Western History 104: In what way did European Exploration turn eastward?

European exploration and colonization of Asia predates Marco Polo’s travels to China in the 13^th century and has a history that goes back to the time of Alexander the Great. The Silk Road traditionally offered a pathway to the East but it wasn’t really until 1497, when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached India that the missions to Asia by European travelers increased substantially.

Da Gama himself made a second voyage to India with other explorers – Alfonso de Abuquerque, Francisco de Almeida (and later his son Lorenco) followed suit. It was Abuquerque who conquered Goa and eventually established bases in the East Indies. Fernando Magellan reached Asia in 1520 and he was followed in 1549 by Saint Francis Xavier (who reached Japan) and Gaspar de Cruz who was the first missionary in China.

The Italian Jesuit priest, Matteo Ricci, reached the Portuguese settlement of Macau and became the first European to enter the Ming Dynasty’s Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Dutch, English and French would challenge the early Portuguese European domination in the latter part of the 16^th century and for much of the 17^th century. Thomas Stephens, John Mildenhall and Robert Coverte explored India with Antonio de Andrade and Bento de Gois travelling to Tibet and China respectively.

English and Dutch Exploration ventures were driven by their respective East India Companies that acted as early agents of Empire through the promotion of settlement and trade initiatives.

In Japan the Tokugawa Shogunate limited trade with foreign players by adopting an isolationist policy, known as Sakoku (from 1633 onward). This greatly restricted trade until the opening up of ports to American shipping following the Black Ships voyage commanded by the American Matthew Perry in 1853.