Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India
Vasco da Gama’s fleet rounded Africa and became the first to sail from Europe to India, opening a direct route for the Portuguese to the spice markets.
- Date
- 8 July 1497 – between August and September 1499start: exact date; end: exact date unknown: an interval is given · duration: ≈ 2 yearsDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Lisbontoday: Lisbon, Portugal · Western and Central Europe
- Route
- Lisbon → Atlantic off the Canary Islands → Ribeira Grande (Santiago Island, Cape Verde Islands) → Atlantic off Sierra Leone → Atlantic (wide arc far from land) → Atlantic (wide arc far from land) → Atlantic (wide arc far from land) → St Helena Bay → Atlantic off Saldanha → Atlantic off the Cape Peninsula → Cape of Good Hope → Off Cape Agulhas → Indian Ocean off Mossel Bay → Mossel Bay → Off Cape St. Francis → Indian Ocean off East London → Indian Ocean off Port Edward → Natal coast → Indian Ocean off Cape Vidal → Off Inhambane → Off Cape São Sebastião → Mouth of the Bons Sinais River (Quelimane) → Mozambique Channel off Quelimane → Off Angoche → Island of Mozambique → Off the Island of Mozambique → Off Cape Delgado → Mombasa → Malindi → Calicut
- Participants
- Vasco da Gama, Manuel I of Portugal, Kingdom of Portugal
- Threads
- Age of Discovery and the New World, History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Открытие морского пути в Индию
Four ships left Lisbon on 8 July 1497. From the Cape Verde Islands, on the advice of Bartolomeu Dias, da Gama led the fleet far out into the open Atlantic and did not sight land again for three months, until he reached St Helena Bay. In November the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope, sailed up the east coast of Africa to Malindi, where they took on a pilot, and crossed the Arabian Sea with the monsoon wind behind them.
The voyage home was a hard one: of the 148 men who had set out, only 55 returned. The first ship reached Lisbon in July 1499, while da Gama himself, delayed in the Azores by his brother’s illness, arrived in August or September. The map shows the outward route to India.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias around the southern tip of Africabetween July and August 1487 – December 1488 · Africada Gama’s expedition followed the route opened by Dias and drew on his advice
Consequences
- Discovery of Brazil by Cabral’s expedition22 April 1500 · Latin Americathe second India armada followed the route opened by da Gama
- Battle of Diu3 February 1509 · South Asiathe struggle for the spice trade after the Portuguese reached India
- Portuguese conquest of Goa25 November 1510 · South Asia
Includes
- Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut20 May 1498 · South Asia
Related events
- Publication of The Lusiads1572 · Western and Central Europeda Gama’s voyage is the main subject of the poem
Same participants
- Expulsion and forced conversion of the Jews of Portugal5 December 1496 – October 1497 · Western and Central Europevia Manuel I of Portugal
- Voyages of the Corte-Real brothers to Newfoundland1500–1502 · North Americavia Manuel I of Portugal
Same place
- Restoration of Portuguese independence1 December 1640 · Western and Central Europe
- Lisbon earthquake1 November 1755 · Western and Central Europe
- British Ultimatum of 189011 January 1890 · Western and Central Europe
- 5 October 1910 revolution — Portugal becomes a republic5 October 1910 · Western and Central Europe
- Salazar’s Estado Novo: the Constitution of 193319 March 1933 · Western and Central Europe
- Carnation Revolution25 April 1974 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Eastern Europe
- Sudebnik of 1497September 1497
- Battle of Vedrosha14 July 1500
Africa
- Askia Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Meccabetween 1495 and 1497 – between 1497 and 1498
Central and Northern Asia
- Shaybani Khan destroys the Timurid Empire1500 – 27 May 1507
South Asia
- Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut20 May 1498
North America
- John Cabot’s voyage to North AmericaMay 1497 – 6 August 1497
- Voyages of the Corte-Real brothers to Newfoundland1500–1502
Latin America
- Discovery of Brazil by Cabral’s expedition22 April 1500
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India
- Wikipedia (English): Vasco da Gama
- Wikipedia (Russian): Васко да Гама
- Subrahmanyam S. The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Wikidata: Q951383