Vasco da gama

Vasco Da Gama Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 in Alenteijo, Portugal and he died in 1542 in Cochin, India. Da Gama was most successful Portuguese explorer ever and the first navigator sailing directly from Europe to India. Da Gama was born into a noble family. Estavâo da Gama, his father, was a member of the family of Prince Don Fernando and his mother was of English origin and had relation to Don Diogo, Duke of Viseu. King Manuel I of Portugal gave da Gama the order to find a directly sea route between Europe and India to gain Portuguese access to the commercial market of the orient. The voyage to India At July 8th, 1497, 80 years after Heinrich the sailor had tried at first to find the way to India, a fleet (4 ships) had left Lisbon with Vasco da Gama.

     Those shpis were: ¨ The Sao Gabriel. It was commanded by Vasco da Gama ¨ The Sao Rafael. It was commanded by Vaso da Gamas brother, Paulo da Gama ¨ The Berrio. It was commanded by Nicolau Coelho ¨ A storage ship of unknown name. It's was commanded by Cocalo Nunes At December 16th, 1497 Vasco da Gamas fleet had passed the White River in South Africa, where Bartolomeu Diaz had turned back to Portugal. They continued to sailing into for Europeans unknown water.

     During the christmas time, they have given the coast that they were passing the name Natal . This name keeps to this day. At January they had reached Mozambique witch was controlled by the Arabs. The local population , who was frightend, reacted to the Christians with hostile, so da Gama impersonated a Muslim and tried to reach an audience with the Sultan of Mozambique. With the paltry goods he had offered, da Gama was unable to give a suitable gift to the ruler, and soon the local population began to see through the subterfuge of da Gama and his men. The hostil crowed drove them away and da Gama had to escape.

     He had fired his cannons into the City for retaliation. At February Vasco da Gama arrived in Kenya at the port of Mombassa. They had changed there to piracys and looted Arab merchant ships especially unarmed or those without heavy cannons. The Portuguese became the first Europeans that had visited the port of Mombassa. In Mombassa they were receaved with hostility so they had to escape again. At May 20th, 1498 Vasco da Gama arrived in India with his fleet!!! Vasco da Gama had difficult negotiations with the local ruler.

     The ruler was the Samoothiri Raja, because the resistance of the Arab merchants was strong. Because of the hostility with the Arab merchants was imposible for Vasco da Gama to negotiate a deal. Da Gama had to fight his way back to the harbour to leave India and to sail back to Portugal. He kept his goods, but he left a few Portuguese with order to start a trading point there. Return At September 1499 Vasco da Gama returned back to Portugal after his brother Paulo da Gama had died at the Azores. Da Gama was richly rewarded as the man who had completed a plan witch had taken eighty years.

     The King of Portugal Don Manuel I had given him the title "Admiral of the Indian Ocean" and the Title "Don" After Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal Manuel I had given the order to Pedro Alvares Cabral to built up tradeing points in India. Second voyage On February 12th, 1502 he had to sail again with a fleet of twenty ships to India. The reason was he wanted to enforce the Portuguese interests and they had heared that the Portuguese people, wich he had left there, were killed. As he arrived he had finished the rebellious. At returned back to Portugal with silk and gold as one prove. Third Voyage The next 20 years he had´t done any voyage but in 1542 Vasco da Gama had to sail to India again.

     He wanted to finish the rebellious and corruption there. He arrived India at autumn and three months later he died. Beacause of the achivemend, from Vasco da Gama, is he still one of the national heros and everybody in Portugal knows him!!!