In 1453, an event changed the course of European history. Ottoman Sultan ‘Mehmed II’ captured Constantinople (present-day Turkey), closing the Europe – Central Asia land route. That was when the search for a sea route began.
Click here to Read the Telugu version of this article.
Portugal’s King Henry (known as The Navigator) was the first to encourage navigation. In 1487, Bartolomeu Dias reached the southern tip of Africa and discovered the ‘Cape of Storms’. Later, it became famous as the ‘Cape of Good Hope’. This became the sea gateway to Asia.
Columbus set sail to discover a route to India but, losing his way, discovered ‘America’. But the one who truly reached the destination was ‘Vasco da Gama’. Vasco da Gama set out from Lisbon on the ship ‘São Gabriel’ and reached the Indian shores. On May 17, 1498, he arrived at Calicut, where the local ruler, the Zamorin, welcomed him. From that moment, the European chapter in Indian history began.
He returned for a second voyage in 1502, and in 1524 Vasco da Gama died of malaria. His tomb is in Cochin.
The Portuguese, Dutch, British, Danish, and French arrived in India in that order. In Andhra, the Dutch came first, followed by the British, French, and finally the Portuguese.
Fighting sea storms and reaching unknown continents, were these voyages merely tales of trade? Or did they mark the dawn of a new era? To know, we must delve deeper into the pages of history!
📢 What new fact about this European voyage you learned!
💬 Write in the comment below…