15th century History of modern India

  1453- Constantinople fell to Ottoman Turks. The eastern part of the Roman empire was Constantinople. It fell to Ottoman Turks and direct contact between India and the European nations declined. These Turks would serve as intermediaries and sell Indian goods to Europe at high prices. Then these goods would be expensive in Europe. But, the Indian goods were in high demand so the Europeans wanted to make direct contacts with India.But, Renaissance had come about in Italy with a rise in ship building activities. So, there was hope to discover a new trade route to India. 

1453- St. Nicolas V gave a bull to Prince Henry, Navigator, to reach as far as India. This prince had a great passion for ships and navigations. So, they nicknamed him, 'Navigator'. This prince died before his dream could come true. Stil, it tells us about the sentiments of the Church and the European states about ships and voyages. This Prince belonged to Portugal. They wanetd to find newer lands to spread Christianity. Besides, the Portuguese often had tensions with the Muslims of the Arab countries. So, they wanted to counteract the pressure of using these intermediaries for their trade. 

1487- Bartholomew Dias tried to reach India but failed. He was a Portuguese. He could reach only Africa. 

1494- Treaty of Tordesillas

Portugal and Spain were two most powerful countries in Europe. They entered into a treaty. They divided the entire oriental world with a line in the Atlantic ocean. This line lay near the Cape Verde Islands. Of course this was an imaginary line. But, Portugal could capture all to the east of this line and Spain to the west. This meant the Portuguese wanted to capture India. 

1497- Vasco da Gama set sail for India. He came from POrtugal. He reached the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Then, he met Abdul Majid, a Gujarati pilot from INdia. Majid led him to India. 

1498- Vasco da Gama reached India. He had fulfilled the long sought European dream of finding a treade route to India. He came on the Eastern coast of Malabar in near modern Goa of India. He convinced the ruler that he had only come for trade and would pose no political threat. Zamorin, the ruler, knew that his Calicut port was famous for trade so he agreed. Vasco da Gama gained a lot of money from his trade.  He returned to Europe nine months later to sell his goods at one tenth of the price of what the Europeans would buy them for. Now other Europeans also wanted to enter into India through this route.