Biography of marco polo

Venetian merchant (–)

This article is about the trader and explorer. For other uses, see Marco Polo (disambiguation).

Marco Polo (; Venetian:[ˈmaɾkoˈpolo]; Italian:[ˈmarkoˈpɔːlo]; c.&#;&#;&#; 8 January ) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between and His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione, c.&#;), a book that described the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other Asian societies.

Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In , they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached "Cathay". They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, who was impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility. Marco was appointed to serve as Kublai's foreign emissary, and he was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, visiting present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. As part of this appointment, Marco also travelled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things previously unknown to Europeans. Around , the Polos offered to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin to Persia; they arrived there around After leaving the princess, they travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, returning home after 24 years. At this time, Venice was at war with Genoa. Marco joined the war

Marco Polo  ©Polo was a Venetian traveller and writer who was one of the first westerners to visit China.

Marco Polo was born in around into a wealthy and cosmopolitan Venetian merchant family. Polo's father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, were jewel merchants. In , they left Venice to travel to the Black Sea, moving onwards to central Asia and joining a diplomatic mission to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China. Khan asked the Polo brothers to return to Europe and persuade the pope to send scholars to explain Christianity to him. They arrived back in Venice in

In , they set off again, accompanied by two missionaries and Marco, and in reached Khan's summer court. For the next 17 years the Polos lived in the emperor's lands. Little is known of these years, but Marco Polo was obviously popular with the Mongol ruler and was sent on various diplomatic missions which gave him the opportunity to see many parts of China.

Around , the Polos offered to accompany a Mongol princess who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan in Persia. The party sailed from a southern Chinese port via Sumatra, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), southern India, and the Persian Gulf. After leaving the princess in Iran, the Polos travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, arriving home in

The Polos eventually departed for Europe and reached Venice in Marco became involved in a naval conflict between Venice and Genoa and in was captured by the Genoese. In prison, his stories attracted the attention of a writer from Pisa, Rustichello, who began to write them down, frequently embellishing them as he went. The resulting book was extremely popular and was translated into many languages under a number of titles, including 'The Million' and the 'Travels of Marco Polo'.

After Polo was released he returned to Venice, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died on 8 January

Marco Polo: The Early Years

Marco Polo was born around into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had left the year before on a long-term trading expedition. As a result, he was raised by extended relatives following his mother’s death at a young age. Niccolò and Maffeo first spent about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which had been under Latin control since the Fourth Crusade of The two brothers then went to the port city of Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), where they owned a house.

The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in , along with upheavals in the Mongol Empire, may have blocked their way home. Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east in order to trade in such things as silk, gems, furs and spices. After spending three years in Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, they were encouraged by a Mongolian embassy to visit Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, who controlled a huge swath of Asia. Kublai quizzed them on European affairs and decided to send them on a goodwill mission to the pope. In , the two brothers finally made it back to Venice, where Niccolò and Marco Polo met each other for the first time.

Marco Polo’s Travels Along the Silk Road

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed to Acre in present-day Israel, this time with Marco at their side. At the request of Kublai Khan, they secured some holy oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and then backtracked to Acre to pick up gifts, papal documents and two friars from newly elected Pope Gregory X. The friars quickly abandoned the expedition, but the Polos continued on, possibly by camel, t

Marco Polo was an Italian merchant and explorer who spent many years at the court of Kublai Khan in China alongside his father and uncle. There he served as ambassador and governor of the city of Yangzhou. He is a well-known explorer, and his travels opened the Eastern world to many in Europe.

When Marco was born, his father and uncle were away doing business with Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who had requested that they bring him the sacred oil of Jerusalem. They arrived to meet Polo when he was fifteen years old, and two years later he accompanied the brothers on their return trip to China, armed with the oil and letters from the papacy. The events that occurred over the next twenty-four years are a combination of fact and fiction, but the three men were greatly welcomed by Mongol Emperor and valued for their knowledge of western ways and trade routes.

During their long stay in the east, Polo served in several high-level government positions, and when his family returned to Italy in , they were loaded down with gold and jewels. Unfortunately, however, they had arrived in the midst of an Italian war with Genoa, and Polo was taken prisoner. For four years he remained locked away, relating stories of his life in China to his cellmate, who compiled them and other accounts into The Travels of Marco Polo. After Polo was released, he went to live in a large estate with his father and uncle. He became a wealthy businessman, and in the next year he married the daughter of a fellow merchant, Vitale Badoer. Polo lived the rest of his life in Venice with his wife and three daughters. In , Polo was confined to bed due to an illness, and he passed away in January of the next year. His explorations influenced many other adventurers, among them Christopher Columbus.