Thanks for the answers I got for origin of the name India. But still have a doubt. In what way were the original settlers of American continent related to Sindhu river in India. if not, why did they get the name ''Indians''.
What does the word Indians mean when not applied to the country India. I tried to search the encyclopedia as to how the word originated, when origin from word sindhi is kept aside.
And would also like to know why west Indies is called Indies again?
2007-11-02 20:29:38 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
American Indians are called American Indians because they are in America, versus East India Indians that are from India
2007-11-02 20:32:59 · answer #1 · answered by cyrusbblackthorne 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The reason that the American Indians were referred to as that is because when Columbus landed in the New World (America), he was actually trying to get to the West Indies, so he started calling the natives Indians.. Indies, Indians...get it? I'm not sure why the West Indies are called that, though.
2007-11-02 20:32:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just blame Columbus dude. Native Americans=American Indians I'm assuming. They're not related to people of India. Columbus thought he was in India when in reality he was in North America thus calling them Indians, thus causing generations of Ignorance.
2007-11-02 20:33:05 · answer #3 · answered by OkIgetit 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
People who heard of India and wanted to find shorter routes went from Europe and landed in USA and the West Indies islands and mistakenly thought they found India. Later they realised the error. So, red indians, amerindians , west indians etc. (adjectives) had to be added. they are not related to India.
2007-11-02 20:36:25 · answer #4 · answered by Swamy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They were called "indians" because the directionally challeged white men who came to this country from Europe thought they had landed in The West Indies.
2007-11-02 23:49:22 · answer #5 · answered by Seán 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They got called Indians because Columbus got lost and thought he was in the east indies. He didn't know where he was going, didn't know where he was when he got there, and didn't know where he had been when he returned to Spain.
Eventually people found out, of course, but by then everybody was calling them Indians.
2007-11-02 20:33:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Columbus was attempting to reach the orient. Never having been to India, he and his crew mistook the moist jungle and strange natives for some unkown part of the orient. It was later discovered that the american continents do not strectch all the way around to asia.
2007-11-02 20:35:06 · answer #7 · answered by Tunips 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The reason american indians were refered to as indians is because the sailors of the time had assumed that they had reached the west indies, hence the name indians, bullshit as far as I can see we are american natives. cherokee
2007-11-02 20:35:53 · answer #8 · answered by crengle60 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
to distinjuish from indo americans
Like chines cannot pronouce t they pronounce awara as atara , I is pronouned as H Indus became hindus
It is difference of writen, speaking, transmission that words and expression suffer mutation
Columbus was to find passage to india and he had description of indians from earlier trevellers as result of pre-travel , home work . The populus did answer to some extent the description hence the word has stuck in hyphenated form
2007-11-02 20:40:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They got that name because Columbus thought he had made it all the way to India. Little did he know, there was quite a large continent in the way yet...
2007-11-02 20:32:43 · answer #10 · answered by Mike G 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