One of the first Europeans to cross the ocean and set foot in China, Marco Polo has a place in history as a navigator, merchant, and pioneer. His biographies detail his rise to the positions of governor and administrator of a Chinese city, papal envoy, and counsellor to Kublai Khan.
Because of the accounts he described in his books “Million: the division of the World” and “The wonders of the World,” after his death Marco Polo was studied as an anthropological and ethnographer. That’s because he didn’t even mention his own mind or identity.
He subjectively articulated what he had seen, understood, and knew about foreign civilizations, which he came to admire and study.
He used the Silk Road to get to China and during his trip he wrote down all the details. He documented various facets of navigation, including hazards, routes, the weather, and so on. The book he wrote on his travels became not just a must read for serious readers of the day, but also a welcome diversion.
When Was Marco Polo Born
On September 15, 1254, he was born into a family of merchants in Venice. His family was well-established in the city. His father Niccoló Polo and his uncle Maffeo were responsible for his upbringing and education.
It was always his fantasy that they would sail across the ocean and discover the ways to go to the East. His love of exploration motivated him to find out more about the world, which he did through working and adventuring on his travels.
During the time that Niccol and Maffeo were away on their journey, Marco Polo’s mother passed away. As a result, Marco was raised by an aunt and uncle, who provided him with a very high-quality education.
He was able to acquire knowledge about international trade, cargo ships, foreign currencies, and transportation while he was still a little lad; yet, he did not put much effort into learning Latin at that time.
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What Were Marco Polo’s Travels?
It is important to recall that his father and uncle undertook the initial journey without taking Marco along because he was only a year old at the time. The story begins in 1255 when the protagonist leaves Venice for Beijing over the Silk Road and concludes in 1266.
Some of the many stops along the trip include: Greece, Constantinople, the Volga River, the Black Sea, and the deserts and mountains of Central Asia.
Niccoló and Maffeo spent 14 years among the Mongols, during which time they gained the respect and affection of those people. In 1269, the two men travel back to Venice as ambassadors for Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor. After the Khan gave his endorsement, they even visited with Pope Francis.
The second travel to the East occurred in 1271 as a direct result of the first journey. Pope Gregory X, elected that same year, blessed them on this special occasion. Also joining the crew was Marco Polo, a 17-year-old whose mother had died while her husband and brother-in-law were away. When did Marco Polo enter the world?
They took further risks on this second expedition by going through Israel, ancient Armenia, and the Persian Gulf. In this instance, Marco Polo acts as the Pope’s envoy, delivering to the last Great Khan the Vatican’s response to the latter’s desire to welcome enlightened people who would teach the Orientals a new way of life.
Marco won over Kublai Khan’s heart and earned a position as the khan’s counsellor for 17 years. This traveller and merchant was there during the height of Chinese civilization and used his experiences and impressions to shape his legend.
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Polo’s Journey To Asia
Little is known about Marco Polo’s childhood, other than the fact that he likely spent his formative years in Venice. When his father and uncle came back to visit him when he was 15 or 16, he received the news that Pope Clement IV had suddenly passed away.
Niccol and Maffeo waited at Venice for the election of a new pope for two years before joining Marco at the Mongol court in 1271. Teobaldo of Piacenza, the papal legate, provided them with letters addressed to the Mongol emperor in Acre (today in Israel).
When the Polos heard that Teobaldo, a friend of the family’s, had been elected pope as Gregory X, they had only been on the road for a few days.
When they got back to Acre, they were given official credentials and two friars were assigned to accompany them; however, the friars soon abandoned the Polos and the expedition resumed without them.
The group left Acre and headed to Ayas (“Laiazzo” in Marco’s writings; modern-day Yumurtalik) on the southeastern Turkish Gulf of skenderun (also known as the Gulf of Alexandretta).
As they made their way to the Persian Gulf port of Hormuz, they likely went via the cities of Erzurum in what is now eastern Turkey and Tabrz in what is now northern Iran in the first part of 1272.
After much deliberation, the Polo family decided to travel by land to the Mongol capital rather than take the chance of sailing to India and beyond.
The following step was a journey through deserts of “surpassing aridity” to the Khorasan region in what is now eastern Iran. As they veered slightly to the northeast, they found warmer climates; in particular, the people of Badakhshn (“Balascian”) in Afghanistan won them over.
Marco hypothesises that they stayed for an entire year, probably due to an ailment (possibly malaria) that was alleviated by the pleasant weather in the area. During this time, Marco is also speculated to have travelled to the southern provinces (the rest of Afghanistan, Kafiristan in the Hindu Kush, Chitral in what is now Pakistan, and maybe Kashmir).
However, it is challenging to determine which areas he visited and which he may have depicted from information obtained en way.
