Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama
Portuguese navigator
Portuguese Vasco da Gama, 1er conde da Vidigueira
born c. 1460, Sines, Port.
died Dec. 24, 1524, Cochin, India
Main
Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524)
opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the
Cape of Good Hope.
Life
Da Gama was the third son of Estêvão da Gama, a minor provincial
nobleman who was commander of the fortress of Sines on the coast of
Alentejo province in southwestern Portugal. Little is known of his early
life. 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 French peacetime depredations
against Portuguese shipping—a task that da Gama rapidly and effectively
performed.
In 1495 King Manuel ascended to the throne. The balance of power
between factions at the Portuguese court shifted in favour of friends
and patrons of the da Gama family. Simultaneously, a neglected project
was revived: to send a Portuguese fleet to India to open the sea route
to Asia and to outflank the Muslims, who had hitherto enjoyed a monopoly
of trade with India and other eastern states. For unknown reasons, da
Gama, who had little relevant experience, was appointed to lead the
expedition.

The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage
The first voyage
Da Gama sailed from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four
vessels—two medium-sized three-masted sailing ships, each of about 120
tons, named the “São Gabriel” and the “São Rafael”; a 50-ton caravel,
named the “Berrio”; and a 200-ton storeship. With da Gama’s fleet went
three interpreters—two Arabic speakers and one who spoke several Bantu
dialects. The fleet also carried padrões (stone pillars) to set up as
marks of discovery.
Passing the Canary Islands on July 15, the fleet reached São Tiago in
the Cape Verde Islands on the 26th, remaining there until August 3.
Then, to avoid the currents of the Gulf of Guinea, da Gama undertook a
long detour through the South Atlantic before attempting to round the
Cape of Good Hope. The fleet reached Santa Helena Bay (in modern South
Africa) on November 7. Unfavourable winds and the adverse current
delayed the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope until November 22. Three
days later da Gama anchored in Mossel Bay, erected a padrão on an
island, and ordered the storeship to be broken up. Sailing again on
December 8, the fleet reached the coast of Natal on Christmas Day. On
Jan. 11, 1498, it anchored for five days near the mouth of a small river
between Natal and Mozambique, which they called the Rio do Cobre (Copper
River). On January 25, in what is now Mozambique, they reached the
Quelimane River, which they called the Rio dos Bons Sinais (the River of
Good Omens), and erected another padrão. By this time many of the crews
were sick with scurvy; the expedition rested a month while the ships
were repaired.
On March 2 the fleet reached the Island of Mozambique, the
inhabitants of which believed the Portuguese to be Muslims like
themselves. Da Gama learned that they traded with Arab merchants and
that four Arab vessels laden with gold, jewels, silver, and spices were
then in port; he was also told that Prester John, the long-sought
Christian ruler, lived in the interior but held many coastal cities. The
Sultan of Mozambique supplied da Gama with two pilots, one of whom
deserted when he discovered that the Portuguese were Christians.
The expedition reached Mombasa (now in Kenya) on April 7 and dropped
anchor at Malindi (also now in Kenya) on April 14, where a Gujarati
pilot who knew the route to Calicut, on the southwest coast of India,
was taken aboard. After a 23-day run across the Indian Ocean, the Ghats
Mountains of India were sighted, and Calicut was reached on May 20.
There da Gama erected a padrão to prove he had reached India. The
welcome of the Zamorin, the Hindu ruler, of Calicut (then the most
important trading centre of southern India), was dispelled by da Gama’s
insignificant gifts and rude behaviour. Da Gama failed to conclude a
treaty—partly because of the hostility of Muslim merchants and partly
because the trumpery presents and cheap trade goods that he had brought,
while suited to the West African trade, were hardly in demand in India.
The Portuguese had mistakenly believed the Hindus to be Christians.
After tension increased, da Gama left at the end of August, taking
with him five or six Hindus so that King Manuel might learn about their
customs. Ignorance and indifference to local knowledge had led da Gama
to choose the worst possible time of year for his departure, and he had
to sail against the monsoon. He visited Anjidiv Island (near Goa) before
sailing for Malindi, which he reached on Jan. 8, 1499, after nearly
three months crossing the Arabian Sea. Many of the crew died of scurvy.
