Pêro Escobar was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and pilot whose maritime career played a significant role in the early phases of European exploration along the West African coast, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. Active during the Age of Discovery, Escobar operated under the patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator and later King João II, contributing to Portugal’s growing ambitions of expanding sea routes, trade networks, and geographical knowledge beyond Europe.

Though little is known about his early life—including his exact birth and death dates—Escobar’s name appears frequently in accounts of pioneering Portuguese voyages during the 1470s and 1480s. He was one of the first Europeans to navigate the coasts of what are now Ghana, Nigeria, and the islands of São Tomé, Príncipe, and Bioko, regions which would soon become central to Portugal’s Atlantic interests.

In 1471, Pêro Escobar, alongside fellow explorer João de Santarém, reached the coast near Elmina in the area of present-day Ghana. Their voyage confirmed the region’s wealth in gold and other resources, encouraging further Portuguese involvement. The town of Elmina would later become the site of Elmina Castle, a major trading post and fortress built in 1482 under the command of Diogo de Azambuja. Escobar’s journey helped chart this lucrative coastline, often referred to as the "Gold Coast" by Europeans due to its rich deposits of gold dust traded by local African kingdoms.

Escobar also played a crucial role in the discovery of several Gulf of Guinea islands, including São Tomé and Príncipe, Annobón, and Bioko (then called Formosa). These islands were uninhabited at the time and were claimed by Portugal for strategic and economic purposes. The archipelagos would become important nodes in the growing network of Atlantic trade, including the transatlantic slave trade that would soon follow.

In 1487, Escobar is believed to have been the pilot of the ship that took Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva on their overland mission to reach Ethiopia and India by crossing through the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula. Though Escobar did not travel overland himself, this mission was part of a broader Portuguese strategy to find a sea route to the East—one that would be realized a decade later by Vasco da Gama.

Escobar’s contribution to early Portuguese exploration helped lay the foundation for the global maritime empire that Portugal would build in the 16th century. His skill as a navigator, particularly in unknown waters, made him one of the quiet yet pivotal figures of an age that reshaped global geography and intercontinental connections.

Although he remains lesser known than explorers like Bartolomeu Dias or Vasco da Gama, Pêro Escobar’s voyages opened key pathways along West Africa, introduced Europeans to the Gulf of Guinea islands, and advanced the maritime mapping techniques that would be critical in the years to come.

Due to the limited documentation of his personal life, the exact dates of Pêro Escobar’s birth and death remain unknown, but his active career is generally placed between the 1460s and 1490s—a period during which Portuguese exploration transitioned from Atlantic island hopping to the edge of the Indian Ocean world.