MARO POLO

MARCO POLO

It is difficult to imagine how hard and dangerous it was to travel from one country to another six or seven hundred years ago. Men had to travel mainly by overland routes. They had to move slowly as and when they got the chance. Villages and towns were far apart. Many persons died on the way for lack of food and water. People had to travel with large parties, or caravans as they were called. Otherwise they could get                                          lost.

Bands of robbers knew these routes too. They attacked caravans and looted them. Many travellers were killed in the fighting that took place. Other died of hunger and thirst when everything they had was stolen and taken away.

Travelling was so dangerous in those days that hardly anyone who went on a long journey was sure of getting back home alive. Only persons of great courage could dare undertake long journey which led them into strange lands and something took years to complete.

In the thirteenth century, Europe valued its trade with the East highly. India and china were believed to be rich beyond dreams. Spices from the islands of south –East Asia could be sold in Europe at a great profit. Marco Polo was a young man who lived in Venice. He belonged to a family of rich merchants and the city of Venice was the greatest centre, in Europe, of trade with the East.

In 1271, seventeen-year old Marco Polo started on a journey to China, then know as Cathay, with Niccolo Polo, his uncle.   

They travelled from Venice to Asia Mino, then crossed the Black Sea into the Crimea. From there they made their journey across the deserts of Persia and Afghanistan to the highland of the PAMIRS. Then they crossed the Great Gobi Desert and reached Peking. The journey took four years.

To us this seems a very long time for a journey. But in those days people probably thought themselves lucky that they were able to get anywhere at all. There were many cases of travellers killed on the way or captured and sold as slaves.

The Polos went to the court of Kublai khan, a grandson of the famous Mongol invader, Genghis Khan. He was the ruler of a vast empire with its capital at peking.

Kublai Khan received the travellers with great kindness. Niccolo and Maffeo had already made a trip to China some years ago and were known to the emperor.

Marco Polo sent himself the task of learning the Mongol language. The Emperor was so pleased with him that he took him into his service. He trusted Marco greatly and sent him to many far away places on his behalf. One trip was made in 1287 to Burma and another, some time later, to Ceylon. The trip to Ceylon was undertaken to bring the sacred tooth of the Buddha for the Emperor. Later, Marco was made the governor of an important city.

In 1290, fifteen years after coming to peking, Marco Polo asked the Emeror’s permission to go back home. But Kubhai Khan refused to let him go. A Lucky chance, however, helped him. The marriage of a princess of Kublai`s family had been arranged with his grand-nephew Arghun, the viceroy of Persia. Arghun had sent some of his Persian Nobles to arrange the matter and to bring the bridge, the lady Kokachin, to Persia for the marriage. Now that the noblemen were due to return with the bridge, they were afraid of the dangers and risks of the journey. They wanted to take some trusted and experienced travellers with them as guides. So they requested Kublai Khan to allow the Polos to go with their party. Kublai Khan had to agree, but he made Marco promise that he would come back to him after the journey.

The party decided to travel by sea, but troubles began soon after the party started. Wind carried the ships to Indo-China and then to Sumatra. They were delayed there for many months. After months sailing they reached Ceylon and touched India and East Africa before they reached Persia. The Princess arrived safe and sound, but two of the three Persian noblemen who had started with her died on the way. What was worse, Arghun himself died some time before the party reached Persia.Shortly afterwards news came that Kublai was also dead. There was no need now for Marco Polo to go back to peking as he had promised. He, his father and his uncle had grown very rich. They returned to Venice where they arrived in 1295. They had been away on their journey for 24 years. The lad of 17 who had left home in 1271 was 41 when he returned. The story is told that when the Polos landed in Venice, no one could recognise them. So they invited all their friends and relations to take dinner one night. The polos were wearing the rough, ragged clothes they had worn on this journey.

When the guests were all present, the Polos tore off the seams of their clothes. Precious stone and jewels fell from the linings of the clothes before the astonished eyes of the Guests. Then they believed the wonders of the Polos journey and welcomed them back home. But Marco Polo’s adventures were not yet over. He had to face years of hardship still.

War broke out between Venice and Genoa. Marco Polo, who was sailing one of his trading ships, was taken prisoner. He remained in prison for three years, but he did not waste his time. He called for the notes made on his journeys and dictated a book to a follow prisoner. When peace was made after three years, he was allowed to go home.

Marco Polo’s book became very famous. He had written not so much about his own adventures as about things, places and people he had seen. Among other places he had written about Japan. No one in Europe had ever heard of Japan before; no one knew that it existed.

Marco Polo is supposed to have been the first European to have travelled right across Asia. People in Europe had very little knowledge of the East in those days. They found it hard to believe much of  what  Marco Polo had written. For centuries it was thought that the book was a collection of lies. It was only in the nineteenth century that the facts were verified by travellers and scholars and found generally to be true. There were, of course, certain things which Marco had only heard. These were not always correct.

Marco’s book fired people’s fancy. Men who were fond of adventure began to dream of going out to India and China and making their fortunes.