Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) is famous in history of the world as a great navigator and discover of many lands of which the contemporary people were ignorant. He did not create new lands but discovered and brought them to the public gaze. That was his greatness. Columbus was born in the town of Genoa in the family of weavers. But he had no interest in weaving. He had heard of the romance of stories connected with sea voyage and wanted to pursue this as his hobby. In the meantime he left his home and arrived at Lisbon, along with his brother. There was a School of Navigation near Lisbon at a place called Sagress. He visited this school and learnt the technique of navigation.

Naval route:
At that time everybody was interested in discovering a new naval route to India. From the early centuries of the Christian era, Romans had the monopoly of trade with India. Indian goods like the spices, precious gems, black pepper, sandal wood and others were in great demand in Europe. When the Roman trade declined, the Arabs took over. They came to India through land route which was full of dangers. They purchased Indian goods in bulk and sold them to European merchants at great profit. Europeans became jealous but could not do anything. This necessity gave birth to discover sea route to India in particular and other lands in genera. Thus sea faring activity had received a great boost and many youngsters were interested in this activity.

There was another reason. Many youngsters thought that the new lands contain lot of gold and precious materials and they can be taken away by defeating the local uncivilised people and thereby they could become rich overnight.

Columbus requested the King of Portugal to give him enough resources so that he can find a naval route to India. But the king did not show much interest. Then he approached the kings of England and France but he did not get any support. Ultimately with the help of a rich man from Spain, Columbus started his voyage in 1492 with the help of 60 friends. In the meantime, he started his voyage in 1477 to Ireland and Iceland. Next year a merchant commissioned him to buy sugar and deliver it to another merchant. He did it satisfactorily. He developed friendship with a rich widow and married her in 1479. He started living with her happily in Madeira. They had a son by name Diego. It is said; Columbus had affairs with many women and had many illegitimate children. Normally this happens with navigators who live outside their homes for a long time. Then Columbus went on a voyage to Guinea. By these voyages Columbus learnt the technique of sea - going experience which became useful later.

Famous flagship:
Columbus had a fleet of three ships. They were of a common type used for ordinary trade purposes. They were light and single - decked with minimum superstructure and accommodation. But Santa Maria, the famous flagship was larger and had better accommodation. This weighed between 100 to 120 tons. The fleet contained 90 men of whom 40 sailed in the flagship.

Fortunately the details of the voyages of Columbus can be understood by his own writings in his diary. His first voyage took him to Canaries Islands. On his way he stopped at places to take wood, water and for repairs. The first voyage kept him on the sea for 31days. He arrived at what is now called San Salvador.

The ships were anchored and Columbus went to the shore and solemnly took possession of the island on behalf of his king and queen. After sometime he lost his flagship and decided to return leaving some men behind. The locals who were collecting gold from the small streams were compelled to part with it and they hated Columbus and his men.

Another weakness of Columbus was local women and this also made him unpopular. Thus many children claimed to be the sons and daughters of Columbus. The Portuguese king did not take kindly to Columbus and warned him of his nefarious activities. However, Columbus received a hero’s welcome and got the title Admiral.

Columbus started his second voyage in 1493. The vessel was large with 1000 passengers consisting of tools, livestock, priests, soldiers, farmers and artisans. The purpose was to colonise the islands of Hispaniola and to give gold and serve as the base for the next voyage. During this voyage he discovered Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Jamaica. Unfortunately he became the enemy of the local people and could not impress the local population.

His friends complained to the king that he was making a lot of money without anybody's knowledge and also ill - treating the local women and the children. As he did not distribute his booty to his friends, they became inimical to him.

Unpopular:
In 1498, he undertook another voyage and this time he reached Venezuvela and subsequently Honduras in 1502. Gold obsessed him most. He became greedy. Often he used cruel methods to extract wealth from locals. He made natives as worst slaves and became responsible for the death of thousands of people. By these acts he became most unpopular in Hispaniola. The kings and rich men who supported him in the beginning began to look at him with suspicion.

These things apart he was unlucky because his name is not associated with the discovery of America. A contemporary of Columbus was Amerigo Vespusi. He undertook four voyages along the Atlantic, by which time Columbus had completed three voyages. Vespusi had discovered Amazon in Southern America in 1499. Next year Amerigo explored about 6,000 miles of American coast and declared America had no land connection with Asia. These details proved useful to cartographers. Hence his name was given to America.

Columbus died in Valladolid in 1506. His bones were taken to Sevil, St. Domingo and Havana next year. But in 1902 these bones were reburied at Sevil with a good tomb. In spite of his failure, Columbus has a respectable place in the history of navigation of the world.