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| Vacodegama navrangindia.blogspot.com |
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| Vasco da Gama lands at Calicut, 20 May 1498. en.wikipedia.org |
Gama was a member in the court of King Manuel I and he undertook the sea journey to the west coast of India against the wish of numerous counselors. The spice trade was then dominated by Venetians and others and Gama wanted to break their monopoly. He led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from the Tagus River in Lisbon on 8 July 1497. Da Gama commanded the ship Sao Gabriel, a carrack of 178 tons and his eccentric brother Paulo da Gama commanded a similar ship named Sao Rafael........
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| Gama'ssea voyage to India..bbc.co.uk |
Da Gama, an ambitious member of King Manuel I’s court, embarked on his mission from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, leading a fleet of four ships, including his flagship, the São Gabriel. His goals were clear and twofold: to spread Christianity and, critically, to monopolize the lucrative spice trade then dominated by Arab and Venetian merchants. The voyage itself was a monumental undertaking. By November 4, 1497, the navigators had covered over 10,000 kilometers of open ocean before landing on the African coast, a testament to the advanced navigational techniques that utilized the South Atlantic westerlies, a route Bartolomeu Dias had previously explored. Successfully rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the fleet reached Malindi, from where they launched their final eastward leg toward the Malabar coast of India.
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| Ships used by Gama to India,Facebook.com |
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| De Gama's trip to SW Indian coast |
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| de Gama landed Kappad beach Malabar Kerala, en.wikimedia.org |
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| Gama meeting Zamorin king, Calicut 1498 commonswikipeia. |
The meeting with the local Hindu ruler, the Zamorin (Samudiri), was a moment of stark cultural dissonance. Da Gama was dazzled by the "vast wealth and affluence" of the court, but the Zamorin was unimpressed by the paltry gifts offered by the Portuguese—a few hats, butter, and sugar. The King, accustomed to far more valuable presents from Arab merchants, saw no merit in a trade deal. This initial misunderstanding, fueled by the animosity of the local Muslim mercantile community, soon led to skirmishes. Yet, through negotiations, Da Gama eventually managed to load his ships with precious commodities, resulting in a return cargo worth an astonishing sixty times the total cost of the expedition.
The return journey, however, proved catastrophic. Leaving Calicut on August 29, 1498, during the perilous Southwest Monsoon (SW Monsoon), the journey across the Indian Ocean took 132 days—significantly longer than the 23-day outward trip. The devastating conditions led to the death of half the crew before they reached Malindi. Da Gama also suffered the loss of his eccentric brother, Paulo da Gama, en route. Despite the staggering human cost, Da Gama returned to Lisbon on August 29, 1499, to a heroic welcome. The riches instantly enriched the royal treasury, ensuring that Da Gama's sea route, the Carreira da Índia, would be regularly followed by subsequent Portuguese armadas.
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| Outward and return voyages of the Portuguese en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: The images shows outward and return voyages of the Portuguese India Run (Carreira da Índia). The outward route of the South Atlantic westerlies that Bartolomeu Dias discovered in 1487, was followed and explored by da Gama. the perilous return journey was taken during the SW Monsoon ..........
Vasco da Gama's achievement was not merely a triumph of navigation; it was a geopolitical earthquake. It circumvented the traditional Mediterranean-Red Sea trade route, crippling the Venetian-Arab monopoly and ushering in the era of direct Euro-Asian maritime trade. It was a catalyst for centuries of European imperial expansion, definitively shifting the global centre of economic power toward the Atlantic and the ascending naval powers of Western Europe. Though Da Gama's later voyages would be marked by ruthlessness and conflict, his initial journey irrevocably altered the course of human history
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| Gama was buried St. Francis Church, Fort Cochiwww.makemytrip.com |
Gama made three voyages to India; the second one in 1502 was to take revenge on the Zamorin ruler and the third one being in 1524. This time Gama contracted Malaria and died on the Christmas Eve in Cochin (now in the state of Kerala) and was buried at St. Francis Church, in Fort Kochi. His mortal remains were returned to Portugal in 1539.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama
http://navrangindia.blogspot.in/2014/11/reasons-for-alternative-sea-route-to.html
https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/vasco-da-gama-square-kochi/174/
