This is a picture of Vasco Da Gama's signature. Around 1501, Vasco da Gama married Catarina de Ataíde, daughter of Álvaro de Ataíde, the alcaide-mór of Alvor (Algarve), and a prominent nobleman connected by kinship with the powerful Almeida family (Catarina was a first cousin of D. Gama to abandon his beloved Order of Santiago, switching over to the In 1502, he led a squadron of ships to Calicut to avenge the massacre of Portuguese explorers there and succeeded in subduing the inhabitants. 1460, Sines, Portugaldied December 24, 1524, Cochin, India), Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (149799, 150203, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope. P ortuguese explorer Vasco de Gama becomes the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrives at Calicut on the Malabar Coast. Gama would spend the next few years attempting to take hold of Sines -Īn effort which would estrange him from Lencastre and eventually prompt Vasco da Gama, Portuguese Vasco da Gama, 1er conde da Vidigueira, (born c. King to make other donations of the Order's properties. Provoked Lencastre to refuse out of principle - lest it encourage the But the fact that Sines was awarded by the king's hand, Santiago knight, one of their own, and a close associate of Lencastre Related Articles: How Ocean Waterways (Routes) Has Been Classified for for. The master of the Order, to endorse the reward - after all, Gama was a Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who discovered the sea route to India from Europe through the Cape of Good Hope. On the face of it, it should not have been a problem for Jorge de Lencastre, This turned out to be a rather complicated affair, for Sines still belonged to the Order of Santiago. In 1539, his body was taken back to Portugal for burial.In December 1499, Vasco da Gama was rewarded by King Manuel I of Portugal with the town of Sines as a hereditary fief (the very town which his father, Estêvão, had once held as a commenda). Arriving in Cochin, he fell ill and died on 24 December 1524. After 20 years at home, in 1524, he was nominated as Portuguese viceroy in India and sent to deal with the mounting corruption among Portuguese authorities there. Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama Cape of Good Hope history, with Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias Although the Portuguese were the first to travel around the Cape, they were not seriously interested in southern Africa. He forced the ruler of Calicut to make peace and, on his return voyage along the east African coast established Portuguese trading posts in what is now Mozambique.īack in Portugal, da Gama was granted further privileges and revenues and continued to advise the king on Indian matters. On 25 December 1497, Da Gama reached the coast of Pondoland and called it 'Natal', meaning 'Christmas'. After hearing of the massacre of all those at the trading post, da Gama sailed for India again in 1502 attacking Arab Muslim ships he met on the way. The king immediately dispatched another expedition to secure a trading post at Calicut. This voyage launched the all-water route from Europe to Asia.ĭa Gama returned to Portugal. The expedition then rounded the Cape of Good and, after sailing up the coast of east Africa, took on an Arab navigator who helped them reach the Indian coast, at Calicut (now Kozhikode) in May 1498. This established a route still followed by sailing vessels. 4 He was the first known European to visit Mombasa. 3 He led the Portuguese expedition to India. 2 His discovery is considered a milestone in world history. 1 Vasco da Gama linked Europe and Asia through an ocean route for the first time. Setting off in July 1497, da Gama's expedition took advantage of the prevailing winds by sailing south down the coast of Africa, then veering far out into the Atlantic and swinging back in an arc to arrive off the southern African coast. 10 Major Accomplishments of Explorer Vasco da Gama. In 1497, he was appointed to command an expedition equipped by the Portuguese government, whose intention was to find a maritime route to the East. Da Gama sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, in July 1497, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored at Malindi on the east coast of Africa. Vasco da Gama was born in about 1460 into a noble family. Where did Vasco da Gama came first in India Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama becomes the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrives at Calicut on the Malabar Coast. © Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer and navigator, and the first person to sail directly from Europe to India.