He became the first European explorer that reached India via sea. He is often credited for discovering the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope.
Many western sailors and merchants tried their hands at discovering a sea route to India, the land famous for spices, wealth and other riches.
On its way to Mozambique, the fleet took rest at one place, where they stayed for a month. On March 2, the fleet reached the Island of Mozambique. In Mozambique, Da Gama learned about their trade with the Arabs and found four vessels of gold, silver and spices on the port.
The vessels reassured Da Gama that he was headed towards India, his final destination. Vasco da Gama took the pilot aboard and after a day journey across the Indian Ocean, he could spot India. Da Gama returned to Portugal with spices and silk. A celebrated sailor, Da Gama was sent back on a voyage to India by the king of Portugal in When Da Gama returned to Portugal with spices and silk, the legend says that he earned four times the money he spent on voyage just by selling the spices.
This lucrative trade made Da Gama instant sensation back home and the king of Portugal again sent him to India in He died in in Calicut when he was on his third voyage of India. And the rest is history. Videos News India.
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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. He dispatched ships to explore the western coast of Africa to expand Portugal's trade influence. He also believed that he could find and form an alliance with Prester John, who ruled over a Christian empire somewhere in Africa.
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. Still, for all his work, the southern portion of Africa — what lay east — remained shrouded in mystery. In , an important breakthrough was made when Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. This journey was significant; it proved, for the first time, that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected.
The trip, in turn, sparked a renewed interest in seeking out a trade route to India. By the late s, however, King Manuel wasn't just thinking about commercial opportunities as he set his sights on the East.
In fact, his impetus for finding a route was driven less by a desire to secure for more lucrative trading grounds for his country, and more by a quest to conquer Islam and establish himself as the king of Jerusalem. Historians know little about why exactly da Gama, still an inexperienced explorer, was chosen to lead the expedition to India in On July 8 of that year, he captained a team of four vessels, including his flagship, the ton St.
Gabriel , to find a sailing route to India and the East. To embark on the journey, da Gama pointed his ships south, taking advantage of the prevailing winds along the coast of Africa.
His choice of direction was also a bit of a rebuke to Christopher Columbus, who had believed he'd found a route to India by sailing east. Following several months of sailing, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope and began making his way up the eastern coast of Africa, toward the uncharted waters of the Indian Ocean.
By January, as the fleet neared what is now Mozambique, many of da Gama's crewmembers were sick with scurvy, forcing the expedition to anchor for rest and repairs for nearly one month.
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