Bartolomeu Dias and His Accomplishments When people think of maritime explorers, they usually think of Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Leif Eriksson. All of these are important historical figures in their own right, but one shouldn 't forget to include Bartolomeu Dias in the list. This comes from the fact that the Portuguese explorer had several impressive achievements that should not be ignored and that he had important contributions to the world of maritime exploration. Before we tackle his accomplishments, though, let 's take a closer look at who Bartolomeu Dias really was. Nothing is known much about his life before his voyage, except that he was a part of the court of Portuguese king João II and that he managed the royal warehouses. Historians think that Dias was in his thirties when he was assigned to the famous expedition, and they assume that he had prior experience with seafaring, although nothing is …show more content…
This is a big accomplishment, though, because doing this allowed the Portuguese to prove that there indeed was a faster and easier way to travel to India and obtain spices and other goods. Joao II dispatched Bartolomeu Dias with the goal of finding an ocean route to India and locating the Kingdom of Prester John. Dias was given three ships, namely the Sao Cristovao (which was commanded by Dias himself), the Sao Pantaleao (which was commanded by Joao Infante), and a support ship that was commanded by Dias 's brother Pero. Dias had brought along six African people who were previously brought to Portugal by other explorers, and he dropped them off one by one as they passed different ports along the African coastline. The Africans were each given gold and silver, which they were to give to the indigenous people to express the Portuguese 's