Vasco da Gama was born around 1460 in the coastal town of Sines in the Kingdom of Portugal, where his father Estevao da Gama, from a noble family, served as commander of the local fortress. He was educated in mathematics and navigation and followed his father from a young age on many long journeys, which introduced him to the art of navigation.
In 1492, King João (John) II of Portugal sent him to the port of Setubal, south of Lisbon, and to the Algarve, the southernmost province of Portugal, with the objective of capturing French ships in retaliation for French peacetime robberies against Portuguese ships.
Continuing the policy of Prince Henry the Navigator, João planned to send a squadron of the Portuguese fleet to India to open the sea route to Asia and outflank the Muslims who were monopolizing trade with India and other Eastern states. The command of the expedition was entrusted to his father Estevao da Gama, but after his death his son Vasco da Gama took his place.
Vasco da Gama's first voyage
Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon on 8 July 1497, with a fleet of four ships: two medium-sized triple-rigged sailing ships ("São Gabriel" and "São Rafael"), the caravel "Berio" and a supply ship of unknown name. The expedition was accompanied to the Cape Verde Islands by another ship captained by Bartholomew Diaz, the veteran navigator who had discovered the Cape of Good Hope a few years earlier. Diaz was bound for the fortress of São José da Mina on the Gold Coast (now Ghana). The crew of the Vasco included three interpreters, two who spoke Arabic and one who spoke several African dialects. The flotilla even carried stone stelae to be placed as signs of discovery and suzerainty.
After crossing the Canary Islands on 15 July, the flotilla arrived at São Tiago in the Cape Verde Islands on 26 July, where it remained until 3 August. Then, to avoid the currents of the Gulf of Guinea, Vasco followed a circular course through the South Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Santa Elena Bay (in present-day South Africa) on 7 November. The expedition departed on 16 November, but headwinds delayed the circumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope until 22 November. Three days later, Vasco anchored in Moselle Bay, erected a stone pillar on an island, and ordered the supply ship to be dismantled.
Sailing again on 8 December, the fleet approached, on Christmas Day, the coast of Natal (in present-day South Africa). On 11 January 1498, it anchored for five days near the mouth of a small river between Natal and Mozambique, which they named the Rio do Cobre. On 25 January they arrived at the river Kelimane, in present-day Mozambique, which they called the Rio dos Bons Sinais (The River of Good Omens) and set up another stone column. In the meantime, many crew members had contracted scurvy. The fleet remained there for a month for necessary repairs to the ships.
On 2 March the fleet arrived at the coral island of Mozambique (in the Mozambique Strait), whose inhabitants believed that the Portuguese were Mohammedans like themselves. Vasco was informed that they were trading with Arab merchants and that four Arab ships loaded with gold, jewels, silver and spices were in port. The Sultan of Mozambique placed two navigators at Vasco's disposal, one of whom abandoned the expedition when he discovered that the Portuguese were Christians. The fleet arrived in Mombasa (in present-day Kenya) on 7 April and anchored in Malindi (in present-day Kenya) on 14 April. A navigator who knew how to plot a course to Calicut, on the south-west coast of India, was embarked there. After a 23-day journey across the waters of the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese flotilla arrived at Calicut on 20 May 1498, making history.
There Vasco da Gama erected a stone pillar to prove that he had reached India. Zamorin, the Indian ruler of Calicut (then the most important trading centre of South India) received Vasco on friendly terms, but he failed to conclude a treaty with him. On the one hand he met with the hostility of the Muslim merchants, and on the other hand because his gifts were insignificant, while the goods he had brought with him were paltry and, though suitable for the trade of West Africa, were hardly in demand in India.
After the tension in his relations with Zamorin, Vasco departed in late August, taking five Indians with him so that the new King of Portugal, Manuel, could become acquainted with their customs. He visited the island of Anjidiv, near Goa, before setting sail for Malindi, where he arrived on 8 January 1499. The expedition, which encountered headwinds, took nearly three months to sail across the Arabian Sea and many crew members died of scurvy.
