The original inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Lucayan peoples, a group closely related to the Taino of Hispaniola (Haiti / Dominican Republic) and Cuba.

Around 30000 Lucayans are thought to have lived in the island by the time Columbus arrived in 1492. And over the following decades most were forcefully moved to Hispaniola as slaves, while many others died of disease.

By the time the first British settlements were established in 1648 the islands had been entirely depopulated since around 1520.