History of Western civilization Genovese born mariner, Christopher Columbus set out under the auspices of the Crown of Castile (Spain) to seek an oversea route to the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean. Rather than Asia, Columbus landed in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean. Spanish colonization followed and Europe established Western Civilization in the Americas. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama led the first sailing expedition directly from Europe to India in 1497-1499, by the Atlantic and Indian oceans, opening up the possibility of trade with the East other than via perilous overland routes like the Silk Road. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working
Indonesia–Portugal relations Indonesia–Portugal relations Indonesia–Portugal relations are foreign bilateral relations between Indonesia and Portugal. Portuguese explorer and trader first reached Indonesian archipelago during the age of exploration in the 16th century in order to search for spices in the Indies. In 1999, Indonesia and Portugal restored diplomatic relations, which were severed following the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. Indonesia has an embassy in Lisbon and Portugal has an embassy in Jakarta. Since gaining foothold in Southeast Asian region by acquiring port of Malacca in 1511, Portuguese sent exploratory expeditions into Indonesian archipelago, and sought to dominate the sources of valuable