Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India

Further information: Portuguese maritime exploration
Vasco da Gama on his arrival in India in May 1498, bearing the flag used during the first voyage by sea to this part of the world: the arms of Portugal and the Cross of the Order of Christ, sponsors of the expansion movement initiated by Henry the Navigator, are seen.

The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India was the first recorded trip directly from Europe to the Indian subcontinent, via the Cape of Good Hope.[1] Under the command of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, it was undertaken during the reign of King Manuel I in 1497–1499. It is one of the most important events of the Age of Discovery and the Portuguese Empire, and it initiated the Portuguese maritime trade on the Malabar Coast and other parts of the Indian Ocean, the military presence and settlements of the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Vasco da Gama reaches India".
  2. ^ "Portuguese, The - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017.
  3. ^ Tapan Raychaudhuri (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India: Volume 1, C.1200-c.1750. CUP Archive. ISBN 978-0-521-22692-9.