Pedro Álvares Cabral was chosen by the Portuguese crown
to lead a major expedition to India in 1500. A fleet of 13 ships and an
estimated 1500 men left Portugal to follow in the footsteps of Vasco da
Gama’s earlier expedition in search of new trade routes.
It is still unclear today whether Cabral's journey into the west Atlantic was
deliberate or not but on the 22nd April 1500 land was spotted at what
Cabral christened Monte Pascoal in what is now modern Brazil. The
expedition went on to spend about 10 days exploring the coast and interacting
with indigenous peoples. Cabral claimed the lands for the Portuguese crown
under the conditions of the Treaty of Tordesillas, agreed with Spain which
granted Portugal sway over undiscovered lands along the meridian of 370
leagues.
The rest of the expedition was equally momentous. Cabral lost six of his ships
in a storm off Mozambique before reaching India, where he battled with locals
and competing Arab merchants before loading up with spices and returning home
in July 1501.
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