TRINIDAD

Trinidad is a multicultural melting pot, stirred by the descendants of settlers from Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East each of which have made their mark on the island. But, back in 1498 when explorer Christopher Columbus set foot on Trinidad, things were very different.

Arawak and Carib Indians prospered on the island the Amerindians called "Iere", meaning land of the Humming Bird, until Columbus spotted the island he named for the Holy Trinity. When the Spaniards came and discovered no precious metals on Trinidad, the Amerindians were enslaved and shipped off to work on other Caribbean settlements.

Nearly a century passed before Spain established Trinidad's first European community, San Jose de Oruna (St Joseph), which was sacked and burnt by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. Sir Walter Raleigh was also said to have discovered the Pitch Lake, from which he used material to repair his leaking ship. 

Trinidad remained a Spanish possession from the 15th Century and the Cedula of Population in 1783, allowed French planters and their slaves to emigrate from the French colonies to the island. In 1797 the British captured Trinidad and negotiated an amicable treaty of rule with the Spanish.

In the following years African slaves were brought in to work on sugar plantations and in 1802, the island became a British colony. After slavery was abolished by Britain, landowners imported thousands of indentured labourers from India, China and the Middle East, adding to the cultural melting pot that remains today. 

In 1889, Britain joined the smaller Tobago to Trinidad as an administrative ward. The islands achieved independence from England on 31st August 1962 and became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 1st August 1976. 

TOBAGO
Tobago existed separately from Trinidad for centuries; the name of Tobago is derived from the tobacco which was cultivated by the original Carib population. While the explorer Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1498, he did not land and there were no attempts made to colonise the island. Tobago was the centre of battles for power and control between the Carib people and other Amerindian tribes long before European powers expressed interest in the island's strategically placed harbour and fertile soil later in the 17th century following battle between the English, French, Dutch and even Courlanders (Latvians) who fought to control the strategic island. During this time the island changed hands more than 30 times! 

During British rule in the late 1600s, plantations for sugar, cotton and indigo were established and thousands of Africans were brought to Tobago to work as slaves. The French invaded Tobago in 1781, but by 1814 the island was ceded to Britain.

1889 brought a period of economic decline and it was at this point that Britain annexed the smaller Tobago to Trinidad as an administrative ward and the two became inseparable from that point. The islands achieved independence from England in 1962 and became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1976. 

The base of Tobago's early economy was agriculture, but severe hurricanes in 1847 and 1963 had a devastating impact which changed the outlook of the island, and where the priorities for economic growth lay. 

While the island is calm now, look a little deeper and visit some of the historic sites while on holiday here, and you can be reminded of the thrilling past; fierce slave revolts, bitter battles for control between European powers, attacks on European settlers by the Amerindian Indians who inhabited the island and stories of pirates are all part of Tobago's rich history.