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130-701: The Gujarati people , or Gujaratis , are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to a region of the Indian subcontinent primarily centered in the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat . They primarily speak Gujarati , an Indo-Aryan language. While Gujaratis mainly inhabit Gujarat, they have a diaspora worldwide. Many notable independence activists were Gujarati, including Mahatma Gandhi , Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Vallabhbhai Patel . Despite significant migration primarily for economic reasons, most Gujaratis in India live in
260-509: A campaign of "de-Indianization", eventually resulting in the expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Uganda's Indian minority. Gujarati and other Indians started moving to the Kenya colony at the end of the 19th century when the British colonial authorities started opening up the country with the laying down of the railroads . A small colony of merchants, however, had existed on the port cities such Mombasa on
390-506: A cask of honey – were trivial, and failed to impress. While the Zamorin's officials wondered at why there was no gold or silver, the Muslim merchants who considered da Gama their rival suggested that the latter was only an ordinary pirate and not a royal ambassador. Vasco da Gama's request for permission to leave a factor behind him in charge of the merchandise he could not sell was turned down by
520-542: A commercial monopoly of these commodities for several decades. It was not until a century later that other European powers were able to challenge Portugal's monopoly and naval supremacy in the Cape Route . Da Gama led two of the Portuguese India Armadas , the first and the fourth. The latter was the largest and departed for India three years after his return from the first one. For his contributions, in 1524 da Gama
650-689: A diverse collection of peoples speaking Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent . Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia and introduced the Proto-Indo-Aryan language . The early Indo-Aryan peoples were known to be closely related to the Indo-Iranian group that have resided north of the Indus River ; an evident connection in cultural, linguistic, and historical ties. Today, Indo-Aryan speakers are found south of
780-533: A forced conversion to Christianity. After stopping at Cannanore, Gama drove his fleet before Kozhikode, demanding redress for the treatment of Cabral. Having known of the fate of the pilgrims' ship, the Zamorin adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the Portuguese and expressed willingness to sign a new treaty, but da Gama made a call to the Hindu king to expel all Muslims from Kozhikode before beginning negotiations, which
910-448: A hereditary fief (the town his father, Estêvão, had once held as a comenda ). This turned out to be a complicated affair, for Sines still belonged to the Order of Santiago. The master of the Order, Jorge de Lencastre , might have endorsed the reward – after all, da Gama was a Santiago knight, one of their own, and a close associate of Lencastre himself. But the fact that Sines was awarded by
1040-520: A lesser extent, Central Asian steppe pastoralists. South Indian Tribal Dravidians descend majorly from South Asian hunter-gatherers, and to a lesser extent Iranian hunter-gatherers. Additionally, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burmese speaking people contributed to the genetic make-up of South Asia. Indigenous Aryanism propagates the idea that the Indo-Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that
1170-567: A little while in mourning. He eventually took passage on an Azorean caravel and finally arrived in Lisbon on 29 August 1499 (according to Barros), or early September (8th or 18th, according to other sources). Despite his melancholic mood, da Gama was given a hero's welcome and showered with honors, including a triumphal procession and public festivities. King Manuel wrote two letters in which he described da Gama's first voyage, in July and August 1499, soon after
1300-658: A long history in Tanzania starting with the arrival of Gujarati traders in the 19th century. There are currently over 50,000 people of Indian origin in Tanzania. Many of them are traders and they control a sizeable portion of the Tanzanian economy. They came to gradually control the trade in Zanzibar . Many of the buildings constructed then still remain in Stone Town , the focal trading point on
1430-639: A long tradition of seafaring and a history of overseas migration to foreign lands, to Yemen Oman Bahrain , Kuwait, Zanzibar and other countries in the Persian Gulf since a mercantile culture resulted naturally from the state's proximity to the Arabian Sea. The countries with the largest Gujarati populations are Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and many countries in Southern and East Africa. Globally, Gujaratis are estimated to constitute around 33% of
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#17328453138641560-645: A lot of enthusiasm even from the generations brought up in UK. Gujarati Hindus also maintain their caste affiliation to some extent with most major castes having their own community association in each population center with significant Gujarati population such as Leicester and London suburbs. Patidars form the largest community in the diaspora including Kutch Leva Patels, followed closely by Lohanas of Saurashtra origin. Gujarati Rajputs from various regional backgrounds are affiliated with several independent British organizations dependent on caste such as Shree Maher Samaj UK, and
1690-574: A migrant past. Early European travelers like Ludovico di Varthema (15th century) traveled to Gujarat and wrote on the people of Gujarat. He noted that Jainism had a strong presence in Gujarat and opined that Gujaratis were deprived of their kingdom by Mughals because of their kind heartedness. His description of Gujaratis was: ...a certain race which eats nothing that has blood, never kills any living things... and these people are neither moors nor heathens... if they were baptized, they would all be saved by
1820-528: A new order in Portuguese India, replacing all the old officials with his own appointments. But da Gama contracted malaria not long after arriving and died in the city of Cochin on Christmas Eve in 1524, three months after his arrival. As per royal instructions, da Gama was succeeded as governor of India by one of the captains who had come with him, Henrique de Menezes (no relation to Duarte). Da Gama's sons Estêvão and Paulo immediately lost their posts and joined
1950-666: A part of Pakistan's small Hindu community . A number of them belong to the dalit community. There is relatively a large number of Gujarati Muslims settled in Sri Lanka. They mainly represent the Dawoodi Bhora and the Memon community , and there is also a minority of Sindhi people in Sri Lanka. These communities are mainly into trading businesses and lately, they have diversified into different trades and sectors. Gujarati Muslims started their trading route between India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in
2080-710: A pivotal role in establishing Islam in the region. Miller (2010) presented a theory that the indigenous scripts of Sumatra ( Indonesia ), Sulawesi (Indonesia) and the Philippines are descended from an early form of the Gujarati script . Tomé Pires reported a presence of a thousand Gujaratis in Malacca ( Malaysia ) prior to 1512. The Gujarati language continues to be spoken in Singapore and Malaysia. The Gujarati community in Hong Kong
