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On 24th April 1498, after much diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing, ship maintenance, and with a competent  pilot, the flotilla set off across the Indian Ocean heading for the trading port of[[Calicut]] on the [[Malabar Coast]] of southern India. Once there, he found that the cloth and ironware so successfully traded in Africa were not in demand in the more technologically advanced India. He spent a year trying unsuccessfully to establish a permanent [[factory]] in the teeth of [[Arab]] resistance, before returning home with a cargo of pepper and cinnamon; arriving in September 1499.

On 24th April 1498, after much diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing, ship maintenance, and with a competent  pilot, the flotilla set off across the Indian Ocean heading for the trading port of[[Calicut]] on the [[Malabar Coast]] of southern India. Once there, he found that the cloth and ironware so successfully traded in Africa were not in demand in the more technologically advanced India. He spent a year trying unsuccessfully to establish a permanent [[factory]] in the teeth of [[Arab]] resistance, before returning home with a cargo of pepper and cinnamon; arriving in September 1499.

Another expedition, commanded by [[Pedro Alvarez Cabral left Lisbon within 6 months of da Gama’s return. After a disastrous voyage in which four of the ten ships were lost in a storm, Cabral faced many of the same problems as da Gama in Calicut, culminating in an Arab/Christian street fight. Cabral did manage to establish a factory down the coast in [[Cochin]].

Another expedition, commanded by [[Pedro Alvarez Cabral]] left Lisbon within 6 months of da Gama’s return. After a disastrous voyage in which four of the ten ships were lost in a storm, Cabral faced many of the same problems as da Gama in Calicut, culminating in an Arab/Christian street fight. Cabral did manage to establish a factory down the coast in [[Cochin]].

In 1502 da Gama was back leading a well-armed and resourced fleet of 14 sail in India. He bombarded Calicut in retaliation for past troubles, defeated an Arab fleet in the first pitched battle fought by Europeans in the Indian Ocean, and gained favourable trading conditions at the point of a cannon; thus introducing the Portuguese policy of trade by force that was to see the nation in control of the lucrative eastern spice trade, and an empire stretching over the coastal areas of half the south and east of Asia for over a hundred years.

In 1502 da Gama was back leading a well-armed and resourced fleet of 14 sail in India. He bombarded Calicut in retaliation for past troubles, defeated an Arab fleet in the first pitched battle fought by Europeans in the Indian Ocean, and gained favourable trading conditions at the point of a cannon; thus introducing the Portuguese policy of trade by force that was to see the nation in control of the lucrative eastern spice trade, and an empire stretching over the coastal areas of half the south and east of Asia for over a hundred years.

In1524 da Gama was sent back to India to replace the incompetent governor-general, but died of [[malaria]] in Cochin a few months later.

In 1524 da Gama was sent back to India to replace an incompetent governor-general, but died of [[malaria]] in Cochin a few months later.

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