[Music] thank you [Music] in early August of 1415 a vast Portuguese Armada approached the coast of North Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar its primary objective the city of sciuta came into view the fleet consisted of 59 galleys 33 Carex and 120 support vessels on board were twenty thousand troops with an additional 30 000 support personnel the force was multinational consisting of not only Portuguese men but also recruits and mercenaries from France England and Germany years of meticulous planning went into this attack which was arranged in the utmost the secrecy The Invasion force was led by the warrior king John the first to Portugal and by his side were his three sons including his Heir Prince Edward sayuta was a fabulously wealthy City a place where the trade routes that North Africa ended and it was extremely strategic being well placed on the Strait of Gibraltar as such its defenses were impressive over the centuries it had been built into a fortress defended by high walls and impressive Towers the Marinette Dynasty the current owners had even gone so far as to add an imposing Citadel the Portuguese arrived with their Fleet on August 12 1415 as they entered the harbor they immediately came under bombardment from the city this initially prevented the Europeans from making landfall meanwhile the governor of the city ordered the women and children to depart and brought in as many reinforcements as he could find however the Marinette Sultan Abu Syed Usman III of Fez due to Massive Internal upheaval that bordered on Civil War was unable to ascend in any further troops King John a Portugal managed to reorganize his man for an attack on August 16th but that very night a strong Gale descended on the fleet which literally scattered it to the wind next morning with the Portuguese Fleet absent The Defenders of the city came to the conclusion that the Europeans had given up the governor Salah bin Salah made the decision to release his reinforcements leaving only a small Garrison a decision he'd soon regret it was on August 21st 1415 that King John returned in Forest once again against the odds he had brought his Fleet together and his soldiers were eager for battle as before the fleet sailed into the harbor landing craft that were loaded with troops were lowered into the water and then quickly made their way to the beaches however as the King was making his way to the shore he was shot and wounded in the leg his men began to falter it was at this point that his son a man by the name of Prince Henry took up the Royal Standard and led the attack onwards flanked by his brother of Prince Edward the heir to the throne and supported by 300 men Henry Advanced to the al-madina gate which was poorly defended due to the speed of Henry's attack the gate was not properly secured and was soon smashed open a massive breach would follow as King John arrived at the gate with the rest of the army the Portuguese poured into the City and brushed aside The Defenders this small outnumbered Garrison was able to resist fiercely at first but eventually they had to break and run retreated to a citadel but he remained there only for a night it was during that night that he realized that his options were very limited he decided to use the cover of darkness and fled the city as well the very next day all resistance in say Utah came to an end at which point the flag of Lisbon was hoisted above the battlements of the city the Portuguese Empire had begun [Music] by the late 14th century Portugal was a relatively impoverished Nation when King John came to power on April 6 1385 he inherited a kingdom that seemed to have a relatively dismal future the kingdoms of Central Europe on the other hand were growing as the Renaissance in certain areas was beginning the city-states of Italy especially Genoa and Venice which had a monopoly on trade to the Orient were growing immensely wealthy as Can Be Imagined this was envied by just about everybody else Portugal meanwhile was missing out it was on the extreme periphery as the writer John Crowley would say it was the prow of Europe the kingdom had a long Coastal border that looked on towards a menacing seemingly endless Atlantic Ocean an ocean by the way that the Arabs would call the green sea of Darkness to the east Portugal was blocked by its powerful and aggressive neighbor Castile indeed a few months after King John had come to power Castile invaded with a strong Army at the Battle of al-jubarata on August 1485 the Portuguese King despite being outnumbered by nearly five to one achieved a decisive victory his position as a sovereign was secured in the house of aviz which he founded would last for nearly 200 years in the aftermath of this battle King John was able to focus on the task of expanding his realm thirty years later he and his sons stood as conquerors of the city of seyuta Roger Crowley of the book conquerors describes this moment well quote the Portuguese had come to wash their hands in Infidel blood they fulfilled their contract to the letter three days of pillage and Massacre then ransacked a place once described as the flower of all other cities in Africa its Gateway and its key this stunning coup sort of noticed the European Rivals that this small kingdom was self-confident energetic and on the Move end quote on August 24 1415 in what had once been the city's mosque now converted into a church known as our lady of Africa a rightfully proud King John knighted his sons Prince Henry's moment had finally come the prince who would be known to history as Henry the Navigator looked at the city of syuta and saw a vast untapped potential in his mind he saw North African Caravans bringing in the spices from the East he glimpsed the trans-saharan trade routes bringing in the legendary gold of Mansa Musa Henry didn't have to look much further than the Catalan Atlas at 1375 to reaffirm his beliefs there he would see the mighty African king holding up a gold coin in his hand sitting near the fabled river of gold Mansa musa's famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 where he brought so much gold that it devalued its worth obviously had an effect on the European mind but the knighted Prince not just a warrior but also a man with a talent for seizing opportunity saw much more he observed a way of cutting out the middlemen of Genoa and Venice and getting directly to the spice markets of Alexandria and Damascus he saw an ability to outflank the growth of Islam indeed as later ventures of exploration would be billed to the pope as Crusades what's more he believed that by exploring Africa a way could be found to reach prester John prester John was believed to be an extremely powerful Christian King who had a vast Empire someplace to the east his tail emerged in the 12th and 13th centuries as the Crusades were being pushed back by Islam the belief was that if Europe could only reach prester John then perhaps he would unleash his armies and destroy the caliphate in a combined attack Prince Henry's mind was made up Portugal would have to expand and thus it would need to explore or face a slow death of obscurity for Henry sayuta was just the beginning it was a city that needed to be a firm part of Portugal's domain when his father King John placed him in charge of sayuta's Defense he took the job extremely seriously thus four years later in 1419 when the marinade Sultan Abu Syed Usman III launched a major attack on the city Henry quickly sailed his Fleet to alleviate the Muslim Siege but by the time he arrived the commander of his Garrison had daringly sallied forth and destroyed the besiegers the Muslims were forced to fall back and the sultan uthman was later assassinated in Fez in 1420 for his failure the Marinette sultanate would descend into Anarchy and say Utah would face little opposition in the coming years Prince Henry on the other hand got the credit for the win on May 25th 1420 he was appointed the Grand Master the order of Christ this was a religious organization that was considered the successor to the now dissolved Knight's Templar the position brought him a lot of prestige and a steady source of income that he was more than eager to use Henry was Now set to further his ambitions in the city of sagres located in the southernmost part of Portugal he was renowned as establishing his famous school of navigation now it needs to be mentioned that there was not much evidence that Henry actually built a physical School the truth of the matter is that he probably just brought together cartographers sea captains Sailors Pilots men that were willing to explore and compile their information and