The pilgrim ship incident

Manuel I sent the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral to Calicut with a fleet of 13 ships to capitalize on da Gama's accomplishment. Because of the success of this mission, Lisbon quickly equipped the third fleet. Da Gama, who was promoted to the rank of admiral in January 1502, was assigned command of this fleet. Ten ships under Da Gama's leadership were assisted by two flotillas of five ships each, each of which was led by a relative.

The Mirim, a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims from Calicut to Mecca, was stopped by da Gama's crew at Madayi when it arrived in India in October 1502. Da Gama stole the ship with more than 400 pilgrims aboard, including 50 women, trapped the passengers, the owner, and an Egyptian diplomat inside, and burned them to death, according to eyewitness Thomé Lopes and chronicler Gaspar Correia. In exchange for their money, which "could ransom all the Christian slaves in the Kingdom of Fez and much more," they offered to be spared, but they were not. Through the porthole, Da Gama observed the women bringing up their jewelry and gold, as well as holding up their infants as a sign of desperation. Twenty kids' lives were saved from being coerced into becoming Christians. As a result, Vasco da Gama has received a bad reputation and Portuguese commercial practices have been linked to terrorism.