where did the term west indies come from

the whole "west indies" thing is basically a massive historical mix-up. back in the day, christopher columbus was trying to find a new route to asia, specifically to the indies, which is what they called india and the surrounding areas at the time. when he landed in the caribbean, he was totally convinced he’d reached the eastern side of asia.

he was so sure of himself that he called the people there indians, and the area became known as the west indies to distinguish it from the "real" indies in the east. even after everyone figured out he was actually in the americas and nowhere near india, the name just kinda stuck around because people were already used to calling it that. it's funny how a navigational error from hundreds of years ago is still part of our maps today.