Vasco da Gama: The First Person to Sail from Europe to India around the African Continent

Da Gama’s successful voyage opened up new trade routes, changing the course of history and shaping the future of global commerce and cultural exchange. His discovery of a sea route to India was not just a geographical milestone but a transformative event that spurred the age of global imperialism. By connecting Europe directly to the wealth of the Indian subcontinent, da Gama paved the way for the Portuguese to establish a vast colonial empire that spanned from Africa to Asia. The Portuguese empire, founded on these maritime routes, would become a powerful force in global trade, controlling key trade routes and regions for centuries.

However, the Portuguese expansion under Vasco da Gama and his successors was not without controversy. The methods employed by the Portuguese in their expansion were often violent and ruthless. Da Gama and his crew used extreme brutality, including kidnapping and violence against local populations, which created a lasting legacy of fear and animosity between the Portuguese and India’s indigenous rulers. This harsh approach to colonization set a precedent for the broader patterns of Western colonialism that would dominate the Age of Exploration.