Modern India

Stories of India's wealth from travellers and other sources tempted the European nations to discover the sea route to India for trade. The Portuguese were the pioneers in this effort. In 1498, Vasco de Gama discovered the sea route to India and reached Calicut(now Kozhikode).

His discovery made the Portuguese to be the first among the European nations to trade with India and found settlements along the coasts. Following them were the Dutch, the English, the Danes and the French. Eventually the English and the French were left in the field to contend for the Indian Trade. Not content with trade only their ambitions took a turn to achieve political power and the conditions that followed the decline of Mughal Empire offered them a golden opportunity to fish in the troubled waters.

Advent of European Commerce

The Portuguese

Vasco-da-Gama Discovers Sea Route to India : India had commerical relations with the countries of the west from time immemorial. But from the seventh century AD, her sea borne trade passed into the hands of the Arabs, who began to dominate the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It was from then that the enterprising merchants of Venice and Genos purchased Indian Goods. The geographical discoveries of the last quarter of the fifteenth century deeply affectd the commerical relations of the different countries of the world and produced far-reaching consequences in their history. Bartholomew Diaz doubled the Cape of Good Hope, or the Stormy Cape, as he called it, in 1487; and Vasco de Gama found out a new route to India and reached the famous port of Calicut on the 17th May, 1498.

On his arrival at Calicat, Vasco de Gama was received by its Hindu ruler, known by the title of Zamorin. The arrival of Vasco de Gama led to the establishment of trading stations at Calicat.

Portuguese Chronology
1498	Vasco de Gama found a new roue to India and reached the port of Calicut.
1502	Vasco de Gama established a factory at Cochin

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