Poor relations with the leaders in Calicut kept him from successfully signing a trade treaty between India and Portugal. Food supplies also posed a problem to his crew as they spoilt fast. Challengesĭuring his voyages, da Gama faced challenges such as unpredictable weather changes, attacks from other sailors, hostilities in the towns he stopped by, and the death of his crew members especially due to scurvy and loss of vessels. He made two other voyages to India before his death in 1524. He abandoned his mission and returned to Portugal having failed at securing a trade treaty in Calicut. India welcomed him warmly, but soon the relations were spoilt by the cheap gifts he offered in India and conflicts with Muslim traders. The fleet made stops at Mozambique, Mombasa and the friendly Malindi before moving on to Calicut on the coast of India in May 1498. Da Gama began his voyage on July 8, 1497, with a crew of 170 men and four ships. During this time, John II, the king of Portugal, sought a way to break through the spice trade between Europe and Asia.

His first mission was to map a sea route to India via the southern coast of Africa. Vasco da Gama spent most of his life from around the age of twenty as a sea navigator. He married a woman of noble birth after his first voyage and had six sons and one daughter. He joined his father’s Order of Santiago around 1480. He is thought to have learned mathematics and navigation at Evora town. He was born to Estevao da Gama and Isabel Sodre in the period between 14 along with five brothers and one sister. Early Lifeĭetails of Vasco da Gama’s early life are not precisely known. Da Gama sailed with a crew of 170 and returned with only 54 - most of his men died from diseases like scurvy. By the time he returned from his first voyage to India in 1499, he had spent 300 days at sea, more than two years from home, and had covered a distance of 24,000 miles. Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese navigator and explorer who became the first person to sail directly from Europe to India. Vasco da Gama – Famous Explorers Illustration of Vasco de Gama.

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