WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Spices were highly valued because, as well as being used in cooking, many had ritual, religious or medical uses. They were of high value because of their relative geographical scarcity. Spices could only be grown in the tropical East, in the South of China, Indonesia as well as in Southern India and Sri Lanka.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Portuguese believed they could find Asia by sailing around the African continent. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias sailed down the coast of West Africa and made the first voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of the African continent (now South Africa).

Detailed explanation-3: -European explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, and Bartholomeu Dias began their long sea voyages to discover a sea route to the sources of spices. Christopher Columbus went westwards from Europe in 1492 to find a sea route to the lands of spices but found the Americas.

Detailed explanation-4: -Europeans wanted the power and resulting wealth that would come from controlling trade. Finding all-water routes to Asia and its riches would allow European merchants to cut out Middle Eastern middlemen and reap all the profits of eastern trade. Some Europeans were also eager to spread Christianity to nonbelievers.