11 Key Facts About Vasco da Gama's Voyage to India

The Navigator Who Opened the Sea Route to Asia

1. Born: ~1460/1469 in Sines, Portugal; son of a knight of the Order of Christ.
2. Commission: 1497, King Manuel I tasked him to find a sea route to India's spices.
3. Fleet: 4 ships — São Gabriel (flagship), São Rafael, Berrio, supply ship São Miguel; ~170 men.
4. Departure: July 8, 1497, from Lisbon.
5. Cape of Good Hope: Rounded Nov 1497 (Bartolomeu Dias had reached it 1488 but turned back).
6. East African Coast: Stopped at Mozambique, Mombasa, Malindi; hired Gujarati pilot Ibn Majid (tradition).
7. Arrival in India: May 20, 1498, Calicut (Kozhikode) — first European to reach India by sea.
8. Trade & Conflict: Negotiated with Zamorin; tensions over customs, hostages; bombarded Calicut on 2nd voyage.
9. Return: Sept 1499; 2 ships, 55 survivors; cargo worth 60x voyage cost.
10. Later Voyages: 1502–03 (armed armada, established Cochin fort); 1524 (Viceroy of India, died in Cochin Dec 1524).
11. Legacy: Opened direct Europe–Asia maritime trade, bypassing Ottoman/Venetian middlemen; launched Portuguese Estado da Índia; reshaped global economy.

Vasco da Gama's 1497–99 voyage is a hinge of world history—the moment the oceans became a single connected system.