In the decades that followed, the Portuguese discovered (and colonized) the island of Madeira, and the Azores, and continued their exploration down the western coast of Africa. This is considered to be the starting point of the Portuguese Colonial Empire. In 1415, the Portuguese crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and captured Ceuta from the Moors.

In fact, the kingdom began to explore the uncharted waters to its west and south about 80 years before da GamaвЂ™s first voyage. Although da Gama is one of PortugalвЂ™s greatest maritime explorers, he was certainly not its first. In 1497, Vasco da Gama was given the task of seeking an oceanic route from Western Europe to the East and was placed at the head of a Portuguese fleet. da Gama proved his capabilities by performing his mission swiftly and effectively. This was carried out in retaliation for attacks by the French on Portuguese shipping interests, despite the fact that the two countries were not at war. In that year, the King of Portugal, John II, sent da Gama to Setubal, a port city between Lisbon and Sines, to seize French vessels. In fact, the next piece of information about Vasco da GamaвЂ™s life prior to his voyage to the East comes from 1492. Unfortunately, little else is known about da GamaвЂ™s early life. da GamaвЂ™s father was a minor provincial nobleman by the name of EstГЄvГЈo da Gama, who served as a commander of the townвЂ™s castle. Vasco da Gama was born around 1460 in Sines, a coastal town in the Alentejo region, in the southwestern part of Portugal. The journey of Vasco da Gama connected Europe and the East. PortugalвЂ™s last colony, Macau, is also in Asia and was only handed back to China in 1999. Not long after da GamaвЂ™s first voyage to the East, the Portuguese established their first colony in Asia, when they conquered Goa, in India, in 1510. Moreover, da GamaвЂ™s discovery of a maritime route connecting Europe to Asia may be regarded to be the beginning of the age of global imperialism. Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India via an oceanic route.ДЄs a result of Vasco da GamaвЂ™s voyages, Portugal cemented its reputation as a formidable seafaring nation and grew rich from the goods that were coming from the East. Not only is da Gama a significant figure in the history of Portugal and Europe, but he is also an important personage in world history. It does not store any personal data.Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese sailor and explorer who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other.

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When did vasco da gama explore