Gaspar da Gama, also known as Gaspar da India and Gaspar de Almeida (), was an

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

( in old Portuguese) and guide to several Portuguese exploratory fleets. He was of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origin and was probably born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1498 he was taken captive aboard Vasco da Gama's fleet on its return voyage to Portugal from India. He was known to speak multiple languages including Hebrew and Chaldean, as well as a mixture of Italian and Spanish.

Biography

Before meeting the Portuguese

He appears with the name "Gaspar da Gama" or "Gaspar of the Indies" in the chronicles and reports of discovery written by

Gaspar Correia Gaspar Correia (1492 – c. 1563 in Goa) was a Portuguese historian who wrote ''Lendas da Índia'' (Legends of India), one of the earliest and most important works about Portuguese rule in Asia.

Fernão Lopes de Castanheda Fernão Lopes de Castanheda (Santarém, c. 1500 – 1559 in Coimbra) was a Portuguese historian in the early Renaissance. His "History of the discovery and conquest of India", full of geographic and ethnographic objective information, was wi ...

Jerónimo Osório D. Jerónimo Osório da Fonseca (1506 – 20 August 1580) was a Portuguese Roman Catholic humanist bishop, historian and polemicist. An extensive notice of his life and thought (''Vita'') was written by his nephew, a canon of Évora also n ...

Damião de Góis Damião de Góis (; February 2, 1502January 30, 1574), born in Alenquer, Portugal, was an important Portuguese humanist philosopher. He was a friend and student of Erasmus. He was appointed secretary to the Portuguese factory in Antwerp in 152 ...

and

Álvaro Velho Álvaro Velho (15th-16th century, born in Barreiro, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Por ...

but was known to Indians as ''Mahmet''. Correia states that he was a Castillan named Alonso Perez. Some sources confuse him with

Gaspar de Lemos Gaspar de Lemos (15th century) was a Portuguese explorer and captain of the supply ship of Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet that arrived to Brazil. Gaspar de Lemos was sent back to Portugal with news of their discovery and was credited by the Viscou ...

, a Portuguese sailor who commanded a ship in the fleet that discovered Brazil. Other sources also call him "Gaspar de Almeida" given his friendship with

Francisco de Almeida '' Dom'' Francisco de Almeida (; c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Gran ...

, 1st

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

.Jewish Library. Gaspar da Gama
(accessed 3 December 2008). There are several versions of his life before meeting

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

in India.LIPINER, Elias. Gaspar da Gama: Um Converso na Frota de Cabral. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Nova Fronteira ''apud'
CORDEIRO, Hélio Daniel. Gaspar da Gama: um judeu no Descobrimento do Brasil. Revista Judaica, n. 63, abril/2003
(accessed 3 December 2008). Some of these were sourced at Gaspar da Gama himself, but he probably tried to hide some "inconvenient" facts about his own past. According to Gaspar's own account, he became a Jewish traveller, making his way to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and then

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, where he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave in India, in India he secured his freedom in the service of the ruler of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. The

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

Gaspar Correia states that, when found by the Portuguese, Gaspar da Gama was Captain of the fleet of

Yusuf Adil Shah Yusuf Adil Shah (1450 – 5 December 1510), referred as Yusuf Adil Khan or Hidalcão by the Portuguese, was the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur for nearly two centuries. As the founder of the Adil Shahi dyna ...

, the Sultan of Bijapur, Arab governor of Goa in India. Damião de Góis says Gaspar da Gama was a Jew born in the city of

in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

and that at that time he did not speak Spanish, but the

Venetian language Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is som ...

, the very language used in European-based commercial centers in the East.

Controversy

The historian

João de Barros João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. Early y ...

, reports that Gaspar da Gama informed him that his parents were from Bosna (or Posner, i.e., Poznań) in Poland. His parents migrated to Jerusalem and then to Alexandria, where Gaspar da Gama was born. The Israeli journalist Elias Lipiner studied the documentation of the Portuguese chroniclers of the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

and considered João de Barros version to be the most faithful to facts, suggesting that Gaspar da Gama must have been born in Alexandria around 1458. Following Jewish Radhanite trade routes at the time, he went at a very young age to India where he established himself as a merchant. Other historians, such as the scholar of Brazilian Jewish history Arnold Wiznitzer, think he was born in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

or circa 1440 in Bosnia (perhaps confusion with the name of Poznań).

