Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by water, was the first European to do so. The landing of three ships under Vasco Da Gama to Calicut in May 1498, headed by a Gujarati pilot called Abdul Majid, had a significant impact on Indian history. The arrival of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498 is often recognized as the start of a new era in world history, particularly in Asia-Europe ties. This article will explain to you about the Vasco Da Gama which will be helpful in Modern Indian History preparation for the UPSC Civil service exam.

Vasco Da Gama

Vasco Da Gama

• Vasco da Gama was born in 1460 in Sines, one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast in southwest Portugal, most likely in a home near Nossa Senhora das Salas church.
• Portuguese voyages led by Prince Henry the Navigator have been extending along the African coastline since the early 15th century, mostly in quest of west African riches (notably, gold and slaves).
• Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships and a crew of 170 men left Lisbon on July 8, 1497.
• The trek around Africa to India and back covered a distance larger than the length of the equator.
• Vasco da Gama landed in Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala, on the Western sea coast of India on May 20, 1498, two years after setting sail from Lisbon, Portugal.
• This was the first time a European had landed in India by boat.
• As a result, Vasco da Gama is credited with discovering the maritime route to India.

Voyage of Vasco Da Gama

Arrival of Vasco da Gama and its Significance

• The landing of three ships under Vasco Da Gama to Calicut in May 1498, headed by a Gujarati pilot called Abdul Majid, had a significant impact on Indian history.
• However, the Hindu monarch of Calicut, the Zamorin (Samoothiri), was unconcerned about the Europeans' intentions.
• Calicut's location as an entrepot contributed to his kingdom's wealth, therefore he gave a warm welcome to Gama.
• The Arab traders on the Malabar Coast, who had a thriving business, were wary of the Portuguese gaining a foothold there.
• For centuries, the Indian Ocean trading system had many participants - Indians, Arabs, east coast Africans, Chinese, and Javanese, among others.
• But these participants had followed some unspoken rules of conduct, and none had sought overwhelming dominance, despite the fact that they were all in it for profit.
• The Portuguese altered that by attempting to monopolize the lucrative eastern trade by removing rivals, particularly Arabs.
• Vasco da Gama spent three months in India. When he returned to Portugal, he brought a valuable cargo with him and profitably sold the goods on the European market.
• The value of direct access to the pepper trade was demonstrated by the fact that Europeans would have had to pay 10 times as much for the same amount of pepper if they had to buy through Muslim intermediaries.
• Other profit-hungry merchants from European countries were enticed to travel to India and deal directly.
• In 1501 Vasco da Gama returned to India.
• When Vasco Da Gama mixed economic avarice with violent hatred and inflicted revenge on Arab commerce everywhere he could, the Zamorin refused to exclude Arab merchants in favor of the Portuguese.
• As a result, his break with the Zamorin was complete.
• At Cannanore, Vasco da Gama established a trading factory.
• Calicut, Cannanore, and Cochin gradually became key Portuguese commerce centers.
• The Portuguese gradually gained authorization to garrison these centers under the guise of safeguarding the manufacturers and their commercial activities.
• At Cochin and Cannanore, two adjacent kingdoms at war with the Zamorin, whose loyalties had been established by previous Portuguese voyages, Da Gama filled up on spices. In early 1503 the 4th armada set sail from India.
• The Zamorin's relationship with da Gama was difficult from the start due to da Gama's failure to pay ordinary customs taxes.
• Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal in September 1503, having effectively failed in his attempt to subdue the Zamorin.
• Da Gama sent a small squadron of caravels, led by his uncle Vicente Sodre, to monitor the Indian coast, and safeguard the Portuguese industries in Cochin and Cannanore from the Zamorin's expected retaliation.
• Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal in 1503, having effectively failed in his attempt to subdue the Zamorin. He sent a small squadron of caravels, led by his uncle Vicente Sodre, to monitor the Indian coast, and safeguard the Portuguese industries in Cochin and Cannanore from the Zamorin's expected retaliation.
• In 1505, when Portuguese King Manuel I of Portugal chose to pick the first governor and viceroy of Portuguese India, da Gama was noticeably ignored, and Francisco de Almeida was appointed instead.
• Vasco da Gama's body was first interred at St. Francis Church in Fort Kochi, Kochi, but his bones were eventually repatriated to Portugal in 1539.
• Vasco da Gama's remains were reinterred at Vidigueira in gold and jewel-encrusted coffin.
• Vasco da Gama's tomb is located at the Jeronimos Monastery in Belem, Lisbon.
• The Hieronymite Monastery at Belem, which would later become the necropolis of the Portuguese royal house of Aviz, was built in the early 1500s near the starting place of Vasco da Gama's maiden voyage and was sponsored by a tax on the earnings of the yearly Portuguese India Armadas.
• Vasco da Gama Church is a church in Kochi, Kerala, and a private home on the island of Saint Helena.
• Vasco, a Cape Town suburb, is also named after him.

Conclusion

Vasco da Gama's arrival at Calicut in 1498 is often recognized as the start of a new period in world history, particularly in the link between Asia and Europe. Despite the fact that Asia and Europe have had trade links since antiquity, the establishment of direct sea contact between the two was not just the realization of a long-held dream.