Age of exploration project
Anthony Delgado & Saxa da Silva
TV2B
Name of explorer: Vasco da Gama
Date of birth:1454 AD
Date and cause of death: in 1524, he died of a disease
Nationality: Portuguese
Objective: to find a direct sail route to India
Sponsor: Portugal
How his name lives on: a monument was made for him, in the form of a cross, on Cape of Good Hope.
Vasco da Gama is a very important person in history, because he was the first European to find a direct route to India by sailing around Africa. This route was extremely important for the commercial trade in spices, which was controlled by the Republic of Venice.
Vasco da Gama’s father, Estĕvão da Gama, was given the task to find a direct route to Asia by the Portuguese king Manuel I. He died before the journey could begin, and the task was given to his twenty-eight year old son, Vasco.
Vasco’s expedition, which included 4 ships, began from Lisbon on 8 july 1497. It followed the route sailed by earlier explorers(e.a Bartolomeu Dias) along the coast of Africa via Tenerife and the Cape Verde islands. Thereafter it followed a new course, which brought him closer to the Brazilian coast than the African coast. After three months of sailing on open sea, Vasco arrived on the African coast on 4 November 1497. On 16 December 1497, the expedition had passed the Great Fish River, located in the Eastern Cape in South Africa--the farthest point reached by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 --and sailed into unknown waters.
His voyage led him to Mozambique Island (2 to 29 March 1498), Mombasa (7 to 13 April 1498), and Malindi (14 to 24 April 1498). It was in this city that Vasco and his men first found evidence of Indian traders. Vasco and his men contacted a pilot whose knowledge of the monsoon winds allowed him to bring the expedition the rest of the way to Calicut, located on the southwest coast of India. Vasco da Gama left Malindi for India on 24 April 1498.
The expedition arrived in Kappadu near Calicut, India on 20 May 1498. The King of Calicut, the Samudiri (Zamorin), when hearing the news of the foreign ship’s arrival, received them with traditional hospitality. The gifts that Vasco brought were trivial and failed to impress. When Vasco requested permission to leave a store behind to sell his leftover goods, it was turned down. Vasco da Gama left Calicut on 29 August 1498. The journey back was long and hard, and Vasco finally arrived back in Lisbon on 29 August 1499. When he returned, he was rewarded like a hero.
His expedition was a great success as the value of the goods returned was six time greater than the cost of the expedition.
The discovery of this new route to India was very beneficial for Portugal. By circumventing the land-routes, controlled by the Republic of Venice, Portugal could now become a major player of power in the Indian Ocean Trade. Portugal could now establish its dominance by securing the very profitable trade in spices and other goods. This was done by securing the trade route outposts through the eastern coast of Africa. The goods, aside from species, were new to Europe and lead to a commercial monopoly for several decades.
Internet addresses:
http://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/subject/vasco-da-gama/
Title of section used: Vasco da Gama
Date last accessed: 28th january 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama
Title of section used: First Voyage
Date last accessed: 28th january 2015
http://www.livescience.com/39078-vasco-da-gama.html
Title of section used: A route to India
Date last accessed: 28th january 2015
http://www.biography.com/people/vasco-da-gama-9305736#first-voyage
Title of section used: The first voyage
Date last accessed: 28th january 2015
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