Still, da Gama was able to leave India with some spices. The goods Manuel had sent as gifts were of poor value, infuriating Calicut’s ruler. Once he reached Calicut, da Gama’s reception was not very warm. The long voyage also took a serious toll of the crew around two-thirds died during the voyage, most of disease. The trip across the southern Atlantic left the ships a worrying three months without sight of land, and the expedition met hostile natives in southern Africa - who gave da Gama an arrow wound - and Muslims in eastern Africa. He carried with him priests to see to the crews’ souls, interpreters to help communicate with Bantu and Arabic speakers, and a store of gifts the king intended for him to use to attract Indian rulers to trade. Source: Library of Congress.At the head of four ships (one a floating warehouse) and 170 men, da Gama began his journey on July 8, 1497. Vasco da Gama's ship with gods above by Ernesto Casanova (ca. Nevertheless, he was named to head the historic voyage. Why he was chosen by Portugal’s King Manuel to lead the expedition to India is unknown his only achievement to date had been carrying out a mission for Manuel’s predecessor a few years earlier. In his late thirties at the time of his voyage, da Gama was the son of a minor Portuguese nobleman. Having successfully sailed around the southern tip of Africa, da Gama had pioneered a sea route from Europe to Asia that bypassed the Muslim nations that controlled the overland spice trade.
On May 20, 1498, sailing for the Portuguese crown, Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, India. On the other hand, his discovery of the sea route to India made possible successful, future Portuguese trade.Ī map of Africa from Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia, published in Basel, Switzerland in 1559.This Day in World History Da Gama reaches Calicut, India His gifts to its ruler were not impressive enough. ĭa Gama’s attempt to trade in Calicut wasn’t very successful. He sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean. The Latin text in the bottom left-hand corner of the map tells the tale of Vasco da Gama. Dias' discovery paved the way for Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India. Ptolemy had been wrong to think that the Indian Ocean was land-locked. His voyage showed that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans flowed into each other. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope). Münster’s map on the right reflects the discoveries of Portuguese explorers, Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama.
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