Vasco Da Gama was born in Sines Portugal in 1460 he was the third son of Estêvão da Gama, a minor provincial nobleman who was commander of the fortress of Sines. Not a lot is known about his early life, however, King John II of Portugal sent him to the port of Setúbal in the South of Portugal to seize French ships as the French had been attacking Portuguese ships. Da Gama excelled at this task.
When King Manuel ascended to the throne in 1495 the royal court looked favourably on the Da Gama family and when the neglected project: to send a Portuguese fleet to India was revived to open the sea route to Asia, Da Gama was chosen for the job despite having no relevant experience at all. He sailed from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four vessels consisting of two medium-sized three-masted sailing ships, each of about 120 tons, named the “São Gabriel” and the “São Rafael, a 50-ton caravel, The “Berrio”; and a 200-ton storeship. The crew included three interpreters, two Arabic speakers, and one who spoke several Bantu dialects. The fleet also carried several padrões (stone pillars) to set up as marks of discovery. Vasco Da Gama died on December 24, 1524, in India
