, people in centuries to come recognized his greatness, his intelligence and his foresight. The tenacity, the courage and the skill in navigation that Columbus showed, ranks him as one of the greatest in the sea-faring world. He will always be remembered as a great thinker, a courageous sailor, an exceptional explorer and a good egg.
Copyright 2010, Leslie Michael
