Only 54 of his original crew of 170 men returned with him; the majority (including da Gama's👄 brother Paolo) had died of illnesses such as scurvy. In 1497, John's successor, King Manuel I (crowned in 1495), chose👄 da Gama to lead a Portuguese fleet to India in search of a maritime route from Western Europe to the👄 East.

Vasco da Gama was best known for being the first to sail from Europe to👄 India by rounding Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Over the course of two voyages, beginning in 1497 and 1502, da👄 Gama landed and traded in locales along the coast of southern Africa before reaching India on May 20, 1498.