Geographical Discoveries

Ø A great development which marked the beginning of the modern age in Europe was a series of geographical discoveries.

Ø Helped by some remarkable inventions viz. the compass and astrolabe, daring sailors sailed from distant lands.

Ø They were financed by rulers and merchants.

Ø The main motivation behind these adventures was the lure of profits that trade with the east would bring.

Ø During 1288-93, Marco polo (1256 – 1326), Venetian traveler, travelled from Venice to china and Japan. He was the ‘first European to visit china’. From his travelogue the European learned about the all-round prosperity of the east.

Ø The first great steps in the exploration of the earth were taken by the sailors under the patronage of Portuguese and Spanish rulers.

Ø Prince Henry (1394 – 1460) the navigator of Portugal, encouraged sailors by making maps based on trips to the African coast.

Ø In 1487, Bartholomew, Diaz, reached the point which the Portuguese named Cape of Good Hope (the southern - most point of Africa).

Ø Vasco d agama followed this route and sailed on round the cape and reached Calicut in India in 1498.

Ø Italian sailor Columbus’ trip was financed by Spain from where he sailed in 1492. When he had reached d hand, he thought he had reached India; so he called the islands, the ‘Indies’; but it was America.

Ø The land discovered by Columbus was son to be called the ‘Americas’ after the name of a later Italian explorer, America Vespucci.

Ø Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, went beyond the lands that had stopped Columbus. He sailed went around the tip of South America, which is named after him – the straits of Magellan. He called the new ocean that the entered,’ the pacific’ because it seemed more quiet than the atlantic.magellan reached what is now called the Philippine island where he died. Magellan was the first to sail round the world.

Ø Other countries – England, France &Holland – also sent out their ships to join the race for  explorations. Francis drake fenland sailed round the world in 1577. Colonialism: colony means the country or territory settled by migrants from another country. Thus, the policy of having, colonies and keeping them dependent is called colonialism.

Ø Imperialism: the policy of extending a state’s rule over other terriotories and of incorporating such colonized into an empire is called imperialism.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES :

DISCOVERY	YEAR		DISCOVER (NATIONALITY)			SPONSERED BY
Cape of good  hope	1487		Bartholomew Diaz (Portuguese)			Portugal
America	1492		Christopher Columbus (Geneon, Italian)			Spain
Newfoundland	1947		John Cabot (Italian)			England
Sea – route of India via cape of good hope	1498		Vasco d agama (Portuguese)			Portugal
brazil	1500		Pedro ablates cabral (Portuguese)			Portugal
Strait of Magellan	1520		Magellan(Portuguese)			Spain
Island of Tasmania & new Zealand	1642		Tasman (Dutch)			Holland
Sandwich Island/Hawaiian island	1770		Captain James cook (British)			England
North pole	1909		Robert Peary (American)			USA
South pole	1911		Amundsen (Norwegian)			Nor  way