"rulers for 300 years, beginning with the large-scale defections of Portuguese soldiers from Goa in the 16th century, followed by a series of defections of British soldiers and laymen from the British East India Company bridgehead at Surat in the 17th century. During Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama's first historic journey to India in 1498, he observed that there were Italian mercenaries in the employ of various ""Rajahs"" on the Malabar coast. Two of da Gama's own crewmen had left him to join the Italians in the service of a Malabar ""Rajah"" for higher wages. Portuguese historian João de Barros"
"a ground-breaking voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama. The squadron of Vasco da Gama left Portugal in 1497, rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian Ocean, reaching Calicut in western India in May 1498. The second voyage to India was dispatched in 1500 under Pedro Álvares Cabral. While following the same south-westerly route as Gama across the Atlantic Ocean, Cabral made landfall on the Brazilian coast. This was probably an accidental discovery, but it has been speculated that the Portuguese secretly knew"
"Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and therefore, the West and the Orient. Da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India was significant and opened the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia. Traveling the ocean route allowed"
"including India. In 1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut (modern day Kozhikode in Kerala) as the first European to ever sail to India. The tremendous profit made during this trip made the Portuguese eager for more trade with India and attracted other European navigators and tradesmen. Pedro Álvares Cabral left for India in 1500 and established Portuguese trading posts at Calicut and Cochin (modern day Kochi), returning to Portugal in 1501 with pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, mace, and cloves. The profits made from this trip were huge. Prior to the 1991 economic liberalisation,India was a closed"
"years (1534-1739 A.D). In 1498 A.D Vasco da Gama arrived at the harbour of Calicut (Kozhikode) on the western coast of India. It was after this that the Portuguese established their power on the western coast of India. During that time John III of Portugal had ascended the throne of Portugal. He appointed Nuno da Cunha as the Governor of Goa in order to conquer the island of Diu from the sultan of Gujarat. Under his leadership, the Portuguese started endeavours to conquer the island of Diu. The Portuguese tried to siege Bassein, because they believed that conquering Bassein would"
"Álvaro Velho Álvaro Velho (15th-16th century, born in Barreiro, Portugal) was a Portuguese sailor or soldier who took part in the first Portuguese expedition by sea to India, led by Vasco da Gama in 1497. Velho is one of the purported authors of the anonymous ""Journal of Vasco Da Gama's trip of 1497"" (the other being João de Sá).. This work survives in a single manuscript copy preserved at the Biblioteca Pública Municipal of Porto and first published in Porto in 1838. In 1945, historian Franz Hümmerich identified the author of this manuscript with an Álvaro Velho who had spent"
"the Portuguese to avoid sailing across the highly disputed Mediterranean and traversing the dangerous Arabian Peninsula. The sum of the distances covered in the outward and return voyages made this expedition the longest ocean voyage ever made until then, far longer than a full voyage around the world by way of the Equator. After decades of sailors trying to reach the Indies, with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks, da Gama landed in Calicut on 20 May 1498. Unopposed access to the Indian spice routes boosted the economy of the Portuguese Empire, which was"
"Columbus made the voyage), the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed dividing the world into two regions of exploration, where each had exclusive rights to claim newly discovered lands. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa, opening up direct trade with Asia. While other exploratory fleets were sent from Portugal to northern North America, in the following years Portuguese India Armadas also extended this Eastern oceanic route, touching sometimes South America and by this way opening a circuit from the New World to Asia (starting in 1500, under the command of Pedro"
"Ocean, reaching Calicut (the capital of the native kingdom ruled by Zamorins (This city also known as Kozhikode) in south-western India in May 1498. The second voyage to India was dispatched in 1500 under Pedro Álvares Cabral. While following the same south-westerly route as Gama across the Atlantic Ocean, Cabral made landfall on the Brazilian coast. This was probably an accidental discovery, but it has been speculated that the Portuguese secretly knew of Brazil's existence and that it lay on their side of the Tordesillas line. Cabral recommended to the Portuguese King that the land be settled, and two follow"
"nineteenth century. Gonçalo Álvares held the office of ""chief-pilot of the navigation to India and the Ocean Sea"" until his death in 1524. Gonçalo Álvares Gonçalo Álvares (, ?? – 1524) was a Portuguese explorer who actively participated in the Age of Discovery, starting from the second voyage of Diogo Cão. In 1497 he commanded the ship ""São Gabriel"" in the epic journey of Vasco da Gama to India, and in 1505, aboard the fleet of Francisco de Almeida – the first Viceroy of Portuguese India – he sailed south in the Atlantic to where ""water and even wine froze"","
"of Brazil's existence and that it lay on their side of the Tordesillas line. Cabral recommended to the Portuguese King that the land be settled, and two follow up voyages were sent in 1501 and 1503. The land was found to be abundant in ""pau-brasil"", or brazilwood, from which it later inherited its name, but the failure to find gold or silver meant that for the time being Portuguese efforts were concentrated on India. On 8 July 1497 the fleet, consisting of four ships and a crew of 170 men, left Lisbon The travel led by Vasco da Gama to"
