Vasco da Gama was a 15th century Portuguese navigator, explorer and administrator. It has great importance in Portuguese navigations at the time of discoveries and conquests.
He was appointed, by King Dom Manuel I, commander of the fleet that left Europe and arrived in the Indies.
This undertaking represented one of the most important journeys at the time of the Discoveries, which resulted in the Portuguese dominating trade routes.
Biography
Portrait of Vasco da Gama (1838)
Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 in Sines, in the Alentejo region, Portugal. Son of Estêvão da Gama and Isabel Sodré, his family was noble and wealthy.
He studied navigation and mathematics in Évora, which helped him on the various trips he took.
His father was an experienced navigator and, with his death, Dom João II decided to put Vasco da Gama in his place.
He passed through the Atlantic and Indian oceans, reaching the Indies and establishing the spice routes. After his great achievement, he became a wealthy and respected man in the country.
He married Catarina de Ataide, daughter of the Alvor Alvor, and with her he had seven children. When he returned to the Indies for the third time, he became very ill as he was stricken with malaria.
He died in the city of Cochin, India, on December 24, 1524.
Vasco da Gama trip
Travel by Vasco da Gama (line demarcated in black)
Vasco da Gama played a leading role in the discovery of the sea route to the Indies. At the time, this country represented an important production and commercial center for spices, fabrics and precious stones.
It was he who commanded the maritime expedition that left Portugal (Lisbon) on July 8, 1497, skirting the African continent, until arriving in the Indies.
After traveling nearly 20,000 kilometers for months, they arrived in the Indies on May 18, 1498.
Upon arriving in Calicut, a city located on the west coast of India, Vasco da Gama goes to meet Samorim and offers him various gifts. However, the local government was hostile to the browser.
Vasco da Gama before the Samorin of Calicut (1498), Veloso Salgado.
They stayed about 5 months in the Indies, returning in October 1498 and arriving in Lisbon in August 1499.
Thus, the commercial monopoly that until then belonged to the Italian cities of Genoa and Venice begins to change.
In such a way, the Portuguese Crown as well as the bourgeois class got to obtain high profits with the spices, jewels and fabrics coming from the Indies.
In 1502, Vasco da Gama returns to the Indies with 20 boats. Once there, they fight and finally make alliances with the kings of Cochin and Cananor. In addition, it established trading posts and trading posts in Africa and the Indies.
When he returns to Portugal (1503), the ships are loaded with spices, jewels and fabrics. About 20 years later, King Dom João III named him Viceroy of India and Count of Vidigueira.
When he made the third trip to the Indies, he soon contracted a disease that killed him. His remains were sent to Portugal and are currently found in the Mosteiro dos Jerônimos, in Lisbon.
Curiosity
The work The Lusiads Luís de Camões was inspired by Vasco da Gama's journey. Check out the first excerpt of the work:
corner I
The weapons and Barons marked
That of Western Lusitana beach
By seas never sailed before
They also went beyond Taprobana,
In peril and hard wars
More than human strength promised,
And among remote people they built
New Kingdom, which so sublimated;
Learn more about the topic. Read the articles!
- Portuguese Navigations
- The First Great Navigations
- European Maritime Expansion
- African tour
- The Lusiads of Luís de Camões