2210-500: A policy of Africanization. The 1968 Committee on "Africanisation in Commerce and Industry" in Uganda made far-reaching Indophobic proposals. A system of work permits and trade licenses was introduced in 1969 to restrict the role of Indians in economic and professional activities. Indians were segregated and discriminated against in all walks of life. During the middle of the 1960s many Asians saw
2340-495: A quiet life, unwelcome in the royal court and sidelined from Indian affairs. His attempts to return to the favor of Manuel I, including switching over to the Order of Christ in 1507, yielded little. Almeida, the larger-than-life Afonso de Albuquerque and, later on, Albergaria and Sequeira , were the king's preferred point men for India. After Ferdinand Magellan defected to the Crown of Castile in 1518, Vasco da Gama threatened to do
2470-546: A reputation as merchants, industrialists and business entrepreneurs and have therefore been at forefront of migrations all over the world, particularly to regions that were part of the British Empire such as Fiji , Hong Kong , Malaya , Singapore , East Africa , and South Africa . Diasporas and transnational networks in many of these countries date back to more than a century. In recent decades, larger numbers of Gujaratis have migrated to English-speaking countries such as
2600-508: A small squadron of caravels under the command of his uncle, Vicente Sodré, to patrol the Indian coast, to continue harassing Kozhikode shipping, and to protect the Portuguese factories at Cochin and Cannanore from the Zamorin's inevitable reprisals. Vasco da Gama arrived back in Portugal in September 1503, effectively having failed in his mission to bring the Zamorin to submission. This failure, and
2730-968: A spiritual mystic who was honored with the title, ' Koh-i-Noor of Kathiawar ' made literary contributions to Jain philosophy and promoted Ratnatraya . Gujarati theatre owes a lot to bhavai. Bhavai is a musical performance of stage plays. Ketan Mehta and Sanjay Leela Bhansali explored artistic use of bhavai in films such as Bhavni Bhavai , Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam . Dayro (gathering) involves singing and conversation reflecting on human nature. Indo-Aryan peoples Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Indo-Aryan peoples are
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#17328453138642860-410: A standstill. The Zamorin ventured to dispatch a fleet of strong warships to challenge da Gama's armada, but which Gama managed to defeat in a naval battle before Kozhikode harbor. Da Gama loaded up with spices at Cochin and Cannanore , small nearby kingdoms at war with the Zamorin, whose alliances had been secured by prior Portuguese fleets. The 4th armada left India in early 1503. Da Gama left behind
2990-523: A strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf , has been the primary focus of trade and commerce for medieval Gujarati merchants for much of its history and Gujaratis, along with various other ethnic groups, founded and settled its capital port city, Muscat . Some of the earliest Indian immigrants to settle in Oman were the Bhatias of Kutch , who have had a powerful presence in Oman dating back to
3120-655: A study, 80% of Malayali parents felt that "children would be better off with English", compared to 36% of Kannada parents and only 19% of Gujarati parents. Significant Gujarati communities existed here before 1947 Partition of India. Many of them migrated after the Partition of India and subsequent creation of Pakistan in 1947. These Pakistani Gujaratis belong mainly to the Ismāʿīlī , Khoja , Dawoodi Bohra , Chundrigar , Charotar Sunni Vohra , khatri Muslims Kutchi Memons and Khatiawari Memons ; however, many Gujaratis are also
3250-500: A substantial hereditary royal pension of 300,000 reis . He was awarded the noble title of Dom (lord) in perpetuity for himself, his siblings and their descendants. On 30 January 1502, da Gama was awarded the title of Almirante dos mares de Arabia, Persia, India e de todo o Oriente ("Admiral of the Seas of Arabia, Persia, India and all the Orient") – an overwrought title reminiscent of
3380-520: A task that da Gama rapidly and effectively performed. From the earlier part of the 15th century, Portuguese expeditions organized by Prince Henry the Navigator had been reaching down the African coastline, principally in search of West African riches (notably, gold and slaves). They had greatly extended Portuguese maritime knowledge but had little profit to show for the effort. After Henry's death in 1460,
3510-607: A terrible state – approximately half of the crew had died during the crossing, and many of the rest were afflicted with scurvy. Not having enough crewmen left standing to manage three ships, da Gama ordered the São Rafael scuttled off the East African coast, and the crew re-distributed to the remaining two ships, the São Gabriel and the Berrio . While there he was also granted permission by
3640-512: A well-connected family of English descent. Her father and her brothers, Vicente Sodré and Brás Sodré, had links to the household of Infante Diogo, Duke of Viseu , and were prominent figures in the military Order of Christ . Vasco da Gama was the third of five sons of Estêvão da Gama and Isabel Sodré – in (probable) order of age: Paulo da Gama , João Sodré, Vasco da Gama, Pedro da Gama and Aires da Gama. Vasco also had one known sister, Teresa da Gama, who married Lopo Mendes de Vasconcelos. Little
3770-401: Is also a small, but vibrant Gujarati-speaking Parsi community of Zoroastrians present in the country, dating back to the bygone era of Dadabhai Navroji , Shapurji Saklatvala and Pherozeshah Mehta . Both Hindus and Muslims have established caste or community associations, temples, and mosques to cater for the needs of their respective communities. A well known temple popular with Gujaratis is
3900-687: Is home to a large Gujarati community. As per the 2021 Canadian census , Gujarati Canadians number approximately 210,000 and account for roughly 0.6% of Canada's population. The majority of them live in Toronto and its suburbs - home to the second largest Gujarati community in North America, after the New York Metropolitan Area . Gujarati Hindus are the second largest linguistic/religious group in Canada's Indian community after Punjabi Sikhs , and Toronto
4030-593: Is home to the largest Navratri raas garba festival in North America. The Muslim Ismaili Khoja form a significant part of the Canadian diaspora estimated to be about 80,000 in numbers overall. Most of them arrived in Canada in the 1970s as either refugees or immigrants from Uganda and other countries of East Africa . Religious breakdown of Gujarati Canadians (2021) Former British colonies in East Africa had many residents of South Asian descent. The primary immigration
Gujarati people - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-435: Is known of da Gama's early life. Teixeira de Aragão suggests that he studied at the inland town of Évora , which is where he may have learned mathematics and navigation. Da Gama's near-contemporary Gaspar Correia and others have claimed that he studied under Abraham Zacuto , an astrologer and astronomer, but da Gama's biographer Sanjay Subrahmanyam thinks this dubious. Around 1480, da Gama followed his father (rather than
