As the new land was within the Portuguese sphere according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Cabral claimed it for the Portuguese Crown. His fleet of 13 ships sailed far into the western Atlantic Ocean, perhaps intentionally, and made landfall (April 1500) on what he initially assumed to be a large island. Although the previous expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, on its sea route, had recorded signs of land west of the southern Atlantic Ocean (in 1497), Cabral led the first known expedition to have touched four continents: Europe, Africa, America, and Asia. The undertaking had the aim of returning with valuable spices and of establishing trade relations in India-bypassing the monopoly on the spice trade then in the hands of Arab, Turkish and Italian merchants. He was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly-opened route around Africa. While details of Cabral's early life remain unclear, it is known that he came from a minor noble family and received a good education. He was the first human in history to ever be on four continents, uniting all of them in his famous voyage of 1500, where he also conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. Pedro Álvares Cabral ( European Portuguese: born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia c.
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