the prince provided a platform likely just a collection of buildings that he owned for these men to congregate and to engage in discourse either way more detailed maps were created sailing tools like the compass and the astrolabe were better utilized than studied and as a result the Portuguese began to take a commanding lead on venturing into the unknown Henry also made an important decision that would forever affect Maritime history he simply wanted a better ship the answer that he and his team came up with was known as the caravel the caravel was based on a Portuguese fishing vessel weighing approximately 80 tons with a shallow draft which made it ideal for exploring estuaries and Coastal Waters however its design also functioned very well on the open ocean which thus far had been a major obstacle triangular sails possibly of Arab origin known as Latin sales allowed it to sail Against the Wind albeit in a zigzag pattern it also had two or three Mass some of which were rigged with square sails in order to give it better speed the rudder was expanded for greater maneuverability and a Forecastle in a Stern Castle were Incorporated giving the ship a better defensive Edge it didn't require a large crew which allowed for longer voyages most importantly the ship could not only sail out but it could also return in relative safety therefore the design became an astounding success in later variants the caravel would be a larger better equipped and have heavier Weaponry the stage for exploration was Now set in 1419 Henry sponsored a voyage to Africa which got blown off course but inadvertently discovered the Madeira archipelago located approximately 250 miles west off the coast of Morocco Henry's men landed on one of the islands and established a new colony which would be named Porto Santo the islands of the Madeira archipelago would be a blessing to the expansion of Portugal it would serve as the base of operations and the stepping stone to new discoveries what's more the island served as a vast source of Timber perfect for ship construction Madera by the way in Portuguese means wood Prince Henry also saw here an opportunity to create a plantation system to grow crops like sugar cane this endeavor would be vastly successful and 80 years later more sugar was produced on these islands than any other place in the world this plantation system would later be reinforced with fortified trading outposts known as fetorias roughly translated factories vetorias and plantations would prove another major success in fact in time they'd be set up in most of the lands that Portugal would eventually claim the discoveries would continue later in 1439 the Azores were colonized and incorporated into the Empire these islands would also serve as a base of operations and a springboard for further exploration however for Henry his main goal was always pushing South along the west coast of Africa Roger Crowley again in conquerors explains quote Henry the Navigator continued to sponsor Expeditions down the coast of Africa in search of slaves gold and spices year by year Headland by Headland Portuguese ships worked their way down the southwestward sloping bulge of West Africa cautiously sounding with Plumb lines as they went forever wary as Shoals and reefs over which the sea broke in Pounding surf in the process they began to delineate the shape of a continent the desert coast of Mauritania the lush tropical shores of the region they called guinea and the Great Rivers of Equatorial Africa the Senegal and The Gambia under Henry's Direction exploration raiding and trading went hand in hand with ethnographical curiosity and mapping end quote Henry's explorers continued to push the boundary of the known world as they made their way they put up large Stone pillars that had crosses on top known as padraos which would serve as markers later outposts and trading stations were also established gold was found and shipped back while it wasn't a massive Hall it was enough for the Portuguese Crown to start minting gold coins known as cruzado it was also during these Expeditions that the slave trade would also begin to ramp up by 1444 240 slaves were brought back and paraded for sale in the harbor alisman in the next 15 years another 20 000 slaves men women and children would be brought back as well this would establish the beginning of the slave trade that would persist for more than 300 years make no mistake this would make Portugal rich but it would have devastating effects on the economy of Africa in all Henry funded over 14 Expeditions not all of them would be successful but those that did return would bring back not just potential for more trading opportunities but also invaluable information on the tides the currents the local Wildlife the winds and the people which were all compiled together and guarded with extreme secrecy eventually even the infamous Cape beauja door was overcome before Prince Henry this cape was a major obstacle on account of its harsh winds and strong currents it was said that Beyond were Waters that could boil a man alive and sea monsters of ever increasing magnitude after Prince Henry this cape was only a marker that was passed by as Portugal continued to extend further and further south along the African Coast however not everything that Henry the Navigator did was successful he was defeated by Castile when he attempted to take the Canary Islands and in 1437 he attempted to take Tangiers in Morocco as the North African trade routes had been diverted away from sayuta to the city it turned out to be a complete disaster Tangiers was too well defended Portugal didn't have enough troops or Siege equipment and eventually the entire Portuguese Army got trapped there Henry was forced to trade in his own brother Ferdinand as a hostage to allow for the Portuguese forces to retreat in peace the prince was also obliged to hand over sayuta which she refused to do and his brother would eventually die in a Muslim prison despite his failures Prince Henry the Navigator had set a powerful precedence for his country while he wasn't an Explorer himself per se he definitively got the ball rolling those that would follow in his footsteps would continue to explore create Maps design better ships find new trade routes not to mention frankly exploiting the rapidly expanding world around them for personal gain and Glory Portugal as a result of his actions would take an early lead in the age of Discovery while it never had the manpower to have a big land Empire it did have the motivation and the cunning to be a serious trade Empire in 1460 Henry Died he was interred in the Battalion Monastery in central Portugal in retrospect the prince would be regarded as one of the founding fathers of Portugal's Empire but he would also be a major figure in Maritime history in general his contribution after all could not be overlooked 26 years after his death the word discobremento would appear in written form in Portuguese for the first time in recorded history when translated into English this word meant discovery [Music] in late December of 1487 two caravels were making their way through the vast uncharted waters along the coast of Africa no European had ever been this way they were pushing the final frontier back but were truly sailing into the unknown suddenly a powerful storm hit the ships pushing them from the relative safety of coastal Waters and far out into the open ocean it was at this point when the storms began to Abate that the commander of the ships a nobleman by the name of Bartholomew Diaz made a very fateful decision instead of immediately hitting due east to reclaim the site of land he instead allowed the Westerly winds and the ocean currents to guide his vessels nature moved the ships further to the west and then to the South eventually their course would turn them Northeast for 30 extremely tense days as supplies and morale dwindled there was no side of land whatsoever had this been a massive mistake had Bartholomew Diaz condemned his men to his low death on the ocean then suddenly on February 3rd 1488 emerging from the distant Horizon land was finally spotted the two ships quickly made their way to disembark but once they made landfall the real question remained where exactly had they arrived at was this just another Bay on the seemingly endless Coastline of Africa was the ptolemaic principle which stated that the Indian Ocean was a closed off inaccessible body of water correct or had this Portuguese explorer just discovered the tip of Africa and in so doing had uncovered The fabled Passage to India with all the wealth that it held [Music] [Music] in the early part