Gaspar da Gama
Encyclopedia
Gaspar da Gama was a merchant of Jewish origin who acted as interpreter ("Língua", in old portuguese) and provided many services to the Portuguese
, since he first approached Vasco da Gama
fleet returning from the first travel from Europe to India. He was known to speak several East and West languages. He sailed with several Portuguese fleets between Europe and India, including the fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral
that discovered Brazil
. He was certainly one of the first Europeans to land in Brazil and tried to communicate with the Tupiniquim
Indians.
, Fernão Lopes de Castanheda
, Jerónimo Osório, Damião de Gois
and Álvaro Velho
but was known to Indians as Mahmet. Some sources confuse the latest with Gaspar de Lemos
, a Portuguese sailor who commanded a ship in the fleet that discovered Brazil. [1] Other sources also call him "Gaspar de Almeida" given his friendship with Francisco de Almeida
, 1st Viceroy of India.
There are several versions of his life before meeting Vasco da Gama in India. Some of these were sourced at Gaspar da Gama himself, but he probably tried to hide some "inconvenient" facts about his own past. Chronicler Gaspar Correia states that, when found by the Portuguese, Gaspar da Gama was Captain of the fleet of Yusuf Adil Shah
, the Sultan of Bijapur, Arab governor of Goa
in India. Damião de Gois says Gaspar da Gama was a Jew born in the city of Posner (Poznan
) in the Kingdom of Poland
and that at that time he did not speak Spanish, but Venetian language
, the very language used in European based commercial centers in the East.
Barros reports that the very Gaspar da Gama told him that his parents were from Bosna (or Posner, ie, Poznan) in Poland. When the Jews were expelled from the city, his parents migrated to Jerusalem and then to Alexandria
, where Gaspar da Gama was born. Elias Lipiner studied the documentation of the Portuguese chroniclers of the Age of Discovery
and considered João de Barros version as the most faithful to facts, suggesting that Gaspar da Gama must have been born in Alexandria
(Egypt) around 1458. Following Jewish Radhanite trade routes
at the time, he went very young to India where he established himself as a merchant. [2]Other historians, like Arnold Wiznitzer think he was born in Granada
or circa 1440 in Bosnia (perhaps confusion with the name of Poznan).
, about 20 miles off the coast of Goa, Gaspar da Gama, uninvited, went on the ship of Vasco da Gama and asked happily to go aboard, to visit his native Spain. He was then more than 50 years age, with white beard, with louder and clear manners than that of the Indians of region. As reported by Álvaro Velho, clerk of the Portuguese fleet, Gaspar da Gama said that he was "working for a powerful lord who owns an army of more than 40 thousand horsemen, and that upon hearing of their arrival he had asked to see them. If not he would have died of sadness."
Vasco da Gama pretended to believe, and discreetly sent men to Anjadip Island to get information about the visitor. Some reliable merchants told that he was a spy, preparing a surprise attack. Upon this, Vasco da Gama had the visitor whipped and interrogated under torture. After having hot oil dropped on his skin, Gaspar da Gama told he was a Jew from Granada
who had converted to Christianity and after traveling to Turkey and Mecca went to the Indies, and that there was no plan to attack the Portuguese. After 12 days of interrogation, Vasco da Gama came to rely more on the prisoner. He Gave him a cheese and two soft breads and Gaspar da Gama told him that, after all, he was very happy to find these "Franks".
Vasco da Gama kept Gaspar as a prisoner and took him on the eventful trip back to Portugal, perhaps considering that his knowledge of the East would be useful. During the long return, Gaspar da Gama befriended the Portuguese, and especially Vasco da Gama. He was baptized the following year, Vasco da Gama being his godfather and gaving him his own surname. The first name - Gaspar - had been chosen as a reference to its origins, being the name of one of three Magi from the East who visited Jesus.
, Arabic, Italian
, Castilian
, Portuguese and some languages of India. Because of this, the King Manuel I appointed him counselor and interpreter of the second fleet sailing to the Indies, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral
.
Always with a cap on his head and dressed in white linen, Gaspar da Gama was one of the more exotic characters in the fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral. Although not the only linguist at the expedition that discovered the Brazil, he was the main interpreter in the trade negotiations between the Portuguese and Brazilian Indians, along with Gonçalo Madeira. Once in India, Gaspar da Gama fulfilled his mission with his interpreter services and knowledge of geopolitics and customs of India important in business meetings of Portuguese and Indian rajas in Calicut and Cochin.
He returned on his own will to Portugal with Pedro Alvares Cabral. In 1501, the fleet met the expedition of Gaspar de Lemos appointed by the king of Portugal to explore the newly discovered lands of Brazil, near modern Dakar, Senegal. [ 1] Talks between Gaspar da Gama and other members of the expedition with the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci
who accompanied Gaspar de Lemos certainly strengthened the idea that the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were not the Indies, but a new continent.
