Nearing Christmas, da Gama’s expedition arrived in an area they named Natal, meaning “the birth of Christ” in Portuguese.Come 16 December, da Gama’s expedition had reached the Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and then continued into unchartered waters.Four months later, and having sailed more than 6000 miles of open ocean, the expedition made landfall in Southern Africa in November. Da Gama then went south across the open ocean using the South Atlantic westerly winds that Bartolomeu Dias had discovered.The expedition at first followed the route established by early explorers past Tenerife, the Cape Verde Islands and Sierra Leone.Despite having the most experienced navigators of the time on the voyage, two ships were lost and only 55 men survived. The journey around the southern tip of Africa to India and back again was long and dangerous.The four ships were the São Gabriel, São Rafael, Berrio and an unnamed storage ship. On 8 July 1497, da Gama set sail with a fleet of four ships and a crew of 170 men from Lisbon.
The king wanted an explorer to investigate the new African coastline and find a way to India and da Gama was the man for the job.Vasco da Gama was now in his 20s and captain Bartolomeu Dias had returned from going around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.John challenged his captains to find a sea route. While expanding trade with Africa, he wanted to start trading profitable spices from Asia, but this was mostly done by land and dominated by Venice. He decided that royal commerce and trade with Africa was the way to do that. When John became king, he wanted to make the crown wealthy so that it was less dependent on the nobility for income.In 1474, Prince John II asked his father, the king, to allow him to take over the business of African exploration.In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator had already explored the coastline of West Africa in search of gold, ivory, slaves and other riches. Portugal had a long history of exploration before da Gama.John was very fond of the Order of Santiago and da Gama’s career benefited from this attention.
The master of Santiago was Prince John who would go on to be King John II of Portugal in 1481.
VASCO DA GAMA HISTORY DOWNLOAD
See the fact file below for more information on the Vasco da Gama or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Vasco da Gama worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment. He is credited with linking Europe and Asia by an ocean route that connected the Atlantic and Indian Oceans by going around the southern tip of Africa known as the Cape of Good Hope. 1460s – 1524) was a Portuguese explorer and became the first European sailor to reach India by sea. Download the Vasco da Gama Facts & Worksheets.