Which explorer first sailed around the tip of Africa, finding an eastern sea route to the Indian Ocean?

In 1488, the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa setting up the route from Europe to Asia (later on) was Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500). He was a nobleman of the Portuguese royal household, a squire of the royal court, superintendent of the royal warehouses and sailing-master of the man-of-war called Saint Christopher.

In the fall of 1486, King John II of Portugal appointed him to head an expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa in the hope of finding a trade route to India.

The expedition sailed down the west coast of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope at a considerable distance to the west and southwest. He turned east seeking India but after 30 days of not seeing land, the expedition reached its furthest point at Kwaaihoek, a rocky headland on the coast, in the Eastern province of modern day South Africa.

It was on their return voyage that he actually discovered the Cape of Good Hope in May 1488.

The discovery of the passage around southern Africa was significant because, for the first time, Europeans could trade directly with India and the Far East, bypassing the overland Euro-Asian route with its expensive European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian middlemen.