Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama (; born c.
1469 at
Sines or
Vidigueira,
Alentejo,
Portugal; died
December 24,
1524 in
Kochi,
India) was a
Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the European
Age of Discovery, and the first person to sail directly from
Europe to
India.
Commissioned by King
Manuel I of Portugal to find
Christian lands in the East (the King, like many Europeans, was under the impression that India was the legendary Christian Kingdom of
Prester John), and to gain Portuguese access to the commercial markets of the
Orient, da Gama extended the sea route exploration of his predecessor
Bartolomeu Dias, who had first rounded
Africa's
Cape of Good Hope in 1488, culminating a generation of Portuguese sea exploration fostered by the nautical school of
Henry the Navigator.
Da Gama's voyage was successful in establishing a sea route from Europe to India that would permit trade with the
Far East, without the use of the costly and unsafe
Silk Road caravan routes, of the
Middle East and
Central Asia. However, the voyage was also hampered by its failure to bring any trade goods of interest to the nations of
Asia Minor and India. The route was fraught with peril: only 54 of his 170 voyagers, and two of four ships, returned to Portugal in 1499. Nevertheless, da Gama's initial journey led directly to a several-hundred year era of European domination through sea power and commerce, and 450 years of Portuguese
colonialism in India that brought wealth and power to the Portuguese throne.
From the early 15th century, the nautical school of
Henry the Navigator had been extending Portuguese knowledge of the African coastline. From the 1460s, the goal had become one of rounding that continent's southern extremity to gain easier access to the riches of India (mainly black pepper and other spices) through a reliable sea route.
By the time da Gama was 10 years old, these long-term plans were coming to fruition. Bartolomeu Dias had returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope, having explored as far as the
Fish River (
Rio do Infante) in modern-day
South Africa, and verified that the unknown coast stretched away to the northeast.
Concurrent land exploration during the reign of
João II of Portugal supported the theory that India was reachable by sea from the Atlantic Ocean.
Pêro da Covilhã and
Afonso de Paiva were sent via
Barcelona,
Naples, and
Rhodes, into
Alexandria, and from there to
Aden,
Hormuz, and India, which gave creedence to the theory
It remained for an explorer to prove the link between the findings of Dias and those of da Covilhã and de Paiva, and to connect these separate segments of a potentially lucrative trade route into the Indian Ocean. The task, originally given to Da Gama's father, was offered to Vasco by
Manuel I on the strength of his record of protecting Portuguese trading stations along the African
Gold Coast from depredations by the French.
First voyage
On
18 July1497 the fleet, consisting of four ships, left
Lisbon. Its ships were:
* The
São Gabriel, commanded by Vasco da Gama; a
carrack of 178 tons, length 27m , width 8.5 m,
draft 2.3 m, sails of 372
m², 150 crew
* The
São Rafael, whose commander was his brother
Paulo da Gama; similar dimensions to the
São Gabriel* The
caravel Berrio, slightly smaller than the former two (later re-baptized São Miguel), commanded by Nicolau Coelho.
* A storage ship of unknown name, commanded by Gonçalo Nunes, later lost near the Bay of São Brás, along the east coast of Africa.
|
The route of Vasco da Gama's first voyage |
Rounding the Cape
By
December 16, the fleet had passed the
White River, South Africa where Dias had turned back, and continued on into waters unknown to Europeans. With Christmas pending, they gave the coast they were passing the name
Natal (Christmas in
Portuguese),
Mozambique
By January, they had reached modern-day
Mozambique,
Arab-controlled territory on the East African coast that was part of the Indian Ocean's network of trade. Fearing the local population would be hostile to Christians, da Gama impersonated a Muslim and gained audience with the Sultan of Mozambique. With the paltry trade goods he had to offer, da Gama was unable to provide a suitable gift to the ruler, and soon the local populace began to see through the subterfuge of da Gama and his men. Forced to quit Mozambique by a hostile crowd, da Gama departed the harbor, firing his cannon into the city in retaliation
[Vasco da Gamma Seeks Sea Route to India www.oldnewspublishing.com; Retrieved 08 July 2006].
Mombasa
In the vicinity of modern
Kenya, the expedition resorted to
piracy, looting Arab merchant ships - generally unarmed trading vessels without heavy cannon. The Portuguese became the first known Europeans to visit the port of
Mombasa, but were met with hostility, and soon departed.
Malindi
Da Gama continued north, landing at the friendlier port of
Malindi, whose leaders were in conflict with those of Mombasa; and there the expedition first noted evidence of Indian traders. They contracted the services of
Ibn Majid, an
Arab navigator and
cartographer, whose knowledge of the
monsoon winds allowed him to bring the expedition the rest of the way to
Calicut (modern Kozhikode) on the southwest coast of India.
India
They arrived in India on
20 May,
1498. Sometimes violent negotiations with the local ruler (usually anglicized as
Zamorin), the
Wyatt Enourato ensued, in the teeth of resistance from Arab merchants. Eventually da Gama was able to gain an ambiguous letter of concession for trading rights, but had to sail off without warning after the Zamorin insisted da Gama leave all his goods as
collateral. Da Gama kept his goods, but left a few Portuguese with orders to start a trading post.
