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Dom '''Vasco da Gama''' ({{IPA2|'vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ}} ([[Sines, Portugal|Sines]] or [[Vidigueira]], [[Alentejo]], [[Portugal]], c. 1469 – [[December 24]], [[1524]] in [[Kochi (India)|Kochi]], [[India]]) was a [[Portugal in the Age of Discovery|Portuguese explorer]], one of the most successful in the European [[Age of Discovery]], and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from [[Europe]] to [[India]]. |
Dom '''Vasco da Gama''' ({{IPA2|'vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ}} ([[Sines, Portugal|Sines]] or [[Vidigueira]], [[Alentejo]], [[Portugal]], c. 1469 – [[December 24]], [[1524]] in [[Kochi (India)|Kochi]], [[India]]) was a [[Portugal in the Age of Discovery|Portuguese explorer]], one of the most successful in the European [[Age of Discovery]], and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from [[Europe]] to [[India]]. |
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== Early life ==sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! |
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== Early life ==sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet! |
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It is sometimes claimed that Vasco da Gama was born in 1460, but there is little to support this. Vasco da Gama was probably born in 1469, in [[Sines]], on the south west coast of Portugal, probably in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas. [[Sines]], one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, consisted of little more than a cluster of whitewashed, red-tiled cottages, tenanted chiefly by fisherfolk. |
It is sometimes claimed that Vasco da Gama was born in 1460, but there is little to support this. Vasco da Gama was probably born in 1469, in [[Sines]], on the south west coast of Portugal, probably in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas. [[Sines]], one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, consisted of little more than a cluster of whitewashed, red-tiled cottages, tenanted chiefly by fisherfolk. |
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Revision as of 22:46, 17 April 2007
This article needs additional citations for verification. |
Vasco da Gama | |
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Occupation(s) | Explorer, military naval commander |
Spouse | Catarina de Ataíde |
Dom Vasco da Gama (IPA: ['vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ] (Sines or Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal, c. 1469 – December 24, 1524 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery, and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.
== Early life ==sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! It is sometimes claimed that Vasco da Gama was born in 1460, but there is little to support this. Vasco da Gama was probably born in 1469, in Sines, on the south west coast of Portugal, probably in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas. Sines, one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, consisted of little more than a cluster of whitewashed, red-tiled cottages, tenanted chiefly by fisherfolk.
Vasco da Gama's father was Estêvão da Gama. He was a knight in the household of the Duke of Viseu, Dom Fernando in the 1460s. Dom Fernando appointed him Alcaide-Mór or Civil Governor of Sines, and enabled him to receive a small revenue from taxes on soap making in Estremoz.
Estêvão da Gama was married to Dona Isabel Sodré, daughter of João Sodré (also known as João de Resende; of English origin, with links to the household of Prince Diogo, Duke of Viseu, son of King Edward I of Portugal, and governor of the military Order of Christ).
Little is known of Vasco da Gama's early life. It has been suggested that he studied at the inland town of Évora, which is where he may have learnt mathematics and navigation, and that he knew astronomy well due to having learnt from the famous astronomer Abraham Zacuto.
In 1492 King John II of Portugal sent him to the port of Setúbal, south of Lisbon, and to the Algarve, Portugal's southernmost province, to seize French ships in retaliation for peacetime depredations against Portuguese shipping - a task that Vasco rapidly and effectively performed.
Background
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Sines06.jpg/225px-Sines06.jpg)
Vasco da Gama was commissioned by King Manuel I of Portugal to find Christian lands in the East, and to gain Portuguese access to the commercial markets of the Orient. The King, like many Europeans, was under the impression that India was the legendary Christian Kingdom of Prester John.[citation needed] Vasco da Gama extended the sea route exploration of his predecessor Bartholomeu Dias, who had first rounded Africa's Cape of Good Hope in 1488, culminating a generation of Portuguese sea exploration fostered by Henry the Navigator.
Gama's voyage was successful in establishing a sea route from Europe to India that would permit trade with the Far East, without the use of the costly and unsafe Silk Road caravan routes of the Middle East and Central Asia--which were also disappearing due to the collapse of the Mongol Empire. However, the voyage was hampered by its failure to bring any trade goods of interest to the nations of Asia Minor and India. The route was also fraught with peril - his fleet went more than three months without seeing land, and only 54 of his 170 voyagers, and two of four ships, returned to Portugal in 1499. Nevertheless, da Gama's initial journey ushered in a several-hundred year era of European domination through sea power and commerce, and 450 years of Portuguese colonialism in India that brought wealth and power to the Portuguese monarch
Exploration before Gama
From the early 15th century, the nautical school of Henry the Navigator had been extending Portuguese knowledge of the African coastline. From the 1460s, the goal had become one of rounding that continent's southern extremity to gain easier access to the riches of India (mainly black pepper and other spices) through a reliable sea route.
