The arrival of Vasco da Gama in India marks an extremely crucial moment in Indian history. It was the first European sea voyage that successfully reached India, in fact, Asian continent. The first voyage of Vasco da Gama aimed to discover direct sea route to India. But he also intended to set the Portuguese dominance in the Indian subcontinent. Nevertheless, the discovery of a direct sea route between Europe and Asia influenced the global trade quite exceptionally.
Vasco da Gama was the first European to discover India. His first voyage to India, thus have a great historic significance. But the 316 days’ journey of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama was equally interesting with crisis and struggles.
The first voyage of Vasco da Gama’s success was an economic booster for European nations. Direct access to the lucrative Indian spice trades would certainly help the European merchants to bypass the conventional Arab monopoly. But, to understand this, one must grasp the conventional spice trade routes to reach India. It is also necessary to understand the trade philosophy used until the 15th century.
Sources of Information about Vasco Da Gama’s First Voyage to India
The primary sources of information about the first Portuguese voyage to India come from two major accounts. Most significant account was certainly the journals, written on board ship during Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India. Álvaro Velho, who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his first voyage to India, credited for the lost but original journal.
The manuscript is anonymous and undated. But palaeographical analysis dates it to the first half of the 16th century. The journal describes about contact with different peoples on the coasts of Africa and India. It also discusses diseases, hostages, titles and professions, weapons of war, food, precious stones, navigational challenges etc. The journal also include a list of spices and other merchandise and their prices.
King Manuel wrote two letters, describing the first first voyage of Vasco da Gama, soon after the return. The historic letters were written in July and August of 1499 CE. Girolamo Sernigi, a contemporary Italian merchant based at Lisbon, also wrote three letters describing the voyage, after their return.
The First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama to India: 10 Interesting Facts
The arrival of the first European voyage to India was a result of hundreds of unsuccessful attempts made earlier. European sailors were desperate to discover a new sea route to reach India subcontinents. These 10 interesting facts will explain everything from the background to aftermath about Vasco da Gama’s arrival to India.
1. Background of the First Sea Route Exploration of India
Southeast Asian spices, especially, pepper and cinnamon, had very high demand across Europe. But the trade route, known as Indian spice route, was never under control for the European traders. Until the discovery of the sea route to India, European traders would only traverse around highly disputed Mediterranean Sea. They had to used either the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea for trading their goods. The other route was the land route, through the Egyptian and Syrian ports, virtually monopolized by the Republic of Venice. So, John II of Portugal (1481-95) had set a new objective for his captains. The goal was obvious one: to find a sea route to Asia by sailing around the African continent.
The ports of Cochin and Calicut was extremely critical in international spice trades major center of the pepper and spices. European traders thus made dozens of attempts to discover a new route to reach India, avoiding the conventional spice route. Thousands of sailors lost lives along with many of their vessels either destroyed in the Atlantic or looted.
2. The First Successful Voyage to India
King Manuel I of Portugal sanctioned the first successful voyage to India. Vasco da Gama, renowned as an experienced Portuguese navigator, was given the command of the fleet. The first Portuguese voyage to India consisted of 4 ships and 170 men. Among the four ships, Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael were two 120 ton medium sized, 3-masted sailing ships. The voyage also included, a 200 ton storage ship and a 50 ton caravel.
Most experienced Portuguese navigators were included in the much needed new route exploration voyage to India. Pedro de Alenquer, Pedro Escobar, João de Coimbra, and Afonso Gonçalves were the other commendable co-navigators of Vasco da Gama. However, the first voyage to India departed on 8th July 1497 CE from Lisbon, Portugal.
3. The Route
The Portuguese voyage started the journey towards the south of Africa to explore a new sea route to India. Bartholomew Dias had made it easier after his discovery of Cape of Good Hope in 1488 CE. Initially, they took the conventional route towards southern Africa through Canary and Cape Varde islands. The first challenge for Gama was the strong currents of the Gulf of Guinea. Gama took an extremely effective decision by taking longer route through the Atlantic. The first voyage to India eventually landed on the Cape of Good Hope on 7th November, 1497 CE.
Once the early hurdle was overcome, exploring new route to India became rather easy for Vasco da Gama. All he had to do, was to move ahead keeping the African land to his left. So, his voyage started sailing again around 22nd November, along the east coast of Africa. The voyage reached the island of Mozambique on 2nd March, 1498 CE, while anchoring at Mossel Bay and Natal.
Gama’s fleet further moved northwards to reach Mombasa, Kenya on 7th April. Next week on 14th April, Gama anchored at Malindi, his last halt before arriving India.
