Here the Arabs had a monopoly on the spice trade, which the Portuguese were desperate to break. With the aid of a friendly Arab pilot, he guided his ships to India. The Portuguese were quick to fire their cannons, and as they sailed away, their monuments were sometimes destroyed.īut Vasco was intrepid, and would not be deterred. At times the arrogance of the Portuguese provoked battles with the Muslims, and Vasco’s men left on bad terms. They were met, in places, by hostile natives – Arabs, who resented the arrival of Christians on their shores. His voyage marked the beginning of Portuguese colonisation of many parts of Africa and India. His task was to establish trading posts wherever possible and convert Muslims to Christianity.

In their eagerness to go where nobody had gone before they dispatched Vasco da Gama.ĥ00 years ago he set sail from Portugal, destined to circum-navigate Africa and continue to India.'into a sea of deepness and winds still to discover'. And 15th century Portugal was a nation at the cutting-edge of marine navigation, with an insatiable appetite for imperial expansion. At the time it was still a dark and largely unexplored place. This story is no fairy tale – it is recounted in an ancient mariner's diary and describes the beginning of the world as we know it.