Marco Polo, who was born in Venice (now in Italy) in 1254, is one of history’s best-known explorers. He traveled farther into Asia than any other Westerner before him. Marco Polo was a great storyteller and, in his tales, described many Eastern customs and inventions. Noodles, fireworks, and pizza—to name only a few—all originated in the East and were then adopted by Westerners, who developed their own variations based on Polo’s descriptions. He also inspired many future explorers with A Description of the World, a book he wrote "so that men might know the things that are in the world." Polo himself thought this work, now better known as The Travels of Marco Polo, was his greatest achievement.
The Polos were a family of merchants, and travel was in their blood. In 1260, Marco’s father, Niccolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, set off for Asia to do business there. They ended up spending the next ten years traveling throughout Asia. During this journey, they encountered Kublai Khan, the ruler of the vast Mongol Empire. The Great Khan had conquered China and expanded the Mongol nation of his grandfather, the feared and revered Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan enjoyed encountering Westerners and was very curious about their culture. He sent the Polos back to Italy with a letter to Pope Clement IV, asking him to send one hundred missionaries to teach Kublai Khan and his people about Christianity and the West.
When Niccolo and Maffeo finally returned to Venice, they were faced with many changes. Niccolo’s wife had died, as had Pope Clement IV. But Niccolo’s young son, Marco, had grown up during his father’s travels. When Marco turned 17 years old in 1271, the three of them set off to return to the Mongol Empire.
Niccolo and Maffeo wanted to travel by sea because land travel had many drawbacks, such as endless deserts, towering mountains, and bandits along the roads. So they sailed across the Mediterranean Sea to what is now Israel. Once in Israel, they rode on camels through Turkey and Iran until they reached the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz. They would have sailed to China from there, but the ships in the port did not appear seaworthy, so they decided to travel by land instead.
The Polos made several stops as they trekked through central Asia. They may have stayed in the mountains of Afghanistan for as long as a year, most likely due to illness. As they traveled, Marco absorbed the sights and sounds of the civilizations around him. He learned several languages: Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and even some Mongolian. Marco also learned about Buddhism, Islam, and many other religions along the way. After they crossed the Pamir Mountains, the Polos found the Silk Road, an ancient caravan route, and followed it through Asia.
The Silk Road has existed since the time of the Roman Empire, when it was used by traders traveling between Rome and China. Travelers would sail across the Mediterranean Sea from Rome to the Persian city of Tyre. From there, the route went through the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan. After cutting through the Pamir Mountains, travelers had to cross the Takla Makan Desert, which would bring them to the Great Wall of China. Once they reached the Great Wall, they followed it to the city of Xi’an, one of the ancient capitals of China. The Silk Road was the route the Polos took to reach the Mongol capital, Shangdu.
After a four-year journey, the Polos were heartily welcomed at the court of Kublai Khan—especially the young Marco, who kept the khan spellbound with his stories. Kublai Khan was often bored by his visitors, but Marco’s anecdotes about crossing the Gobi Desert and his other adventures intrigued the Great Khan. He was so impressed by Marco’s language and story-telling abilities that he asked Marco, his father, and his uncle to stay and work for him. No one is sure what position Marco held in the Great Khan’s government; some think he was governor of the city of Yangzhou, while others say he was only a tax collector. Whatever his position, he traveled extensively throughout the Mongol Empire, all over China, and as far south as Myanmar.
Everywhere he went, Marco carefully observed the customs of the people he met. He was amazed by the monasteries in Tibet and by the use of paper money instead of coins made from precious metals. Marco also saw messengers carrying letters in a relay—one of the world’s most efficient early postal systems. But after 17 years of traveling and working in the Mongol Empire, the Polos wanted to go home. The Great Khan was reluctant to see them go, but allowed them to return to Venice in 1292.
Marco arrived in Venice in 1295 and started a trading business. But in 1298, Venice went to war with the city of Genoa, and Marco was taken prisoner. While in prison, he met the writer Rustichello da Pisa and began recounting all the wonders he had seen in the East. He described a multitude of inventions, as well as many scientific observations he had made—such as the fact that, at high altitudes, fire does not burn as well and water doesn’t boil as quickly. He also regaled Rustichello with stories about spirits who try to lure travelers into the desert and about Kublai Khan’s lavish banquets. Rustichello transcribed Marco Polo’s tales of adventure and called them A Description of the World. The book became an immediate success—a remarkable feat before the invention of the printing press, when books were still copied out by hand.
A Description of the World was the most widely read travel book of the Middle Ages. The exotic lands Polo described inspired many explorers to embark on their own adventures. Even Christopher Columbus supposedly had a copy of it with him when he set out to find a new sea route to India in 1492. But not everyone was impressed by Polo’s book; many people thought that his accounts were embellished or even completely false. To this day, historians continue to search for evidence to corroborate or refute Marco Polo’s claims. The facts are hard to pin down, however, because Polo’s original book no longer exists, and its many translations often contradict each other.
Regardless of whether the journeys described in A Description of the World are true or not, there is no denying that Marco Polo had a profound impact on the history of the world. America might never have been discovered by Columbus if Polo’s tales of adventure hadn’t inspired explorers to look for a new route to the East. Polo’s travels in Asia and time spent with the Great Khan also led to the West’s discovery of many products from the East, such as oils and spices. These valuable resources encouraged traders to travel between the East and the West more frequently, leading to more open relations between these worlds. And when skeptics asked Polo to renounce his "fables" on his deathbed, he reportedly said that his book did not contain even half of the marvels he had seen.