A Wide Ranging History Blog Including Poetry

Marco Polo’s father and uncle had traveled to China but the reason Marco Polo’s travels became famous was that he co-authored a book, The Travels of Marco Polo, about his own. When the Polo brothers made it back to Venice after going East to trade in silk, gems, furs, and spices they met Marco for the first time before all three of them left to go east after his father and uncle had been encouraged to meet Kublai Khan, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan and led the Mongol Empire that at the time controlled much of Asia. They would go on to travel routes that were later named the Silk Road. The trip to Kublai Khan’s summer palace would take three years.

Plains, mountains, and deserts were crossed in order to make it to east Asia. Many stops along the ways lasted months to recover. Marco Polo described a fascination with Persia and its history, people, and customs. He described the city of Tabriz, which was an important junction between the East and the West, as a bustling city. The route also included the very expansive Gobi Desert.

Marco Polo would go on to serve Kublai Khan for 17 years. He would travel to the most distant parts of the Mongol Empire and inform Khan himself about the people and culture he saw. These places included much of China, India, and Southeast Asia. All three Polos would reach high status and become very wealthy. Marco Polo himself was chosen as a special envoy allowing him to travel anywhere throughout the Empire. Once Kublai Khan passed away, the Polos became vulnerable to local rulers so they decided to head back to Italy.

Polo would also provide the West with account of what he saw in the East. Much of the West would begin to learn about the cultures and peoples of the East from the writings of Marco Polo. There is some controversy over the authenticity and accuracy of the writing from Marco Polo. Major cultural aspects were left out of his writings and his co-author may have had negative influence on the writing. Despite this controversy, the writings shaped the European understanding of the people and customs of Asia.