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An essay on marco polo
Marco polos influence on later explorers
The travels of marco polo his words
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The young, Venetian merchant, Marco Polo is best known for his early travels across Asia as unveiled by his famous book, Travels of Marco Polo. As a young boy, Polo was raised primarily by extended family due to the death of his mother at a young age. Marco’s father, Niccolo and uncle, Maffeo Polo had been partaking in a long trading expedition across Asia during a majority of Marco’s childhood. Niccolo and Maffeo’s travels brought them to Asia, where they were introduced to Kublai Khan, a powerful Mongol leader.
Inspired by the realm of the Mongol empire and Khan’s interest in Christianity, the two Polo brothers set out on another journey, this time accompanied by the young Polo. This journey included visiting regions of the Middle East, Israel, Italy, and finally landing in Asia. Marco faced many hardships along his journey. While traveling across the Gobi desert Marco writes, “And at the narrowest point it takes a month to cross it. It consists entirely of mountains and sands and valleys. There is nothing at all to eat.” The Polo’s acquired holy oil and papal documents from the
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Polo was eventually sent out to the port of Hangzhou where he would carry out business on behalf of the Mongolian leader. Marco’s job titles while under Khan’s power included, governor of a Chinese city, official of Privy Council, and tax inspector. The Polo’s finally decided to end their journey after seventeen years in Kublai Khan’s court. The merchants ended their journey by escorting a young princess to marry her future husband Arghun, Mongol ruler of Persia. By the time the Polo’s arrived in Persia with the princess, Arghun was dead and the princess was mandated to marry Arghun’s brother. After traveling through Turkey, Constantinople, and Greece, the Polo’s made it home in 1295. Soon after Kublai Khan died and the Mongol Empire went into a major
The unsuccessful attack of Japan and Java is what caused Khubilai Khan to realize that the transport of food through ship is cheaper and more effective than by land route. The attack also educated the Mongols about shipbuilding. The Mongols used peaceful pursuits of trade when their military efforts were unsuccessful (223). The duration of conquering time for the Mongols had ended, and now it was time for the era of peace. Instead of sending mounted warriors and fearsome siege engines, the Mongols now had humble priests, scholars, and ambassadors (220). The Mongols promoted trade along the routes across the empire and diffused shelters with supplies every twenty or thirty miles (220,221). The stations had animals and guides to give the merchants guidance through tough terrain. In the system of shares, of all the goods confiscated in war, the members of the Golden Family, each orphan and widow was designated to a share of the wealth of each part of the empire. The Mongol officials received goods instead of being paid money, and they could sell or trade the goods to the market for money and other merchandise.
To begin, one factor that supported Mongols in their conquests was their capacity for foraging, allowing them to survive under harsh living conditions. According to Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler that journeyed to Asia stated "They are capable of supporting every kind of privation, and when there is
Human history is filled with the names of bold explorers who ventured into the great unknown, only to come out basked in glory as some of the great heroes of their day. Among the grandest are Marco Polo, who provided little known information about the Far East to Europeans, and Hernan Cortes, the great Spanish conquistador who is given credit for the defeat of the Mexica Empire. These two famous explorers are also ideal case studies to analyze the influence of expectations, interests, and of reality on the accounts of the places and people that these men encountered during their voyages.
Moral influence stimulates one's thoughts and direction within their interest. This changes within generations, for the reason that society is continuously evolving. The chronicles of two best sellers - The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo and The Strange Stones: Dispatches from the East to West by Peter Hessler - gives a great example on how foreigners enter the Eastern world with mentality/behaviourism. From a merchant's perspective, to a journalist who immerses himself into the society, both authors bring two distinct perspectives to this topic. The impact of social standards, that have evolved over seven centuries, essentially affected the approach and research shown in both authors in perspective of women, religion, the commercial industry and under authority. Through their
... [New ed. New York: Liveright ;, 2003. Print. This source tells the reader about the tales of Marco Polo's travels, but it also goes in depth into the troubles that Marco Polo faced once he did return. This sources tells the reader about the people the critics who questioned Marco's work. This source also tells the reader about the challenges the Polos faced, trying to return to Venice after having been away for so long.
The wide spread writings of Marco Polo and William of Rubruck provide an early account of world travel during the 13th Century. These dual accounts give readers a different perspective of the Mongol’s way of life, their social hierarchy, and their method of commerce. The Mongols, whether beheld as barbaric conquerors or as an Empire for its multiplicity, were transcribed in the writings of Polo and Rubruck. Details are important to establish a sense of place and their surrounding peoples as well as a personal view of foreign people. Polo’s lack of makes Rubruck’s account equally more reliable with his daily interactions with the social life and his descriptive nature of his trips.
People are famous for many reasons. Today, it can be started just by sharing one picture and having it spread like wildfire. Back then, it was about traveling and the adventure. Man has been traveling since the dawn of time mainly for getting food and other resources. Meanwhile, they are recording the experiences one encounters along the way. A prime example of this would be a man by the name of Marco Polo. Marco, often mistaken for being the first European to make it to China, was the first person to leave a book based on his experiences. Without him, he would not have inspired people like Christopher Columbus. Although it has been said that Marco Polo reached China, this has been a subject of debate of whether or not this is true. Historians have argued whether or not he ever made it to China for many years. As new evidence emerges, it can be proven that Marco Polo has reached China.
