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An expedition was sent out in 1441 to "make peace" with the indigenous populations of North Africa. But rather than "make peace" with the Africans as Prince Henry had ordered, ten prisoners were taken. One of the prisoners happened to be the chief of the tribe by the name of Adahu. Fortunately for the Portuguese, Adahu spoke Arabic and could communicate with the Bedouin translator. The captain decided to bring back Adahu as a prize for Henry. Before returning to Portugal, the ship's captain sailed further down the coast until he encountered a headland of white cliffs, which he named Cabo Branco (Cape Blanco).
Upon returning to Sagres, Adahu described what he knew of Africa and the land-based trade routes. The questioning of Adahu was undoubtedly an exciting exercise for Prince Henry; for the first time since the capture of Ceuta, Prince Henry was able to verify the information gathered by explorers with Adahu's first-hand knowledge. The capture of Adahu also marked the beginning of the use of the indigenous population as interpreters for subsequent voyages.
An envoy was sent to the Pope to report the information gathered by Prince Henry and to request that the Portuguese Prince be granted spiritual jurisdiction over all the lands he "discovered" to the south. Prince Henry also wanted that those who lost their lives on these voyages be considered to have died while on a crusade. The Church agreed and these concessions were matched by the Portuguese monarch. Prince Pedro granted Prince Henry a charter that entitled Henry to one-fifth of the profits of the expedition, normally a prerogative reserved for the Crown. Prince Pedro also stipulated that all captains sailing down the African coast must first seek Prince Henry's permission.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Tordesilla, King João II died in 1495 from pneumonia. His cousin, King Manuel the Fortunate, assumed the throne and continued to support the search for a seaway to the Indies. He appointed Vasco da Gama as the leader of the expedition that would discover the route to the Indian Ocean that rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498. This new route marked the beginning of a new era of direct contact between Europe and Asia. During his reign King Manuel was the ruler of the greatest empire of his time and benefited from a growing African trade and the golden harvest of the Indies.
The Europeans were not the only group to pursue exploration. In 1405 the Chinese began a series of voyages into the Indian Ocean directed by Cheng Ho, a powerful court eunuch of the Ming Dynasty. The motives for exploration were surprisingly similar to the Europeans: a desire to recover trade (profit) in the form of tribute from kingdoms in Southeast Asia; the reinforcement of the claim to universal authority, and a thirst for knowledge. These expeditions involved tens of thousands of men and more than a hundred large junks (a style of ship) each. They visited the Maldive Islands, Calicut, Hormuz, and along the East African coast. They fought off pirate fleets near Sumatra, installed a new ruler in Calicut and defeated the king of Ceylon. They returned with many exotic items, including a giraffe from Africa that quickly became the emblem of the Ming Dynasty. The last expedition in 1431 sent the adventurer Hung Po with a party of Muslim merchants to Mecca who return with many more precious cargo for the Emperor.