Modern knowledge of the expedition course is based on a voyage log written by ГЃlvaro Velho, a member of the St. Joining the fleet was a caravel captained by Bartolomeu Dias that followed as far as the Cape Verde islands, whence it travelled to the Portuguese trading post of Elmina in West Africa. The crew is estimated to have been between 150 and 170 men, some of them convicts who were to perform dangerous tasks.

Raphael, under the command of his brother, Paulo da Gama the BГ©rrio, whose captain was Nicolau Coelho and a supply vessel commanded by GonГ§alo Nunes that was to be burned after its provisions were distributed by the others' ships. Vasco da GamaвЂ™s fleet was composed of four ships: the St. PortugalвЂ™s new king, Manuel I, put into practice the plans of his predecessor and appointed Vasco da Gama captain-major of the expedition. VascoвЂ™s father was chosen by King John II to lead the follow-up expedition that was to establish a sea route to India, but both EstГЄvГЈo and the King died before the project could be realised. As a result of the voyage, it was almost certain that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were not landlocked and that India could be reached by sea. Both men (who were fluent in Arabic), traveled together as far as Aden, when CovilhГЈ went to India and Afonso de Paiva to Ethiopia, the latter carrying with him letters that offered an alliance to Prester John.ДЄnother important voyage was that of Bartolomeu Dias, who in his 1487-88 expedition, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and sailed as far as the Great Fish River. To achieve these goals, John II sent two explorers in May 1487, Pero da CovilhГЈ and Afonso de Paiva, on an overland voyage to the Middle East and India.

The king also wanted to establish contacts with Prester John, a fabled Christian ruler thought to live in Ethiopia, who was expected to ally with Christians in the fight against Islam. The reign of John II was marked by his desire to find a sea route from Europe to India that would break the Muslim monopoly on trade with India.

According to some sources, it was at this palace that Vasco was formally appointed by the King to travel to India. JoГЈo II ( Chronicle of John II), Vasco da Gama bravely and successfully performed the task. According to the poet Garcia de Resende, on his work CrГіnica de D. In 1492 Vasco received from King John II of Portugal the mission to seize all French ships on the ports of SetГєbal and in the ports of the coast of the Algarve, in retaliaton for attacks performed by French pirates on Portuguese ships carrying slaves. One of the few documents concerning the early life of Vasco da Gama shows that he was apparently destined to become a cleric, as on 5 November 1480 he had the prima tonsura, alongside his brothers and his uncle Vincente SodrГ©. VascoвЂ™s mother was of English ancestry, the granddaughter of a nobleman named Sudley, who had fought against Castile and settled in Portugal. He participated in the military campaign against the Moroccan town of Casablanca (1468-69) and served as alcaide-mor (chief magistrate) of Sines and Silves. Fernando, Duke of Viseu (a brother of the Portuguese king Afonso V). VascoвЂ™s father was a member of the Order of Saint James of the Sword and had a close ties with its master, D. Vasco was named after his paternal grandfather, who served as alcaide (magistrate) of Г‰vora. He was the second or third child of EstГЄvГЈo da Gama and Isabel de SodrГ©. He was born around 1469 in Sines, a seaport in the southwest coast of Portugal, or in one of the nearby villages (the most likely candidate is Salas, where after his return from his first voyage to India he ordered the construction of a church). Few details are known about Vasco da Gama's early life.

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