of the 1400s Portugal had taken a commanding lead on exploration Prince Henry known as Henry the Navigator had been a massive proponent and Patron of exploration and technological development it set the standard that his countrymen would adopt and eagerly follow by the time of his death in 1460 Portuguese ships had discovered and colonized The Madeira Islands the Azores and the Cape Verde archipelago the western coast of Africa had been explored to the sub-Saharan regions but Portugal was only getting warmed up in 1471 for now Gomez arrived in what is now modern-day Ghana to discover a flourishing gold trade which gave rise to the name the Gold Coast by 1482 the mouths of the mighty Congo River had been discovered by Diogo cow this Portuguese explorer would continue South and by 1486 he had reached Cape cross in present-day Namibia as the Portuguese made their way down the coast of Africa Forts and trading posts were established harbors and ports were constructed and Pedros which were Stone pillars crowned with a cross that served as markers were erected nearly to the Tropic of Capricorn however despite these successes for the king of Portugal this was simply not enough the great grandson of John the first who had founded the house of aviz the ruling dynasty of Portugal at that time was the man named John II when his father died in 1481 he became king of Portugal and proved to be a very capable ruler John II was a renaissance man alongside his father he had conquered lands in North Africa taking the city of Tangier and had distinguished himself at the Battle of Toro against Castile in 1474 but aside from Simply Leading Men into combat John had a very talented mind for exploration and commerce this Portuguese King was renowned for having two major obsessions first they wanted to find a way to get to India and second he wanted to reach the legendary Prosper John India made complete economic sense it was the source despised trade after all and therefore it would be the source of immense wealth Pastor John was the epitome of the crusading desire to Vanquish Islam this fabled Christian King was said to have an incredible Treasury and vast armies under his command now theoretically speaking if only the Christians of the West could reach him then he could unleash his forces and perhaps the caliphate could be crushed by the 15th century it was determined that prester John was no longer in Asia but now someplace in Africa Roger Crowley in the book conquerors explains just how devoted King John was to accomplishing these goals quote the king had gathered around him a loyal generation a highly talented pilot Sailors and adventurers chosen for their talents rather than their social status in 1486 he energetically planned a three-pronged approach to solving the India problem and locating prester John first and foremost a focused Expedition would attempt to sail around Africa second along the way it would drop off portuguese-speaking native Africans to seek information about the legendary Christian King in the interior of the continent and third an Overland expedition to the east would be conducted using Arabic speakers who could penetrate the heartlands of the Indies to learn about spices Christian Kings and the possibility of sailing routes to the Indian Ocean John appointed a knight of his household by the name of Bartholomew Diaz to command the next Expedition down the African Coast for the Overland Expedition the king recruited pero de coviha koviha was about 40 years old a quick-witted multi-talented Adventurer of lowly birth he was also an Adept swordsman a loyal servant to the Portuguese king and a spy it was koviha and another Arabic speaker Alfonso de paiva to whom the king now entrusted this daring Overland operation end quote in the spring of 1487 koviha and paiva set out from Barcelona and sailed across the Mediterranean to arrive in roads in the city of Rhodes they purchased an entire ship's hold worth of honey so they could pass as Merchants they then promptly made their way South arriving at the Port of Alexandria and Egypt the two Blended in and immediately got to work Gathering intelligence spying on the incoming Merchants to discover any hint of the trade routes to the east but shortly after they arrived both the King's Men were bedridden with fever meanwhile far to the West Bartholomew Diaz Was preparing a journey of his own at the time he wouldn't know it but this Voyage he was about to undertake would have a dramatic effect on world history Bartholomew Diaz was born about 1450 into the aristocracy he had the favor at King John II and was a member of his court he came from a line of sailors and had gained a considerable amount of experience on other Expeditions along the African Coast in 1482 he joined an expedition to present-day Ghana to establish the Fortress of elmina on the Gold Coast which by the way gave Portugal a very firm hand on the gold trade it has been suggested that Diaz was also a part of cow's discovery of the Congo River sadly very little is known of Diaz's exploits in early life as the Portuguese kept his records as state Secrets likely to keep that information from falling into the hands of Rivals and later an earthquake in 1755 destroyed those archives in July or August the 1487 Diaz was given three ships by the crown two were caravels the Sao pantalio and his Flagship which he personally commanded the Sao cristavo the third was a square rig support ship which Diaz placed his brother pero in charge of on board the ship's Diaz had brought several padraos that he would embed his markers and six African slaves four women and two men the Africans had been taught Portuguese had been adorned in fine clothing and were given offerings of silver and gold they would be dropped off at various spots in Africa to serve as ambassadors to proclaim the glory of the Portuguese than to inquire about prester John their fate however is lost to history and it would seem that little was gained by this endeavor Diaz set out from Lisbon he stopped in Ghana at The almina Fortress to take on more supplies and then continued further south eventually he passed the last bedrao placed at Cape Cross by Diogo Cal the year before on December 8 1487 he arrived at walvis Bay in present-day Namibia where the supply ship and nine men were parked most of the supplies were transferred to the caravels and the voyage would continue on it was near New Year's day that the two caravels sailed into a storm which pushed them from the coast into open Waters at which time a Monumental Choice was made Roger Crowley explains quote the pilots took a startling decision at about 29 degrees south they gave up the attritional battle with the adverse winds and currents instead they turned their ships away from the shore lowered their sails to half-mast and flung themselves out into the void of the Westerly ocean with the counter-intuitive aim of sailing East eventually no one knows exactly why this happened it may have been a maneuver worked out in advance or it may have been a moment of genius and intuition a gut feeling about the Atlantic winds based on previous experiences whatever the logic this was a decisive moment in the history of the world end quote for 30 days Bartholomew Diaz and his men were alone on an endless ocean the winds and the currents carried them to the west and then to the South the weather became colder and colder as they traversed into the southernmost latitudes eventually the currents and the wind began to push them to the Northeast on February 3rd 1488 after being a month at Sea the exhausted and frightened Crews saw Land once again they came ashore at a place that would be called the Bay of the cowherds later to be known as mosul Bay the question on everybody's mind was well where were they no European had ever ventured this far there simply was no other points of reference undaunted Diaz ordered his men to sail due east they traversed for another 200 miles along the coast then irrefutably the coast began to turn to the Northeast and the weather began to get warmer Diaz knew then and there that he had made it around Africa on March 12 1488 Diaz anchored at a bay near a rocky Headland named kwaiihoek where he placed his furthest bedrao his supplies were now critical and his men's morale was ready to break into open Mutiny however he and his men agreed to travel for three more days they arrived at a river they would call The Rio Infante for Bartholomew Diaz this was as far as his voyage would take him as he sailed back he saw his last bedrao the historian Joelle de Barros would later say of him quote when he departed from the pillar