Nucup says that da Gama was following the example of Columbus, who had won over native leaders with simple European goods like bells, flannel and metalwork. For that, he needed a knowledgeable local captain, who he hoped to recruit or kidnap from Eastern Africa.ĭa Gama's first major encounter with an African kingdom was in Mozambique, where he was poorly received, an experience that would be repeated throughout the first voyage.
WHAT COUNTRY DID VASCO DA GAMA SAIL FOR HOW TO
But now came the real test, figuring out how to cross the sea to India. The expedition slowly worked its way around the stormy Cape and entered the Indian Ocean around Christmastime. Helena Bay, just 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Cape of Good Hope on November 7, nearly four months after leaving Portugal. The risky plan worked, and after 13 long weeks on the open water out of sight of land, da Gama landed in St. For the Portuguese, the pressure was high to stake their own claim to Oriental trade, so Manuel I, now king of Portugal, ordered a new expedition to India via the South African route, and in command of this mission wasn't Dias, but Vasco da Gama. In the meantime, Columbus - who learned his trade in Portugal - discovered what he believed to be a western route to the Indies (or possibly Japan) for Spain in 1492. Thinking it was hopeless, Portugal didn't attempt another southern run to India for 10 years. Nucup says that Dias didn't understand how the seasonal monsoons of the region worked, and that the winds actually switched directions for half the year. The winds and currents in the Indian Ocean blew northeast to southwest, making it all but impossible to cross the sea from Africa to India. In 1488, the Portuguese took the lead when Bartolomeu Dias successfully navigated around the Cape of Good Hope (Dias called it the "Cape of Storms") in modern-day South Africa and became the first European to reach the Indian Ocean.īut Dias returned with bad news for King João II of Portugal. The fleet left from Lisbon on Jand was planned to go around the African continent to reach India.In the 15th century, the Spanish and Portuguese were in a bitter race to find a sea route to India that bypassed the tortuously long and expensive overland trade route through unfriendly Ottoman and Egyptian territory. However, a few years later, Portuguese ruler, King Manuel I sanctioned a voyage to India and appointed da Gama as the expedition’s leader. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus embarked upon the journey to reach to the coast of India, he inadvertently discovered the Americas. European nations looked for a direct route to India as it would establish the monopoly of the country over the spice trade. Earlier, most of the trade happened via land route or through Arab merchants who sold prized goods to Venetians who further traded with the European nations. Many western sailors and merchants tried their hands at discovering a sea route to India, the land famous for spices, wealth and other riches. He is often credited for discovering the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope. He became the first European explorer that reached India via sea. After two years he set sail from Lisbon, da Gama arrived on the Western sea coast of India at Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala.
On May 20, 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stepped foot in India.
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