4. Troubled by Sickness
On 25th January, the first voyage of Vasco da Gama reached Quelimane River, at the vicinity of Mozambique. They called the river Rio dos Bons Sinais (the River of Good Omens). Many of the crew members fell sick with scurvy, due to such a long journey. It forced Da Gama kept anchored at the place for about a month.
The ships were in need of repairs, which was done during the stay.
5. Tussles at Mozambique
Vasco da Gama landed at Arab controlled Mozambique on 2nd March. There he learnt that they mostly trade with Arab merchants. Da Gama feared that the local Muslim population would become hostile to the Christians. So, he impersonated a Muslim, during his stay until 29th March, 1498 CE.
Da Gama was also successful to meet the Sultan of Mozambique, but couldn’t please him with his gifts. However, the Sultan had given him two local pilots. But his behaviors soon made the pilots suspicious and one of them deserted after realizing Da Gama was a Christian. Local people also started turning violent, as the news spread across the city. Seeing the situation turning worse, Vasco da Gama decided to escape. In fact, while fleeing from Mozambique, Vasco da Gama had to fire his cannons into the city.
6. Looting Arab Merchant Ships
Vasco da Gama often took violent approaches during his official mission to discover a direct sea route to India. During his expedition, especially around the east coast of Africa and Arabian sea, he plundered and seized many ships. The most notable example was plundering an Arab merchant ship, including cruel massacre of many of its crew members.
Such cruel acts of Vasco da Gama had strategic motives along with the economic intent. The first European navigator arriving in India wanted to intimidate the local rulers. He aimed to set up Portuguese dominance at the Indian Ocean.
7. Appointing Kanji Malam
Anchoring at Malindi in modern Kenya, proved extremely beneficial for Vasco da Gama. There Vasco da Gama met Kanji Malam, an Indian navigator from Kutch, Gujarat, who knew the route to Calicut. So, Gama took him onboard and appointed him as his pilot.
Kanji Malam finally guided the first voyage of Vasco da Gama from Malindi, Kenya to Calicut. The final journey took 23 days to sail across the Indian Ocean. The first European voyage eventually arrived its destination of Calicut, India on 20th May, 1498 CE.
8. The Arrival: Vasco da Gama and Zamorin Meet
The first voyage of Vasco da Gama arrived at Kappad, a territory under the kingdom of Calicut.
Raja Manavikraman, the Zamorin (king) of Calicut had welcomed the foreigners with hospitality. The men of Zamorin took Vasco da Gama to the Zamorin through a grand, long procession. Vasco da Gama handed over the letter of King Manuel of Portugal along with the gifts he brought. The gifts of Gama were according to European culture, including clothes, hats, corals, sugar, oil etc.
Unfortunately, the gifts of Gama for the Zamorin proved insignificant. Zamorin, the Hindu ruler of Calicut was not impressed since there was no gold, silver or precious jewels.
9. The Disagreement
Nevertheless, the unhappy Zamorin demanded a high custom duty which Vasco da Gama refused to comply. Hence, the Portuguese couldn’t secure any commercial treaty with the Zamorin of Calicut.
Historians see three reasons behind the failure of Vasco da Gama in establishing a commercial treaty with Zamorin. Firstly, Vasco da Gama lacked any diplomatic skills. Rather he was quite rude and arrogant with his proposals. Secondly, his insignificant gifts made the Zamorin unhappy. Lastly but most importantly, the hostility of the Arab traders played a crucial role behind this failure. Gama’s success was a serious threat to the monopoly set by them for spice trades with India.
10. Return of First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama
The first voyage of Vasco da Gama left India sometimes in August of 1398 CE. Only two of the four ships reached Lisbon on 10th July 1499 CE. The ships being in bad shape, two of them were lost during their return to Portugal. Anyways, the cargo brought enough goods to secure a extremely profitable campaign. The goods included highly demanded spices like pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Additionally, they brought precious metals, gemstones, textiles etc.
However, Vasco da Gama received a grand welcome on his successful return to Portugal. He received the title of ‘Dom’ from the king. The return cargo valued more than 60 times of their total journey cost. Most importantly, the profitable campaign further solidified Portugal’s interest to set up a strong trade relation with India.
The Takeaways
Arrogant attitude and insignificant diplomatic skills didn’t allow Vasco da Gama secure a commercial treaty. But the primary goal to explore direct sea route to India was still successful. This discovery of India opened up a direct access to Indian spice markets for the European merchants. The first European expedition to India would certainly boost European trades and their economy quite remarkably.
Vasco da Gama’s discovery paved the way for further Portuguese explorations and eventual establishment of Portuguese factory in India. It further led the French and British approaches to set up their trades with India in next few decades. Slowly and gradually, they brought their trained army, first to secure and then to dominate the native rulers. They kept expanding and eventually gifted India with the British colonial dominance of 290 years (1757 – 1947 CE).