4290-408: Is not known for certain how many people were in each ship's crew but approximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost. Two of the vessels were carracks , newly built for the voyage; the others were a caravel and a supply boat. The four ships were: The expedition set sail from Lisbon on 8 July 1497. It followed the route pioneered by earlier explorers along the coast of Africa via Tenerife and
4420-637: Is tiny but nevertheless contributed to progress and growth of Hong Kong over the years. The Hong Kong University: In 1911 a Gujarati Parsi businessman in Hong Kong, Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody donated HK$ 150,000 towards the construction and HK$ 30,000 towards other costs to build the Hong Kong University . Star Ferry: Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala founded of the Kowloon Ferry Company in 1888 for transporting passengers and cargo (especially bread) between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The company
4550-877: The BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London. A popular mosque that caters for the Gujarati Muslim community in Leicester is the Masjid Umar . Leicester has a Jain Temple that is also the headquarters of Jain Samaj Europe. Gujarati Hindus in the UK have maintained many traditions from their homeland. The community remains religious with more than 100 temples catering for their religious needs. All major Hindu festivals such as Navratri , Dassara, and Diwali are celebrated with
4680-572: The Cape Verde Islands. After reaching the coast of present-day Sierra Leone , da Gama took a course south into the open ocean, crossing the equator and seeking the South Atlantic westerlies that Bartolomeu Dias had discovered in 1487. This course proved successful and on 4 November 1497, the expedition made landfall on the African coast. For over three months the ships had sailed more than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 mi) of open ocean, by far
4810-661: The East Africa coast in towns such as Kilwa , Bagamoyo , Mombasa and Malindi . International trade by Gujarati merchants increased with the advent of the Gujarat Sultanate at the beginning of the 1400s. The trade involved gold, ivory and slaves from Africa in exchange for cotton and glass beads from India. The important Gujarati traders active in the Indian Ocean trade at different periods of history included Jains; Hindu Bhatias and Lohanas; Muslim Khojas, Memons, and Bohras; and
4940-824: The Gujarati language and follow Shia Islam and the Memon people speak the Memon language and they follow the Sunni Hanafi Islam . The United States has the second-largest Gujarati diaspora after Pakistan. The highest concentration of the population of over 200,000 is in the New York City Metropolitan Area , notably in the growing Gujarati diasporic center of India Square in Jersey City , New Jersey , and Edison in Middlesex County in Central New Jersey . Significant immigration from India to
5070-559: The Orthodox Jewish community which previously dominated this industry in Belgium. The 1961 takeover of Portuguese Goa by India made life difficult for the Indian population in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The independence of Mozambique like in other African countries led to many Gujaratis to move to Portugal. Many Hindu Gujaratis have moved from Portugal to Great Britain since the 1990s. Canada, just like its southern neighbour,
5200-598: The Rivonia Trial , and many became martyred fighting to end racial discrimination. In the second half of the 1800s, many Gujarati Hindus belonging to the Vaniya community migrated to the South of Mozambique , in particular to the provinces of Inhambane and Lourenço Marques to run businesses. This was followed by migration of Hindus of various artisan castes from Diu to the region. Later in 1800s, immigration restrictions imposed by
5330-515: The São Gabriel over to his clerk, João de Sá , to take home. The São Gabriel under Sá arrived in Lisbon sometime in late July or early August. Da Gama and his sickly brother eventually hitched a ride with a Guinea caravel returning to Portugal, but Paulo da Gama died en route. Da Gama disembarked at the Azores to bury his brother at the monastery of São Francisco in Angra do Heroismo , and lingered there for
Gujarati people - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-685: The Uganda Railway that started in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and ended in Kisumu on Kenyan side of Lake Victoria . Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 individuals decided to remain in the African Great Lakes after the line's completion. Many Asians, particularly the Gujaratis, in these regions were in the trading businesses. They included Gujaratis of all religions as well many of
5590-639: The United Kingdom , Australia , New Zealand , Canada and the United States . In anthropological surveys conducted in India about 60% of the people claim that their community is a migrant to their state or region. In Gujarat that number is around 70%. In the state, 124 Hindu communities out of 186 claim a migrant past. For example, the Audichya Brahmins claim migration from present day Uttar Pradesh. With Muslims in Gujarat, 67 out of 86 communities claim
5720-448: The 1460s as a knight of the household of Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu . He rose in the ranks of the military Order of Santiago . Estêvão da Gama was appointed alcaide-mór (civil governor) of Sines in the 1460s, a post he held until 1478; after that he continued as a receiver of taxes and holder of the Order's commendas in the region. Estêvão da Gama married Isabel Sodré, a daughter of João Sodré (also known as João de Resende), scion of
5850-540: The 16th century. At the turn of the 19th century, Gujaratis wielded enough clout that Faisal bin Turki , the great-grandfather of the current ruler, spoke Gujarati and Swahili along with his native Arabic and Oman's sultan Syed Said (1791-1856) was persuaded to shift his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar , more than two thousand miles from the Arabian mainland, on the recommendation of Shivji Topan and Bhimji families who lent money to
5980-510: The African charter to him. Upon becoming king in 1481, John II of Portugal set out on many long reforms. To break the monarch's dependence on the feudal nobility, John II needed to build up the royal treasury; he considered royal commerce to be the key to achieving that. Under John II's watch, the gold and slave trade in West Africa was greatly expanded. He was eager to break into the highly profitable spice trade between Europe and Asia, which
6110-777: The BMAC, and then migrated further south into the Levant and north-western India. The migration of the Indo-Aryans was part of the larger diffusion of Indo-European languages from the Proto-Indo-European homeland at the Pontic–Caspian steppe which started in the 4th millennium BCE. The GGC , Cemetery H , Copper Hoard , OCP , and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryans. The Indo-Aryans were united by shared cultural norms and language, referred to as aryā 'noble'. Over the last four millennia,
6240-454: The Gujarati Arya Kshatriya Mahasabha-UK. Endogamy remains important to Gujaratis in UK with the existence of matrimonial services specifically dedicated to their community. The Gujarati Muslim society in the UK have kept the custom of Jamat Bandi, literally meaning communal solidarity. This system is the traditional expression of communal solidarity. It is designed to regulate the affairs of the community and apply sanctions against infractions of
