When Francisco de Bobadilla was sent to investigate Columbus’s governance in Hispaniola, he uncovered a reign of terror. Testimony from both Spanish colonists and indigenous Taíno people described systematic torture, mutilation, and executions. Columbus was said to have ordered the severing of ears and noses as punishment, while gallows lined with bodies testified to the violence of his rule. He had even sold indigenous people into slavery without royal sanction, deepening the scandal. Arriving