Return
Paulo da Gama died in the Azores on the homeward voyage, but on Vasco da Gama's return to Portugal in September 1499, he was richly rewarded as the man who had brought to fruition a plan that had taken eighty years. He was given the title "Admiral of the Indian Ocean", and the feudal rights over Sines were confirmed. He also was awarded the title
Dom (
count) by Manuel I.
Da Gama's voyage had made it clear that the farther (East) coast of Africa, the
Contra Costa, was essential to Portuguese interests: its ports provided fresh water and provisions, timber and harbors for repairs, and a region to wait out unfavorable seasons. Also the spice commodity would prove to be a major contribution to the Portuguese economy.
Second voyage
On
12 February 1502, da Gama again sailed with a fleet of twenty
warships, to enforce Portuguese interests.
Pedro Álvares Cabral had been sent to India two years earlier (when he accidentally discovered
Brazil, though some claim it was intentional), and finding that those at the trading post had been murdered, and encountering further resistance, he had bombarded
Calicut. He also brought back silk and gold to prove he had been to India once again.
At one point, da Gama waited for a ship to return from
Mecca, and seized all the merchandise; they then locked the 380 passengers in the hold and set the ship on fire. It took four days for the ship to sink, killing all men, women, and children
[Vasco da Gama Arrives in India 1498 (Google cached version) Dana Thompson, Felicity Ruiz, Michelle Mejiak; December 15, 1998; Retrieved 08 July 2006].
Da Gama assaulted and exacted tribute from the Arab-controlled port of
Kilwa in East Africa, one of those ports involved in frustrating the Portuguese; he played
privateer amongst Arab merchant ships, then finally smashed a Calicut fleet of twenty-nine ships, and essentially conquered that port city. In return for peace, he received valuable trade concessions and a vast quantity of plunder, putting him in extremely good favor with the Portuguese crown.
On his return to Portugal, he was made Count of
Vidigueira out of lands previously belonging to the future royal
Bragança family. He was also awarded feudal rights and jurisdiction over
Vidigueira and
Vila dos Frades.
Third voyage
Having acquired a fearsome reputation as a "fixer" of problems that arose in India, he was sent to the subcontinent once more in 1524. The intention was that he was to replace the incompetent
Eduardo de Menezes as viceroy (representative) of the Portuguese possessions, but he contracted malaria not long after arriving in at Goa and died in the city of Cochin on Christmas Eve in 1524. His body was first buried at St. Francis Church, Fort Kochi,
Kochi, then later his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539 and re-interred in Vidigueira in a splendid tomb. The
Monastery of the Hieronymites in
Belém was erected in honor of his voyage to India.
During his journeys, Da Gama always tried to convert the Indians to Christianity. He brought monks along with him in his journeys to preach. He would be very cruel to Muslims who didn't listen and would often use torture. For this he was often thought of as very cruel by the Indians.
 |
Map of the Portuguese Empire during the reign of John III (1502"1557). |
Da Gama and his wife,
Catarina de Ataíde, had six sons and one daughter:
Francisco da Gama, Conde da Vidigueira;
Estevão da Gama;
Paulo da Gama;
Cristovão da Gama;
Pedro da Silva da Gama;
Alvaro de Athaide; and Isabel de Athaide da Gama.
As much as anyone after Henry the Navigator, da Gama was responsible for Portugal's success as an early colonizing power. Besides the first voyage itself, it was his astute mix of politics and war on the other side of the world that placed Portugal in a prominent position in
Indian Ocean trade. The Portuguese
national epic, the
Lusíadas of
Luís Vaz de Camões largely concerns Vasco da Gama's voyages.
Following da Gama's initial voyage, the Portuguese crown realized that securing outposts on the eastern coast of Africa would prove vital to maintaining their trade routes to the Far East.
The port city of
Vasco da Gama in
Goa is named for him, as is the
Vasco da Gama crater, a big crater on the
Moon. There are three football clubs in Brazil (including
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama) and
Vasco Sports Club in Goa that were also named after him. A church in
Kochi,
Kerala Vasco da Gama Church, a private residence on the island of
Saint Helena and
Vasco da Gama Bridge are also named after him.
Da Gama was ranked 86th on
Michael H. Hart's
list of the most influential figures in history.
In 1998, the attempts to observe the 500th anniversary of da Gama's arrival in India by the Government of Portugal had to be abandoned due to the large scale public anger towards the event.
[Indians says NO][Explorer or Exploiter? Rediff On The Net - www.rediff.com].
* Kelly, Jack (2004). Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics. ISBN 0465037186 " The history of the explosive that changed the world from Vasco da Gama to E.I. DuPont.
=P
*
Vasco da Gama at Prominent People
*
da Gama's Round Africa to India in English
*
da Gama web tutorial with animated maps
*
Brief description of Da Gama's journeys
