In all these four histories, he is bound to figure in very important roles. These multiple and contrasting perspectives can only be explained by the fact that Vasco da Gama left his stamp on four different histories - of Portugal, of modern Europe, of modern India, and also of modern world. “This undertaking Vasco da Gama faithfully carried out, and to this day we enjoy the fruits of his labour.” The same European source goes on to credit da Gama for undertaking to save Europe from barbarism.
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It was he who taught Europe how to conquer and how to hold the East.” Many Europeans still look upon him as “one of the chief saviour of our modern civilisation. The Indian records are generally silent on him. After da Gama’s arrival, the Portuguese destroyed the Arab navigation and eliminated their trade. Before Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the European route to India, the Arab merchants enjoyed a monopoly of trade in the Indian Ocean. In the Arab records, he is clearly a villain, for good reasons. In a survey done in Portugal in the 1980s, on the most admired person in Portuguese history, Vasco da Gama topped the list, getting nearly 60 per cent of the votes. The Portuguese records praise him to the sky. Different records and data speak very differently about him. Given the mist surrounding da Gama, it is quite likely that he will go on living these many lives. The other lives have been constructed for him by historians from different parts of the world. One was his individual life as he lived it, about which we know very little. Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese sailor who came to India in 1498, lived many lives. SALIL MISRA attempts to analyse the Portuguese sailor who also evoked contrasting and extraordinary responses He died in India in 1524 from an illness.Vasco da Gama’s unprecedented feat of navigating from Lisbon in Portugal to Calicut in India, connecting Europe with Asia through sea route, was an event that came to have momentous, long-term consequences for the modern world. Da Gama’s conquests paved the way for future conquests in Asia.ĭa Gama returned to Portugal in 1503. When he reached India, he brutally murdered many Muslims to demonstrate his power and bombarded Calicut to force the Portuguese will on Asian trading markets. In one case, da Gama ordered the massacre of a Muslim vessel with 380 people on board. This time, however, da Gama came with 20 armed ships to prevent problems with Muslim traders. In 1502, King Manuel sent da Gama back to India. By the time da Gama returned to Lisbon in 1499, many of his crew members had died of scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C), and he had become a hero. Da Gama refused to leave the goods and only left India after taking Indian hostages. Da Gama left India in August of 1498, after he was told to pay a heavy tax and to leave the goods he traded for.
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Although he was initially well received in India, he eventually wore out his welcome. In India, da Gama traded extensively for Asian products and spices. After making several stops along ports in the eastern African nations of Kenya, Mozambique, and others, and after struggling with Muslim traders in the Indian Ocean who did not take kindly to interference with their trade routes, da Gama reached Calicut, India, on May 20, 1498. After five months on the Atlantic, da Gama and his crew successfully sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean on November 22.
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Da Gama believed it was possible and left Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, with four ships full of criminals and set sail on the Atlantic.
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Many, however, still believed the trip to be impossible because they did not think the Atlantic Ocean connected with the Indian Ocean.
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In 1497, Portuguese King Manuel I financed a voyage led by Vasco da Gama. Explorers such as Bartholomeu Dias had made some progress in making the journey, but none had been able to sail around the southern tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope (where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans met) and into the Indian Ocean.
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In the late 1400s, Portugal was desperately trying to find a sea route to Asia so they could obtain spices for cheap prices. He died, however, before he could successfully complete the journey. Vasco’s father was also an explorer and was supposed to make the epic journey from Portugal to India that would eventually make his son famous. Vasco da Gama was born in 1460 to a wealthy Portuguese family in Sines, Portugal.