The+Search+for+India

= The Search for India  = = =

Why to India?
A major reason for the rush to India was the spices available there and the Spice Trade. We take spices for granted today, but spices were very important during theAge of Exploration and often considered the reason for most of the early voyages. Spices such as salt perserved food, and were not easily accessible in Europe. Other spices flavored food, and could not be used in England before trade with India, so their food would have tasted very bland. The spices were the riches of the Age of Exploration.

Routes
In the late 1400's the Portugese made mutipule attemps to reach India by sea. They tried sailing along the Mediterranean, Africa, and Arabia, they also tried taking a sea route around Africa. Both of these attempts were eventually successful.



Explorers

 * Pero De Covilhã** used the route along the east cost of Africa and was the first explorer to arrive in India from Portugal, in 1489. **Vasco da Gama** became the first European to reach India entirely by sea when he led four ships into the port of Calicut in 1498. Other major explorers to reach India were **Almeida** and **Albuquerque**, who both sailed through the Mediterranean.