July 8, 1497

On this day in history in 1497 Vasco da Gama began his first voyage to India.

A European Explorer

A portrait of Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who became the first European to reach India by sea. He was born in 1460 and at the age of 37 he led a fleet of four ships in search of India by sea. Prior to this voyage little is known of his life. He was the third of five sons to his parents Estêvão and Isabel. Historians believe he studied at an inland town where he would have learned the mathematics and navigation required for his voyage. His prospects in life rose when he joined the Order of Santiago, a military order of chivalry.

The Men who Came Before

Prior to da Gama's exploration the primary explorer in Portugal was Prince Henry the Navigator who went up and down the African coastline looking for riches. Yet his explorations produced little profit and the Portuguese Crown was uninterested in continuing the navigations. However, when King John II took the crown he wanted to build up the royal treasury and believed commerce was the best way to do this. In particular, he wanted to break into the spice trade between Europe and Asia. However, this trade was done mostly by land and his goal was to find a sea route to Asia by sailing around the African continent, something that had never been achieved before.

The Cape of Good Hope

Da Gama was not the first explorer to reach the Cape of Good Hope (located at the very Southern tip of Africa), rather he was the first to use it to get to India. King John II's captain Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape as early as 1488. It was da Gama, however, who journeyed to the Cape and beyond. He and his fleet reached the Malabar Coast of India on May 20, 1498, almost a year after first setting off from Portugal.

The Trip Back Home

Da Gama and his crew left India three months after arriving. However, monsoon season slowed them down considerably. They did not reach the Eastern coast of Africa (they stopped at Malindi) for another five months in January 1499. Not all of his crew reached this destination though, as almost half of the crew died during the crossing. They reached the West African coast in April. Here is where da Gama's journey ended. His brother had fallen ill and he stayed with him so they could travel home by land. Unfortunately his brother died during the trip. Da Gama finally returned home around August of 1499, almost two years after he'd first left it. He made two more trips to India. During his third, which set sail in April 1524, he contracted Malaria and died on Christmas Eve of the same year.