Bypass the Cape of Good Hope and open up Indian routes.

Vasco da gama's Internet when he first went to India.

( 1497- 1499)

There is no doubt that vasco da gama has greatly expanded the Portuguese trade network. His first trip to India (1497- 1499) was extremely important for strengthening the ties between the East and the West. In this expedition, the Portuguese first came into contact with various ethnic groups. Bypassing the Cape of Good Hope and finding the sea passage to India, Europe, Africa and Asia are more closely linked.

Although Da Gama is famous as the first European to reach India by sea, he was also the first person to sail along the east coast of Africa, the so-called Swahili coast. Therefore, in East Africa and India, Degama laid the foundation for the presence of Portugal and Europe in the region, which lasted for centuries. In my research, I focused on the network established by D 'Gama in the first voyage of the Indian Ocean world (Africa and Asia).

Numerous historians have studied da gama. Among them, 1497- 1499 is indispensable, which was originally written in Portuguese by an anonymous author. As a witness's record, it contains a lot of important information about Da Gama's first trip.

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Picture 1. Vasco da gama is the work of Antonio Manuel de Fonseca, 1838. Greenwich Hospital Collection.

Since the beginning of14th century, the Portuguese have been sailing along the northwest coast of Africa. In order to avoid trading with Arab brokers, they tried to establish a trade route to the kingdom of Mali with huge gold reserves. Finally, in the1480s, diogo C? O is the first person to reach the mouth of Congo and Namibia today. He put a so-called padr there? O, a stone cross with the national emblem of Portugal. His successor will do the same in important locations in Africa and Asia. After returning to Lisbon, the Portuguese began to consider sailing around Africa to India. The next discoverer was Bartolomeu Dias, who bypassed the Cape of Good Hope at 1488, but he could not continue his journey because his crew rebelled and forced him to return to Portugal.

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Figure 2. The route of vasco da gama's first voyage.

Nearly ten years after Diaz's war, Portuguese King Manuel I ordered vasco da gama to sail to India to establish diplomatic and trade relations with Indians. Three ships of Degama, S? Oh, Gabriel? O Raphael and Berlio left Lisbon 1497 in July. After the longest journey across the high seas so far, they arrived in St. Helena Bay, South Africa in June165438+1October. There they met Koike people. At first, the relationship between the Portuguese and the Koichi people was very good, but a few days later, this relationship suddenly ended and both sides began to use force. A similar situation happened in Morsel Bay after D 'Gama bypassed the Cape of Good Hope. Obviously, the Portuguese can't establish a lasting relationship with the Koike people.

The Portuguese are more successful further north. In today's southern Mozambique, they met these people in places called "the land of good people" and "the river of good songs" by the Portuguese. The latter got its name because D 'Gama realized that he had almost reached the extensive trade network in the Indian Ocean. In ihadmo? Ambique ("Mozambique Island") is one of the southernmost places on the Swahili coast, and the Portuguese have had contact with businessmen doing business with Arabia, Persia and India. However, distrust and religious differences led to small-scale conflicts, and the Portuguese were notorious on the Swahili coast. In Mombasa, D 'Gama clashed with the local king, so the Portuguese seem to have made few friends in East Africa. Nevertheless, King Malindi showed great affection for the Portuguese, probably because of his conflict with Mombasa. The king provided Da Gama with a navigator who knew how to cross the Arabian Sea to India. April 24, s? Oh, Gabriel? Raphael and Berlio left Malindi with a white house and set sail for India.

1498 in may 18, the Portuguese finally saw the mountains of India. Then they went to Kallikat City and met there.

"Two moors from Tunisia, they can speak Castilian and Genoese. The first greeting he (Portuguese) received was this: "May the devil take you away! What brings you here? "They asked him what he was looking for so far away from home, and he told them that we were looking for Christians and spices. […] We were very surprised to hear his speech, because we never expected to hear our language Portuguese so far away. "

The local Hindu ruler Zamolin welcomed the Portuguese to get along well with each other. During their stay in India, the Portuguese regarded Hinduism as a special form of Christianity, and they regarded Indians as potential allies. However, as in Africa, relations will only get worse. Indian and Arab businessmen were not interested in Portuguese goods. Three months later, D 'Gama decided to return to Lisbon. There were several hostilities, and both sides kidnapped some people, but finally the Portuguese left in August.

The return trip turned out to be disastrous. D 'Gama lost dozens of his men because of illness. Three months later, he finally arrived in Malindi, where he erected a pillar to commemorate his friendship with the local king. Finally, two ships of D 'Gama, one of which was burned for lack of crew, returned to Portugal in July and August of 1499.

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Figure 3. Vasco da gama stone pillar in Malindi.

Vasco da gama expanded Portuguese trade network from Atlantic Ocean to Indian Ocean world. After bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, da Gama contacted several ethnic groups, which were eventually more or less incorporated into the Portuguese network. However, during his first trip to India, Dagama had more enemies than friends. Only the people of Terra da Boa Gente, Rio dos Bons Signaes and Malindi are friendly to the Portuguese, while Khoikhoi, Ilha de Mo? Anbikui, Mombasa, Kallikat and several times with sailors in the Indian Ocean.

In the16th century, Koike people and people from southern Mozambique will not become part of the Portuguese network, while people from Swahili coast, Arab businessmen and Indians will become important trading partners of the Portuguese. So in fact, the Portuguese did not establish a new network in the Indian Ocean world. They have just infiltrated the existing networks on the Swahili coast and India. Therefore, the importance of vasco da gama is not so much to build a new network in the Indian Ocean world as to connect the existing network by discovering sea routes around the Cape of Good Hope.