Episode 1 – Rivers of Gold

About this episode

This episode discusses the motivations behind the age of exploration, focusing on the search for the Rio de Oro and its significance in the context of the collapse of the Silk Road.

In this episode we talk a bit about the impetus for the birth of the age of exploration. The more famous impetus was the desire to open a direct sea route to India to compensate for the collapse of the Silk Road, but the earlier, and lesser-known impetus, was the desire to discover the fabled Rio de Oro, or River of Gold - the source of the fabled gold fields of Western Africa.

Topics covered

• age of exploration
• Rio de Oro
• gold fields
• Western Africa

Keywords

• exploration
• Silk Road
• India

Mentioned in this episode

Places: India, Rio de Oro, River of Gold, Western Africa

More episodes of From Settlement to Superpower

• Episode 7 – Conquest of Paradise · February 17, 2026
• Episode 6 – A New World · March 27, 2024
• Episode 5 – The Enterprise of the Indies · March 5, 2024
• Episode 4 – Iberian Union · February 25, 2024
• Episode 3 – Henry the Navigator · January 15, 2024
• Episode 2 – Isles of Fortune · December 25, 2023