Vasco da Gama opened the sea route to India and changed the course of history forever. While schools teach us about his spices and sails, they often skip the darker chapters of his voyages. For instance, he started his career as a pirate hunter who seized French ships for the King. Furthermore, he once returned home with a cargo worth sixty times the cost of his entire expedition. Prepare to sail around the Cape of Storms.
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama burned a ship full of religious pilgrims. During his second voyage, he intercepted the ship Miri which was carrying families back from Mecca. Although they offered him all their wealth, he locked the passengers below deck and set the vessel on fire.
His gifts insulted the King of Calicut. Da Gama arrived in India with cheap items like washbasins, hats, and striped cloth. Consequently, the Zamorin’s officials laughed at him because he brought no gold or silver to offer a powerful ruler.
He originally mistook Hindus for Christians. When he saw temples with statues of many arms and heads, he assumed they were strange local versions of Christian saints. Therefore, he and his crew prayed in Hindu temples for months before they realized their mistake.
The spice profit was absolutely massive. He returned from his first voyage with a cargo of pepper and cinnamon worth sixty times the cost of the trip. As a result, this single journey made the Portuguese Crown incredibly wealthy almost overnight.
He seized French ships in his youth. Before he became a famous explorer, King John II sent him to the Algarve to capture French vessels. He did this to retaliate against French pirates who had attacked Portuguese shipping.
Scurvy killed more of his men than any battle. The long voyage around Africa kept them at sea for months without fresh fruit. Thus, only 54 of his original 170 crew members survived the trip back to Lisbon.
He hired a local pilot to cross the Indian Ocean. He did not know how to navigate the monsoon winds of the open sea. Fortunately, he found a skilled pilot in Malindi, Kenya, who guided his fleet safely to the coast of India.
He cut off the ears and noses of traders. To intimidate the locals during his second voyage, he captured a group of unarmed fishermen and traders. He mutilated them and sent their severed parts to the local ruler with a message to make a curry out of them.
His father was supposed to lead the expedition. Estêvão da Gama was the original choice for the historic mission. However, he died before the fleet could launch, so the King gave the command to his son Vasco instead.
A giant monster represents him in literature. The epic poem The Lusiads features a giant named Adamastor who personifies the Cape of Good Hope. This monster curses da Gama and prophesies the disasters that will befall future Portuguese sailors.
He died on Christmas Eve in India. He returned to India for a third time in 1524 to serve as Viceroy. However, he caught malaria soon after arriving and passed away in the city of Cochin.
His tomb rests in a monastery built with pepper money. The Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon houses his stone sarcophagus today. The King funded the construction of this massive building using the 5% tax levied on the spice trade.
He received the title “Admiral of the Seas of Arabia.” After his successful return, King Manuel I granted him this prestigious title. It gave him feudal rights and a massive pension that secured his family’s future for generations.
The “Cape of Storms” got a new name because of the route. Bartolomeu Dias originally named the southern tip of Africa the Cape of Storms. However, the King renamed it the Cape of Good Hope to encourage investors like da Gama to sail around it.
Finally, Vasco da Gama has a crater on the Moon named after him. To honor his contribution to exploration, astronomers named a lunar crater “Vasco da Gama.” It sits on the western limb of the Moon, forever watching over the Earth.
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