Vasco Da Gama's Early Life
Vasco Da Gama was born in 1460, in Sines, on the Southwest coast of Portugal. His father was Estevao da Gama. In the 1460s he was a knight in the household of the Duke of Viseu. Being appointed Civil Governor, he was able to receive a small revenue from taxes on soap making in Estremoz. He studied at the inland town of Evora, where he learned math, navagtion and astronomy. In 1942, King Jaun Paul II of Portugal sent him to the port of Setubal, south of Lisbon to seize French ships in retaliation
for peacetime depredations against Portuguese shipping.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
HIs voyage was successful in establishing a sea route from Europe to India. This allowed Europeans to trade with the Far East without having to endure the costs and hazards of the Silk Road caravans, which followed inland routes through the Middle East and Central Asia at a time when much of this territory was ruled by the mughal empire. His initial journey ushered in an era of European domination through sea power and commerce that lasted several hundred years and 450 years of Portuguese colonialism in India and Africa that brought wealth and power to the Portuguese.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
HIs voyage was successful in establishing a sea route from Europe to India. This allowed Europeans to trade with the Far East without having to endure the costs and hazards of the Silk Road caravans, which followed inland routes through the Middle East and Central Asia at a time when much of this territory was ruled by the mughal empire. His initial journey ushered in an era of European domination through sea power and commerce that lasted several hundred years and 450 years of Portuguese colonialism in India and Africa that brought wealth and power to the Portuguese.