D. Estêvão da Gama ( 1505–1576) was the Portuguese governor of Portuguese Gold Coast (1529–1535) and

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

(1540–1542). Named after his paternal grandfather Estêvão da Gama, Estêvão was the second son of

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, and the brother of Cristóvão da Gama. He commanded the fleet that entered the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, with the intent of attacking the Ottoman fleet in its harbor at

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

, leaving

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

on 31 December 1540 and reaching

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

on 27 January 1541. The fleet reached

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

on 12 February, where Gama left a number of ships and continued north. Reaching Suez, he discovered that the Ottomans had long had intelligence of his raid, and foiled his attempt to burn their beached ships. Gama was forced to retrace his steps to Massawa, although pausing to attack the port of El-Tor on the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

. Once back at Massawa, Gama found the men he had left were restless and convinced by the self-described

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

João Bermudes that they should provide military assistance to the beleaguered

emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...

. Gama acquiesced to their demands, and landed 400 men, 130 military slaves, and sufficient supplies for them at Massawa and the nearby port of

Arqiqo Arkiko (, Afar language, Afar and Saho language, Saho: ''Hirg-Higo'', alternately Archigo, Arqiqo, Ercoco, Hirgigo, Hargigo or Harkiko) historically known as Dokono is a town in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea. Situa ...

under the charge of his brother Cristóvão, before departing for India on 9 July.

Cultural depiction

* Estêvão da Gama appears in the 2011 Indian film '' Urumi'', portrayed by the American actor

Alexx O'Nell Alexander Leonard O'Neill (born 26 July 1980) is an American actor and musician who works in Indian films. He is best known for his roles in the films '' L2: Empuraan'', '' Ae Watan Mere Watan'', '' Khufiya'', '' Golondaaj'', '' Roohi'', '' Aarya ...

External links

* Don Juan de Castr
''The Voyage of Don Stefano de Gama from Goa to Suez, in 1540, with the intention of Burning the Turkish Galleys at that port''
(Volume 6, Chapter 3, eText) 1500s births 1576 deaths Portuguese soldiers Viceroys of Portuguese India Year of birth uncertain 16th-century Portuguese people Captain-majors of Portuguese Gold Coast Estevao {{portugal-bio-stub