Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer. In 1497, he led an expedition equipped by the Portuguese government, in order to find a maritime route to the East. He reached the Indian coast after sailing far out in the Atlantic Ocean and rounding the Cape of Good Hope. That journey was the first maritime route from Europe to Asia. After Da Gama returned to Portugal, he was dispatched by the King to secure a trading post in India, which he successfully established in 1502. Once back, he was granted many privileges and advised the King on Indian matters. After twenty years, he returned to India for his nomination as Portuguese viceroy but fell ill with malaria and died.