First European Expedition To Reach South Africa And Indian Ocean – On Feb 4, 1488

AncientPages.com - On February 4, 1488, Dias reached Mossel Bay, South Africa. He had passed Africa’s southern tip.

Dias rounded the cape and landed. Since it was the day of the Feast of St. Blaise, Dias named the spot Angra de São Brás – Portuguese for Bay of St. Blaise. Here, he encountered a group of African natives. At first, the natives fled from Dias and his men.

Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. source: CC BY-SA 3.0

But they returned and attacked the Portuguese crew.6 Dias continued sailing on. He reached the farther point of his journey on March 12 when they reached Algoa Bay.

Bartolomeu Dias was the first European explorer to sail around the southern coast of Africa successfully. In 1488, Dias proved that a sea trading route from Europe to Asia was possible. The coast of Africa often had terrible storms which often deterred explorers. But with some luck and skill, Dias navigated these waters to open a new way to reach India from Europe.

They erected a large stone cross and claimed the land for Portugal.7 Dias, was determined to make his way to India. He wanted to press on, but his crew tired and running low on supplies so they refused to go farther. Dias had no choice but to head back for Portugal.

On the return voyage, Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope, in May 1488. Dias returned to Lisbon in December of that year, after an absence of sixteen months and seventeen days.

The discovery of the passage around southern Africa was significant because, for the first time, Europeans could trade directly with India and the Far East, bypassing the overland Euro-Asian route with its expensive European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian middlemen.The official report of the expedition has been lost.

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