Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Do you remember the last time you stayed near any seashore or grabbed a beautiful ride in the ocean? No one can explain the heavenly feel of a stunning burst of excitement which fills our lungs with the salty sense of the ocean when we close our eyes on a boat-ride.

Now think about the man who travelled across the world through these enormous oceans, centuries ago. This great man is the famous explorer, “Vasco da Gama”. He born in the town of Sines, one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, southwest Portugal, in around.

Bronze statue of Vasco da Gama at his birthplace, Sines, Portugal
Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

It is believed that he lived in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas with his parents. His father was Estevao da Gama, who had served in the 1460s as a commander of the fortress in Sines in the southwestern pocket of Portugal. While growing up near the seaport Vasco da Gama was fascinated by the ocean and young Vasco joined the navy, where he was taught how to navigate. Vasco was known as a strong and courageous navigator, he established his reputation as a reliable sailor whenever he used to get to sail through the ocean. Da Gama earned a life-changing opportunity when he was chosen by the Portuguese king to find a lenient route to the East. His success in doing so proved to be one of the most dramatic moments in the history of navigation. He later made two other voyages to India as he leads the first expedition to India in 1497. On July 8 of that year, he commanded a team of four ships, including his own flagship, the 200-ton St. Gabriel, with three interpreters, two Arabic speakers and one who spoke several Bantu dialects to find a sailing route to India and the East. To embark on the journey, Vasco da Gama indicated his ships to south, snatching advantage of the prevailing winds along the coast of Africa. His preference of direction was also a bit of a resistance to Christopher Columbus, who had believed he'd found a route to India by sailing east.

Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with his team and a caravan of four vessels. Departing the Canary Islands on July 15, the fleet reached Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands on the 26th. Then, to avoid the destructive currents of the Gulf of Guinea, Vasco undertook a long journey through the South Atlantic before seeking to round the Cape of Good Hope.

Monument to the Cross of Vasco da Gama at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa: Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Following some months of sailing, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope and embarked making his way up the eastern coast of Africa, toward the exotic waters of the Indian Ocean. By January, as the fleet neared what is now Mozambique, many of Vasco's crewmembers were sick with scurvy, forcing the expedition to anchor for rest and repairs for nearly one month, which describes the struggles of deadly voyaging through the oceans. In the port of Mozambique, which was monopolized by Muslim traders. The residents of which believed the Portuguese to be Muslims like themselves but after some time Vasco was repelled by the ruling sultan, who felt offended by the Vasco's few gifts. But Sultan supplied Vasco da Gama with two pilots, one of whom stranded when he discovered that the Portuguese were actually Christians. By early April, the fleet reached what is now Kenya, before setting sail on a 23-day run that would take them across the Indian Ocean, where a Gujarati pilot who knew the route to Calicut, on the southwest coast of India, was taken aboard.

They reached Calicut, India, on May 20, 1498. Calicut (today's Kolkata) was the most vital trading centre of southern India.

Landmark in Kappad, near Calicut
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There da Gama formed a padrao (a flagship) to prove he had reached India. The welcome of the Zamorin, the Hindu ruler, of Calicut, was wasted by da Gama’s insignificant gifts and strange behaviour. It is believed that the gifts that Vasco sent to the king were four cloaks of scarlet cloth, six hats, four branches of corals, a box with seven trinket vessels, a trunk of sugar, two barrels of oil and a cask of honey. It happened because of Vasco's own unawareness of the region, as well as his assumption that the residents were Christians, led to several confusions. The residents of Calicut were actually Hindu, a fact that was lost on da Gama and his crew, as they had not heard of the religion. Still, the Indians welcomed da Gama and his men, at first, and the crew ended up staying in Calicut for three months. Vasco Da Gama failed to conclude a treaty, partly because of indifference to local knowledge and cheap trade goods that he had brought, while suited to the West African trade, were hardly in demand in India. After some time, Vasco and his crew were told to barter on the waterfront in order to secure enough goods for the passage home. In August of 1498, da Gama and his men took to the seas again, beginning their journey back to Portugal in the worst possible time of year for his departure, and he had to sail against the monsoon.

Thus, nearly three months crossing the Arabian sea, many of the crew died of scurvy. At Malindi, because of greatly reduced numbers, Vasco ordered one of his ships to be burned. two more ships were parted by a destructive storm. After all these tragedies, somehow, he himself reached Lisbon on September 9 and made his victorious entry in Portugal.

In 1502, Portuguese emperor, Manuel assign da Gama in charge of another Indian expedition. On this voyage, da Gama attacked Arab shipping interests in the region and used force to reach an agreement with Calicut’s ruler for further trades. For these brutal displays of power, da Gama was criticized throughout India and the region. For the next 20 years, da Gama continued to advise the Portuguese ruler on Indian affairs, but he was not sent back to the region until 1524 when King John III appointed him as the “Portuguese viceroy in India”, he attained the largest town in Goa located in Mormugao taluka, and further, the town was known after his name, as the ‘Vasco da Gama’ city. While working in the city for the Portuguese government in India he contracted malaria and died in the city of Kochi, Goa on Christmas Eve in 1524. His body was later taken back to Portugal for burial there. (Source - history.com)

St. Francis CSI Church, in Kochi.
Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

This glorious voyage of Vasco da Gama was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean trail, connecting the western world with India. This is widely regarded as a great milestone in world history, as it marked the beginning of a sea-based phase of global trading. Numerous tributes worldwide have applauded his several explorations and achievements. Vasco da Gama resides as a prominent symbol in the history of exploration and ocean voyage.