Who was Vasco De Gama ?

Da Gama sailed from Lisbon that July with four vessels, traveling south along the coast of Africa before veering far off into the southern Atlantic in order to avoid unfavorable currents.

His ships were named the San Gabriel, the Sao Rafael, and the Berrio. The fourth ship didn’t have a name as it was only used for storage

Da Gama sailed from Lisbon that July with four vessels, traveling south along the coast of Africa before veering far off into the southern Atlantic in order to avoid unfavorable currents.

The fleet was finally able to round the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip in late November, and headed north along Africa’s eastern coast, making stops at what is now Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi .

Da Gama took three interpreters on the first voyage.

Though the local Hindu population of Calicut initially welcomed the arrival of the Portuguese sailors (who mistook them for Christians), tensions quickly flared after da Gama offered their ruler a collection of relatively cheap goods as an arrival gift.

The spices in India were popular with Europeans, which was one of the reasons the safe passage was necessary.

This conflict, along with hostility from Muslim traders, led Da Gama to leave without concluding a treaty and return to Portugal.

On the return voyage, half of da Gama’s crew died of scurvy.

A much larger fleet, commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral, was dispatched to capitalize on da Gama’s discoveries and secure a trading post at Calicut.

He was the commander of two more trips to India.

After Muslim traders killed 50 of his men, Cabral retaliated by burning 10 Muslim cargo vessels and killing the nearly 600 sailors aboard.

On his second trip, he had 20 armed ships instead of only the four on the original journey.

On da Gama’s second voyage, he ordered his crew to seize the cargo of an Arab ship carrying as many as 400 passengers. The ship was set on fire and all those on board died.

He then moved on to Cochin, where he established the first Portuguese trading post in India. In 1502, King Manuel put da Gama in charge of another Indian expedition, which sailed that February.

While in Calicut, he demanded that all Muslims be banned from India. The king refused.

He then moved on to Cochin, where he established the first Portuguese trading post in India. In 1502, King Manuel put da Gama in charge of another Indian expedition, which sailed that February.

Da Gama was given Vidigueira, a newly created county in 1519. During this year, he also became the first non-royal blood count in Portugal.

In 1524, da Gama was named the Governor of India. However, he died of malaria before he could take over his new post.

Da Gama had married a well-born woman sometime after returning from his first voyage to India; the couple would have six sons. For the next 20 years.

His father was supposed to be the commander of the expedition to India. It was delayed for so many years that da Gama ended up being given the expedition.

da Gama continued to advise the Portuguese ruler on Indian affairs, but he was not sent back to the region until 1524, when King John III appointed him as Portuguese viceroy in India.

There is a crater on the Moon that was named Vasco da Gama.

Da Gama arrived in Goa with the task of combating the growing corruption that had tainted the Portuguese government in India. He soon fell ill, and in December 1524 he died in Cochin. His body was later taken back to Portugal for burial there.

He had one daughter and six sons. His second born son later became the governor of Portuguese India.