"eight years in Guinea and provided information about the Gambia region to Valentim Fernandes. However, more recent studies by Carmen Radulet have exposed weaknesses in this theory and attributed the ""Journal"" with more certainty to scrivener João de Sá. Editions of the ""Journal"": Álvaro Velho Álvaro Velho (15th-16th century, born in Barreiro, Portugal) was a Portuguese sailor or soldier who took part in the first Portuguese expedition by sea to India, led by Vasco da Gama in 1497. Velho is one of the purported authors of the anonymous ""Journal of Vasco Da Gama's trip of 1497"" (the other being João"
"1497 Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from Lisbon. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than around the equator. The navigators included Portugal's most experienced, Pero de Alenquer, Pedro Escobar, João de Coimbra, and Afonso Gonçalves. It is not known for certain how many people were in each ship's crew but approximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost. Two of the vessels were carracks, newly built for the voyage, the others were a caravel and a supply boat. The four ships were:"
"Quelimane (Mozambique) and Mombasa, where he found Chinese traders, and Malindi (both in modern Kenya). In this town, he recruited an Arab pilot and set sail directly to Calicut. On August 28, 1498, King Manuel of Portugal informed the Pope of the good news that Portugal had reached India. Egypt and Venice reacted to this news with hostility; from the Red Sea, they jointly attacked the Portuguese ships that traded with India. The Portuguese defeated these ships near Diu in 1509. The Ottoman Empire's indifferent reaction to Portuguese exploration left Portugal in almost exclusive control of trade through the Indian"
"Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut and starting a maritime route from Portugal to India. Portuguese explorations then proceeded to southeast Asia, where they reached Japan in 1542, forty-four years after their first arrival in India. In 1500, the Portuguese nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral became the first European to discover Brazil. In 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from León, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso Henriques. In 1297 king Denis of Portugal took personal interest in the development of exports, having organized the export of surplus production"
"Gonçalo Álvares Gonçalo Álvares (, ?? – 1524) was a Portuguese explorer who actively participated in the Age of Discovery, starting from the second voyage of Diogo Cão. In 1497 he commanded the ship ""São Gabriel"" in the epic journey of Vasco da Gama to India, and in 1505, aboard the fleet of Francisco de Almeida – the first Viceroy of Portuguese India – he sailed south in the Atlantic to where ""water and even wine froze"", and discovered an island that was named after him. It was later renamed Gough Island by the British, who took possession in the"
"Dias had turned back—and sailed into unknown waters. On 20 May 1498, they arrived at Calicut. The efforts of Vasco da Gama to get favourable trading conditions were hampered by the low value of their goods, compared with the valuable goods traded there. Two years and two days after departure, Gama and a survivor crew of 55 men returned in glory to Portugal as the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India. In 1500, a second, larger fleet of thirteen ships and about 1500 men were sent to India. Under command of Pedro Álvares Cabral they made a"
"Italian states, sent Portugal in search of an alternate sea route to India. The first successful voyage to India was by Vasco da Gama in 1498, when after sailing around the Cape of Good Hope he arrived in Calicut, now in Kerala. Having arrived there, he obtained from Saamoothiri Rajah permission to trade in the city. The navigator was received with traditional hospitality, but an interview with the Saamoothiri (Zamorin) failed to produce any definitive results. Vasco da Gama requested permission to leave a factor behind in charge of the merchandise he could not sell; his request was refused, and"
"– the name ""India"" and the official name ""Estado da India"" (""State of India"") including all Portuguese possessions in the Indian Ocean, from southern Africa to Southeast Asia and Australasia, until 1752- was governed either by a Viceroy (Portuguese ""Vice-Rei"") or Governor from its headquarters, in Goa since 1510. The government started six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, in 1505, under first Viceroy Francisco de Almeida (b.1450–d.1510). Initially, King Manuel I of Portugal tried a power distribution with three governors in different areas of jurisdiction: a government covering the area and possessions"
"but they were very expensive because it was an inconvenience to trade. For example, it was dangerous and time consuming to travel by land from Europe to India. As a result, King D. João II of Portugal established a plan for ships to explore the coast of Africa to see if India was navigable via around the cape, and through the Indian Ocean. King João II appointed Bartolomeu Dias, on October 10, 1486, to head an expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa in the hope of finding a trade route to India. Dias helped in the construction"
"João de Sá João de Sá, knight (fl. 1497 – 1514) was a Portuguese explorer, who accompanied Vasco da Gama on the voyage of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India. Sá was a scrivener on the first Portuguese voyage to India, traveling on the carrack ""São Rafael"" which was captained by Vasco da Gama's younger brother, Paulo da Gama. Sá was also a member of the group who accompanied Gama on his first trip into Calicut on 20 May 1498. On the return voyage the ""São Rafael"" was scuttled off the East African coast, and the"
"the Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral while attempting to reproduce Vasco da Gama’s Atlantic route to the Cape and India was blown westwards to what is today Brazil. After taking possession of the new land, Cabral resumed his voyage across the Atlantic to the southern tip of Africa and India, finally arriving there in September 1500 – opening for the first time a route from the New World to Asia – and returning to Portugal by 1501. In 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca for Portugal, then the center of Asian trade. East of Malacca, Albuquerque sent several diplomatic and"
