It was either 1460 or 1469 in Sines on the southwest coast of Portugal His father was Estevao da. Whatever its immediate or ultimate source, this is an idealized portrait, painted 300 years after the event. Historians disagree on the date of Vasco da Gamas birth. Five hundred years later, the Portuguese explorer has been sucked into. An anonymous Journal kept by a member of his fleet. His voyage launched the all-water route from Europe to Asia and he sailed again in 1502 with the title of Admiral of India, and a third time as Viceroy in 1524 but died soon afterwards. The voyage connected Europe to India, and Vasco da Gama sailed into the pages of history. The voyage of Vasco da Gama to India (1497-1499) was one of the seminal events of the Renaissance period. He followed in his fathers footsteps and soon commanded. Where did Vasco da Gama grow up Vasco da Gama was born in a small coastal town in Portugal named Sines. He led the first expedition that traveled from Europe to India by sailing around Africa. According to some peoples accounts, he was a knight in the 1490s in Sines. Vasco da Gama (1460 - 1524) was a Portuguese explorer. Da Gama himself showed in the most brutal way possible, as soon as he had reached India, that he intended to destroy the Arabic Muslim sea power in the country, and the hundreds of Portuguese craft that fo. His mission was to break up the Muslim, Venetian and Genoese monopolies that controlled the lucrative trade route between Europe and Asia via the eastern Mediterranean. Vasco da Gama (1460 or 1469 - December 24th, 1506) was a Portuguese sailor.He was the first European who went to India through the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of Africa.He went to India three times by ship. Answer (1 of 5): You can point to few things that did more to change the face of the world. In 1497 Vasco da Gama commanded an expedition, equipped by the Portuguese Government, that rounded the Cape of Good Hope for the first time and reached Calicut in India. This is one of several portraits of non-British explorers and maritime heroes that he obtained before his retirement in 1844, to complement the Gallery's portraits celebrating British naval endeavour.