‘Vasco da Gama not 1st on India route’

CHENNAI: Who was Vasco da Gama? A Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail directly to India is the usual answer. But, Paris-based historian J B P More disagrees with this history textbook answer.
“The coming to Malabar of Vasco da Gama by the African sea route at the close of the 15th century is not a great navigational exploit from the geographical and historical point of view.da Gama followed the route established by his predecessors such as Diogo d’Azambuja, Diogo Cao and Bartolomeu Dias on the first leg of his journey,” said More, who teaches at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Commerciales, Paris.
Speaking on ‘Portuguese interactions with Malabar and its Muslims in the 16th century’ at Roja Muthiah Research Library, More explained, “The second leg — crossing the Arabian Sea to the Malabar coast from East Africa — was not da Gama’s discovery. Indians, Arabs and Persians had been crossing the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean from the Persian Gulf to as far as China through the Strait of Malacca for several hundred years.”
But was da Gama the first one to set foot on Malabar soil? No, according to More. “When he arrived in India, Malabar was divided into various principalities, of which the most powerful was the Zamorin of Calicut (today’s Kozhikode in Kerala). The place was a main port for the spice trade in the Malabar region by then. da Gama followed the instructions and came straight to Calicut. But the first man to set foot on Malabar soil was not da Gama. It was Joao Nunes, a convict sent by Gama on a reconnaissance mission,” he said.
The Zamorin of Calicut welcomed da Gama later by paying the courtesies due to a foreign dignitary. But da Gama made a diplomatic blunder by giving some cheap gifts to the king. “He presented the king some cheap gifts consisting of hats, hoods, striped cloth, sugar, oil and honey. The king was displeased. But the Zamorin later allowed him to set up a warehouse in Calicut,” said More, who is the author of books such as ‘The political evolution of Muslims in Tamil Nadu’ and ‘Origin and early history of the Muslims in Kerala’.
According to More, da Gama’s expedition was well-planned with an eye at the spice trade. His trip had the support of the Portuguese royal establishment and the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking on violence unleashed by the Portuguese in the region, More said it had no parallel and added that da Gama was involved in some of the most heinous violence and atrocities especially against Muslims in the region.