Vasco da Gama Meets the Samorim of Calicut, 1498

Entitled: Vasco da Gama delivers the letter of King Manuel of Portugal to the Samorim of Calicut. Vasco da Gama (1460s - Decmeber 24, 1524) was a Portuguese explorer. On da Gama's first voyage, in 1497, he 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 fleet arrived in Kappadu near Calicut, India in May 1498. He was celebrated for opening a direct sea route to Asia and for Portugal's success as an early colonizing power. Following his initial voyage, the Portuguese crown realized that securing outposts on the eastern coast of Africa would prove vital to maintaining national trade routes to the Far East. Setting out in April 1524, with a fleet of fourteen ships, he took as his flagship carrack Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai on her last journey to India. After a troubled journey he arrived in India in September, but contracted malaria and died on Christmas Eve, 1524. Da Gama remains a leading figure in the history of exploration. Numerous homages have been made worldwide to celebrate his explorations and accomplishments. His first trip to India is widely considered a milestone in world history, as it marked the beginning of a sea-based phase of global multiculturalism

Picture No

12698502

Media ID

48540384

Size

4650px x 2945px (5.4MB)

Credit

LOC/Science Source/Mary Evans