The mid-15th and 17th centuries are known as the Age of Exploration. European countries like England, Portugal and Spain showed a huge desire for exploration and trade. During this time, spices were in high demand, especially spices originating from India and Asia. Such demands fueled the need to establish a foothold in the spice markets of the Indian subcontinent. Spice markets in the 15th century were controlled by the Muslim rulers of Egypt located on the Red Sea. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn 1502, the King of Portugal, Dom Manuel I, re-elected Vasco Da Gama as captain-major of Portugal's fourth voyage to India. Dom Manuel I gave Vasco Da Gama a fleet of 20 heavily armed ships. As this is Gama's second trip to India, he is familiar with the hostility of Muslim merchants. Currently, this journey constitutes the longest sea route in the world. Gama's maternal uncle, Vincente Sodré, also accompanied him. Soldré was the commander of the Esmeralda in Gama's fleet, and later led a squadron of five ships to protect Portuguese factories along the southwest coast of India. In 1503, Vasco Da Gama returned from India with spices and other treasures to Portugal as planned. . But on the other hand, Gama's uncle had other intentions. Sodré, his brother Brås and the rest of the squadron left the southwest coast of India and sailed towards the Gulf of Aden, located between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. There the brothers captured and plundered Arab ships. Later that year, Sodré and his crew took off for Al Hallaniyah, now in southern Oman, where he ignored locals' warnings of an approaching storm. Sodré and his crew of the Esmeralda were taken to deeper waters offshore and disappeared. Recently, a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Oman and is believed to be the oldest shipwreck from the golden age of European exploration to have been discovered and excavated. In fact, the wreck is believed to be that of Vasco Da Gama's uncle's ship, the Esmeralda. The wreck was first discovered in 1998, but excavations did not begin until 2013. Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture and shipwreck salvage company Bluewater Recoveries Ltd., led by David Mearns, are responsible for these remarkable excavations. The two teams snorkeled around the discovery and soon realized that the sea there was subject to high-energy waves, earning the location its nickname "the washing machine." . Due to the high-energy waves, most of the artifacts were buried deep in the sand. In total, archaeologists were able to save and restore 2,800 artifacts. An artifact that revealed this discovery to be part of Gama's fleet was 12 Portuguese cruzado gold coins from the reign of Joao II and Dom Manuel I. A silver coin called ìndio was discovered. This silver coin is particularly special because Dom Manuel I produced 1499 of it specifically for trade in India, and only one other than this has ever been found in excavations before. Stone cannonballs with the letters "VS" engraved on them, assumed to represent Vincente Sodré, were found in the Esmeralda, along with hundreds of lead balls that correspond to the mines of Portugal, the Spain and England. A copper alloy ship's bell was discovered under a huge rock at the excavation site. This remarkable discovery is?