Geographical detection

Geographical Discoveries of world.

INTRODUCTION

The spirit of exploration had been aroused among Europeans even before the end of the middle Age. During the last part of the thirteenth century, a group of adventures discovered a land route to cathay, as China was called at that time. One of these travellers,  Marco Polo joined the service of Kublai khan, the emperor of China. He served the emperor for about twenty years and during that period, he explored not only China but various other parts of central and South-eastern Asia. On his return to Venice, Marco Polo wrote an account of his travels describing the riches and splendours of the far-off countries. The travel accounts of Marco Polo aroused the curiosity of many adventurers who wanted to see for themselves the wonderlands of the East.

Before the Renaissance, only about one-third of the land of the world was known to Europeans. In the middle Ages, men believed that the Earth was flat and circular, surrounded by oceans. Not many voyages were undertaken in those times due to the lack of instruments of navigation and study vessels that could withstand the ravages of weather and distance. During the Renaissance, Europe revived its contact with the ancient Greeks and Romans. with the ever expanding horizons of knowledge, certain truths hitherto unknown, were revealed. Now people began to think that the earth was round. Bigger and sturdier vessels were built especially because of the keen interest evinced by the merchant princes of Venice and Genoa. With the invention of the compass, the sextant and the chronometer, voyages became less hazardous and dangerous. Eager to discover new lands men undertook long voyages to unknown lands. Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, thus the trade routes to the East, through the Turkish empire could no longer be used by Europeans. The fall of Constantinople dealt a blow to European trade and commerce. It was primarily for the sake of trade that the Europeans began to discover sea routes to the East. Long voyages were very hazardous at that time, but those with a spirit of adventure set out towards the East to meet their requirements of silk, spices, precious stones etc.

The fascinating account of Marco Polo's voyages to Cathay and the East inspired many people to see for themselves the fabulous East. The crusades established  closer contact with the East. Besides, merchants were eager to tap the possibilities of an Eastern trade.

The Jesuit missionaries were trying to spread Christianity in the new lands. They worked with fanatic zeal to fulfil their mission at all costs. Alongwith the traders, who wanted to explore new centers of trade, they discovered many new sea routes. All these factors were responsible for the numerous explorations, that took place during the Renaissance period. Prince Henry of Portugal often called Henry the Navigator, because of his keen interest in navigation, financed and inspired many explorations, and engaged the best geographers and sailors. A fleet discovered Cape Verde Island in 1460 and during the region of Prince Henry about 2000 miles of the coast of west Africa had been explored.

During the reign of John II of Portugal, the exploratory activities were renewed with great enthusiasm and vigour. Bartholomew Diaz, a nobleman rounded the southern tip of Africa in 1468, though he could not reach India because of bad weather. He called the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco Da Gama, another Portuguese navigator went round the Cape of Good Hope and reached India in 1498. Vasco Da Gama carried rich and valuable goods back to Portugal. His discovery opened new fields for trade with India. The Portuguese were able to build a huge commercial empire in India, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java.

Christopher, Columbus, a sailor from Genoa was the first sailor to travel westwards. In 1492, Columbus sailed from the Spanish port Palos with 88 sailors in three ships named the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nian. On October 12, 1492, he reached the Bahama Islands. The great sailors returned home after exploring Cuba and Haiti and some other islands, now known as the West Indies. Columbus died ignorant of the fact that he had discovered a New World. He believed till the end that he had discovered a part of Asia and he called the native Indians. In 1500, a Venetian named Amerigo Vespucci made a voyage to the coast of South America and drew some maps of the continent lying between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia. Later, a German drew a map of the new continent and named it America after Amerigo.

In 1497, and English expedition with John and Sebastian Cabot sailed from Bristol. During this exploration, they discovered Cape Breton Islands, Nova scotia and new foundland.

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator employed by the king of Spain, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailed through the strait named Strait of Magellan after him and then entered the Pacific Ocean.

Cortez, a Spaniard, conquered the wealthy empire of Mexico in 1519 and in  1519 and in 1530 Pizarro overran Peru. With control over Mexico and Peru, there was a constant flow of the precious metals-gold and sliver to Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. In the years 1576,1577,1578 Martin Frobisher made three successive voyages in search of a northwest passage to the East. He made some discoveries in the Baffin Island, but did not find a way through to the Pacific. Between1585 and 1587, John Davies undertook three expeditions, discovered the Davis strait, and pushed further into the icy northern seas than had any previous explorer. Earlier in 1580, Drake had reached England after circumnavigating the world. He had completed his voyage by passing through the Strait of Magellan and instead of groping westwards turned north, he crossed the Pacific, the Moluccas, and traversed the Indian Ocean.

 Upshot of Geographical Discoveries

Geographical discoveries had a significant effect on European trade. Venice, once called the Queen of Adriatic, lost its grandeur and importance. Mediterranean countries no longer remained the chief trading centres, their place was taken first by Portugal and Spain and later by England and Holland. Instead of using the land routes, sea routes via the Cape of Good Hope were more frequently used.

The discovery of America of other unknown lands led to the establishment of colonies and to the development of their natural resources. Alongwith the beneficial effects of the geographical discoveries there were some unhappy cinsequences too.

A system of slave trade flourished in these countries Negroes were brought from Africa and sold in America and Europe to do manual work. It took endless, persistent efforts and struggle to abolish slavery from the world.

Though the sea routes were primarily explored for the purpose of establishing trade contact with far-off countries, soon this primary objective receded into the background, instead a stronghold was maintained over these colonies. The British began trade with India and succeeded in establishing a powerful empire there.

With the discovery of new lands and with the establishment of trade with the new colonies, European culture and civilization spread to distant parts of the world.