<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The earliest arrival of humans in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD . The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan - speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean . Their ancestors came from mainland South America, where Arawakan - language peoples were present in most territories, and especially along the northeastern coast . </P> <P> Recorded history began on 12 October 1492, when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador Island on his first voyage to the New World . The earliest permanent European settlement was in 1648 on Eleuthera . During the 18th century slave trade, many Africans were brought to the Bahamas as labourers . Their descendants now constitute 85% of the Bahamian population . The Bahamas gained independence from the United Kingdom on July 10, 1973 . </P> <P> Sometime between 500 and 800 AD, Taínos began crossing in dugout canoes from Hispaniola and / or Cuba to the Bahamas . Suggested routes for the earliest migrations have been from Hispaniola to the Caicos Islands, from Hispaniola or eastern Cuba to Great Inagua Island, and from central Cuba to Long Island (in the central Bahamas). William Keegan argues that the most likely route was from Hispaniola or Cuba to Great Inagua . Granberry and Vescelius argue for two migrations, from Hispaniola to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and from Cuba to Great Inagua . </P>

Who discovered some islands in the bahamas in 1492