Portuguese Explorers
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Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, located a sea route from Portugal to East Asia. He rounded the top of Africa, sailed across the Indian Ocean, and landed in India. Along the way, many of his crew died of scurvy, an illness caused by lack of vitamin C. Da Gama’s voyage was thought to be impossible to perform because many believed that the Indian Ocean was not connected to any other seas. In 1502, he was sent back to India, where he clashed with the Muslim traders in the region; he returned once again in 1522 and died there in 1524 due to an illness.
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Pedro Alvares Cabral
In 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral, a Portuguese explorer, sailed in 13 ships to India while following Vasco da Gama’s earlier route. On April 1500, he was the first European to see Brazil. Cabral fought a war against Muslim merchants in the Indian Ocean and won. He built trading posts in India, Japan, the Persian Gulf, China, and the Moluccas—the Spice Islands of Southeast Asia. As a result, Portugal controlled most of southern Asia’s overseas trade. In 1501, Cabral returned to Portugal with only four of the 13 ships he had started with.
Did you know?
Cabral originally named Brazil the "Island of the True Cross," but is was later renamed "Brazil" after pau-brasil, a type of dyewood found there.
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Bartolomeu Dias
Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer who sailed along the coast of Africa. In 1488, he embarked from Portugal and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope— the southernmost tip of Africa. His voyage was the first European expedition to circumnavigate the cape, and it opened up trading routes from Europe to Asia. In 1500, Dias died while lost at sea near the Cape of Good Hope.
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Click the link below to learn more about Bartolomeu Dias.
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Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry of Portugal, commonly known as Henry the Navigator, set up a research center in southern Portugal in 1419. He invited cartographers, sailors, and shipbuilders to his center. In 1420, the Portuguese began mapping Africa’s coastline and trading with African civilizations. Portugal took control of Madeira, the Azores, and Cape Verde islands and discovered that sugarcane could be grown there. Henry the Navigator did not go on any voyages; instead, he sponsored many expeditions. These expeditions helped Portugal be at the front of the race to find a route to the Indies. However, it was difficult to persuade explorers to sail farther than the equator because according to legends, past the equator was the “Green Sea of Darkness” and extreme heat.