Looking for India

The most flavoured spices they have ever tasted, the most comfortable cotton they have ever worn, the smoothest silk and the most precious stones. What was this magical land and how would they get there? This is the story of the European searching for India and the travelogue of Vasco-Da Gama who finally discovered it...
The sea route taken by Vasco Da Gama to reach India; Image source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The sea route taken by Vasco Da Gama to reach India; Image source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

“What is this startling dish?? How come there are so many flavours in one single bite?”

“Ummm Sir it’s the same dish you eat every day but I used the small batch of spices that were brought in from India.”

India was a land so mysterious, so unique to the European World. Astonished by the flavours that the Indians had in their food, one of the best qualities of cotton and silk they had seen. What a magnificent place but so out of their reach. One could only imagine what it looked like because the Europeans only heard and tasted this country of flavours, never seeing from their own eyes.

Actually, there were no established sea routes at that time to the western world. For Europeans, to get their hands on the Indian goods that they so badly wanted, they had to trade with Arabs. Look at the map and see how Arabia lies in the middle of India and the European nations. The Arab traders brought goods from India and then the Europeans bought them from the Arabs.

Arabs became the middlemen who sold it at a very high price to the Europeans and garnered huge profits. But the Europeans were not satisfied. They needed to get to this place so they could trade their first hand in good volume at a reasonable price. But the land route was treacherous. Passing through the territory of so many different kingdoms was quite impossible!

But once they had tasted those spicy flavours, there’s no going back. You know what they say, need and greed pave the way to new discoveries.

Among all the Europeans, the Portuguese were well known for their spirit of adventure. Do you know that the Portuguese had a ruler named Prince Henry, who was given the title ‘the navigator’ for taking the initiative among the European nation to promote seafaring activities?

Even after his death, the Portuguese kept up with voyages connecting places and finding sea routes leading to so many cities. But no sign of India. Mind you, these were the days when satellites and drones were out of the equation. All they had was a compass and their instinct to call as their ‘navigation system.’

After Prince Henry’s death, King John II took the role of promoting sea fares. A sailor, Bartholomew Diaz under his sponsorship crossed the Cape of Good Hope! You can see on the map that the Cape of Good Hope lies on the sea route path to India- almost at half the distance. It was a huge boost to the Portuguese and you can probably guess why it is named the Cape of Good Hope

King Emmanuel ascended the throne in 1495. He decided to send a seafarer, Vasco Da Gama in order to bring this impending project of ‘discovering’ India to completion. Even under King John II, Da Gama had been an excellent sailor helping him seize French ships during wars, but he had little experience in leading such expedition activities.

He started his journey from Lisbon with a fleet of four vessels. He carried within those vessels- padroes which are stone pillars to set up as marks of discovery. The sea was not kind. He suffered unfavourable winds and adverse currents before he finally reached the Cape of Good Hope.

Unfavourable winds and the adverse current, delayed the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope until November 22. They kept on making stops along the African coast and erected stone pillars to mark their way. The long journey was having a toll on the crew and the ships. The ships needed repair and many crew members got sick with scurvy. They had to rest for a month.

On the rest of their journey, they met people who joined him to look for India. Like two Arab pilots and a Gujarati pilot who they met in Kenya. The Gujarati pilot had said he knew the way to Calicut and they quickly took him aboard.

After wandering 23 days in the Indian Ocean, the most treacherous of all oceans, they finally saw the Western Ghats. They reached Calicut on May 20 1498. He erected the stone pillar to mark the end of his journey and was cordially welcomed by the Zamorians (people of Calicut) and the ruler of Calicut.

Mind you, Vasco Da Gama wasn't exactly a nice person for he put off the people who welcomed him so warmly. The gifts he brought weren't really suited to the Indian taste. The cheap goods would have worked in African regions around the Cape of Good Hope but India was a golden bird. It was used to better things. Also, the Vasco Da Gama mistook them for Christians, which infuriated them more.

He failed to get conclude a treaty of trade with them. However, he left with numerous gifts and things from India. Also, this wasn't the end of the visit as he visits India again after two years. Not to mention his name goes down in history as the ‘Discoverer of India’ since he was the first to establish the sea route and connected India to the Western world.

Later the Portuguese were able to have good enough success in India through trade, obviously not like the British but it’s an important point to end with the line that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to India and the last to leave.

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