July 10: The explorer Nicolau Coelho back to Lisbon in 1499, after having discovered the route to India as part of the team of Vasco da Gama.

Outward and return voyages of the Portuguese India Run (Carreira da Índia). The outward route of the South Atlantic westerlies that Bartolomeu Dias discovered in 1487, followed and explored by Vasco da Gama in the open ocean, would be developed in subsequent years.

Nicolau Coelho was born in 1460 in Felgueiras, Portugal. He was an experienced navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama's expedition to discover the sea route to India.

Vasco da Gama

Coelho commanded the caravel "Berrio" which was the first to return to Lisbon on July 10, 1499. Coelho was the first to arrive in Mozambique where he managed to make contact with the Sultan of Kilwa.

Añadir leyenda

King Manuel I of Portugal honored with honors Nicolau gave in return an annual pension of 50 000 real plus properties and named "Knight of the Royal Family" with its own coat of arms.

After Portuguese discoveries, European powers started to challenge Portugal for envy. England, France and the Netheralndas were finally able to challenge and break Portugal's monopoly and naval supremacy around the African Continebt, the Indian Ocean and in the Far East, opening a new era of European imperialism.

Coelho was the first to arrive in Mozambique where he met the Sultan of Kilwa.

“The diary record of the expedition ends abruptly here. Reconstructing from other sources, it seems they continued to Cape Verde, where Nicolau Coelho's Berrio separated from Vasco da Gama's São Gabriel, and sailed on by itself.

Nicolau Coelho Felgueiras

Coelho arrived in Lisbon on 10 July 1499 and he personally delivered the news to King Manuel I and the royal court, then assembled in Sintra.”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama#Third_voyage_and_Death