he was overcome by great sadness and deep emotion as if he was saying goodbye to a son banished forever he had remembered the great danger faced by him and all his men how long they had journeyed to come only to this point then that God had not granted him the main prize he saw the land of India but could not enter it like Moses in the promised land end quote [Music] meanwhile on the very other end of Africa paiva and koviha had recovered from their illnesses and had continued on their mission for the king they traveled down the Nile to Cairo and there they took a caravan across the desert to the Red Sea they boarded ship and traveled to the city of Aden and Yemen at the end of the Arabian peninsula at Aiden the two men decided to part ways paiva would travel to Ethiopia to track down prester John koviha on the other hand found his way across the Arabian Desert he then boarded ship once again and after a week on the ocean he arrived in India at the city of Calicut in Autumn of 1487. he had accomplished his mission for the king of Portugal Calicut was a major Hub of the spice trade coviha would continue his Trek recording everything as he went from the water currents to the prevailing winds to the cities and the people that he encountered he moved along the western Seaboard of India and by Spring of 1488 he was in Goa eventually he embarked on another ship crossed the Persian Gulf and arrived at ormuz which happened to be another Hub at the spice trade it wasn't until 1491 four years after koviha had left Portugal that he arrived back in Cairo surprisingly two Portuguese Messengers that had been dispatched by the king managed to find him they would take his valuable report back to King John II however kovias travels had made him a man that was no longer capable of going home he soon discovered that His companion paiva had died while seeking prester John Roger Crowley describes koviha's amazing journey and Journey's end quote koviha seems to have been bitten by incurable wonderlust he decided to finish off paifa's business heavily disguised he took a tour the holy places of Islam Mecca and Medina before striking out for the Ethiopian Highlands here he became the first Portuguese to meet the man they would know as prester John the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia the current ruler iskender received him honorably but refused to let him leave he was discovered in the country 30 Years Later by a Portuguese expedition to whom he would tell his story he remained in Ethiopia until the day he died end quote [Music] meanwhile going back to 1488 Bartholomew Diaz was making his return Journey on his Passage West he became the first European to see the Cabo dos tormentas the Capa storms named after its incredibly unpredictable weather he then rounded the tip of Africa again making his way North he arrived at his Supply ship in Namibia in July of 1488 of the nine men he had stationed there only three remained the supply ship itself was unsalvageable the undaunted Explorer continued north passing by bays and capes that were now well known to the Portuguese he arrived back in Lisbon in December of 1488. altogether he had traveled for over a year and a half his voyage was estimated to be approximately 16 000 miles which by the way the circumference of the earth is just shy at 25 000. when he arrived back he was celebrated as being the first European to round the tip of Africa and firmly disprove the ptolemaic doctrine but King John II did not seem happy with him it's unknown exactly what was said but perhaps there was some resentment that he didn't make it to India either way Bartholomew Diaz seemed to have fallen out of favor with the Sovereign at this point he would never be the leader of an expedition again but that's not to say that the story of Diaz ends here in retrospect the king did make it a point to rename Diaz's Cabo Das tormentas the Capa storms and instead named it the Cape of Good Hope this may have seemed like a simple PR move but perhaps for the king it was the challenge to his countrymen to see who could push the limit further to the credit the Portuguese sense of exploration that challenge would soon be accepted based on the work Diaz paiva and kovija a new round of explorers would seek out that sea Passage to India which in the end was simply too tempting and ambitious the goal to pass up folks I want to give a big shout out to the Explorers podcast by Matt Green as I've mentioned before there's not that much known about Bartholomew Diaz this podcast is extremely well done and was helpful in my research Matt was extremely kind to send me his material if you get a chance check out the Explorers podcast I will post the link in the description of the video [Music] on the vast seemingly Endless Ocean four ships were making their Passage the fleet was Portuguese and the sailors on board had not seen land in three long weeks but this was only a portion of the long journey that they had endured their Voyage had been an impressive feat of navigation and exploration and never before attempted by a European they had departed from Lisbon and had traveled for more than 10 months going a distance that was equivalent to half the circumference of the Earth the commander was a man named Vasco de Gama he had been appointed directly by the king of Portugal for this task he and his men together had made their way around Africa and then onwards into the vast unknown that was the Indian Ocean for dagama this mission was more than just procuring a piece of the lucrative spice trade for his King it was also a mission to secure a foothold for his religion but his expedition had come very close to complete disaster numerous times Vasco de Gama had seen his men fight the rigors of malnutrition the ravages the disease and the misfortunes of armed conflict the question now remained had it all been truly worth it suddenly along the Eastern Horizon emerging from the Ocean Mist something came into view it was not just land what they saw was a vast row of impressive mountains that stretched along the entire Horizon this was no simple Island this was the subcontinent foreign in the final years of the 15th century dramatic changes were happening in the Iberian Peninsula Bartholomew Diaz had rounded the tip of Africa in pero de colvillian had made it to the city of Calicut in India the combined discoveries that these explorers had made put Portugal on the verge of extrapolating the ultimate goal finding a sea passage to the lucrative spice markets of the Indian subcontinent however King John II of Portugal was forced to divert his attention and patronage away from Discovery and exploration to the political Arena he was embroiled in vicious campaigns of crusade in North Africa in 1491 his only son in Heir was killed in an accident prompting problems the succession in the very next year 1492 the Portuguese king would face a humanitarian crisis it was that year the neighboring Castile and Aragon had completed the Reconquista by defeating the last Kingdom of Islam in Iberia they soon afterwards expelled the Jews many of whom would find refuge in Portugal but this relocation would put a considerable strain on the Portuguese crown however these events were soon to be eclipsed by one of the greatest flash points in history [Music] it was on March 3rd 1493 that a ship struggled into the harbor of restello a small Village near Lisbon the name of the ship was the Santa Maria and on board was a genoese Explorer sailing under the flag of Spain his name was Christopher Columbus and he carried word of a vast new world that he had just stumbled upon now some argue that Columbus intentionally landed in Portugal to rub his Discovery in King John II's face the King after all had previously rejected his expedition others say that the genuese captain barely made it the land either way a confrontation with Spain seemed inevitable as word of Columbus's Voyage spread throughout Europe King John immediately laid claim to the new territory that Columbus had just discovered citing a violation of a prior treaty as a result he began to tremendously expand the Portuguese Navy Spain likewise also geared up for war but knowing that the Portuguese Navy was bigger the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand decided to appeal to the pope to intercede the pontiff at the time was Alexander VI the Borgia Pope who had managed to come to power just the year before he was considered a Spaniard technically aragonese the man was instrumental in putting Isabella on the throne the two were on excellent terms and this is perhaps the reason why the Castilian Queen had