How long did vasco de gama sail

Despite sparing no expense to equip the expedition, the Portuguese had totally underestimated the quality of goods being traded in this part of the world - cotton, ivory, gold and pearls. They sailed on to Mombassa, 1,km miles north, in the hope of more lucrative trade, but fared no better there. Fortunately the ruler of Malindi was more welcoming, and during his stay there da Gama recruited a knowledgeable and efficient pilot, possibly the great Arab navigator Ahmed Ibn Majid, to show the explorers the route to India.

Da Gama's men were reduced to bartering on the waterfront to trade what goods they could for the homeward voyage. India's Malabar Coast was at the centre of the spice trade - it was the main outlet for Kerala's large pepper crop - and the place where ships from the Indonesian Spice Islands came to trade cloves with Arab merchants from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

The newcomers stayed for three months, and were initially well received by the Hindu ruler, the Zamorin. But the Muslim traders also held considerable influence at court, and were unwilling to relinquish control of the spice trade to the Christian visitors - and once again the goods da Gama was offering to trade were inadequate. Relations deteriorated, and da Gama's men were reduced to bartering on the waterfront to trade what goods they could for the homeward voyage.

It was a terrible voyage back to Malindi. The pilot could not be found, the monsoons were against them and the 3,km 2, mile journey took three months.

Da Gama's crew suffered terribly from scurvy and 30 men died. Only the kindness of the Sultan of Malindi saved the rest of the crew, with his gifts of fresh meat and oranges. But now, with too few men alive to sail three ships, the St Raphael was burnt. Keen to get home, the adventurers rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 20 March , and sailed up the west coast of Africa.

Paolo da Gama, who had been very compassionate to the sick and ailing throughout the voyage, finally succumbed to illness himself, and died on the Azores. Vasco da Gama arrived in Lisbon on 18 September and rode in triumph through the city. He had been away for more than two years, travelled 38,km 24, miles and spent days at sea. Only 54 of the original crew of had survived, but King Manuel was very pleased. What had been done once could be done again. The Muslim merchants were outraged at the attempt to steal their trade, and killed 50 of Cabral's men.

A second voyage, involving 13 ships and 1, men, was immediately dispatched under Pedro Alvares Cabral to secure the sea route to India, and the fleet reached Calicut in under six months. This time the Portuguese were better prepared and brought lavish goods with which to tempt the Zamorin into a trade agreement. The Muslim merchants were outraged at this attempt to steal their trade, and killed 50 of Cabral's men.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience.

Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Vasco da Gama c.

Still, for all his work, the southern portion of Africa — what lay east — remained shrouded in mystery. In , an important breakthrough was made when Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. This journey was significant; it proved, for the first time, that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected. The trip, in turn, sparked a renewed interest in seeking out a trade route to India.

By the late s, however, King Manuel wasn't just thinking about commercial opportunities as he set his sights on the East. In fact, his impetus for finding a route was driven less by a desire to secure for more lucrative trading grounds for his country, and more by a quest to conquer Islam and establish himself as the king of Jerusalem.

Historians know little about why exactly da Gama, still an inexperienced explorer, was chosen to lead the expedition to India in On July 8 of that year, he captained a team of four vessels, including his flagship, the ton St. Gabriel , to find a sailing route to India and the East. To embark on the journey, da Gama pointed his ships south, taking advantage of the prevailing winds along the coast of Africa.

His choice of direction was also a bit of a rebuke to Christopher Columbus, who had believed he'd found a route to India by sailing east. Following several months of sailing, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope and began making his way up the eastern coast of Africa, toward the uncharted waters of the Indian Ocean.

By January, as the fleet neared what is now Mozambique, many of da Gama's crewmembers were sick with scurvy, forcing the expedition to anchor for rest and repairs for nearly one month. In early March of , da Gama and his crew dropped their anchors in the port of Mozambique, a Muslim city-state that sat on the outskirts of the east coast of Africa and was dominated by Muslim traders.

Here, da Gama was turned back by the ruling sultan, who felt offended by the explorer's modest gifts. By early April, the fleet reached what is now Kenya, before setting sail on a day run that would take them across the Indian Ocean. They reached Calicut, India, on May Born circa , Vasco da Gama was the son of a minor nobleman who commanded the fortress at Sines, located on the coast of the Alentejo province in southwestern Portugal.

Little else is known about his early life, but in King John II sent da Gama to the port city of Setubal south of Lisbon and to the Algarve region to seize French ships in retaliation for French attacks on Portuguese shipping interests.

At the time, the Muslims held a monopoly of trade with India and other Eastern nations, thanks to their geographical position. Da Gama sailed from Lisbon that July with four vessels, traveling south along the coast of Africa before veering far off into the southern Atlantic in order to avoid unfavorable currents. With the help of a local navigator, da Gama was able to cross the Indian Ocean and reach the coast of India at Calicut now Kozhikode in May Though the local Hindu population of Calicut initially welcomed the arrival of the Portuguese sailors who mistook them for Christians , tensions quickly flared after da Gama offered their ruler a collection of relatively cheap goods as an arrival gift.

This conflict, along with hostility from Muslim traders, led Da Gama to leave without concluding a treaty and return to Portugal. After Muslim traders killed 50 of his men, Cabral retaliated by burning 10 Muslim cargo vessels and killing the nearly sailors aboard. He then moved on to Cochin, where he established the first Portuguese trading post in India.

For these brutal demonstrations of power, da Gama was vilified throughout India and the region. Upon his return to Portugal, by contrast, he was richly rewarded for another successful voyage. Da Gama had married a well-born woman sometime after returning from his first voyage to India; the couple would have six sons.

For the next 20 years, da Gama continued to advise the Portuguese ruler on Indian affairs, but he was not sent back to the region until , when King John III appointed him as Portuguese viceroy in India.