"1498 when Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut. On 25 November 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur and made it their headquarters since 1530. By 1544 the Portuguese conquered the districts of Bardez, Tiswadi, and Salcette. Around the same time Pope Nicholas V enacted the Papal bull ""Romanus Pontifex"". This bull granted the patronage (""Padroado"") of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese and rewarded them a trade monopoly in newly discovered areas. Trade was initiated shortly after Vasco da Gama arrived in India in 1498, but the Portuguese were initially"
"Calicut was the starting point for deployment of Portuguese in the African east coast and in the Indian Ocean. The first contact occurred on 20 May 1498. After some conflict, he got an ambiguous letter for trade with the Zamorin of Calicut, leaving there some men to establish a trading post. Since then explorations lost the private nature, taking place under the exclusive of the Portuguese Crown. Shortly after, the Casa da Índia was established in Lisbon to administer the royal monopoly of navigation and trade. The aim of Portugal in the Indian Ocean was to ensure the monopoly of"
"1499 Tovar was appointed by the king himself subcaptain of a large fleet led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, made famous by its discovery of Brazil. The original intentions behind this enterprise are still a matter of speculation: some say it was merely meant as an expedition to India (which had been discovered the year before by Vasco da Gama) and the discovery of Brazil was accidental, but others claim the voyage was carefully pondered and that the existence of Brazil was more or less suspected of (see Controversies about the European discovery of Brazil). Sancho's ship during this voyage was"
"Nicolau Coelho Nicolau Coelho (c.1460, in Felgueiras – 1502, off the coast of Mozambique) was an expert Portuguese navigator and explorer during the age of discovery. He participated in the discovery of the route to India by Vasco da Gama where he commanded Berrio, the first caravel to return; was captain of a ship in the fleet headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral who landed in Brazil. He died at sea, possibly off the coast of Mozambique, while returning from India in the 5th Portuguese Armada with Francisco de Albuquerque. Nicolau Coelho (c.1460-1502) was presumably born in Felgueiras in northern Portugal."
"years for the Portuguese to follow up on Dias's voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, though it has also been speculated that other voyages were in fact taking place in secret during this time. Whether or not this was the case, the long-standing Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to Asia was finally achieved in a ground-breaking voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama. The squadron of Vasco da Gama left Portugal in 1497, rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian"
"successfully utilized advances in military technology but closed the Silk Road. Europeans – specifically the Kingdom of Portugal and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel. Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations. Portuguese Explorer Vasco De Gama traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the Cape of Good Hope. India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time. Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a global colonial empire beginning with"
"along the shores of various places and exploring inland on the crown's behalf. Among the degredados we know four names: Afonso Ribeiro, João Machado, Luiz de Moura, Antonio Fernandes (also a ship carpenter) Finally, the fleet carried the first Portuguese Christian missionaries to India—eight Franciscan friars and eight chaplains, under the supervision of the head chaplain, Fr. Henrique Soares of Coimbra There are three surviving eyewitness accounts of this expedition: (1) an extended letter written by Pêro Vaz de Caminha (possibly dictated by Aires Correia), written from Brazil on May 1, 1500, to King Manuel I; (2) the brief letter"
"Portuguese discoveries Portuguese discoveries (Portuguese: ""Descobrimentos portugueses"") are the numerous territories and maritime routes discovered by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Canada, Asia and Brazil, in what became known as the Age of Discovery. Methodical expeditions started in 1419 along West Africa's coast under the sponsorship of prince Henry the Navigator, with Bartolomeu Dias reaching the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Indian Ocean in 1488. Ten years later, in 1498,"
"to India. Between 1497 and 1650, there were 1033 departures of ships at Lisbon for the ""Carreira da Índia"" (""India Run""). The India armada typically left Lisbon and each leg of the voyage took approximately six months. The critical determinant of the timing was the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean. The monsoon was a southwesterly wind (i.e. blew from East Africa to India) in the summer (between May and September) and then abruptly reversed itself and became a northeasterly (from India to Africa) in the winter (between October and April). The ideal timing was to pass the Cape of"
"a recognition of their new-found, particularly when, in 1497–1499, Vasco da Gama completed the voyage to India. Later, when Spain established a route to the Indies from the west, Portugal arranged a second treaty, the Treaty of Zaragoza. As a seafaring people in the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Portuguese became natural leaders of exploration during the Middle Ages. Faced with the options of either accessing other European markets by sea, by exploiting its seafaring prowess, or by land, and facing the task of crossing Castile and Aragon territory, it is not surprising that goods were sent via the sea"
"India, to scout the details of the spice markets and trade routes. The breakthrough came soon after, when John II's captain Bartolomeu Dias returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, having explored as far as the Fish River (""Rio do Infante"") in modern-day South Africa and having verified that the unknown coast stretched away to the northeast. An explorer was needed who could prove the link between the findings of Dias and those of da Covilhã and de Paiva, and connect these separate segments into a potentially lucrative trade route across the Indian Ocean. On 8 July"