The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Vasco da Gama established direct trade with India while bypassing the Italian and Muslim merchants that controlled the overland trade routes.
The route pioneered by explorer Vasco da Gama was intended for Portugal to bypass the Venetian trading monopoly to India. Vasco de Gama (1460-1524) was a Portuguese explorer that discover a direct route to India. He reached India by sailing around Africa. He reached India on May 20, 1498, and studied the behavior of the Indian people to learn how to better trade with them. Due to this route discovery, Portugal led for a while the age of exploration in Europe.