Page 17 - Folkgalore

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Brief History

This 167-square mile country is

believed to be inhabited by Amerindians

coming from Venezuela around 350-400

BC. The Arawak people were the next

wave of migrants followed by the Caribs.

In around mid 1500s to 1600, the

Portuguese claimed this island but did

not make a colony out of it. They left the

island to look for bigger territories to

claim in South America.

In 1625, British ships landed on

Barbados and claimed the land in the

name of King James I. The British

wasted no time and in two years time

constructed settlements in this

paradisiacal island. No other foreign

power tried to seize Barbados from the

British and so British rule was basically

uninterrupted.