cunningly chosen this path the pope would pass several papal Bulls to literally establish spheres of influence for the two Iberian Powers though it needs to be mentioned these documents heavily favored Castile Kristen Downey in the book The Warrior Queen explains what happened next quote the Portuguese naturally were not happy with the Pope's ruling Queen Isabella and king juau of Portugal therefore negotiated their own division of the globe in talks that were held in Castile at the town of tordecias the agreement that they reached on June 7 1494 known as the Treaty of tordecias pushed the north-south dividing line West 370 leagues approximately 1200 miles from the islands of Cape Verde instead the Pope's 100 leagues to the West thereby allowing Portugal to retain All rights to the coast of Africa the resolution of the dispute at least at this time and from the perspective of Queen Isabella and King joao was that Spain now owned the western side of all new lands and Portugal owned the Eastern section the two cousins had divided the cookie in half end quote it should be noted that Portugal may have already known about the eastern edge of South America that is Brazil at this time rather than the official Discovery date of 1500 by Cabral the world had been divided Spain increasingly a rival would now be headed to the west and Portugal was free to head to the east in terms of exploration or perhaps exploitation it was time for the Portuguese to get back to work King John II would reinvigorate his plans to find a sea Passage to India but he would never see his campaigns come to light in 1495 John II once regarded as the perfect Prince at the age of 40 died without an heir his first cousin Manuel who would be known as the fortunate king would come to power Roger Crowley in his book The conquerors describes him well quote the new king had inherited a streak of Messianic destiny that ran deep in the Portuguese Royal House of aviz christened with the name Emmanuel that is God is with us he saw mystical significance in his coronation he was 26 years old and it had taken extraordinary circumstances to place him on the throne that is the death or Exile of six people he saw his kingship as a sign that he had been chosen by God the India plan which had faltered in the later troubled years at King juau's Reign became the primary Outlet of Manuel's ambition he firmly believed that he and he alone had inherited the mantle of his Grand Uncle Enrique the Navigator end quote in the general counsel of December 1495 King Manuel faced opposition from his nobility about engaging in any long-term voyages his response was too decisively overrule them instead he appointed a man of minor nobility to take command of a new Fleet that he had just assembled its mission was to find the yet elusive sea route to the spice markets of India the man that the king had chosen to do this job was named Vasco de Gama Vasco de Gama was born in 1460 in the city of sinez Portugal his father is Stevo de Gama and his mother Isabel sodre had five sons of which Vasco was the middle child however there is very little known of his childhood as he matured he was regarded as being intelligent excellent with mathematics and well versed with navigation it was also said of him that he had a very short temper indeed as his life story would unfold he increasingly embraced the dark side at the age of 20 he pursued a military and religious path like many members of his family he joined the ranks of the order of Santiago and in time he would become a fervent defender of the faith thus throughout his adult life he would always have a formidable hatred of Islam Portugal that the gamma was brought up in was rapidly changing Lisbon had become a remarkable Port it was a buzz with activity vibrant with exotic Goods King Manuel had taken the throne to a kingdom that now had over 80 years worth a cutting-edge maritime experience from exploration to trading the shipbuilding it showed in the people Portuguese Sailors were eager to expand their trading empire it also showed in the vessels that were being built in the ever expanding shipyards Portugal wasn't just producing ships of exploration they were bigger faster and increasingly better armed high quality bronze cannons and swivel guns had become commonplace manned by German and Flemish Gunners giving new voyages a decisively offensive capability Vasco de Gama was given four ships by the crown two were Care acts named after archangels the Sal Rafael and the Sao Gabriel one was a Caravel named the berio and the last was a large Supply ship no expense was spared on equipment the ships carried the best maps astrolabes and Canon the gamma was given two thousand gold cruzados a massive sum as was his brother Paulo who would command the Sal Rafael accompanying him would be a host of extremely competent Sailors including Bartholomew Diaz the first explorer around the tip of Africa and joining them would be his brother Diogo Diaz July 8 1497 was considered an auspicious Day by the court astrologers on the banks of the tagus who were the Teo river near Lisbon daigama LED his men to the water in a sacred procession flanked by priests and the nobility with much fanfare the crews were taken aboard their ships and soon the fleet was underway within one week they had made it to the Canary Islands with favorable winds at their back they were able to push further south but shortly thereafter a thick fog blinded the fleet which became separated however Vasco de Gama had given instructions for exactly this type of contingency a Rally Point had been established on the island of Santiago in the Cape Verde archipelago by July 26th the fleet had been reassembled for the next week the ships remained docked at Santiago taking in fresh supplies and as much water as they could hold it was here that Bartholomew Diaz decided to remain it was not until August 7th of 1497 that the fleet departed Now using the knowledge of the ocean currents and the pattern of the Winds established by the work of Bartholomew Diaz and other Portuguese explorers the Expedition would now take an absolutely astonishing course Roger Crowley explains quote the expedition was about to embark on a maneuver for which there was no known precedence some 700 miles south of the Cape Verde archipelago about seven degrees from the equator instead of following the familiar Contours of the African Coast the Gabrielle and its following vessels turned their Rudders to the southwest and plunged into the center of the Atlantic in a huge looping curve the land behind them vanished the ships drove onwards briskly into the unknown and were swallowed up in the vastness of the ocean gamma's course followed the counter-intuitive truth established by Bartholomew Diaz nine years earlier that to round Africa it was necessary to swing away out into the ocean to pick up the Westerly winds in order to carry the ships past the Cape of Good Hope but the Gabriel's course was a huge magnification of the earlier experiment by doing this it was evident that by the end of the century Portuguese Navigators must have had a clear idea of how the winds of the Southern Atlantic worked end quote the course that the fleet took was a vast Arc out into the Atlantic where's Bartholomew Diaz on his journey had been away from land for 30 days this portion of their Voyage would last 93 and covered a distance of over 4 500 miles to give this modern context that's like flying from Lisbon to New Delhi now there is a very mysterious aspect to this leg of the voyage two weeks in on August 22nd the chronicler Alvaro Velo documented seeing Birds signifying proximity to land then his journal of events goes silent for two months could there have been nothing as significance to note during this time or is them a theorized had the voyage come into contact with the eastern coast of South America and was the lack of documentation a means of the Portuguese Crown to keep this knowledge hidden from its rivals the resolve of the crew was tested to the extreme during this time food began to rot fresh water became scarce fever dysentery malnutrition and scurvy would claim many lives once they had made it past the equator even the reassuring North Star was lost behind the horizon then on November 4th 1497 the African Coast was spotted and the fleet came to Anchor at Saint Helena Bay now granted this was Northeast of the Cape of Good Hope but they still had made it a long way the ships were eventually repaired and supplies were procured now when the Pastoral people of the area were encountered the gamma initially approached them with good intentions however hostility