Researchers have uncovered 122 Malayalam words linked to the historic voyage of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who arrived in Calicut (now Kozhikode) in 1498. The words are reportedly preserved in notes recorded by da Gama and members of his crew during their journey.
The discovery offers a glimpse into the early interactions between European explorers and the people of the Malabar region. The recorded Malayalam terms cover areas such as navigation, local plants, food and everyday life, reflecting the experiences of the Portuguese during their stay in the region.
The words provide evidence of how communication played an important role during early contact between Europeans and South Asians. Malayalam served as an important means of understanding the local environment, people and customs.
The records also offer researchers an opportunity to study how words moved between languages during a period of growing contact between Europe and India. Some of the terms are said to have contributed to the exchange of vocabulary between European and Indian languages.
Today, these historical records are preserved in archives and provide researchers with insights into the linguistic and cultural exchanges that followed the Portuguese arrival on India’s western coast.