By the time Gama was 10 years old, these long-term plans were coming to fruition. Bartolomeu Dias had returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope, having explored as far as the Fish River (Rio do Infante) in modern-day South Africa, and verified that the unknown coast stretched away to the northeast.
Concurrent land exploration during the reign of João II of Portugal supported the theory that India was reachable by sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Pero da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva were sent via Barcelona, Naples, and Rhodes, into Alexandria, and from there to Aden, Hormuz, and India, which gave credence to the theory.
It remained for an explorer to prove the link between the findings of Dias and those of da Covilhã and de Paiva, and to connect these separate segments of a potentially lucrative trade route into the Indian Ocean. The task, originally given to Vasco da Gama's father, was offered to Vasco by Manuel I on the strength of his record of protecting Portuguese trading stations along the African Gold Coast from depredations by the French.
First voyage
On 8 July 1497 the fleet, consisting of four ships, left Lisbon.[1] Its ships were:
- The São Gabriel, commanded by Vasco da Gama; a carrack of 178 tons, length 27 m , width 8.5 m, draft 2.3 m, sails of 372 m², 150 crew
- The São Rafael, whose commander was his brother Paulo da Gama; similar dimensions to the São Gabriel
- The caravel Berrio, slightly smaller than the former two (later re-baptized São Miguel), commanded by Nicolau Coelho.
- A storage ship of unknown name, commanded by Gonçalo Nunes, later lost near the Bay of São Brás, along the east coast of Africa.
Rounding the Cape
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Gama_route_1.png/360px-Gama_route_1.png)
By December 16, the fleet had passed the White River, South Africa where Dias had turned back, and continued on into waters unknown to Europeans. With Christmas pending, they gave the coast they were passing the name Natal ("Christmas" in Portuguese),
Arab-controlled territory on the East African coast was part of the Indian Ocean's network of trade. Fearing the local population would be hostile to Christians, da Gama impersonated a Muslim and gained audience with the Sultan of Mozambique. With the paltry trade goods he had to offer, da Gama was unable to provide a suitable gift to the ruler, and soon the local populace began to see through the subterfuge of da Gama and his men. Forced to quit Mozambique by a hostile crowd, da Gama departed the harbor, firing his cannon into the city in retaliation.[2]
Mombasa
In the vicinity of modern Kenya, the expedition resorted to piracy, looting Arab merchant ships - generally unarmed trading vessels without heavy cannon. The Portuguese became the first known Europeans to visit the port of Mombasa, but were met with hostility, and soon departed.
Malindi
In February 1498, Vasco da Gama continued north, landing at the friendlier port of Malindi, whose leaders were in conflict with those of Mombasa; and there the expedition first noted evidence of Indian traders. They contracted the services of an Arab navigator and cartographer, whose knowledge of the monsoon winds allowed him to bring the expedition the rest of the way to Calicut (modern Kozhikode) on the southwest coast of India. The navigator was believed to be Ibn Majid , however Ibn Majid would have been approaching 60 at the time.
India
They arrived in India on 20 May, 1498. Sometimes violent negotiations with the local ruler (usually anglicized as Zamorin), the Wyatt Enourato ensued, in the teeth of resistance from Arab merchants. Eventually Gama was able to gain an ambiguous letter of concession for trading rights, but had to sail off without warning after the Zamorin insisted da Gama leave all his goods as collateral. Vasco da Gama kept his goods, but left a few Portuguese with orders to start a trading post.
Return
Paulo da Gama died in the Azores on the homeward voyage, but when his brother, Vasco da Gama, returned to Portugal in September 1499, he was richly rewarded as the man who had brought to fruition a plan that had taken eighty years. He was given the title "Admiral of the Indian Ocean", and the feudal rights over Sines were confirmed. Manuel I also awarded the dignity of Dom (lord) to da Gama, to his brothers and sisters, and to all of their descendants, forever. He was created first earl of Vidigueira, the first Portuguese count with no royal blood ever created.
