<P> The Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418 , under the sponsorship of Prince Henry . Under Henry 's direction , a new and much lighter ship was developed , the caravel , which could sail further and faster , and , above all , was highly manoeuvrable and could sail much nearer the wind , or into the wind . In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Indian Ocean by this route . In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon funded Christopher Columbus 's plan to sail west to reach the Indies by crossing the Atlantic . He landed on a continent uncharted by Europeans and seen as a new world , the Americas . To prevent conflict between Portugal and Castile ( the crown under which Columbus made the voyage ) , the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed dividing the world into two regions of exploration , where each had exclusive rights to claim newly discovered lands . </P>
who began the age of exploration in portugal
Prince Henry