In 1502 Gaspar da Gama participated in another travel to India commanded by Vasco da Gama, and again in 1505 with the recently appointed viceroy Francisco de Almeida
. During these trips, he learned a few African languages.
He participated in the Indian expeditions of the Portuguese who tried to conquer Hormuz in 1508 and Calicut in 1510, when some assume that he died. Others believe that he returned to Portugal where he died. Some say that his death occurred between 1510 and 1515, or even by about 1520, with nearly eighty years. The change of Christian name "Terra de Santa Cruz" to "Brazil" is attributed by some to Gaspar da Gama and Fernão de Noronha
, both being Jewish. However, this does not have an historical basis, being due to the intense trade in Brazilwood
.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, since he first approached Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
fleet returning from the first travel from Europe to India. He was known to speak several East and West languages. He sailed with several Portuguese fleets between Europe and India, including the fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
that discovered Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. He was certainly one of the first Europeans to land in Brazil and tried to communicate with the Tupiniquim
Tupiniquim
Tupiniquim is the name of an Amerindian tribe who now only live in three reservations . All three are located in the municipality of Aracruz in northern Espírito Santo state, southeastern Brazil. As of 1997 their population was 1,386...
Indians.
Before meeting the Portuguese
His original name is unknown. He appears with the name "Gaspar da Gama" or "Gaspar of the Indies" in the chronicles and reports of discovery written by Gaspar CorreiaGaspar Correia
Gaspar Correia or Gaspar Corrêa was a Portuguese historian, author of "Lendas da Índia , one of the earliest and most important works about Portuguese rule in Asia, being referred to as a Portuguese Polybius.- Biography :There is little information about the life of the author...
, Fernão Lopes de Castanheda
Fernão Lopes de Castanheda
Fernão Lopes de Castanheda was a Portuguese historian in the early Renaissance.His "History of the discovery and conquest of India", full of geographic and ethnographic objective information, was widely translated throughout Europe.- Life :Castanheda was the natural son of a royal officer, who...
, Jerónimo Osório, Damião de Gois
Damião de Góis
Damiao de Góis , born in Alenquer, Portugal, was an important Portuguese humanist philosopher. He was a friend and student of Erasmus. He was appointed secretary to the Portuguese factory in Antwerp in 1523 by King John III of Portugal...
and Álvaro Velho
Álvaro Velho
Álvaro Velho was a Portuguese writer that participated as a sailor or soldier in the expedition of discovery of sea route to India led by Vasco da Gama in 1497. He was the attributed author of an anonymous logbook, main direct source known describing the expedition...
but was known to Indians as Mahmet. Some sources confuse the latest with Gaspar de Lemos
Gaspar de Lemos
Gaspar de Lemos , Portuguese explorer and captain of the supply ship of Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet that discovered Brazil. Sent back to Portugal with news of their discovery, he was credited by the Viscount of Santarém as having discovered the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean....
, a Portuguese sailor who commanded a ship in the fleet that discovered Brazil. [1] Other sources also call him "Gaspar de Almeida" given his friendship with Francisco de Almeida
Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida , also known as "the Great Dom Francisco" , was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492...
, 1st Viceroy of India.
There are several versions of his life before meeting Vasco da Gama in India. Some of these were sourced at Gaspar da Gama himself, but he probably tried to hide some "inconvenient" facts about his own past. Chronicler Gaspar Correia states that, when found by the Portuguese, Gaspar da Gama was Captain of the fleet of Yusuf Adil Shah
Yusuf Adil Shah
Yusuf Adil Shah , referred as Adil Khan or Hidalcão by the Portuguese, was the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur for nearly two centuries...
, the Sultan of Bijapur, Arab governor of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
in India. Damião de Gois says Gaspar da Gama was a Jew born in the city of Posner (Poznan
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
) in the Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
and that at that time he did not speak Spanish, but Venetian language
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
, the very language used in European based commercial centers in the East.
Barros reports that the very Gaspar da Gama told him that his parents were from Bosna (or Posner, ie, Poznan) in Poland. When the Jews were expelled from the city, his parents migrated to Jerusalem and then to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, where Gaspar da Gama was born. Elias Lipiner studied the documentation of the Portuguese chroniclers of the Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
and considered João de Barros version as the most faithful to facts, suggesting that Gaspar da Gama must have been born in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
(Egypt) around 1458. Following Jewish Radhanite trade routes
Radhanite
The Radhanites were medieval Jewish merchants. Whether the term, which is used by only a limited number of primary sources, refers to a specific guild, or a clan, or is a generic term for Jewish merchants in the trans-Eurasian trade network is unclear...
at the time, he went very young to India where he established himself as a merchant. [2]Other historians, like Arnold Wiznitzer think he was born in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
or circa 1440 in Bosnia (perhaps confusion with the name of Poznan).