Vasco da Gama's voyage had made it clear that the farther (East) coast of Africa, the Contra Costa, was essential to Portuguese interests: its ports provided fresh water and provisions, timber and harbors for repairs, and a region to wait out unfavorable seasons. Also, the spice commodity would prove to be a major contribution to the Portuguese economy.
Second voyage
On 12 February 1502, da Gama again sailed with a fleet of twenty warships, to enforce Portuguese interests. Pedro Álvares Cabral had been sent to India two years earlier (when he officially discovered Brazil, though some claim it was unintentional), and finding that those at the trading post had been murdered, and encountering further resistance, he had bombarded Calicut and he sailed south of Calicut to reach Cochin,a small kingdom where he was given a warm welcome. He also brought back silk and gold to prove he had been to India once again.
At one point, Vasco da Gama waited for a ship to return from Mecca, and seized all the merchandise; they then locked the 380 passengers in the hold and set the ship on fire. It took four days for the ship to sink, killing all men, women, and children, when da Gama returned to Calicut on October 30, 1502 the Zamorin was willing to sign a treaty.[3]
Gama assaulted and exacted tribute from the Arab-controlled port of Kilwa in East Africa, one of those ports involved in frustrating the Portuguese; he played privateer amongst Arab merchant ships, then finally smashed a Calicut fleet of twenty-nine ships. He then extracted favorable trading concessions from the Zamorin.
On his return to Portugal, in September 1503, he was made Count of Vidigueira out of lands sold to him by the Duke of Bragança (the future royal family of Bragança). He was also awarded feudal rights and jurisdiction over Vidigueira and Vila dos Frades.
Third voyage
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Belem.Jeronimos07.jpg/175px-Belem.Jeronimos07.jpg)
Having acquired a fearsome reputation as a "fixer" of problems that arose in India, he was sent to the subcontinent once more in 1524.
The intention was that he was to replace the incompetent Eduardo de Menezes as viceroy (representative) of the Portuguese possessions, but he contracted malaria not long after arriving in Goa and died in the city of Cochin on Christmas Eve in 1524.
His body was first buried at St. Francis Church, Fort Kochi, Kochi, then later his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539 and re-interred in Vidigueira in a splendid tomb.
The Monastery of the Hieronymites in Belém was erected in honour of his voyage to India.
Legacy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Portuguese_Empire_map.jpg/300px-Portuguese_Empire_map.jpg)
Da Gama and his wife, Catarina de Ataíde, had six sons and one daughter: Francisco da Gama, 2d Count of Vidigueira; Estevão da Gama; Paulo da Gama; Cristovão da Gama; Pedro da Silva da Gama; Álvaro de Ataíde; and Isabel de Ataíde da Gama.
As much as anyone after Henry the Navigator, Gama was responsible for Portugal's success as an early colonising power. Besides the first voyage itself, it was his astute mix of politics and war on the other side of the world that placed Portugal in a prominent position in Indian Ocean trade.
The Portuguese national epic, the Lusíadas of Luís Vaz de Camões largely concerns Vasco da Gama's voyages.
Following Gama's initial voyage, the Portuguese crown realized that securing outposts on the eastern coast of Africa would prove vital to maintaining their trade routes to the Far East.
The port city of Vasco da Gama in Goa is named after him, as is the Vasco da Gama crater, a big crater on the Moon. There are three football clubs in Brazil (including Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama) and Vasco Sports Club in Goa that were also named after him. A church in Kochi, Kerala Vasco da Gama Church, a private residence on the island of Saint Helena and Lisbon's Vasco da Gama Bridge are also named after him.
Da Gama was ranked 86th on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.
In 1998, the attempts to observe the 500th anniversary of Gama's arrival in India by the Government of Portugal had to be abandoned due to the large scale of public anger towards the event.[4].
References
- ^ da Gama's Round Africa to India, Retrieved 16 November 2006
- ^ Vasco da Gamma Seeks Sea Route to India www.oldnewspublishing.com; Retrieved 08 July 2006
- ^ Vasco da Gama Arrives in India 1498 (Google cached version) Dana Thompson, Felicity Ruiz, Michelle Mejiak; December 15, 1998; Retrieved 08 July 2006
- ^ Explorer or Exploiter? Rediff On The Net - www.rediff.com
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Vasco da Gama at Prominent People
- da Gama's Round Africa to India in English
- da Gama web tutorial with animated maps
- Brief description of da Gama's journeys
See also