Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama (1460-1524), Portuguese navigator. A favourite at the Portuguese court, he was chosen by Manuel I to command an expedition to India. He sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, opening up a maritime route from Western Europe to Asia, and established a settlement at Calicut in India (1497-99). In 1502 he founded a colony in Mozambique and returned to Cali-cut to make commercial treaties. Appointed Portuguese Viceroy in India, he made a final voyage to India in 1524 and died at Cochin.
