ARRIVAL OF VASCO DA GAMA FLEET AT MALINDI

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aukepalmhof
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ARRIVAL OF VASCO DA GAMA FLEET AT MALINDI

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:12 pm

This four stamps depicting the arrival of Vasco da Gama fleet at Malindi on 15th April 1498, the four ships in the fleet were the SÄO GABRIEL, SÄO RAFAEL, BERRIO and an unnamed storage ship.
More is given on viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14875&p=18968&hilit=vasco+da+gama#p18968

After passing Cape of Good Hope he followed the coast and reached Mombasa , where they were not so welcomed and the expedition sailed north reached Malindi in Kenya where he arrived, the stamps gives 15 April other sources give 14 April. In Malindi the first evidence of trade with India was observed. Da Gama commissioned Ibn Majid a pilot with knowledge of the monsoon winds to guide the fleet of ships to Calicut, on the southwest coast of India. They departed for India on 24 April 1498.

The 42s stamp has a mistake, Vasco da Gama erected a padrao (pillar) near the palace of the Sheik’s not on his arrival but after his return from India. The padrao is visible on the right of the stamp.
On his return from India the following year – 1499 – da Gama built the pillar.
The pillar, known as Vasco da Gama’s Cross, or the Padrao, consists of a cross and the Portuguese coat of arms. It was first built next to the Malindi Sheikh’s Palace. However, Muslim residents felt that the cross on top of it represented Christian domination in a Muslim territory. They destroyed it.
But da Gama explained to the Sheikh that the pillar marked his successful discovery of the sea route to India. It also gives sailing directions – India is to the east, and Malindi to the west of the pillar. The Sheikh allowed da Gama to set up the pillar further away from his palace. Some years later, in 1512, it was rebuilt at the seafront. By this stage, the political realities had changed. The Portuguese had made Malindi their northern headquarters.
Today, the pillar is visible from far away in the high sea. It serves as a sailing control tower, even without any light on it. It is believed to be one of the oldest European monuments in Africa – older than the famous Portuguese monument Fort Jesus, built in Mombasa between 1593 and 1596 to protect the port from outside invaders.
“Gama’s pillar is one of the attractions of the global history in Kenya,” says tour guide Jacob Owino. “Local and foreign tourists, researchers, teachers and students from around the world, including Kenyans, visit the site every year.” Owino feels that the monument keeps Kenya on the world map as a tourist destination.
However, today the monument is facing threats from the rising sea level – a product of climate change. “The rock on which the pillar stands has huge cracks due to beating and erosion of the sea waves,” says Caesar Bita, the curator of the Malindi Museum. “The metal beams of the concrete basement have rusted and cracked too.” According to Bita, unless something is done, the pillar may soon collapse into the Indian Ocean.

https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/536 ... of-history
Kenya 1998 10s/42s sg 749/52, scott?
Attachments
1998 arrival Vasco da Gama at Malindi  (2).jpg
1998 Vasca da Gama fleet (2).jpg
1998 map (2).jpg
1998  bay at Malindi (2).jpg

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