India Be Named As Bharat/hindustan

[Bodhi]

Now that the discussion is already diverted, ...here is more.


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Guacanagarí had tried to protect the


Christians, but they'd abused the Taíno


people until Caonabó,


"Golden House," cacique of the golden


mountains of Cibao, the most powerful


chief on Haiti, came down and


killed them all.


Caonabó was held in awe


by the Taínos. By blood half Carib,


the Taínos' only tribal enemies,


he had risen through sheer ability


to the top of the Taíno world.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
Columbus sent a delegation with gifts


to Caonabó, led


by the intrepid Lt. Ojeda, already famed


as the first to enforce Columbus' decree


to cut off the ears or nose of any Indian


stealing Spanish property.





In his village,


high in the mountains of Cibao, Ojeda


met Caonabó, who wore a crown "with wings


on its sides like a shield and golden eyes


as large as silver cups." Ojeda told him


that Columbus offered peace,


if only he would come down


to the settlement to talk. Caonabó, despite


everything, responded, "Yes,


if Guamiquiná wants peace,


I will make peace. I ask only one thing:


to be given


the Christians' church bell as a sign."


So they started down.





Stopping at a river bank, Ojeda held up a


set of manacles to Caonabó, and said,


"These are ceremonial bracelets,


worn only by kings on horseback:


Lord Columbus


has sent them for you to wear


on this great occasion."





So Caonabó became the first Indian


to ever ride


one of these magic creatures called horse.





Caonabó was tied to the saddle behind Ojeda,


the chains locked on his wrists and ankles;


Ojeda suddenly spurred the horse


across the river, away from the startled


Indian delegation, and hardly stopped until


they reached the settlement, where the greatest


chief of Haiti, instead of being given


the church bell, was thrown at Columbus'


feet, then chained on the porch


of Columbus' house


on the main plaza, for all to see.

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Taínos could not understand


why the Christians wanted this gold.


One cacique of Haiti, Hatuey, fled


with his people to Cuba. When told that the


Christians had followed them, he took out


a basket of gold, and said, "Here


is the God of the Christians. They want


us to worship this God: that is why


they struggle with us and kill us. Let us dance


for this God. Who knows? It may please


the Christian God and then they will do us


no harm."





So he and his people danced


before the gold. Then Hatuey hurled


it into the middle of a river.





Not long after,


the Christians caught him


and tied him to a stake. A friar who knew


the Taíno language, told Hatuey,


just before they touched the flames,


"If you become a Christian, even now,


you will go to Heaven instead of


to the eternal torment of Hell."





Hatuey asked the friar, "Do


all Christians go to Heaven?" The friar


said, "They do;" and Hatuey replied, "I


would prefer then to go to Hell."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->And so the island of Haiti-Bohío-Quisqueya,


which in Taíno means,


"Mountain-House-Of Which Nothing Is Greater",


a land thriving with millions


of people when Columbus arrived,


within a short time was almost


depopulated.





Most of the Taíno men wound up as slaves


in the mines, most of the women slaves


in the fields, where thousands died


of exhaustion, disease, and hunger.


Those hiding in the mountains saw


that all was lost, and thousands jumped


from cliffs, hanged or stabbed themselves,


or drank cassava poison.



And the beautiful Taíno language


became silence.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

COLUMBUS IN THE BAY OF PIGS By JOHN CURL