Vasco da Gama was a highly successful Portuguese

sailor and explorer during the Age of Exploration. He

was the first person to sail directly from Europe to
India, around the Cape of Good Hope. His discovery
was monumental in the history of navigation as well
as instrumental in establishing Portugal as a major
colonial empire.
A route to India
Da Gama was born in 1460 to a family of nobles in
Sines, Portugal. His father, Estevao, was also an
explorer. Da Gama learned to navigate in the navy,
which he joined as soon as he was old enough. In
1497, da Gama was appointed to command a ship
with the goal of discovering a sailing route to India.
De Gama captained four vessels when he set
out on July 8, 1497. Da Gama himself rode in
the 200-ton St. Gabriel and his younger brother
Paulo led the St. Rafael. Da Gama sailed south,
taking advantage of the prevailing winds off the
western coast of Africa, and swung out into the
Atlantic before veering back in an arc to meet
the South African coast. He then rounded
the Cape of Good Hope and ventured into the
Indian Ocean.
By the time they reached Indian Ocean waters,
most of his crew was infected with scurvy. Da
Gama made landfall in Mozambique to rest and
resupply. There, they had skirmishes with the
sultan who did not believe the Europeans gifts
were sufficient. They then landed in Mombasa
and Malindi, where an Arab guide agreed to
assist da Gama; the guide may have been
famous Arab navigator Ahmed Ibn Magid.
Da Gamas fleet sailed for 23 days before
landing at Calicut, India, (modern-day
Kozhikode) on May 20, 1498. The Europeans
assumed the locals were Christians, though
they were actually Hindus. Despite this
misunderstanding, the ruler of Calicut agreed
to trade with da Gama and he acquired a large
supply of valuable spices. The Muslims who
already traded at Calicut, however, were less
inviting of da Gamas competition and forced da
Gama to barter many of his spices in order to
acquire sufficient supplies for the trip home

Several decades earlier, Henry the Navigator
had patronized several successful voyages in
North and West Africa. These voyages were
Portugals first steps at becoming a major
maritime and colonial power. In 1487,
Bartolomeu Dias discovered that the Indian and
Atlantic Oceans were connected. This
interested Portuguese King Manuel. He wished
to conquer Islam and establish himself as the
King of Jerusalem, in addition to making money
off the spice trade.