Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India via the sea route. He found a new route to India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrived at Calicut on the Malabar Coast in 1498. He sailed from Lisbon, Portugal in July 1497,rounded the Cape of Good Hope,and anchored at Malindi on the east coast of Africa. With the aid of an Indian merchant whom he met there, he then set off across the Indian Ocean.