would eventually break out leading to several armed skirmishes for Vasco this was a turning point on his Outlook increasingly away parties would be heavily armed the gamma's temperament had changed to shoot at even the slightest provocation on December 2nd 1497 the fleet arrived at the Bay of the cowherds where Bartholomew Diaz had previously made landfall by December 15th they had passed Diaz's last pedrao that is his final Stone marker The Passage to India now lay before them the fleet proceeded to hug the eastern coast of Africa but as they went scurvy set in with a Vengeance the disease would ravage the crew Crowley gives us Insight quote the symptoms of scurvy were Advanced and many of the crew were in a ghastly State their hands feet and legs were monstrously swollen their bloody and putrid gums grew over their teeth as a result most of the men could no longer eat the smells were atrocious wounds no longer healed and the men of the fleet began to Die end quote on January 22nd 1498 the debilitated Fleet reached the Delta of a massive River it was here that hippopotamuses and crocodiles were seen this was the mighty Zambezi River and it would save the Expedition from complete annihilation it wasn't so much the Clean Air and the medical interventions which the crew figured was the reason why everyone was getting better but rather the abundance of fruit that was found along the banks of the river with the critically needed vitamin C for a month the fleet anchored off the Delta and recuperated a pedrao dedicated to Saint Raphael was placed eventually the ships left the Great River behind on February 24th but a few days later on March 2nd they spotted a large Bay when the caravel the berio was sent in to investigate she ran aground on a sandbank as the crew attempted to get her free they were approached by men in canoes who invited them to come into the bay the language that they spoke however was unmistakable it was Arabic unknown the dagama and his crew the Zambezi marked the beginning of the lands belonging to the Sultan of Mozambique a country that was Muslim the Portuguese had now just entered into a vast New World the Indian Ocean after all is 30 times the size of the Mediterranean which mirrored its complexity Roger Crowley once again puts it incredibly well quote unlike Columbus the Portuguese had not birthed into silent Seas for thousands of years the Indian Ocean had been the crossroads of the World's Trade from Canton to Cairo and from Burma to Baghdad this was all done through a complex interlocking of trading systems Maritime Styles cultures and religions not to mention a series of important hubs Malacca on the melee Peninsula larger than Venice for goods from China Calicut on the western coast of India for Pepper or Muzz gateway to the Persian Gulf in Baghdad Aiden at the entrance of the Red Sea in the routes to Cairo which was the nerve center the Islamic world it dispatched gold and slaves from Africa incense and dates from Arabia horses from Persia opium from Egypt porcelain from China sulfur from Sumatra diamonds from the Deccan Plateau no one had a monopoly on this terrain it was too extensive and complex it constituted a vast and comparably peaceful free trade zone over half the world's wealth passed through its Waters in a commercial Commonwealth God it was said had given the sea in common end quote foreign would face a very steep learning curve as they entered the bay they docked at a town in Mozambique this wasn't just a small village it was a sophisticated City dotted with buildings a vibrant port and mosques the sultan peacefully approached them confusing the Portuguese as being Muslim Traders Vasco de Gama to his credit played along to sustain the ruse but their credibility soon came into question as their ships were in a deplorable State and the gifts that degama could offer brass Bells Coral modest cloth were no more than trinkets to the sultan and his administrators and when nobody in the fleet could produce a Quran the sultan began to suspect that Vasco was not what he appeared despite the mounting tensions the sultan did provide the Portuguese Fleet a pilot when he was asked to do so however on March 10 1498 the ships docked at a nearby Island to conduct the Christian Mass the loaned pilot seeing this fled and the gamma surmised correctly that their cover was blown it was time to get on the move but the prevailing winds prevented departure and their stores of water were running low on midnight of March 22nd Vasco de Gama returned to the city and attempted to secretly enter the harbor to obtain fresh water their presence was alerted and for the next three days the Sultan's men viciously fought him however the Portuguese brought their Cannon to bear and drove them back destroying a portion of the city in the process on March 25th the Portuguese were able to seize water along with some hostages and then fled the port making it a point to bombard the city as they left sailing North was difficult the winds were just not favorable it wasn't until April 7th of 1498 that they arrived at the Port of Mombasa here the pattern would repeat the locals initially approached bearing gifts though the mood was much more cautious then later as the Sao Gabrielle was being brought into the harbor steered by local guides it rammed into another ship the Portuguese panicked and tortured the guide forcing a confession that this had been done intentionally the people of the city retaliated by attempting to board the ships at night but this was eventually driven back once again it was time to move on however as the fleet made its way North it resorted to piracy attacking and seizing two ships along the way Vasco de Gama after all desperately wanted a pilot that could take him across the Indian Ocean but in this encounter he would come up empty-handed on April 14 1498 they arrived at the city of malindi in modern-day Kenya here the reception was much more friendly albeit degama refused to go ashore however as the show of Goodwill he did release his prisoners diplomacy in this case worked Roger Crowley brings it home quote Vasco de Gama was anxious to obtain a pilot and it took another hostage seizure to extract one the sultan dispatched a quote Christian who was willing to steer the expedition across the ocean to their desired destination it was more likely a Gujarati Muslim who possessed the chart of the Western Indian Ocean and was familiar with quadrants for taking astronomical observations 500 years later Arab captains would still be cursing this Pilot's name who was the first to let the Portuguese into the secrets of the ocean's navigation eventually the locals would refer to the Portuguese by the derogatory Hindi name for Foreigner they would call them the farengi end quote on April 24 1498 the Portuguese departed malindi with the monsoon winds at their back they left the African Coast well behind them they traveled in the northeastern Direction and on April 29th the gamma spotted the North Star once again on May 18th after 23 days on the open ocean high mountains were spotted on the horizon these were the Western ghats a chain of mountains on the western coast of India overall it had been 309 days since they left Portugal the fleet had gone 12 000 miles they had finally arrived along the Malabar Coast the Magnificent trading Hub of Calicut was nearby this was a grand moment in history Vasco de Gama had done it he had discovered a sea Passage to India the fleet quickly made its way to Calicut and its extraordinary markets of spice everybody on board could tell that there was vast wealth to be had that said wherever there was extreme wealth there would also be extreme danger Vasco de Gama is men and his ships were now sailing right into the middle of it foreign [Music] it was late August of 1498 Four ships carrying the Portuguese flag made their way up the Malabar Coast to Western India they had departed from the city of Calicut just a week prior in their wake they had left an enraged King who was bent on bringing them to justice Pride may have prevented the Portuguese from admitting it but they were on the Run on August 30th the commander of the fleet Vasco de Gama spotted fast-moving ships inbound from the south his men began to count them 10 then 20 then 50 and eventually the count was lost at over 70. the ships carried the elite Warriors the samudri Raja the king of Calicut while the ships were of unique design one thing alone was certain this inbound force was hostile the Portuguese Sailors watched on with absolute dread the intercepting fleet was closing the distance the winds were simply not favorable for the Europeans