Fruitless wars and bloodshed followed, but not since the heyday of the Greeks and Romans had the West enjoyed steady contact with India. For centuries Europe had been barred direct access to the prosperous East, first politically when international trade fell into Arab hands in the third century after Christ, and then when the emergence of Islam erected a religious obstacle in the seventh. And thus, ironically, the first modern European to sail all the way from the West and to set foot on Indian soil was a petty criminal from the gutters of Lisbon. So one of his motley crew was selected to swim ashore and sense the mood of the “natives” there before the captain could make his triumphant, choreographed entrance. Prudence and experience, however, dictated that in an unknown land it was probably wiser not to enter all at once. It was the dawn of a great new epoch in human history and this pioneer knew he was standing at the very brink of greatness. Driven by formidable ambition and undaunted spirit, it took da Gama ten whole months, full of dangerous adventures and gripping episodes, to finally hit India’s shores. Da Gama’s mirthless quest was essentially to navigate uncharted, perilous waters, and so it seemed wiser to invest in men whose chances in life were not especially more inspiring than in death. After all, the prospects of this voyage succeeding were rather slender considering that no European had ever advanced beyond Africa’s Cape of Good Hope before, let alone reached the fabled spice gardens of India. In July 1497 when Vasco da Gama set sail for India, King Manuel of Portugal assorted a distinctly expendable crew of convicts and criminals to go with him. Bajrang Dal member, 2 others arrested for damaging Ambedkar statue, assaulting Dalit villagers.Rahul Gandhi’s conviction stayed by SC in defamation case, Lok Sabha membership to be restored.How communal violence swept Haryana’s Nuh and Gurugram: A timeline.Watch: How dogs and humans reacted to man walking on all fours dressed in a realistic dog costume.India restricts import of laptops, personal computers.
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