Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva were sent to Alexandria via Barcelona, Naples, and Rhodes, and from there to Aden, Hormuz, and India, which provided the theory with credence. The hypothesis that India was accessible from the Atlantic Ocean by sea was reinforced by simultaneous land discovery during the reign of João II of Portugal. Having explored as far as the Fish River (Rio do Infante) in modern-day South Africa, Bartolomeu Dias had returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope and verified that the unknown coast stretched to the northeast. These long-term plans were coming to fruition by the time da Gama was ten years old. From the 1460s, the goal had become one of rounding the southern extremity of that continent to gain easier access through a reliable sea route to the riches of India (mainly black pepper and other spices). The path was fraught with danger: in 1499, only 54 of his 170 voyagers and two of his four ships came back to Portugal.įrom the early 15th century, the nautical school of Henry the Navigator had been extending Portuguese knowledge of the African coastline. The voyage, however, was also hindered by its inability to deliver to the nations of Asia Minor and India any commercial goods of interest. Without the use of the expensive and dangerous Silk Road caravan routes of the Middle East and Central Asia, Da Gama's trip was successful in creating a sea route from Europe to India that would enable trade with the Far East. Vasco had a well-known niece, Teresa da Gama, too (who married Lopo Mendes de Vasconcelos).įor his services to the crown, he was created count of Vidigueira. His siblings were: Paulo da Gama, João Sodré, Pedro da Gama and Aires da Gama. Vasco da Gama was the third son of Estêvão da Gama and Isabel Sodré. Her father and her brothers, Vicente Sodré and Brás Sodré, were related to the household of the Duke of Viseu,Infante Diogo and were prominent people in Christ's military order. Isabel Sodré, daughter of João Sodré, a scion of a well-connected family of English descent, married Estêvão da Gama. After 1478, he remained in the region as receiver of taxes and keeper of commendas of the Order. In the 1460s, Estêvão da Gama was appointed as the alcaide-mór (civil governor) of Sines. He rose to the ranks of the Santiago Military Order. His father, Estêvão da Gama, had served as the household knight of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, in the 1460s. Vasco da Gama was born in the town of Sines, one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, southwest of Portugal, possibly in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas. In this Vasco da Gama biography, we will learn about Vasco da Gama’s early life, his voyages, his explorations and his family. He died on December 24, 1524, and was buried in a Catholic church in Kochi but in 1538, his remains were returned to Portugal. In 1497, he was given command of a Portuguese government-equipped expedition tasked with discovering a maritime route to the East. Vasco da Gama was born into a noble family. Commissioned to find Christian lands in the East by King Manuel I of Portugal (the king, was under the impression that India was the mythical Christian kingdom of Prester John) and to obtain Portuguese access to the commercial markets of the Orient, Vasco da Gama expanded the discovery of the sea route of his predecessor, Bartolomeu Dias, who had first rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, the first person to sail directly from Europe to India, and one of the most influential in the European Age of Exploration.
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