Meeting the Portuguese

In 1498, when the returning Vasco da Gama fleet landed on the island of Angediva, about 20 miles off the coast of Goa, Gaspar da Gama, uninvited, went on the ship of Vasco da Gama and asked happily to go aboard, to visit his native Spain.MAGNO, Ana Beatriz. Torre de Babel. CorreioWeb - 500 Anos de Brasil. O vigésimo nono dia da viagem
(accessed 4 December 2008).Vasco Da Gama, Ernest George Ravenstein
"A journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499"
Asian Educational Services, 1995, He was then more than 50 years age, with a white beard and louder and clear manners than that of the Indians of region. As reported by Álvaro Velho, clerk of the Portuguese fleet, Gaspar da Gama said that he was "working for a powerful lord who owns an army of more than 40 thousand horsemen, and that upon hearing of their arrival he had asked to see them. If not he would have died of sadness." Vasco da Gama pretended to believe, and discreetly sent men to Anjadip Island to get information about the visitor. Some reliable merchants told that he was a spy, preparing a surprise attack. Upon this, Vasco da Gama had the visitor whipped and interrogated under torture. After having hot oil dropped on his skin, Gaspar da Gama told he was a Jew from Granada who had converted to Christianity and after traveling to Turkey and Mecca went to the Indies, and that there was no plan to attack the Portuguese. After 12 days of interrogation, Vasco da Gama came to rely more on the prisoner. He gave him a cheese and two soft breads and Gaspar da Gama told him that, after all, he was very happy to find these "Franks". Vasco da Gama kept Gaspar as a prisoner and took him on the eventful trip back to Portugal, perhaps considering that his knowledge of the East would be useful. During the long return, Gaspar da Gama befriended the Portuguese, and especially Vasco da Gama. He was baptized the following year, Vasco da Gama being his godfather and giving him his own surname. The first name—Gaspar—had been chosen as a reference to its origins, being the name of one of

three Magi In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...

from the East who visited Jesus.CORDEIRO, Hélio Daniel. Gaspar da Gama: um judeu no Descobrimento do Brasil. Revista Judaica, n. 63, abril/2003
(accessed 3 December 2008).

In Portugal and back to India

King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...

enjoyed Gaspar da Gama and called him frequently to the court to hear his stories about the lands and customs of the East. There was a suspicion that Gaspar da Gama was an Arab spy, but the Portuguese recognized his value, because beside having traded in some of their centers in India, he spoke

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Castilian, Portuguese and some languages of India. Because of this, King Manuel I appointed him counselor and interpreter of the second fleet sailing to the Indies, led by

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral (; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; ) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in history to ever be on four continents, ...

. Always with a cap on his head and dressed in white linen, Gaspar da Gama was one of the more exotic characters in the fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral. Although not the only linguist at the expedition that discovered the Brazil, he was the main interpreter in the trade negotiations between the Portuguese and Brazilian Indians, along with Gonçalo Madeira. Once in India, Gaspar da Gama fulfilled his mission with his interpreter services and knowledge of geopolitics and customs of India important in business meetings of Portuguese and Indian rajas in

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

and

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

. He returned on his own will to Portugal with Pedro Álvares Cabral. In 1501, the fleet met the expedition of

appointed by the king of Portugal to explore the newly discovered lands of Brazil, near modern Dakar, Senegal. Talks between Gaspar da Gama and other members of the expedition with the Florentine

Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci ( , ; 9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence for whom "Naming of the Americas, America" is named. Vespucci participated in at least two voyages of the A ...

who accompanied Gaspar de Lemos certainly strengthened the idea that the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were not the Indies, but a new continent. In 1502 Gaspar da Gama participated in another travel to India commanded by Vasco da Gama, and again in 1505 with the recently appointed viceroy

. During these trips, he learned a few African languages. He participated in the Indian expeditions of the Portuguese who tried to conquer Hormuz in 1508 and

in 1510, when some assume that he died. Others believe that he returned to Portugal where he died. Some say that his death occurred between 1510 and 1515, or even by about 1520, with nearly eighty years. The change of Christian name "

Terra de Santa Cruz The name ''Brazil'' is a shortened form of ''Terra do Brasil'' ("Land of Brazil"), a reference to the brazilwood tree. The name was given in the early 16th century to the territories leased to the merchant consortium led by Fernão de Loronha, to ...

" to "Brazil" is attributed by some to Gaspar da Gama and Fernão de Noronha, both being Jewish. However, this does not have an historical basis, being due to the intense trade in

Brazilwood ''Paubrasilia echinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood (, ; Tupi: ) and is the na ...

References

External links

* Project Gutenberg eBook of
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
', translated by E. G. Ravenstein. Contains a contemporary account of Gaspar da Gama's capture. Appendix E

has several paragraphs devoted to Gaspar da Gama. *Internet Archive eBook of '' The three voyages of Vasco de Gama, and his viceroyalty : from the Lendas da India of Gaspar Corrêa,'' translated by Henry Stanley. Contains several references to Gaspar da Gama, sometimes using his various aliases. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspar Da Gama Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery Interpreters 1440s births 1510s deaths History of Kerala Maritime history of Portugal Medieval Polish Jews 15th-century Portuguese Jews 16th-century Polish Jews 16th-century Polish people Portuguese expatriates in Portuguese India Explorers of South Asia