Vasco da Gama
![Anonymous portrait, c. 1525](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Ignoto_portoghese%2C_ritratto_di_un_cavaliere_dell%27ordine_di_cristo%2C_1525-50_ca._02.jpg)
His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. This was a milestone in Portuguese maritime exploration as and marked the beginning of a sea-based phase of globalization. Da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India opened the way for an age of global imperialism and enabled the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire along the way from Africa to Asia. Traveling the ocean route allowed the Portuguese to avoid sailing across the highly disputed Mediterranean Sea and traversing the dangerous Arabian Peninsula. The sum of the distances covered in the outward and return voyages made this expedition the longest ocean voyage ever made until then.
After decades of sailors trying to reach the Indies, with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks, da Gama landed in Calicut on 20 May 1498. Unopposed access to the Indian spice routes boosted the economy of the Portuguese Empire, which was previously based along northern and coastal West Africa. The main spices at first obtained from Southeast Asia were pepper and cinnamon, but soon included other products, all new to Europe. Portugal maintained a commercial monopoly of these commodities for several decades. It was not until a century later that other European powers were able to challenge Portugal's monopoly and naval supremacy in the Cape Route.
Da Gama led two of the Portuguese India Armadas, the first and the fourth. The latter was the largest and departed for India four years after his return from the first one. For his contributions, in 1524 da Gama was appointed Governor of India, with the title of Viceroy, and was ennobled as Count of Vidigueira in 1519. He remains a leading figure in the history of exploration, and homages worldwide have celebrated his explorations and accomplishments. The Portuguese national epic poem, ''Os Lusíadas'', was written in his honour by Luís de Camões. Provided by Wikipedia
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121by Cláudio Guerreiro, Pedro Carrilho Ferreira, Rui Campante Teles, Pedro Braga, Pedro Canas da Silva, Lino Patrício, João Carlos Silva, José Baptista, Manuel de Sousa Almeida, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, Bruno Silva, João Brito, Eduardo Infante Oliveira, Duarte Cacela, Sérgio Madeira, João SilveiraGet full text
Published 2020-12-01
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122by Cláudio Guerreiro, Pedro Carrilho Ferreira, Rui Campante Teles, Pedro Braga, Pedro Canas da Silva, Lino Patrício, João Carlos Silva, José Baptista, Manuel de Sousa Almeida, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, Bruno Silva, João Brito, Eduardo Infante Oliveira, Duarte Cacela, Sérgio Madeira, João SilveiraGet full text
Published 2020-12-01
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123by Jennifer Mancio, António S. Barros, Glória Conceicão, Cátia Santa, Guilherme Pessoa-Amorim, Carla Bartosch, Mariana Fragao-Marques, Wilson Ferreira, Mónica Carvalho, Nuno Ferreira, Luís Vouga, Isabel M. Miranda, Rui Vitorino, Ricardo Fontes-Carvalho, Bruno Manadas, Inês Falcão-Pires, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, Adelino Leite-Moreira, Nuno BettencourtGet full text
Published 2020-11-01
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124by Jennifer Mancio, António S. Barros, Glória Conceicão, Cátia Santa, Guilherme Pessoa-Amorim, Carla Bartosch, Mariana Fragao-Marques, Wilson Ferreira, Mónica Carvalho, Nuno Ferreira, Luís Vouga, Isabel M. Miranda, Rui Vitorino, Ricardo Fontes-Carvalho, Bruno Manadas, Inês Falcão-Pires, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, Adelino Leite-Moreira, Nuno BettencourtGet full text
