Who was the first explorer to find a direct route to Asia?

Who was the first explorer to find a direct route to Asia?

The first European explorer to reach Asia by sea was Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese captain who arrived on the coast of India in 1498, six years after Christopher Columbus believed he had landed in Asia.

Which explorers helped find a western water route to Asia?

This is known as the Northwest Passage. These explorers such as Henry Hudson, Francis Drake, and Giovanni da Verrazano helped to find a route to Asia by sailing west through the Atlantic Ocean and then north around North America.

Which explorer first sailed from western Europe to Asia?

Christopher Columbus was the first explorer to attempt to reach East Asia by sailing west from Europe.

Who was the first Western explorer to reach China?

Marco Polo
Though he was not the first European to reach China (see Europeans in Medieval China), Marco Polo was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his experience….

Marco Polo
Nationality Venetian
Occupation Merchant, explorer, writer
Known for The Travels of Marco Polo
Spouse(s) Donata Badoer (m. 1300–1324)

Who first made a route across Asia to China?

History of the Silk Route The original Silk Route was established during the Han Dynasty by Zhang Quian, a Chinese official and diplomat. During a diplomatic mission, Quian was captured and detained for 13 years on his first expedition before escaping and pursuing other routes from China to Central Asia.

Why did explorers go to Asia?

European traders began to travel to Asia by sea because travel by land was dangerous and costly. … Europeans wanted to gain riches from the New World. They also wanted to claim land for their countries. Some Europeans wanted to convert people to their religion.

Why did European explorers want to find another route to Asia?

Why did the Europeans need to seek new trade routes? Merchants knew they could make big profits selling Asian goods such as spices and silks. European rulers wanted to find safer, faster trade routes to Asia so their countries could become rich and powerful.

Who was the first major explorer?

While in the service of Spain, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe. As a boy, Magellan studied mapmaking and navigation. In 1505, when Magellan was in his mid-20s, he joined a Portuguese fleet that was sailing to East Africa.

Who was the first Western explorer to reach India?

explorer Vasco de Gama
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama becomes the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrives at Calicut on the Malabar Coast.

Who first made a route across Asia?

The original Silk Route was established during the Han Dynasty by Zhang Quian, a Chinese official and diplomat. During a diplomatic mission, Quian was captured and detained for 13 years on his first expedition before escaping and pursuing other routes from China to Central Asia.

Who was the first European explorer of Asia?

This is a chronology of the early European exploration of Asia. 515 BC: Scylax explores the Indus and the sea route across the Indian Ocean to Egypt. 300 BC: Seleucus Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire, forays into northwestern India but is defeated by Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empire, and they become allies soon after.

What route did Christopher Columbus lead to Asia?

He became obsessed with the possibility of pioneering a western sea route to Cathay (China), India, and the gold and spice islands of Asia. At the time, Europeans knew no direct sea route to southern Asia, and the route via Egypt and the Red Sea was closed to Europeans by the Ottoman Empire, as were many land routes.

Who was the first European to reach India by sea?

1497–1499: The Portuguese Vasco da Gama, accompanied by Nicolau Coelho and Bartolomeu Dias, is the first European to reach India by an all-sea route from Europe. 1500–1501: After discovering Brazil, Pedro Álvares Cabral, with the half of an original fleet of 13 ships and 1,500 men, accomplished the second Portuguese trip to India.

What was the first European voyage to China?

He then led a voyage into the Red Sea, the first ever made by a European fleet. 1513: Jorge Álvares is the first European to land in China at Tamão in the Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary. 1516-17: Rafael Perestrello, a cousin of Christopher Columbus, leads a small Portuguese trade mission to Canton (Guangzhou), then under the Ming Dynasty.