6370-426: The Gujarati immigrant generation have also made high levels of advancement into professional fields, including as physicians , engineers and politicians. The third largest overseas diaspora of Gujaratis, after Pakistan and United States, is in the United Kingdom. At a population of around 600,000 Gujaratis form almost more than half of the Indian community who live in the UK (1.2 million). Gujaratis first went to
6500-498: The Gujarati propensity for business enterprise, a number of them opened shops and motels. While they may make up only around 0.1% of the population in the United States, Gujarati Americans control over 40% of the hospitality market in the country, for a combined net worth of over US$ 40 billion and employing over one million employees. Gujaratis, especially the Patidar samaj, also dominate as franchisees of fast food restaurant chains such as Subway and Dunkin' Donuts . The descendants of
6630-537: The Gujarati traders were Muslims but there were Hindu and Jains too despite religious prohibitions. Gujarati merchants operating in Southeast Asia were primarily involved exporting India cotton to Southeast Asia in exchange for spices from the islands which were then exported to Persia. Surat was the principal port for this trade. Gujaratis played a big part in the Indian ocean trade. The Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama noted presence of Muslim and Hindu navigators and merchants from Gujarat in Zanzibar and Pemba and along
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#17328453138646760-481: The Indian coast, and then anchored in at Anjediva island for a spell. They finally struck out for their Indian Ocean crossing on 3 October 1498. But with the winter monsoon yet to set in, it was a harrowing journey. On the outgoing journey, sailing with the summer monsoon wind, da Gama's fleet crossed the Indian Ocean in only 23 days; now, on the return trip, sailing against the wind, it took more than 90 days. Da Gama saw land again only on 2 January 1499, passing before
6890-444: The Indian diaspora worldwide and can be found in 129 of 190 countries listed as sovereign nations by the United Nations . Non Resident Gujaratis (NRGs) maintain active links with the homeland in the form of business, remittance , philanthropy , and through their political contribution to state governed domestic affairs. Gujarati parents in the diaspora are not comfortable with the possibility of their language not surviving them. In
7020-412: The Indo-Aryan culture has evolved particularly inside India itself, but its origins are in the conflation of values and heritage of the Indo-Aryan and indigenous people groups of India. Diffusion of this culture and language took place by patron-client systems, which allowed for the absorption and acculturation of other groups into this culture, and explains
7150-475: The Indo-Aryans developed, are identified with the Sintashta culture (2100–1800 BCE), and the Andronovo culture , which flourished ca. 1800–1400 BCE in the steppes around the Aral Sea , present-day Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Proto-Indo-Aryan split off around 1800–1600 BCE from the Iranians, moved south through the Bactria-Margiana Culture , south of the Andronovo culture, borrowing some of their distinctive religious beliefs and practices from
7280-475: The Indo-European languages spread from there to central Asia and Europe. Contemporary support for this idea is ideologically driven, and has no basis in objective data and mainstream scholarship. Vasco de Gama D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira ( / ˌ v æ s k u d ə ˈ ɡ ɑː m ə , - ˈ ɡ æ m ə / VAS -koo də GA(H)M -ə ; European Portuguese: [ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ] ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524),
7410-460: The Indus, across the modern-day regions of Bangladesh , Nepal , eastern- Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Maldives and northern- India . The introduction of the Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent was the result of a migration of Indo-Aryan people from Central Asia into the northern Indian subcontinent (modern-day Bangladesh , Bhutan , India , Nepal , Pakistan , and Sri Lanka ). These migrations started approximately 1,800 BCE, after
7540-430: The Kenyan coast for hundreds of years prior to that. The immigrants who arrived with the British were the first ones to open up businesses in rural Kenya a century ago. These dukanwalas or shopkeepers were mainly Gujarati (Mostly Jains and Hindus and a minority of Muslims). Over the following decades the population, mainly Gujarati but also a sizable number of Punjabi, increased in size. The population started declining after
7670-462: The King, who insisted that da Gama pay customs duty – preferably in gold – like any other trader, which strained the relation between the two. Annoyed by this, da Gama carried a few Nairs and sixteen fishermen ( mukkuva ) off with him by force. Vasco da Gama left Kozhikode on 29 August 1498. Eager to set sail for home, he ignored the local knowledge of monsoon wind patterns that were still blowing onshore. The fleet initially inched north along
7800-420: The Parsee communities. The Jains were active during the Solannki period trading with Arabian and Red sea ports. The Portuguese also preferred Jains to the Arab traders. Orthodox Gujarati society, which was mercantile by nature, was historically organized along ethno-religious lines and shaped into existence on the strength of its Mahajan (" guild assemblies"), and for its institution of Nagarsheth ("head of
7930-495: The Portuguese Crown showed little interest in continuing this effort and, in 1469, licensed the neglected African enterprise to a private Lisbon merchant consortium led by Fernão Gomes . Within a few years, Gomes' captains expanded Portuguese knowledge across the Gulf of Guinea , doing business in gold dust, melegueta pepper , ivory and sub-Saharan slaves . When Gomes' charter came up for renewal in 1474, Prince John (the future John II), asked his father Afonso V of Portugal to pass
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#17328453138648060-419: The Sodrés) and joined the Order of Santiago. The master of Santiago was Prince John, who ascended to the throne in 1481 as King John II of Portugal . John II doted on the Order, and the da Gamas' prospects rose accordingly. In 1492, John II dispatched da Gama on a mission to the port of Setúbal and to the Algarve to seize French ships in retaliation for peacetime depredations against Portuguese shipping –
8190-435: The South African Gujarati diaspora include high amounts of Southern Gujaratis and a disproportionately high amount of Surti Sunni Vohra and Khatiawari Memons . Post apartheid, a sizeable number of new immigrants have settled in various parts of South Africa, including many Gujarati. Indians have played an important role in the anti-apartheid movement of South Africa. Many were incarcerated alongside Nelson Mandela following
8320-461: The Sultan to set up a padrão (a stone pillar). The Vasco da Gama Pillar , as it is still known locally, seems to be the only one of the many padrões set up by da Gama to survive to the present day. After leaving Malindi, the sailing was smoother. By early March, the fleet had arrived in Mossel Bay, and crossed the Cape of Good Hope in the opposite direction on 20 March, reaching the western coast of Africa by 25 April. The diary record of
8450-413: The Sultan. In modern times, business tycoon Kanaksi Khimji, from the famous Khimji family of Gujarat was conferred title of Sheikh by the Sultan, the first ever use of the title for a member of the Hindu community. The Muscati Mahajan is one of the oldest merchants associations founded more than a century ago. Gujaratis had a flourishing trade with Southeast Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries, and played
