Where and when? Doubts remain.
At the tail end of the 15th century, an event occurred which opened the Indian subcontinent to the West, and ushered a plethora of changes. Internationalism, wars, expanded trade, profiting, rivalry, monopolism, greed, subjugation, and finally, colonialism arrived. Even though there were many visitors from the west coming and going, and of course drifting towards the parts of the south in search of spices and Christians, it was the arrival of Portugal’s Vasco Da Gama in 1498 which brought about these huge changes and ended free trade. This article will dwell on just the arrival of the first fleet from Lisbon and its Admiral Vasco Da Gama at Calicut. Most people are content to record that he arrived at Calicut in 1498. Do we need to correct history books on the when and where after over 520 years? Perhaps! As they say, the devil is in the details.