Was the main reason that Columbus sail west from European?

Answer 1

All the goodies back then, like spices, gold, purple fabrics, and so forth were found in Asia - Indian and China, mainly. To get there, you had to sail all the way around Africa, which was a long and dangerous trip. Columbus was paid to sail west and get to China and India the other way. People did not know about North and South America back then, and did not know how very wide the Pacific Ocean was, so their plan did not work.