<P> The Crown of Castile organized the expedition of Christopher Columbus to compete with Portugal for the spice trade with Asia, but instead, landed in a New World . The search for a route to Asia was resumed a few years later, after explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the New World, confirming that the Americas were separate continents . The Spanish crown then prepared a great westward voyage with Ferdinand Magellan, in order to reach Asia from Spain across the Atlantic, and then Pacific Oceans . On October 21, 1520, his expedition crossed the strait that bears his name in the southern tip of South America, opening the Pacific to European exploration . On March 16, 1521, the ships reached the Philippines and soon after the Spice Islands, ultimately resulting in the Manila Galleon trade, the first westward spice trade route to Asia . </P> <P> After Magellan's death in the Philippines, navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano took command of the expedition and drove it across the Indian Ocean and back to Spain, where they arrived in 1522 aboard the last remaining ship: the Victoria . These explorers became the first men to circumnavigate the globe . For the next two and half centuries, Spain controlled a vast trade network that linked three continents: Asia, the Americas and Europe . A global spice route had been created: from Manila in the Philippines (Asia) to Seville in Spain (Europe), via Acapulco in Mexico (North America). </P> <P> Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of Southeast Asia came to be associated with economic activity and commerce as patrons entrusted large funds which would later be used to benefit local economy by estate management, craftsmanship promotion of trading activities . Buddhism, in particular, traveled alongside the maritime trade, promoting coinage, art and literacy . Islam spread throughout the East, reaching Maritime Southeast Asia in the 10th century; Muslim merchants played a crucial part in the trade . Christian missionaries, such as Saint Francis Xavier, were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the East . Christianity competed with Islam to become the dominant religion of the Moluccas . However, the natives of the Spice Islands accommodated aspects of both religions easily . </P> <P> The Portuguese colonial settlements saw traders such as the Gujarati banias, South Indian Chettis, Syrian Christians, Chinese from Fujian province, and Arabs from Aden involved in the spice trade . Epics, languages, and cultural customs were borrowed by Southeast Asia from India, and later China . Knowledge of Portuguese language became essential for merchants involved in the trade . Colonial pepper trade drastically changed the experience of modernity in Europe and in Kerala and it brought, along with colonialism, early capitalism to India's Malabar Coast, changing cultures of work and caste . </P>

Why were the european powers interested in getting involved in the indian ocean trade routes