In April 1498, they became the first Europeans to visit the port of Mombasa in Kenya, which lay in their route to India. Da Gama and his crew also overcame the challenge of sailing through waters which were previously unknown to Europeans. At that time this was the longest journey ever made out of sight of land. #4 He was the first known European to visit MombasaĪ part of the route required Da Gama’s fleet to sail more than 10,000 kilometres of open sea. A depiction of Vasco da Gama leaving the port of Lisbon in Portugal
The expedition which consisted of four ships and a crew of around 170 men set sail from city of Lisbon on 8 July 1497. King Manuel I of Portugal chose Vasco da Gama to lead a fleet in search of an ocean route to India. In 1488, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to reach the Indian Ocean through the Atlantic, hence proving they were connected and sparking interest in establishing a maritime route to the East. #3 He led the Portuguese expedition to India It led to an era of European imperialism in the East making European countries world leaders and it also marked the advent of global multiculturalism. It enhanced the European economy through trade with the east, which was previously dominated by Muslims due to their geographical position. #2 His discovery is considered a milestone in world historyĭa Gama’s trip to India which established a maritime route from Europe to Asia had far reaching consequences. The route followed in Vasco da Gama’s first voyage (1497–1499) Vasco da Gama realized that quest to become the first European to link Europe and Asia by a maritime route. One of the principal aims of the explorers of the period was to find an ocean route between Western Europe and Asia. The Age of Discovery was a period of global exploration that started in the early 15th century and was primarily initiated by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal. In all, da Gama's first journey covered nearly 24,000 miles in close to two years, and only 54 of the crew's original 170 members survived.#1 Vasco da Gama linked Europe and Asia through an ocean route for the first time
Where did vasco da gama explorer full#
The first ship in the fleet didn't reach Portugal until July 10, nearly a full year after they'd left India.
By early 1499, several crew members had died of scurvy and in an effort to economize his fleet, da Gama ordered one of his ships to be burned. In August 1498, da Gama and his men took to the seas again, beginning their journey back to Portugal.ĭa Gama's timing could not have been worse his departure coincided with the start of a monsoon. Eventually, da Gama and his crew were forced to barter on the waterfront in order to secure enough goods for the passage home. Not everyone embraced their presence, especially Muslim traders who clearly had no intention of giving up their trading grounds to Christian visitors. Still, the local Hindu ruler welcomed da Gama and his men, at first, and the crew ended up staying in Calicut for three months. The residents of Calicut were actually Hindu, a fact that was lost on da Gama and his crew, as they had not heard of the religion. But da Gama's own ignorance of the region, as well as his presumption that the residents were Christians, led to some confusion. The trip, in turn, sparked a renewed interest in seeking out a trade route to India.īy early April, the fleet reached what is now Kenya, before setting sail on a 23-day run that would take them across the Indian Ocean. This journey was significant it proved, for the first time, that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected. In 1487, an important breakthrough was made when Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Still, for all his work, the southern portion of Africa - what lay east - remained shrouded in mystery. Henry the Navigator never did locate Prester John, but his impact on Portuguese trade along Africa's east coast during his 40 years of explorative work was undeniable. He also believed that he could find and form an alliance with Prester John, who ruled over a Christian empire somewhere in Africa. He dispatched ships to explore the western coast of Africa to expand Portugal's trade influence. Much of that was due to Henry the Navigator, who, at his base in the southern region of the country, had brought together a team of knowledgeable mapmakers, geographers and navigators.
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