At Malindi, because of greatly reduced numbers, da Gama ordered the “São
Rafael” to be burned; there he also erected a padrão. Mozambique, where
he set up his last padrão, was reached on February 1. On March 20 the
“São Gabriel” and “Berrio” rounded the Cape together but a month later
were parted by a storm; the “Berrio” reached the Tagus River in Portugal
on July 10. Da Gama, in the “São Gabriel,” continued to Terceira Island
in the Azores, whence he is said to have dispatched his flagship to
Lisbon. He himself reached Lisbon on September 9 and made his triumphal
entry nine days later, spending the interval mourning his brother Paulo,
who had died on Terceira. (Out of da Gama’s original crew of 170, only
55 men had survived.) Manuel I granted da Gama the title of dom, an
annual pension of 1,000 cruzados, and estates.

Vasco Da Gama sailed from Portugal to India in 1497 and 1498
The second voyage
To exploit da Gama’s achievement, Manuel I dispatched the Portuguese
navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral to Calicut with a fleet of 13 ships. The
profits of this expedition were such that a third fleet was soon fitted
out in Lisbon. The command of this fleet was given to da Gama, who in
January 1502 received the title of admiral. Da Gama commanded 10 ships,
which were in turn supported by two flotillas of five ships each, each
flotilla being under the command of one of his relations. Sailing in
February 1502, the fleet called at the Cape Verdes, reaching the port of
Sofala in East Africa on June 14. After calling briefly at Mozambique,
the Portuguese expedition sailed to Kilwa, in what is now Tanzania. The
ruler of Kilwa, the amīr Ibrāhīm, had been unfriendly to Cabral; da Gama
threatened to burn Kilwa if the Amīr did not submit to the Portuguese
and swear loyalty to King Manuel, which he then did.
Coasting southern Arabia, da Gama then called at Goa (later the focus
of Portuguese power in India) before proceeding to Cannanore, a port in
southwestern India to the north of Calicut, where he lay in wait for
Arab shipping. After several days an Arab ship arrived with merchandise
and between 200 and 400 passengers, including women and children. After
seizing the cargo, da Gama is said to have shut up the passengers aboard
the captured ship and set it afire, killing all on board. As a
consequence, da Gama has been vilified, and Portuguese trading methods
have been associated with terror. However, the episode is related only
by late and unreliable sources and may be legendary or at least
exaggerated.
After da Gama formed an alliance with the ruler of Cannanore, an
enemy of the Zamorin, the fleet sailed to Calicut, with the aim of
wrecking its trade and punishing the Zamorin for the favour he had shown
to Muslim traders. Da Gama bombarded the port and seized and massacred
38 hostages. The Portuguese then sailed south to the port of Cochin,
with whose ruler (an enemy of the Zamorin) they formed an alliance.
After an invitation to da Gama from the Zamorin had proved to be an
attempt to entrap him, the Portuguese had a brief fight with Arab ships
off Calicut but put them to full flight. On Feb. 20, 1503, the fleet
left Cannanore for Mozambique on the first stage of their return voyage,
reaching the Tagus on October 11.
The third voyage
Obscurity surrounds the reception of da Gama on his return by King
Manuel. Da Gama seemingly felt himself inadequately recompensed for his
pains. Controversy broke out between the Admiral and the Order of São
Tiago over the ownership of the town of Sines, which the Admiral had
been promised but which the order refused to yield. Da Gama had married
a lady of good family, Caterina de Ataíde—perhaps in 1500 after his
return from his first voyage—and he then appears to have retired to the
town of Évora. He was later granted additional privileges and revenues,
and his wife bore him six sons. Until 1505 he continued to advise the
King on Indian matters, and he was created count of Vidigueira in 1519.
Not until after King Manuel died was he again sent overseas; King John
III nominated him in 1524 as Portuguese viceroy in India.
Arriving in Goa in September 1524, da Gama immediately set himself to
correct the many administrative abuses that had crept in under his
predecessors. Whether from overwork or other causes, he soon fell ill
and died in Cochin in December. In 1538 his body was taken back to
Portugal.
Eila M.J. Campbell
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
Encyclopaedia Britannica