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1MarcoPoloIn1260,thebrothersandVenetianmerchantsNiccoloandMatteoPolotraveledeastfromEurope.In1265,theyarrivedatKaifeng,

thecapitalofKublaiKhan's(alsoknownastheGreatKhan)MongolEmpire.In1269,thebrothersreturnedtoEuropewitharequestfromKhanforth

ePopetosendonehundredmissionariestotheMongolEmpire,supposedlytohelpconverttheMongolstoChristianity.TheKhan'smessagew

asultimatelyrelayedtothePopebuthedidnotsendtherequestedmissionaries.UponarrivinginVenice,Nicolodiscoveredt

hathiswifehaddied,leavingthecareofason,Marco(bornin1254andthusfifteenyearsold),inhishands.In1271,thetwobrothersandMarcobegantotrekeastwardand

in1275mettheGreatKhan.KhanlikedtheyouthfulMarcoandconscriptedhimintoservicefortheEmpire.Marcoservedinseveralhigh-levelgovernmentpositions,in

cludingasambassadorandasthegovernorofthecityofYangzhou.WhiletheGreatKhanenjoyedhavingthePolosashissubjectsanddiplomats,K

haneventuallyconsentedtoallowthemtoleavetheEmpire,aslongastheywouldescortaprincesswhowasscheduledtowedaPersianking

.ThethreePoloslefttheEmpirein1292withtheprincess,afleetoffourteenlargeboats,and600otherpassengersfromaportinsouthernChina.Thearmadasai

ledthroughIndonesiatoSriLankaandIndiaandontoitsfinaldestinationattheStraitofHormuzinthePersianGulf.Supposedly,onlyeighteenpeoplesurvivedf

romtheoriginal600,includingthePrincesswhocouldnotwedherintendedfianceebecausehehaddied,soshemarriedhissoninstead.Thethree

PolosreturnedtoVeniceandMarcojoinedthearmytofightagainstthecity-stateofGenoa.Hewascapturedin1298andimprisonedinGenoa.Whileinprisonfo

rtwoyears,hedictatedanaccountofhistravelstoafellowprisonernamedRustichello.Shortlythereafter,TheTravelsofMarcoPolowaspublis

hedinFrench.ThoughPolo'sbookexaggeratesplacesandcultures(andsomescholarsbelieveheneverwentasfareastasChinabutonlydescribedplacesothertravelershadbeen

2to),hisbookwaswidelypublished,translatedintomanylanguages,andthousandsofcopieswereprinted.Polo'sbookinclude

sfancifulaccountsofmenwithtailsandcannibalsseemtobearoundeverycorner.ThebookissomewhatageographyofAsianprovinces.Itisdividedi

ntochapterscoveringspecificregionsandPolodelvesintothepolitics,agriculture,militarypower,economy,sexualpractices,burialsystem,andreligionsof

eacharea.PolobroughttheideasofpapercurrencyandcoaltoEurope.Healsoincludedsecond-handreportsofareasthathehadn

otvisited,suchasJapanandMadagascar.AtypicalpassagefromTravelsreads:ConcerningtheIslandofNicobarWhenyouleav

etheislandofJavaandthekingdomofLambri,yousailnorthaboutonehundredandfiftymiles,andthenyoucometotwoislands,oneofwhichiscalledNi

cobar.Onthisislandtheyhavenokingorchief,butlivelikebeasts.Theygoallnaked,bothmenandwomen,anddonotusetheslightestcoveringofany

kind.Theyareidolaters.Theydecoratetheirhouseswithlongpiecesofsilk,whichtheyhangfromrodsasanornament,regardingitaswewouldpearls,gems,silver,orgold.T

hewoodsarefilledwithvaluableplantsandtrees,includingcloves,brazil,andcoconuts.ThereisnothingelseworthrelatingsowewillgoontotheislandofAndaman..

.TheinfluenceofMarcoPoloongeographicexplorationwasenormousandhewasalsoamajorinfluenceonChristopherColumbus.Columbusownedacopyo

fTravelsandmadeannotationsinthemargins.AsPoloneareddeathin1324,hewasaskedtorecantwhathehadwrittenandsimplysaidthathehadnoteventoldhalfofwhathehadwit

nessed.Despitethefactthatmanyclaimhisbooktobeunreliable,itwasasortofregionalgeographyofAsiaforcenturies.Eventoday,"hisbookmuststandamong

thegreatrecordsofgeographicexploration."