8580-429: The UK in the 19th century with the establishment of the British Raj in India. Prominent members of this community such as Shyamji Krishna Varma played a vital role in exerting political pressure upon colonial powers during the Indian independence movement . Gujaratis in Britain are regarded as affluent middle-class peoples who have assimilated into the milieu of British society. They are celebrated for revolutionizing
8710-496: The United States started after the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 . Early immigrants after 1965 were highly educated professionals. Since US immigration laws allow sponsoring immigration of parents, children and particularly siblings on the basis of family reunion, the numbers rapidly swelled. A number of Gujarati are twice or thrice-migrant because they came directly from the former British colonies of East Africa or from East Africa via Great Britain respectively. Given
8840-435: The Zamorin failed to produce any concrete results. When local authorities asked da Gama's fleet, "What brought you hither?", they replied that they had come "in search of Christians and spices." The presents that da Gama sent to the Zamorin as gifts from Dom Manuel – four cloaks of scarlet cloth, six hats, four branches of corals, twelve almasares , a box with seven brass vessels, a chest of sugar, two barrels of oil and
8970-401: The Zamorin's chamber during his much celebrated first visit to Kozhikodein May 1498) for talks. Da Gama called him a spy, ordered the priest's lips and ears to be cut off and after sewing a pair of dog's ears to his head, sent him away. The Portuguese fleet then bombarded the unfortified city for nearly two days from the sea, severely damaging it. He also captured several rice vessels and cut off
9100-407: The castes and Quoms. Since the representation of Indians in these occupations was high, stereotyping of Indians in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika as shopkeepers was common. A number of people worked for the British run banks. They also worked in skilled labor occupations, as managers, teachers and administrators. Gujarati and other South Asians had significant influence on the economy, constituting 1% of
9230-488: The city. As of 2012 350 diamond firms in Hong Kong were owned by Gujaratis. There estimated around 31,500 Gujarati in Malaysia. Most of this community work as traders and settled in the urban parts of Malaysia like Melaka, George Town, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. Gujaratis in Fiji represent an important trading community within the large Indian population. Kavi Kant , Kalapi and Abbas Abdulali Vasi are Gujarati language poets. Ardeshar Khabardar , Gujarati-speaking Parsi who
9360-580: The coastal Somali city of Mogadishu , then under the influence of the Ajuran Empire in the Horn of Africa . The fleet did not make a stop, but passing before Mogadishu, the anonymous diarist of the expedition noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its center and many mosques with cylindrical minarets. Da Gama's fleet finally arrived in Malindi on 7 January 1499, in
9490-575: The colonial authorities in neighboring South Africa and the Boer republic made Mozambique the preferred destination for many Gujarati Hindus from the Saurashtra (namely, Rajkot and Porbandar) and Surat regions. The 1961 takeover of Portuguese Goa by India made life difficult for the Indian population in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The independence of Mozambique like in other African countries led to many Gujaratis to move to Portugal. Oman , holding
9620-498: The commitment to appoint all his sons successively as Portuguese captains of Malacca . Setting out in April 1524, with a fleet of fourteen ships, Vasco da Gama took as his flagship the famous large carrack Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai on her last journey to India, along with two of his sons, Estêvão and Paulo. After a troubled journey in which four or five of the ships were lost en route, he arrived in India in September. Early on
9750-535: The communal code. Gujarati Muslim communities, such as the Ismāʿīlī , Khoja, Dawoodi Bohra , Sunni Bohra , and Memon have caste associations, known as jamats that run mosques and community centers for their respective communities. Two Gujarati business communities, the Palanpuri Jains and the Kathiawadi Patels from Surat, have come to dominate the diamond industry of Belgium . They have largely displaced
9880-402: The community is far smaller than before 1972 when Ugandan ruler Idi Amin expelled most Asians, including Gujaratis. In the late 19th century, mostly Sikhs , were brought on three-year contracts, with the aid of Imperial British contractor Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee to build the Uganda Railway from Mombasa to Kisumu by 1901, and to Kampala by 1931. Some died, while others returned to India after
10010-515: The corner shop, and energising the British economy which changed Britain's antiquated retail laws forever. Demographically, Hindus form a majority along with a significant number of Jains and Muslims, and smaller numbers of Gujarati Christians . They are predominantly settled in metropolitan areas like Greater London , East Midlands , West Midlands , Lancashire and Yorkshire . Cities with significant Gujarati populations include Leicester and London boroughs of Harrow , Barnet and Brent . There
10140-458: The crew's hands, ears and noses, dispatching them with a note to the Zamorin, in which Gama declared that he would be open to friendly relations once the Zamorin had paid for the items plundered from the feitoria as well as the gunpowder and cannonballs. The violent treatment meted out by da Gama quickly brought trade along the Malabar Coast of India, upon which Calicut (Kozhikode) depended, to
10270-563: The details of the spice markets and trade routes. The breakthrough came soon after, when John II's captain Bartolomeu Dias returned from rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, having explored as far as the Fish River ( Rio do Infante ) in modern-day South Africa and having verified that the unknown coast stretched away to the northeast. An explorer was needed who could prove the link between
10400-509: The dominant concern of Duarte de Menezes , then- governor of Portuguese India . Menezes also turned out to be incompetent and corrupt, subject to numerous complaints. As a result, John III decided to appoint Vasco da Gama himself to replace Menezes, confident that the magic of his name and memory of his deeds might better impress his authority on Portuguese India, and manage the transition to a new government and new strategy. By his appointment letter of February 1524, John III granted Vasco da Gama
10530-525: The east coast of Africa, the Contra Costa , was essential to Portuguese interests; its ports provided fresh water, provisions, timber, and harbors for repairs, and served as a refuge where ships could wait out unfavorable weather. One significant result was the colonization of Mozambique by the Portuguese Crown. In December 1499, King Manuel I of Portugal rewarded Vasco da Gama with the town of Sines as
10660-591: The end of their contracts, but few chose to stay. They were joined by Gujarati traders called "passenger Indians", both Hindu and Muslim free migrants who came to serve the economic needs of the indentured labourers, and to capitalise on the economic opportunities. After the 1972 expulsion, most Indians and Gujaratis migrated to the United Kingdom. Due to the efforts of the Aga Khan , many Khoja Nizari Ismaili refugees from Uganda were offered asylum in Canada. Indians have
