Portuguese Explorers
September 5th, 2009 by Cyrus

The Portuguese were some of the best explorers from the 15^th to the 19^th centuries, during the Portuguese Age of Exploration. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to sail to India, they discovered Brazil and it was a Portuguese captain who led the first successful voyage around the world. The Portuguese motivation for sailing around Africa to India was to control the spice trade. Prince Henry the Navigator funded and organized step-by-step voyages around Africa to India.

Prince Henry was the son of the King of Portugal. He created a seafaring school that trained many navigators. Portugal was a poor country, and the Christian kings had just gained control from the Moors. The Portuguese were fenced in on three sides by mountains and the Spanish, who were powerful competitors. If the Portuguese wanted to expand and trade, their only option was to sail the Atlantic. At this time the Italians controlled the spice trade by trading with Muslims in the Mediterranean. Prince Henry determined that if the Portuguese wanted to seize control of the spice trade, they would have to sail around Africa to India. They would have to sail into the unknown, for no Europeans had ever been there before. There would have to be well-trained navigators to chart these unexplored territories.

The voyagers had to be able to use instruments of measure, read and draw accurate maps. Some of the instruments of measure were, compasses, maps of the voyagers before, octants (used to find latitude), reflecting circles (used for finding longitude) and sun dials (used for finding time).The ships used were usually Carracks, ships with three or four masts, large enough to carry food and water for long voyages and Caravels, small ships with two or three masts that were easy to maneuver. As sailors explored more and more territory along the African coast, their navigational skills got better and better. They became familiar with their tools. They made small adjustments to their tools and invented more accurate tools to help them explore. By making more and more detailed maps and building outposts along the way, step-by-step the Portuguese came closer to Indian spices.

It was on the night of July 27^th, 1497 that Vasco de Gama prayed in a small church in Lisbon before his attempt to round Africa to get to India with four ships and 170 men. On May 20^th 1498 after battling storms and escaping Muslims he finally reached India. He traded for spice, and eager to get home, he sailed right into the wind. It took 132 days to reach Malinda, a village in southern Kenya, though it took only 23 to go the other way. On that trip, about one half of Vasco’s crew died. When Vasco de Gama got to Portugal, only two of his ships remained, but the spice paid for the ships and more.

The Portuguese traveled all over the world and traded increasing variety of goods. They acquired goods like spice, precious, metals, silk, slaves, cinnamon, pepper, and nutmeg. Because they were the first Europeans to reach South America, Southern Africa, India, China, Japan, and Indonesia, they had many trading opportunities and their country became very rich. You can still see evidence of their wealth from the Age of Exploration in the churches and palaces here in Portugal. The Portuguese had many colonies, but most of them were taken over by the English, Dutch, and French. The Portuguese still celebrate their national heroes from the Golden Age of Portugal, people like Vasco de Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator.