7. The Age of Explorations

The Portuguese developed the art of shipbuilding during the Renaissance period. This combined with the zeal to explore and conquer the trade routes of the world pushed them towards the stream of Seafaring expeditions.

Henry, who was proudly named as “The Navigator” initiated the expeditions that changed the course of the navigation history. His followers discovered the lands of the Cape Verde Islands.

The Early seafarers of the Henry team didn’t venture far from the European highlands, later post the efforts of Lopo, in \(1482\) another sailor from Portugal named “Diego Cao” sailed through the African coasts and founded the Mouth of Congo River.

 

 

 

Most of the Sailors had their apprehension to sail past the Equatorial region as they feared the boiling waters at the centre of the earth. These reservations among the Sailors were put to an end by Bartholomew Dias.

He sailed across the Equator and reached the Southern tip of Africa in \(1487\) and named the geographically tumultuous region as “Cape of Storms”.

On his arrival after the expedition to Portugal, the ruler of the Country named the Southern tip of Africa “Cape of Good Hope”, as it provided a ray of hope to travel towards the lands of the Indian Sub-Continent.

 

He was another Portugal explorer who visited the lands of India and extended the supremacy of Sea Faring activities. He reached India in \(1498\) and landed in Calicut, located on the Western Coast of India.

The Portuguese Seafarers set up many camps along the coasts of African and Eastern Countries where the trade of Slaves, Spices and Commodities were exchanged among the Countries.

Spain followed the footprints of Portugal and set their expeditions on the Coasts of East. The Spanish sailors went a notch further and landed on places that weren’t explored before. Some of the notable Sailors and their discoveries are discussed below.

 

He was an enthusiastic Sailor who wanted to discover new routes to reach the Eastern lands and planned to travel through the West. His journey was financially aided by “King Ferdinand and his Queen Isabella of Spain”.

 

 

He Set out his sail in \(1492\) and, after a brief voyage, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached a land where he thought the land was India. So he named the natives as Indians.

Columbus also undertook more voyages and reached the lands of the Caribbean Islands and the Central American lands, which are still called the West Indies.

He was an Italian Merchant and Sailor who began his voyages in the \(15^{th}\) Century. Vespucci began his voyages in \(1497\), where he developed the art of documenting his voyages.

He reached the Mouths of the Amazon river where he thought he had reached the lands of Asia. Later, he learned that it was not Asia and it was a new continent far from the European lands. He named it the “New World”.

A German cartographer later created a new map and named the new world in honour of Amerigo Vespucci which later came to be known as the “America”.