Why did European countries compete to find trade routes to the indies

Explanation:

I think

The Republic of Venice had become a formidable power, and a key player in the Eastern spice trade.[24] Other powers, in an attempt to break the Venetian hold on spice trade, began to build up maritime capability.[1] Until the mid-15th century, trade with the east was achieved through the Silk Road, with the Byzantine Empire and the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa acting as a middle man.

In 1453, however, the Ottoman Empire took control of the sole spice trade route that existed at the time after the fall of Constantinople, and were in a favorable position to charge hefty taxes on merchandise bound for the west. The Western Europeans,[which?] not wanting to be dependent on an expansionist, non-Christian power for the lucrative commerce with the east, set out to find an alternate sea route around Africa.[

honestly you should get that checked out because it really isn't normal