<P> Vasco da Gama , 1st Count of Vidigueira ( Portuguese pronunciation : ( ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ ) ; c. 1460s -- 24 December 1524 ) , was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea . His initial voyage to India ( 1497 -- 1499 ) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route , connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and therefore , the West and the Orient . </P>
the first european to reach india by sea was
Vasco da Gama