Portuguese Exploration
Global Trade Routes
Innovations in Maritime Technology
African Exploration
Age of Exploration
100

This Portuguese prince, known as "The Navigator," established a school for sailors and began Portuguese exploration along the African coast in the 15th century.

Who is Prince Henry the Navigator?

100

This sea route was established by the Portuguese and connected Europe to Asia by sailing around Africa’s southern tip.

What is the Route to India via the Cape of Good Hope?

100

This device, used by sailors during the Age of Exploration, helped determine latitude by measuring the angle of the sun or stars above the horizon.

What is the astrolabe?


100

African sailors from this coast were expert navigators and played a key role in trade across the Indian Ocean, reaching India, Arabia, and China well before Columbus’s voyages.

What is the Swahili Coast?

100

This term refers to the period in the 15th and 16th centuries when European nations sought new trade routes and territories, leading to the exploration of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

What is the Age of Exploration? 

200

This Portuguese explorer became the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa, reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

Who is Bartolomeu Dias?


200

This region, known for its vast gold and salt reserves, played a crucial role in the trade networks of both West and North Africa.

What is the Sahara?

200

This Portuguese shipbuilding innovation allowed sailors to make longer voyages, particularly along the West African coast and into the Indian Ocean.

What is the caravel?

200

This West African empire, at its peak, controlled a vast territory and derived its wealth from trade in gold, salt, and ivory.

What is the Mali Empire?

200

This explorer, known for his expeditions to the New World, was the first European to sail to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola.

Who is Christopher Columbus? 

300

In 1498, this Portuguese explorer reached India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, opening a sea route to Asia.

Who is Vasco da Gama?


300

The Portuguese established a major trading post in this Indian city, marking the beginning of their colonial influence in Asia.

What is Calicut?

300

This navigational tool, developed by the Portuguese, allowed sailors to measure their latitude based on the stars, greatly improving navigation.

What is the quadrant?

300

his famous ruler of the Mali Empire made a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, spreading his wealth and influencing the economies of the regions he passed through.

Who is Mansa Musa?

300

This Portuguese explorer was the first European to reach the eastern coast of Brazil in 1500, accidentally landing there while en route to India.

Who is Pedro Álvares Cabral?

400

These Portuguese sailors were the first to establish direct sea routes to India, bypassing overland trade routes controlled by Arab and Ottoman merchants.

Who are Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias?

400

This spice, highly sought after during the Age of Exploration, was central to European trade in the 15th and 16th centuries, leading to Portuguese and Dutch voyages to Southeast Asia.

What is pepper?

400

This map, a key tool for Portuguese explorers, helped them chart the coast of Africa, eventually leading them to India and beyond

What is a portolan chart?

400

African sailors used this technique, based on the stars, to navigate across vast distances in the Indian Ocean, establishing trade routes with India and beyond.

What is star navigation?

400

This treaty, signed in 1494, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?

500

The Portuguese trade routes across this ocean were crucial for the spread of goods like spices, silk, and precious metals, making it a hub of cultural exchange.

What is the Indian Ocean?

500

This Portuguese innovation allowed sailors to make longer voyages, particularly along the West African coast and into the Indian Ocean.

What is the caravel?