Exploring Vasco Da Gama's Role in the Age of Exploration & India

This essay explores the significance of Vasco Da Gama's voyages during the Age of Exploration, focusing on his role as the first European sailor to reach India. Through an analysis of historical sources, particularly accounts of his arrival in Calicut and interactions with the local king, the essay argues that Vasco Da Gama's travels were instrumental in shaping Western understanding of Eastern civilizations. The essay highlights the establishment of Portuguese presence in Goa and emphasizes the importance of studying Da Gama's journeys to fully appreciate his contributions to global geography and the Western discovery of India. It also reflects on the author's learning about medieval Eastern culture and the vivid depictions of Indian splendor.

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History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese traveler who was well-known for his voyages and his
discoveries. Vasco Da Gama is credited with having discovered many new lands and territories
in the Global South, and his voyages across the Indian Ocean are particular renowned. Vasco Da
Gama set up the base of the Portuguese in Goa, India, following which Goa became a colony of
the Portuguese in India (Andrien, 2016).
Vasco Da Gama is significant for the Age of Exploration and this is because he became
the very first sailor from Europe to travel from Europe to India (Andrien, 2016).
The thesis statement is that in order to understand the Age of Exploration better the
travels of Vasco Da Gama need to be analyzed and understood. Each and every journey of his
that is chronicled must be analyzed to understand his contribution to global geography. The
thesis argument is that Vasco Da Gama is the person who can be credited with the
discovery of India by the West (Knobbler, 2016).
The author of the source is anonymous and it was composed upon the arrival of Vasco Da
Gama to Calicut in India. This was the time when the sailor had newly made his entry to the
Indian subcontinent and had started engaging with local people on the subject of trade in spices.
The source was composed by one of the people who happened to be traveling with Vasco Da
Gama on his journey and who decided to pen down the details of the travel in as articulate a
manner as possible (based on source provided)
The source which has been provided is one that outlines the details of one of Vasco Da
Gama’s journeys. It talks about how the sailor would visit lands across the ocean, how he would
travel from Europe to other parts of the world, trading in spices and in the process of this trade,
establishing connections with kings and emperors in countries of splendor and magnificence in

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the East such as in the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the source which has been provided talks
about how Vasco paid a visit to an ancient and exotic land where he engaged in a fruitful and
interesting dialogue with the King, offering the king to sell him spices, which in turn caught the
attention of the King, leading him to allow Vasco to explore his land and the riches of the land
(based on source provided).
The source definitely goes to show that in order to understand Vasco Da Gama and the
fact that he is credited as being the first European to have discovered India, the details of his
journey that have been chronicled so far must be read, analyzed and understood. It supports the
thesis statement that the discovery of India as it took place during the Age of Exploration was
indeed the credit of Vasco Da Gama and this can be found mentioned in detail in the source that
has been analyzed, which recounts his engagement with the King of Calicut in India (Swanson,
2017).
An important learning from this source analysis is the important role played by Vasco Da
Gama in contributing to the Western understanding of Eastern Civilization. It is through the
journey and travel of Vasco Da Gama that the West got to truly understand the exotic beauty of
the East. In my view, I have learnt quite a bit about medieval Eastern culture and Indian culture
in particular, upon reading the source provided especially the vivid accounts provided of the
splendor and magnificence of the kings palace and the interesting engagement between him and
Vasco Da Gama.

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References
Andrien, K. J. (2016). Age of Exploration, c. 1500–1650. In The Ashgate Research Companion
to Modern Imperial Histories (pp. 35-60). Routledge.
Head, D. (Ed.). (2017). Encyclopedia of the Atlantic World, 1400–1900: Europe, Africa, and the
Americas in An Age of Exploration, Trade, and Empires [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO
Knobler, A. (2016). Mythology and Diplomacy in the Age of Exploration. Brill
Swanson, J. (2017). Bartolomeu Dias: First European Sailor to Reach the Indian Ocean. The
Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.