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Vasco da Gama opens the sea route to India

20 May 1498·Exploration & colonisation·Portugal; Indian Ocean; Malabar Coast (India)·
20 May 1498Date
Exploration & colonisationCategory
30Empires active
Date
20 May 1498
Category
Exploration & colonisation
Region
Portugal; Indian Ocean; Malabar Coast (India)
Era
Post-Classical / Medieval
Significance

On 20 May 1498 the Portuguese commander Vasco da Gama anchored near Calicut (Kozhikode) on India's Malabar Coast, becoming the first European to reach India by sea.

Departing Lisbon in 1497, his fleet rounded the Cape of Good Hope, sailed up the East African coast, and crossed the Indian Ocean with the help of a local pilot from Malindi. By linking Europe directly to the spice-producing markets of the Indian Ocean, da Gama's voyage bypassed the Venetian and Muslim intermediaries who had long controlled the overland and Red Sea routes. It launched the Portuguese maritime empire (the Estado da India), redirected the lucrative spice trade toward the Atlantic seaboard, and inaugurated nearly five centuries of European involvement in Asian commerce and politics. The achievement ranks alongside Columbus's crossing as a foundational event of the Age of Exploration, but oriented toward the riches of the East rather than the unknown West.

See the world map in 20 May 1498 →More exploration & colonisationThe Post-Classical / Medieval era

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Further reading

If you read one book

Holy War: How Vasco da Gama's Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations

Nigel Cliff

Narrative of da Gama's era-defining voyages.

Get it on Amazon →

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