10790-640: 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. The Berrio arrived in Lisbon on 10 July 1499 and Nicolau Coelho personally delivered the news to King Manuel I and the royal court, then assembled in Sintra . In the meantime, back in Cape Verde, da Gama's brother, Paulo da Gama, had fallen grievously ill. Da Gama elected to stay by his side on Santiago island and handed
10920-651: The fate of a class of Indian indentured labourers who were transported to work on the sugarcane plantations of Natal Colony in dire conditions. Passenger Indians, who initially operated in Durban, expanded inland, to the South African Republic ( Transvaal ), establishing communities in settlements on the main road between Johannesburg and Durban. After wealthy Gujarati Muslim merchants began experiencing discrimination from repressive colonial legislation in Natal , they sought
11050-530: The few seaports on the Alentejo coast in southwest Portugal. According to the Portuguese historian Teixeira de Aragão , he was born in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas. Some authors write that he was born in or around 1460, while others give 1469 as the year of his birth. Vasco da Gama's paternal grandfather and namesake was born in Olivença . Vasco's father was Estêvão da Gama , who had served in
11180-525: The findings of Dias and those of da Covilhã and de Paiva and connect these separate segments into a potentially lucrative trade route across the Indian Ocean. On 8 July 1497 Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from Lisbon. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than the length of the equator. The navigators included Portugal's most experienced, Pero de Alenquer , Pedro Escobar , João de Coimbra [ pt ] , and Afonso Gonçalves. It
11310-730: The guild assembly"); a 16th-century Mughal system akin to medieval European guilds which self-regulated the mercantile affairs of multi-ethnic, multi-religious communities in the Gujarati bourgeoisie long before municipal state politics was introduced. Historically, Gujaratis belonging to numerous faiths and castes , thrived in an inclusive climate surcharged by a degree of cultural syncretism , in which Hindus and Jains dominated occupations such as shroffs and brokers whereas, Muslims , Hindus and Parsis largely dominated sea shipping trade. This led to religious interdependence , tolerance, assimilation and community cohesion ultimately becoming
11440-1157: The hallmark of modern-day Gujarati society. The Gujarati people are predominantly Hindu . There are also minority of Muslims , Jains , Christians , Sikhs , Buddhists , Parsis , Jews , and followers of the Baháʼí Faith . The major communities in Gujarat are farmers and livestock herders (such as oad Patidar , Koli , Rabari , Bharvad , Ahir ), traders (such as Bania , Bhatia , Soni ), sailor and seafood exporters (such as Kharwa ), artisan and business communities (such as Prajapati , Varaiya , Mochi ), Brahmin communities (such as Joshi , Anavil , Nagar , Modh , Shrimali ), genealogists (such as Barot ), Kshatriya communities (such as Koli Thakor , Bhanushali , Karadia , Nadoda , Jadeja , Dabhi , Chudasama , Maher , Lohana ), Tribal communities (such as Bhils , Meghwal , Gamit , Konkani , varli ) and Devipujak (such as Dataniya, Dantani, Chunara , Patni ). The majority of Gujarati Muslims are Sunni Muslim . Minority communities include Twelver , Nizari Ismailis, Daudi Bohra , Khoja , Pathans, Shaikhs, Maliks. Gujaratis have
11570-548: The help of one young lawyer, Mahatma Gandhi to represent the case of a Memon businessman. Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri was consequently elected the first president of the South African Indian Congress . Indians in South Africa could traditionally be bifurcated as either indentured labourers (largely from Tamil Nadu, with smaller amounts from UP and Bihar) and merchants (exclusively from Gujarat). Peculiarities of
11700-409: The independence of Kenya in the 1960s. At that time the majority of Gujaratis opted for British citizenship and eventually moved there, especially to cities like Leicester or London suburbs. Famous Kenyans of Gujarati heritage who contributed greatly to the development of East Africa include Thakkar Bapa , Manu Chandaria , There is a small community of people of Indian origin living in Uganda, but
11830-623: The invention of the war chariot, and also brought Indo-Aryan languages into the Levant and possibly Inner Asia . Another group of Indo-Aryans migrated further westward and founded the Mitanni kingdom in northern Syria (c. 1500–1300 BC); the other group was the Vedic people. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Wusun , an Indo-European Caucasoid people of Inner Asia in antiquity , were also of Indo-Aryan origin. The Proto-Indo-Iranians , from which
11960-456: The island. The Indian community in South Africa is more than a 150 years old and is concentrated in and around the city of Durban . The vast majority of immigrant pioneer Gujaratis who came in the latter half of the 19th century were passenger Indians who paid for their own travel fare and means of transport to arrive and settle South Africa, in pursuit of fresh trade and career opportunities and as such were treated as British subjects , unlike
12090-423: The king provoked Lencastre to refuse out of principle, lest it encourage the king to make other donations of the Order's properties. Da Gama would spend the next few years attempting to take hold of Sines, an effort that would estrange him from Lencastre and eventually prompt da Gama to abandon his beloved Order of Santiago, switching over to the rival Order of Christ in 1507. In the meantime, da Gama made do with
12220-464: The late 1880s. Great number of Gujarati Muslims migrated after the Partition of India in 1947 . These communities are well known for their social welfare activities in Sri Lanka. In addition, Gujarati Muslims have shown their excellence in business and various trades by developing large enterprises in Sri Lanka. Few of them are: Expolanka and Brandix . Members of these community maintain their Indian Gujarati culture in their everyday life. Bhoras speak
12350-407: The local populace became suspicious of da Gama and his men. Forced by a hostile crowd to flee Mozambique, da Gama departed the harbor, firing his cannons into the city in retaliation. In the vicinity of modern Kenya, the expedition resorted to piracy, looting Arab merchant ships that were generally unarmed trading vessels without heavy cannons. The Portuguese became the first known Europeans to visit
12480-498: The longest journey without landfall made by that time. By 16 December, the fleet had passed the Great Fish River ( Eastern Cape , South Africa) – where Dias had anchored – and sailed into waters previously unknown to Europeans. With Christmas pending, da Gama and his crew gave the coast they were passing the name Natal , which carried the connotation of "birth of Christ" in Portuguese. Vasco da Gama spent 2 to 29 March 1498 in
12610-649: The longest ocean voyage ever made until then. After decades of sailors trying to reach the Indies, with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks, da Gama landed at Kozhikode on 20 May 1498. Unopposed access to the Indian spice routes boosted the economy of the Portuguese Empire , which was previously based along North and coastal West Africa . The main spices at first obtained from Southeast Asia were pepper and cinnamon, but soon included other products, all new to Europe. Portugal maintained
