Learn about the life and achievements of Vasco da Gama , the Portuguese explorer who opened a direct sea route to India in 1498. Discover his navigational skills, trade and diplomatic missions, conflicts, legacy, and more. What happened? On 20 th May 1498, two years after he set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, Vasco da Gama arrived on the Western sea coast of India at Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala. This was the first time that a European had arrived in India via the sea. Thus, da Gama is credited with the discovery of the sea route to India. Vasco da Gama ’s Arrival – Background Many sailors and merchants from the west had tried to discover a sea route to India, a land that was famous for spices and other riches ... 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. 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 ... The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India and open a s...
