Vasco da Gama (c. 1460 – 24 December 1524) was one of the most successful explorers in the Age of Discovery. He was the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India. Because of this journey, Gama was awarded with the title of Count of Vidigueira in 1519. Gama was a Viceroy of India, and also Admiral of the seas of Persia, Arabia, and India.
In 1503, after Pedro Álvares Cabral's failure to eliminate the Indian Assassins, King Manuel I of Portugal, influenced by the Borgia, sent Vasco da Gama with 800 men strong to Calicut. Da Gama was to complete what Cabral had failed, and used the guise of the expulsion of all Muslims to cause enough chaos to stir up the Brotherhood there. His fleet bombarded the city, killing hundreds, but the captains sent to take control of the area were finally killed or driven from the city.[1]
Trivia
- Vasco da Gama was a likely owner or scholar of the Voynich manuscript or one of its copies, and wrote about it in his diary.[2]