The first European country to reach India was Portugal.
On May 20th 1498, Vasco da Gama the Portuguese explorer landed in India, in a region now called Kozhikode. He was the first European to reach India by sea.
This journey to India was made successful by an Indian navigator he hired in what is now the port of Malindi, Kenya, where Vasco da Gama met and talked with Indian sailors and merchants. They brought to his knowledge the favorable monsoon winds of the western part of the Indian Ocean.
He hired the experienced Indian navigator who directed the journey to India and thus he successfully landed in India.
