فاسكودا جاما .. كتاب المائة الأوائل

Vascoda Gama

Vasco da Gama

1460-1524 AD

Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese explorer who discovered the direct sea route from Europe to India by sailing around Africa.

The Portuguese had been searching for such a road since the days of Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) and in the year 1488 a Portuguese expedition headed by (Barto Lemieu Diaz) went out and reached the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and circled around it and then returned to Portugal. The King of Portugal knew the campaign that the demand and the goal The desired to reach India has become imminent and within reach. After overcoming some difficulties, the king prepared a campaign to India and chose Vasco Da Gama to lead it, an obscure aristocrat born in 1460 in Sainz, Portugal.

Da Gama embarked on his voyage on July 8, 1497, at the helm of four ships with a crew of about 170 men, and with them translators who were fluent in the Arabic language. The expedition advanced first to the islands of Cape Verde, and then, instead of continuing on the African coast line (as Diaz did), Da Gama sailed towards the south, striking the width of the southern Atlantic Ocean for a long distance, then turned east, reaching the Cape of Good Hope. This was the best way because it is faster than the meandering around the African coast, although it is a way that lacks navigational experience, courage and feet.

The land was absent from Vasco's ships for ninety-three days, and this period exceeds two and a half times the duration of Columbus' voyage.

Vasco rounded the Cape of Good Hope on October 22 and then turned north to the east coast of Africa. On his way, Shala agreed with an Indian guide who led him for 23 days across the Arabian Sea to India, and on May 20, 1498, and after about ten months of leaving Portugal, Dagama reached Calicut, and it was the most famous trading center in southern India. The Hindu ruler, the Zamorin, welcomed him first, but when he saw The cheap gifts Dagama gave him disappointed him. The Muslim merchants. Those who were seizing the trade routes to India did not welcome the coming of Vasco (and this is according to the author's opinion). Thus, Vasco was prevented from making a commercial treaty with (the Zamorin), the ruler of Calicut. But when he left Calicut he had taken with him a good load of spices to show to his king in Portugal as well as to a number of Indians. The return journey proved more difficult than the journey back to India. It took three months to cross the Arabian Sea. Many died. Because of scurvy, at last only two ships arrived safely. The first arrived in Portugal on July 10, 1499, but the Da Gama ship arrived two months later, and only fifty-five sailors survived, and this number is less than a third of those who embarked on the voyage. Tama his two-year voyage was a complete success.