Historica Wiki
Advertisement
Estevao da Gama

Estevao da Gama (1505-1576) was the Governor of Portuguese India from 1540 to 1542, succeeding Garcia de Noronha and preceding Martim Afonso de Sousa.

Biography[]

Estevao da Gama was born in Portugal in 1505, the son of Vasco da Gama and the brother of Cristovao da Gama. He was appointed Governor of the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1529 and then Governor of Portuguese India in 1540, and he sailed out of Goa on 31 December 1540 to attack the Ottoman fleet in its harbor at Suez. He reached Aden on 27 January 1541 and Massawa on 12 February 1541, but, as he continued north with a fraction of his ships, he discovered that the Ottomans had discovered his plans and aimed to burn his ships at Massawa. Da Gama foiled the Ottomans' plans and attacked the port of El-Tor on the Sinai Peninsula, and he then returned to Ethiopia to drop off 400 troops, 130 military slaves, and sufficient supplies to support the beleaguered Emperor of Ethiopia during the Ethiopian-Adal War. He died in 1576.

Advertisement