Born around 1460 in Sines on Portugal's Alentejo coast, Vasco da Gama came of age as Prince Henry the Navigator's school at Sagres had already pushed Portuguese explorers down the African coast. King Manuel I selected him to complete the sea route to India that Bartolomeu Dias had previewed by rounding the Cape in 1488.

Da Gama sailed from Lisbon in July 1497 with four vessels, navigating unknown Atlantic and Indian Ocean waters. After rounding Africa, he crossed to Calicut on India's Malabar Coast in May 1498, trading poorly with local merchants but proving Europe could reach Asia by sea. A second expedition in 1502 used naval force to impose trading terms, bombarding Calicut and establishing Portuguese dominance in the Indian Ocean.

Appointed viceroy of India in 1524, da Gama died in Cochin that same year. His voyages linked oceans previously connected only overland via Silk Road intermediaries, shifting the center of profitable trade from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern merchants to Atlantic powers and initiating centuries of European colonialism in Asia.

1. 1460

   Born in Sines

   Raised in a noble family with maritime connections during Portugal's Age of Discovery.

2. 1497

   Departs for India

   Left Lisbon commanding a fleet of four ships to find a sea route east of Africa.

3. 1498

   Arrives in Calicut

   Reached India's Malabar Coast, completing the first direct ocean voyage from Europe to South Asia.

4. 1502

   Second Armada

   Returned with a larger fleet, using force against rival traders and local rulers who resisted Portuguese terms.

5. 1524

   Death in Cochin

   Died as viceroy in India, having permanently altered Indian Ocean commerce and European imperial ambitions.