Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India The discovery of the sea route to India is the description sometimes used in Europe and among the Portuguese for the first recorded trip made directly from Europe to India via the Atlantic Ocean. It was undertaken under the command of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama during the reign of King Manuel I in 1497–1499. Considered by Europe to be one of the most remarkable voyages of the Age of Discovery, it consolidated the Portuguese maritime presence over the Indian Ocean and that country's dominance of global trade routes. The plan for
Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India Damião de Góis, that during the trip five monuments were set in place. San Rafael, in the Bons Sinais river; São Jorge, in Mozambique; the Holy Spirit in Malindi; Santa Maria, in Ilhéus, and San Gabriel, in Calicut. These monuments were meant to affirm the Portuguese sovereignty in these places so that other explorers who arrived later did not take the land for themselves as discoveries. On May 17, 1498, the fleet reached Kappakadavu, near Calicut, in the current Indian state of Kerala, thus having established the route via the Indian Ocean and managing to open the sea route from