1498
1498 is the year Vasco da Gama reached India by sea.
- Even
- Composite
Where 1498 fits
Why 1498 is special
The route around Africa broke the Venetian and Ottoman monopoly on the spice trade and redirected European wealth toward the Atlantic seaboard. It also began four centuries of European maritime empire in Asia.
Same number, different meanings
How 1498 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
The route around Africa broke the Venetian and Ottoman monopoly on the spice trade and redirected European wealth toward the Atlantic seaboard. It also began four centuries of European maritime empire in Asia.
- History
In 1498, Vasco da Gama reached Calicut by sea, linking Europe and India without an overland leg (India).
- Geography
A sea route to India around Africa bypassed the Mediterranean intermediaries who had controlled the spice trade, and the economic centre of Europe shifted toward the Atlantic ports as a direct result. The voyage's consequences were commercial before they were colonial, and then both.
1498 is part of
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (8)
- 1, 2, 7, 14, 107, 214, 749, 1498
- Prime factorisation
- 2 × 7 × 107
- Digit sum
- 22
- Digital root
- 4
Representations
- Decimal
- 1498
- Scientific notation
- 1.498 × 10^3
Roman numerals
M C D X C V I I I
MCDXCVIII uses the subtractive pair XC: ten before a hundred — a hundred minus ten.
Binary
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 × 1,024 + 0 × 512 + 1 × 256 + 1 × 128 + 1 × 64 + 0 × 32 + 1 × 16 + 1 × 8 + 0 × 4 + 1 × 2 + 0 × 1 = 1,498
Octal
2 7 3 2
2 × 512 + 7 × 64 + 3 × 8 + 2 × 1 = 1,498
Hexadecimal
5 d a
5 × 256 + d × 16 + a × 1 = 1,498
Read as powers of two: 1,024 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 16 + 8 + 2 = 1,498.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
1 lotus, 4 coils of rope, 9 hobbles, 8 strokes
1 × 1,000 + 4 × 100 + 9 × 10 + 8 × 1 = 1,498. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Babylonian
2 corner wedges + 4 vertical wedges (sixties place), 5 corner wedges + 8 vertical wedges (units place)
24 × 60 + 58 = 1498. Places are separated by a space on the tablet, with the higher place written first.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Deficient number
Related numbers & connections
1498 is a year in the 15th century, in the 1490s.
Two voyages six years apart, one reaching the Americas by accident while looking for Asia and the other reaching Asia deliberately by sea. Only the second achieved what both set out to do.
View 1492 →History
In 1498, Vasco da Gama reached Calicut by sea, linking Europe and India without an overland leg (India).
DocumentedHistoryGeography: IndiaPeriod: 1498
Geography
A sea route to India around Africa bypassed the Mediterranean intermediaries who had controlled the spice trade, and the economic centre of Europe shifted toward the Atlantic ports as a direct result. The voyage's consequences were commercial before they were colonial, and then both.
DocumentedGeographyGeography: Portugal and IndiaPeriod: 1498
Common questions
Is 1498 a prime number?
No, 1498 is not prime.
What are the factors of 1498?
The factors of 1498 are 1, 2, 7, 14, 107, 214, 749, 1498.
What is 1498 in Roman numerals?
1498 in Roman numerals is MCDXCVIII. XC is subtractive: ten before a hundred — a hundred minus ten. Written additively it would be MCCCCLXXXXVIII, which Roman inscriptions used freely — the strict subtractive form is a later convention.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 2 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026