1838
Portrait of Vasco da Gama by António Manuel da Fonseca (1838).
Vasco da Gama leaving the port of Lisbon, Portugal.
An aged Vasco da Gama, as Viceroy of India and Count of Vidigueira (from Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu).
Vasco da Gama
1850
A steel engraving from the 1850s, with modern hand coloring. It shows the meeting of Vasco da Gama with Zamorin.
1969
Portuguese coin from 1969 commemorating the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's birth.
Portrait of a Knight Templar says Portrait of Vasco da Gama.
Sines, Portugal
Bronze statue of Vasco da Gama at his birthplace, Sines, Portugal.
Plaque engraved near the tomb in St Francis's Church.
Vasco da Gama
Belém, Lisbon
Tomb of Vasco da Gama in the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, Lisbon.
Vasco da Gama leaving the port of Lisbon, Portugal.
An aged Vasco da Gama, as Viceroy of India and Count of Vidigueira (from Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu).
South Africa
Monument to the Cross of Vasco da Gama at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Malindi, Kenya
Pillar of Vasco da Gama in Malindi, in modern-day Kenya, erected on the return journey.
Vasco da Gama landing at Calicut.
Kappad, India
A landmark in Kappad, near Calicut.
An aged Vasco da Gama, as Viceroy of India and Count of Vidigueira (from Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu).
Plaque engraved near the tomb in St. Francis's Church.
Campo de Santa Clara, 1100-471 Lisboa, Portugal
Cenotaph to Vasco da Gama in the Church of Santa Engrácia, now the National Pantheon in Lisbon.
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama was born in 1460 in Sines, Alentejo, Portugal. He came of a long line of Portuguese military pioneers on his father's side; his mother's family was of English descent. His father was governor of Sines. Aside from the bare facts that he was born in Sines, educated in Evora, and trained in the nautical science of his day, little is known of his early life.
He was educated in Evora.
The term "Da Gama epoch" is used to describe the era of European commercial and imperial expansion launched by his navigational enterprise. He first comes to historical notice in 1492, when he seized French ships in Portuguese ports as reprisal for piratical raids.
When Vasco da Gama was commissioned for his famous voyage, he was a gentleman at the court of King Manuel I. Manuel, against the advice of a majority of his counselors, had decided to follow up Bartolomeu Dias's triumphal voyage round the Cape of Good Hope (1487 - 1488) with a well-planned attempt to reach all the way to the Malabar Coast of India, the ports of which were the major entrepots for the Western spice trade with southeastern Asia. This trade had fallen under the control of Moslem merchants. Manuel hoped to displace the Moslem middlemen and to establish Portuguese hegemony over the Oriental oceanic trades. He also hoped to join with Eastern Christian forces and thus carry on a worldwide crusade against Islam.
Da Gama's voyage was to be the first complete step toward the realization of these ambitions. Voyage to India Da Gama, supplied with letters of introduction to Prester John and to the ruler of the Malabar city of Calicut, set sail from the Tagus River in Lisbon on July 8, 1497. He commanded the flagship St. Gabriel, accompanied by the St. Raphael and Berrio and a large supply ship. After a landfall in the Cape Verde Islands, he stood well out to sea, rounding the Cape of Good Hope on November 22.
Sailing past the port of Sofala, the expedition landed at Kilimane, the second in a string of East African coastal cities. These towns were under Moslem control and gained their wealth largely through trade in gold and ivory.
Proceeding to Mozambique, where they were at first mistaken for Moslems, the Portuguese were kindly received by the sultan. A subsequent dispute, however, led da Gama to order a naval bombardment of the city. Traveling northward to Mombasa, the Portuguese escaped a Moslem attempt to destroy the small fleet and hurriedly sailed for the nearby port of Malindi. Its sultan, learning of the bombardment to the south, decided to cooperate with da Gama and lent him the services of the famous Indian pilot Ibn Majid for the next leg of the journey.
On May 20, 1498, the Portuguese anchored off Calicut-then the most important trading center in southern India-well prepared to tap the fabulous riches of India. Their expectations, however, were soon to be deflated.
The Portuguese at first thought the Hindu inhabitants of the city to be Christians, although a visit to a local temple where they were permitted to worship "Our Lady" Devaki, mother of the god Krishna made them question the purity of the faith as locally practiced. The zamorin, the ruler of Calicut, warmly welcomed the newcomers-until his treasurers appraised the inexpensive items sent as gifts by King Manuel.
In fact, the potentates of the East were at that time wealthier than the financially embarrassed Western kings, and the zamorin quite naturally had looked for a standard tribute in gold. The Portuguese merchandise did not sell well in the port, and the Moslem merchants who dominated the city's trade convinced the zamorin that he stood to gain nothing by concluding a commercial agreement with the intruders.
Amid rumors of plots against his life but with his ships stocked with samples of precious jewels and spices, da Gama sailed from Calicut at the end of August 1498. The trip back to Portugal proved far more difficult than the voyage out, and many men died of scurvy during the 3-month journey across the Arabian Sea.
The St. Raphael was burned and its complement distributed among the other ships. The remaining vessels became separated in a storm off the West African coast, and Coelho was the first to reach home (July 10, 1499). The da Gamas had gone to the Azores, where Paulo died, and Vasco arrived in Lisbon on September 9.
Da Gama returned twice to India: in 1502, when he bombarded Calicut in revenge for an attack on a previous Portuguese expedition and in 1524, when he was appointed viceroy.
He was richly rewarded for his services by his sovereign, being made Count of Vidiguerira and Admiral of the Indian Seas and receiving pensions and a lucrative slice of the Eastern trade.
On December 24, 1524, Vasco da Gama died in the southwestern Indian city of Cochin.
Vasco da Gama was the first to travel by sea from Portugal to India. Da Gama's first voyage deserves to be compared with Columbus's more celebrated "discovery" of the World. Vasco da Gama is one of the most famous and celebrated explorers from the Age of Discovery.
The port city of Vasco da Gama in Goa is named after him, as is the crater Vasco da Gama on the Moon. There are three football clubs in Brazil and Vasco Sports Club in Goa that were also named after him. There exists a church in Kochi, Kerala called Vasco da Gama Church, and a private residence on the island of Saint Helena. The suburb of Vasco in Cape Town also honours him. A few places in Lisbon's are named after the explorer, such as the Vasco da Gama Bridge, Vasco da Gama Tower and the Centro Comercial Vasco da Gama shopping centre. The Oceanário has a mascot of a cartoon diver with the name of "Vasco", who is named after the explorer. Vasco da Gama appears as an antagonist in the Indian film Urumi.
A man of unattractive character, Da Gama in every act demonstrated an uncontrolled and cruel nature.
Around 1501, Vasco da Gama married Catarina de Ataíde, daughter of Álvaro de Ataíde, the alcaide-mór of Alvor (Algarve), and a prominent nobleman connected by kinship with the powerful Almeida family (Catarina was a first cousin of D. Francisco de Almeida).