the dawning realization hit everyone this was not something that they could simply outrun the only way out for Vasco da Gama and his men would be to engage in an outnumbered fight the arrival of the Portuguese at Calicut in late May of 1488 was an astonishing site for the locals no ship usually sailed this early in the monsoon and the design of the Portuguese vessels had never been seen before in this part of the world four smaller ships were dispatched to bring Vasco de Gama and his men into the port mistaking them for being Muslim Traders they were initially brought before a group of tennesseans who ironically spoke Castilian thus Vasco and his men had traveled Halfway Around the World to speak in a relatively local tongue the Muslim Traders they met were friendly and began to Enlighten their European guests on just how complex the world of the Indian Ocean truly was Roger Crowley in his book The conquerors puts it really well quote the meeting with the friendly Muslims was probably as deeply disorienting as anything that was about to follow it was as if the Portuguese were looking at their own world down the wrong end of a telescope it was Europe that was ignorant and isolated not this sea into which they had stumbled and they were extremely lucky one of the tunisians stated that he would help them interpret this new world he had a Nostalgia for the Portuguese whose ships he had seen trading on the North African Coast during the reign of King jual II he offered guidance to the labyrinthine manners and customs of Calicut that would prove invaluable the city he told them was ruled by a powerful King the samudri Raja which meant the lord of the sea end quote Calicut was a Cosmopolitan Port situated on an excellent natural Harbor ships from all over the Indian Ocean of varying ethnicity and construction would arrive as long as they paid the all-important Harvard tax and stayed somewhat peaceful no one really became concerned the people of the city were relatively affluent the merchants had become rich on trade this was not a wretched Hive of scum and villainy the city had a respectable Muslim population that had learned to coexist with their Hindu Neighbors in all of this was under the control of the samudri Raja the king of Calicut who went by the name zamorin the king had a reputation of being both honorable and fair with prators making Calicut a major Hub in the trading of spice amongst other things a delegation was sent in and a meeting was arranged for Vasco de Gama to meet the samudri but the captains of the Portuguese Fleet immediately protested like the gamma they had become extremely wary of the Muslim Traders nearby and felt that this could be a trap despite this on May 28 1498 the Portuguese Commander along with 13 of his men were brought via a royal procession to meet the king [Music] the scene that now unfolded was one of major contrast the Portuguese on one end were beleaguered filthy down-frodden after their long voyage xamarin was seated in splendor flanked by a gleaming Royal Entourage he was surrounded by a shield of large men with long beards and hair many naked to the waist but adorned and fine clothing and gold earrings each of them was carrying a sword which was now drawn much like the janissary of the Ottomans or the varangian of the Eastern Romans these men were elite soldiers they were members of the Hindu warrior cast known as the nyars and they were sworn to protect their Master with their lives for the Portuguese envoys they were an imposing and threatening sight surprisingly despite their unique appearance Vasco and his Entourage considered the samudri Raja and his men to be Christian Hinduism at this point was something that was entirely unknown to them introduced himself and then launched into his goals of why his King had sent them that is finding new trade routes establishing contact with new kingdoms and finding Christian sovereigns however despite his enthusiasm the meeting immediately did not go well cultural differences in the finesse a good diplomacy was lost on the gamma in fact this sense of Pride made him extremely cantankerous when he noted that things were going south trying to make up for lost ground degama asked for a private meeting with zamarin and was granted this when the king asked point blank what he had really come for vasco's response was simply that he was in search of Christians and spices this response failed to impress and their first meeting would end on a low note that day ended with frustration that arose from the confusion of unfamiliar protocols and the nuances of meeting a new culture that night Vasco and his men managed to find lodging nearby however a massive crowd turned up to see the new spectacle of the Europeans the exhausting scene was made worse from the pouring Monsoon that drenched the Explorers undaunted the next day Vasco de Gama dispatched gifts 12 pieces of cloth four Scarlet hoods six hats a ring of coral cases of sugar honey and oil to name a few none of this was worthy of a king and as a result the Europeans lost a great deal of credibility with the samudri who perhaps at this point was beginning to think of the gamma and his men as nothing more than a bunch of lowly Pirates after getting these gifts the king made Vasco wait all day before granting another audience the second meeting would go worse than the first the king demanded again to know why the Portuguese had come and if their country was truly Rich why did they not bring what was truly valued that is gold the gamma knew he was cornered and responded that this was simply a voyage of Discovery and that next time richer gifts would come this second meeting would end miserably Vasco de Gama would never meet the samudri in person again a standoff between the two had begun and would only intensify it was after all the uncertainty of the motives of either side that would push Vasco and zamoren to near paranoia Roger Crowley expertly explains quote the samudray probably remained uncertain how to play these strange visitors they fitted no known category of merchant yet they evidently came from a great king and the commercially oriented Monarch whose wealth derived from the trading vessels that came to his open port was reluctant to snob a potential opportunity out of hand at his shoulder the Muslim merchants were undoubtedly hostile to these Infidel Intruders their significant antagonism which the king of Calicut quickly deduced was perhaps as much commercial as it was religious and perhaps the Muslim opposition was justified the Portuguese after all had come to the Indian Ocean hardened by Decades of holy war in North Africa their default strategy was suspicion aggression The half-drawn Sword and a simple binary choice between Christian and Muslim which perhaps he could play to his own favor end quote [Music] despite the poor status and negotiations the Portuguese were tolerated and were allowed to trade in the city Vasco and his men stayed in Calicut for several weeks in this way chess of spices were purchased but more importantly this time allowed for their inquisitive Minds to go into overdrive this time that they spent in the city allowed them to take in a vast amount of information about trade routes major cities prevailing winds about the monsoons they learned how spice flowed not just from India but from the islands of Sumatra Java and even further east they noted the inefficiencies that carried these valuable Goods to the Red Sea and then across the Mediterranean to Venice and Genoa they saw that every time spice would trade hands the price would go up and the risks of Transportation would intensify thus it didn't take long for the Portuguese to deduce the points of weakness they started to formulate how this complex trait could be disrupted manipulated and taken advantage of [Music] by mid-august Vasco de Gama knew it was time to leave July and August had been relatively low periods for trade but in the weeks to follow the winds would change and Muslim Traders would be inbound already he sensed the growing hostility the local Muslims who he feared were poisoning the mind of the samudri against him the Portuguese Commander could tell that his prior aggressive exploits along the African Coast against Muslim cities had caught up with them thus Vasco da Gama dispatched Diogo Diaz the brother of Bartholomew Diaz along with a majority of their trading Goods to reach out to the king of Calicut to see if he was agreeable to allow the Portuguese to leave a permanent trading Outpost that request was denied instead zamorin had Diego Diaz placed under a house arrest and his Goods confiscated from the