Answer: After the Turks captured Constantinople (1453) the land trade route to the East was closed, so European sailors searched for new sea routes. With the help of the compass and better ships they made great geographical discoveries.
(a) Christopher Columbus: An Italian sailor who believed the earth was round and that India could be reached by sailing west. With the support of the King and Queen of Spain he sailed in 1492 and reached the islands of the Caribbean (Bahamas, West Indies), which he thought were part of India. He thus opened the way to the American continent for Europe.
(b) Amerigo Vespucci: An Italian navigator who made voyages (1499–1502) along the coast of South America. He showed that the lands reached by Columbus were not Asia but a ‘New World’, a separate continent. The continent was named ‘America’ after him.
(c) Vasco da Gama: A Portuguese sailor who sailed round the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and reached Calicut (Kozhikode) on the Malabar coast of India on 20 May 1498, where the Zamorin received him. He discovered the direct sea route from Europe to India, which started Portuguese trade and later European colonialism in India.
