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Paper Abstract: Portuguese explorer's 15th Century mission to discover sea route to India to establish trade. Paper Introduction: Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) was a Portuguese warrior and navigator who was sent by his king, Manoel I, to discover the sea route to India that the kingdom had already spent several decades trying to find. Da Gama set sail in July 1497 and finally arrived at the Indian city of Calicut in May 1498. The document studied here is an excerpt from da Gama's journal of his trip; a portion that recounts the Portuguese explorers' arrival at Calicut and the events of their first week when they met the Hindu ruler of the region and began to raise the question of Portugal's participation in the lucrative spice trade. Following the mission that is described, in part, in this document the Portuguese faced great difficulty in finding a way into the trade system of the Indian Ocean region. They were desperate to do so since it was a means of circumventing the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Internet Modern History Sourcebook. But da Gama's description of the people concentrates largely ontheir tendency to wear a great deal of jewelry. But it is seldom that suchdiplomatic phrases can be put immediately to the test and this is whatappears to have happened to da Gama's group. His information assisted Manoelin determining that the only means of establishing a Portuguese monopoly onIndian trade was, in the king's words, by "cruel war with fire and sword"(Applied History). Thatcher. The Moors "depreciated" the Portuguese gifts intendedfor the king--which were, indeed, a sad lot--and blocked their access tothe king. Journal [excerpt]. From the first, however, strong hints of the eventual course ofPortuguese action in India are apparent in da Gama's journal. He persists throughout in seeing any examples of Hindu religiouspractice as Christian in nature and in this he reflects the insularity ofEuropeans who could not conceive either of parallels among religions or ofbehaviors that were as refined as their own. These "Moors" were undoubtedly uneasy about theopening of a sea route to Europe which would have been the end of theVenetian monopoly which dealt with the Indian Ocean trade at itsMediterranean terminus. Yet he was well rewarded by the Portuguese king because hehad finally found the sea route to India and because he returned with "aTunisian Muslim and a Spanish Jew from whom he learned some of theintricacies of the Asian economy and how it might be manipulated to servePortuguese interests" (Applied History). The early signs of these aspects of the problem areapparent in this section of da Gama's journal. The men "pierce their earsand wear much gold in them" and the women, who do not at all conform to hisideas of female beauty, "wear many jewels of gold round the neck, numerousbracelets on their arms, and rings set with precious stones on their toes." This barely suppressed greed also comes through in the description of thefirst sight of the king where da Gama concentrates on the fineness of thecloth, the mass of the golden goblet, the strange herb (which may havecommercial potential), the gilt canopies, and the number of silver jugslying about. Da Gama set sailin July 1497 and finally arrived at the Indian city of Calicut in May 1498. Vol. The sailor who was initially sent ashore had told the Muslimmerchants that they had come in search of "Christians and spices" and thisassumption that the Hindus were Christians appears to be part of the reasonwhy they did not include bearing the tidings of religion among their aims,as was sometimes the case in European explorers' penetration into othersocieties. Milwaukee: University Research Extension, 19 7. The architecture and art of India, the outward signs of complexcivilization, could hardly have been the work of heathen 'savages.' But it is the indirection of the Portuguese in identifying theirmission that is most revealing. The kingcraftily questions whether they had come looking for jewels or for men(i.e., on a genuine diplomatic mission), but he would not have had to askif he could have read da Gama's initial description of the people. 5, 9th to 16th Centuries, 26-4 . The merchants clearly understood exactly what the new arrivals had inmind yet the Portuguese appeared to be cagey about their intentions. ThePortuguese course toward achieving their dreamed-of monopoly by fire andsword appears to have been well under way by this time--only one week afterthey had finally found India, after sixty years of searching. The merchants, as da Gama clearly understands, were determinednot to allow even the slightest chance for competition and the Portuguesetook care to avoid their plotting. But the arrogance ofthese potential traders, their lack of anything of value to trade, andopposition to their participation from Islamic traders all affected theirchances badly. As their questions about the intentions of othernations showed they were familiar enough with Europe to know that theimplied threat was far greater than this small fleet of Portuguese shipsmight indicate. He makes the initial mistake of assuming that the Hindus areChristians. What is not seen is that daGama failed to make the necessary alliances or to get any tradeconcessions. Following the mission that is described, in part, in this documentthe Portuguese faced great difficulty in finding a way into the tradesystem of the Indian Ocean region. Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) was a Portuguese warrior and navigator whowas sent by his king, Manoel I, to discover the sea route to India that thekingdom had already spent several decades trying to find. Available http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497degama.html The Library of Original Sources. In the initial presentation of the king'sletter they had asserted that Manoel was "Lord of many countries and thepossessor of great wealth of every description, exceeding that of any kingof these parts" and that they had long searched for the route to Indiabecause "they knew that there were Christian kings there like themselves[and] not because they sought for gold or silver, for of this they had suchabundance that they needed not what was to be found in this country." Thetransparency of these lies, which had been made to reassure the Indiansthat such a powerful and wealthy nation could have only peacefulintentions, would be apparent to a child. The document studied here is an excerpt from da Gama's journal of histrip; a portion that recounts the Portuguese explorers' arrival at Calicutand the events of their first week when they met the Hindu ruler of theregion and began to raise the question of Portugal's participation in thelucrative spice trade. He says that the people appear to be mild tempered--animportant point to those who arrive in a strange world but also animportant point for those who intend to have their way with that world.But he concludes with the remark that "At first sight they seem covetousand ignorant." This is the kind of remark that so reflects the nature ofthe one who makes it that it would, indeed, be funny if it were not for theserious consequences inherent in it. Da Gama even seems to avoidconceptualizing their mission to himself and hides behind the pretense ofdiplomacy both to avoid the catastrophe inherent in the paltry offerings hehas to make and the understanding that must have been dawning on him thatPortugal would, in fact, never have anything the Indians particularlywanted. Available http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/eurvoya/ vasco.htmlGama, Vasco da. The firstman sent ashore was taken to two Tunisians who greeted him with the words,"May the Devil take thee! By the end of the excerpt the king, who has surely beeninformed by his Islamic factor of the paltry nature of the ambassador's'personal' gift, appears, effectively, to have dismissed them as of noconsequence by merely giving them permission to peddle their wares. Works CitedApplied History Research Group. Ed. University of Calgary. After describing the people in termsof the amount of jewelry they carried and mistaking them for his co-religionists da Gama displays the arrogance that was the most remarkablefeature of Europeans abroad by describing them as covetous and ignorant. What brought you hither?" And this was followedby anxious inquiries regarding the plans of other European rulers who mightbe inclined to follow. DaGama's paragraph of observations reads almost like a comic parody of thetypical European's views of the people they found in other lands. "The European Voyages of Exploration." Department of History. A certain level of outlandishdifference would have to be immediately apparent, it seems, before anation's religious beliefs could be immediately seen to differ from theirown. Themost revealing aspect of the journal is the manner in which the "captainmajor" dealt with the question of why they had come to India. When the king asks whatmerchandise there was in their country the Portuguese respond with the merelist of "corn, cloth, iron, bronze, and many other things"--having becomefully aware that while some of these things might be useful the system ofwhich the ruler was a part was predicated on the presentation of gifts ofthe very sort of object the Europeans had come to India to acquire. The reader can sense the mounting frustration of the Portuguese asthey come to the realization that they are ill-equipped to enter into thistrading system. They were desperate to do so since itwas a means of circumventing the Venetians who controlled most Europeanaccess to overland trade with the near and far east. There are no more assertionsof the vast wealth of Portugal. The Portuguese are somewhat chastened by the Muslim merchants'mockery of their offerings and the gifts they bear suddenly become theprivate gift of the king's poor ambassador. The Islamic merchants resistance to this infringement ontheir business began to take shape immediately in the first week of theEuropeans' arrival. Oliver J. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.