Portuguese Expeditions

Enrique the Navigator, organized the first expeditions of Portugal to look for a route to India.

The first great wave of expeditions was sent by Portugal under the command of Henry the Navigator, with the sole purpose of finding a route to India. Entering the Atlantic Ocean, the Madeira Islands were discovered in 1419 and later the Azores in 1427, both becoming Portuguese colonies. Henry the Navigator's project consisted of exploring the west coast of Africa. For centuries the only trade routes between West Africa and the Mediterranean world crossed the Sahara Desert. These routes were controlled by the Muslim states of North Africa, old rivals of Portugal. The Portuguese expected to trade directly with West Africa by sea, thus avoiding the Islamic territories. The Portuguese navigators progressed slowly but surely, getting each year to move further towards the south. In 1434 the obstacle assumed by Cape Bojador was definitively saved. In the span of two decades the Sahara barrier had been overcome and the gold and slave trade began in what is now Senegal. Progress continued while building forts in La Mina and Sao Tome and Principe became the first sugar producing colony. In 1482 an expedition to the control of Diogo Dog came in contact with the kingdom of the Congo. The decisive milestone took place in 1487, when Bartolomé Diaz doubled and baptized the Cape of Good Hope, demonstrating that it was possible to reach the Indian Ocean. In 1498 Vasco de Gama fulfilled that design arriving at India. The Silk Road was no longer essential to access the eastern markets.

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