Vascodagama, the Portuguese sailor, discovered the sea-route to India. He was born in 1460 in a Portuguese noble family.
From his very childhood he had developed a great interest for navigation and exceeled in it.
He received the patronage of King Emanual of Portugal and set out in his voyage to discover the sea-route to India with four ships from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
He reached the Cape of Good Hope and sailed around it and reached Maladi on the Eastern Coast of Africa. On the way he met an Arab navigator who showed him the way across the Indian Ocean to India. “Vascodagama landed at Calicut in the Malabar Coast of India on 20 May, 1498. Thus, the long awaited sea-route to India was discovered.
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The Hindu King of Calicut having the title Zamorin offered special reception to Vascodagama. He also granted him certain trading privileges. In 1499 Vascodagama returned to Portugal with his ships laden with huge quantities of Indian cargoes. This electated the Portuguese king who conferred upon him the title, ‘Admiral of the Indian Ocean’.
Again, Gama came to India in 1504. Before his death, he came to India for the last time in 1524. He returned Portugal and breathed his last in that year. Infact, Vascodagama established a link between the East and West by his Sea Voyage.