Estevão da Gama, was Alcaide Mor of Sines, and
Commendador of Cercal, and held an important office at court under Alfonso V
After the return of Bartolomeu Dias, Estevão was chosen by João II to command
the next expedition of discovery, but, both died before the project could be
carried into execution.
Vasco, had already distinguished himself at the beginning of the year 1490/1492
by defending the Portuguese colonies on the coast of Guinea against French
encroachments. In January, 1497, the command of the Indian expedition was
solemnly conferred upon Vasco da Gama, and on 8 July, 1497, the fleet sailed
from Lisbon under the leadership of Vasco, his brother Paulo, and Nicoláo
Coelho, with a crew of about one hundred and fifty men. Goncalo Alvares
commanded the flagship Sao (Saint) Gabriel. Paulo, da Gama's brother, commanded
the Sao Rafael. The other two ships were the Berrio and the Starship. Most of
the men working on the ship were convicts and were treated as expendable. On 16
December, the fleet arrived at Natal.
He skipped, Mozambique and Mombasa, both controlled by the Arabs, and was
received in a friendly manner at Melinda, East Africa (14 April, 1498). They
reached under the guidance of Ahmad Ibn Majid, a famous Arab pilot on 20 May,
1498 their journey's end, the harbor of Calicut, India, which, from the
fourteenth century, had been the principal market for trade in spices, precious
stones, and pearls.
At first, the Portuguese were well received and accepted by the Hindu ruler.
There was a great ceremony, and da Gama was taken to a Hindu temple. However,
this immediate reaction did not last. The ruler later felt insulted by the gifts
that Vasco da Gama brought, because they were of little value to him. Da Gama
was not able to establish his trading station or negotiate a trading agreement,
because the Zamorin (samudrin raja, the Hindu King) did not want to alienate the
local merchants. The Portuguese goods that had been well accepted in Africa were
not suitable for the prestigious Indian market. The Muslim merchants despised
the Portuguese interference in their business and often threatened to not trade
with them. Finally, when da Gama wanted to leave, the Zamorin told him that he
had to pay a heavy tax and leave all the Portuguese goods as a form of
collateral. Da Gama was enraged, and on August 29, 1498, da Gama and his crew
departed from Caljicut with all of their possessions and five hostages. Da Gama
also took a letter from the Zamorin stating that the Zamorin would trade spices
and gems if the Portuguese could get scarlet cloth, coral, silver, and gold.
On 5 October, 1498, the fleet began its homeward voyage from the Indian shores.
Coelho arrived in Portugal on 10 July, 1499; Paulo da Gama died at Angra; Vasco
reached Lisbon in September, where a brilliant reception awaited him.
He was appointed to the newly created post of Admiral of the Indian Ocean, which
carried with it a high salary
Second Expedition:
In 1502 Gama was again sent out, with his uncle Vicente Sodré and his nephew
Estevão, and a new fleet of twenty ships, to safeguard the interests of the
commercial enterprises established in the meantime in India by Cabral, and of
the Portuguese who had settled there and prepared for an encounter with the
Muslim traders. He set sail with 20 well-armed ships, hoping to force his way
into the market and to get revenge on the Muslims for the opposition in 1498. On
the outward voyage he proceeded with unscrupulous might and cruelty, against the
Arabian merchant ships and the Samudrian (or Zamorin) of Calicut. He laid seige
to the city, annihilated a fleet of twenty-nine warships, and concluded
favourable treaties and alliances with the native princes.
When da Gama arrived in Calicut on October 30, 1502, the Zamorin was willing to
sign a treaty. His commercial success was especilly brilliant, the value of the
merchandise which he brought with him amounting to more than a million in
gold.
In February of 1503, da Gama returned home.
Third Expedition:
Once again, in 1524, he was sent to India by the Crown, under João III, to
supersede the Viceroy Eduardo de Menezes, who was no longer master of the
situation. He re-established order, but at the end of the year he was stricken
by death at Cochin. In 1539, his remains, which up to that time had lain in the
Franciscan church there, were brought to Portugual and interred at Vidigueira.
To commemorate the first voyage to India, the celebrated convent of the
Hieronymites in Belem was erected. A large part of the "Lusiad" of
Camoens deals with the voyages and discoveries of Vasco da Gama.