12740-504: The main fleet. On the outgoing voyage, da Gama's fleet opened contact with the East African gold trading port of Sofala and reduced the sultanate of Kilwa to tribute, extracting a substantial sum of gold. On reaching India in October 1502, da Gama's fleet intercepted Mirim , a ship of Muslim pilgrims at Madayi travelling from Kozhikode to Mecca. Described in detail by eyewitness Thomé Lopes and chronicler Gaspar Correia, da Gama looted
12870-589: The medieval and early modern period, ports in Gujarat such as Diu , Surat , Mandavi , Cambay , and Porbandar became important. Gujarati merchants operating from these ports operated not only in India Ocean but also in Southeast Asia. It is estimated that there were 1000 Gujarati merchants resident in Malacca in fifteenth century with a thousand others operating in the Bay of Bengal and Indonesian archipelago . Most of
13000-520: The morning of September 8, as the ships laid becalmed near Dabul the sea began to boil and the vessels pitched and rocked violently for about an hour as the result of a submarine earthquake . The Portuguese crews were frightened, and one death occurred as a sailor jumped overboard in panic and drowned. Gama capitalized on the situation and so as to reassure his men cried out: Friends, rejoice and be happy, for even sea trembles before us! Vasco da Gama immediately invoked his high viceregal powers to impose
13130-536: The old Albuquerque clique (now represented by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira ), John III looked for a fresh start. Vasco da Gama re-emerged from his political wilderness as an important adviser to the new king's appointments and strategy. Seeing the new Spanish threat to the Maluku Islands as the priority, Vasco da Gama advised against the obsession with Arabia that had pervaded much of the Manueline period, and continued to be
13260-399: The ornate Castilian title borne by Christopher Columbus . Another royal letter, dated October 1501, gave da Gama the personal right to intervene and exercise a determining role on any future India-bound fleet. Around 1501, Vasco da Gama married Catarina de Ataíde, daughter of Álvaro de Ataíde, the alcaide-mór of Alvor ( Algarve ), and a prominent nobleman connected by kinship with
13390-465: The population while receiving a fifth of the national income. For example, in Uganda, the Mehta and Madhvani families controlled the bulk of the manufacturing businesses. Gated ethnic communities served elite healthcare and schooling services. Additionally, the tariff system in Uganda had historically been oriented toward the economic interests of South Asian traders. One of the oldest Jain overseas diaspora
13520-424: The port of Mombasa from 7 to 13 April 1498, but were met with hostility and soon departed. Vasco da Gama continued north, arriving on 14 April 1498 at the friendlier port of Malindi , whose leaders were in conflict with those of Mombasa. There, da Gama and his crew contracted the services of a pilot who used his knowledge of the monsoon winds to guide the expedition the rest of the way to Kozhikode , located on
13650-472: The powerful Almeida family (Catarina was a first cousin of Dom Francisco de Almeida ). The follow-up expedition, the Second India Armada , launched in 1500 under the command of Pedro Álvares Cabral with the mission of making a treaty with the Zamorin of Kozhikodeand setting up a Portuguese factory in the city. However, Pedro Cabral entered into a conflict with the local Arab merchant guilds, with
13780-491: The privileged title of " Viceroy ", being only the second Portuguese governor to enjoy that title (the first was Francisco de Almeida in 1505). His second son, Estêvão da Gama was simultaneously appointed Capitão-mor do Mar da Índia ('Captain-major of the Indian Sea', commander of the Indian Ocean naval patrol fleet), to replace Duarte's brother, Luís de Menezes. As a final condition, Gama secured from John III of Portugal
13910-415: The remaining two ships demonstrated the potential of great profit for future trade. Vasco da Gama was justly celebrated for opening a direct sea route to Asia. His path would be followed up thereafter by yearly Portuguese India Armadas . The spice trade would prove to be a major asset to the Portuguese royal treasury, and other consequences soon followed. For example, da Gama's voyage had made it clear that
14040-594: The result that the Portuguese factory was overrun in a riot and up to 70 Portuguese were killed. Cabral blamed the Zamorin for the incident and bombarded the city. Thus war broke out between Portugal and Kozhikode. Vasco da Gama invoked his royal letter to take command of the Fourth India Armada , scheduled to set out in 1502, with the explicit aim of taking revenge upon the Zamorin and force him to submit to Portuguese terms. The heavily armed fleet of fifteen ships and eight hundred men left Lisbon on 12 February 1502. It
14170-408: The return of the ships. Girolamo Sernigi also wrote three letters describing da Gama's first voyage soon after the return of the expedition. The expedition had exacted a large cost – two ships and over half the men had been lost. It had also failed in its principal mission of securing a commercial treaty with Kozhikode. Nonetheless, the small quantities of spices and other trade goods brought back on
14300-475: The same, prompting the king to undertake steps to retain him in Portugal and avoid the embarrassment of losing his own "Admiral of the Indies" to Spain. In 1519, after years of ignoring his petitions, King Manuel I finally hurried to give Vasco da Gama a feudal title, appointing him the first Count of Vidigueira , a title created by a royal decree issued in Évora on 29 December, after a complicated agreement with Dom Jaime, Duke of Braganza , who ceded him on payment
14430-432: The sea route to India opened the way for an age of global imperialism and enabled the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire along the way from Africa to Asia. Traveling the ocean route allowed the Portuguese to avoid sailing across the highly disputed Mediterranean Sea and traversing the dangerous Arabian Peninsula . The sum of the distances covered in the outward and return voyages made this expedition
14560-571: The ship with over 400 pilgrims on board including 50 women, locked in the passengers, the owner and an ambassador from Egypt and burned them to death. They offered their wealth, which "could ransom all the Christian slaves in the Kingdom of Fez and much more" but were not spared. Da Gama looked on through the porthole and saw the women bringing up their gold and jewels and holding up their babies to beg for mercy. The lives of twenty children were spared against
14690-589: The southwest coast of India. Sources differ over the identity of the pilot, calling him variously a Christian, a Muslim, or a Gujarati Hindu. One traditional story describes the pilot as the famous Arab navigator Ibn Majid , but other contemporaneous accounts place Majid elsewhere, and he could not have been near the vicinity at the time. None of the Portuguese historians of the time mentions Ibn Majid. Vasco da Gama left Malindi for India on 24 April 1498. The fleet arrived in Kappadu near Kozhikode (known as Kozhikode at
