However, relations between the two became constrained. On arrival the Zamorin asked de Gama why he had come to India, De Gama replied. The journey had taken nearly ten months and was nearly three times the distance of Christopher Columbus journey to the Americas.ĭe Vasco was welcomed by the Hindu king or Zamorin of Calicut. The expedition continued up the east coast of Africa, stopping at Mozambique, Mombasa (modern-day Kenya) and Malindi (also modern-day Kenya) In Malindi, de Gama found a sailer with knowledge of the journey to India, so de Vasco employed him and within a month they had landed on the Indian coast near Calicut. Around Christmas time, they passed the Cape of Good Home and christened the land Natal – Portuguese for Christmas. The ships sailed for three months in open water – a record journey out of sight of land. De Gama sailed to the Cape Verde Island and then breaking with previous voyages, he headed due south, through open ocean, ignoring the better known, but slower route down the African coast. On 8 July 1497, de Gama led a fleet of four ships departing from Lisbon with a royal mission to reach India. This was a significant development and increased the confidence that India could be reached. In 1488, a fellow Portuguese mariner Bartolomeu Dias returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope and exploring the east coast of Africa.

He was also keen to gain the prestige and power of being the first European power to navigate a much quicker route to India – rather than the perilous and long land route through Persia. He hoped that gaining the riches of the Indian spice market would help boost his income and make him less dependent on the nobles. In 1481, King John II of Portugal ascended to the throne he was a keen supporter of encouraging better trade routes.

Portuguese ships had got as far south as the southern tip of Africa, but loss rates were high and they only received limited riches from the west coast of Africa. The Portuguese had a strong naval tradition and had already sent ships down the west coast of Africa in search of gold and slaves. Vasco de Gama was born in the 1460s in Sines a seaport on the south west of Portugal. De Gama led four expeditions to India and was rewarded with the title ‘Governor of India’ by the King of Portugal. De Gama’s mission enabled Portugal to gain a head start in gaining a commercial monopoly on trade with India and become the first European power to accumulate an empire in Asia. In reaching India by sea, de Gama opened up a new era of European Imperialism on the Indian sub-continent. Vasco de Gama was a Portuguese explorer who became the first European to successfully navigate a naval route from Europe to India.

What route did vasco da gama travel