Born in 1162, Khan's birth name was actually Temujin. The name we come to know him as today he acquired In 1206 when he came to power as leader of the Mongolian people, he was given the name Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) which means universal ruler. Before this time, Khan had a hard life living in the wilderness with his mother and siblings after his father had been murdered by his tribe's enemies and his own clan had abandoned his family to die. While struggling to survive in the Mongolian wilderness, Temujin (Khan) met one of the most influential friends and adversaries he would ever have in his life, Jamuka. (Beckwith-185) He eventually became the leader of a small clan, but quickly turned into a warrior when his wife was kidnapped by a neighboring tribe. With his friend and ally Jamuka, Khan led a war party to the neighboring tribe to get his wife back and this started his military exploits. (Weatherford-51)
From the beginnings of the Mongol Empire, the Mongol Khans fostered trade and sponsored numerous caravans. The very size of the Mongol Empire encouraged the wider dissemination of goods and ideas throughout Eurasia, as merchants and others could now travel from one end of the empire to another with greater security, guaranteed by the Pax Mongolica.
Between the early 1200's and the mid 1300's the Mongol Empire, led by Genghis Khan, took control of around 9,300,000 square miles of Eurasia. Genghis Khan first started conquering neighboring clans before setting his sight on the rest of the world. When they would conquer a city, the Mongols would give the city a chance to surrender and if they declined and the Mongols succeeded in conquering them, then all of the citizens would be slaughtered. Under Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire grew to encompass Central Asia, parts of the Middle East, and east to the borders of the Korean Peninsula. In 1227, Genghis Khan died, which led to the empire being divided into four khanates that would be ruled by his sons and grandsons. Genghis Khan's descendants
In the West, Genghis Khan and the Mongol tribe are often presented as brutal savages who wiped out entire cultures, destroyed cities and killed many people. While these accounts are true, there was certainly more to the Mongol empire than sheer brutality. Many of the practices that Genghis Khan put into place were responsible for the successes of the Mongol Nation. With an ability to adapt and innovate, Genghis Khan became known as the world’s greatest conqueror and is still revered in many countries today. Temujin, who later took the name Genghis Khan, came from humble beginnings which helped to form the foundations of the type of leader he became later in life.
After receiving a job in a minor administrative position for the Mongol ruler, Marco Polo stayed in China for another seventeen years. Throughout this time he wildly traveled across the Chinese land and collected stories about his experiences in the foreign country. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo helped to shape Western European culture, though scholars question the legitimacy behind his stories since he left out many prominent features of the Chinese life.
Around the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Europe was a place in need of inspiration. Marco Polo, a merchant, and still a simple man, was this source of inspiration. He was an ordinary boy during his childhood, living a similar life to the other boys his age. Although his intentions might not have been as significant as his impact, he was very influential. Marco Polo served as an influence to many later explorers. Whether it was through his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which focused mainly on descriptions of spices and commercial goods and many other interesting trade items he encountered in his travels, he sparked an interest and desire of not only Europe, but later explorers as well . Marco Polo was viewed to have had definite charm and also having much capability. He has also proven that he was a tough man. This is evident because of the many voyages he survived, which included occurrences of bandit ambushes, disease, and not to mention the fatigue of the travel. There have been many who believe that Marco Polo was not intellectually equipped, meaning that he was not a very educated man, as no European probably was at the time . But as always, there is of course some speculation on the many aspects of the life of Marco Polo. Many people have their own beliefs of whom the real Marco Polo was and what he accomplished. There will be mention on some of the alleged negative, yet also positive aspects of his life. Despite all the accusations or assumptions of Marco Polo, history was affected as a result of his existence. He still remains an important figure in history.
...gers he , Ibn Battuta overcame them. Ibn Battuta traveled primarily in Muslim-ruled lands, in comparison to Marco Polo. Both men dictated accounts of their travels after they had returned home Polo, while in prison in the year of 1928 and Ibn Battuta, to a Moroccan scribe, since neither were trained, both Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta judged those they ran into by their own values. Both travels financial records exposed the great variety in Eurasian cultures during the year 1354- 1355. “When a man is riding through this [Gobi] desert by night and for some reason ... he gets separated from his companions ... he hears spirit voices talking to him ...Often these voices lure him away from the path and he never finds it again." This was one of the quotes he had written. This quote describes some part of his travels. He had moved away from people he loved for a few years.
It is important to note however, that Marco Polo barely knew his uncle or father because they left on a trip to Mongolia when Marco was 6 years old and did not return for 9 years. During their nine-year absence, Marco was raised by his mother and other members of his extended family.Marco Polo's father and uncle impressed Kublai Khan with their intelligence and their knowledge of the world. For these reasons he kept them around for several years. In 1269 he sent them to Rome as his messengers with a request that the pope send one hundred Europeans to share their knowledge with him. Although the pope did not grant the request, the Polo brothers set out to return to China in 1271. Since his mother had died recently, Marco Polo was taken along on the trip as a world traveler at age seventeen. The return to China, over land and sea, desert and mountain, took slightly more than three years. Despite their failure to bring back the one hundred Europeans from Rome, Kublai Khan welcomed the Polos back and again took them into his service. He became increasingly impressed wit...