14820-594: The state of Gujarat in Western India. Gujaratis also form a significant part of the populations in the neighboring metropolis of Mumbai and union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu , formerly colonial possessions of Portugal . There are very large Gujarati immigrant communities in other parts of India, most notably in Mumbai , Pune , Delhi , Kolkata , Chennai , Bangalore and other cities like Kochi . All throughout history. Gujaratis have earned
14950-422: The strong influence on other cultures with which it interacted. Genetically, most Indo-Aryan-speaking populations are descendants of a mix of Central Asian steppe pastoralists, Iranian hunter-gatherers, and, to a lesser extent, South Asian hunter-gatherers—commonly known as Ancient Ancestral South Indians (AASI). Dravidians are descendants of a mix of South Asian hunter-gatherers and Iranian hunter-gatherers, and to
15080-451: The subsequent more galling failure of his uncle Vicente Sodré to protect the Portuguese factory in Cochin, probably counted against any further rewards. When the Portuguese king Manuel I decided to appoint the first governor and viceroy of Portuguese India in 1505, da Gama was conspicuously overlooked, and the post given to Francisco de Almeida. For the next two decades, Vasco da Gama lived out
15210-503: The time, subsequently known as Calicut and now renamed Kozhikode) on the Malabar Coast (present-day Kerala state of India) on 20 May 1498. The Zamorin of Kozhikode, who was at that time staying in his second capital at Ponnani , returned to the city on hearing the news of the foreign fleet's arrival. The navigator was received with traditional hospitality, including a grand procession of at least 3,000 armed Nairs , but an interview with
15340-408: The towns of Vidigueira and Vila dos Frades. The decree granted Vasco da Gama and his heirs all the revenues and privileges related, thus promoting da Gama from a petty noble to one of the relatively few titled nobles in Portugal. After the death of King Manuel I in late 1521, his son and successor, King John III of Portugal set about reviewing the Portuguese government overseas. Turning away from
15470-460: The vicinity of Mozambique Island . Arab-controlled territory on the East African coast was an integral part of the network of trade in the Indian Ocean. Fearing the local population would be hostile to Christians, da Gama impersonated a Muslim and gained audience with the Sultan of Mozambique. With the paltry trade goods he had to offer, the explorer was unable to provide a suitable gift to the ruler. Soon
15600-461: The virtue of their works, for they never do to others what they would not do unto them. In 1790 and 1791, an epidemic devastated numerous parts of Gujarat during which 100,000 Gujaratis were killed in Surat alone. An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1812 has been claimed to have killed about half the Gujarati population. Ports on the western coast of India have been engaged in trade for millennia. During
15730-716: The writing on the wall and started moving either to UK or India. However, restrictive British immigration policies stopped a mass exodus of East African Asians until Idi Amin came to power in 1971. He exploited pre-existing Indophobia and spread propaganda against Indians involving stereotyping and scapegoating the Indian minority. Indians were stereotyped as "only traders" and "inbred" to their profession. Indians were labelled as "dukawallas" (an occupational term that degenerated into an anti-Indian slur during Amin's time), and stereotyped as "greedy, conniving", without any racial identity or loyalty but "always cheating, conspiring and plotting" to subvert Uganda. Amin used this propaganda to justify
15860-523: Was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. This was a milestone in Portuguese maritime exploration as and marked the beginning of a sea-based phase of globalization . Da Gama's discovery of
15990-404: Was appointed Governor of India , with the title of Viceroy , and was ennobled as Count of Vidigueira in 1519. He remains a leading figure in the history of exploration, and homages worldwide have celebrated his explorations and accomplishments. The Portuguese national epic poem, Os Lusíadas , was written in his honour by Luís de Camões . Vasco da Gama was born in the town of Sines , one of
16120-667: Was conducted chiefly by land. At the time, this was virtually monopolized by the Republic of Venice , which operated overland routes via Levantine and Egyptian ports, through the Red Sea across to the spice markets of India. John II set a new objective for his captains: to find a sea route to Asia by sailing around the African continent. By the time Vasco da Gama was in his 20s, the king's plans were coming to fruition. In 1487, John II dispatched two spies, Pero da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva , overland via Egypt to East Africa and India, to scout
16250-511: Was followed in April by another squadron of five ships led by his cousin, Estêvão da Gama (the son of Aires da Gama), which caught up to them in the Indian Ocean. The Fourth Armada was a veritable da Gama family affair. Two of his maternal uncles, Vicente Sodré and Brás Sodré, were pre-designated to command an Indian Ocean naval patrol, while brothers-in-law Álvaro de Ataíde (brother of Vasco's wife Catarina) and Lopo Mendes de Vasconcelos (betrothed to Teresa da Gama, Vasco's sister) captained ships in
16380-463: Was mainly from Gujarat and to a lesser extent from Punjab. They were brought there by the British Empire from India to do clerical work in Imperial service, or unskilled and semi-skilled manual labour such as construction or farm work. In the 1890s, 32,000 labourers from British India were brought to the then British East African colonies under indentured labour contracts to work on the construction of
16510-577: Was of Gujarat. Their number was estimated at 45,000 at the independence of the East African countries in the early 1960s. Most members of this community belonged to Gujarati speaking Halari Visa Oshwal Jain community originally from the Jamnagar area of Saurashtra . The countries of East Africa gained independence from Britain in the early 1960s. At that time most Gujarati and other Asians opted to remain as British Subjects. The African politicians at that time accused Asians of economic exploitation and introduced
16640-431: Was president of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad was a nationalist poet. His poem, Jya Jya Vase Ek Gujarati, Tya Tya Sadakal Gujarat (Wherever a Gujarati resides, there forever is Gujarat) depicts Gujarati ethnic pride and is widely popular in Gujarat. Swaminarayan paramhanso, like Bramhanand, Premanand, contributed to Gujarati language literature with prose like Vachanamrut and poetry in the form of bhajans . Kanji Swami
16770-459: Was renamed in 1898 to Star Ferry , which today transports passengers throughout Hong Kong. Ruttonjee Hospital: Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee born in a Gujarati Parsi family in Mumbai moved to Hong Kong in 1892 to join his father. Ruttonjee donated a great deal of money to build Ruttonjee Sanatorium, now Ruttonjee Hospital , to fight against tuberculosis. Gujaratis also dominate the diamond trade in
16900-565: Was turned down. At the same time however, the Zamorin sent a message to his rebellious vassal, the Raja of Cochin, urging cooperation and obedience to counter the Portuguese threat; the ruler of Cochin forwarded this message to Gama, which reinforced his opinion of the Indians as duplicitous. After da Gama's demand for the expulsion of Muslims from Kozhikode, the Zamorin sent the high priest Talappana Namboothiri (the very same person who conducted da Gama to
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