Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India It is often regarded as the most important work of Portuguese literature. The work celebrates the discovery of a sea route to India by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. King Manuel did not share that opinion. Keeping the D. João II plan, he went ahead to equip the ships and chose Vasco da Gama as the leader of this expedition and the captain of the armada. According to the original plan, John II had appointed his father, Stephen da Gama, to head the armada; but by the time of implementing the plan, both were deceased. Portuguese were after spices,
Diogo Rodrigues Diogo Rodrigues Dom Diogo Rodrigues, Dom Diogo Roiz ( 1490-1496; Lagos, Portugal – 21 April 1577; Colvá, Goa) was a Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean who sailed as an ordinary helmsman under the command of Dom Pedro Mascarenhas around Goa. They sailed from the Cape of Good Hope eastward into little-known waters of the newly discovered route to Goa. It was after him that the island of Rodrigues was\is named between 4 and 9 February 1528 after discovering it during his only return journey from Goa via Cochin (left on 15 January 1528) to Portugal, following which he rose