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125by Rui Azevedo Guerreiro, Renato Fernandes, Rui Campante Teles, Pedro Canas da Silva, Hélder Pereira, Rui Cruz Ferreira, Marco Costa, Filipe Seixo, Pedro Farto e Abreu, João Luís Pipa, Luís Bernardes, Francisco Pereira Machado, José Palos, E. Infante de Oliveira, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, João Carlos Silva, Graça Caires, Dinis Martins, José Baptista, João Calisto, Rui Pontes dos Santos, Fernando Matias, João Costa, Paulino Sousa, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, António Fiarresga, João Brum da SilveiraGet full text
Published 2019-11-01
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126by Rui Azevedo Guerreiro, Renato Fernandes, Rui Campante Teles, Pedro Canas da Silva, Hélder Pereira, Rui Cruz Ferreira, Marco Costa, Filipe Seixo, Pedro Farto e Abreu, João Luís Pipa, Luís Bernardes, Francisco Pereira Machado, José Palos, Eduardo Infante de Oliveira, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, João Carlos Silva, Graça Caires, Dinis Martins, José Baptista, João Calisto, Rui Pontes dos Santos, Fernando Matias, João Costa, Paulino Sousa, Vasco Gama Ribeiro, António Fiarresga, João Brum da SilveiraGet full text
Published 2019-11-01
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127by Nina Rieckmann, Konrad Neumann, Sarah Feger, Paolo Ibes, Adriane Napp, Daniel Preuß, Henryk Dreger, Gudrun Feuchtner, Fabian Plank, Vojtěch Suchánek, Josef Veselka, Thomas Engstrøm, Klaus F. Kofoed, Stephen Schröder, Thomas Zelesny, Matthias Gutberlet, Michael Woinke, Pál Maurovich-Horvat, Béla Merkely, Patrick Donnelly, Peter Ball, Jonathan D. Dodd, Mark Hensey, Bruno Loi, Luca Saba, Marco Francone, Massimo Mancone, Marina Berzina, Andrejs Erglis, Audrone Vaitiekiene, Laura Zajanckauskiene, Tomasz Harań, Malgorzata Ilnicka Suckiel, Rita Faria, Vasco Gama-Ribeiro, Imre Benedek, Ioana Rodean, Filip Adjić, Nada Čemerlić Adjić, José Rodriguez-Palomares, Bruno Garcia del Blanco, Katriona Brooksbank, Damien Collison, Gershan Davis, Erica Thwaite, Juhani Knuuti, Antti Saraste, Cezary Kępka, Mariusz Kruk, Theodora Benedek, Mihaela Ratiu, Aleksandar N. Neskovic, Radosav Vidakovic, Ignacio Diez, Iñigo Lecumberri, Michael Fisher, Balazs Ruzsics, William Hollingworth, Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, Marc Dewey, Jacqueline Müller-NordhornGet full text
Published 2020-06-01
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128by Nina Rieckmann, Konrad Neumann, Sarah Feger, Paolo Ibes, Adriane Napp, Daniel Preuß, Henryk Dreger, Gudrun Feuchtner, Fabian Plank, Vojtěch Suchánek, Josef Veselka, Thomas Engstrøm, Klaus F. Kofoed, Stephen Schröder, Thomas Zelesny, Matthias Gutberlet, Michael Woinke, Pál Maurovich-Horvat, Béla Merkely, Patrick Donnelly, Peter Ball, Jonathan D. Dodd, Mark Hensey, Bruno Loi, Luca Saba, Marco Francone, Massimo Mancone, Marina Berzina, Andrejs Erglis, Audrone Vaitiekiene, Laura Zajanckauskiene, Tomasz Harań, Malgorzata Ilnicka Suckiel, Rita Faria, Vasco Gama-Ribeiro, Imre Benedek, Ioana Rodean, Filip Adjić, Nada Čemerlić Adjić, José Rodriguez-Palomares, Bruno Garcia del Blanco, Katriona Brooksbank, Damien Collison, Gershan Davis, Erica Thwaite, Juhani Knuuti, Antti Saraste, Cezary Kępka, Mariusz Kruk, Theodora Benedek, Mihaela Ratiu, Aleksandar N. Neskovic, Radosav Vidakovic, Ignacio Diez, Iñigo Lecumberri, Michael Fisher, Balasz Ruzsics, William Hollingworth, Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, Marc Dewey, Jacqueline Müller-NordhornGet full text
Published 2020-05-01
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