samudri's perspective this was a calculated move done to make sure that Vasco de Gama would not simply sail off and would abide by the king's law that all incoming ships pay the port tax in vasco's mind however this was an act of war the Portuguese Commander with no doubt retaliate on August 19th a trading delegation of the citizens of Calicut were welcomed aboard vasco's Flagship the Sao Gabrielle a group of merchants came six of which were of high cast that is valuable during the night Vasco made his move he had his men sees 18 prisoners then raised his anchor and sailed away a letter was sent to zamorin stating that dagama would return opened fire on the city and decapitate the prisoners in the harbor for all to see that is if the Ogo Diaz is men and the Portuguese goods were not returned the king of Calicut agreed even going so far as to allow for a padrao to be constructed in the city on August 23rd The Prisoner exchange occurred several ships approached the Portuguese Fleet while it was in Harbor Diogo and his men were exchanged for some of the Hindu prisoners then even more ships approached bringing in the Portuguese Goods but right then and there Vasco de Gama changed his mind perhaps he could no longer control his paranoia or perhaps he surmised that these incoming ships were a threat the Portuguese Commander decided to break the deal abandoned his goods and abscond with his remaining prisoners he opted not to pay the port tax on the way out by the time the samudri Raja found out about this the Portuguese fleet was well underway zamorin was enraged and rightfully wanted retribution meanwhile Vasco had sailed North along the Malabar Coast but on August 30th their ships were intercepted by a fleet of over 70 vessels sent by the samudri to hunt them down while the Portuguese may have had the advantage in Firepower the Warriors of Calicut greatly outnumbered them in terms of ships and Men the smaller ships swarmed around the gamma's fleet despite the barrage that was Unleashed by the Portuguese cannons the samudri's men continued to advance for several bloody hours an ongoing fight ensued between the two fleets many of the Portuguese were wounded some of them were killed and yet the King's Men pushed the offensive for a brief moment the niars the Calicut had the advantage and events began to look very Bleak for Vasco de Gama and his men many felt that this was the end suddenly seemingly out of nowhere a thunderstorm descended on the battle Vasco had his men open their sails and took advantage of what for him must have been nothing less than a divine wind bearing was set for Due West and the ships of Portugal flung themselves out into the open ocean where the Calicut Fleet could not follow history would record this as the first Portuguese naval battle of the Indian Ocean it would not be the last [Music] eventually Vasco returned to the relative safety of the coast and took anchor and anshadiva Island on September 15th the padrao was raised here but this was not a safe place on September 22nd a second Fleet sent by the samudri attacked but it was smaller and was driven off with cannon fire soon afterwards a stranger approached the fleet he was well dressed spoke with a Venetian dialect and stated that he came bearing gifts he invited Vasco to gamma to meet his master who he simply described as a Rich Lord The Paulo de Gama vasco's brother began to investigate him with the locals the natives of the area said that this man was a pirate the Venetian stranger was immediately seized and under torture revealed the truth he revealed that he was a polish jew who had fled to India to escape the pogroms of Europe there he had become a servant to the Sultan of Goa and he stated that his master had dispatched a fleet to capture the Portuguese Roger Crowley explains the implications quote the Venetian admitted that there was a growing number of ships Gathering to attack the Sultan of Goa wanted to assess whether the Portuguese ships could be taken with the eventual aim of employing the Portuguese in his Wars against his neighbors for Vasco de Gama this shed an interesting light on the politics of Western India which would later be employed to Advantage and it would also flag the importance of Goa end quote the situation had now become critical as the forces of Calicut were inbound from the south and the sultanagoa was coming in from the north what's more the island of angeliva was a place to restock water thus implying that Arab Merchants from the Islamic world would soon be appearing it was definitively time to get out on October 5th the fleet turned West into the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean it was their only choice the Venetian stranger was brought along in time he'd be baptized and named Gasper de Gama his political knowledge would prove invaluable however with the poor timing of the monsoons the trip back across the Indian Ocean would prove to be a disaster in the book The conquerors this is well described quote the return across the Indian Ocean descended into Nightmare it was a sea of dispiriting and contrary breezes pushing them back then the far more terrible calms with the ship sitting unmoving for days men bickering over whatever shade was afforded by the dejected sails they were tortured by thirst and hunger calling on the Saints for Aid Vermin crawling from the biscuits the water of fouled then the dreaded symptoms of scurvy reappeared One By One The Dead were lowered over the sides with a soft Splash and the murmuring of prayers those that were left alive were just hottering a mutiny was in the making then as despair reached its Zenith a favorable wind picked up and carried them West for six days on January 2nd 1499 The Battered ship spotted the African Coast it had taken 23 days to make the voyage across the return took 93 the lessons of the seasonal Monsoon were extremely hard won end quote they had arrived near the Muslim ports of Mogadishu in modern-day Somalia they didn't stop but they did manage to Shell the city as they passed on January 7th they arrived at malindi to exchange gifts with the local Sultan and then moved on hostel Mombasa was avoided entirely on January 13th however as they made their way South the loss of life on the Indian Ocean became very apparent there simply wasn't enough Sailors for the entire fleet the Sao Raphael was beached and then burned the remaining three ships continued the journey at Zanzibar peaceful negotiations were made with the sultan it wasn't until March 3rd that the fleet took anchor at Saint Ross here the supply ship was too unfit to continue by March 20th 1499 the Cape of Good Hope was rounded and Vasco now turned North away from the cold from this point onward the record of the voyage became very hazy there is one account that by April 25th the fleet had reached the Gambia at which point a storm separated the remaining two ships the burial would arrive back at Lisbon on July 10 1499 the Sao Gabrielle a few days afterwards Vasco de Gama was not on board his brother Paulo had become very sick on the last leg and Vasco would accompany him to the Azores where Paulo died Vasca would eventually return to Portugal in late August where he would mourn his brother's death that the chapel Santa Maria de bellim it wasn't until early September that he made his glorious entry into the capital King Manuel was ecstatic with the success and gave dagama grants of money land and title the spices that he brought back sold for a fortune and his exploits were quickly made known to the rest of Europe even the Borgia Pope Alexander VI was impressed a sea Passage to India had been found but not all were happy the king of Calicut was still seething The Sultans of East Africa were enraged and on the other side of Europe alarm Bells were ringing in Venice their Monopoly on spice had been jeopardized Roger Crowley brings us to light quote Vasco de Gama's Voyage had taken Everyone by surprise it had added 1800 new places to the map and revealed a mine of new information about the Indies it would compel all interested parties across the vast stretch of the earth Christian Muslim and Hindu to make fresh strategic calculations and this became readily apparent even before Vasco de Gama's return King Manuel had been laying down Keels for the next departure by the same token he had ordered the suppression of all the sailing charts of gamma's voyage on pain of death knowledge was wealth and power end quote a new Expedition had already been planned whereas Vasco de Gama had traveled with four small ships to explore what now left Lisbon was not a fleet it was an armada [Music] [Music] [Music]