Meeting the Portuguese
In 1498, when the returning Vasco da Gama fleet landed on the island of AngedivaAnjadip Island
Anjadip Island is an island in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Canacona in the South Goa district, Goa, India. Legally and constitutionally, it remains a part of Goa, although there is a widespread misconception that it is a part of the Karnataka state off whose coast it lies.-History:Anjediva,...
, about 20 miles off the coast of Goa, Gaspar da Gama, uninvited, went on the ship of Vasco da Gama and asked happily to go aboard, to visit his native Spain. He was then more than 50 years age, with white beard, with louder and clear manners than that of the Indians of region. As reported by Álvaro Velho, clerk of the Portuguese fleet, Gaspar da Gama said that he was "working for a powerful lord who owns an army of more than 40 thousand horsemen, and that upon hearing of their arrival he had asked to see them. If not he would have died of sadness."
Vasco da Gama pretended to believe, and discreetly sent men to Anjadip Island to get information about the visitor. Some reliable merchants told that he was a spy, preparing a surprise attack. Upon this, Vasco da Gama had the visitor whipped and interrogated under torture. After having hot oil dropped on his skin, Gaspar da Gama told he was a Jew from Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
who had converted to Christianity and after traveling to Turkey and Mecca went to the Indies, and that there was no plan to attack the Portuguese. After 12 days of interrogation, Vasco da Gama came to rely more on the prisoner. He Gave him a cheese and two soft breads and Gaspar da Gama told him that, after all, he was very happy to find these "Franks".
Vasco da Gama kept Gaspar as a prisoner and took him on the eventful trip back to Portugal, perhaps considering that his knowledge of the East would be useful. During the long return, Gaspar da Gama befriended the Portuguese, and especially Vasco da Gama. He was baptized the following year, Vasco da Gama being his godfather and gaving him his own surname. The first name - Gaspar - had been chosen as a reference to its origins, being the name of one of three Magi from the East who visited Jesus.
In Portugal and back to India
King Manuel I of Portugal enjoyed Gaspar da Gama and called him frequently to the court, to hear his stories about the land and customs of the East. There was a suspicion that Gaspar da Gama was an Arabic spy, but the Portuguese recognized his value, because beside having traded in some of their centers in India, he spoke LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Arabic, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Castilian
Castilian Spanish
Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers...
, Portuguese and some languages of India. Because of this, the King Manuel I appointed him counselor and interpreter of the second fleet sailing to the Indies, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
.
Always with a cap on his head and dressed in white linen, Gaspar da Gama was one of the more exotic characters in the fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral. Although not the only linguist at the expedition that discovered the Brazil, he was the main interpreter in the trade negotiations between the Portuguese and Brazilian Indians, along with Gonçalo Madeira. Once in India, Gaspar da Gama fulfilled his mission with his interpreter services and knowledge of geopolitics and customs of India important in business meetings of Portuguese and Indian rajas in Calicut and Cochin.
He returned on his own will to Portugal with Pedro Alvares Cabral. In 1501, the fleet met the expedition of Gaspar de Lemos appointed by the king of Portugal to explore the newly discovered lands of Brazil, near modern Dakar, Senegal. [ 1] Talks between Gaspar da Gama and other members of the expedition with the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name.-Expeditions:...
who accompanied Gaspar de Lemos certainly strengthened the idea that the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were not the Indies, but a new continent.
In 1502 Gaspar da Gama participated in another travel to India commanded by Vasco da Gama, and again in 1505 with the recently appointed viceroy Francisco de Almeida
Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida , also known as "the Great Dom Francisco" , was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492...
. During these trips, he learned a few African languages.
He participated in the Indian expeditions of the Portuguese who tried to conquer Hormuz in 1508 and Calicut in 1510, when some assume that he died. Others believe that he returned to Portugal where he died. Some say that his death occurred between 1510 and 1515, or even by about 1520, with nearly eighty years. The change of Christian name "Terra de Santa Cruz" to "Brazil" is attributed by some to Gaspar da Gama and Fernão de Noronha
Fernão de Noronha
Fernão de Loronha , whose name is often corrupted to Fernando de Noronha or Fernando della Rogna, was a prominent 16th C. Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, of Jewish descent. He was the first charter-holder , the first donatary captain in Brazil and sponsor of numerous early Portuguese overseas...
, both being Jewish. However, this does not have an historical basis, being due to the intense trade in Brazilwood
Brazilwood
Caesalpinia echinata is a species of Brazilian timber tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Brazilwood, Pau-Brasil, Pau de Pernambuco and Ibirapitanga . This plant has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high shine, and it is the premier wood used for making bows for...
.