was India. Vasco da Gama The success of Columbus prompted Vasco da Gama to start his historic voyage ( ) to the eastern part. He set sail with four ships from Lisbon and reached the island of Mozambique. Later he travelled further south and reached Kapad, a beach near Kozhikode, Kerala.
By reaching a part of India, he opened avenues for direct trade with India. This voyage led to the colonisation of a few regions in India. One such region was Goa. Papal Bull ( ) The Spanish kings were apprehensive about the Portuguese venture into sea voyages.
They requested Pope Alexander VI to find a solution. In , the Pope issued a Papal Bull (proclamation). The proclamation drew a north–south line from pole to pole, passing around miles west of the Cape Verde islands. It declared that any new discoveries west of the line belonged to Spain.
Portugal was not happy with the arrangement. The following year ( ) it struck an agreement with Spain, signing the Treaty of Tordesillas. This arrangement respected the concept of a north–south line of demarcation, but shifted it to , miles west of the Cape Verde islands, and acknowledged that everything discovered east of it would belong to Portugal. Six years later, in April , this turned out to Portugal’s advantage, when Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the east coast of Brazil, and was able to claim it for Portugal.
Portuguese Navigator Pedro Cabral In Pedro Cabral sailed westward and discovered Brazil. Pedro Cabral named the island as “Island of the True Cross”. Brazil became Portugal’s colony and its subsequent history is dealt with in Unit XI. Cabral sailed to India, following the route of Vasco da Gama, and reached Kozhikode.
Initially the zamorin ruler was well disposed towards the Portuguese and allowed Cabral to build a fort and carry on trade. However, disputes soon arose with the Arab traders and a large Arab force attacked the trading post and killed many Portuguese soldiers. Cabral retaliated with reinforcements from Portugal. He captured Arab vessels and executed their crews.
He then left for Cochin