Question 1

True or false: Vasco da Gama’s first voyage was funded entirely by the Catholic Church to spread Christianity.

Accepted Answer

False. King Manuel I of Portugal funded the expedition for trade and empire, not religious conversion alone.

Question 2

True or false: Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Accepted Answer

True. He led the first expedition to sail directly from Europe to India in 1498, opening the maritime spice route.

Question 3

True or false: Vasco da Gama discovered Brazil before Pedro Álvares Cabral.

Accepted Answer

False. Cabral reached Brazil in 1500, after da Gama’s India voyage. Da Gama never set foot in the Americas.

Question 4

True or false: Vasco da Gama served as the Portuguese viceroy in India and died there in office.

Accepted Answer

True. He returned to India as viceroy in 1524 but died shortly after in Cochin, now part of Kerala.

Question 5

True or false: Vasco da Gama was a close friend of Christopher Columbus and exchanged navigational charts with him.

Accepted Answer

False. They were contemporaries but rivals for Portugal and Spain; no evidence of friendship or chart exchange exists.

Question 6

True or false: Vasco da Gama was the first European to see the Southern Cross constellation.

Accepted Answer

False. Earlier Portuguese explorers and possibly others had already sighted it; da Gama’s voyage did not discover it.

Question 7

True or false: Vasco da Gama’s fleet included a ship commanded by his brother, Paulo da Gama.

Accepted Answer

True. Paulo captained the São Rafael on the first voyage; he died on the return journey and was buried at sea.

Question 8

True or false: Vasco da Gama kidnapped locals to use as interpreters on his first voyage to India.

Accepted Answer

True. He seized a navigator from East Africa and later a Gujarati pilot, who helped guide his ships across the Indian Ocean.

Vasco da Gama Trivia Questions