In Malindi, because his men were greatly reduced, he ordered the ship "São Rafael" to be burned. There he also set up a column. On 1 February he arrived in Mozambique, where he set up his last column. On 20 March the Sao Gabriel and Berio sailed together around the Cape of Good Hope, but a month later the two ships were separated by a storm.
The Berio reached the Tagus River in Portugal on 10 July, while Vasco, with the Sao Gabriel, continued his voyage to the island of Terceira in the Azores, from where he is said to have sent his ship's flag to Lisbon. He arrived in Lisbon on 9 September. He delayed his triumphal entry nine days, however, because he was mourning his brother Paolo, who had died in Terceira. King Manuel I awarded Vasco the title of "Dom", an annual grant of 1,000 croissants and estates.
The second voyage
King Manuel I, wanting to further Vasco da Gama's achievement, sent to Calicut the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral, with a fleet of 13 ships. Later, the Indians, instigated by the Muslims, revolted and massacred the Portuguese left behind by Cabral. So that this massacre would not go unpunished, the Portuguese formed a new fleet at Lisbon, which they would send against Calicut to establish Portuguese rule in the Indian Ocean. Initially, the command was to be given to Cabral, but was later assigned to Vasco da Gama, who on 30 January 1502 received the rank of admiral.
Vasco da Gama had ten ships under his command, supported by two flotillas of five ships each. Both flotillas were under the command of his relatives. The fleet sailed on 12 February 1502 and, after crossing Cape Verde, arrived at the East African port of Sofala on 14 June. The Portuguese expedition briefly visited Mozambique and then sailed to Kilua, now Tanzania. The ruler of Kilua, Emir Ibrahim, had been hostile to Cabral. Vasco threatened to burn Kilua if the emir did not submit to the Portuguese and swear an oath of allegiance to King Manuel, which he eventually did.
Vasco, after sailing around the coast of South Arabia, passed through Goa (later the focus of Portuguese power in India) before advancing to Kananor, a port in southwest India north of Calicut, where he set up an ambush, waiting for Arab ships to pass. After a few days, an Arab ship arrived with goods and 200 to 400 passengers, including women and children. Vasco seized the cargo, locked the passengers on the captured ship and, setting them all on fire, burned them all. It was the most inhuman act of his life.
Vasco da Gama, after making an alliance with the ruler of Cananor, an enemy of Zamorin, moved with his fleet against Calicut. Zamorin made offers of friendship, but Vasco rejected them and sent an ultimatum to expel the Muslims from the port. And to show that he intended to carry out his threats, he bombarded the port and captured and slaughtered 38 Indian fishermen who had gone to his ships to sell their goods.
The Portuguese then sailed to the port of Kosin, with whose ruler (an enemy of Zamorin) they made an alliance. After an invitation from Zamorin to da Gama, which, it turned out, was made for the purpose of luring him into an ambush, the Portuguese had a brief encounter with Arab ships off Calicut, but these fled. On 20 February 1503 the fleet sailed from Cananor for Mozambique, the first stop on the return voyage, and arrived at Tagus on 11 October 1503.
The third voyage and his death
Darkness shrouded the reception given to Vasco da Gama on his return by King Manuel. The valiant mariner, it seems, found the reward not commensurate with his labours. Some controversy broke out between him and the religious order of São Tiago concerning the ownership of the birthplace of Sines, which he had promised him, but it appears that he did not keep his promise.
Meanwhile, Vasco da Gama had married a daughter of good family, Caterina de Ataide - perhaps in 1500, after returning from his first voyage - with whom he had six sons and a daughter. By 1505 he was still advising the king on Indian affairs, and in 1519 he took the title of Count of Vidigueira. His new overseas voyage took place after the death of King Manuel. King João (John) III proclaimed him, in 1524, viceroy of Portugal in India.
Arriving in Goa in September, Vasco da Gama immediately engaged in curbing the many abuses of his predecessor governors. He soon fell ill from overwork or some other cause and died at Kosin on 24 December 1524, aged about 64. In 1538 his remains were transferred to Portugal.
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