Vasco-Da-Gama

An adventurer went out from the Iberian Peninsula in the later years of the fifteenth century, full of big dreams and intending to reach India by traveling where no European had gone before. Though that remark appears to apply to Christopher Columbus' (1451-1506) voyage to the New World in 1492, it also applies to a lesser-known expedition that set sail five years later, at least from an American perspective. Now the question is who found India and when? Here, we will learn about the brief history of the Indian Subcontinent. 

When was India Found?

Vasco da Gama, the sailor who found India, the first European to reach the Indian subcontinent by sea, sailed under the Portuguese flag and circled the southern tip of Africa to become the first European to do so. His trips to India opened up the sea route from Western Europe to the East via the Cape of Good Hope. Now we will learn about Vasco da Gama’s trip to India.

First Voyage to India

On July 8, 1497, Vasco Da Gama set off from Lisbon with a fleet of four ships: two medium-sized three-masted sailing ships, the "So Gabriel" and the "So Rafael", each weighing about 120 tonnes; a 50-ton caravel, the "Berrio," and a 200-ton storeship. Three translators accompanied Vasco da Gama's fleet: two Arabic speakers and one who spoke numerous Bantu dialects. Padres (stone pillars) were also carried by the fleet to serve as markers of discovery.

On January 11, 1498, it anchored for five days near the mouth of the Rio do Cobre, a tiny river that runs between Natal and Mozambique (Copper River). They arrived at the Quelimane River, which they named the Rio dos Bons Sinais (the River of Good Omens), on January 25 in what is now Mozambique, and erected another padrao. Many men were sick with scurvy by this time, so the expedition took a month off while the ships were repaired.

The expedition arrived in Mombasa (now Kenya) on April 7 and anchored in Malindi (also now Kenya) on April 14, where a Gujarati pilot who knew the way to Calicut on India's southwest coast was brought aboard. The Ghats Mountains of India were spotted after a 23-day journey across the Indian Ocean, and Calicut was reached on May 20. Vasco Da Gama built a padrao there to show he had made it to India. His small presents and disrespectful behavior dispelled the Zamorin, the Hindu king of Calicut (then the most important trading center in southern India). Vasco Da Gama was unable to reach an agreement, partly due to Muslim merchants' animosity, and partly due to the fact that the trumpery presents and inexpensive trade products he had brought, while suitable for West African trade, were not in high demand in India. The Hindus were incorrectly thought to be Christians by the Portuguese. After tensions grew, Vasco da Gama left at the end of August, taking with him five or six Hindus so that King Manuel might learn about their customs. Vasco Da Gama had chosen the worst possible time of year for his departure due to his ignorance and disregard for local knowledge, and he had to sail against the monsoon.

Second Voyage to India

Manuel-I sent the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral to Calicut with a squadron of 13 ships to capitalize on da Gama's victory. The earnings from this expedition were so impressive that a third fleet was quickly assembled in Lisbon. The command of this fleet was handed to Vasco da Gama, who was promoted to admiral in January 1502. Da Gama commanded ten ships, which were supplemented by two flotillas of five ships each, each led by one of his relatives. The fleet set off in February 1502 and stopped in the Cape Verdes before arriving in the East African town of Sofala on June 14. The Portuguese expedition traveled to Kilwa, in what is now Tanzania, after a brief stop in Mozambique. Kilwa's ruler, Amir Ibrahim, had been hostile to Cabral; da Gama threatened to burn Kilwa unless the Amir submitted to the Portuguese and swore allegiance to King Manuel, which he did. 

Da Gama sailed from southern Arabia to Goa (became the center of Portuguese dominance in India) and then to Cannanore, a port in southwestern India north of Calicut, where he waited for Arab ships. An Arab ship with commodities and between 200 and 400 passengers, including women and children, arrived after many days. Following the seizure of the cargo, da Gama is believed to have locked the passengers onboard the captured ship and set fire to it, killing everyone on board. As a result, Vasco da Gama has been demonized, and Portuguese trading tactics have been linked to terrorism. However, the incident is only told through late and dubious sources, and it is possible that it is mythical or at the very least overblown.

The fleet sailed to Calicut after Vasco da Gama forged an agreement with the ruler of Cannanore, an opponent of the Zamorin, with the goal of destroying its trade and punishing the Zamorin for his favouritism toward Muslim traders. The harbor was bombarded by Da Gama, who kidnapped and killed 38 hostages.