Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira

Count of Vidigueira

Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese count title of nobility awarded by King Manuel I of Portugal to Dom Vasco da Gama, who discovered the maritime route from Europe to India...

 (ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ) (c. 1460 or 1469 – 24 December 1524) was a Portuguese explorer

Portugal in the Age of Discovery

During the history of Portugal between 1415 and 1578, Portugal discovered an eastern route to India that rounded the Cape of Good Hope, discovered Brazil, established trading routes throughout most of southern Asia, colonized selected areas of Africa, and sent the first direct European maritime...

, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...

 and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. For a short time in 1524 he was the Governor of Portuguese India

Portuguese India

The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...

, under the title of Viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

.
Vasco da Gama was born in either 1460 or 1469 in Sines

Sines, Portugal

Sines is a coastal municipality in the district of Setúbal, in the Alentejo Litoral region of the Portuguese Alentejo. Its population in 2011 was over 14260 residents, with a total area of 203.3 km², concentrated on the municipal seat of Sines.-History:...

, on the southwest coast of Portugal, probably in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas.